Kim and Roger had forgotten the entire world for a moment. After everything—the running, the collapsing floor, the shadow chasing them—their kiss felt like the first calm breath after drowning. Roger's hands rested gently on Kim's neck, and Kim's fingers curled behind Roger's shoulders as if holding onto something he never wanted to lose.
The kiss deepened slowly, spreading warmth down to their necks. It was soft but desperate, like both of them wanted to freeze this moment in time. But then Kim suddenly stopped. He pulled back, breathing a little heavier, eyes lowered for a second like he was fighting something inside him.
Roger immediately stepped back, looking down with a strange mixture of embarrassment and fear—fear that maybe she misunderstood, maybe she crossed a line.
Kim let out a long, shaky sigh.
"I always tried to be near you," he said quietly. "Since the very first time we met. And now when I'm actually close… I'm afraid to lose you."
Roger blinked. Then she smiled, a soft real smile, the type she rarely gave anyone.
"You're just everything to me," she whispered back.
Kim's eyes softened. He smiled too, the kind of smile that made the fear fade for a moment.
"Okay then," he said, "we'll be together till our last breath."
Roger nodded gently. "Till my last breath."
They held hands again—this time stronger, fingers locked like a promise—and turned toward the next gate. The door in front of them had another symbol carved into its surface, a riddle waiting for them, just like all the gates before.
But before they stepped into the next nightmare, Roger squeezed Kim's hand once, almost like a signal: we are still alive. And they walked forward.
Meanwhile, the Other Four…
Tony slowly pushed open the door in front of them. Jet stood behind him, peeking over his shoulder. Samy and Tin were right behind her. They all froze for a moment because the room looked… normal.
A classroom.
But this one was nothing like the dusty, torn-up ones they had seen earlier. It was neat. Too neat. The wooden desks were perfectly arranged, the windows looked clean, even the chalkboard had a fresh line drawn across it, as if the teacher had left a minute ago.
Samy swallowed. "This… doesn't look scary."
Tin crossed his arms. "That's the scary part."
Jet stepped inside first. "Guys, it's fine. Nothing's here—"
The door slammed shut behind them.
All four spun around.
The lights flickered hard—once, twice—then darkness swallowed the entire room. The shadows seemed to move across the walls.
Tony grabbed Jet's wrist instantly. "Stay close."
Her heart thumped so loud she felt like Tony could hear it. She didn't pull her hand away. Instead, she stepped closer. "I-I'm not scared," she whispered.
"Your voice says otherwise," Tony said softly, trying to keep calm for her sake.
A faint glow appeared at the far end of the classroom. Not light—more like a distortion in the air. A ripple.
Samy pointed. "What's that?"
Tin took a step forward, slowly. "I don't think it's part of this room."
The ripple widened like a doorway, but instead of showing another room, it showed… nothing. Just a colorless emptiness, like a world with no start and no end.
Suddenly the floor cracked beneath their feet.
The entire classroom tilted.
Jet stumbled and Tony caught her by the shoulders. "Hold onto me!"
"I am!" she said, gripping his jacket tightly.
Samy lost balance and Tin grabbed her wrist instantly, pulling her into his chest so she wouldn't fall. Their eyes met for a long second—too long for the situation—but somehow it grounded them both.
The classroom broke apart like pieces of a puzzle falling away. Desks slipped into the void, and the ceiling dissolved like smoke. The four of them tried to stay upright but the ground simply disappeared beneath them and—
They fell.
Not fast, not slow. Like drifting downward into a dream that had no gravity.
Jet gasped and reached for anyone, but Tony wrapped his arm around her waist, holding her tight against him. "I won't let you go," he said into her ear, voice steady even though he was just as terrified.
Tin held Samy's hand the entire fall, fingers locked, as if letting go meant losing her forever. Samy didn't even try to pull away. She squeezed back.
The fall ended with a soft landing on something cold.
They stood up, confused.
It wasn't a room.
It wasn't a hallway.
It was… a strange place that looked like it never belonged anywhere normal. The ground looked like cracked glass floating above a dark, endless depth. Above them, instead of a sky, there were broken shapes—fragments of buildings, pieces of staircases, floating upside down.
A place stitched together from nightmares.
Samy whispered, "Where the hell are we?"
No one answered.
From far away, a distant echo drifted toward them—like a whisper calling their names.
Tin stepped slightly in front of Samy, protective without even realizing it. "Stay behind me."
Samy looked at him, and for the first time since entering the gates, she felt a little safer. "I'm not leaving your side," she muttered.
Tony took Jet's hand again. "We move together. No splitting."
Jet nodded, her fear sharp but her heart beating harder for another reason. Being this close to Tony in a moment like this… she didn't know if it was good or terrible, but she didn't let go.
The path in front of them formed out of floating pieces of fractured ground. It wasn't stable, but it was the only way.
Tony inhaled. "Let's go. And don't look down."
Jet immediately looked down.
She grabbed his arm tighter. "I hate you."
He smirked a little. "Good. Stay close then."
Samy and Tin followed right behind, walking slowly as the floor vibrated under their feet.
The four of them moved deeper into the strange dimension, unaware that something was watching them from the fractured shadows.
And somewhere far inside this distorted place…
the key they needed to open the classroom gate was waiting.
But the path to reach it would test their trust, their fear, and their growing feelings for each other more than any gate so far.