The moment Round 4 fully loaded, the world broke its own shape.
Reality wasn't a smooth transition this time.
It glitched, rewound, flickered, snapped, and rebuilt itself like a broken puzzle forcing the wrong pieces to fit.
Aria stumbled forward into this fractured realm—
a place where nothing obeyed logic.
The sky was a sheet of cracked glass.
The ground pulsed like a heartbeat.
Floating platforms drifted in the air like forgotten memories.
And distant whispers repeated fragments of past conversations she didn't remember having.
Aria steadied her breath.
"Okay… this round is different.
This round wants something from us."
She remembered the child's words.
"Someone opened the door.
Someone among you."
Her stomach twisted.
"No. That can't be true."
But the realm itself seemed to echo back—
…can't be true… true… true…
Aria shivered.
She wasn't alone in this realm, but she wasn't with her friends either.
She was trapped with their voices.
---
KIAN & YUVAN – THE SPLIT PATH
Kian and Yuvan appeared on two narrow bridges hanging over a swirling void of glitch energy.
The bridges ran parallel—
But never touched.
Kian tested the planks.
"Okay… this seems safe."
The plank immediately disintegrated under his foot.
He screamed, windmilling his arms.
"NO IT IS NOT!!"
Yuvan wheezed.
"This realm hates you personally."
"What do we do?!"
Yuvan stared down at the swirling void beneath them.
"Don't fall."
"BRILLIANT ADVICE," Kian snapped.
A glowing message appeared before them:
CHOOSE A PATH
ONLY ONE WILL SURVIVE
THE OTHER LEARNS THE TRUTH
Kian paled.
"Nope. No. We're not playing that."
Yuvan swallowed.
"What does it mean by 'survive'? And 'truth'?!"
The planks behind them started falling into the void one by one.
Kian screamed,
"RUN FIRST, PANIC LATER!"
They sprinted forward, the bridge collapsing behind them.
But halfway across—
Yuvan's bridge split sideways and drifted into darkness.
"YUVAAN!!" Kian yelled.
Yuvan reached a hand out—
But the split widened, separating them completely.
"I—I'm okay!" Yuvan called nervously.
"I THINK I'm okay!"
Kian shouted, "DON'T MOVE! I'M COMING TO—"
The platform under him jolted violently.
A warning flashed:
THE TRUTH FINDS THOSE WHO GET LEFT BEHIND
Kian's voice trembled.
"What truth?! About what?!"
The realm answered with silence.
And Yuvan vanished into the fog.
---
MIRA & ZOYA – THE MIRROR ROOM
Mira and Zoya appeared inside a sphere made entirely of mirrors.
Every reflection showed them—
but with differences.
Mira stepped closer to one mirror.
Her reflection was crying in this one.
Zoya whispered,
"This is creepy. Can we leave?"
But the floor sealed beneath them.
A message appeared on the mirror:
ONE OF YOU HID SOMETHING
THE MIRRORS KNOW
Zoya stiffened.
"Mira… what did you hide?"
Mira frowned. "Nothing!"
But one mirror flickered—
showing Mira talking to someone hidden in shadows.
Zoya stepped back, hurt flashing in her eyes.
"Mira… who was that?"
"I don't know! I haven't done this!"
But the mirrors kept flickering—
showing strange versions of both girls.
Zoya's reflection suddenly turned to them.
Her reflection whispered:
You're not telling her everything.
Zoya froze.
Mira stared at her.
"Zoya… what aren't you telling me?"
Zoya's face went pale.
"I… I don't know…"
But her reflection smiled knowingly.
---
RAVI & RHEA – THE CODE MAZE
Ravi and Rhea materialized inside a maze of floating code—
glowing symbols shifting in every direction.
Rhea stuck close to Ravi.
"This place is unreal. It feels like… the game's brain."
Ravi nodded slowly.
"It is. This is the system's core. Round 4 is exposing everything the game wanted hidden."
Suddenly, a huge code wall split open, revealing a message:
ONE OF YOU HAS BEEN HERE BEFORE
Rhea shook her head quickly.
"No. No, that's impossible."
Ravi's heart dropped.
"I…
I think I HAVE seen this place before."
Rhea stared at him, shocked and confused.
"W-what? Ravi, what do you mean?"
"I don't know how, but…"
He touched the floating code.
"It feels familiar."
Rhea whispered fearfully,
"Are you the one who opened the door?"
Ravi went silent.
Because something deep inside him… twisted.
---
DEV – THE TRUTH HALL
Dev stumbled into a hallway lined with giant stone doors.
He clutched his healing-but-not-healed wound, breathing hard.
More messages floated around him:
YOU TRIED TO SAVE THEM
BUT YOU FAILED BEFORE
YOU WILL FAIL AGAIN
Dev clenched his teeth.
"No. I didn't fail. Not this time."
But the next door opened on its own.
Inside he saw—
Aria.
Mira.
Zoya.
Kian.
Rhea.
Ravi.
Yuvan.
All lying motionless on the floor.
Dead.
Dev fell to his knees.
"No… no, no, no—"
His reflection appeared beside him.
"You can't save everyone."
Dev clenched his fists.
"I will. I don't care what this round says. I WILL SAVE THEM."
But the reflection whispered back:
You already didn't.
Dev slammed the door shut, shaking.
---
BACK TO ARIA – THE REVELATION
Aria was led by glitching lights to a platform suspended over the void.
The child appeared again—
but now fully corrupted, half-shadow, half-digital flame.
He hovered around her like a predator.
"You're all learning pieces of the truth," he said.
Aria glared.
"You separated us to confuse us."
"To reveal you," he corrected.
"Reveal WHAT?!"
The child floated close—
his voice echoing like broken data.
"Only one of you had the key.
Only one of you had the signal.
Only one of you was chosen by the game."
Aria's heart raced.
"Chosen… for what?"
The child's form expanded—
eyes glowing white now.
"To open the door that trapped you all."
Aria felt her chest tighten.
"It wasn't me."
He smiled, twisting unnaturally.
"I never said it was."
The platform beneath Aria cracked.
The child whispered:
The truth is coming.
And when it does…
one of your friends becomes the enemy.
The world snapped apart—
And Aria fell again.
Falling toward the center of the Realm of Lost Code.
Falling toward the moment everything begins to unravel.
---