The platform was strange — smooth black stone, glowing lines underneath, and in the center:

  LEVEL 1 – Trial of Balance

  Points: 100. Timer: 05:00

  I had just climbed the cliff, hands bloody and knees bruised. My lungs still burned when I stood up and found the others.

  Two guys. Two girls. All strangers. All confused.

  “This is crazy,” one of the guys laughed, kicking at the glowing footprints. “What is this? Dance Dance Revolution?”

  The other one was copying him, mocking the robotic voice still repeating the instructions overhead.

  I stepped forward. “Stop messing around. This isn’t a joke.”

  They turned to me — one with a smirk, the other with a “who made you the boss” look.

  “I’ve seen things like this,” I said firmly. “Anime. Games. Trials. Points. Death. If we don’t figure this out, we’re done.”

  I approached the first step carefully — both feet placed exactly on the glowing prints. The floor hummed beneath me.

  Instantly, my points dropped — 100 to 95.

  “Step one,” I muttered. “Now—”

  Suddenly, one of them shoved me.

  “Move, bro, you’re overthinking it.”

  I stumbled forward, off the prints. Another drop — 95 to 88. A warning light flashed. The chains above began to swing.

  “You idiot!” I snapped. “You’re wasting my points!”

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  He shrugged. “Relax. It’s just a game.”

  I clenched my fists. “You think they gave us collars and set up traps for a f***ing game?”

  We argued — voice rising. The other guy stepped in, defending his buddy. I could feel the tension boiling over.

  Then I looked up.

  The timer: 03:14

  It was already slipping away. If it hit zero, we all die.

  Something inside me clicked.

  Survival mode. No more warnings.

  I grabbed the guy who pushed me and hurled him off the platform.

  He didn’t have time to scream properly — just one shout and then silence.

  His scream was short. A dull thud somewhere below.

  The other guy lunged at me. We tussled — rage and panic clashing. I caught him with a knee to the gut, shoved him backward.

  He stumbled… and caught the ledge.

  Dangling.

  For a second, I thought I might help him up. But then the floating boulder came — silent, smooth, inevitable.

  Crush.

  His body vanished between rock and edge. Only blood and his fingers remained.

  I stood there, breathing hard.

  The two girls were frozen. One of them — the sharp-eyed one — stepped slightly closer.

  “You just… killed them.”

  “No,” I said coldly, “they killed themselves. I just didn’t stop it.”

  The timer kept ticking.

  We had a level to survive.