[Stage 15#]
[A new rule has been added]
[If the answer given does not match your truthful inner voice, you will lose.]

This was no more a matter of logic or reasoning: the system was testing if we had a good heart. If we not only knew what the right choice was, but if we were righteous enough to choose it ourselves.

[14]
[13]
[12]

I stared at the letters, the purple glow emanating from the sentences giving me a headache.

you won’t let your sister die like this, will you?

This time, it was Hana’s voice. Crying and begging, terrified.

how can I sacrifice myself like this? After everything I went through?

And it was also my voice. Not me from my previous life, but Park Eun-Woo.

[10]
[9]
[8]

The voices kept fighting in my head. All I wanted to do was cover my ears and pretend those were not my feelings or my sister, but rather demons whispering to make me fall.

if you let me die, you will be a murderer
again

It felt like Hana was genuinely in danger—that I was about to choose her fate. And whatever I chose, it would scar my heart forever.

shouldn’t I be allowed to be happy this once?
after all the shit I’ve been through?

[7]
[6]
[5]

My chest tightened, memories coming back to me. If I closed my eyes, I could hear Hana's voice, smell her perfume, feel the warmth of her hands.

「Can we come here again next year? I want to create more memories together. 」

It was as if I was back in my old life, back to my old self. The scent of flowers being carried along a summer breeze, the sun warming my skin. On that memory, Hana had asked me something—similar to what that system was asking—and when I answered her, I spoke with my heart.

[10]
[9]
[8]

I remembered Hana’s smile, how she touched her hair as I wiped her tears away, the dress she was wearing—every detail.

[5]
[4]
[3]

And it was not the mist that made it harder to breathe. It was the knowledge I already knew the choice I had to make.

[2]
[1]

In that moment, with the seconds passing right before my eyes, the words that left my trembling lips were different. Worst of all, they were still true.

They still resonated with my soul and heart.

"I will save Eun-Woo…"

A scream exploded in my head, coming from all places and nowhere as the scent of blood got stronger, my head getting dizzier. Weak.

It was really like I had just killed Hana.

I chose to kill my sister, just because I could not bear the thought of losing this new life, this new self. Worst of it all, I could not even be certain most people chose the same. That I would even survive this stage.

When the screen began to blink, shedding light on the strange mist, I felt my heart race and shrink; throb and bleed. My skin burning and itching.

As the system counted the votes yet again, I dreaded what could be the last moments of my new life. Me realizing I let my sister die to save myself, and dying right after it because, even by becoming someone new and better, I was still not a good person.

When it finally showed the results I nearly collapsed, a laugh stuck in my throat.

'There is no right answer', these bastards…

[All new Selves who spoke their own truth…]
[Won]

Something wet ran down my face, but I did not bother to wipe it away. The room went back to how it was as my heart slowed down, sweat still running down my face and back.

It took a few seconds, yet the mist dissipated. After a few seconds, the headache and the sickness were gone. Yet my hands were still shaking.

[Congratulations! You have advanced to the last stage]
[Survive and receive a reward!]

The moment I read the last word, the ground below me, as well as the walls, began to shake. For a brief second I was afraid the ground would swallow me, yet what sunk into the earth were the walls themselves, a clear and white light pouring from above, blinding me.

It took almost an entire minute for me to be able to open my eyes and see—to look around and identify not only where I was but who was with me.

To what may have been hundreds of people before—people from all around the world—was now less than fifty.

Like me, they were wearing the exact white loose shirts and brown pants, barefooted. A few of them seemed to have lost their soul, their gazes lost and hollow, while many were too alert and defensive to let feelings be shown on their face. I wondered how I looked to them—how Eun-Woo looked to them.

As the shock of choosing to kill Hana faded, my mind got clearer as the seconds stretched. I had survived until that point; I could do it again. I could do it how many times it took, as long as I could enjoy this new life to its fullest.

[Congratulations on being one of the first to join the Top 5!]
[Pass the final stage to receive your rewards]

Not even ten seconds passed before purple letters appeared in front of me—in front of all of us.

[Stage 17#]
Self Park Eun-Woo
Placement: First Cabin
Role: Operator
Goal: Take train to the Final Destination
Attention: More rules will be added as you approach the final destination.
[Moving new Selves to a new location. Please hold.]

I was blinded and embraced by a pure, white light, its coldness piercing my skin like ice shards. Yet when I opened my eyes, I was smiling.

Suddenly I realized how messed up and chaotic the last stage truly was. How the system saw our lives and our "choices".

And I also knew the things I was willing to do to survive.