Chapter 4: The Sock Punishment

Now, in this fifth-floor classroom, everyone screamed until their voices cracked. Some collapsed, clutching their heads. The sound was like knives scraping eardrums—piercing, unbearable. But outside, the campus was dead silent. No city noise, no security, no sign that anyone could hear them at all.

Phones vibrated—a new cash drop. This time, nobody wanted to move. Rachel’s eyes lit up. “That’s right! If we don’t take the cash drop, maybe the game can’t go on.” But as if possessed, everyone’s hands moved, tapping the cash drop in unison. The sound of fingers slapping screens echoed, chilling everyone to the bone.

All eyes turned on Rachel, anger replacing fear. Marcus grabbed a table leg, knuckles white, but his legs buckled and he collapsed. Rachel stood, kicked him, and grabbed a chair leg herself. She swung, metal striking flesh, over and over. “Marcus, you’ve really gone too far! You slapped me twice—I haven’t paid you back yet! It’s just a dead woman! How am I not better to you than her?” Her voice cracked, heartbreak bleeding through the rage. Blood splattered. Someone vomited. Marcus sobbed, hugging her pant leg, “Ms. Rachel, please, stop hitting me! I know I was wrong. I just lost my head. Aubrey was my best friend… You could have saved her, but you made that choice. I was just angry. Ow, it hurts so much. Please stop! I won’t do it again!”

Finally, after knocking out two of Marcus’s teeth, Rachel stopped, chest heaving. She raised her head, eyes scanning the room. No one dared meet her gaze. The silence was absolute.

Then the next Lucky Draw rule appeared:

[The luckiest can do anything they want in this classroom.]

[The unluckiest student: You must find the second unluckiest student, stuff your sweaty socks into their jeans pocket, and glue their chair with superglue. They must sit for ten minutes.]

[During this period, the second unluckiest student cannot throw away the socks, cannot leave the seat, cannot complain to the advisor. If violated, other students may punish them.]

[If violated, both will die.]

[If completed, both can live.]

Everyone stared, trying to process the absurdity. Someone joked, “I’d eat a whole sock if it meant getting out of here alive.” The girls blushed, pinching their noses. “But we have to do it in here, with the doors locked. It’ll stink up the whole room.”

A boy snapped, "Seriously? You care about the smell right now? We’re fighting for our lives!" All eyes turned to him—he was the unluckiest. The girl he yelled at glared, but didn’t argue. Some tried to keep it light, patting him on the back. "Hang in there, Caleb. It’s just a sock."

But Caleb wasn’t having it. He shoved someone to the ground and slapped another, voice shaking. “Damn it, my life is on the line! Aubrey just died—are you all blind?”