Boreland

Kumi-Nazaki: “This place was meant to be a place of peace. A sanctuary, a refuge from the chaos beyond the walls. But the silence here is not peace—it is waiting. It is the kind of silence that listens back, as though the stones themselves are keeping count of our breaths.”

Naki-Zumaki: “We didn’t know what it was at first. The bells rang, faint at the edges of the night, and we thought it was a call to prayer, or perhaps a warning. But it starts every last bell, without fail. And when it begins, the air itself feels heavier, as if the world is holding its breath, waiting for the next name to be carved into the dark.”

Kumi-Nazaki: “Every time the bells toll, another group is chosen. We started in groups of nine, scattered like seeds across this endless labyrinth. Out of fifteen thousand, only four groups made it through the first trials. Four groups… and already the ground is littered with the bones of the forgotten, their stories swallowed before they could be told.”

Naki-Zumaki: “One group lost everyone but two. They walk together now, shadows of themselves, clinging to each other as if the other’s heartbeat is the only proof they’re still alive. But even then, only one group will live. Only one group will make it out of this hell. The rest will vanish, as if they never existed at all.”

Kumi-Nazaki: “And no one knows who they will be. Not the strong, not the clever, not the ones who pray the loudest. The bells don’t care. The bells choose, and the bells take. And when the last bell fades, the walls will close, and the survivors will be named. But the naming is not mercy—it is judgment.”

Naki-Zumaki: “Peace was promised here. But peace is a lie. What we found instead is a game of endings, a place where hope is devoured, and where every step forward is another step into the grave. The walls whisper, the shadows move, and the bells laugh at us in their silence.”

Kumi-Nazaki: “Some say the bells are alive. That they feed on our fear, that they drink the echoes of our screams. Others say they are the voices of those who failed, ringing out so that we never forget the cost. But whether they are alive or dead, they decide. And we obey.”

Naki-Zumaki: “We obey because we must. Because to resist is to be erased. Because to stand still is to be consumed. And so we march, nine by nine, knowing that only one group will see the end. Only one group will carry the memory of what happened here beyond these walls.”

Both (whispering together): “Only one group will live. Only one group will make it out. And until the bells fall silent, none of us will know who they are. None of us will know if it is us.”