As Nexar stepped into Dorm Chimera, the air immediately pressed down on him, heavy and suffocating. The atmosphere wasn't welcoming—it was thick with tension, with the kind of silence that warned him something was watching, waiting. The massive iron door groaned and hissed open behind him, and a cold breath of sterile air seeped through the cracks.
He froze at the threshold, his sharp eyes scanning the interior. What met him was not what he expected.
It wasn't a cage.
The inside of Dorm Chimera looked… normal. Almost disturbingly so. Five neatly made beds were arranged along the walls, their white sheets tucked in with military precision. A sturdy table stood in the center, surrounded by five chairs—just enough for them. Against one wall were lockers, polished steel gleaming beneath the dim overhead lights. Even bathrooms were tucked into a corner, their doors half open, sinks and mirrors glinting.
It was too clean. Too arranged. Too perfect.
Nexar's instincts screamed. He knew there were eyes hidden in the walls, cameras recording their every move, microphones swallowing every sound. Comfort didn't exist in this place—not without a trap lying beneath it.
He remained in the doorway longer than the others, refusing to step in fully, his gaze sweeping from corner to corner, studying every shadow, memorizing every angle. Comfort was the first illusion they dangled before their prey. And there was always a plot twist waiting.
One by one, his new "roommates" entered.
The first was Odysseus. His scarred face carried exhaustion, but the hardness melted from his eyes the moment he saw the beds. His lips stretched into a wide grin, childlike despite the weight of his body. "Thank you, Lord—even if you're not real!" he said, voice bursting with relief as he half-ran and threw himself onto one of the mattresses. He bounced lightly on it, laughing to himself, too distracted to notice Nexar watching him from the corner.
When Odysseus finally turned his head and saw Nexar standing there, he froze for half a beat, then laughed again, his smile widening even more.
"Uy, Nexar! Didn't see you there. I was too busy enjoying this bed… it's the softest thing I've ever touched in my life."
He nodded toward Nexar as if to remind him—silently—that not everyone in this place was waiting for a chance to betray him.
The second to enter was a giant of a man. His frame filled the doorway, shoulders so broad they seemed to scrape the walls. Burn scars traced his skin like rivers carved into stone, and each step he took shook the floor, faint vibrations spreading with every heavy footfall. At first, he looked like the type who could crush anyone in the room with a single hand.
But then he noticed Nexar and Odysseus staring. His expression faltered, and he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Uh… don't worry," he muttered, his voice deep yet hesitant, almost shy. "I don't snore that loud."
The sheer gentleness in his tone was jarring—like a monster trying too hard to sound harmless. Nexar studied him, unsettled by the contrast. A beast in form, but a man trying not to scare the others.
The third figure slipped in so quietly no one noticed until her voice broke the silence. "Hello," she said softly.
All heads turned.
She was small, her arms thin as twigs, her hands trembling as though her own body weighed too much to hold. Fragile. Weak. Breakable. Yet her eyes—those eyes—burned with an intensity that didn't match her frame. Cold, sharp, and unwavering. Her gaze alone made the room feel smaller.
Some of the survivors frowned in confusion. A girl? Here? Why would the scientists place someone who looked like she'd shatter under pressure in the same dorm as predators?
Nexar's voice cut through the whispers.
"Don't judge her by her body. There's something more dangerous beneath that face. Her appearance is a mask. Her eyes… they're sharper than any blade."
And last came the fourth.
He entered with a smile that stretched unnaturally wide, as if he had stepped into a comedy everyone else couldn't hear. His lips were curved upward too much, his expression frozen like a mask of amusement. Even as silence filled the room, his grin refused to fade. His eyes wandered, scanning the walls, the ceiling, the beds—and then each of his new roommates. Slowly. Too slowly.
Nexar's own gaze hardened as he watched.
This one was dangerous—not because of strength or scars, but because he looked too comfortable here.
He folded his arms and leaned back, studying them all. Interesting roommates, he thought to himself.
This wasn't a team.
This was four predators locked in the same cage with him.