The world shattered like glass the moment the corrupted child laughed.
Colors tore apart.
Ground dissolved beneath their feet.
Sound twisted into a ringing hum that stabbed their ears.
Aria reached for Dev—
but the floor disappeared.
They fell into nothing.
Into darkness.
Into cold.
Into a place that didn't feel like a story at all.
It felt like the space between stories.
---
THE GROUP GETS SEPARATED
They hit solid ground—
but not together.
Aria blinked awake in a dim, fog-filled forest, alone except for the echoing drip of water.
Her voice trembled.
"Guys? Kian? Dev? Anyone?!"
Only silence answered her.
Meanwhile—
Kian and Yuvan landed in a desert-like wasteland of cracked earth.
Yuvan groaned,
"If this is Round 4, I demand a refund."
Kian kicked sand.
"This better not be a puzzle involving dehydration. I'm emotionally dehydrated already."
---
Mira and Zoya crashed into a gloomy church-like ruin, illuminated by shafts of eerie white light.
Zoya clung to Mira instantly.
"Why do we always land in horror scenes when we're together?!"
Mira whispered, "This place… it feels wrong."
---
Ravi and Rhea found themselves in a pitch-black library with towering shelves, each book humming like it was breathing.
Rhea's heart pounded.
"We're separated… on purpose."
Ravi nodded grimly.
"That child is evolving."
---
Dev landed alone in a narrow, stone corridor, clutching his side.
The golden healing from the king kept him alive—
but the wound still throbbed painfully.
He leaned on a wall, wincing.
"Mira… where are you…"
---
ARIA'S AREA – THE FOG FOREST
Aria pushed through the fog, calling out names until her voice cracked.
Every whisper seemed to echo her name back—
but in wrong voices.
A child's voice giggled beyond the trees.
Aria spun.
"Show yourself!"
The fog parted—
And the child stepped forward.
But he wasn't a child anymore.
His form flickered:
one second a boy,
another second a shadow,
then a tall humanoid figure with glowing purple eyes.
Aria felt her blood run cold.
"What are you?" she demanded.
He tilted his head.
"Do you really want to know?"
She tightened her fists.
"Yes."
He stepped closer, smile widening unnaturally.
"I am not a story character.
I am not a ghost.
I am not human."
Aria's breath hitched.
The child whispered,
"I am a glitch.
A mistake.
Something the game tried to delete…
but couldn't."
Purple energy flickered around him like corrupted fire.
"When your world entered the game," he continued,
"I woke up."
Aria swallowed, trying not to shake.
"You're the corruption spreading through the stories."
The child's smile sharpened.
"Correction:
I am the part of the game that wants to be free."
He floated off the ground.
"And I will break every story, every round, and every rule until I escape this prison."
---
MEANWHILE: KIAN & YUVAN'S AREA
The cracked desert ground shook.
Something crawled beneath the surface.
Yuvan screamed,
"BRO SOMETHING IS UNDER THE SAND!"
Kian backed up, panicking.
"WHY IS ROUND 4 A SANDWORM MOVIE—"
The ground burst open—
a giant, sand-covered creature lunging upward.
Yuvan yelled,
"RUN OR DIE, THOSE ARE THE OPTIONS!"
They bolted, tripping over stones, shrieking like amateur athletes.
---
MIRA & ZOYA'S AREA – THE RUINED CHAPEL
A whisper echoed inside the chapel.
Not the child's voice.
A woman's voice.
Soft.
Broken.
Calling Mira's name.
Zoya trembled.
"No no no—DO NOT FOLLOW THE CREEPY VOICE—"
But Mira stepped forward unconsciously.
"Mira!" Zoya grabbed her. "This is how people die in stories!"
Mira whispered,
"That voice… it sounds like my mother…"
Zoya froze.
"That's not possible."
But Mira's eyes filled with tears.
"It sounds exactly like her…"
Before Zoya could pull her back—
the chapel walls shifted.
Candles lit one by one.
A ghostly silhouette appeared.
"Mira…" it whispered again.
Zoya screamed.
---
RAVI & RHEA'S AREA – THE LIVING LIBRARY
The shelves moved like they were breathing.
Books slid out on their own—
opening to pages covered in strange codes and shifting symbols.
Ravi examined one.
Rhea whispered,
"Be careful…"
He frowned.
"These symbols… they're not from this world. They're system code."
Rhea stiffened.
"So this place is… part of the game's core?"
Ravi nodded.
"And the child brought us here because—"
Suddenly dozens of books flew off the shelves—
spiraling violently around them.
Rhea screamed,
"DUCK!"
Ravi grabbed her, pulling her behind a fallen shelf as books exploded against the wall.
Pages swirled like razors.
---
DEV'S AREA – THE STONE CORRIDOR
Dev limped down the hall, gripping the wall for balance.
He heard footsteps behind him.
"Mira…?"
No answer.
Then—
A distorted reflection of himself appeared in a cracked mirror ahead.
Not smiling.
Not speaking.
Just staring at him with black eyes.
Dev exhaled shakily.
"Oh perfect. Myself, but evil. Just what today needed."
The reflection whispered,
"You can't protect them."
Dev clenched his fists.
"I will. Even if it kills me."
The reflection smiled.
"It will."
---
BACK TO ARIA & THE CHILD
Aria stepped backward as the glitch-child hovered closer.
"You separated us…" she whispered.
"I needed you all alone so you'd listen," he replied.
"Listen to what?"
His eyes glowed brighter—
burning with something old and furious.
"Round Four isn't a story.
It's where the game hides its truth.
And the truth begins with you."
Aria froze.
"What do you mean?"
The child leaned in.
"You didn't fall into the game by accident.
Someone opened the door…"
The forest around them shook.
The fog turned red.
The child whispered:
"And that someone…
is one of YOU."
Aria felt her heart stop.
"That's a lie."
"It's the only truth."
He smiled.
"You will find it in Round Four."
Before she could respond—
The world cracked.
The forest tilted.
And Aria was pulled downward into another layer of the realm.
---
ROUND FOUR BEGINS
Each friend landed alone—
In a world made of broken memories, glitching landscapes, and impossible logic.
A world where the game's deepest secrets hid.
A world designed to divide them.
And expose the truth.
A voice echoed through the fractured realm:
"Round 4: The Realm of Lost Code.
Welcome to the round where trust begins to break."
The floor shifted under Aria's feet.
Then the final message echoed:
"Find the truth… before it finds you."
---