The sun shone brightly, a stark contrast to Yuwon's mood.
A young man, tall and sharp-featured, with messy blonde hair parted to the side, walked down an unfamiliar street.
"Good grief. The sun's blazing as brightly as it gets, and yet this alley still feels uncanny."
He looked down at his phone. The map app led him through a narrow passage — one he'd never seen before. The gray walls stretched high, pressing in on him like a cage.
His phone chimed in his hand.
[You have arrived at the desired location.]
Yuwon looked up. A wide, oversized red door stood before him.
"So… this is the infamous mask store?"
He glanced around.
"Thought it'd be a bit fancier… or at least less abandoned. Well I shouldn't judge a book by it's cover i suppose."
Shaking his head, he dismissed the unease curling in his stomach. He grabbed the door handle and—
---
"GASP—!"
Pain exploded through my skull, sharper than any migraine I'd ever known.
'My head— it hurts. It hurts so much—'
I turned and vomited violently, the acid sting barely cutting through the throbbing in my brain.
"Dude, watch it! You almost got that on my hoodie."
The voice was annoyed, young. Someone yanked away the cloth i had been leaning on.
I blinked through the haze. It was the boy I met shortly before—before my memory had blurred into chaos.
"Wh–what happened?"
"You tell me. You collapsed, puked blood, and passed out."
'No kidding, brat.' I grimaced inwardly. "I meant— where are we? How did we get here?"
I carefully looked around. Corridors stretched endlessly in every direction, all gray and concrete, converging into a small clearing. In the center stood a lone, average-sized tree, surrounded by makeshift tents built from sticks, leaves, and torn fabric. Near them sat four people—and that thing that had accompanied me earlier—deep in hushed conversation.
"I told you I'd met some other people here," the boy said, gesturing toward the camp.
"They built this place. That tree's the only natural thing we've seen in the maze so far. We've mapped a bit around here, but… we still don't know where the exit is. Or what it even looks like."
He sighed, ruffling his already messy hair. "Oh— and you should thank Charles. He helped me carry you here. Did most of the heavy lifting, actually."
"…Who?"
The boy shot me an incredulous look.
"The guy you were traveling with? Receding hairline, creepy smile—ring a bell?"
'Oh. That thing.'
My stomach turned. 'Why'd it help us anyway? It could have easily killed us both after i passed out.'
"You're pretty rude for a kid who barely looks seventeen."
"Dude, I'm twenty-one! Why do you talk like some old man anyway? You don't look that much older than me."
'Wait— he's right. This body… who's to say it's as old as I am?' I combed through the fragments of memory that had been flooding my head.
'My last birthday was twenty-five. So… I'm younger by 6 years in this world— this body.'
"Thanks for the compliment, but I'm four years older, junior."
"Ugh, you're barely older and already talk like a grandpa. You and Charles are a perfect pair."
"Watch your mouth."
Too tired to argue, I laid back down and stared at the ceiling—gray, seamless, and suffocating.
No lights, yet everything was illuminated. No seams, yet the labyrinth stretched infinitely.
"So what's your name?" I asked just to break the awkward silence. "I'm Yuwon by the way."
"Josh," the boy replied. "Nice to meet you."
The awkward silence returned just as quickly
"How long've you been in here, Yuwon?" Josh asked.
"I'm not sure… maybe four hours before I passed out?"
Josh's brow furrowed. "Charles said you two have been wandering for thirteen hours."
Cold sweat trickled down My neck.
'Thirteen? I only remember three… maybe less.'
I pulled out my phone—dead. The screen stayed black.
'Could it be true? Maybe Charles measures time differently… or maybe it's lying. But what if it isn't?'
"Sorry," I muttered. "My sense of time's still off. But, Josh—when I was wandering, I saw corpses. What's going on in this maze?"
Josh's tone dropped. "There are clones—copies of the dead. They look and act exactly like them… until they get excited. Then they lose it. I've heard stories, but never met one."
"But you've been here two and a half days."
Josh smirked, pride flickering in his eyes. "I said I haven't met one. Didn't say I haven't seen them. I'm good at running."
'Running. he was running when we met. Was he... running away from a mimic?'
The realization struck like ice.
'Charles didn't help us. It carried me here—to lead that mimic to the camp.'
I could feel my pulse quicken.
'One of those survivors is probably the other mimic. That means—two mimics against 4 real people including me. We're in danger if even one of them attacks.'
I looked toward the camp.
'I can't tell which is which. Only Josh is safe. I need to warn him—fast.'
"Josh," I said slowly. "What if I told you that before I met you and Charles… I saw a corpse identical to Charles?"
Josh froze. His face drained of color.
'He gets it. He knows. Hold on... where's he staring at--'
"Mister! You're awake! We were so worried! How are you feeling?"
My heart dropped. That voice—right beside my ear.
I didn't need to look to know who it was.
'Charles.'
The mimic crouched next to me, smiling too widely. I forced a calm expression, though sweat clung to my skin.
"Hey, Charles. I'm uh... feeling a bit better now. Dizzy, but I'll manage."
Silence followed. That same uncanny smile didn't falter.
"Josh told me you helped carry me here. Thanks," I said stiffly. "You can call me Yuwon by the way."
Another pause—awkward, heavy.
"Alright, Yuwon. The leader of this camp wants to see you."
That smile didn't waver. "The lady with black hair by the tents."
I hesitated. Leaving Josh alone with Charles felt wrong, but i cant risk suspicion.
'If he wanted to kill us, he'd have done it already… so what's his game?'
"Alright," i sighed, rising to my feet. My legs wobbled, still weak. "See you guys soon."
Josh gave me a nervous nod. Charles waved after me cheerfully— like a Parent sending off their toddler to school.
'Creepy bastard.'
The camp was smaller than it had looked. As i searched, i found a girl crouched by a tent, patching it with torn fabric. Small frame and Black shoulder long hair. She couldn't have been older than a teenager.
"Excuse me," i asked. "Do you know where the camp leader is? I heard she wanted to talk to me."
She turned, sharp-eyed and unimpressed. "You're looking at her. Yuwon, right?"
'This kid is the leader? She looks younger than Josh. What's with all these teenagers?'
"Sorry, I just—"
"Let's talk somewhere else," she interrupted. Her gaze flicked past me—toward Josh and Charles. "Somewhere quieter."
I followed her a few steps away—barely forty meters behind the tree.
'Somewhere else? Really? This barely counts as moving.'
"So," i began, "what did you—"
"Charles is a mimic."
I froze.
'What?'
"...How do you know that?" i asked carefully.
"He told me."
'No way. Why would he—'
"You don't seem too surprised," she said. "So you already knew." She sighed, her voice steady but tired. "Don't you think it's strange? He could've killed you both when you passed out—but didn't."
She was reading me perfectly. My mind raced. 'Maybe she wasn't lying. Honesty i wouldn't even be surprised anymore.'
"And you just believe him?"
"No sane person here would falsely claim to be a mimic. It'd destroy the only sanctuary we've got."
"He also said another mimic followed you in. There are three of them in camp now."
"Three?" I blinked. "You already had one before we came?"
She nodded. "Like Charles, that one isn't hostile. Not… yet. Charles says they want to leave the maze, too."
'So it's three of those things against this girl, me and Josh? Our chances are as bad as it gets.'
"You actually trust that thing?"
"I do," she said quietly. "If they wanted us dead, we'd already be gone."
I rubbed my temple, pulse echoing in my ears.
'So that's his goal. Escape. But if they leave this maze… what happens to the world outside?'
A shiver crawled up my spine.
'We can't let those things ever leave.'