Aria hit the ground hard.
Not dirt.
Not wood.
Not stone.
Glass.
A floor made of countless fractured shards—
each piece reflecting a different part of her face.
She pushed herself up, breath shaky.
"Guys… somebody… answer me…"
A faint echo replied—
not a real voice, but the realm mimicking her tone.
"…answer me… me… me…"
Aria swallowed hard.
This round wasn't just trying to confuse them.
It was trying to turn them against each other.
She stood, brushing glass dust from her clothes.
A soft light flickered ahead.
And a figure limped toward her—
"Dev!"
She ran to him, supporting him as he nearly collapsed.
Dev forced a weak smile.
"I've had better days."
"You shouldn't be walking alone," Aria said, voice thick with worry.
Dev's eyes darkened.
"I saw something, Aria."
Her heart froze.
"What do you mean?"
He shook his head.
"I saw all of you… dead. And the game told me I couldn't save anyone."
His voice cracked.
"It felt too real."
Aria squeezed his hand.
"You didn't fail. You won't fail. Not while we're together."
Dev nodded slowly.
But his eyes remained haunted.
Before they could speak again—
A scream echoed through the realm.
Mira's scream.
Aria's blood turned cold.
"That's Mira—COME ON!"
---
MIRA & ZOYA – THE CONFRONTATION
Mira and Zoya stumbled into a circular area with shifting walls.
Zoya was crying—
not from fear this time,
but from something deeper.
"Mira… why didn't you tell me?" Zoya choked out.
Mira looked confused and terrified.
"I don't know what the mirror showed you, but it wasn't real!"
"Yes, it was!" Zoya screamed.
"It showed you talking to someone in secret. Someone in shadows! Why did you hide that from me?!"
Mira shook her head desperately.
"I didn't! I don't know who that was!"
Zoya's voice cracked.
"Why does it show YOU lying then?!"
Mira grabbed her shoulders.
"Zoya—please listen—"
But the walls around them whispered:
Someone is lying.
Someone is hiding.
Someone knows.
Zoya trembled.
"Is it you, Mira?"
Mira froze.
She didn't know what to say—
because the mirrors didn't lie in this realm.
They revealed possibilities.
Hidden fears.
Invisible truths.
And she didn't understand why she saw herself talking to someone either.
Before the tension could break further—
Aria and Dev arrived.
"Mira! Zoya!" Aria shouted.
The walls stopped whispering instantly.
But the damage was done.
Zoya wiped her tears.
"Mira is hiding something."
Mira stepped back as if struck.
"Zoya…"
Aria intervened.
"Stop. This realm wants us to doubt each other. Don't let it win."
Zoya looked away, breathing shakily.
The first crack in trust had opened.
And the realm fed on it.
---
RAVI & RHEA – THE RETURN
Ravi and Rhea finally escaped the floating maze of code—
stumbling into the same fractured glass area.
Rhea looked shaken.
"Aria… something is wrong with him."
Ravi avoided eye contact.
Aria frowned.
"What happened?"
Rhea whispered,
"The realm said one of us has been here before. And Ravi… said it felt familiar."
Aria's mind raced.
Ravi lifted his head, exhaustion in his eyes.
"I don't know why, Aria. But I've seen fragments of this place. Maybe in dreams. Maybe in code. I don't know."
Dev stepped forward, jaw tight.
"Are you the one who opened the game?"
Ravi flinched like he'd been slapped.
"No! Of course not!"
Dev didn't blink.
"Then how did you recognize the code?"
Ravi's voice trembled.
"I don't know. I swear I don't know."
Aria stepped between them.
"Enough. No accusing until we understand what this round is doing."
But the realm whispered—
He knows more than he says.
Ravi's hands shook.
Rhea touched his arm.
"I believe you. For now."
---
A SUDDEN BLAST OF ENERGY
The ground pulsed—
glass cracking beneath their feet.
Zoya stumbled.
Mira grabbed her.
Dev shielded Aria.
Ravi held Rhea close.
A massive shockwave ripped through the realm—
and a figure flew out of the fog, rolling across the floor.
"YUVAAN!"
Kian came running right after him, breathless.
"HE SAW IT! HE SAW SOMETHING—AND IT WAS BAD!"
Yuvan sat on the ground, trembling violently.
Aria knelt.
"Yuvan—hey, look at me. What happened?"
Yuvan's eyes were wide with terror.
"I saw… I saw who opened the door."
Everyone froze.
Aria felt her blood turn cold.
"Yuvan…" she whispered.
"Who was it?"
He shook his head violently.
"I can't—
I can't say it—
I don't know how to say it—"
Kian grabbed his shoulders.
"BRO, DO NOT PASS OUT, WE NEED THIS INFORMATION—"
Yuvan suddenly screamed—
"IT WAS ONE OF US!"
Silence.
Pure, dead silence.
Ravi's breath faltered.
Dev's fists tightened.
Zoya clutched Mira's hand.
Rhea's eyes widened.
Aria felt her heartbeat stop.
Yuvan continued, voice cracking:
"I saw a door.
A glowing red door.
And someone from our group touched it.
The game reacted to them.
It opened for them."
Aria whispered,
"Who touched it?"
Yuvan shook uncontrollably.
"I couldn't see their face.
Only their silhouette.
But…"
He swallowed hard.
"The child was next to them."
That changed everything.
Mira covered her mouth.
"Oh god…"
Zoya panicked.
"We have someone working with the corruption?!"
Dev growled.
"Whoever betrayed us will answer for it."
Aria whispered weakly—
"We don't know who it is yet."
The realm whispered—
But you will.
The ground cracked open under them.
The sky shattered.
And a giant portal opened beneath their feet.
Aria screamed,
"EVERYONE HOLD ON—"
But the realm didn't let them.
They fell again—
Falling straight into the final layer of Round 4,
where the truth waited.
And the child waited with it.
---