Christian fixed his gaze on Linda's back as she led him through fluorescent-lit corridors. The pipes overhead dripped something that definitely wasn't water, creating a steady rhythm against the metal floor grating.

  「Team-Building Event: LOADING」

  「Participant Status: MANDATORY」

  「Escape Options: NONE」

  The walls here were different. Clean. Too clean. As if the park's corruption couldn't quite penetrate this deep into its own infrastructure.

  "How long have you been here?" he tried, desperate for any information.

  "Time moves differently in Salem Hollow," Linda replied without slowing her pace. "I've stopped counting."

  They passed staff lockers covered in scratch marks, emergency exit signs that pointed into solid walls, and motivational posters featuring Hemlock's grinning face: "Unity Through Survival!" and "Every Scream Brings Us Closer!"

  "What exactly is a team-building exercise in this place?" His voice cracked with barely contained panic.

  Linda stopped abruptly, causing him to nearly collide with her.

  "You'll experience ritual bonding with other Lost Guests. The park pairs you into units designed to maximize operational efficiency." Her delivery matched a recited script, vacant eyes staring through him.

  "What happens if someone fails?"

  "They become Team Enhancer Fluid."

  The corridor terminated at a massive set of double doors. Above them, a sign blinked in the cursed combination of neon pink and sickly green: "SALEM HOLLOW: WHERE TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK!"

  Linda pressed her thumb against a biometric reader. The doors slid open with hydraulic certainty.

  What Christian saw inside made his stomach turn.

  Think a conference room designed by someone who only understood basic concepts through fever dreams.

  Rows of office chairs arranged in a perfect circle. Each seat had restraining straps hanging from the armrests, clearly well-used.

  A whiteboard displayed team-building objectives in cheerful Comic Sans:

  "Learn Each Other's Last Wishes!"

  "Trust Fall (Literally)"

  "Blood Type Compatibility Test"

  "Shared Trauma Exercises"

  Four other Lost Guests sat rigid in their chairs. Their armband status lights pulsed red like warning beacons.

  The oldest, a man in his thirties with wild eyes and half his beard burnt off. His status read: "Felix - Orientation Survivor 47"

  A teenage girl rocking back and forth, clutching a stuffed rabbit with visible stab wounds. "Mara - Newest Addition"

  A woman in corporate attire, makeup smeared like war paint. "Rebecca - Unofficial Park Lawyer"

  And a boy who couldn't be older than ten, still wearing his school uniform. The most disturbing part? His eyes held the same dead look as Linda's. "Jimmy - Junior Team Member"

  「Team Composition Complete」

  「Activity: Beginning Soon」

  「Please Take Seats」

  「Resistance Is Monitored」

  Christian moved toward an empty chair. The restraints twitched like hungry snakes as he approached.

  "Sit quickly," Linda advised. "The team coordinator dislikes tardiness."

  He lowered himself into the seat, the cushion uncomfortably warm as if recently vacated. The straps snapped around his wrists before he could react, tightening until they bit into his skin.

  「Member Secured」

  「Team Status: READY FOR BONDING」

  The lights dimmed. A single spotlight illuminated the center of their circle.

  "Team-building commencing," a PA system announced. The voice belonged to Hemlock, but distorted through layers of static that made it sound like screaming whales.

  A trapdoor opened in the center. Up rose a carnival style podium, complete with a spinning wheel marked with various punishments and "prizes."

  「MINIGAME: Truth or Dare (Theme Park Edition)」 「Warning: Lying Detected = Physical Manifestation」 「Dares Must Be Completed Within Time Limit」 「Team Bonds Strengthen Through Shared Suffering!」

  The wheel clicked and clacked as Hemlock's holographic form operated it remotely. Her grin stretched even wider as the pointer slowed.

  Click. Click. Click.

  It stopped on "Truth."

  A crosshair appeared above Jimmy's head, the youngest member. The child didn't flinch.

  "Question for Jimmy," Hemlock announced. "How many days has it been since you arrived?"

  The boy met Christian's eyes. His voice carried the weariness of someone much older. "Three thousand, four hundred and sixteen. I age slower here. The park feeds on potential."

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  「Truth Verified」

  「Park Efficiency: +0.1%」

  Christian's blood chilled. Over nine years. This child had been trapped for nine years, preserved at the edge of adolescence like a specimen in formaldehyde.

  The wheel spun again.

  Click. Click. Click.

  "Dare," it declared.

  The spotlight focused on Felix, whose wild eyes grew even wider.

  "Felix must share his fondest pre-Salem memory. But!" Hemlock's voice rose to gleeful heights. "You must recreate it physically using only materials available in this room."

  Felix laughed. Not with humor. The sound resembled glass shattering in slow motion.

  "My daughter. Teaching her to ride a bike." Tears welled in his bloodshot eyes. "She had training wheels and—"

  He began moving his chair in circles, making engine noises while gripping the armrests like handlebars. The restraints forced him to keep his wrists locked in place, making the motion appear grotesque.

  「Performance Rating: ADEQUATE」

  「Trauma Integration: 78%」

  「Happy Memories Successfully Corrupted」

  The wheel continued its rotation. Each turn revealing new horrors masquerading as team-building exercises.

  Rebecca was forced to "trust fall" while her chair remained bolted to the floor. She hit the ground hard, her lawyer instincts crying futile objections to rules that didn't apply here.

  Mara had to describe her "happy place" while the room's temperature dropped to freezing. Her description of a summer beach gradually transformed into a detailed account of drowning in chocolate syrup.

  「Team Bonding Progress: 39%」

  「Pain Threshold Testing: ONGOING」

  「Suggested Improvements: NONE」

  The wheel slowed again, clicking toward its destination with mechanical certainty.

  Christian watched the pointer pass option after option. "Confess Your Deepest Fear." "Describe Your Death." "Choose Who Dies Next."

  Click. Click. Click.

  The pointer landed directly between two sections.

  The wheel groaned. Hemlock's image glitched violently.

  「ERROR: Anomalous Result」

  「Recalibrating...」

  「Special Event Triggered!」

  A hidden compartment slid open. Inside: six leather boxes, each pulsing with faint red light.

  "Oh my!" Hemlock exclaimed with delight. "The Park has granted us the Shared Nightmare Protocol!"

  「Minigame Updated: Dreams and Screams」

  「All members will experience collective hallucination」

  「Previous traumas will manifest physically」

  「Survive as a Team!」

  The boxes opened simultaneously. Inside each lay a silver injection device, its needle preloaded with milky fluid.

  "Please inject yourselves for optimal experience," Hemlock instructed. "Resistance will result in automatic dispensation."

  The devices hovered off their pedestals, floating toward each restrained Guest. Christian's heart pounded as the syringe approached his arm.

  "Wait!" Rebecca shouted, her lawyer instincts overriding terror. "I demand to know the ingredients, the side effects, the—"

  Her syringe plunged into her arm mid-sentence. Her eyes rolled back as the fluid disappeared into her vein.

  One by one, the others received their injection. Jimmy closed his eyes peacefully, already resigned. Felix muttered prayers in what sounded like multiple languages. Mara clutched her stuffed rabbit harder, its stuffing leaking out.

  When Christian's turn arrived, he tried to pull away. The needle found his arm anyway, the restraints holding him perfectly still.

  Cold rushed through his bloodstream. Reality started dissolving around the edges.

  「Collective Nightmare: INITIALIZING」

  「Deepest Fears: ACCESSING」

  「Team Unity: CRITICAL」

  The conference room walls shimmered and melted. Colors bled together like wet paint.

  Christian blinked.

  He stood in his childhood home, but wrong. Impossibly wrong. The ceiling stretched upward into darkness. His mother called from the kitchen, her voice reverberating strangely.

  "Christian! Dinner's ready!"

  He moved toward the kitchen, dread building with each step.

  The others were there too. Felix sat at his childhood dinner table. Rebecca stood by her wedding altar. Mara played in a sandbox. Jimmy sat in a classroom. Linda remained exactly where she was.

  They existed in their personal hells while sharing the same impossible space.

  "Christian..." His mother turned. Her face wasn't her face. It was Ted's permanent grin stretched over human features. "You're late. You know what happens when you're late."

  The floor tilted. Gravity shifted. Everyone slid toward the center of the room where a massive drain had appeared.

  「Team Objective: DO NOT FALL」

  「Secondary Objective: Save Each Other」

  「Failure Results In: ???」

  Hemlock's voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere. "Remember, you're a team now! Teams don't let teams fall into endless voids alone!"

  Christian grabbed for the table edge as momentum pulled him downward. His fingers slipped on the wood, which had become slick with that familiar sticky substance coating everything in the park.

  "Help!" Mara screamed, her small hands clutching desperately at the sandbox's edge.

  Without thinking, Christian lunged. He caught her arm just as she started sliding, his own feet dangling over the void.

  Felix reached for them both, creating a human chain. "Hold on!"

  Rebecca and Jimmy working together to anchor Felix. Even Linda moved, showing the first sign of humanity Christian had seen from her.

  「Team Action Detected」

  「Synergy Rating: IMPROVING」

  「Park Approval: MIXED」

  The drain pulled harder. Below, Christian glimpsed something massive stirring in the darkness. Something with too many eyes and teeth that gleamed like fresh needles.

  "Don't look down!" Rebecca advised, her professional demeanor cracking. "Jesus Christ, don't look down!"

  They formed a precarious chain, each person holding the one below. Sweat made grips slippery. Muscle fatigue threatened their resolve.

  The void thing below roared. The sound matched Christian's GPU melting, his last memory before entering this nightmare.

  "I have an idea!" Jimmy shouted. Despite his age, his voice carried authority.

  "Linda! Remember the staff override codes!"

  Linda's eyes flickered for the first time, showing recognition. "I... I can't. They erased my clearance after... after what happened with the other team."

  "Try anyway!"

  She closed her eyes, muttering numbers and phrases. Her fingers twitched, accessing muscle memory.

  The room shuddered.

  「SYSTEM OVERRIDE ATTEMPT DETECTED」

  「PERMISSION: DENIED」

  「COUNTERMEASURES: ACTIVE」

  The drain started spinning, creating a vortex that pulled even harder.

  "Team roles!" Jimmy suddenly announced. "Everyone has a park designation. Use what the system gave you!"

  Christian's mind raced. His armband status still read Lost Guest, but what else?

  「Status Check: Christian Pierce」 「Role: Lost Guest」 「Trait: Anxious Awareness - ACTIVE」 「Warning: System Exploit Possible」

  The trait. He heard system announcements early. Including this one.

  「NEXT SYSTEM UPDATE: TEAM RESTRUCTURING」

  「WARNING: GRAVITY INVERSION IN 3... 2...」

  "Everyone! Prepare for gravity flip!"

  They had seconds.

  The room inverted violently. Down became up. The void now loomed above them. They fell upward into the endless dark.

  At the last moment, they passed through their personal nightmare spaces.

  Christian saw his burning GPU. Felix encountered his daughter, safely on her bike. Rebecca found her wedding album. Mara hugged her unharmed rabbit. Jimmy sat at his desk, finishing homework.

  Then darkness swallowed everything.

  They slammed back into their conference room chairs, restraints releasing automatically.

  「Dream Sequence COMPLETE」

  「Team Performance: SATISFACTORY」

  「Bonding Level: +37%」

  「Shared Trauma Unlocked: Group Unity」

  Christian gasped for air. Around him, the others appeared equally disoriented.

  "Well done!" Hemlock appeared before them, spinning happily. "Your first team exercise was such a success!"

  "What... what was that thing in the void?" Christian panted.

  "Oh, just The Mediator! They ensure proper team dynamics. Very helpful for conflict resolution!"

  Rebecca wiped her face, smearing her makeup further. "How often do we have to do this?"

  "Team meetings occur randomly! Might be hourly, might be yearly. The Park decides based on optimization protocols!"

  Jimmy stood shakily, still looking like a child despite his ancient eyes. "The real question is: what comes next?"

  As if on cue, the double doors burst open.

  Orientation Ted stood in the doorway, crackling baton in hand. Behind him, four more mascot figures emerged from the shadows.

  「SYSTEM UPDATE: Team Assignment Complete」

  「Report To: DEPARTMENT OF NIGHTMARE ACQUISITIONS」

  「Your First Real Job Begins Now」

  Ted's stitched grin seemed somehow wider as he gestured for them to follow.

  "Time to earn your keep," Linda muttered, already moving toward the door. "Welcome to the workforce of Salem Hollow."