Juwon stood before the massive stone door, his breath shallow as he reached out and traced the intricate carvings upon its surface. The pendant beneath his shirt pulsed with an eerie warmth, and as he placed his palm against the cold stone, the labyrinth responded.

The symbols glowed faintly, and a deep rumble echoed through the cavern as the door groaned open.

The moment he stepped inside, the walls came alive. Strange stones embedded in the cave flickered with an unnatural light, illuminating the twisting corridors ahead. Something about the place felt ancient—forgotten, yet watching.

His curiosity gnawed at him, and despite the unease prickling at his spine, he moved forward.

Juwon took cautious steps into the labyrinth, the eerie glow of the embedded stones guiding his path. Every instinct told him to turn back, yet something—perhaps the pendant, perhaps his own stubbornness—kept him moving forward.

Then, the first trap was sprung.

A sharp hiss filled the air. Before Juwon could react, a massive spear shot out from the wall, piercing clean through his left thigh. His scream echoed through the cavern as blood poured from the wound. Staggering backward, he turned, desperate to retreat—but when he reached the entrance, the door had sealed shut.

"No, no, no!" he gasped, slamming his fists against the unmoving stone.

"This can't be happening! I'm trapped!" His breathing turned ragged, the walls seeming to close in around him. Panic clawed at his chest, but another spike of pain from his wounded leg snapped him back to reality. The pain in his leg was unbearable, but the suffocating realization that he was trapped was even worse.

He clenched his teeth, breath ragged.

There's no way back.

A wave of hopelessness crashed over him, but he forced himself to stand. If he wanted to live, he had no choice but to move forward.

He clenched his jaw, wiping cold sweat from his brow. Damn it. Think. There has to be a way through this.

Limping back into the labyrinth, he forced himself forward.

The spear trap loomed ahead, but this time, he knew what was coming.

He barely had time to catch his breath before the air around him shifted.

Further ahead, a mist began to rise from the cracks in the cavern floor. At first, it seemed harmless, but within seconds, his lungs tightened, his breath shallow and weak. A suffocating force took hold of him, as if the air itself was stealing his breath. If he inhaled too fast, he would die here. Desperate, he slowed his breathing, instinctively controlling the rhythm of his inhales and exhales.

The mist reacted—it became lighter, as if allowing him through. This time, he dodged—mostly. The spear only grazed his leg, but the previous wound throbbed with blinding pain. Sweat dripped down his face as he pushed onward, his fingers trembling as he reached a second obstacle.

Juwon stumbled forward, his wounds throbbing. No rest. No escape.

Only forward.

A stone door stood before him, covered in an ancient puzzle.

As he reached out, the walls shifted, the passage behind him twisting and reshaping itself. The labyrinth was alive.

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The way back was gone, and the only path forward was solving the puzzle.

His fingers trembled as he examined the inscriptions, but his pain clouded his thoughts. Then, the stone under his foot clicked—he had stepped on the wrong tile. A sudden gust of wind whistled through the chamber, and before he could react, a deadly arrow buried itself deep into his right shoulder. A sharp, burning pain shot through him as he staggered backward, gasping for breath. The trap had activated instantly, leaving no time to escape.

Juwon screamed, his voice raw with agony as he clutched the dark iron arrow. "Why is this happening?!" He panted, sweat and blood mingling as he fought to keep himself from passing out. "Damn you, old man! Damn this cursed pendant!" Why is this happening to me?! His vision swam as he gasped for breath. Blood dripped down his arm, pooling onto the cavern floor. The pendant, the old man—was this all some kind of cruel joke? A curse?

He had no time to dwell on it. His hands shook as he wrapped his fingers around the arrow, gritting his teeth. One… two… three— He yanked it free, a fresh burst of agony ripping through him.

He bit back another scream, stumbling forward.

I'm going to come out of this alive.

Juwon's breath hitched. Another door. More inscriptions. His vision blurred from blood loss, but he forced himself to focus. The carvings pulsed faintly, their meaning sinking in like a cruel whisper.

A price had to be paid.

The markings weren't just decorative; they pulsed faintly, as if waiting. He hesitated, but the growing pain in his body left him with no choice.

His blood.

Gritting his teeth, he pressed his wounded palm against the stone. The moment his blood touched the carvings, the entire structure shuddered, and a hidden mechanism triggered. The passage ahead unlocked, revealing light at the end of the tunnel. Relief surged through him, overwhelming the pain. He could taste freedom—just a few more steps.

He pushed through the agony, a desperate smile forming. I made it—

A sudden blur of motion.

A massive blade swung from the ceiling, a hidden mechanism triggered by his approach. A searing pain exploded through his body. He stumbled, his body hitting the cold stone floor with a sickening thud.

His right arm lay severed a few feet away.

A choked sob escaped his lips as his mind struggled to grasp the reality before him. "No… no, no, NO!" His screams filled the chamber, each one tearing at his throat, raw and helpless. The pain was maddening, unbearable. He pounded the stone floor with his remaining fist, his vision blurred by tears.

The pain was indescribable. A raw, burning agony unlike anything he had endured before. He writhed, his screams hoarse as he clutched at the empty space where his arm had once been. It wasn't supposed to be like this.

But even through the agony, he saw it—the glowing pillar ahead, its light deceivingly familiar. His heart pounded as realization dawned. That's not the outside… That's not an exit.

All this time, he had thought the tunnels were blocking his reception, that if he made it out, he could call for help. But now, staring at the towering structure covered in inscriptions he couldn't decipher, something in him broke.

Normally, he would have been fascinated by such a discovery, desperate to understand its significance. But now?

He felt nothing but rage. Frustration. Despair.

His body refused to move.

He collapsed before the pillar, his chest heaving, his remaining arm clutching his severed shoulder. The liquid at its base shimmered, its faint, sweet scent entangling with the metallic stench of his own blood, but he didn't care. His vision blurred with tears as sobs wracked his body. Crawling, dragging his bloodied body, he pushed forward until his fingers grazed its surface.

A transparent liquid shimmered within the basin of the ancient structure. Juwon didn't know what it was, nor did he care. He was done.

"This is it," he chuckled weakly. "This is how I die."

His voice cracked. Was this all his life had amounted to? After everything—after surviving the horrors of the labyrinth, fighting through the agony, refusing to give in—was he still going to die in this forsaken place?

He was young. He had dreams. A future. It wasn't supposed to be like this.

"Why is it me?" His breath hitched as his fingers curled into trembling fists. "Why is it always me?"