They were trapped. Standing frozen in the very heart of the red square — walls of death humming around them — as if the air itself dared not move.
"What do we do?" Liora whispered, voice thin and frayed at the edges.
Beside her, a younger boy — pale and shaking — reached out and clutched her hand. "Sis… help me," he said, his voice barely above a breath.
Then — just like that — the beams vanished.The red lines blinked out of existence, like a trick of the light.
The moment the cage fell, two people — previously too afraid to move — sprinted for the stairs, joy and adrenaline written on their faces.
Another woman bolted too, screaming as she ran—
But the beams came back.
Snap.
A flash of crimson.
The woman's scream was cut short as her body collapsed in pieces — blood splashing against the tile. The other two froze mid-run, one collapsing to the floor, too terrified to even cry.
"What was that?!" Liora gasped.
"I—I don't know! I don't know anything!" Rikuto finally said, his voice cracking. His hands trembled, and beads of sweat trickled down the side of his face. He'd tried to stay calm, tried to believe this wasn't real. But it was. And it wasn't stopping.
He'd packed to leave this damned apartment for good.He hated this building. He hated these people.
But somewhere deep inside, watching his neighbors trembling in terror… there was a strange, twisted part of him that enjoyed it.
"Should we try the bottom?" Liora said suddenly, pointing.
Rikuto blinked. "What?"
"I mean, the strings — they're only mid-level, right? What if we crawl beneath?"
"No," he said sharply, eyes narrowing. "Look closer. See those faint red glows? They go all the way to the floor. You might not see them clearly, but they're there. We don't know what happens even if we brush against them."
"Why did they disappear earlier?" the boy asked, stepping closer. "If they vanish again… can we run?"
"Running would be suicide," Rikuto muttered. "That's exactly what they want us to do."
"Don't worry, we'll protect you," Liora said, kneeling slightly to comfort the boy.
Protect? Rikuto scoffed inwardly.Protect what? There's no guarantee we'll even survive another five minutes. She's so annoying — always trying to act noble.
"What's your name, kid?" Liora asked softly.
"Veni," the boy replied. "It's Veni."
"Okay, Veni. Stay close to me, alright?"
And then —
Once more — the strings vanished.
"That's the third time," Rikuto muttered, more to himself than anyone.
"They want us to get hopeful," a voice said behind them — smooth, amused.
It was Caldria — the guy from the third floor. Always with a guitar slung over his back, even now. He laughed softly. "I think it's the work of Kiroth."
"Kiroth?" another voice piped in — a girl with sharp eyes and dyed blue hair. Mai, the tenant who'd only just moved in last month.
"Yeah. Don't you know the rumors?" Caldria said, stepping closer to the inner ring. "People said our landowner, Kiroth, killed one of his tenants. Covered it up. Maybe he got bored of killing people by hand. Maybe that's why he built this… thing... to finish the job in style."
"That's just urban legend," someone muttered.
"I swear," Caldria growled, voice cold now. "If I make it out of this alive, I'll find that bastard and make him pay."
"Could you all just—stop with the drama?" Rikuto snapped, his voice rising. "You're not helping!"
Caldria ignored him. "Hey, kid," he said, gesturing at Veni. "Try crawling under, yeah? You're small. You might make it."
Veni clung tighter to Liora's side, burying his face in her sleeve.
"Stop talking nonsense, Caldria!" Liora snapped.
"Why not?!" another voice joined in — Tim, the stiff-faced guy from floor two, always in pressed shirts. "The boy has a chance. Better odds than us."
"I think he should try!" added someone else from the crowd, a woman whose nerves had clearly shattered.
"Oh? Why don't you try, then?" Liora said sharply. "Or you, Tim? Or Caldria? Send yourselves first if you're so confident."
"What did you just say?" Caldria stepped forward, eyes narrowing.
"Will you all just shut up?!" Rikuto shouted suddenly, his voice breaking through the chaos like thunder. Everyone flinched, silence falling again.
The beams continued to hum faintly around them. Waiting.
Watching.
"Shit!" Liora cursed, clutching Veni's hand even tighter.
Suddenly — flick — the red strings disappeared again.
"Walk!" Rikuto barked, already moving forward.
Liora didn't understand, but instinct pushed her to follow him. They hurried — three, four quick steps — before Rikuto suddenly stopped. Liora yanked Veni back to a halt as well.
Then —
Zzzztt.
The strings reappeared.
"I knew it," Rikuto muttered under his breath, smirking grimly.
"Knew what?" Liora asked, breathless, confused.
"There are fifteen strings between us and the stairs," Rikuto explained quickly, eyes locked on the deadly grid ahead. "And if you watch closely... every fifteen seconds, the lines disappear. I just confirmed something: they stay gone long enough for someone to cross the distance between one string."
The beams blinked off again.
"Move!" Rikuto ordered.
They hurried forward again — just a single string's distance.
From behind them, the others watched wide-eyed.
"Did they find the solution?" Tim asked, the man stiff in his tight shirt.
"I think so," Mai said, nodding, her eyes following every move Rikuto made.
"Hey, Rikuto! Tell us too!" Caldria called out, impatient and loud.
Rikuto didn't even turn his head. He simply glared once, cold and cutting.
"That bastard," Caldria muttered angrily.
"Cross a single string distance!" shouted Eroan, another tenant — a wiry guy with messy hair. "Look at them — they only move a little each time, right before the beams come back! That's the trick!"
Realization spread quickly among the rest.
"Move just a string's distance during the gaps!" someone cried.
And one by one, they started to mimic Rikuto's method — inching forward, timing every movement to the deadly rhythm of the strings.
A slow, desperate migration toward the stairs began — one short, terror-choked step at a time.
They kept moving — step by careful step — but Rikuto's chest twisted tighter with every second.
He hated it.
Hated seeing them survive alongside him.
Hated that they could live, when he didn't even want them to.
They crossed the eleventh string.
Suddenly —
BZZZZT.
The ground beneath them buzzed violently.
"Is that... an earthquake?!" one tenant shouted, stumbling.
But Rikuto wasn't listening. His eyes locked onto the stairs — or rather, what was left of them. The staircase was starting to disappear.
His breath caught painfully in his throat.
"The stairs!" he gasped.
The beams blinked out.
Without a second thought, Rikuto shouted, "We have to RUN!"
"What?!" Liora yelled back, confused.
But Rikuto was already sprinting, reckless, crossing two string distances at once.
Liora hesitated — fear rooting her in place. If she mistimed even by a second, she would collide straight into the returning beams and be sliced apart.
"Liora!" Rikuto roared back at her. "MOVE! The stairs are disappearing — we don't have time!"
Another tenant overheard his cry.
"Shit!" Caldria cursed, realization dawning.
The strings vanished again —
Flick.
— and chaos erupted.
Everyone sprinted.
Rikuto ran, pushing himself hard, while ahead, two more steps crumbled and fell away into darkness.
When he finally reached the staircase, he froze in horror.
The missing steps revealed a massive, hollow pit below — a deep black void stretching into nothingness.
He backed up, gathering speed — and jumped. Landing hard two steps above, he whipped around.
"Liora, HURRY!" he shouted, panic sharp in his voice.
The strings vanished. Liora gritted her teeth, clutching Veni's hand, and ran. One step — two — a stair disintegrated beneath them mid-run.
"Jump!" Rikuto screamed. "Hurry — every few seconds more stairs will vanish!"
Liora dropped down onto one knee, breathing hard. "Get on!" she ordered.
Veni scrambled onto her back.
Taking a few steps back, she ran — and leaped.
Her fingers brushed the fourth step. She slipped —
"Ah!"
— and Rikuto lunged forward, grabbing her wrist in time.
"Hold on!" he grunted, hauling her and Veni up with every ounce of strength he had.
More tenants were reaching the staircase now, desperate and terrified. Two more stairs crumbled, swallowed by the abyss.
Liora pushed Veni off her back and helped him climb further up.
"Move! Keep going!" Rikuto barked.
He was about to climb higher when he saw Liora hesitate — her gaze fixed below.
Mai.
Still frozen, terrified at the edge.
"Mai!" Liora screamed. "JUMP! I'll catch you!"
"What the hell are you doing?!" Rikuto shouted down at her, furious.
Liora shoved Veni toward Rikuto. "Take him! GO!"
Rikuto gritted his teeth, yanking Veni along with him up the stairs.
Below, Liora screamed again, reaching out.
"Mai — now!"
Finally, trembling, Mai leapt.
Liora caught her — the force almost dragging them both down — but the stairs beneath Liora's feet crumbled.
With a desperate cry, Liora heaved Mai upward just in time.
Higher up, Rikuto spun, heart hammering.
"Liora, MOVE!" he shouted, voice raw.
But Liora wasn't moving.
She was staring back — where Tim still staggered, far behind, panicked, trapped.
"Liora, we can't save him!" Rikuto yelled, fury and fear mixing. "RUN!"
Still no movement.
Growling in frustration, Rikuto sprinted down two steps, grabbed her wrist, and yanked her with him.
"No time!" he hissed.
The stairs behind them collapsed into the pit with a deafening roar. Dust and debris swirled around them as they climbed, breathless and frantic — and the deadly red strings below flickered, restless and ready to strike again.