Copyright Notice: This story is an original work by Muntasib_Ihshan789. All rights reserved. Do not copy or redistribute without permission.
The cruise stopped slowly at the island's beach. One by one, the students in navy blue dresses stepped out onto the mossy rocks of the island as the instructors commanded. In front of them, trees were stressing like a green wall. The entire island was covered in a large thick jungle. It was looking so deep from the outside that many of them started to doubt in their mind that can sunlight even reach the surface.
The island was wild, as if no human has visited this place for a long period of time. The scent of salt, soil, and leaves could be smelled in the air.
In the middle of it all, a figure could be seen standing. A colossal tall structure piercing the sky. It was the tower.
The tower's crack body was covered with creeping stone vines. The upper levels was seeming like it was piercing the sky. The students kept staring at it. Some were trying to see the top by twisting their heads up. Others tightened their fists. Some dropped jaws. For a moment, none of them spoke.
"This is it, the test." Someone whispered in the crowd of students
The mentors gathered them at the foot of the tower. Their expressions were stern and unmoving as is they already knew the result and it will be not good.
"Line up!" one of the mentors shouted. The students fell into place in neat rows, 20 in total. Each team had 4 members and total of 5 teams.
"You are here for a reason. And now, that reason will test you." The lead mentor's voice rang over the murmuring breeze.
"The tower has 50 floors! You will start on separate levels . Your teams are assigned randomly. The game will last three days. At the end, whoever reaches the 50th floor and sends the signal, wins."
He paused. "If no one reaches it, the highest floor reached will determine the winning team."
They explained the rules:
Each floor has two stations — one for games and the second for a trial. Something more abstract, with no given instructions.
To go up, your team must pass a game at the booth.
If you lose, you go back down one floor.
Teams can challenge other teams below them to block their advance. If the challenged team loses, they accept a penalty, such as restarting from Floor 1.
Everything for survival is here, but must be earned or discovered.
Each player's wristband tracks points, gained by solving puzzles, reaching new floors, or clever strategies. These points will matter later.
Delta's team began on Floor 2, with Gamma, Row, and Theta. The room was chillingly silent — dim, damp, with rusty concrete walls. Spider webs hung like lace across broken corners. A sealing bulb glowed once for a moment then turned off. Shattered window glass let in sharp sea air, and somewhere below, the the twisted stairs could be seen.
Delta planned with others that in order to survive 3 days, they will need food, water and a shelter as it's in the middle of a sea and it will get cold at night.
Theta immediately scouted the room and found a booth with a small blinking panel. Inside, they saw sealed food boxes. But it demanded a ticket card.
They searched frantically. Eventually, they found a strange brick-shaped item under a broken cabinet. It was coated in some hard substance, and had a faint fire symbol on it.
"That might be the key," Theta said. "But how do we unlock it?"
Delta paused. The mentor's words returned to her: Everything you need is here. On this island.
She made a decision and when others were searching, she ran down the stairs, stepping outside the tower. The jungle welcomed her with a wind through trees. She foraged quickly — collecting dry leaves, a few vines, and a broken bird nest. Just as she was about to return to her floor, she met a game booth on the stairwell. It was in the first floor.
A mentor sat inside, eyes bored.
"You want to go up?" he said. "Solve a game. You have to choose from these."
Delta looked at the options and picked crossword. It was not hard for her as she solved it in less than a minute with no difficulty. The mentor blinked in disbelief but waved her through.
On Floor 2, she faced another game booth. Another crossword. Again, she solved it effortlessly.
Back with her team, she dumped the natural materials.
Theta, looking at the materials on Delta's hand instantly figured out what to do.
"We're burning this," she said.
They made a small campfire and heated the strange card-like item. As the outer layer burned off, a hidden card emerged. It slid perfectly into the booth's slot. The door opened.
Inside: food boxes and thermal blankets.
There were tables, chairs and some bricks here and there. They were able to build a makeshift shelter, just enough to trap body heat. It was crude but effective. That night, the sea wind screamed through the broken glass panes. They ate, but Delta told them to leave some behind.
By morning, one food box was gone.
Row jumped in shock. "Everybody wake up! Someone stole it?!"
Delta smiled looking at the drama. "I knew someone would. So I mixed one box with sand and wood ash!"
"Uhh now…That's evil," Theta said.
"No. That's prevention as there is no rule stating you can't steal from others," Delta said. Somewhere above, someone was probably suffering with a stomach ache.
They climbed floor after floor, never failing. At each booth, one of them would solve the game — sometimes a puzzle, sometimes chess, even logic riddles. As long as one of them passed, all went up.
At Floor 15, they finally met their first real obstacle. The air was heavier here. The lights were dimmer than before. The room felt like a forgotten domain in reality and waiting in the shadows was another team.
Omega's team. From the gloom, a boy named Epsilon stepped forward — grinning.
"I challenge your team as the high position holder," he said. "If you loose, and you will have to return to Floor 1."
"So, what's the challenge?" Delta asked with a calm voice.
"A guava race," Epsilon smirked.
"I got two guavas in my hands almost the same size." Epsilon said, showing his hands.
"The one to finish first wins. The looser will have to start from floor 1."
He pointed to a small refrigerator in the corner. "We picked them from there. So don't worry it's perfectly fresh."
Delta narrowed her eyes. Omega stepped forward. "I'll go," he said.
Delta turned to her team. "Row," she said quietly. Row nodded, cracking his knuckles. "With pleasure."
The race began. Both boys began biting into their guavas. Seconds ticked. Omega was gaining speed — Row, oddly, was struggling.
Then after some times, suddenly the most quiet kid from Delta's team, Gamma spoke up. "Wait."
Everyone turned to Gamma.
"Why are there water droplets on Row's guava," he said slowly, "but not on Omega-senpai's?"
Epsilon blinked in shock hearing it.
Gamma continued. "The room's dark, sure. But not dark enough. Row's guava… it's cold. Frozen. You gave him a harder one to chew."
Delta's eyes widened. Even she hadn't noticed.
"…How?" Epsilon whispered. "I made the room just dark enough."
"You overestimated the dark," Gamma said flatly. "It's dark, but not enough for me."
He looked straight at Epsilon. Any type of pride or sign of smugness could not be seen in his face. Just cold, surgical logic.
And in that moment, even Omega, standing beside Epsilon, started to think in a tensed mind.
Because he could tell it's actually impossible for anyone to see in this dark. Gamma wasn't guessing. He knew. And nobody knew how he knew.
Dead Logic © 2025 by Muntasib_Ihshan789 is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International