GAME OF THE DEVIL

CHAPTER 9

Time froze.

No, it literally did.

Naois sitting on the throne chair, a joyful expression on his face and three of his siblings charging at him altogether with deadly glares are all frozen in place. Their movements stopped midair, not even a single strand of hair in their head swayed.

The bright and vivid colors of the place all dissolved into white until they were all surrounded with it. Kasama sa pagtunaw ng kapaligiran ay ang mga kapatid niyang sina Ekaterina Ivanov, Cicero Ivanov, Lyric Ivanov, Bronte Ivanov at Damianos Ivanov dahil wala naman talaga sila rito.

Ang natitira na lamang ay sina Faustus Ivanov, ang magkambal na sina Eugene at Grigoriy Ivanov, Matias Ivanov, Isabella Ivanov at Naois Ivanov.

Then, the scenery they are in gradually changed to a football field of a huge stadium. Once their environment finished loading, they were able to gain their movements back. At kasabay ng pagtatapos ng pagloading ng bagong kapaligiran ay bumalik muli ang naunang limang nabanggit na mga pangalan na sina Ekaterina na nawala kanina.

Napaayos na lamang silang lahat ng tayo sa gitna ng malaki at malawak na football field. The silver grey-colored bleachers surrounding the field are empty as there was no audience. It was only them.

"What the fuck..." nakabusangot na saad ni Ekaterina nang nagbago ang kanilang kapaligiran, "Who did--"

Lahat sila ay natahimik nang umalingawngaw ang malakas na ugong ng isang...balyena?

Nagsitaasan ang mga balahibo sa kanilang katawan nang dumilim ang kapaligiran nila. Pag-angat nila ay namataan nila ang pangibaba ng isang balyena na lumalangoy sa itaas nila... sa langit na pinaghalong kulay lila, rosas at dilaw na sinabuyan ng kulay puting mga bituing kumukuti-kutitap. Sa kalayuan ay nakalitaw ang hitsura ng isang malaking planeta na nahahalo sa kulay ng langit. Napapaligiran pa ito ng iilang maliliit na planeta.

Grigoriy unconsciously took a step backward, his dark grey eyes widened at the sight that felt like it shook his core. Not just him, but everybody else in the simulation felt like their worlds just got shaken up as well--whether they were real or not.

The scenery around them was so beautiful and peaceful...

That it felt so fucking uncomfortable.

"E-enough," Faustus lowered his gaze on the ground as if he was going to lose his mind. Napatakip siya ng bibig nang maramdaman niyang masusuka na siya, "Enough."

A drop of sweat trailed down from his forehead, and slowly to the ground. But instead of his sweat dripping on the grass of the football field, it dropped on the grass that had the texture of the surface of water, creating a small ripple of waves.

They all stood on what seemed to be the surface of the water that had gradually raised from their feet and up to their waist. Once it reached half their bodies, the water then rapidly rose up above their heads towards the skies. Their clothes and hair got carried along with the current upwards but their feet remained on the ground as if they're still on dry land.

They were still in the stadium, but now just filled with water. Wala silang ibang marinig kundi ang mapayapang ugong ng tubig na nakapaligid sa kanila.

Matias' eyes widened in fear at the awareness of him being deep underwater. He felt the cold sensation of the water as if it's prickling his skin. Napatakip siya ng ilong, gayundin ang iba. Pero kahit na sa ilalim na sila ng tubig ay nakakahinga pa rin sila nang maayos. But this fact didn't put Matias' mind at ease. He opened his mouth and forcibly choked on the water because of a panic attack, not knowing what to do.