G.O.D Complex

The area was drenched in blood and littered with corpses. Linus sat atop a pile of bodies, casually wiping the blood from his knife using a piece of cloth torn from a fallen victim. His eyes wandered across the carnage, and he gave a faint, unreadable smile.

"What a mess..." he muttered. "The rate far exceeded my expectations."

The overwhelming stench of death and blood made him squint and wrinkle his nose. He stood up, stepping forward without care—his boots crushing flesh and bone beneath him as if they were nothing.

All around him, cries for help echoed—pleading voices clinging to life.

Linus ignored them.

"I thought you died," a voice said behind him.

He turned.

Velvet.

Her body was soaked in blood, her face bruised, but her grin was still intact.

"I thought so too," she said, limping closer. "Guess my name fits better now."

Linus laughed quietly.

Velvet looked out at the massacre. "So many lives... wasted."

Linus shrugged. "That's humanity. Violence, followed by empathy. Call it natural selection. Judging by how the system encourages murder, the next levels won't be any more humane."

He crouched to collect knives from the floor, inspecting each blade with mechanical precision.

Velvet watched him carefully. Something about him—his calmness, his movements—felt entirely off. Cold. Calculated. Inhuman.

Linus twirled a knife effortlessly in his hand and glanced beyond her.

"We didn't get him."

Velvet narrowed her eyes. "Still? But the numbers are down. He can't hide forever."

Linus shook his head. "No. It's over. He won't show again."

"What do you mean?"

"Look behind you."

She turned.

Her breath caught in her throat.

A giant black number "2" was etched on the white wall behind them. No one knew how or when it appeared, but during the chaos… the loop had broken.

Linus nodded. "The phenomenon that affected our sense of direction is gone. We can now see the path forward. Personally, I've had enough of this stink—so I'll be leaving."

He walked past her, unbothered.

Nearby, Levi stood over Edna's lifeless body. She was cold now. Unmoving. He didn't cry—he only clenched his fists in frustration, whispered a soft "I'm sorry", and walked away.

Elsewhere, Benjamin and the small girl had survived. The others in their group weren't as lucky—some were injured beyond help, crawling, bleeding. Yet Benjamin offered no aid. With the girl in tow, he walked away, abandoning the very people who shielded them.

The girl sobbed, unaware that her protector's smile hid something monstrous.

---

Linus's first impression of the second floor?

"This'll be tough."

Before them stretched a vast chasm filled with massive floating cubes. The blocks rose and fell unpredictably, glitching in and out like broken pixels in space. There was no floor—only endless depth.

"How are we supposed to cross this?" Velvet asked, genuine concern in her voice.

Linus laughed. "It's easy. Just jump from cube to cube. Eventually, we'll reach the next floor—maybe Floor Three."

"And you call that easy?!"

A familiar voice. Linus turned to see the spectacled man and the pretty girl who had survived the massacre.

"What else can I say?" Linus replied, smirking. "Run fast. Jump faster. And don't fall."

But he didn't move.

No one did.

Tension hung in the air—until a boy suddenly sprinted to the edge. Without waiting, he leapt, landing on a rising cube.

Gasps followed.

Linus smiled, impressed. "See you on the other side, partner," he said to Velvet. With a small wave, he disappeared off the ledge. Moments later, a cube ascended with him standing calmly atop it.

He looked back one last time—then jumped to the next platform.

The cubes were enormous—large enough to hold ten people at once. But their erratic, unnatural movements made standing difficult. They twitched, ascended, and dropped violently.

Levi landed on one, struggling to maintain balance. Without warning, the cube halted mid-ascent—then plunged downward.

His body lifted briefly before slamming back down hard.

BAM!

He coughed violently, trying to stand. The cube didn't wait. It shot back upward, dragging him along.

"Damn it!" he hissed, gritting his teeth.

---

"Who the hell built this facility?" Velvet asked aloud, half in awe, half in dread. "Which country even has the tech for something like this?"

She listed potential governments, corporations, underground groups—but even the wildest guesses didn't explain what she was seeing.

"No way humanity built this," she concluded.

When the force pressing on her body lessened, she jumped. A cube rose from the void and caught her mid-air, lifting her as the one she'd stood on plummeted.

Behind her, the remaining survivors began their own attempts—jumping, crawling, gasping. Many fell. Many didn't rise again.

---

Despite the danger, Linus frowned.

"Too easy," he thought.

If Floor One had a hidden imposter and ended in bloodshed, then this—**a simple platformer—**couldn't be the whole challenge.

"It's like we're being tested... but for what?"

How were they chosen?

Why?

Who was behind this?

His thoughts were interrupted as the last person jumped from Floor One. The entryway sealed shut. The cubes began shifting into position.

Duuuuhhh!

A loud alarm blared. Everyone froze.

The cubes, once chaotic, began to slow.

Linus felt it immediately. The atmosphere shifted.

"Already?" he muttered, scanning the space.

From the far end of the structure, a strange grinding sound echoed. The survivors looked ahead.

Emerging from the void were humanoid figures—bodies made entirely from interlocking cubes. Each one was malformed, towering, and alien.

They blocked the path forward.

"Obstacles," Linus muttered, drawing his knife.

He didn't wait for them to strike.

He walked forward without hesitation.

I don't know what this facility is…

But I'll survive it.

And when I do… I'll kill the bastard behind all of this.

— To be Continued.