The observation room behind the thick glass fell into absolute silence, the faint smell of scorched flesh still seeping in from the execution chamber. The flames that had consumed Bima's body had died out, leaving behind a charred iron chair and black ash that still rose in lazy wisps like the final breath of hell itself. The large screen overhead glowed dimly with the words NOT DEAL, slowly fading into pitch blackness.
No one dared speak first.
We all stood frozen, eyes still fixed on the now-empty execution room. Only the sound of ragged breathing and the soft creak of the podiums still moving slowly could be heard.
Dion was the first to break.
He staggered back a step, his back hitting the wall. The face that had always looked so resolute was now twisted with unbearable despair. His eyes glistened with tears, fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white.
"Why… why did it have to be like this?" His voice cracked, almost a shout. "I… I really thought Bima wouldn't do something like that! We… we mourned Yusuf together! We promised we'd survive until the end without killing each other! Why did he… why did he break that promise?!"
Dion covered his face with both hands, shoulders shaking. Suppressed sobs tore from his throat, heavy with long-buried trauma. One of the friends he had thought he could rely on had turned out to be a murderer.
Everyone was stunned by Dion's emotional outburst. No one dared approach him. The silence only grew heavier.
I stood motionless, still gripping the small zipper pull that now felt ice-cold in my palm. Inside my chest, a complicated mix of emotions churned.
It was necessary, I told myself. Bima tried to kill everyone. He murdered Anya. He deserved it.
But when I saw Dion screaming in despair, when I saw Zahra's shoulders trembling, when I saw Sinta covering her mouth as quiet tears slipped down her cheeks… I realized something.
I had almost lost my humanity. I had almost started to think all of this was "normal."
Adi gripped his own hands tightly, his voice low but heavy with burden.
"The real enemy in all of this isn't us killing each other… we kill because we have no choice. The real enemy is the mastermind pulling the strings from behind the scenes."
Aulia nodded slowly, her voice still polite even as it trembled.
"You're right… we have to find out who that mastermind is. Whoever they are."
MonoGaru suddenly appeared in the middle of our observation room, hopping lightly out of the darkness. His torn wings fluttered gently, his wide, horrifying smile never fading.
"Fufufu~ Bima's death just now was truly entertaining~ He tried to make everyone vote wrong and almost succeeded. If not for that tiny zipper pull Reno found, you all might have died from a false accusation. What an interesting trial this time~ I hope you don't get caught the next time you kill, okay? Because next time… I won't be so forgiving~"
The observation room behind the thick glass slowly began to transform. The dark walls seemed to melt and shift with a heavy mechanical groan, carrying us back to the main trial room, now completely empty. The podiums had vanished, the judge's seat was gone—only the cracked mosaic floor and the high, darkened ceiling remained, lit by the ever-fading dim red light. The room felt larger, more hollow, like a tomb that had just swallowed another life.
We stood in the middle of that emptiness, bodies still tense, breathing still ragged. The smell of Bima's scorched flesh still clung to our noses even though no flames or ash were visible anymore.
Aulia stepped forward. Her eyes were still wet with tears, her simple batik shawl hanging limply from her shoulders. Her voice shook with rare, raw anger and despair.
"Why… why could you do something like this, MonoGaru?!" she demanded, her polite tone cracking. "Forcing us to kill one another… like monsters."
MonoGaru appeared from the darkness in the center of the room, hopping lightly onto the cracked mosaic floor. His torn wings fluttered, his red eyes glowing with that ever-present crooked smile.
"Haaaah~ I didn't do anything, sweet Aulia~" he said playfully, his voice sweet yet piercing straight to the bone. "You did it yourselves. You Ultimates were forced to kill over the smallest reasons. Vina did it because she saw a chance to escape. Bima did it because he didn't want the island's secret documents leaked to the public. Everyone has their reasons."
MonoGaru looked at each of us in turn, his tiny finger pointing at our faces one by one.
"I'm sure every single one of you has your own reasons that just haven't been exposed yet. All I did was give you a little push. And then I cleaned up the ones who were wrong… with the punishment they deserved. Every culprit or would-be culprit knew the risks when they chose to kill. They picked that path themselves."
Everyone seethed with rage. Zahra clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white. Sinta covered her mouth, eyes glistening. Lira gripped her gem necklace tightly. Dion hung his head, shoulders shaking. Adi clutched his notebook like a final weapon. Even Krisna, usually silent, now wore a colder, thinner smile than usual.
MonoGaru only chuckled softly.
"Your faces are getting scarier and scarier~ The angrier you get, the more you look like real monsters. Perfect."
He hopped lightly, his torn wings creaking.
"Now that this trial is over, I have another surprise for you. The day after tomorrow, the Main Building will undergo repairs and will be temporarily closed. To handle that, you will be given access to cross over to the other islands."
Everyone exchanged glances. No one dared protest. Only heavy silence and exhausted looks passed between them.
Zayn finally spoke, his voice thick with restrained fury.
"Is there really a mastermind behind all of this? Someone watching—and even controlling you?"
MonoGaru shrugged his tiny shoulders cutely.
"I don't know myself. But if there really is one… I'd like to meet them too. Who knows, they might be more fun than all of you~"
One by one we began walking out of the empty trial room. I walked at the very back, my mind still spinning nonstop. If this kept going… it wouldn't be long before more of us went insane. Four people were already dead. Yusuf, Vina, Anya… and now Bima, executed in such a brutal way. How many more would have to fall before we were completely broken?
Before I could walk any farther from the empty trial room, a soft hand touched the sleeve of my jacket.
"Reno… wait a moment."
Aulia stood behind me. Her wavy black hair was slightly disheveled.
"I still need to ask you one thing," she said politely, though a small tremor betrayed her. "About the small box containing the secrets Anya uncovered. Does… it really exist?"
I turned to face her. For a moment I hesitated. Then I glanced toward MonoGaru, who was now floating in the middle of the empty room, his torn wings fluttering gently.
"MonoGaru," I called firmly. "Did Bima really steal a box from Anya?"
MonoGaru tilted his head, red eyes blinking as if confused.
"A small box? I didn't find anything like that on Bima at all. I have no idea what you're talking about, Reno~"
MonoGaru hopped lightly and vanished into the darkness, leaving the two of us alone in the hollow room.
Knowing that even MonoGaru had no knowledge of it, Aulia and I walked together down the quiet corridors of the Main Building. Everyone else had already gone their separate ways, their footsteps echoing faintly in the distance. Only Aulia and I remained, walking slowly through the shadows cast by the eternal torches.
We stopped in an empty classroom on the second floor. The room was dark, lit only by the faint glow of the eternal torches outside the windows. Dusty wooden desks stood in neat rows, a cracked blackboard on the wall.
Aulia sat at one of the desks and I followed.
"If Bima didn't take it… or if that wasn't what he was looking for… then Anya must have hidden the box before she was killed."
I took Anya's farewell letter from my jacket pocket and examined it again under the dim torchlight. Her neat, small handwriting was still clearly legible, but there was no direct clue about the box's location.
"There's no mention of the box's whereabouts in what Anya wrote," I said quietly.
Aulia held out her hand.
"May I borrow it for a moment?"
I handed it to her. As Aulia took the letter, her finger accidentally brushed the sharp edge of the paper. She gave a small gasp, and the letter slipped from her fingers to the floor.
"Sorry…!" I said quickly, feeling guilty.
Aulia shook her head gently, smiling faintly even as a tiny drop of blood appeared on her finger. She put the finger in her mouth to stop the bleeding—a simple gesture that looked so fragile and human in the middle of all this darkness.
I was startled. For a brief moment I saw a side of Aulia that was rarely visible—a normal girl who could also get hurt, who could also feel pain. My cheeks warmed slightly, but I quickly shook my head to refocus.
I bent down to pick up the fallen letter, right beneath the glow of the eternal torch. As I looked up, the torchlight shone through the paper from behind.
And I froze.
Several previously invisible writings now appeared faintly. There was another pattern on the letter—a thin, almost transparent design, like special ink that only became visible under certain light.
"Looks like… there's another secret on this letter," I whispered, my voice trembling with shock.
Aulia leaned in quickly, eyes widening.
"What is it?"
I held the letter closer to the eternal torch. The pattern grew clearer—a small hidden map, complete with an X mark and faint writing.
"Anya must have marked the box's location with a special liquid that only appears in the dark when exposed to light," I said. "She protected her secret so cleverly… even until the very end."
Aulia stared at the letter with glistening eyes, her still-bleeding finger gently touching the edge of the paper.
"Anya… she really entrusted everything to us."
The two of us stood silently in the empty classroom, surrounded by a quiet broken only by the faint crackle of the eternal torch outside the window. Anya's farewell letter remained in my hand, its dim light now revealing the hidden secret pattern—a small map with a faint X, as if Anya had deliberately concealed it with invisible ink meant to appear only under the right light.
Aulia looked at the letter with eyes still wet, her slightly bleeding hand hanging limply at her side.
"We have to find that location," she said softly, her voice polite yet full of determination. "Tomorrow… we can go there. But tonight… we need rest. Today's mental burden has been too heavy."
I nodded slowly.
"You're right. We'll search tomorrow. Tonight… let's just sleep."
We parted ways in the corridor. Aulia's light footsteps faded toward her room. I walked alone to mine, my mind still filled with the image of flames consuming Bima, Anya's letter, and the secret box still hidden somewhere.
That night, I lay on my thin mattress with my eyes wide open. Heavy thoughts filled my head—death after death, secret after secret, and the fear that tomorrow one of us might become the next victim. I tried to close my eyes, entrusting everything to the coming day. Sleep came restlessly, filled with nightmares of fire, blood, and black shadows that never stopped chasing me.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The next morning, I walked to the dorm common room as usual for our simple daily roll call. But the only faces I found were fewer—Aulia, Krisna, Lira, Rian, Adi, and Dion.
Adi frowned, his notebook already open in his hand.
"Where is everyone else?"
Krisna, sitting in the corner with a brush in hand, answered in his usual flat, slightly hard-to-follow voice.
"I've been here since early morning. I saw Zayn leave very early… I don't know where. His steps were quick, like he didn't want to miss something."
He continued, mentioning Zahra's whereabouts.
"Zahra didn't want to sit still because she's still thinking about yesterday. So she went to the garden."
Lira, sitting on the sofa, clutched her bell necklace tightly.
"I tried knocking on Sinta's door, but she said she wasn't feeling well today… and didn't want to come out."
Aulia, standing near the window, added politely.
"Selena wanted to spend time in the recreation room. She said she's stressed and doesn't want to talk to anyone yet."
I nodded slowly, then asked.
"What about the rest?"
Rian wiped his glasses.
"Nova probably disappeared somewhere as usual… she likes vanishing without a trace."
I glanced at Dion, who sat silently in the corner. He hadn't said a word. His eyes were still red and dry, a sign of the heavy stress he carried. He was probably still grieving Bima and deeply shaken by yesterday's brutal execution.
Adi looked at Dion and sighed.
"Just looking at Dion's face is enough to make me depressed too. Everything really is insane…"
Lira offered her opinion in a soft, melancholic voice.
"Maybe we should just adjust to living here. Maybe there really is no way out."
Aulia looked at Lira with her large, empathetic eyes.
"Living here like what… you mean, by stopping trying to escape?"
Lira replied quietly.
"The outside world isn't safe either. There's no safe place that provides comfortable beds, abundant food, and no crime or bloodshed every day."
Rian shook his head firmly, his voice serious.
"If what you mean is achieving safety by killing each other until only two remain… I don't want to accept that."
Adi tried to calm the mood, his voice passionate but controlled.
"There's no point arguing about that. What we need to think about is what MonoGaru said yesterday. He said the Main Building will be closed."
Krisna, still drawing abstract patterns in the air, added in his flat, difficult-to-understand voice.
"That means access to food will be cut off… and we don't know how long the repairs will take."
Aulia nodded slowly.
"Since the cafeteria will be closed, how long can we last without food?"
I spoke in a low voice.
"Zahra's prediction turned out to be true. Good thing that girl made the garden."
Lira looked curious too.
"I'm curious about the new island MonoGaru mentioned. What's there?"
Rian checked his MonoWatch.
"The MonoWatch says the island will open tomorrow, and the Main Building will close tonight. So today we should make the most of it and explore."
Adi glanced at the still-silent Dion.
"I can't do anything for Dion right now…"
Aulia spoke politely, full of hope.
"For Dion and the others, we have to find the truth no matter how small it is."
I nodded in agreement.
"Right. We have to keep searching."
After the quiet, empty morning roll call, everyone began to split up. Aulia and I chose to stay together. We walked down the corridors of the Main Building toward the empty classroom we had used yesterday. Our minds were focused on one thing: solving the mystery of Anya's farewell letter.
"There's no clear location telling us exactly where the small box is," I said quietly while studying the pattern. "But there are clues like 'the meeting place of the gods' and 'he who rules over death' written there."
Aulia nodded, her large eyes full of concentration. Her wavy black hair fell slightly over her cheek as she leaned forward.
"The god statues—the only place that comes to mind is the New Room. There are statues there… Hindu-Buddhist gods. Maybe the box is hidden in one of them."
We looked at each other, then almost simultaneously remembered something.
Aulia whispered.
"In history, if I'm not mistaken… the one closest to 'he who rules over death' is Shiva, the embodiment of destruction itself."
I nodded quickly.
"The Shiva statue… Let's check there."
We hurried out of the empty classroom and headed to the area with the god statues scattered throughout the Main Building. After searching for nearly half an hour, we finally found the large Shiva statue in a hidden corner. The statue was tall, its right hand holding a trident, its third eye carved sharply as if staring straight at us.
Carefully, I touched the base of the statue. There was a small, almost invisible gap. I pushed gently, and a small metal box emerged from behind the stone.
The two of us fell silent for a moment. I opened the box with extreme care.
Inside was a strange device—like an old, worn-out cassette tape, complete with number codes and symbols I couldn't understand at all. Its small screen was cracked, but a faint light still glowed inside.
As we stood there confused, holding the device, footsteps echoed from the corridor. Rian appeared from the direction of the basement, his thick glasses slightly askew.
He saw the two of us looking lost and came closer.
"What's going on? You look like you found treasure but don't know how to open it."
I showed him the device and explained briefly.
"This is the secret box from Anya. The one I've been looking for this whole time."
Rian took it carefully, eyes widening behind his glasses.
"I… I didn't expect you to be telling the truth. Anya really did keep something."
Aulia asked politely.
"Do you know what it is, Rian?"
Rian turned the device in his hands, then smiled faintly.
"This is an old cassette tape. Really old model, but it can still be played if we have the right equipment."
I asked immediately.
"Is there a way to find out what's on it? Because the codes are completely unreadable to me."
Rian's smile widened, his eyes sparkling with challenge.
"I know how. There's an old cassette player in the Recreation Room. I'll need to modify it a bit… but it's doable."
Aulia and I exchanged glances, then almost at the same time asked desperately.
"Please, Rian… we need your help."
Rian, unaccustomed to being asked for help like that, suddenly looked shy, his cheeks turning slightly red. He scratched his head with an awkward smile.
"Yeah… I'll help. You don't have to beg like that…"
The three of us walked quickly toward the Recreation Room. The strange device from Anya's secret box was held tightly in Rian's hand.
When we arrived at the Recreation Room, we headed straight for the AV room. A large screen on the wall played an old black-and-white romance film slowly.
Selena was slumped on one of the sofas, her hair messy, her small mirror lying in her lap. She sat silently staring at the film with empty eyes, as if trying to escape the overwhelming reality.
I approached, followed by Aulia. I stopped in front of her and asked softly,
"Selena… are you okay?"
Selena quickly tried to change her expression, forcing her usual bright smile. But it looked stiff, hard to maintain, and quickly faded. Her eyes remained dull.
I shook my head slowly.
"You don't have to do that. Most of us still can't accept what happened yesterday."
Aulia stepped closer, her voice polite and gentle, full of empathy.
"Selena, you don't have to force yourself. I understand. The others do too."
Selena finally dropped the fake smile. Her shoulders slumped, her beautiful face now looking utterly exhausted and fragile.
"I… I'm not sure I can keep pretending to be perfect forever. There's too much madness on this island. Especially all the murders. I keep having trouble sleeping, afraid… that someday it might be me who gets killed, or worse… that I might be the one doing the killing. I don't want to stain my own hands."
I was about to reply, but Rian suddenly turned off the video player with a quick motion. He began tinkering with the machine with skilled hands, replying firmly.
"The only thing we can do is keep moving forward."
Selena looked at Rian with still-wet eyes.
"I can't do that…"
Rian, without even looking up as he continued dismantling the video player, replied,
"I can't either. But I don't dwell on it. Because even if you stand still, the world keeps moving. And I don't want to be left behind."
Selena raised her voice slightly, all trace of her usual coquettish tone gone, replaced by raw despair.
"What if someday I can't accept reality, just like Bima…? There are so many things hidden on this island by the mastermind…"
Rian finally glanced at Selena, his hands still busy with wires and gears.
"Even so, keep walking. If you have to go through hell, then keep walking. If you stay still too long, you'll end up just like them."
We sat and watched as Rian now sat on the floor, tools scattered around him, his hands covered in dust, busily dismantling and modifying the old video player. Occasionally small sparks of electricity flew, followed by a sharp "click," and the small screen on the device went completely dark.
"Ugh… again," Rian muttered, wiping sweat from his forehead. He didn't give up, immediately opening the casing again and trying to reconnect the broken wires.
Seeing his struggle, I moved closer to help, holding one of the cables steady. "Like this?"
Rian looked up at me and noticed the assistance. "Yeah, hold it there for a second."
Selena, sitting on the sofa, watched us with tired eyes. She finally asked softly,
"Why do you keep trying to modify that thing when it's so difficult?"
Rian didn't answer right away, his hands still working. After a few seconds, he spoke seriously,
"Someone asked me for help. I won't stop until I can do it. And this cassette tape… what Anya left behind might tell us everything."
Those words made the room feel a little warmer, even though the tension remained.
Finally, after nearly a full hour of sparks and attempts, Rian succeeded. The old cassette player came back to life with a soft whir, complete with the small modifications he had made so it could read Anya's device.
I was about to insert the cassette tape, but Aulia quickly stopped me with her gentle hand.
"Wait, Reno. We need to invite everyone to watch this tape together. This is the secret Anya left behind… we should hear it as a group."
Rian nodded while wiping his hands on a cloth.
"The Recreation Room is probably safe since MonoGaru can't monitor it. But we should call Nova to stand guard, just in case she needs to block access."
Aulia and I immediately split up to gather the remaining survivors. It took quite a while, but we finally managed to bring everyone to the Recreation Room.
Nova arrived first. She stood in the corner, her long black coat blending into the shadows.
"I've observed the room. Nothing suspicious. And I've blocked access so MonoGaru won't get suspicious about us gathering here."
We all stood in a circle around the softly humming cassette player, its dim light reflecting off the old screen on the wall of the Recreation Room. The atmosphere was incredibly tense—like waiting for a time bomb to explode. No one sat. Everyone stood shoulder to shoulder, breaths held.
I stood right in front of the player, holding the strange device from Anya's secret box. My heart pounded hard, but my resolve was firm.
Adi commented quietly, eyes still wide with shock.
"So Reno wasn't lying about Anya's secrets…"
Zayn scratched his head, sounding a little embarrassed.
"Sorry, Reno… I thought you were completely making it up to mess with the trial. Turns out… it was real."
Krisna, who had just arrived, stood at the back, his voice flat and difficult to understand as usual.
"If it's something Anya left behind… the contents are probably going to be really heavy."
I looked around. Zahra stood with her hands pressed to her chest, face tense. Sinta clutched her hands tightly, face still burdened. Nova stood with her hands hidden in her black jacket, expression calm but eyes alert. Selena stood beside Aulia, body trembling slightly. Rian stood right next to me, hand ready on the play button. Dion remained slumped at the back, eyes red and empty.
I took a deep breath, my voice low but clear.
"Every secret Anya left behind… her legacy will become the truth we uncover."
Then I inserted the cassette tape into the player.
The machine whirred softly. A small burst of static played for a long moment. Rian panicked, hands frantically turning knobs.
"Eh… don't break yet… wait, damn it…!"
Zayn stepped forward and smacked the cassette player once with his palm—THUD!
Suddenly the machine lit up brightly. The whir turned into the steady sound of a spinning cassette. The old screen on the wall flickered on dimly, showing grainy black-and-white footage.
Anya's voice came through—cold, cynical, but clear and full of the determination we all knew.
"If you're watching this… it means I'm already gone."
Everyone fell silent. Breaths held.
Anya continued, her voice calm but heavy.
"From everything I found, I'll explain it all to you. First… the fact that this island is completely artificial. It wasn't formed naturally. Everything is engineered. There are people playing god behind the scenes who created all of this."
Everyone exchanged wide-eyed glances. The first shock was enough to make the room feel colder.
Anya went on, her voice growing more serious.
"Everything was built several years before the Double Disaster occurred. The people who created this island had predicted a catastrophic event that would destroy almost the entire world. So they built a utopia—a safe haven to survive, and thus this island was born. A vessel of hope for the future… this island, called the Distant Hope Island."
The recording paused briefly, only faint static audible.
Anya spoke again. Her voice was still steady but now carried an unmistakable note of exhaustion.
"This island… is divided into three main parts."
A rough map appeared on the screen.
"The large main island—where the school building and the zones you currently live in are located. Then there's another small island across from it, and one more island quite far from the main one."
Zahra bit her lip hard, fists clenched at her sides, breathing ragged. Her eyes widened with a mix of fear and rage. "This… this can't be… everything… an artificial island?!"
"The location of this island was deliberately hidden. Because it was only meant for important people… those essential to humanity's survival."
Adi gripped his notebook so tightly the pages crumpled. His face was tense, eyes narrowed with calculation and fear. "So everything really is true…"
Rian stood beside me, hands still dirty from the modifications, eyes wide behind his glasses. He bit his lip, breathing hard. "Everything… feels insane…"
Dion hung his head even lower, shoulders shaking slightly. He said nothing, but the heavy pressure on him was obvious as he absorbed these facts.
Aulia stood straight, but her hands trembled at her sides.
"Anya… what exactly did you uncover…?"
Anya continued her recording, her voice lower, as if she herself was afraid of what she was revealing.
"The purpose of building this island was to ensure humanity would not perish. Many researchers were sent here to study that. And thus many things were created."
The slide changed. Images of facilities appeared faintly.
"The Sacred Forest Zone… is a research facility for developing strong crop seeds that can survive in a post-disaster world."
Zahra gasped sharply, breathing ragged. "A forest that big… all engineered?!"
"The Harbor Zone… is where they receive supplies from the outside."
Dion lifted his head slightly. "Ships… navigation… everything…?"
"The Stone Zone… is a secret research facility that studies and tests many things. And one document links the indestructible material to the name of someone… Reno."
The world spun around me. My chest tightened, as if an invisible hand were squeezing my heart.
"Me…?"
All eyes turned to me immediately. I staggered back a step, my back hitting a shelf. The recording continued mercilessly.
"In the basement containing the chemistry research lab, there's also the face of someone quite familiar… though their appearance seems different from now."
Sinta stepped back two paces, face pale as a corpse. Tears streamed down her cheeks. "That… that's not me… I… I never… why… why is my face there…?!"
Everyone's eyes widened in shock. The atmosphere in the room froze instantly, as if the air had turned to ice. Anya continued, her voice growing heavier, as if she herself was holding back tears.
"And that's not all… I'll include slide after slide of photos that even I don't fully understand the meaning of."
The screen displayed old, black-and-white photos, slightly blurry with age.
Photos of the Main Building—the school building we were in—functioning normally. Many young people walking in and out of classrooms, laughing, chatting, carrying books. A completely normal atmosphere… too normal.
Then the next slide.
Photos of faces that looked exactly like ours… laughing and talking with other students. But those faces were heavily censored—thick black lines covering parts of them, making them blurry and eerie.
Selena staggered back, voice shaking. "That… that's not me! I never went to school in a place like this! Why… why are there photos like this?!"
Sinta covered her mouth with both hands, body shaking violently. Tears flowed endlessly. "I… I'm scared… this… this must be a lie… I don't remember… I never…"
Adi shook his head hard, his notebook nearly falling. His voice rose in denial. "This has to be fake! Doctored photos!!!"
Lira clutched her bell necklace until her knuckles turned white, voice on the verge of tears. "I… I don't remember ever being in a place like this… but… that face… it looks so similar… too similar…"
Rian stayed silent, hands trembling at his sides, eyes wide behind his glasses.
Dion hung his head even lower, shoulders shaking, voice almost gone. "This… this is too… I can't…"
The old screen on the wall flickered faintly, its dim light casting long shadows across all our faces, making every expression look paler and more strained. The air in the Recreation Room felt even more stifling, the smell of old dust mixing with the unmistakable scent of fear-sweat. No one dared breathe too loudly. Everyone stood in a circle around the cassette player as if witnessing a final judgment that would condemn us all.
Anya's voice returned.
"I myself don't understand the meaning of all these photos."
Slide after slide appeared again, more old, blurry black-and-white images, faces heavily censored with thick black lines, but the silhouettes and expressions were too similar to ours.
"I also found research notes on each of us, using code names that resemble our Ultimate titles."
The slide changed to neatly handwritten notes with codes like "DP-021," "AC-002," "HE-033," and so on.
"Not only that, the criminal records of each person were laid out there too."
Anya's voice grew even lower, almost trembling, as if she herself was afraid of what she was revealing.
"Like Vina, who was involved in human trafficking… Bima and his group running illegal black-market operations… Adi, whose every campaign caused countless deaths… Selena, whose fanatical fans would do anything—including kill—for her… Lira, who once caused a tragedy where everyone went mad and attacked one another… Yusuf, whose plants once triggered a catastrophic disaster… Anya, who hid the crimes of important people… Krisna, whose symbols caused many schools to fall into ruin… Dion, who intercepted strategic shipping routes and cut off supplies… Nova, who worked as a mercenary… Rian, whose inventions caused mass deaths… Sinta, who killed an entire village with a mistaken potion… Zahra, who withheld food distribution in a region, causing mass starvation that sparked war… Zayn, who led a massive rebellion on one island and prolonged a war… Aulia, who steered a group in negotiations that led to the annihilation of another group… and Reno, who killed many people in the collapse of a building."
The Recreation Room exploded with intense emotional reactions.
Zahra stepped back two paces, hand over her mouth, eyes wide with horror and rage. "I… I never… I just didn't want people to starve! That can't be me! I… I never wanted war!"
Sinta burst into loud, heaving sobs, her small body shaking violently, her woven bag nearly slipping from her shoulder. Tears poured down her face. "I… I once made a wrong potion… but an entire village? I… I don't remember… I'm scared… this must be a lie… please… I don't want to remember…"
Adi gripped his notebook so tightly the pages tore, face deathly pale, voice rising in denial and fury. "This… this is slander!"
Selena clutched Aulia's arm tightly, body shaking violently, beautiful face ghostly white. "Fans…? I… I never told them to do that!"
Lira clutched her bell necklace until her knuckles turned white, voice cracking. "I… I only sang… I never wanted to make people go insane… this… this is a nightmare… please tell me it's a lie…"
Rian clenched his fists, eyes wide behind his glasses with guilt and fear. "My inventions… mass deaths…? I… I just wanted to help people… why… why is it like this… I never wanted that to happen…"
Dion hung his head even lower, shoulders shaking violently, voice barely audible. "Impossible… father… everything… this is too… too much… I can't take it…"
Nova stood silent like a shadow, but her hands inside her jacket clenched tightly, eyes narrowed sharply, jaw set.
Krisna smiled faintly, but this time the smile looked cracked and dark. "My symbols… the destruction of schools… interesting… but I don't remember that happening…"
Aulia stood straight, but her hands trembled violently at her sides. Her large eyes were filled with deep sorrow and disappointment, tears welling up. Her voice remained polite as she whispered, but it shook. "I… I only wanted to unite… I never wanted to destroy another group… this… this must be wrong… I can't… I can't accept this…"
I felt the world spinning. My chest felt like it was being crushed. Images of collapsing buildings, screams beneath the rubble, blood on my hands flooded back vividly and painfully.
Anya continued her recording, her voice growing heavier, as if she herself was fighting back tears.
"One final fact everyone must know…"
The last slide appeared—the name we all knew too well.
"Haris Vermana is one of the names involved in creating Distant Hope Island. In other words, I believe his last known location was on this island."
She paused. The sound of her breathing could be heard faintly on the recording, as if she were holding back tears.
"That's everything I found in the Archive Room. I'm certain… after this, someone will come after me. Whether it's the mastermind or someone sent and brainwashed by the mastermind. If Reno and Aulia survive and find this recording… I want this recording to be shared with as many people as possible. I want every mystery hidden in this insane island to be uncovered and spread to the public."
Anya's voice grew even lower, almost a whisper, but filled with heartbreaking determination.
"You are all… merely pawns being moved by someone. By the ones who built this island. Do not let this truth be buried with me."
The recording ended with a long, piercing burst of static.
Then…
Click.
The cassette player shut off completely.
The old screen on the wall went pitch black.
The Recreation Room fell into absolute silence.
No sound. Only our ragged breathing could be heard in the sudden darkness that now felt thicker than before.
I stood frozen, hand still gripping the warm edge of the cassette player. My chest felt tight, as if an invisible hand were squeezing my heart with all its might. Anya's words echoed in my head like the whisper of a restless ghost.
Merely pawns…
Zahra stepped back, hand over her mouth, eyes wide with horror. "Damn it… we… we're all just pawns?!"
Sinta sobbed uncontrollably, her small body shaking violently. "Anya… she… she knew everything… and she died because of it…"
Adi gripped his notebook so tightly the pages tore, face pale. "Haris… Aulia's brother… he's behind all of this? You've got to be kidding…"
Lira clutched her bell necklace until her knuckles turned white, voice breaking. "We… we're all… just tools…?"
Selena clutched Aulia's arm tightly, body trembling. "I… I don't want… I don't want to die…"
Dion hung his head even lower, shoulders shaking, voice barely audible. "All of this… was planned from the beginning… we… we never had a choice…"
Nova stood silent like a shadow, but her eyes narrowed sharply, jaw set.
Krisna smiled faintly, but this time the smile looked dark and cracked.
Aulia stood straight beside me, but her hands trembled violently. Her large eyes were filled with deep sorrow and disappointment, tears slowly tracing down her cheeks. Her voice remained polite as she whispered, but it shook. "Brother… Haris… he… he created all of this…?"
The room remained silent.
But outside the window, the wind blew harder, carrying the faint, familiar creak of mechanical wings.
And in the darkness beyond the Recreation Room, I sensed a long shadow slowly emerging—the silhouette of someone standing silently, watching us from behind a slightly open door.
We were not alone.
And the truth that had just been revealed… was still far from over.