#level infinity

A large hand wrapped around your wrist, tight and strong as steel, slim fingers holding onto you with the determination to never let go. In a desperate scream for help, you held on tightly, eyes shut, trying to block out the impending danger behind you and the cries in front of you. What was once a blessing was now a curse, and it was as if you were trapped in between heaven and hell, wondering if you could leave a part of yourself in both if it meant you got to live.

You didn't dare to turn around, even if you could. The wings behind you almost served as a barrier to the horrors that ran your way. What felt like hours was only a few seconds, as if this treacherous world only wanted you to feel the pain for even longer than you've endured.

Opening your eyes, you made eye contact with Soobin, tears flowing down his face, an image that you hoped to never see again. It was as if this exact event had happened before, but this time, Soobin was determined to save you, to stay by your side until neither of you could take it anymore. No one else knew what to do, no one else had any more hope, but could you blame them? The blessing of your wings was now a curse, and it was something that you were going to pay for.

Mustering up all of the strength he had, Soobin pulled you in towards him, nearly yanking your arm out of its socket.

"Soobin, stop!" You heard, but you couldn't tell who it was, and neither could Soobin. It was as if the two of you were in your own little dark world. Not letting go of you, Soobin leaped towards you, wrapping his arms around you in a...hug? A last attempt to bring you to him?

Mark panicked, not wanting to possibly lose two of his friends in a tragic event, so he lunged forward, grabbing onto Soobin, and pulling him back in a surprise show of strength. But, Mark didn't realize just how tightly Soobin was holding on to you, as it was a grip as strong as the resentment that Soobin felt for not being able to save you the first time the both of you were in this predicament, but he knew...he was going to be your hero this time, and the both of you were going to make it out alive, even if you lost something big along the way.

It only happened in a few seconds, but with the strength of the two men pulling you inside of the building, your wings could no longer endure the pressure building against the metal frame of the doorway, and a searing pain pierced through your whole body as each metallic feather fell onto the ground, one by one, leading to your wings ripping free from your back and falling limp and lifeless onto the ground. You fell into the building, falling onto the floor and you blacked out from the immense pain and trauma, worried cries falling upon deaf ears. There was no type of magical healing that could keep you from feeling every bit of pain that coursed through you, and you couldn't even fathom the thought of being alive for much longer.

Soobin watched in fear as your bloodied metal wings rested on the floor outside of the door behind you, and the noise of the monsters chasing you died down. No one ever saw what the monsters looked like, or exactly how close or far away they were from you, but they were gone now. Mirroring your dejected wings, you lay on the floor, barely breathing and eyes closed. Your heart rattled your bones, trying hard to keep you alive, but you had no more hope left.

"(Y/N)?" Soobin called out to you, voice hoarse and cracking. He was so scared. Scared that you'd die, and what made him feel worse was that he was scared if you lived. It was his fault, everything was. You were strong, he knew that, you would've found a way to save both yourself and your wings, but he let his selfish desires get in the way, and in an effort to keep you by his side, he tore something away from you. You'd hate him forever now. It should've been him. He was better off dead anyway, all he did was hold everyone back.

"She's losing blood-" Mark said, rushing to get inside of his tattered bag for anything to help. 

"I have bandages," Arin said, taking them out of her bag and throwing them over to Mark. He bent down, grimacing at your wounds, hands shaking.

"It's okay, (Y/N), I got you." Mark whispered to you, but you could barely make out what anyone was saying, eyelids heavy and ready to just let go. "You'll make it. I know you will. You're stronger than anyone else here..."

"Is...is there even any use?" Beomgyu spoke, and everyone looked at him. "I mean...look at us. There's so much more to go, so many levels to go through, barely any of us will make it in the end, if we're being honest."

"Gyu?" Taehyun furrowed his brows.

"No, seriously. Where even are we right now? How do any of you know we're safe enough to be here?" Beomgyu huffed out. He was worried, you all were. Goosebumps plagued everyone's skin, your hearts were beating a mile a minute, and...you guys were just standing there? He checked the back of his hand for any idea of where you guys were. "Level 609. Does anyone have an idea of where we are?"

"Beomgyu, to be so honest with you, right now, I do not give a fuck." Mark grunted, working to wrap your torso with the bandages, albeit messily, as he had no experience. "My priorities are set on making sure (Y/N) is going to make it. I could care less if we all die right here, right now, but if we die together, that's all that matters."

"Don't...don't make it seem like I don't care about her." Beomgyu said. "She's my best friend, we've been best friends since we were in diapers. But don't think any of us are going to make it out if we just keep getting hurt along the way."

Mark sighed, finished with the bandages, and he looked up at Beomgyu. "My main goal was never to make it out of here. I don't know if that's even possible. But, I am here to help, because someone helped me, and I'd be damned to leave that someone behind."

Your world started to return to you, eyesight clearing up just a smidgen. You coughed, groaning at the pain received just from that. 

"(Y/N)!" Soobin exclaimed, bending down to face you. He was too scared to touch you, afraid that he'd hurt you even more. "Are you alright?" Of course you weren't alright. Why would he even ask you that?

The tight compression from the bandages made your wound hurt only a bit less, but it was enough to have you return to your senses. Hopefully, your wounds would heal as much as your leg healed, but you didn't know if that could even be possible.

"Where...where are we?" You asked, coughing out your words.

"Level 609...but I have no idea what's on this level." Mark said. "Would you be able to stand?"

You lifted your head slowly, looking up at your surroundings with blurry vision. It was dark, but you could still see, and it looked like you were in a neighborhood community center of some sort. The entranceway had barely any furniture, but there was a large and colorful mural on the wall of a...clown? 

You then realized that you didn't answer Mark's question. "Oh, uh...I c-could try." You said. You weren't ready to go just yet, and you weren't going to make this stop you. Despite only having the wings since you got here, you still felt empty. It was like there was always something inside of you that was ready to unleash itself whenever it deemed necessary. It had a life of its own, and now it was gone. You looked back at the open doors behind you, staring at your lifeless wings. It was like an old friend had died, and that hurt more than the pain in your back.

You closed your eyes and looked forward, not bearing to continue seeing your lost wings. With all of the strength you could muster up, you started to lift yourself off of the floor. The strain on your muscles made you cry out in pain, and Mark rushed to help you up.

"I got it." You said, shrugging him off of you, and standing up on your own.

"A-are you sure?" He asked, holding his hands out, just in case you were to fall. You didn't feel too worried, your legs were completely fine, why would you be? You didn't dare to stand straight or to move around too much, and even if you didn't want it to show, you knew it was going to be a problem. Everyone knew that.

You noticed how Soobin remained behind Mark, avoiding eye contact, but you didn't know why. Looking at Beomgyu, he acted the same way. Yeonjun looked the most worried you've ever seen him, and it was a surprise, given his...history. 

"You'll be fine, (Y/N)." He suddenly said as he noticed you were looking at him, frowning. "Suck it up."

"Don't be so soft, Yeonjun." Arin said sarcastically, rolling her eyes, then turning her attention to the wings behind you. "Things happen for a reason. They might not be much help along the way, but what matters is that you're still here."

"Hm." You hummed, a permanent frown on your face. "Let's just not worry about me. We can't sit here any longer." Looking at the back of your bloodied hand, you see the number 609. You had no idea what to expect. You assumed that you were in some type of arcade of sorts, but the menacing look in that clown's eyes told you that you weren't going to have any fun.

"Does anyone know anything about level 609?" Taehyun asked, looking between Beomgyu and Mark.

"Uh..." Beomgyu cleared his throat. "The games I've played haven't delved this far into the backrooms."

"This is where my knowledge ends, unfortunately." Mark frowned. "Let's just stick together, and if any of us sees anything off, make sure we all know. (Y/N)...you okay to go?"

"Yes, Mark." You said with a bit of venom. "Stop asking me if I'm okay. I'm still standing, I'm alive, aren't I? So, let's not loiter around where we could possibly be killed in a split second."

Your slight outburst made Soobin want to crawl in a hole and rot there until his inevitable end. This was his fault, and you were angry at him, but instead of taking it out on him, you took it out on everyone else, right? You thought he was too weak and sensitive to handle it if you snapped at him, that must be what you assumed. But he couldn't find it in himself to prove that assumption wrong, and that's why he was just a burden to you.

"Okay, sorry." Mark said, brows furrowed. He understood where your annoyance came from, and he felt guilty at that moment for his slight frustration with you. He was only making sure you were okay, because he wouldn't know what to do if your pain got the best of you.

Yeonjun brought out his flashlight, flickering it on and pointing it towards the dark hallway ahead of you guys. "Let's not waste anymore time."

--------------------------------------------

Why were your feet wet? Looking down at the uncomfortable sensation of your wet socks, you noticed a thin sheet of water flooding the area around you as if there were leaky pipes running through the walls. Was it there before? You didn't remember the wet floors when you started this trek through level 609.

Yeonjun was ahead of everyone else, but still close enough to not cause any alarm. With a confused appearance, he shone the flashlight on the wall of the hallway, revealing the words, "DON'T LAUGH" painted in a cheery yellow. A shutter went down your spine, also reminding you of the pain from your ejected wings.

By now, the wet footsteps would've alerted any entities if you were there, but, weirdly enough, it seemed pretty empty. 

"What the hell does any of this mean?" Yeonjun grumbled.

"Walking straight isn't helping." Arin said. "First rule that I've learned since being here: take any and all turns that you can."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Mark asked. "Some turns and entranceways lead to immediate death."

"That always depends. There's no absolute way that you could really know, but I've apparently been doing a good job, since I'm still here." Arin shrugged with a smile. "Let's turn there, Yeonjun." She pointed ahead at a turn into another hallway, and once walking a few steps ahead, Yeonjun shone his flashlight in that direction, then stopped, eyes going wide. Upon seeing his face, Arin's smile slowly dropped. "...Yeonjun?" Being met with a few more seconds of silence, she gently pushed past Mark in front of her to see what Yeonjun saw. 

You saw her face drop even more, and her eyes widen. Whatever it was that they saw, they've never seen it before, and it wasn't dangerous enough to attack immediately. You had hoped to any higher entity that what was in that hallway wasn't a smiler. 

"What is it?" You whispered. Arin gulped.

"We should probably not go that way." She said. Annoyed with the mysteriousness, you went yourself to go take a look. Right at the end of the hall was a clown. Not a fake clown or a scary clown, but a clown with a bright yellow smile painted on its face, and a rather joyful jester outfit on. It was staring right back at you, eyes blinking, but face nearly frozen. 

"Is that...a person, or...?" You spoke. You didn't feel afraid, you were just confused. The clown moved, and you gulped. With a little audience watching, the clown did a silly dance, which, out of everything, seemed to scare you the most. 

"I think it's trying to make us laugh." Beomgyu said.

"Would it kill us if we don't laugh?" Arin asked.

"The wall...it said not to laugh." Yeonjun replied, eyes still stuck on the clown who hasn't ceased in its dancing. After a few more seconds, he tore his eyes away from it, looking at everyone else. "It doesn't seem to be dangerous. If we get closer, we could test the waters and maybe even walk past it."

"Are you sure about that?" A low, quiet voice spoke, and you realized that you haven't heard Soobin speak in a long time. "Are we making risks to know more about the level, or are we making risks to get to the next one?"

"Both can't exist at the same time?" Yeonjun asked, eyes lidded in annoyance. 

"He makes a good point." Mark said, receiving a death glare from Yeonjun. "A-and so do you, but...let's just make risks to get to the next level for now."

"So, we're still going this way." Yeonjun said. "If anyone doesn't want to follow, you don't have to." And with that, Yeonjun started his way down the hall, getting closer and closer to the clown. Each one of you followed without a trace. With every step closer, Yeonjun slowly pulled out the gun from his bag, and you slowly noticed how the water was now at your ankles. Did the water rise with time or does the water get higher at certain places in the level? That, you didn't know.

Yeonjun was now about two feet away from the clown, yet the clown was still dancing. With just enough space to get past the clown, each one of you slowly passed it, the clown turning to keep facing you guys as you passed it. When you were able to pass it next, you noticed its eyes. They were blue, with little specks of brown littering the perimeter. You noticed how its iris's very slightly jiggled, and how pupils dilated upon making eye contact with you. Your heart nearly stopped, as you felt a sudden wave of devastation. It was like...a real, conscious person was trapped in the body of a joyful clown, and inside of that body, the person was screaming for help, and you saw it all in its eyes.

Not wanting to see anymore, you shut your eyes tight, quickly passing him, and daring not to look at the clown for much longer. You wondered if anyone else saw what you saw, but no one seemed as devastated as you were. Shaking your head to try and get the image of sorrowful eyes out of the forefront of your mind, you continued along with everyone else.

"Guess it won't hurt us after all." Arin said. "Good call, Yeonjun. Everybody in for making any and all turns, now?"

-----------------------------

This level was simply heart-wrenching. How could anyone feel like laughing when passing by the numerous clowns who were screaming for help upon deaf ears?

The "joyful" clown wasn't the only clown the seven of you came across. Along your way, more showed up, harmless to the body but harmful to the soul. You still wondered if anyone looked into their eyes and noticed the pain, or if it was only you.

"What does this level even mean?" Beomgyu said. "The clowns are slightly creepy, but they won't hurt us, and there's absolutely no clue on how to get out of here."

"Well, that seems to be a running theme across all of the levels." Mark said. "The second part, I mean. There's never a clue on how to get out, most of the time, we've just gone to the next level by accident."

"That is true..." Beomgyu said.

Yeonjun huffed aggressively, shining his light on two more clowns blocking the hallway. He wasn't the only one annoyed, as you felt the water start to creep up to your knees, now.

"This might be a little late, but does no one else notice how high the water is getting?" You asked.

"You know, that is such a valid question, why is the water getting-" Arin started, but was interrupted by Yeonjun's frustrated grumbling. 

"Now, they're just getting annoying," he said, flickering the flashlight on and off as if to get the clowns' attention. "Do something else other than dance, at this point." Successfully getting the clowns' attention, they turned their heads towards us, one's face painted with a sad expression, and the other with a shocked expression.

In the midst of his annoyed blinking of the flashlight, the flashlight suddenly turned off, and it went nearly pitch black dark, and only silence was heard. 

"Did the battery run out?" You asked quickly, now scared. "Hyun, don't you have another one in your bag?"

"Uh, yeah, one second." He said, and you heard shuffling around as he tried to find his way into his bag in the dark, but then the flashlight suddenly turned back on with a click, and you whipped your head over to Yeonjun.

"Um, what was that...?" You trailed off upon seeing Yeonjun's wounded face. "...Yeonjun?"

He was staring at the clowns, hands slightly shaking. Looking back at everyone else, you wondered what had happened. Yeonjun slowly walked closer, feet staggering through the water, knees struggling to keep him up through what seemed to be his extreme shock.

"Ch...Changbin?" Yeonjun whispered, voice weak. "Wooyoung?"

You blinked. Did he know them? Who was Changbin? Who was Wooyoung? And why did Yeonjun look as if he had just lost something important to him. His breathing was harsh, and his eyes were wide, yet you noticed his waterline swell with...tears?

Slowly looking over to the clowns, you looked into their eyes, seeing an array of emotions, strong enough to make even you feel their pain. Panic, sadness, the agonizing longing to be heard, to be saved. You didn't dare move as Yeonjun got even closer, looking them in their eyes. He seemed to have finally noticed what was going on beyond the surface of their painted faces. His knuckles turned white, hands now shaking more noticeably. 

What you didn't expect was the raspy sob that ripped from his throat, followed by a distressed cry, echoing throughout the hall. He doubled down, knees locking as he fell into the water, the only visible part of him being from his chest and up. He couldn't hold himself up for any longer, but his eyes didn't leave the clowns. Sobs echoed against the walls, enough to shred a weak soul apart. 

Although the clowns were screaming in distress on the inside, their bodies started to move, as if they were controlled by a master puppeteer, and they started to...dance. Their smiles were wide as they jived around as if they were celebrating and having fun.

The more they danced, the more Yeonjun's face fell, slowly becoming emotionless despite the red in his eyes and the tears down his cheeks. The flashlight shone from under the water, the rays moving along with the ripples and waves the clowns made with their dancing. 

No one spoke. No one moved. You could barely breathe in the air around you as you watched them dance. It was almost...mesmerizing. The look in their eyes didn't change, a drastic contrast to their joyful faces. 

Nearing the end of their little performance, they started to form a heart together, both of them looking straight at Yeonjun. Their shaking arms came to a stop, of their heart pointed to Yeonjun, and as a finishing touch, a tear slowly streamed down the shocked clown's face, rolling over its wide smile.

Softly, this time, Yeonjun sobbed, eyes not leaving the clowns, although his vision was terribly blurred. Mixing in with his sobs, though, was what you thought was a slightly quiet chuckle.

Or...not what you thought...what it really was. Yeonjun was laughing. A broken smile appeared across his face as he laughed, his back slightly shaking with every breathy giggle that escaped his swollen lips. 

The clowns' faces slowly fell, eyes wide and iris's shaking. Looking deep into their eyes, you could almost see the reflection of two people, trapped in a ball and unable to get out. They hanged their fists against the see through walls, and their screams fell upon deaf ears, as if they were warnings. 

"Y-Yeonjun-" You shook, but he kept laughing. You panicked as you looked behind you at everyone else, wondering what the hell you were going to do, and wondering if they saw what happened at the extent that you did. 

"The water's rising!" Soobin cried.

"Yeonjun!" Taehyun called out for him. You turned back around to see Yeonjun almost fully submerged into the water, and it was now rising quickly. 

In a state of panic, and a last-minute feeling, you jumped out towards Yeonjun, grunting as you just now remembered your torn wings. Your back seared in pain, but you ignored it, reaching Yeonjun right before you the water completely submerged him. You had planned to pull him up and try to smack him out of it so that you all could quickly find a way out, but it was no use, and it was as if Yeonjun was tugging you down, under the water. It was way deeper than you thought, deeper than it possibly could be. The floor was right there, right? 

With the both of you submerged under the water, you held your breath and looked up at what was the supposed to be the surface, but you were met with darkness. You looked around, eyes wide, trying to find everyone else, but they were...gone.

Your arms were still tightly wrapped around Yeonjun, and his eyes were closed. You didn't notice before, but he had passed out and now you just felt completely alone. Submerged in what seemed to be a deep and dark ocean, there was no one else around, and nothing left but emptiness. It was like you had fell into the pit that the victims of this level were pulled into, yet you had deeply hoped that you wouldn't turn into them.

Sad, sad clowns subjected to a tragic end with no way out. Meeting visitor after visitor and forced to collect their last bit of happiness before joining the heart wrenching waters of level 609.

----------------------------------------------------

"Yeonjun?" You looked over to him, and he raised a brow. "Can we talk?"

"Uh, yeah?" He said. "Go ahead."

"Alone." You said. Everyone else was a bit busy at helping Mark with his notes, each one telling their own unique experience of the levels they had just witnessed.

You tilted your head towards the door and he hesitated before getting up and following you to the other room. Closing the door behind you, you noticed how awkward Yeonjun seemed.

"So, uh, what did you want to talk about?" He asked.

"You and Soobin." You said, and he rolled his eyes, already knowing what this was going to be about. "And that. That attitude you have."

"Does it really matter, though?"

"Yes." You said. "It matters a lot. There is too big of a problem between you two and there shouldn't be. I know none of us really know each other well, but the most important thing we need here is proper communication and teamwork. Otherwise, we're as good as dead."

"Why do I need to develop that with you guys when I'm only here to be back with the people I came here with?" Yeonjun said. "I have no intention to be friends or to even be on friendly terms with you guys, especially not with Soobin. If we get along, we get along, but obviously that's not working, so just leave it alone."

"Do you not have even an ounce of appreciation in you?" You frowned. "You would still be on that ship if it wasn't for us. We could have just taken Taehyun and left without any of your help."

"Without any of my help?" He looked you in the eyes, a small fire within them. "Did you forget who saved you back on that ship? Without me, you would've been dead."

"You're quite proud of doing something that Taehyun could've done just as easily." You scoffed. "And I paid you back that favor in the last level. Don't be so full of yourself, Yeonjun. Be glad we have enough good in us to not abandon you here and force you to find your way. Learn to work as a teammate, because you're the one who wanted to be here in the first place."

Yeonjun didn't say anything, but you could tell he was livid under his chill facade.

"And please...Soobin has been through enough already. We all have. So stop arguing."

"But Soobin- "

"I know what Soobin does, and I'll tell him the same thing." You interrupted, feeling like you were scolding a child. "You guys need to learn to get along. Also, you're kind of bitchy to Mark, will you tone it down? He's genuinely so kind and harmless, there is no reason for that. And stop being rude to Tae- "

"Okay, okay, shit, I got it." He frowned, shaking his head, heading towards the door. "I guess I'll shut the fuck up, then."

"Well, like my parents would say, if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all."

"Stop talking." He said, walking out, and you just chuckled, not taking any offense to it. You weren't too swayed by the way Yeonjun acted, you just didn't like the apparent rivalry between him and Soobin. You felt that maybe Yeonjun wasn't too bad of a person on the inside. Maybe it was just something that you would be able to see after getting used to him.

"Where did you guys go?" Mark said once you both entered the other room. As expected, Soobin did not look happy.

"I just needed to talk to him." You said, sitting next to Soobin on the bed. "Are you still writing the notes?"

"Yeah." Mark nodded. "So far, I just need more notes on our current level. This one is so peculiar. It's like...there's danger all around, but it's not...dangerous? Maybe there's a colony on this level. I want to go out and explore, but the buildings keep moving, and I don't want to lose this one..."

"We can explore after we're all rested up." You spoke. "Once we have no need for food, water, and a place to rest, we can take all of our stuff and leave."

"I think that's a good idea." Mark said. He continued to talk about his notes, and you noticed that Soobin was glaring at Yeonjun, Yeonjun glaring right back at him. Grabbing Soobin's arm, you leaned in closer, whispering in his ear.

"Stop it." You whispered. He looked away from him, huffing an angry breath through his flared nostrils.

"I think I have enough for now." Mark said, closing his notebook and putting it safe and sound in his bag. "Hopefully, our stuff won't be in jeopardy again." He sighed.

"It's probably time to rest now." You said, looking between Yeonjun and Soobin. "I'm tired."

"She's right." Mark nodded.

"I'm not tired." Taehyun spoke. "I'll just keep watch."

"You sure?" You asked him, eyebrows furrowed in worry, and he nodded. You wondered how he wasn't tired with all of the shit that went down recently. "Alright then..."

With one last look at Yeonjun and Soobin, you followed Mark and Taehyun out of the room. There was lingering anxiety about what would happen with those two being alone for so long, but you also had trust in them.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Everyone was up and ready to leave, bags slung over their shoulders. You had checked everyone to make sure there was no underlying symptoms of insanity radiating from them, and once everything had seemed safe, you felt calm again. Soobin nor Yeonjun brought up how it was being alone together, and you took that well. Nothing bad had happened, then.

You wouldn't say your sleep was very fulfilling, but it was enough to have you awake.

"We're probably going to lose this building, guys..." Mark said. "But I have no doubt there will be another one that we can find if we end up being here for too long. Let's go."

As the unofficial leader of this group, Mark lead us out of the building and back into the streets of level 11. The skies were still bright, as if the day hadn't changed at all, and just like you all had guessed, the buildings had looked different from when you first showed up. You sighed, worry evident on your face.

"How are we going to find an exit?" You said, looking around at all the buildings.

"I have no idea." Mark frowned. "Our best bet is to somehow find a colony here and maybe they'd be able to help."

You guys started walking an invisible path to seemingly nowhere. It reminded you of level one, which seemed like an infinite warehouse, and you had no path to walk along. The only difference was that you were completely alone.

"Maybe one of these buildings will lead us to the next level." Taehyun said. "That's all there is here."

"That would be a lot easier if these buildings didn't look exactly the same." Mark said. "Why is it that splitting up seems like the best and worst idea at the same time."

"It'd be the best idea if we had a way to communicate from far distances." Soobin said. "We have no phones...not even a walkie-talkie."

"It's a boomer's dream world." You laughed, looking into the distance. Your smile slowly dropped as you saw moving figures in the distance, and you squinted your eyes to see better. "Wait...do you guys see that?"

"Yeah." Taehyun said, as if he'd been watching the figures all this time. Everyone else looked at what it was, silence coming over all of you.

"What if they're just entities?" Soobin asked.

"Doubt." Yeonjun said. "They look normal."

"Whatever they are, they'd probably be useful in some way." Mark said, walking faster. "Come on."

You all eventually approached the figures, them watching as you guys came closer. They did, in fact, look like regular people.

"Uh...hello," Mark said, raising a hesitant hand. The strangers just looked you guys up and down, not saying a word. Mark looked back at you, and you shrugged your shoulders, not knowing what exactly was going on.

"Do you guys know how to speak?" Yeonjun asked, frown etched on his face, and they still chose to be silent. "What the fuck...?"

"Hi, we're wanderers...?" Mark said. "Do you...have any directions for a way out to the next level or anything? If not, then we'll be on our way."

"Where have you come from?" One of the strangers asked.

"Huh?" Mark asked, surprised that they've suddenly spoke.

"What level have you come from?" He said more adamantly.

"Oh, uh, we came from Level Fun." Mark gulped. The strangers trailed their gaze over each one of you, silent for a solid minute before pointing up at a building east of you.

"You may find your answer there." He said. "There's 10 earth minutes before the cycle starts again, as long as you make it there in time, you will be fine."

"10 earth minutes?" You asked. "How long is that here?" They didn't answer, going silent once more. You all looked at each other, confused.

"9 earth minutes." He spoke again. "Unless you're able to buy from us, you best be on your way."

"Oh, a-alright." Mark said, and immediately started turning east. You all hesitantly followed him, and you turned around a few times, keeping an eye on the strange people. Once you guys were far enough away from them, you turned back.

"Do you guys think they could be wanderers?" You asked. "Or a part of a colony?"

"Must be a part of a colony." Taehyun said. "Only a colony would be able to set up a place where others can buy from them."

"Damn it." Mark cursed. "I should've asked them what it was called. It would be helpful for our notes."

"Too late now. We should hurry up before the buildings start to move again." Yeonjun said, pushing past everyone to lead the group.

"Is that what he meant by 'the cycle'?" You asked.

"Most likely." Mark said, stepping in front of Yeonjun and looking towards the building the stranger pointed to. "I wonder what's so special about it..."

Once you all made it to the building, you walked in before the buildings could start to shift once again. It was quite cold and empty inside, which confused you. If the answers were here, then wouldn't there be someone, or something, here? Instead, it looked like a barren office building.

"What if it was all a lie?" Yeonjun asked. "And they just spat some bullshit out their mouths for fun?"

"Then this would be a waste." Mark said. "But we don't know that yet. The building isn't that big, it's just...tall. And for obvious purposes, let's...not use the elevators."

"What exactly are we looking for?" Soobin asked.

"That's the thing...I don't know." Mark answered.

"It's a surprise that we were even able to get this far without really knowing anything." You added on. "But if that isn't enough evidence that we'd be able to find the next level, I don't know what is."

You all started to tread up the staircase, exploring each barren floor of the building. There wasn't much on each floor, other than broken computers and unimportant papers that were tossed around by the wind that seemed to blow from nowhere. The place seemed empty of food, water, or anything useful for that matter. What exactly was so important about this building that the strangers had to point it out? Maybe Yeonjun was right, maybe it was just a lie.

"I'm starting to believe it is to use to keep going." Mark said, legs burning as he got to the top of yet another staircase. "And these bitemarks aren't making anything easier."

"There's got to be something here." You frowned. "Doorways to the next levels are usually weird. Just like how touching that rubber ducky brought us to level fun, maybe there's something just as odd here that we can touch."

"Well, that's the problem." Taehyun said, brushing over random objects that scattered the empty cubicles of the floor. "Nothing here is odd. This is just some deserted office building."

"There could be a doorway that leads somewhere." Soobin said, looking at the number on his hand. Once he saw that it still said the number 11, he dropped his hand down with a frown. "It would make sense if whatever we were looking for was on the top floor."

"It would if we were in a game, but this isn't a game." Yeonjun said.

"Except it literally is." You cut your eyes at him. "Have you forgotten how Taehyun, Soobin, and I got here? Everything about this is a game. Imagine teleporting inside of Mario Bros. It's all fun and cute on the outside looking in, isn't it?"

"I don't think I'd ever play those games the same again." Mark said. "I'd probably cry."

"You don't even know if you'd be able to play those games again." Taehyun scoffed. "If we keep talking here, you could just rule that off your bucket list."

"Jeez, what a fuckin' buzzkill." You muttered under your breath as you watched Taehyun go back to the staircase. You were about to follow him when Taehyun suddenly stopped in his tracks. You waited for him to give an explanation, but he was silent. "What's wrong?" You asked.

"Do you guys hear that?" He turned back, brows furrowed as his jaw flexed, eyes looking up. After a few seconds passed, Yeonjun huffed.

"What are you talking ab-"

"Shhh!" Taehyun put his finger up to his mouth, glaring as Yeonjun, then looking back up. With light footsteps, he continued up the stairs, and with curiosity, you followed closely behind him. You couldn't hear anything before, but the closer you go to the next level, the more you could hear.

"Are you sure you know how to work this, Arin?"

"Yeah, my dad worked with this kind of stuff, and he taught me a few things. As long as we get this working, then we can..."

The voice trailed off into silence, and you froze in your steps.

"Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"...it sounded like someone was here. Like a footstep or something."

More silence. Taehyun looked at you with wide eyes. Someone was on the next level, and just like you guys had heard them, they heard you too. With the rest of the boys behind you, no one dared to make a sound or to move an inch.

Grabbing onto the handrail of the staircase tighter, you heard footsteps start to make their way to the stairs. Looking behind you, you saw Mark start to slowly grab one of the guns from his bag, making sure there was at least something to protect you all.

You were able to see the top of the staircase that led to the next floor just by looking up and a bit behind you, and that's when you saw someone step their foot on the stair, clad in dirty white platform boots. From where they were, you knew that they just had to have been able to see at least Taehyun from that angle.

The one in the platform boots had a light step to them, but right beside them was one with a heavy black boot, fearless as they started to stomp down the stairs.

With as quick as they were, Taehyun didn't care about the noise he made, hurriedly grabbing a gun out of his bag and pointing it straight at the figure that then showed themself.

At that moment, Yeonjun, Soobin, nor Mark knew exactly why the gun had slowly slipped out of Taehyun's hand, dropping onto the linoleum floor with a loud clunk.

"B-Beomgyu!" Taehyun stuttered. Right at the top of the staircase was not a stranger, nor was it a dangerous entity. Instead, it was no one other than Beomgyu in the flesh, black hair brushing just past his shoulders and looking dimmer in the eyes than he did before you were all sucked into this dangerous world.

Soobin looked at Mark, as if questioning him on whether 'Beomgyu' was the name of your missing friend, as he didn't remember.

"Taehyun...?" Beomgyu's eyes widened, and he looked behind Taehyun, making eye contact with you, who was speechless. "(Y/N)?...Holy shit."

Just then, the other person with him showed themselves, looking upon you all with curiosity. It was a girl who was much shorter than Beomgyu, and her hair reached past the middle of her back. She was...cute. Her face was round and soft, except for a few scars here and there, but the large sword in her hand contrasted from her looks.

"Do you know them?" She turned to Beomgyu, voice a bit lower than you would've guessed. Beomgyu ignored her, aggressively grabbing Taehyun by his arm and pulling him into a tight hug. Not wanting to feel left out, you ran the rest of the way up the stairs and joined in the hug. You had never thought that you'd be reunited with your best friends as quick as it happened, and it was like the world disappeared in your embrace with them.

"Where the actual hell have you two been?" Beomgyu asked once you all parted from the hug.

"Where have you been?" You retorted, a large smile on your face. "I never expected to find you here, I was afraid we'd have to find our way to level 9 to find you."

"We..." Beomgyu trailed off, looking behind you to see the strangers that he had never met. "I'm guessing that you've been through a few levels."

"Same for you." Taehyun said, looking over at the girl, who was clearly confused.

"Beomgyu, who are they?" She asked him. You tilted your head to the side. Did he not mention you and Taehyun to her? He had to have mentioned you guys once like you had mentioned Beomgyu to the others.

Beomgyu looked back at her with a smile. "I'll explain later." He said, then looked back at you and Taehyun. "We have some catching up to do, but we don't have time now. We need help, follow me."

He hurried up the rest of the stairs to the floor he was on before, the girl hesitantly following behind him, but constantly turning around to look at you. She didn't seem very dangerous, but she slightly weirded you out. Maybe Beomgyu had found her just like how you found Soobin, and he dragged her along with him through the levels.

Once you were all upstairs, Beomgyu led you all to a certain cubicle that looked pretty identical to the other ones throughout the building, except this time, the computer sitting atop the desk actually worked. The screen was dimly lit, although it flickered occasionally.

"This...Arin and I found this computer while exploring the building, and it's the only one that works in the building." Beomgyu said, then he pointed to the corner of the screen where there was one small bar of internet connection. "Not only is there enough electricity to power this, but there's wi-fi here. This is the first level we've been on that had wi-fi connection. We're trying to find a way to get more, but we have no idea where a router could be."

"...so?" Yeonjun spoke up for the first time since meeting the two. "What is wi-fi going to do here?"

"It's not just about what the wi-fi could do for us, it's about where the wi-fi comes from." The girl, Arin, said. "Wi-fi doesn't just appear out of nowhere. It's regulated by someone, most likely a group, a team of people, and it's pulled from a source of power, whether that be a power plant, a dam, or something else. That means that a colony is nearby, and that colony could give answers as to where the next level is." She spoke quickly, energy flowing through her words, and she seemed confident in what she was saying.

"Arin thinks that the connection could come from underground, but...as far as we know, there's no way to actually get underground." Beomgyu said. "The buildings shift so often, and with that, the streets do, too."

"Honestly..." Mark frowned. "We can't help much with that. We haven't been on this level for long, and we haven't even thought about the idea of going underground."

"Well...that's something we'll all have to figure out together." Beomgyu sighed. "Right? You guys aren't...leaving, right?"

"The reason we even went this far was to find you." You smiled. "I'm not sure about the others, but Taehyun and I are not leaving."

Soobin frowned, deciding to keep silent. He was happy that you had found your other best friend, of course, but it seemed that the more people showed up, the more he was pushed to the side. He was the first one to stick to your side here, but he felt unimportant. Like everyone else was priority over him. It was you, Beomgyu, and Taehyun, and everyone else was just...'others'. You two had a connection, though, right? You two had been through a lot together, so he was just as important as Taehyun and Beomgyu...right?

"Good." Beomgyu gave a reassuring smile. "Before we do anything, though...I wanna know what you guys have been up to!" He giggled, doing small jumps up and down. Despite the circumstances, he still seemed like his old self. "We all need a little break, right? Who knows if the next level is gonna be crazy dangerous, let's chill." He grabbed the chair from the desk, and plopped down in it, making himself comfortable. He then noticed how no one moved, tense as ever and confused. "What? Sit down, or something, why are we looking so stressed? There's no dangerous entities here, and it's not like we have a time limit or anything."

"You may not have a time limit, but the only reason I'm here is because I have people that I need to find, so we need to get a move on." Yeonjun growled. Beomgyu recoiled in surprise, putting a dramatic hand on his chest and raising his eyebrows.

"Okay, grumpy, I understand your hurry, but I don't think I can work with you if I don't even know your name, you feel me?" Beomgyu said. "Think of us like coworkers now. You're with my good friends (Y/N) and Taehyun, so let's get to know each other so we won't be awkward, yeah? Sit, sit." He waved his hands down and you followed suit, sitting down on the floor and dragging Yeonjun to sit next to you. He scowled at you, fits balling in anger.

"Yeonjun, we should all get acquainted with each other while we're in a safe level. Who knows when we'll get this chance again?" You whispered to him, then you flinched as you felt someone push into you as they sat down next to you. You turned to see it was Soobin, and he didn't even look at you or apologize. You were a bit confused, but you just brushed it off. He's been so moody lately.

Everyone else sat down, Arin sitting on the floor next to Beomgyu, a wary look in her eyes as she scanned all of you. She was like Beomgyu's guard dog.

Beomgyu was the only one in a chair, appearing like a teacher teaching a second-grade class.

"Everyone, let me introduce myself!" Beomgyu smiled. "My name is Choi Beomgyu, aka (Y/N)'s and Taehyun's bestest friend. And this is my new friend, Arin!" He gestured towards the girl sitting next to him. "How about we all go in a circle and introduce ourselves."

"I didn't sign up for school introductions-"

"My name is Mark!" Mark perked up, a large smile on his face. "It's nice to meet you, Beomgyu and Arin."

"It's nice to meet you too, Mark." Beomgyu smiled, then he slowly looked over at Yeonjun, everyone else doing the same. Yeonjun didn't dare speak a word, a slow fire building up in his sharp eyes.

"This is Yeonjun." You spoke up for him. "And this is Soobin." You knew that Soobin wouldn't want to speak either. You found those two to be similar for a reason.

"Yeonjun and Soobin must be shy." Beomgyu giggled, then his smile faltered and dropped as he looked at you and Taehyun. "But seriously though...where were you guys?"

You were surprised at how serious he got in such a quick manner, but you were wondering the same thing about Beomgyu. Hell, you were happy he was even alive.

"Well...we had an idea as to where you two were." You said, referring to you, Soobin, and Mark. "But I started on level 0...right where we left off at while playing the game."

"...game?" Arin spoke up, and Beomgyu's eyes widened as his gaze flickered from side to side.

"Wait...do you not know how Beomgyu came here?" Taehyun frowned.

"W-we just met, like, I don't know, a few levels ago." Beomgyu said. "I wasn't...I wasn't planning on telling her..." He looked down at her, eyes wide with the slightest hint of fear.

"So, you guys came from the game, as in, Level Infinity?" Arin asked, eyebrows raised high. "I understand not trusting others enough to mention it, but do you not trust me, Beomgyu? A few levels ago is, like, equivalent to a few weeks."

"Time seems to fly by here..." Beomgyu said, avoiding eye contact. "But now you know. And you won't be telling anyone, right?"

"Do you think this is just some big party where everyone knows everyone or something?" Arin frowned, rolling her eyes. "I don't even have no one to tell. You can trust me."

Beomgyu nodded, relaxing as he was let off the hook.

"Soobin came from the game as well." You said, gesturing towards the man beside you.

"Oh, really?" Beomgyu's eyes widened with interest. "What character did you pick?"

"T-the smiler..." Soobin answered quietly.

"Oooh, scary." Beomgyu smiled. "I've got to see that in action."

"So, the powers thing is true?" Arin looked bamboozled.

"Yes, it's all true!" Mark said, excited. "(Y/N) can grow huge metal wings, Soobin can turn into a smiler, and Taehyun can grow these large heavy claws! I've seen it all, and they've saved our lives! Beomgyu, what power do you have?"

"Oh...uh, I chose the tentacle guy." Beomgyu said, but he seemed a bit unsure. "I mean, nothing has happened to me, yet. I've heard of the rumors about the powers, but I didn't think they were actually true."

"Really?" You tilted your head in question. "It hasn't come out once? Not even when you're in danger?"

"Well, shit, it would've been helpful to come out during the times I was seconds away from dying." Beomgyu sighed. "I've had to do things the normal way. Level 9 was exhausting."

"You must've been through a lot." You frowned. "I don't think we would've made it here if it weren't for our powers, honestly. I always knew you were strong."

Beomgyu smiled and looked down, seeming a bit bashful before he changed the subject. "Anyways...how did you all find each other?"

You all explained your stories to Beomgyu, telling him every step of the way as to how you all made it to the current level. Despite telling him all of the...exciting details, you were most curious with how he ended up here, and how he met Arin.

"I still can't believe you had to start from level 0." Beomgyu shook his head after you showed him your black leg. "Having two close encounters with a clump is not for the faint of heart."

"Yeah..." You sighed, rolling your pant leg back to where it was before.

"How did you get here?" Taehyun asked, looking between Beomgyu and Arin.

"Ooh, let me tell you." He took a deep breath. "So, like, as you guys know, I started from level 9, and level 9 seemed innocent and all, I guess. Think of this level, but instead of a city, it was like a suburban neighborhood, but it was always nighttime. I started in this random house, and it was so scary at first, because it was dark, but the house was safe. There was food and water, and even weapons. But leaving the house wasn't the best choice. There were entities everywhere, and unlike this level, they were all dangerous. The worst one was...The Mangled. Or that's what they call it." His face went grim at the thought of the entity. "I don't think I want to explain what happened on that level. Let's just...try our hardest to avoid level 9. I barely even made it out..."

You felt a chill down your spine. You've seen and encountered quite a bit of entities while here, the worst one being Shotaro, or what people call 'The Thing on Level 7'. You couldn't imagine the fact that The Mangled could possibly be even more dangerous.

"Anyways, I ended up making it to level 10." He spoke. "That's where I found Arin."

"I used to live in level 10 for some time, actually." She added. "There almost no one there, including entities. It's just an endless wheat field with a few small houses scattered here and there. I'm still not sure how Beomgyu found me."

"Well, I was fucking starving, and there was a nearby house, so I broke in and she was there." He laughed. "It's relieving to find other people to come along with in these levels. I'm sure you felt the same way when you found Soobin." Beomgyu smiled.

"Y'know, this is cool and all, but I think we really should get going now." Yeonjun said, looking at you as if he was only speaking to you. "You've found your friends, now I would really, really, like to find mine." His eyebrows were furrowed, but his eyes were almost pleading. If you were anything like Yeonjun, you'd know exactly how he felt, and there was that feeling of emptiness on the inside when you were separated from your friends in a place as dangerous as this, not knowing if they were alive or not. Despite the attitude he usually donned, you knew that there was a growing pain inside of Yeonjun that needed to be healed and sitting around wasn't going to heal him.

"He's right." You said, getting up, and dusting your pants off. "I think it's about time for us to try finding the next level. I'm sick of this level, anyways."

Yeonjun seemed relieved that someone was finally listening to him, and he stood up as well.

"Alright then..." Beomgyu sighed. "There's seven of us, now, so...let's not be too worried about how the next level will go, yeah?"

"Oh, by the way, Arin-" Mark reached in his bag to bring out his notebook. "While we're trying to find a way underground, can you describe to me exactly how level 10 was? Since you've lived there, hopefully, you know a lot about it so that I can write my notes about it and your experience there, and then maybe you could..."

Yeonjun rolled his eyes at Mark's non-stop talking, already making his way towards the staircase. Beomgyu took one last look at the blinking computer before following suit. There had to be a use for wi-fi in these levels. Maybe...it could serve to connect them all to the real world, and maybe they could find a way out from there. Or maybe it would be the first and last trace of wi-fi they would witness while stuck in the backrooms...

Taglist:

The sound of muffled music rang through the air, almost like an off-key “Happy Birthday” that played. You were in a sort of building, walls bright yellow and the floors a red and white tile checkered tile. There were twists and turns in every hallway and stale balloons stood still in corners. You looked around, noticing that you were alone, and your heart rate spiked. Not again. You couldn’t be alone again. You checked the back of your hand and instead of a number, there was the word ‘FUN’ in all caps.

“What is this?” You mumbled to yourself. Looking back up, the words ‘GET OUT’ flashed in your view before they were immediately replaced with ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY =)’. Knowing better, you knew that this level probably wasn’t a safe one. If only Mark was by your side, maybe you could know.

You were confused. Everyone had touched the rubber ducky, shouldn’t you all be in the same place right now? You bit your lip, aimlessly walking down one of the hallways in search of another person. That’s when you noticed that the pain in your lower leg was gone. You stopped and looked at the bandage, seeing that there was still blood on it. Deciding you quickly check, you bent down to unravel the bandage, constantly looking up just in case there was danger your way.

Once you unraveled it, you noticed that…there was no wound. All that remained was the slightly dried blood that escaped from it. Cautiously, you touched it, but there was no pain at all. You frowned, trying to figure out a way that a wound that bad had healed in such a short amount of time, especially when it’s said that time moves slower here?

“Oh no, your leg must’ve been mauled!”

You quickly stood up and looked at the owner of the weird voice. Slightly backing up, you knew right away that it wasn’t human. It was short and flowy, a bag over its head with a smiley face drawn on it. It seemed so light, almost floating off of the floor. There wasn’t much difference between them and a balloon.

“It’s a surprise you can still stand!”

“There’s so much blood!” Said another voice, and there beside the first one approached a second one.

“Come with us, we can help you patch it up!”

“There’s no need.” You said. “It’s fine.”

“That can’t be fine, come with us!”

“We’ll help you!”

They started to inch closer towards you, and you got a chill down your spine. You didn’t exactly know what it was, but there was something extremely creepy about these guys.

“Then you can join our party!”

“Yes, it’ll be fun!”

“You wanderers need a bit of fun, right?” It said, “Come with us, come this way. We’ll make you feel better.”

“No, no, it’s fine.” You said, backing up some more. Looking behind you, you noticed that three others have shown up. “What the hell is this…?” You muttered to yourself. You were surrounded. They were all talking at once, their voices eerily high pitched and they were all speaking at a fast rate. They were forming a circle around you and it was like more were appearing out of thin air.

“Come with us!”

“You’ll have fun!”

“We throw the best parties!”

“The cake will be tasty!”

“You will be tasty!”

“Oh, yes you will!”

Your breathing got harsher as their comments started to become more threatening. Whatever party they were throwing was not for you to have fun. It was supposed to be a trap, but you’re not stupid.

They started to phase in and out of the air, disappearing and reappearing somewhere else, almost like teleporting. Some of them glitched and others shook. You quickly reached into your bag and grabbed it the first thing you felt. Holding it out in front of you, you noticed that you had grabbed your sword. You grimaced, knowing a gun would’ve been much better, but you didn’t have time to choose.

Taking the case off, the sword got bigger, and you held it out, the sharp point of it facing the lightweight entities.

“Back off.” You told them, voice grim. “I’m not going to that fucking party.”

“Why not?”

“But your leg hurts!”

“There’s so much blood!”

“I bet it tastes so good!”

One got a little too close, and you swung your sword, slicing it right through the entity. You were surprised to see that it disappeared once you sliced it in half, popping like a balloon. Oh this was easy…

At least…it should’ve been. You noticed just how hard it was going to be to kill them off as they teleported quickly from place to place. The amount was was starting to surround you wasn’t helping either.

“That wasn’t very nice!”

“John was our party planner!”

You hurriedly located an exit point, seeing the turn of an empty hallway. Maybe your friends were here, but you all ended up in different parts of the level. Gripping onto your sword tightly, you rushed through the crowd of entities, swinging your sword as if you were getting through vegetation. It wasn’t hard at all, but you felt a continuous sharp pain in your legs, almost as if you were being bit by hundreds of tiny sharp teeth.

You didn’t do anything about it except run. You weren’t trying to stay back and feel the tiny teeth on you for any longer. You ran towards the hallway, noticing that some of the entities had teleported right in front of you. You yelped in fear, swinging your sword haphazardly. Looking behind you, you saw the entities teleport closer and closer towards you. Your eyes widened and you looked forward, continuing to run and swing your sword until you suddenly fell forward a few feet, and immense pressure escaping from your back. You growled and rolled your eyes, knowing that your wings had come out. You wished that you could control it, but it was a good thing that they came out. It protected you from the entities that tried to bite you from behind.

You got up quickly, slightly tripping over your feet when you reached for your sword. You were suddenly helpless once one of the entities pushed it meters away from you, and you were surprised that a fragile thing like that could do so.

“Shit!”

“Why don’t you just come with us?”

“No use in using that silly sword!”

You shut them up with one flap of your wings. Good god, were you happy that these hallways and rooms were wide. Otherwise, you didn’t think your wings would serve you much purpose…you cringed thinking about what had happened on that ship.

You then noticed that there were no more entities in front of you, but only some in the back. They had been teleporting all around you, but suddenly, it didn’t seem like they were able to teleport in front of you. That led you to believe that maybe they could only teleport to a place that they could see, and your wings were blocking the view.

You were snapped back into reality once you felt a harsh bite on your leg. You knew you had to be bleeding now, but that didn’t matter, and you ran once more. Where? You didn’t know. But all you needed right now was someone with you, and the fact that all of your friends had seemingly disappeared was enough to give you the energy to run from point to point, searching for them while fighting off entities.

“Fuck off you annoying idiots!” You heard an angry voice and you nearly froze before you remembered exactly what was happening. You looked around frantically for who it was, following the sound of exasperated grunts and the annoyingly high-pitched giggles of a crowd of entities. The sound of a gunshot rang through the air, and you followed it.

Rounding a corner, you saw him. Yeonjun.

“Yeonjun!”

He snapped his head up to see you, brows furrowed downwards and sweat dripping down his forehead.

“Finally!” He growled, harshly kicking an entity. “These things are fucking everywhere, and they keep trying to eat me!”

“I see that!” You rolled your eyes. “We need to find the others-“ You whacked a group of entities with your wings. “And then we’ll figure out a way to get out of here!”

He nodded, running towards you while knocking the entities off of him.

“Get in front of me,” You told him. “My wings will block their view in front of us, and it’ll make things easier.”

“What makes you think that-“

“Just do it!” You yelled at him. He looked as if he wanted to argue, but he listened, knowing that you two couldn't just sit around and talk. You felt worried for Mark, Soobin, and Taehyun, hoping that they had found each other and that they were fighting these things off.

While running, Yeonjun skillfully grabbed another gun out of his bag, getting rid of the few entities that were in his way, the sound of gunshots ringing against your ears. You hoped that maybe the boys would hear it and come towards the two of you.

You then heard a large thump. And then you heard it again. The further you ran, the more you heard them, and the more the ground vibrated. Your anxiety spiked. Those thumps didn’t sound like a good thing.

Then you heard another gunshot, and this time, it wasn’t from Yeonjun.

“Yeonjun, go right!” You told him. “I think that’s where the sound is coming from. He listened, turning right, ignoring the burn of the muscles in his legs.

There was the thump sound again, but this time, you saw the cause.

Taehyun was surrounded by entities in a dead end, but that wasn’t it. His hands were much larger than normal, and on each finger was a large, sharp claw, bigger than that of a bear’s. Way bigger. He used his hands to claw at the entities and used his fists to pummel down on them.

A bit further down another hall was Mark and Soobin, both with guns in their hands and fear on their faces. But that didn’t matter. What mattered was that they were alive and that you all were in sight of each other again.

“Guys!” You called out to them and they finally noticed you and Yeonjun. “We need to get to a room with one entrance! I’ll explain later, but come on!”

The guys fought through the crowd of entities, hurriedly following you without another word. You twisted and turned, scared that you might not find a room in time. These entities were coming from everywhere, and there seemed to be too many to kill.

“(Y/N)! Over there!” You hear Taehyun call out, and you turn to look behind you, almost hitting Yeonjun, but he moves out of the way in time. You looked to where Taehyun was pointing, seeing a double door that was slightly ajar ahead of you guys. You rushed to the door, opening it and letting everyone in first. You didn’t know if there were entities in there, so you were taking a risk, you all were.

When everyone was in, you finally squished through the doors, your wings blocking the entrance from the entities. Once you were in, you hurried to close the door, only one or two of them making it in.

But, before Yeonjun had a chance to kill them like he was planning to, two arrows flew through the air before they punctured the entities, rendering them dead. He looked up to see where it was coming from to see things that almost looked like the entities they were killing, except they had sad faces drawn on the bags over their heads.

Yeonjun held his guns up to them, one gun in each hand.

“Wait, wait!” Mark said, pushing his arms down. “Don’t shoot!”

“Why!” Yeonjun snapped at him.

“Dude, are you blind, they just killed the ones that we were trying to kill!”

“We don’t want any trouble.” One of them started to speak. “We’re not like them. We are specifically against them.” You were all silent as they spoke.

“We place fliers all over the level, telling wanderers that going to the party-goers party is dangerous.” They said, “But…I guess it didn’t work. The party-goers take them down. They try to convince and manipulate wanderers into coming to the party so that they could feast on them.”

“So…” Soobin spoke. “If those are party-goers, then…what are you?”

“We’re the anti-party-goers.” It said, “There’s not much creativity in the name, but it explains what we are enough. We can help you with your journey.”

“This is our base,” The other one adds. “It’s safe here, and you can rest until you’re on your way again.”

“How do we know to trust you?” Taehyun asks.

“We don’t need you to.” It says. “We can lead you to the next level, level button, and we’ll leave you from there.”

You looked at the boys, a bit wary of making a decision. There was an on-going pattern here, with the most kind looking entities ending up being the most dangerous. The anti party-goers didn’t look the most kind or welcoming, but for some reason, that made you trust them.

Mark looked at you as if he was searching for your answer. “Should we rest for a bit before we go?” He asked, and then he looked at everyone else. “If they’re dangerous, we can still protect ourselves if they try to attack. If not, then we will be okay before the next level. Who knows how dangerous the next one might be.”

“I agree.” You said. “I think that’s the smartest choice.” Soobin nodded, lips pursing in agreement although his shoulders were still tensed up from the previous activities. Taehyun didn’t say anything to disagree, so you knew he was on board. Everyone looked at Yeonjun, who’s eyebrows seemed to be permanently furrowed, shadowing over his fox-like eyes.

“We can rest.” Yeonjun sighed. “But only for a bit. We need to get going.”

“Yeah, yeah, we know.” You said. “Mark, could you patch up my legs? Those fuckers bit me too many times to count.”

“Yeah, I think we all got bit.” Mark said. “I’ll take care of it.” With one last wary look at the anti party-goers, he got the first aid kit out of his bag. The room you guys were in was rather basic, multiple tables perched up with chairs surrounding it. You wondered why there seemed to be so few anti party-goers, but so many party-goers.

You sat down in one of the chairs and Mark bent down to check out your leg. He was silent, and you waited for him to patch you up, but it never came.

“Mark?” You questioned, looking down at him. His round eyes were fixated on your black leg, frozen.

“Uh, (Y/N)?” Mark looked up at you in question. “What…what happened to your wound from the last level?”

That caught the attention of everyone else as they looked down at your leg, and you looked down too, as if you didn’t try and examine that when you first entered the level.

”It’s gone.” You said simply. “I don’t know how, but when I first entered the level, it was gone.”

“Do you specifically remember getting bit in this leg?” Mark asked and you nodded. You had gotten bit multiple times in both legs. He checked the other leg, seeing as it was smeared in blood and multiple small bite marks. “Guys, check this out. This is weird.”

Everyone gathered around, surrounding you and looking down at your leg. You felt awkward and cringed at the fact that you were surrounded.

”What is it?” You asked him.

“Your black leg is completely healed.” Mark said. “There’s not one scratch or scar. But your other leg had multiple wounds, even though you were bitten on both legs.”

“How did her leg get like that, anyway?” Yeonjun asked, being the only one who didn’t know.

”Near death experience with a clump.” You said. “Mark managed to save me.”

”Yep, that’s how we met.” Mark said proudly. “But I’ve never seen this before. I’m going to go out on a limb…heh, no pun intended-“

“It wasn’t funny.” Yeonjun said.

Clearing his throat at the awkwardness of no one laughing, Mark continued, “But I think that your leg is like…immortal.”

“An immortal leg?” Soobin raised a brow.

”Like, it heals really fast type of immortal.” Mark said.

“So…invincible.” Taehyun said.

“Yeah, that’s the word.” Mark nodded. “That’s fucking awesome.”

“Wow…a bird with swords for feathers and an invincible leg.” Yeonjun raised his eyes, nodding.

“I’d rather not be referred to as a bird, thanks.” You chuckled. “This is cool and all, but could you patch up my other leg?”

“Oh, right.” Mark got back to it, cleaning your wounds and wrapping it. He did the same to everyone else and then himself. “Is anyone else hungry? We haven’t eaten since…yesterday?” He reached into his bag and searched around, exclaiming his confusion and looking back up. “What happened to the snacks we gathered in level 3?”

“Snacks?” Yeonjun widened his eyes. “There were snacks in there?”

“When we got them off the ship, the only things in the bags were weapons.” Taehyun added.

“Seriously?” You groaned. “So, all the snacks AND the almond water…gone.”

“We won’t make it through the next level at this rate.” Soobin looked down.

“We need to get used to it.” Yeonjun said. “Not every level is going to have food or even a safe place to eat anything. And I’d rather die than eat anything on this level.” He said, glaring at the anti party-goers who continued to just stand in the corner, looking as sad as ever.

Mark turned to look at them. “He meant to add a ‘no offense’ to that.”

“If I meant to say that, then I would’ve said it.” Yeonjun snapped. “We’ve rested enough. We should get going.”

”We’ve been here for 15 minutes.” Taehyun said. “You keep trying to boss everyone around as if we aren’t tired. We need to take as much rest as we need.”

“No one’s bossing anyone around.” Yeonjun crossed his arms. “I seem to be the only rational person here, so I’ll take charge when I need to.”

“Hey, I’m quite rational.” Mark frowned. “I’m the one who patched up your wounds and I’ve been helping as much as I can despite not being as powerful as everyone else here.”

“Yeah.” Soobin stood up, fed up with Yeonjun’s attitude. “You barely even know us. Mark had helped us get to where we are and without us, you would still be on that ship struggling to get off.”

“Oh, so now I’m the bad guy.” Yeonjun scoffed. “Did you forget where we are? What we’re doing? Is it my fault that I want us to get to where we all need to go?”

“No, Yeonjun, that’s not what’s wrong.” You sighed, not feeling like hearing an argument. “The point is, we are a team, and you’re a part of this team whether you like it or not. We all need to help each other, and all of our opinions matter and should be heard. I actually agree with you. I think we should go on to the next level. We don’t know what the level is going to be like, but I’m not entirely comfortable here. I’d rather us take our chance on ending up in a better place than to stay here for too long.”

Yeonjun pursed his lips together, crossing his arms and looking away, slightly still angered but grateful that you agreed with him.

“Look…maybe that is the right choice.” Mark said. “Maybe Yeonjun and (Y/N) are right. I’ll agree with you guys, but I’m still a bit worried. We’re taking a bit of a risk here, especially since the anti party-goers are basically going to escort us to the next level.”

“I’ll go with whatever (Y/N) goes with.” Soobin mumbled and Yeonjun scoffed. He glared at him. “I trust her.”

“That’s understandable.” Mark nodded, not judging Soobin at all. Mark didn’t know the full story with how you and Soobin started, but he could sense the obvious trust you two had in each other. He could completely understand.

“Taehyun?” You looked at your friend who seemed to be unsure.

“It’ll be hard to get around with our legs like this.” He said, referring to the bloodied bandages wrapped around each of everyone’s legs. “I guess the wounds aren’t too bad, but we have to be careful…let’s just keep going. We’ll have to get used to it.”

“So we all agree?” Mark asked, and looked at everyone, all of you nodding. “Okay.” He took a deep breath and stood up, facing the anti party-goers. “We’re ready to be taken to the next level.”

—————————————

“Going through this door will take you to level button.” The entity said. “All you have to do is press the button, nothing more, nothing less. One person pressing the button will teleport you all to the next level, level 11.”

“Wait.” You said, looking at it. “What about level 8 or 9?”

“We have no way of knowing how to get to those levels.” It said, “For now, all we know is to press the button to get to level 11.”

“We could still probably make it to level 9.” Mark said. “Remember the little detour we made to get to level 7? I’m sure there's another way to level 9.”

You nodded, agreeing.

“No matter what, we’d have to go this way, anyways.” Yeonjun said. “Going back out there isn’t a choice.”

”Let’s just go.” Mark said. “As long as we’re all together, we’ll be fine.” At that, the anti party-goers moved out of the way, leaving Mark to open the door himself. With a gulp, he wrapped his hand around the doorknob, hesitating. You then got a flashback of when this same thing happened to Soobin. Watching as the fear settled in them, unsure for what was behind the closed door.

The rest of you didn’t dare to rush him, as you were all scared yourselves. You all stood in silence, waiting for him to open the door. With a swift movement, Mark swung the door open, revealing a dimly lit room, small in size, with a table in the middle. On that table was just one thing. A button.

“Good luck on your travels, wanderers.” Was the last thing you heard from the anti party-goers as you all gathered in the small room and closed the door behind you. Everyone just looked at the button, not daring to touch it.

“They said to just press the button, right?” Soobin asked.

“That’s the only thing in here to do.” Taehyun replied. He looked at Mark, wondering if maybe he was going to be the one to do it. Despite everyone, he seemed to be the one to call the shots the most. Once he noticed Mark staying still for too long, he stepped up to the button. “We’ll all be teleported to level 11 if just one presses it.” He hovered his hand over the button, hesitation settling in. Who knew what level 11 was going to be like at this point. It could be more dangerous than any other level you’ve been too, or…it could be relatively safe. There was never enough time or thinking to prepare you for what was waiting on the other side.

But it was a risk that had to be taken.

Taehyun let his hand drop, pressing the button. There wasn’t a split second to rethink his actions, and within the blink of an eye, you were in a completely different place.

Your first instinct was to look around you, to make sure everyone was there and a repeat of the last level wouldn't happen. Beside you, fortunately, were the boys. Just like you, they made sure everyone was in sight of each other.

Then you looked at the new level that you were in. You felt a sense of familiarity. You were in a city of some sorts, buildings tall, reaching into the clouds.

You took a quick look at your hand, seeing that the number was on 11. For being a level you’ve never been on, it looked so much like the M.E.G base gamma on level 3. Mark and Soobin seemed to be thinking the same thing, looking at you in confusion.

The only difference was…

“What the hell…?” Yeonjun cursed. “They’re just…walking about like normal.”

He was referring to the multitude of different entities, some familiar, some not, that were roaming around the city as if they were humans. None of them spared a glance your way, despite your fight or flight on the edge of coming out.

“Do they not see us?” Mark asked, eyes following one of the entities walking a hound as if it was a mere puppy.

“One just looked at me and waved…” Taehyun said.

“This is just weird.” Yeonjun said.

“I don’t think they're gonna hurt us.” Soobin said. “We should find somewhere safer, though, and maybe we can try and find a way to the next level.”

“Soobin’s right.” You said. “Maybe these buildings would be like how the M.E.G base gamma was.”

“The what?” Taehyun furrowed his brows.

“The M.E.G base gamma, a colony settled on level 3 that we stayed at for a bit.” Mark informed him. “This level looks almost exactly like it. We could probably find an empty building…or at least an empty room to be safe in. These guys are everywhere…”

Maneuvering throughout the entities, trying to keep a safe distance away from them, you all followed Mark to the first building you guys saw. Despite the semi crowded streets outside, the inside of this building was empty. It seemed to be a company building, cubicles lining down the middle of the floor. It made you uncomfortable to see what would usually be bustling with people to be…empty.

“Maybe we could find some food or almond water in these buildings.” Mark said. “I doubt anything would be here, though.”

“Do you think there would be food in one of the apartment buildings?” You asked. “That’s how it was in level three.”

“Possibly.” Mark nodded, looking over some of the cubicles. It looked as if there was someone here mere minutes ago, papers sprawled across the desk and a variety of pens sitting in a cup. You frowned, wondering exactly how this world came to be.

”Let’s check out another building.” Mark said, and you all followed suit, exiting the building and going back outside. But…something was vastly different.

There were no longer any entities outside, the streets empty and quiet. Not only that, but the buildings looked different. You were no longer on the same street surrounded by the same buildings. It did look like you were on the same level, but it was as if the buildings…moved.

“What the hell…” Soobin murmured.

“Okay, that’s weird.” Mark said. “I need…I need to write this in my notes. Let’s try to figure out what the hell just happened after we get somewhere safe.” Mark shook his head, murmuring to himself as he goes for the next building.

“Is this an apartment complex?” Taehyun asks.

“I’m not sure.” Mark said.

“Shouldn’t we split up-“ Yeonjun started but was quickly interrupted by Mark.

“No!” Mark said, stopping in his tracks. “Splitting up will never do us any good. The last two levels proved that enough.”

Soobin glared at Yeonjun, remembering when they split up on the ship, despite Soobin clearly saying not to. Who knows if Yeonjun is even going to listen this time? You put your hand on his shoulder, not wanting anything to come of him glaring at Yeonjun. If Yeonjun was to catch that, you weren’t sure if you could hold them back for what was next to come.

“I think this is it!” Mark said upon walking into the building. You guys had first walked into a lobby. If it wasn’t an apartment complex, it was at least a hotel. All of the buildings looked nearly identical, so it was extremely hard to tell. There were two elevators to take you guys up to the other floors, but you were severely against it, and you knew Mark and Soobin had the same thought. “Let’s take the stairs.” Mark said.

“Why can’t we take the elevator?” Taehyun asked, the pain in his shins throbbing from the bite marks.

“Some elevators might lead to another level, or even certain death.” You told him. “It’s best to be cautious about it.”

“Oh…” Taehyun said.

The five of you started to go up the flight of stairs, going through the door for the second floor.

“Oh, yeah, this is it.” Mark said once you all entered a long hallway, doors lining the walls. He went for the first door to turn the knob, but it was locked. He froze, turning to face the rest of you.

“What’s wrong?” Soobin asked.

“It’s locked.”

“What?” Yeonjun frowned and he pushed Mark out of the way to try and open it himself.

“I said it’s locked.” Mark said, frustrated. “Let’s try the other doors, there has to be one that’s unlocked.”

You went to the next door, trying to open it, but that one was locked as well. Using this moment as the only time to ‘split up’, everyone went door to door, trying to open them but being disappointed at it being locked.

“Guys, this one is open!” Soobin said, all the way down the hall at the second to last door. You all ran to the door, poking your head into the room as if you were all children, curious about a fun surprise. Well…nothing was really fun here, but it was good to pretend.

Behind the door was what looked like a small apartment, a studio, to be specific.

“This is perfect, right?” You asked, looking at Mark. Not even waiting for an answer, you were the first one to enter the studio. You flipped the light switch on, not fully expecting it to turn on the lights, but, to your surprise, it did. You walked further, seeing that there was indeed no one here. There was a small kitchen area with a fridge, a sink, and a small counter space. You opened the fridge, seeing nearly a dozen bottles of full almond water, sitting there almost as if they were waiting for you. “Guys, come look at this.” You looked towards the door, seeing that they were still crowded around the entrance, not coming in. “There’s almond water here.” Oh opened up one of the cabinets. “And…just some chips.”

They rushed in at that, to witness seeing food for what seemed like the first time in forever.

“Oh thank god.” Mark exhaled. “I think that this place is safe. We’ll be fine here for a day or two.”

Yeonjun looked at the one bed in the room, then turned back to Mark with an eyebrow raised. “There’s only one bed…where is everyone gonna sleep?”

“Uh, on the floor?” Mark said. “Beggars can’t be choosers, we’re in the back rooms for goodness sake.”

“Then you have fun sleeping on the floor.” Yeonjun spat, rolling his eyes. “I’ll take the bed, and no one can complain, since beggars can’t be choosers, right?”

“We should give the bed to (Y/N).” Soobin interjected, glaring at Yeonjun. “Don’t be selfish. And she’s the only girl here. If you’re sleeping there, we could have at least three on the bed.”

“I’m not gonna sleep and cuddle next to no one.” Yeonjun scoffed.

“Then sleep and cuddle the fucking carpet.” Soobin said, and Yeonjun didn’t even let the comment marinate in the air before he grabbed a heap of Soobin’s t-shirt in his shaking fist. Soobin had set him off, but he showed no reaction, only deepening his glare.

“You got a lot of nerve for being such a pussy, don’t you?” Yeonjun spat. “If you wanna fight me, then just say that.”

“Yeonjun, let him go.” You frowned, grabbing onto his arm, trying to push him away.

“Try me if you want to.” Soobin said in a threatening tone that you surely did not like.

“Hey, guys, please chill out, now is not the time— it never is the time for this.” Mark said, forehead wrinkled with worry. “None of us needs to get more hurt than we already are. Remember your motive. You’re with us for a reason.”

It was like you all were on edge for a few seconds before Yeonjun released his grip on Soobin’s shirt, giving him one last angry look before looking away. Soobin roughly smoothed out his shirt, face still stoic.

You sighed, feeling frustrated. Why can’t they just get along? Even you knew that Taehyun didn’t necessarily feel comfortable with everyone, but instead of instigating, he usually just kept quiet. Your eyes searched for Taehyun, suddenly noticing he wasn’t there.

“Taehyun?” You called out, worried. That caught everyone’s attention away from the tense situation. “Where’s Taehyun?”

“H-how did he disappear that fast?” Mark said. You walked out of the studio, head whipping from one side of the hallway to the other, and you noticed an open door across from the studio you were in. It was a door that you guys had not checked before. You ran across the hall into the other studio, and there Taehyun was, checking the fridge and cabinets.

“Taehyun!” You frowned, angry at him leaving in the middle of everything. He looked at you nonchalantly.

“What?” He asked. “They were fighting over something as stupid as a bed. I thought I’d just look to see if any of the other rooms were open.”

You sighed, squinting at him. “Thanks, but…remember, no splitting up, okay?”

“Mhm.” He nodded, giving you a smile.

“Is he in here?” Mark entered the room after making sure Yeonjun and Soobin wouldn't fight. He then noticed Taehyun there, and he sighed in relief. “Oh, good. I was hoping you didn’t go too far. That…haha, that would be bad.” He laughed, then he looked into the room. “Well at least there's another room open! Maybe we could keep Soobin and Yeonjun separated, then.”

“No.” You shook your head.

“Huh?” Mark tilted his head in confusion, and you walked back to the other room where Soobin and Yeonjun were still glaring at each other.

“So, Taehyun found another room.” You said.

“Thank god.” Yeonjun said. “Now I won’t have to sleep next to this insufferable prick.” He started to walk to the exit before you pushed him back and he frowned.

“No, that’s exactly what you’re going to do.” You said. “Since you two can’t get along, you’ll both sleep in the same room, and maybe bond that way.”

“Bond?!” Yeonjun screeched.

“Yes, bond.” You smiled, unaffected by his little outburst. “Mark, Taehyun, and I will sleep in the other room.”

“What?” It was Soobin’s turn to be confused.

“Didn’t you say not to split up?” Yeonjun said. “What if Soobin and I can’t protect ourselves if an entity breaks in?”

“Oh? If that happens, Soobin can protect both of you perfectly fine.” You shrugged.

“(Y/N), I don’t want-“

“No complaints.” You said. “You will both sleep in here. We have to get to the next level as soon as possible, so we must rest until then. Don’t be difficult.”

Soobin gave you a dejected look.

“I mean, we don’t have to rest now.” You said. “Just..please don’t fight. Like Mark said, it’s never the time for that.” You looked between the both of them, none of them saying anything, eyes trained on the carpet beneath them.

“Okay, guys, so I was gonna write the notes about this level down, but I just remembered, I didn’t write down the notes for the last level, what was it called-'' Mark entered, Taehyun entered right behind him.

“Level Fun.” Taehyun said.

“Oh, it was one fo those non-number levels, okay.” Mark nodded. “Hey, Soobin, Yeonjun, I know a non-violent activity! It’s called ‘help me write these notes’. I could use all the brain power possible to make it accurate.”

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