Phased out

Karlos' hand hovered over the button. 

Just an inch away. 

Then— 

"Karlos, wait!!!"

Ethan's voice pierced the silence. 

Karlos' body tensed—his breath caught in his throat. He turned back sharply, eyes locking onto Ethan.

His brows furrowed.

Confused. 

"What...?"

Karlos muttered. 

Ethan swallowed hard. 

His voice was lower this time—uncertain. 

"Are you sure we should click it?"

Karlos stared at him. 

"What if it's a trap?"

That single question planted something inside him. 

Doubt. 

Karlos had been so sure.

He trusted the rules. 

But now—his fingers curled slightly, hesitation creeping into his stance. His expression shifted, discomfort flickering in his eyes. 

"The rules said there's a keybook..."

he muttered, his voice lower now.

"But this is a button." 

Karlos turned back to the button, staring at it like it might stare back.

"Maybe if we press it, we'll escape... don't you think, Ethan?"

Ethan didn't respond right away. 

Karlos' throat tightened.

He needed an answer. 

"Please answer me, Ethan."

But 

Ethan could feel it now. 

Karlos wasn't asking because he was confident.

He was scared.

He was shifting the decision to him.

Why? 

Why was it so hard to press a simple button? 

It should be easy.

Click it.

Move on. 

But that's not how uncertainty works. 

Have you ever been on an exam?

A strict one.

The kind where cheating meant immediate failure.

The teacher watches closely, eyes sharp.

Students get caught. 

Thrown out.

Then, one day, the teacher suddenly says— 

"You can cheat now."

A strange joy fills the room. 

But then— Doubt.

"Why are they letting us cheat? What's the catch? Is this a trap?"

You glance around.

No one moves. 

No one wants to be the first to cheat. 

So you shift the decision to others. 

"If they cheat, maybe I will too."

That was exactly 

What Karlos felt right now. 

He wanted Ethan to make the decision for him. 

Because if something went wrong... it wouldn't be his fault. 

And Ethan knew it. 

Ethan's breath was shaky. 

His fingers trembled. 

He had to muster the courage. 

Karlos had been the one leading, planning, deciding. And what had Ethan done? 

Been bait. 

That was it. 

That wasn't enough. Now— it was his turn. 

A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead, slipping past his eyebrow, clinging to his lashes. 

His heartbeat pounded against his ribs. 

The silence stretched too long. 

And then— 

Ethan broke it. 

"Yes."

His voice was firm.

No hesitation. 

His eyes locked onto Karlos. 

"Karlos. Do it."

That tone— that confidence. 

It lit something in Karlos. 

The doubt faded.

The hesitation shrank. 

A small smile curled at Karlos' lips. 

He nodded. 

Then, without another word, he turned back toward the button. 

His hand moved forward. 

Closer. 

Closer. 

His fingertips hovered just above it. 

Then—he hesitated. 

Just for a moment. 

Just one last time. 

Then— He slammed his palm down. 

Click. 

The button pressed down. 

And then— 

Reality snapped. 

The air distorted, twisted. 

A sharp, ear-piercing SCREECH ripped through the void—louder than thunder, louder than anything human ears were meant to endure.

Then— Everything disappeared. 

Ethan, Karlos, every remaining survivor—ripped from their places, pulled by something unseen.

No warning.

No transition.

One second, they existed. The next— they didn't. 

And then— 2,500 people hit the ground at once. 

A sea of bodies.

Gasping.

Yelling.

Screaming. 

They weren't alone anymore. 

The massive room was impossible. 

A cold, concrete void. No doors. No windows. Just walls that stretched into nothingness.

The sound of panic filled the air. 

Ethan's head pounded. His stomach twisted. His body had just been somewhere 

else, and now— His breath hitched. 

Everyone was here. 

Every single survivor. 

And yet—

April was gone. 

Everyone reappeared. 

Together. 

But not in the same place. 

Not in the yellow hell. 

Now— They were inside something else. 

A room. 

Unimaginably large. 

Not just big.

Not just vast. 

Incomprehensible. 

The kind of size that shouldn't exist. 

If you could see it from above—from an impossible height—the entire crowd, all 2,500 survivors, would look like nothing more than a single speck of dust.

A full stop. 

On a blank, white canvas. 

And then— 

Chaos. 

Voices erupted at once. 

Yelling.

Screaming.

Demands for answers. 

People pushed, shoved, turned in circles, trying to find something—anything—that made sense. 

Where were they? 

How did they get here? 

What happened to the yellow hell? 

One second, they were scattered.

Struggling to survive. 

And now— They were here. 

Together. 

And yet, this felt worse. 

Ethan and Karlos stood still. 

Frozen. 

Their minds still processing what just happened. 

One second, they were alone. 

Now— They were standing in front of everyone. 

Not with them. 

In front of them. 

Like a duo separated from the rest. 

Karlos' breath was uneven.

His head snapped around, taking in the impossible scene before them. 2,497 people.1 

Huddled together in a massive crowd. 

A single wall of bodies—opposite them. The distance between them was unnatural. 

Like it had been placed there on purpose. 

The front of the crowd noticed first. 

Their eyes landed on Ethan and Karlos. 

The ones standing apart. 

The ones separated. 

And then— They started moving.

A few figures stepped forward. 

Slowly.

Cautiously. 

Karlos exhaled sharply, eyes darting toward Ethan. 

"What the fuck just happened?" 

But Ethan didn't answer. Because right now— he had no idea. 

Karlos' breathing was still uneven. His mind was scrambling for an explanation. 

Then— 

"ETHAN! KARLOS!!" The voices pierced through the chaos.

Three figures broke away from the crowd. 

Johnathan.

Alice.

Kasey. 

They ran—fast. 

Their eyes wild with confusion and desperation. 

Johnathan reached them first, his hands gripping Karlos' shoulders.

"What the hell just happened?! How did we get here?!"

Alice's voice cut through, breathless. 

"Were you guys already here? What did you see?" 

Kasey's gaze jumped from Ethan to Karlos, scanning them like she was trying to read their minds.

"Did you press something? Trigger something? Are we supposed to be here?!"

The questions kept coming. 

"Is this another test?" 

"Where were you before this?" 

"Did anyone explain anything to you?!" Their 

voices overlapped. 

Rushed.

Urgent.

Desperate for answers that Ethan and Karlos didn't have. 

And that's when it hit Ethan— Everyone was looking to them. 

Like they knew something the others didn't. 

But the truth was— They were just as lost. 

Then— It spoke. 

Not from the walls. Not from the sky. 

Not from anywhere. 

Yet—every single person heard it.

Inside their heads. 

A voice that wasn't theirs—yet filled every inch of their mind. 

"Phase 0 has concluded."

A statement.

A fact.

Absolute. 

The silence that followed was heavy, suffocating. 

"You have survived the trial phase."

A cold realization settled over them. 

The trial phase. 

Which meant— There were more. 

"You were scattered. Separated. Tested. You have seen. You have learned. Now, you stand together."

A shiver ran through the crowd. 

For the first time, every survivor was gathered in one place. 

But something about it felt wrong. 

Ethan clenched his fists.

Karlos' eyes darted across the room. Kasey's breathing was steady—too steady. Because deep down—they knew. 

This moment wasn't meant to last. 

Then, the voice continued. 

"You were never meant to understand Phase 0. You were only meant to survive it."

Alice's breath hitched. 

"The rules were given. The rules were absolute. Those who obeyed them are here. Those who failed— Are not."

April. 

The weight of her absence slammed into Team Karlos at once. 

Johnathan swallowed hard.

Kasey's jaw clenched.

But they didn't get to dwell on it. 

Because the voice wasn't finished. 

Then— Everything changed. 

The air cracked. 

The room itself split. 

Not physically.

Not visibly.

But something had shattered. 

And then, the voice spoke one final truth. 

"You will not walk the same path."

A sharp, ringing noise pierced through their minds. 

The air shifted. The walls blurred. 

Ethan's eyes widened—he felt it. 

They were leaving. 

Not together. 

Not to the same place. 

To different fates. 

"You will be scattered once more. To survive. Or to be erased."

A silence devoured the room. 

And then— They were ripped away. 

Ethan's breath caught in his throat. 

His thoughts scrambled, piecing together the words that had just been burned into his mind. 

"Separated… meaning…" 

His heartbeat pounded. 

"Different phases for every—"

He couldn't even finish the thought. 

Because by then— It had already begun. 

Just before the end— As the world began to unravel, as fate itself prepared to tear them apart— A final voice echoed within their very souls. 

Not a whisper.

Not a command. 

A proclamation. 

"Let it be known. Let it be eternal. Let all who walk these cursed paths remember this day. 

For among thee, two have triumphed where countless could have fallen. All shall praise the names of Karlos and Ethan, For they are the chosen. The victors. The heroes who have conquered Phase 0."

The words did not fade.

They burned. 

Etched into the minds of every last survivor, woven into their very existence. 

A truth they could not unhear. 

A truth they could never erase. 

And then— 

Silence. 

And the world broke apart.