The sharp clang of the bell echoed through the halls of Jeonghwa High School, signalling the end of the day. In this bustling mayhem, one room was filled with utter silence.

For Class 11-1, the bell just marked the beginning of their punishment. The open announcement of their poor performance in the periodic tests had been delivered earlier that day, a public shaming that left the classroom silent with tension.

Two girls passed by the classroom; their giggles sounded light as they stole glances through the window. The drab faces within the classroom fired up their courage.

"Cleaning would be easier than studying!" yelled one of the petite girls, teasing the herd of angry bulls.

It was one of the rules that was implemented a few years back.

In Jeonghwa High School, the class that scores the lowest cleans the school! Students hated this rule, especially the public shaming, which was included as if cleaning the school was not enough. The authorities reported that it helped improve the school's rank, increasing the influx of new students in the school every year.

An old man in a dusty orange shirt stood behind the girls, waiting for them to pass without noticing him. The girls giggled, their voices fading as they walked away, leaving the man shaking his head in silent disgrace. Upon seeing the opportunity, the homeroom teacher, Mr. Kang, strode into the room, his brows furrowed deeply in frustration. The entire class braced for the storm they knew was coming.

"Once again—" he began, his voice heavy with disappointment, "once again, you've managed to outdo yourselves... by being the worst-performing class in the school."

Groans and whispers went through the room.

"I am utterly ashamed. This is not just a reflection of your individual effort—or lack thereof—but of this class as a whole. Do we have any shame left? I can see you've all decided to toss your books—and perhaps your brains—straight into the garbage, but sports?" He scanned the room, his gaze lingering on a few notorious faces, including Song Mingi, who slouched in his chair, fidgeting with his loose tie, looking bored. The teacher pinched the bridge of his nose as he took off his glasses, his frustration barely concealed. 

"Song Mingi," he began, his tone steady but laced with a palpable edge of sternness, "if I catch you sticking gum on someone's pants or deliberately throwing the ball at someone's face again, I will not hesitate to call your father and inform him of everything."

The about-to-retire teacher stood in silence, catching his raging breath. Adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose, Mr. Kang continued, "Because of your collective failure, you will be responsible for cleaning the old building's primary hall today. I expect this task to be completed by the end of the evening. And let me make this very clear: if it's not done to my satisfaction, there will be further consequences."

The announcement was met with a mix of groans and angry whispers.

"But sir," Lim Taeyang, the class's resident bookworm—who probably inhaled more pages than fresh air—stood up, his face flushed with ridicule. "This isn't fair! Some of us scored well on the test—why should we be punished because of others?" His words, though directed at Mr. Kang, were an unmistakable jab at Mingi, who smirked lazily in response.

"This isn't about fairness, Taeyang," Mr. Kang replied, his voice calm but firm. "It's about learning to take responsibility as a group. This is about helping others. Life doesn't reward you for individual effort alone."

"But sir—" before he could continue, Mr. Kang cut him off.

"By the way, I couldn't help but notice—you've managed to dodge nearly every gym class this semester, Mr. Voice of Fairness." Taeyang was met with a nervous silence. "Now, I suggest you all head to the storeroom before I lose my patience."

The class rose reluctantly. Taeyang left the class first from the back door, deliberately bumping his shoulders into Mingi's.

—

The primary hall had 4 rooms in it; it was previously the den of the principal and the teachers, with a staff lounge and a storeroom, but after some incident, the hall closed, and the teachers shifted to another building.

The storeroom was dim and smelt like something had been rotting there since last century. Shelves packed with dusty old junk lined the walls, and as the students got to work, the awkward silence in the room only made things feel more uncomfortable.

Taeyang, meticulously stacking old textbooks, couldn't keep his frustration to himself any longer. "Unbelievable," he muttered under his breath, loud enough for other students to hear.

"What's unbelievable?" Mingi asked, leaning lazily against the shelf Taeyang was clearing.

"That someone like you thinks it's okay to drag the rest of us down," Taeyang snapped, turning to face him.

Mingi smirked, completely unfazed. "Maybe if you stopped acting like the world owes you something, you'd get that not everyone's—what is that word?" Mingi snapped his fingers, trying to remember something that would suit best for the situation. "Right! Exemplary! Not everyone's exemplary like you." A tone used for mockery. 

"At least I try," Taeyang shot back. "What do you even do? Sleep through class? Joke around? And now we're stuck here because of YOU!"

The sharpness of Taeyang's words hit a nerve, and Mingi's smirk faded. "You think you're better than everyone else, don't you?" he said, stepping closer. "Guess what? Your grades don't mean crap when you're a jerk."

"Better than being a useless imbecile," Taeyang spat, his voice rising.

"Say that again," Mingi growled, his fists clenching.

Before anyone could intervene, Mingi lunged at Taeyang, shoving him backward into a stack of boxes. Papers and dust flew everywhere as the two grappled, their argument turning into shoves. The class watching them recoiled in shock, gasping as the chaos unfolded before them like a scene from a movie.

"Knock it off!" Lee Jihoon shouted, rushing forward to grab Taeyang's arm while Hongjoong pulled Mingi back by his collar.

"Let me go!" Taeyang barked, his face red with rage.

"Not until you shut up," Jihoon said firmly, dragging him to the other side of the room. "What's your problem, Taeyang?"

"My problem?" Taeyang hissed, glaring at Jihoon. "My problem is that people like him think it's okay to drag the rest of us down, and we're supposed to just deal with it!"

Meanwhile, Hongjoong held a hand on Mingi's shoulder, speaking in a low, calming tone. "Hey, don't let him get to you. It's not worth it."

Mingi exhaled sharply, shaking off Hongjoong's grip but backing away nonetheless. "Whatever," he muttered, turning his attention back to dusting.

Across the room, Jihoon placed a hand on Taeyang's shoulder. "I get it. You're frustrated. But yelling at him isn't going to fix anything." The class president reluctantly continued, "Most of us messed up this semester, so when you're calling him out, you're calling all of us out. Let's just focus on getting through this, okay?"

Taeyang sighed heavily, his anger simmering. "Fine."

Mingi stayed close to Hongjoong while Taeyang helped Jiya shift the old boxes out of the room; he couldn't help but give dead glares to Mingi, who couldn't care less.

The rest of the cleaning went on in tense silence, broken only by occasional grumbles and muttered complaints.

Wooyoung and San occupied a less crowded corner of the room, cleaning the webs and clearing the rusted storage.

"Son of a nutcracker! What was that!?" Wooyoung yanked out his hand from one of the boxes as soon as something pointy touched his skin. San peeked inside and finally broke the monotony of the room. "Guys! Check this out!"

All heads turned as he emerged from a dusty pile of boxes, holding up a vintage-looking PC tower. Behind him was San holding up a box filled with broken consoles.

"What is that?" Seonghwa asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's ancient," Yeosang remarked, peering over Seonghwa's shoulder.

"It's a gaming PC!" Wooyoung declared, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "Or it used to be. Look, we even found a monitor over here!"

"Umm..." a disgusted feature was already plastered on Jimin's face, "that monitor looks disgusting. What if you get AIDS by touching it?" 

The comment was followed by a solid hard knock on Jimin's skull. "AIDS doesn't spread by touching things." Mina spat, annoyance stuck to her face.

"Ow! You broke my sarcasm gland!" Jimin complained, rubbing his temple.

"Let's not," Seojin said, crossing her arms. "I know what's inside your head. We're here to clean, not play games in some stupid old junk." A concern washed over the class president as she read the boy's intentions. 

"Oh, come on, Miss President!" Wooyoung grinned. "This thing's probably as old as Mr. Kang. What's the harm in plugging it in?"

"Yeah! If Kang can run, I bet this can too." Jiho added.

Ignoring Seojin's distressed rebukes, Wooyoung plugged in the PC and pressed the power button.

"If anything happens, I am telling Mr. Kang immediately," Seojin warned, backing away. To Wooyoung's surprise, the machine whirred to life, its screen flickering constantly.

The room went quiet as some students gathered around, curiosity overcoming their reluctance. And some were engaged in the punishment.

"What game is it?" Yunho asked, leaning closer.

"Only one way to find out," Wooyoung said with a mischievous grin, reaching for the console. "Let's see if this junk works or not." The moment everything was plugged in, the screen turned pitch black. 

A wave of disappointment washed over drowning everyone deep in it. Some already flew away from the scene, while some stayed and cursed out how stupid they were to expect something. 

"Aye, man. Let's throw this out now." San suggested, his hand over Wooyoung's shoulder, giving him pats of pity. He could see the colours of excitement draining out of his friend's face.

Wooyoung let out a slow, puffing sigh before getting up from the floor, turning away from the monitor. 

The moment the two friends got away from the monitor, it started showing some pixelated interference. The overlooked screen was now flashing some messages, waiting for a response.

Lee Jiya was passing nearby when her eyes locked onto the flashing screen, which was left unattended.

The screen flashed a message: "Welcome to Night Maze. Do you wish to proceed?"

She looked around, checking if anyone noticed her near the device. The thing sure did spark her interest, but she stayed back because of her brother, no one else other than the class president. Lee Jihoon. She did not want to cause trouble for him. 

Her fingers hovered above the chipped blue console. 

'Yes.'.