The world resets.
Silence again.
Fresh grass. Warm sun.
A peaceful, open city square—deceptively normal.
But then the sky turns red.
The Variant system selects a new path.
One not written by the trio.
A residual shard, overwritten by the system's instinct to correct.
The NULL SHEPHERD did not build this game.
But something older did.
And this time, the rules are simple:
Game: HIDE AND SEEK
Difficulty: Unknown
Players: 7
Seeker: Assigned.
Hiders: Survive until sunset.
Rules:
Hiders must avoid being tagged by the Seeker. Tagged Hiders are eliminated. No hiding in safe zones more than once. Movement is tracked. Betrayal is allowed.
Time Limit: Until Sunset.
Winning Condition:
At least one Hider must remain untagged by the end.
The players spawn one by one:
Matthew: Disoriented, but alert. He remembers this format. Sora: Quiet, scanning the buildings. Rin: Visibly tense. Her system privileges are gone. Ilari: Pale, silent. The corridor left her changed. +3 others: One looks terrified. One calm. One too calm.
The system chimes again.
"The Seeker has awoken."
In the center of the plaza, a figure rises from the stone tiles—its face wrapped in white linen, its hands inky and too long.
It doesn't speak.
Just turns its head, slowly.
Then starts walking.
Early Strategy
Matthew yells, "Scatter!"
Players sprint into alleys, doorways, empty cafés.
The Seeker moves at walking pace.
But players tagged don't scream.
They just go silent—and vanish.
One by one.
By the first hour: Two gone.
The game's tension becomes psychological.
Betrayal Mechanic
An old vending machine lights up.
One player finds a hidden console offering:
"Reveal another's location = Delay your own detection."
They press it.
Sora's name flashes.
The Seeker turns.
Sora feels it.
"I'm being fed to it," she whispers to Matthew in their commlink.
Ilari's Role
Ilari finds a shrine-like building. She stands in the center, motionless.
Symbols crawl across her arms again.
"I think I've been here before."
Rin stares at her. "This isn't your first time, is it?"
Ilari doesn't answer.
But her eyes flick toward the Seeker's path—
And she smiles.
Endgame Twist
As the sun begins to fall, four players remain.
Matthew, Sora, Rin… and Ilari.
Suddenly the Seeker stops.
The system flashes red:
"The Seeker has fulfilled its cycle."
"Final Rule Unlocked."
"Remaining Hiders must now choose: Reveal and survive together, or stay hidden—one survives alone."
No countdown. Just choice.
Sora breathes heavily.
"We can end this. Together."
Rin steps forward.
Matthew nods.
But Ilari stays still.
Then speaks:
"The Seeker… was me once."
"This game is a memory. One you left in the Variant layer. But I'm not done with it."
Before anyone can respond, Ilari steps into the center again.
And the Seeker stops.
Bows.
Then vanishes.
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
Game: Completed
Survivors: 4
Ilari's status: Unknown
As the Variant resets, the trio stands beneath a red dusk sky.
Something is deepening inside Ilari.
Something that remembers more than any of them.