Project: Death for Classroom Zero

Chapter 50: Screams

Putting the whole trust to Tristan, Rain Kallixa Donnahughe was looking at him from his back. He was starting to concentrate from solving the problem that was setup in this four-cornered room.

She knows that Tristan was confused and shocked from the way she had acted just a while ago. Who would not? She just shouted at the top of her lungs—which no one does expected—without any trace that she would do it. She too knows that it was not just Tristan who was stunned from her sudden yelling, but the whole group too.

Having seeing the flustered expression on their faces when Rain shouted, she realized that they too, aside from Tristan, were clueless—about the brutal thing that will happen to them. They must have not concretely got the exact mechanics of this quiz activity that they were solving.

The red and white player was not just the roles needed to fulfill in this kind of setup. Understanding the flow of the mechanics, everyone of them needs to do something—or rather, play something.

“Rain,” After seconds of eerie silence in the group, Blaze started to call her. “What was happening? Why did you shout at Tristan?” he asked.

She looked at him with her ashen eyes. Seeing the confused and still-flustered face of Blaze, she smiled.

“On purpose,” she said.

While Tristan was busy solving the problem of the randomly erupting white light, the group’s attention turned to Rain. Having the urge to know what was the reason why she had let Tristan promise he won’t be distracted, the group’s attention was eager.

“O—On what purpose was that?” Tammy asked.

“You see, we’re not just a kitten player in this activity,” Rain said, starting to explain. She crouched near Seven, and then stared at him piteously. Seven was lying on the ground; his body was still covered in red light; his eyes opened, but noticeably dilated; saliva is pouring down from his opened mouth.

“Kitten player?” Amara asked.

“Players who are part of the game but does not contribute something. We’re not like that. We shouldn’t be.”

“Th—then how are we going to help Tristan and Seven?” Tammy asked.

Rain sighed, with an eager, persuasive stare, she directly looked at her. “If you recall the instruction of this game, only the white player is exempted to become the potential red player.”

“Y—yes, I recalled that, Rain,” Tammy replied.

“We’ve got Seven as the red player. Unfortunately. But what does it have to do with us?” Timmy asked, confused.

“You all are missing the point,” she said. She looked at Seven once again, and then heard him released a weak growl. “Except Tristan, we’re all potential red players. That means, we can be the red player too.”

Hearing the terrifying claim of Rain, Blaze, Amara, Timmy, and Tammy all stepped back in fear.

“What do you mean, Rain?” Blaze asked. As he asked his question, his voice was morbidly shaking.

Rain sighed. “I know you guys got what I am telling about,” she said. “We’re all potential Red players. That means, this red light enveloping seven can be transferred to us.”

“s**t, Rain. What are you planning? Don’t tell me—”

Rain cut Amara’s sentence. “At this point, Seven would die. And knowing the fact that this Zero program is a trickster, the red light would transfer to anyone of us until Tristan could finish solving the problem, or if the timer runs out. Had the time runs out, there would be a certain death.”

Noticing the pale faces and uneasy eyes of her groupmates, she can conclude that they were taking a hard time accepting the rules of the game.

“S—Seven will die?” Tammy asked. Her head was shaking in disbelief.

“Not unless if we help him, Tammy.”

“In what way, girl?” Amara asked.

“If we transfer the red light to us.” The way how Rain answered Amara’s question has made them astounded. It made them flustered, and felt as if they were caged inside a negative hundred-celsius freezer of the deads.

“I … what?” Timmy was confused. “We’re going to transfer that red light to ourselves?”

“That way, we could help Seven being alive. If we keep on passing this red light to each of us, one by one, for at least, every single minute, then we will be able to endure the pain without having any dead members of this group. Then, we’ll just rely to Tristan and pray that he will be able to decipher the message.”

“No, girl. I … I don’t think I could share that kind of pain Seven was experiencing. No way. Look how his handsome face turned horrifying! I don’t want to be like that!”

“I …I have to agree to Amara. I’m sorry, Rain.”

“But … we need to do it because if we don’t, Seven would d—die!” Tammy argued. Despite her fear and her stuttering, she was agitated when she heard that Amara and Blaze was against of the idea of Rain.

“But, twin. Look at Seven. He was extremely drained. We could be like that too.”

Tammy exasperated a disbelieving face, and blew a frustrated breath. “Even you, Timmy? Wh—Why are you l—like that? You’re—You’re letting Seven just d—die?”

From that, Rain could see how Tammy was willing to save Seven from the danger of dying. When she looked at her eye, she even saw pearls of tears that was about to fall from the edges.

“We’re just …” Timmy tried finding excuse, but she was then cut by Rain.

“You were just afraid. You can’t just handle the thought that you’re about to suffer a kind of pain that you couldn’t imagine how your body would handle. You’re just afraid of pain. And of the thought of death,” Rain said.

Hearing that, Blaze, Amara, and Timmy were unable to answer. They were quiet and shy, because what Rain said was the fact.

Wiping her tears away, Tammy looked back at Rain. This time, Rain felt that she saw something that no bare eyes could see. Because, she saw courage at Tammy’s face.

“Rain, I’m willing to help S—Seven from his pain,” she said. Her voice was tough and sure.

“We won’t make it, if it was just the two of us, Tammy. We need them too,” she said, pertaining to Blaze, Amara, and Timmy.

“But they don’t want to.”

“Well, what’s the sense of this activity being called a game, if we’re not going to utilize it? If they don’t want to voluntarily help, then …” she smirked, “we will play.”

She touched Seven’s body. Instantaneously, the red light has transferred to Rain’s body. Not even completing the transfer of the red light, she released a grave, agonizing scream.