I Accidentally Became A Superstar

- I will bet my left nut that Zeno is a scaredy cat.

- He does give off the vibes.

- Wouldn't that be so cute though?

- No, it's pathetic.

- Says user69872 with a blank profile picture.

"It's dark," Zeno muttered to himself. Despite being an alien, he didn't have any special features. The Ascendants could've given him night vision, at least. How the heck was he supposed to navigate through this when he literally couldn't see anything?

He was wearing a helmet with a night vision camera attached, showing his face amidst the dark.

- …

- It's unfair how he looks like this in such a weird angle.

- I can't wait to capture his startled face soon.

Just then, the mannequin head fell right in front of him. However, instead of a scream, he merely backed away.

Zeno said nothing and tilted his head once. Then he walked around it like it was a poorly placed chair in a furniture store.

- Cut off that left nut and send it to me.

- HE DIDN'T EVEN FLINCH WTF?

- This guy's so cold it's scary.

- I want whatever meds he's on.

- I fear that might not be meds but trauma.

- His face didn't move at all!

Zeno turned the corner and entered a dim room where a projector was casting words on the wall in red.

It was the easiest question to find, but also the hardest one to answer. It wasn't impossible, per se, but one needed a lot of time. All of the other contestants gave up answering it, knowing it would eat up the fifteen minutes—even if it meant getting ten points.

((90 + 87 − 42) ÷ 5 + (56 × 3 − 27)) × (18 ÷ (3 + 3)) + (144 ÷ 12) − (25 + 30 ÷ 5) =

The camera zoomed in.

Zeno read it once.

- Zeno, don't waste your time on it!

- Move onto another question.

- Nobody has answered this question out of all the contestants.

- It's the question with the most number of points, right?

- I bet my right nut he can't answer this.

Zeno walked to the sensor and said, "458."

Correct.

The wall turned green. Ten points secured.

- …

- Send me both of your nuts right now.

- Maybe the blind chess victory wasn't luck?

- Or maybe he's just really really really lucky.

A cold gust of wind burst from a vent nearby, and a tall ghostly figure emerged from the side—a long-haired actor in all white, face covered in makeup and fake blood, crawling slowly toward him with jerking limbs.

The ghost staggered forward, letting out a soft moan.

Zeno bowed. A full, proper, 90-degree bow. Then, a look of pity passed through his face. He couldn't imagine having to do this ten times.

"Thank you. This must be hard for you," he said sincerely.

The ghost paused in confusion.

- WAIT WHAT

- HE JUST BOWED TO THE GHOST???

- He's more polite than me to my relatives

- Is he… is he okay?

As the ghost blinked under her makeup, Zeno stepped past her without another word. She felt her heart race, and she couldn't even execute her next move because she was too startled.

Fortunately, he walked right into the next question. A glowing sensor lit up above a locked box. As he approached, a mechanical voice echoed.

"I'm not a knight, though I sound quite grand,

Born in a star, but made by man.

A metal so rare, you won't find me free,

I light up your screen—can you name me?"

Again, Zeno didn't think about it too much. "Indium."

- The others paused to answer that.

- Is Zeno a hidden genius?

- I'm starting to believe it.

- I fear we're in the presence of a very scary person.

- He exhaled slowly and glanced at the ceiling.

Time check.

The small display embedded into the wall read 10:02.

Almost five minutes had passed.

He was a third through the time. But he had only solved three questions.

He wiped his hands on his pants and glanced around. He hadn't realized how drenched they were in sweat.

That was the thing. It wasn't the ghosts. It wasn't the darkness. It wasn't even the riddles.

It was the damn scavenger hunt.

Finding the obstacles appeared to be the biggest challenge.

He passed five ghosts that were barren. He'd pulled open drawers and kicked open boxes and even looked under a body bag that contained a real person.

- What is he standing like an idiot for?

- Maybe answering the questions was too much for his mind.

- Even after appearing in two episodes, Zeno is still a mystery to me.

- I don't care. I can just look at his face all day.

Zeno knew the Death Area was large. He had been here before for the Blind Chess. Gene PD must know that it was nearly impossible to navigate through all of it.

Then, his mind circled back to one instruction that seemed to be repeated multiple times.

Listen carefully.

Why did Lucy emphasize that?

Every contestant had heard it. But maybe it wasn't just flavor text.

"Dead Sound," he muttered to himself.

That's what the producers had called this area, right?

It was odd wording. It didn't make sense at the time. But now...

He stood still.

Eyes closed.

His other senses were nearly gone. His sight was compromised by darkness and shadows. His sense of smell only gave him the metallic hint of fake blood. He hadn't tasted anything. Even sense of touch was weird because this area was too damn big.

But hearing…

He focused.

A soft, wavering pitch.

To the right.

No—diagonal.

He tilted his head slightly. There it was again.

But now he knew what to do.

There were frequencies here.

Maybe some contestants never even noticed. They were too panicked or too loud. Their breathing covered it up, or their fear distorted the details.

But now Zeno knew. It was subtle.

He took a step in the direction of the sound. Then another.

Each time he got closer, it became slightly more noticeable.

- Wait, where is he going?

- Is there even a door there?

- Why is this so tense suddenly???

- Bro this is giving FINAL DESTINATION vibes

And then… he stopped.

The wall ahead looked like any other. Just blackened stone.

But the sound was louder now.

There were different frequencies inside the room—each one leading to the questions they needed to answer.