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Chapter 25 - Road to 50th floor

Copyright Notice: This story is an original work by Muntasib_Ihshan789. All rights reserved. Do not copy or redistribute without permission.

Beta was laying against the wall, her face pale as snow, sweat streaking down her forehead. She gagged once more. The food Stolen from Delta made her threw up before. Her condition was not looking good.

Lambda knelt beside her, pressing the back of his hand to her cheek. "She's burning up," he muttered. "I think her blood sugar's down. We have to get her to a hospital now."

Zeta didn't even flinch. "Leave her." He said coldly, as if discussing a broken tool.

Lambda's head snapped up. "What?"

"She has maybe three percent chance of surviving. Dragging her will just slow us down. We can't afford that."

The words hit like a slap. Lambda's hand curled into Zeta's collar, yanking him close. "How can you say that? She's one of us—!"

Something in Lambda snapped. He grabbed Zeta's collar harder. "You think a human life's just a number on a sheet?!"

Zeta didn't blink and replied in a cold tone. "In this tower, yes."

"If we lose because we carried her… then what? You think the people running this place will let any of us walk away?"

The two locked eyes, hard breathing could be heard. Pi stood to the side, watching silently, as if weighing whether to intervene.

"This is not good leadership, Zeta." She thought.

Finally, Lambda let go, shoving Zeta back. "If we lose because you left her, remember this moment."

---

Far below, Alpha's team reached the third floor. The hallway here was narrower, the air strangely heavier. A small black sign hung on the side wall:

CUSTOM GAME ENTRY – ONE CHANCE ONLY

"Sounds ominous." Eta said.

Alpha didn't hesitate. "We're taking it."

The four of them ascended a side staircase that ended at four separate glass booths. Each booth contained a console and a chair. As they stepped inside, the glass doors slid shut behind them.

A screen lit up in front of each player. Lines of white texts on the black screen scrolled slowly, like the tower wanted to make them sweat.

MIRROR GAME – RULES

A random pattern will appear on your screen for exactly 3 seconds. Your task is to reproduce the mirror image of that pattern on the console within 5 seconds. The mirror is horizontal — left becomes right, right becomes left. One mistake resets your score to zero. First player to reach 10 points passes the game. Anyone stuck for over 15 minutes will be disqualified.

Alpha smirked. "A kid's puzzle. This'll be easy."

Mirror Game – Round One

The first pattern was simple: five dots in a diamond. Alpha mirrored it perfectly.

Ding – Score: 1

Round Two: A diagonal line of symbols. Easy.

Score: 2

Round Three: A backward "Z" shape. The mirrored form became a forward "Z." Done.

Score: 3

Round Four – The First Mistake

The screen flashed something new — symbols, not dots. An "L" in the upper-left corner, a triangle in the lower right. Alpha's mind tripped over itself, picturing the mirror image, hesitating.

Five seconds ran out.

BEEP – Wrong. Score reset to 0.

"What—?" Alpha clenched his fists. That wasn't hard… so why—

The next few rounds were worse. Every time his score crept to six or seven, a single hesitation sent him back to zero.

In the booth beside him, Mu sat perfectly still. Her eyes flicked to the pattern, then her hands moved instantly. No hesitation. No visible calculation. She mirrored each design with surgical precision.

She could answer almost instinctively, while everyone else had to visualize and reverse the shapes under time pressure.

Rounds Seven to Ten – Mu's Victory

Seven… Eight… Nine…

Mu's pace never changed. Her breathing was steady, and her movements fluid.

Ding – Score: 10

Her booth door slid open. She stepped out calmly, as if she'd merely finished a casual phone puzzle.

Alpha stared at her through the glass. How… how did she make it look so easy? His reflection in the booth glass showed jaw muscles tight with frustration, eyes bloodshot.

For him, the game stretched on — failure after failure — until his knuckles ached from gripping the console. By the time he cleared it, sweat was running down his neck, and Mu had been waiting for almost ten minutes.

"Why?!" Alpha growled, gripping the booth frame. Why can't I do one damn thing right? Every time… every damn time… His breathing sharpened, and Eta shot him a wary glance.

Gamma's smirk widened as he crushed Epsilon in rock-paper-scissors, reading every twitch of his fingers and the micro-shifts in his eyes. Easy win. I was the challenge given by Delta after the guava race. The booth cleared them to the next floor.

But their confidence took a hit when Row sat down at a chessboard against the computer. The match lasted barely three minutes before the screen declared:

CHECKMATE. YOU LOSE.

"What the hell—?" Row muttered. "I've never lost that fast in my life."

The punishment came immediately. The stairs behind them locked, and a new door opened… leading down. By the time they stopped, they were back on the 27th floor.

The second booth here was dimly lit, the floor smelling faintly of oil. A man in a black suit and glasses stood waiting.

"Welcome to... the game Coffin Drop," he said smoothly. "I'll explain the rules. Listen well — I will say only once."

CARD SETUP:

60 cards total.

Numbers 0–9, each with 4 copies (40 cards total).

Power cards: Roman numerals I–V (20 cards total).

BASIC PLAY:

Each player has a hand of four cards.

Both show their hand simultaneously.

The opposing player chooses one of your cards.

Suppose, in your turn, you get 7. You have a card of 5. You can make a pair to drop it. Then your points will be (7-5)=2.

"And there is a thing you have to remember" The black suited man said.

"Points are bad. 1 point = 1 meter of ribbon. At 100 points... the ribbon wraps your entire body, completely mummifying you."

POWER CARDS:

Roman numeral cards act as plus values.

If the total of dropped Roman cards equals 20, the floor opens beneath you, and you fall into a sealed coffin.

"It will drop down. Maybe a few bones will break. But enough to stop you from advancing." The man said bluntly.

WIN CONDITION:

Both penalties can occur at the same time. The game ends immediately if one player gets a penalty.

"And," the man added, "you'll be facing my assistant."

A humanoid robot rolled in. It had a camera on it's head. Down to it's metallic body where it's legs should be, there are rollers.

"I'll play," Delta said.

Theta's eyes widened. "Delta—"

"This place is hell already!" Delta shouted at Theta.

"At least it's a chance for us to win."

The robot shuffled the deck with machine precision. Cards slid into Delta's hands.

Delta: 1, 4, 8, Roman I

First turn:

Delta showed her hand. Robot picked the 1 and made a pair with it's 1. Making the robot's point zero.

Her turn to choose from the robot's hand. She picked a 5. She paired with her 4. Her point is now (5-4)=1.

By the fifth round, Delta was already at 38 points. The robot sat comfortably at 12.

She realized why — it knew her entire hand before she played. It always selected the card that minimized its own risk and maximized hers.

"How is this happening?" She thought in a tense mind.

"Are my cards rigged? Can this thing detect my cards?"

She tried to fold a card with her two hands, realizing it's a normal card made of paper.

"There is only one way then. Somewhere in this room has a camera."

She offered her cards again to test her theory. The robot again chose the smallest number she had.

"This is it. There must be a camera somewhere."

Next round, Delta angled her cards toward her chest in a crossed position, away from the main camera. She shifted their order mid-move.

This time the robot got a 7, The second highest number she had.

"That's it. It's working."

On the next round, she placed the cards on the floor and said to pick one. The robot chose the first card which was a roman V. The robot didn't have any roman card to counter it. So it took the roman number.

Now this was her game strategy. Sometimes she moved back, sometimes behind the robot, sometimes attaching the cards with her both palm. Soon enough she recognized the pattern and predicted where the cameras can be. Now the table was flipping one after another move. Her points slowed. She was catching up.

Delta: 95 points, Roman II

Robot: 89 points, Roman III

If she gained 5 more points, the ribbon would take her. But if the robot reached 100, she'd win.

Robot's turn — Delta picked Roman III from its hand. With her roman II card, she was safe with 19 roman points.

Her turn — she placed her cards face-down, telling the robot to choose. It picked a 9, forcing it to drop a paired 4 — gaining points.

Again, her turn — she hid the cards in her palm. Robot picked a 9 again. On the robot's hand, there were only two zero cards left Now it was at 103 points. The robot reached the goal.

"Is it over?" she asked. "Robot's over 100, right?"

"No," the black-suited man said smoothly. "Complete the round. Robot's turn."

Three cards appeared. Delta hesitated for a moment. This could be her end here.

"Sir," Gamma called from the sidelines. "Can I say something to her?"

"No communication allowed." The man shouted.

"It's just a hunch. I haven't seen her cards."

The suited man frowned. "…Fine. But you get one sentence."

Gamma looked directly at Delta. "Pick the first card. No matter what."

"But how can I trust you?" Delta replied with a question.

"Please, this one time. I promise you will be thankful to me."

She obeyed. The card she got was roman II.

"What…? I lost?" she whispered. The arms above her began to move — but instead of grabbing her, they seized the robot, wrapping it in the white ribbon. It spun in place before the floor opened and the robot dropped from above. A coffin swallowed it whole. A distant boom echoed as it hit the ground far below.

The man clapped slowly. "Bravo, little man," he said to Gamma. "You guessed it. The secret rule."

"The secret rule?" Theta asked.

"Both penalties can happen at once… but only if a player reaches a goal first and then the other player also reaches the goal in the same round. If this event occurs, the first player will face both the penalties. This is the secret rule you had to guess. That's why I said to complete the round." The man explained.

"This shocked Delta completely as she never thought about it.

I hinted this by saying that Both penalty can happen at the same time. Think about it. If you can only draw one card in your turn then how can your normal points and roman points reach the goal at the same time?" The man said.

"And this is where your secret rule comes." Gamma replied.

"The secret rule is the only way you can get both penalties at the same time. Lucky for Delta, I figured it out."

"Oh, Gamma you really saved the game." Delta praised Gamma a little.

Row was looking at the opened floor at down. "Forget that, tell me a thing, how can someone survive this high? The coffin looks half from here." Row shouted at the black suited man.

"You think this game will be so easy? Luckily for you, High stake means high rewards!"

The man handed Delta a paper. "Show this to the mentor of the booths. You'll be allowed to go twenty floors up."

The reward instantly twisted their mind from the horrific game they just played. The promise of skipping ahead was intoxicating. They climbed quickly, only to realize — at the 47th floor — that the paper had expired. The instructor there tore it in half.

By now the sun was sinking, painting the windows orange. They built a shelter from spare curtains and table parts like they had on the 2nd floor. No food stalls here — which meant a night with empty stomachs. None dared to descend for supplies; going down meant losing height. They can't risk it anymore as going even one floor up was excruciatingly hard.

Day Two – The Impossible Games

They tackled the chess booth again. No chance — the engine crushed them mercilessly.

"Just how much elo is this bot rated?" Theta asked, huffing.

"As it's an engine so it's hard to say. Maybe 3700."

"3700!" Delta shouted in shock.

"My own elo is only 2000. Let alone my elo, the engine is just impossible to beat for any human!" Delta added.

NOTE: In chess, Elo refers to a system for rating a player's skill level. It's a numerical representation of how strong a player is, based on their past game results.

The second game was a crossword puzzle — a newspaper-sized grid filled with clues in Russian, Mandarin, Latin, German, Portuguese, Italian… and more. From the training of the facility, Delta knew seven languages, but even she was overwhelmed. Hours later, they completed it, crawling to the 48th floor.

The fear of what awaited on higher floors made everyone hesitate — except Gamma. He already had a plan to pass the floor.

"Sir," Gamma told the booth mentor, "I want to gamble my way up."

The mentor froze in a little shock. "Gamble? You mean…"

"Poker. You and me. If I win, we go to the 50th floor. If I lose, we start from floor one."

Theta grabbed him. "Are you insane?! After this hard work, you are gambling it away?!"

Gamma's eyes hardened. "Then tell me what else we can do, genius."

Delta sided with him. It was the only way as the game in this floor was too hard for them and they couldn't risk getting into a trial. The mentor agreed, stacking the odds in his favor by acting as both dealer and player. The mentor also added a condition that he can see which cards will he divide between. Normally this is an absurd request as it's literally a win for the person who can see but Gamma still agreed.

Delta couldn't play poker much so she stayed away from it. Shouts can be heard from the booth. Call! Pass! Fold! etc.

"Minus forty-eight floors," Gamma bet in one round. "If I loose, our team will go 48 floors down."

"I bet this," the mentor countered — placing a card marked 50th Floor Access.

They revealed. Gamma's hand was better. A sharp intake of breath — then they cheered in joy.

They stepped onto the 50th floor. The air was thinner, and in the center stood a metal ball. A sign in the window read:

DROP THE BALL TO SEND SIGNAL.

They argued briefly over who should do it, but in the end, Delta lifted it and let it fall. A distant bang echoed upward from below. It could only be heard if someone puts his ears out of the window.

Party crackers exploded from the walls. A display lit up:

CONGRATULATIONS TO TEAM OMEGA FOR COMPLETING THE TOWER.

Dead Logic © 2025 by Muntasib_Ihshan789 is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International 

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