An uneasy silence and sad vibe lingered in the air as no one of them spoke. Nari was lost in her own thoughts, thinking about what exactly was going on.

"Um.. Where did he go by the way? He hasn't returned yet." Nari asked, breaking the silence.
"Who? Hongjoong? No he won't come back now." San answered.
"But he said he'll be back. Wasn't this meeting important?" she replied.
"He just says that but never comes back. Don't worry, I'll talk to him." Yunho gave her a small smile.

"Oh... Okay." she smiled back.
"By the way! I'm going to order BBQ chicken pizza! Anyone wants anything else?" Yeosang said enthusiastically, trying to lighten the heavy atmosphere.
"Are you kidding me? chicken? AGAIN?" Mingi clutched his hair in frustration as everyone else laughed.
"I don't like anything else other than chicken" Yeosang pouted.

"Ugh. Fine. Order me a pineapple one then." Mingi replied.
Nari gasped. "Pineapple!? That's even worse Mingi!" she gave him a 'judging' look before bursting into laughter.
"If he orders pineapple pizza today, never invite him ever again hyung." Jongho shook his head with disappointment.

"Excuse me?? It tastes good? Fuck you!" Mingi frowned.
"Just shut up y'all. Do whatever the fuck you want Mingi." Seonghwa looked at Nari.
"And Nari.. Do you have any other questions? I'll answer them." he smiled.

"Hmm.. Yeah I do."
Everyone paused, paying their full attention to her. "What is it?" Wooyoung asked.
"What if we file an official complaint about this game? I mean... It's almost a crime right? Forcing teens to do fatal dares." she turned towards him, waiting for an answer.
"No. The person behind this whole game is too smart. He gets rid of all possible evidences. Maybe he has a connection or something, we really don't know but... Many people have tried to take the help of police, but it never affected this game." he sighed.

"Oh I see..." Nari paused.
"How about... We find him?" she continued.
"What!?" Wooyoung asked bewildered.
"What if... We find the mastermind and put an end to this?" she repeated, making the boys gasp.
"Is that even possible noona? The watchers.. They're too many in number and they enjoy this game. Whoever it is, he has full support of them." Jongho cleared.

"Then how about we gather all the players? They are the ones who die right?"
"Only some players are suffering Nari. Not all." Seonghwa replied.
"What do you mean?"
"You see... The players who win get famous and are treated like God in this world. And most of the people the game selects are people who love power. They are either the bullied kids who now got a chance to prove themselves, or the bullies who try to make themselves look even more powerful." he answered, a sad smile on his face.

"After all, only the fittest survive. That's how this world works." he murmured as if he was talking to himself.

"So you are telling me that even the players enjoy playing this stupid game because they get all the popularity they want if they are in the top? So they don't even care about the number of people who die because of this shit."
Seonghwa nodded silently.
"This is disgusting." she concluded.

"It is. But we can't help. If we stop playing, we don't have any idea what the game will do." Yunho replied.
"What will they do?"
"They are too powerful. If you don't play, your rank goes down. And if your rank is low, they'll kill you saying you are not skilled enough to survive." he answered.

"What!? They... Kill players? Just like that? And no one investigates..?"Nari's jaw dropped after hearing the new information. She was already disgusted but now she was just... Scared.
San shook his head. "No...as hyung said. They might have connections so no one cares."
Nari gasped.
"B-but..."

"Winning this is the only way out Nari. There's no other way."