Chapter 6 The One Who Watches

• They didn’t speak after Marcus’s confession. Not for a long time.
• One by one, the others were called up. Some lied and bled for it. Some told the truth with tears on their faces. Some barely made it through a sentence before the system buzzed, punishing them for hesitation, doubt, or denial.
• But the worst part wasn’t the pain.
• It was knowing they were being watched.
• Marcus stayed near the back , watching the others with too much calm in his eyes.
• Niko was last.
• He stood slowly, folder unopened in his hand. He hadn’t spoken once since Marcus’s turn.
• Player Eight. Niko. Confess.
• He glanced around the room. Eight cameras. Eight players. But only seven shadows on the wall.
• Zara noticed it too. She gripped her chair. Very tight.
• Niko’s voice was quiet. “There’s someone else here.”
• The lights flickered. A soft mechanical voice echoed from the ceiling:
• CONFESS.
• Niko dropped the folder. “I have nothing to confess.”
• LIE DETECTED.
• A loud pulse shook the room. Sparks burst from the ceiling. The lights went black for three seconds.
• When they returned, Niko was still standing but he was bleeding from the temple, his hand pressed tightly to his scalp.
• “I said,” he whispered, “I have nothing to confess… because I’m not one of them.”
• Silence.
• Everyone froze.
• “What did you say?” Liana asked.
• Niko smiled, but not kindly. “Just kidding.”
• The screen blinked again:TRUTH ACCEPTED.
• The steel door behind them creaked open slowly.
• They hesitated.
• Then Marcus moved first. “Let’s get out of this room.”
• They filed out in silence, but unease clung to them. Especially Theo, who kept looking back at Niko. At how calm he was, even now.
• The new hallway was colder. A damp breeze came from nowhere. Pipes ran along the ceiling, dripping slowly. The walls were covered in scrawled messages names, tally marks, desperate notes written in what looked like old blood.
• Zara stopped walking. “Guys.”
• A phrase repeated over and over on the wall in jagged writing:
• One of you is lying. One of you is watching.
• Elijah’s face went pale. “The game said it from the start. One of us isn’t real.”
• Liana added, “One of us is working with it.”
• A screen flickered on ahead, hovering in mid air.
• Solve the room. Escape in time. Or be buried..
• And behind the group, Niko ran his hand slowly along the wall.
• He smiled again, softer this time.
• He had a secret no one could guess.
• He wasn’t there to escape.
• He was there to make sure none of them did.
• A low humming started, like wires vibrating behind the walls , as if the house itself was waking up again.
• The lights above flickered, then dimmed until the hallway was bathed in a low red hue. A siren blared once sharp and cold before cutting off, leaving only silence behind.
• A voice echoed through hidden speakers, distorted but clear: Two: Echo Chamber. Complete the pattern. You have fifteen minutes. One mistake will cost you a player.”
• No one moved.
• Then Liana stepped forward, eyes narrowing. “What the hell is an echo chamber?”
• The hallway ahead opened into a circular room with eight podiums arranged like a clock face. In the center , a pillar glowed faintly its surface smooth and metallic pulsing every few seconds like a heartbeat.