04:31...
The timer stared me down, glowing that sickly shade of red on the massive screen, counting down like a fucking guillotine. I sat in the chair, strapped in tight, every breath ragged. My throat was dry. My palms were clammy. This was it—the final round. One more word.
The monitor blinked, then the rules appeared again.
FINAL WORD: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
"Fuck me," I whispered. Nine letters. Completely blank. No hint. Not a single goddamn letter to go off.
The voice came through the speakers again, as calm and robotic as ever:
"You have one word left. One minute deducted for each wrong letter.
A wrong word ends the game immediately."
One shot. One bullet.
I had to be smart. Be quick. Be right.
I licked my lips and said, "I."
DING.
Letters five and seven lit up.
_ _ _ _ I _ I _ _
Oh fuck. Okay. Okay. That helped. Kind of.
My mind started spinning—combinations, placements, roots of words. I tried to breathe through the panic rising in my chest.
Next guess: "U."
BUZZ.
"Incorrect."
03:04...
I gritted my teeth. "Okay. Fine. E."
DING.
Letter nine. The last one.
_ _ _ _ I _ I _ E
Still barely anything to work with.
"Try A," I muttered.
BUZZ.
02:22...
Fuck. It was moving faster now. I could feel it. Every wrong answer shaved off more time. Or maybe that was just my anxiety breaking me down from the inside.
I whispered, "F."
DING.
Letter six lit up.
_ _ _ _ I F I _ E
It was taking shape. But not fast enough.
Think, Y/N. Think!
I closed my eyes for a second, listening to the beat of my own pulse hammering behind my ears. Then I blurted, "K!"
BUZZ.
Wrong.
01:19...
"C!" I shouted.
DING.
Letters three and eight flashed into place.
_ _ C _ I F I C E
It hit me. It hit me hard.
I stopped breathing.
"Oh my god—"
I looked at Jun-ho. His body was trembling. Rope still around his neck, the noose taut, the timer above him ticking down in sync with mine. I could barely hear myself over my own heartbeat now.
"It's sacrifice," I whispered.
That was it.
I knew it.
YOU ARE READING
Lines We Cross ||Front Man x Reader||
FanfictionY/N has spent years chasing the truth about the Squid Games. She was so close to solving this case, until... She's captured and forced to play by the Front Man. Survival becomes her only focus. But something about Player 001 doesn't sit right with h...
