That night, they all slept on the beds. Not peacefully. Not comfortably. But on beds.

  Some turned with swollen eyes that refused to close fully. Some pressed split lips carefully against thin pillows. Some lay stiff because their ribs protested every breath.

  Still, none of them complained.

  Theo shifted slightl.

  “Aaaasssshhhh!”

  He sucked in a sharp breath.

  Andy’s teeth had not been merciful. His shoulder bore the crescent marks clearly. His forearm was wrapped with cloth he had bought from the clinic, but the pressure still throbbed underneath.

  He rolled to his other side. Pain followed.

  He stared at the ceiling for a while, then lifted his wrist into the faint light.

  Forty five coins. The number glowed steadily. He let out a breath that was almost a laugh. “I guess it is worth it,” he muttered.

  Across the room, Newton sat upright on his bed. He had not laid down.

  His elbows rested on his knees. His hands hung between them, bruised knuckles facing upward. He stared at them as if they belonged to someone else.

  The events replayed without permission..The weight of his fist. Phil’s face beneath him..The moment his arm would not stop rising.

  “I committed violence,” he whispered..The words felt heavy in his mouth.

  He pressed his palms together and lowered his head. “I almost killed him.” His voice cracked.

  “I almost broke one of the ten commandments.”

  Tears slid down his cheeks silently. He did not wipe them. He just sat there, shaking his head slowly, as if trying to undo something already done.

  Stella watched him from her bed. She did not look away. Her face carried no softness.

  “The boy will grow up,” she said calmly. “This is not the sweet world where we came from.”

  Newton did not respond.

  “Where we get to pray in church and sing worship songs,” she continued, her tone flat. “This is the system’s world.”

  She folded her arms. “And the system gets what it wants.”

  The room fell quiet again.

  Eventually, exhaustion claimed them..They slept like kings who had just returned from war.

  Heavy, and unmoving.

  The next morning, they ate well. Food felt less like a miracle and more like a right they had fought for.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Brian and Theo sat at their usual spot. They did not shove anyone that week. They did not mock anyone.

  Partly because their bodies still carried pain. Partly because their wrists still glowed high enough.

  The week blurred. Bruises faded from deep purple to yellow. Swelling reduced. Cuts closed.

  For the first time, no one looked invincible. Everyone had been hurt.

  On the third day after eating properly, Theo rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I wonder what the next task would be?” he asked.

  Brian paused.

  His mind moved quickly. “I guess it is going to get darker,” he said.

  Theo’s eyebrows rose. “I just hope it won’t require me to pluck out someone’s eyes,” he said lightly. “Because I would do it without thinking.”

  Brian burst into laughter..“Man! You are the devil in human skin.”

  Theo shrugged. “Being named the devil is better than dying of starvation.” Their laughter echoed across the hall.

  On the other side, Newton did not laugh..He sat with his tray untouched longer than usual. The frown had not left his face all week.

  He barely spoke.

  Not to Stella.

  Not to Samuel.

  “Hey man,” Samuel said gently one afternoon. “Loosen up. We all did what we had to do.”

  Newton remained silent..He stood and walked away without finishing his meal.

  Samuel made attempt to follow him. But Stella grabbed his hand and pulled him back down.

  “Let him mourn his old self,” she said quietly. Samuel looked at her.

  “He is turning into a man,” she added. “And only men will survive this world.” Samuel said nothing more.

  The week passed quickly..Wounds healed completely.

  Conversations returned in fragments. They almost felt normal.

  Then the next Monday came..They had barely woken up when the sound came.

  Taahh.

  Taahh.

  Taahh.

  Taahh.

  The sound echoed inside their heads. Not outside.

  Every one of them jerked upright.

  SYSTEM NOTIFICATION.

  The blue text appeared.

  NEW TASK: WALK THROUGH THE WESTERN CORRIDOR.

  TIME ALLOWED: NO TIME IS SPECIFIED.

  REWARD: 100 NINJA COIN.

  REFUSAL: NO REWARD.

  Silence followed. Western corridor.

  No one spoke..No one moved.

  One hundred coins glowed in their minds. And the corridor waited.

  They all sprang to their feet at once, chairs scraping, trays clattering, breath turning sharp and fast.

  “Just walking through a corridor?” Sammy echoed, a grin already breaking across his face. “That is a walk over men.”

  Theo did not wait for another word. He bolted.

  Chairs toppled behind him as he shoved past shoulders and arms, laughter spilling out of him. “I want to be the first to cross it.”

  The room broke into motion. Bodies poured toward the exit in waves. Some shoved. Some stumbled and recovered. Coins flashed faintly on wrists as they ran, as if the promise of a hundred more had already begun to glow.

  Footsteps thundered through the hallway.

  Newton did not run..He stepped forward, but slowly, like someone approaching a thin sheet of ice.

  Samuel grabbed his arm and pulled. “Come on, man! You should be excited that they are not asking us to do something difficult right now.”

  Newton shook his head once.

  His voice was quiet, but it did not waver. “No. Just walking through the eastern corridor sounds too good to be true.”

  He stopped walking.

  The rush of students streamed around them, brushing shoulders, muttering, laughing. Newton turned and stared into Samuel’s eyes.

  “I am sure there is more to it.”

  For a second, Samuel did not respond.

  The noise around them felt distant. The words hung between them like something fragile and sharp.

  The system had never been generous. Not once.

  Samuel’s smile thinned.

  He exhaled sharply through his nose and jerked his head toward the corridor. “Anyways, we would never find out until we get there.”

  He moved forward once again. Newton followed.

  The crowd had already gathered near the eastern door.

  Theo stood at the front, chest rising and falling quickly from the sprint. He reached the door first.

  The smooth metal surface flickered. Then it vanished.

  Not just opened. It disappeared.

  The space beyond lay exposed. Theo stepped forward instinctively.

  Then he froze.

  His shoulders stiffened. He looked down..His throat worked once before any sound came out.

  “Holy shit,” he whispered.

  The words did not carry far, but the tone did.

  Students pushed closer, irritation turning to confusion. A few tried to squeeze past him. Then they saw it.

  The floor beyond the doorway was not a floor. It was a field.

  A dense, endless spread of small, upright metal spikes.

  Ninja nails.

  Each one was no taller than a thumb. Each one angled slightly, wickedly sharp, glinting under the cold ceiling lights.

  There was no clear path. No visible gaps.

  Just silver points rising from every inch of the corridor, stretching forward into shadow.

  Someone near the back let out a short, disbelieving laugh.

  It died quickly.

  Newton stepped up beside Theo and stared down..His jaw tightened..“I told you it would not be that simple.”

  No one answered him.

  The air felt thinner..A student at the edge nudged one of the nails with the tip of his shoe.

  The nail did not bend. Instead, it sliced cleanly through the rubber sole..

  The boy jerked his foot back with a curse.

  A thin line of red began to bloom where the metal had kissed skin.

  Andy pushed forward, shoving shoulders aside. He took one look at the corridor and snapped.

  “What is wrong with these guys?” he barked. “Who in his right senses would walk on nails?”

  His voice echoed too loudly. No one laughed..Theo swallowed hard.

  The corridor seemed longer now. The far end was barely visible. Just darkness and the faint outline of another doorway.

  One hundred Ninja coins. For walking towards death.

  Samuel stepped closer to the threshold. He did not step onto it. He just stared.

  His fingers twitched at his sides.

  Behind him, bodies shifted restlessly. Breath came heavier. A few students began backing away. Others leaned forward, squinting, calculating distance.

  The spikes gleamed without mercy.

  Samuel glanced at Newton. Newton did not look at him. His eyes were fixed on the ground, scanning, measuring, as if searching for a pattern that was not there.

  Then Brian’s voice cut through the silence.

  Low, but tight.

  “Guys,” he whispered. “What do we do?”