𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐋𝐈𝐄 | нwang ᴊunнo

1

☐△◯

I WOKE UP in the dark. For a moment I couldn't figure out where I was. Everything was blurry, and my mind wouldn't cooperate. I felt tired, exhausted, as if something had drained all my energy. My body ached in places I had forgotten existed. I was lying on a hard bed, and there was dead silence all around me. I remembered everything, but at the same time nothing.

I stood up slowly. My head was throbbing, and my hands were cold. When I stepped onto the ground, my legs were shaking under the weight of my own body, as if they didn't have the strength to lift me. After a moment I looked around, trying to understand what was happening. The walls were gray, unfriendly, like in some factory. This was the place. The game. And the role they had assigned me.

Without a word I went to the cabinet next to the bed. On the hanger was an outfit - red, simple. I put it on in silence, as if it was routine, as if it didn't matter what I was wearing. Finally I took the mask – round, with a white circle – and put it on my face. I immediately felt everything around me become less personal. I was no longer myself. I was just part of the system. Part of this game.

We were led in silence to the corridor, where more Guards were waiting. Everyone walked in a single file, step by step, without a word. We had only one task: to carry out orders. I didn't look at the faces of the others. The masks covered our identities, and in this game nothing mattered except what we had to do.

We stopped at the end of the corridor. You could hear noises coming from the room where the game was taking place. We, the Guards, had to take our places now. I felt like a puppet, like part of this brutal machine. No one asked, no one had the right to feel. There was no room for feelings in this game. Only to complete the task. So I stood there, ready, waiting for the order.

I could feel my heart beating faster, even though I tried to ignore it. The mask with the circle on my face was supposed to protect my identity, but today, in this game, it was my prison. With every moment, with every breath, I became more and more impersonal. It didn't matter who I had been before. Now I was one of the Guards. I followed orders. And that was it.

When I heard the first announcement and the doll stopped singing, I knew there was no turning back. I could feel the players trembling in the air, their tension. They were running towards me, trying to reach the finish line, thinking about nothing but survival. Each of them had the same thing in their eyes - fear. But I couldn't see it. There had to be only one goal in my eyes: to uphold the rules of the game.

I was the one standing guard. I was the one making sure no one moved when the doll stopped singing. No questions, no doubts - just observation. So I stood there, silently, weapon in hand. Every player move, every step they took, I followed with my gaze. And then – suddenly – the doll fell silent. Stop.

The players began to run, not looking at anything. The gaze of their bodies was full of desperation, but there was no compassion in my eyes. I had no right to have it. Anyone who broke the rules would have to pay. That was how it was in this game. In this machine.

And then – shots. Shots that echoed in the empty hall. One of them was a player who hadn't had time to stop. I looked at him as he fell to the ground, dead. And I knew I couldn't stop, I couldn't feel anything. It was my job – to stand and watch the rules being enforced. That was all. That was all. The mask with the ring covered my emotions, and I stood there, motionless.

I had no doubts, but I felt that with every moment I was becoming more and more alien to myself. The more I looked at all those faces, the less I felt. The players ran. Some were shot, others survived. It didn't matter. When the next shots rang out, I was no longer the one who was terrified. They were now the victims. And me? I was just the one who made sure the rules were followed.

The doll fell silent again. Stop. The players stopped as if in a trance, not looking at anything. And then - the melody played again, the doll started moving, announcing "green light". They ran again. And again the shots. Someone moved again. He died again. The mask with the ring became my prison, my curse. With each passing minute I felt like I was turning into one of those machines that don't feel, don't see, don't think - they just do the job.

I felt my hands go cold, my body become more and more rigid. Usually I felt pain when I looked at others, but now... now I felt nothing. My body was just another tool in this game that had no end.

Everyone who moved died. Everyone who broke the rules died. Players ran and more shots were fired. There was nothing on their faces but fear. And I couldn't back down. I had to do it. I had to keep order. Because if I didn't, I would fall. And that wasn't something I could afford.

That was my job - to watch all this, keep order, not to ask questions, not to feel. With each new shot, with each new player falling, I became more and more dead. And when the last player reached the finish line, I wondered for a moment: Who of us really survived?

But I didn't have time to think. The game went on, and I was still the Guard.

After the game ended, when the last player reached the finish line, I felt a slight tension in the air, which, as usual, I quickly suppressed. This was just another stage. The game continued, and I had to remain cold and indifferent, as always. The mask with the circle on my face was so well-fitting that I almost forgot that it was no longer just a symbol - it was my new "self".

The surviving players were led to the side, and we, the Guards, headed towards the rest area, in silence, in even formation. Only the coldness in the air reminded me that we would never return to the life that was before this. We walked through the corridor towards a place where we could rest for a moment before heading back to our stations.

In the crowd of other Guards, I noticed number 029. It was one of us, a new one who had just joined. At first, I didn't pay much attention to him. Each of us had a task and there was no room for emotions at the moment. But then... something worried me. He disappeared. He literally disappeared.

I took a step back, trying not to show any change in my demeanor, but my eyes began to search for number 029 among the other Guards. Where had he gone?

Then I heard the sound of footsteps in the background and felt my heart rate increase slightly. My gaze met another Guard standing nearby. He had a mask with a triangle on his face. Of course, this was not the time to ask questions, but... what happened to number 029?

We were Guards. If any of us did not stick to the rules, we could become the next victims of this brutal game. We all moved towards the designated place. After all, everything here had its consequences, and we were just a part of this sick puzzle.

When we entered the hall again, we immediately took our positions. We stood in silence, still with masks on our faces. I understood at that moment that there was no turning back. Even if 029 disappeared, his fate did not matter. My own life had also become just one piece of this dark puzzle.

And although for a moment I felt the thought of number 029 gnawing at my curiosity, I knew I couldn't stop there. There was no room for questions in this game. In this game, all I had to do was keep order. Take care of the rules. And wait for someone to disappear again. Because in this game, if you don't keep an eye on it, you'll be the victim. And I wasn't going to be another number.