A mysterious female voice spoke:
"Registered players. The third game will begin in 48 hours. Prepare yourselves. The game theme will be announced 1 hour before the start time. The location has been determined: Sinsō Subway Station. Come or be lost forever."
The players all looked at each other.
Silence. Tension. Reality hit them again.
Jo stood up and stared out the window. "We're not done yet. But this time… we're more prepared."
Heavy rain poured down on the now-quiet and silent Tokyo sidewalk, leaving only the sound of dripping water and the rustling of the wind. In the distance, an old, long-unused subway station door slowly opened. Jo, Reina, Mina, Ren, and Taka stood in front of it. The look in their eyes was different now—not just fear, but readiness.
"This is it, Sinsō Station," Taka said, turning on the small flashlight in his hand.
"Feels like a trap," Mina whispered, holding Jo's arm tightly.
"Everywhere in this game is a trap," Reina replied softly, stepping in first.
As the five players descended the long staircase into the bowels of the earth, the game system's voice echoed throughout the station:
"Welcome, registered players. The third game is about to begin."
"Game name: Hell Wave."
"Number of registered players: 150."
"Game objective: Survive for 30 minutes in the underground station."
"Every 5 minutes, a new wave of attacks will appear."
"In each wave, players will face increasingly deadly creatures and traps."
"No allies. No safe zones. No hiding places. Just survive."
"The game starts in 10 minutes. Use your time to explore, looking for weapons and defensive positions."
10 Minutes of Preparation
Jo and his team ran down a long, dark underground corridor, lights flickering, dust filling the air, and the smell of rust wafting from the old metal walls. They found an old control room, a kind of small office with a metal cabinet and storage lockers.
Ren opened one of the lockers and found a metal bat and a small shield. Reina found a dagger and a first aid kit. Jo examined a map of the station hanging crookedly on the wall.
"Look at this," Jo said, pointing to a main engine room. "This place has a manual defense system. We can set off traps to slow those creatures down."
"Then we hold out there," Reina said quickly. "Close all the doors, set off traps, and hold out for 30 minutes."
"I like that strategy," Taka said, banging his metal bat.
Game Start
"First wave begins."
Time remaining: 30 minutes.
The floor shook. From the dark hallway, rumbling and screaming began to sound. Strange figures, like half-human half-animals with glowing red eyes and sharp claws, began to charge.
"Now!!" Jo shouted. "Activate the trap!"
Reina pulled the lever, and the station wall shot out a spray of fire from the right side. Some creatures were burned, but the rest continued to attack. Ren and Taka fought from the front, Mina helped treat the injured.
Wave after wave came. As time went on, the creatures that appeared became faster, smarter, and began to infiltrate through the roof and narrow gaps.
Time left: 10 minutes.
They were running out of energy. Wounds began to appear on Taka and Ren's bodies. Reina had run out of ammunition for the stolen weapons. Mina shouted: "Jo! We can't hold out here much longer!"
Jo looked at the control panel. Her eyes widened. "Wait… I can divert the electricity to the main door. We can escape, we don't have to kill them all! We just have to survive!"
Jo began to turn the lever and the cables. The sound of electric current buzzed loudly.
Time left: 2 minutes.
The main door began to open slowly. Behind them, the creatures grew closer. One knocked Taka down. Ren pulled him up with difficulty.
"GO! NOW!" Reina shouted.
They ran, breaking through the main door that was now half open. Jo pushed Mina first, then Reina, Ren, and Taka. As Jo was about to leave, one of the creatures grabbed her leg. Jo stabbed it with her dagger and exited just as the door closed again.
The system beep sounded.
"Congratulations to the 48 players who managed to survive."
"Each of you gets 5 extra days to live."
They panted, falling to the sidewalk outside the station. The rain was still falling, but it felt like a blessing.
Reina approached Jo.
"You're crazy… but you're amazing."
Jo just laughed softly. "It's not over yet, is it?"
Reina nodded. Mina hugged Jo tightly.
Ren and Taka laughed as they lay on the street.
"Hell down there," Ren said. "But we escaped. For now."
While holding their breath, they thought about celebrating in the apartment, Jo shouted let's celebrate this victory, his friends cheered let's go.. but let's go to the food supply warehouse first to get the supplies.
On the way Jo saw one of the women who had played with him walking alone, Jo planned to invite her but before Jo could convey his intention the woman disappeared from Jo's sight. Jo looked left and right but saw no trace of the woman.
Jo and his friends were very excited to collect supplies for the celebration in the apartment, the joy felt very warm and filled the emptiness in their hearts and eliminated their fear.
Arriving at the apartment they started the celebration by eating and drinking while laughing and telling interesting stories about the game they had just finished. Ren said, of all the friends who were on the same team as us earlier there were some players I saw quite strange but they were tough.
Jo interrupted what information do you have about them Ren, Ren replied, when I was close to him I saw they had weapons that were not provided by the game as if they were carrying weapons before entering the game, and I saw that there were 3 of them. Jo interrupted how do you know there were 3 of them. Ren replied because they were wearing the same bracelet, as if they had their own team or some kind of group. And after the game was over they ran around as if hiding from something.
In the next game we have to find more information about them, who knows they have information on how we can get out of this game. Because after all this game is a crazy game with lives at stake.