Level Infinity; Chapter 11
Losses are a tragic part of everyone's lives, but only in the real world could they be mended. One too many tragic losses send each poor soul into extremely new situations.
Chapter Genres: Horror, ANGST
Series Genres: Horror, Angst, Drama, Romance, Smut, Gore
Warnings: Gore, Angst Heavy, kind of a lot goes on, so buckle up :DD
Words: 4k
Main Characters: (Y/N) (reader), Soobin (TXT), Mark (NCT), Beomgyu (TXT), Taehyun (TXT), Arin (NOT from OH MY GIRL, character was made by a lovely follower), Huening Kai (TXT)
A large hand wrapped around your wrist, tight and strong as steel, slim fingers holding onto you with the determination to never let go. In a desperate scream for help, you held on tightly, eyes shut, trying to block out the impending danger behind you and the cries in front of you. What was once a blessing was now a curse, and it was as if you were trapped in between heaven and hell, wondering if you could leave a part of yourself in both if it meant you got to live.
You didn't dare to turn around, even if you could. The wings behind you almost served as a barrier to the horrors that ran your way. What felt like hours was only a few seconds, as if this treacherous world only wanted you to feel the pain for even longer than you've endured.
Opening your eyes, you made eye contact with Soobin, tears flowing down his face, an image that you hoped to never see again. It was as if this exact event had happened before, but this time, Soobin was determined to save you, to stay by your side until neither of you could take it anymore. No one else knew what to do, no one else had any more hope, but could you blame them? The blessing of your wings was now a curse, and it was something that you were going to pay for.
Mustering up all of the strength he had, Soobin pulled you in towards him, nearly yanking your arm out of its socket.
"Soobin, stop!" You heard, but you couldn't tell who it was, and neither could Soobin. It was as if the two of you were in your own little dark world. Not letting go of you, Soobin leaped towards you, wrapping his arms around you in a...hug? A last attempt to bring you to him?
Mark panicked, not wanting to possibly lose two of his friends in a tragic event, so he lunged forward, grabbing onto Soobin, and pulling him back in a surprise show of strength. But, Mark didn't realize just how tightly Soobin was holding on to you, as it was a grip as strong as the resentment that Soobin felt for not being able to save you the first time the both of you were in this predicament, but he knew...he was going to be your hero this time, and the both of you were going to make it out alive, even if you lost something big along the way.
It only happened in a few seconds, but with the strength of the two men pulling you inside of the building, your wings could no longer endure the pressure building against the metal frame of the doorway, and a searing pain pierced through your whole body as each metallic feather fell onto the ground, one by one, leading to your wings ripping free from your back and falling limp and lifeless onto the ground. You fell into the building, falling onto the floor and you blacked out from the immense pain and trauma, worried cries falling upon deaf ears. There was no type of magical healing that could keep you from feeling every bit of pain that coursed through you, and you couldn't even fathom the thought of being alive for much longer.
Soobin watched in fear as your bloodied metal wings rested on the floor outside of the door behind you, and the noise of the monsters chasing you died down. No one ever saw what the monsters looked like, or exactly how close or far away they were from you, but they were gone now. Mirroring your dejected wings, you lay on the floor, barely breathing and eyes closed. Your heart rattled your bones, trying hard to keep you alive, but you had no more hope left.
"(Y/N)?" Soobin called out to you, voice hoarse and cracking. He was so scared. Scared that you'd die, and what made him feel worse was that he was scared if you lived. It was his fault, everything was. You were strong, he knew that, you would've found a way to save both yourself and your wings, but he let his selfish desires get in the way, and in an effort to keep you by his side, he tore something away from you. You'd hate him forever now. It should've been him. He was better off dead anyway, all he did was hold everyone back.
"She's losing blood-" Mark said, rushing to get inside of his tattered bag for anything to help.
"I have bandages," Arin said, taking them out of her bag and throwing them over to Mark. He bent down, grimacing at your wounds, hands shaking.
"It's okay, (Y/N), I got you." Mark whispered to you, but you could barely make out what anyone was saying, eyelids heavy and ready to just let go. "You'll make it. I know you will. You're stronger than anyone else here..."
"Is...is there even any use?" Beomgyu spoke, and everyone looked at him. "I mean...look at us. There's so much more to go, so many levels to go through, barely any of us will make it in the end, if we're being honest."
"Gyu?" Taehyun furrowed his brows.
"No, seriously. Where even are we right now? How do any of you know we're safe enough to be here?" Beomgyu huffed out. He was worried, you all were. Goosebumps plagued everyone's skin, your hearts were beating a mile a minute, and...you guys were just standing there? He checked the back of his hand for any idea of where you guys were. "Level 609. Does anyone have an idea of where we are?"
"Beomgyu, to be so honest with you, right now, I do not give a fuck." Mark grunted, working to wrap your torso with the bandages, albeit messily, as he had no experience. "My priorities are set on making sure (Y/N) is going to make it. I could care less if we all die right here, right now, but if we die together, that's all that matters."
"Don't...don't make it seem like I don't care about her." Beomgyu said. "She's my best friend, we've been best friends since we were in diapers. But don't think any of us are going to make it out if we just keep getting hurt along the way."
Mark sighed, finished with the bandages, and he looked up at Beomgyu. "My main goal was never to make it out of here. I don't know if that's even possible. But, I am here to help, because someone helped me, and I'd be damned to leave that someone behind."
Your world started to return to you, eyesight clearing up just a smidgen. You coughed, groaning at the pain received just from that.
"(Y/N)!" Soobin exclaimed, bending down to face you. He was too scared to touch you, afraid that he'd hurt you even more. "Are you alright?" Of course you weren't alright. Why would he even ask you that?
The tight compression from the bandages made your wound hurt only a bit less, but it was enough to have you return to your senses. Hopefully, your wounds would heal as much as your leg healed, but you didn't know if that could even be possible.
"Where...where are we?" You asked, coughing out your words.
"Level 609...but I have no idea what's on this level." Mark said. "Would you be able to stand?"
You lifted your head slowly, looking up at your surroundings with blurry vision. It was dark, but you could still see, and it looked like you were in a neighborhood community center of some sort. The entranceway had barely any furniture, but there was a large and colorful mural on the wall of a...clown?
You then realized that you didn't answer Mark's question. "Oh, uh...I c-could try." You said. You weren't ready to go just yet, and you weren't going to make this stop you. Despite only having the wings since you got here, you still felt empty. It was like there was always something inside of you that was ready to unleash itself whenever it deemed necessary. It had a life of its own, and now it was gone. You looked back at the open doors behind you, staring at your lifeless wings. It was like an old friend had died, and that hurt more than the pain in your back.
You closed your eyes and looked forward, not bearing to continue seeing your lost wings. With all of the strength you could muster up, you started to lift yourself off of the floor. The strain on your muscles made you cry out in pain, and Mark rushed to help you up.
"I got it." You said, shrugging him off of you, and standing up on your own.
"A-are you sure?" He asked, holding his hands out, just in case you were to fall. You didn't feel too worried, your legs were completely fine, why would you be? You didn't dare to stand straight or to move around too much, and even if you didn't want it to show, you knew it was going to be a problem. Everyone knew that.
You noticed how Soobin remained behind Mark, avoiding eye contact, but you didn't know why. Looking at Beomgyu, he acted the same way. Yeonjun looked the most worried you've ever seen him, and it was a surprise, given his...history.
"You'll be fine, (Y/N)." He suddenly said as he noticed you were looking at him, frowning. "Suck it up."
"Don't be so soft, Yeonjun." Arin said sarcastically, rolling her eyes, then turning her attention to the wings behind you. "Things happen for a reason. They might not be much help along the way, but what matters is that you're still here."
"Hm." You hummed, a permanent frown on your face. "Let's just not worry about me. We can't sit here any longer." Looking at the back of your bloodied hand, you see the number 609. You had no idea what to expect. You assumed that you were in some type of arcade of sorts, but the menacing look in that clown's eyes told you that you weren't going to have any fun.
"Does anyone know anything about level 609?" Taehyun asked, looking between Beomgyu and Mark.
"Uh..." Beomgyu cleared his throat. "The games I've played haven't delved this far into the backrooms."
"This is where my knowledge ends, unfortunately." Mark frowned. "Let's just stick together, and if any of us sees anything off, make sure we all know. (Y/N)...you okay to go?"
"Yes, Mark." You said with a bit of venom. "Stop asking me if I'm okay. I'm still standing, I'm alive, aren't I? So, let's not loiter around where we could possibly be killed in a split second."
Your slight outburst made Soobin want to crawl in a hole and rot there until his inevitable end. This was his fault, and you were angry at him, but instead of taking it out on him, you took it out on everyone else, right? You thought he was too weak and sensitive to handle it if you snapped at him, that must be what you assumed. But he couldn't find it in himself to prove that assumption wrong, and that's why he was just a burden to you.
"Okay, sorry." Mark said, brows furrowed. He understood where your annoyance came from, and he felt guilty at that moment for his slight frustration with you. He was only making sure you were okay, because he wouldn't know what to do if your pain got the best of you.
Yeonjun brought out his flashlight, flickering it on and pointing it towards the dark hallway ahead of you guys. "Let's not waste anymore time."
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Why were your feet wet? Looking down at the uncomfortable sensation of your wet socks, you noticed a thin sheet of water flooding the area around you as if there were leaky pipes running through the walls. Was it there before? You didn't remember the wet floors when you started this trek through level 609.
Yeonjun was ahead of everyone else, but still close enough to not cause any alarm. With a confused appearance, he shone the flashlight on the wall of the hallway, revealing the words, "DON'T LAUGH" painted in a cheery yellow. A shutter went down your spine, also reminding you of the pain from your ejected wings.
By now, the wet footsteps would've alerted any entities if you were there, but, weirdly enough, it seemed pretty empty.
"What the hell does any of this mean?" Yeonjun grumbled.
"Walking straight isn't helping." Arin said. "First rule that I've learned since being here: take any and all turns that you can."
"Isn't that dangerous?" Mark asked. "Some turns and entranceways lead to immediate death."
"That always depends. There's no absolute way that you could really know, but I've apparently been doing a good job, since I'm still here." Arin shrugged with a smile. "Let's turn there, Yeonjun." She pointed ahead at a turn into another hallway, and once walking a few steps ahead, Yeonjun shone his flashlight in that direction, then stopped, eyes going wide. Upon seeing his face, Arin's smile slowly dropped. "...Yeonjun?" Being met with a few more seconds of silence, she gently pushed past Mark in front of her to see what Yeonjun saw.
You saw her face drop even more, and her eyes widen. Whatever it was that they saw, they've never seen it before, and it wasn't dangerous enough to attack immediately. You had hoped to any higher entity that what was in that hallway wasn't a smiler.
"What is it?" You whispered. Arin gulped.
"We should probably not go that way." She said. Annoyed with the mysteriousness, you went yourself to go take a look. Right at the end of the hall was a clown. Not a fake clown or a scary clown, but a clown with a bright yellow smile painted on its face, and a rather joyful jester outfit on. It was staring right back at you, eyes blinking, but face nearly frozen.
"Is that...a person, or...?" You spoke. You didn't feel afraid, you were just confused. The clown moved, and you gulped. With a little audience watching, the clown did a silly dance, which, out of everything, seemed to scare you the most.
"I think it's trying to make us laugh." Beomgyu said.
"Would it kill us if we don't laugh?" Arin asked.
"The wall...it said not to laugh." Yeonjun replied, eyes still stuck on the clown who hasn't ceased in its dancing. After a few more seconds, he tore his eyes away from it, looking at everyone else. "It doesn't seem to be dangerous. If we get closer, we could test the waters and maybe even walk past it."
"Are you sure about that?" A low, quiet voice spoke, and you realized that you haven't heard Soobin speak in a long time. "Are we making risks to know more about the level, or are we making risks to get to the next one?"
"Both can't exist at the same time?" Yeonjun asked, eyes lidded in annoyance.
"He makes a good point." Mark said, receiving a death glare from Yeonjun. "A-and so do you, but...let's just make risks to get to the next level for now."
"So, we're still going this way." Yeonjun said. "If anyone doesn't want to follow, you don't have to." And with that, Yeonjun started his way down the hall, getting closer and closer to the clown. Each one of you followed without a trace. With every step closer, Yeonjun slowly pulled out the gun from his bag, and you slowly noticed how the water was now at your ankles. Did the water rise with time or does the water get higher at certain places in the level? That, you didn't know.
Yeonjun was now about two feet away from the clown, yet the clown was still dancing. With just enough space to get past the clown, each one of you slowly passed it, the clown turning to keep facing you guys as you passed it. When you were able to pass it next, you noticed its eyes. They were blue, with little specks of brown littering the perimeter. You noticed how its iris's very slightly jiggled, and how pupils dilated upon making eye contact with you. Your heart nearly stopped, as you felt a sudden wave of devastation. It was like...a real, conscious person was trapped in the body of a joyful clown, and inside of that body, the person was screaming for help, and you saw it all in its eyes.
Not wanting to see anymore, you shut your eyes tight, quickly passing him, and daring not to look at the clown for much longer. You wondered if anyone else saw what you saw, but no one seemed as devastated as you were. Shaking your head to try and get the image of sorrowful eyes out of the forefront of your mind, you continued along with everyone else.
"Guess it won't hurt us after all." Arin said. "Good call, Yeonjun. Everybody in for making any and all turns, now?"
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This level was simply heart-wrenching. How could anyone feel like laughing when passing by the numerous clowns who were screaming for help upon deaf ears?
The "joyful" clown wasn't the only clown the seven of you came across. Along your way, more showed up, harmless to the body but harmful to the soul. You still wondered if anyone looked into their eyes and noticed the pain, or if it was only you.
"What does this level even mean?" Beomgyu said. "The clowns are slightly creepy, but they won't hurt us, and there's absolutely no clue on how to get out of here."
"Well, that seems to be a running theme across all of the levels." Mark said. "The second part, I mean. There's never a clue on how to get out, most of the time, we've just gone to the next level by accident."
"That is true..." Beomgyu said.
Yeonjun huffed aggressively, shining his light on two more clowns blocking the hallway. He wasn't the only one annoyed, as you felt the water start to creep up to your knees, now.
"This might be a little late, but does no one else notice how high the water is getting?" You asked.
"You know, that is such a valid question, why is the water getting-" Arin started, but was interrupted by Yeonjun's frustrated grumbling.
"Now, they're just getting annoying," he said, flickering the flashlight on and off as if to get the clowns' attention. "Do something else other than dance, at this point." Successfully getting the clowns' attention, they turned their heads towards us, one's face painted with a sad expression, and the other with a shocked expression.
In the midst of his annoyed blinking of the flashlight, the flashlight suddenly turned off, and it went nearly pitch black dark, and only silence was heard.
"Did the battery run out?" You asked quickly, now scared. "Hyun, don't you have another one in your bag?"
"Uh, yeah, one second." He said, and you heard shuffling around as he tried to find his way into his bag in the dark, but then the flashlight suddenly turned back on with a click, and you whipped your head over to Yeonjun.
"Um, what was that...?" You trailed off upon seeing Yeonjun's wounded face. "...Yeonjun?"
He was staring at the clowns, hands slightly shaking. Looking back at everyone else, you wondered what had happened. Yeonjun slowly walked closer, feet staggering through the water, knees struggling to keep him up through what seemed to be his extreme shock.
"Ch...Changbin?" Yeonjun whispered, voice weak. "Wooyoung?"
You blinked. Did he know them? Who was Changbin? Who was Wooyoung? And why did Yeonjun look as if he had just lost something important to him. His breathing was harsh, and his eyes were wide, yet you noticed his waterline swell with...tears?
Slowly looking over to the clowns, you looked into their eyes, seeing an array of emotions, strong enough to make even you feel their pain. Panic, sadness, the agonizing longing to be heard, to be saved. You didn't dare move as Yeonjun got even closer, looking them in their eyes. He seemed to have finally noticed what was going on beyond the surface of their painted faces. His knuckles turned white, hands now shaking more noticeably.
What you didn't expect was the raspy sob that ripped from his throat, followed by a distressed cry, echoing throughout the hall. He doubled down, knees locking as he fell into the water, the only visible part of him being from his chest and up. He couldn't hold himself up for any longer, but his eyes didn't leave the clowns. Sobs echoed against the walls, enough to shred a weak soul apart.
Although the clowns were screaming in distress on the inside, their bodies started to move, as if they were controlled by a master puppeteer, and they started to...dance. Their smiles were wide as they jived around as if they were celebrating and having fun.
The more they danced, the more Yeonjun's face fell, slowly becoming emotionless despite the red in his eyes and the tears down his cheeks. The flashlight shone from under the water, the rays moving along with the ripples and waves the clowns made with their dancing.
No one spoke. No one moved. You could barely breathe in the air around you as you watched them dance. It was almost...mesmerizing. The look in their eyes didn't change, a drastic contrast to their joyful faces.
Nearing the end of their little performance, they started to form a heart together, both of them looking straight at Yeonjun. Their shaking arms came to a stop, of their heart pointed to Yeonjun, and as a finishing touch, a tear slowly streamed down the shocked clown's face, rolling over its wide smile.
Softly, this time, Yeonjun sobbed, eyes not leaving the clowns, although his vision was terribly blurred. Mixing in with his sobs, though, was what you thought was a slightly quiet chuckle.
Or...not what you thought...what it really was. Yeonjun was laughing. A broken smile appeared across his face as he laughed, his back slightly shaking with every breathy giggle that escaped his swollen lips.
The clowns' faces slowly fell, eyes wide and iris's shaking. Looking deep into their eyes, you could almost see the reflection of two people, trapped in a ball and unable to get out. They hanged their fists against the see through walls, and their screams fell upon deaf ears, as if they were warnings.
"Y-Yeonjun-" You shook, but he kept laughing. You panicked as you looked behind you at everyone else, wondering what the hell you were going to do, and wondering if they saw what happened at the extent that you did.
"The water's rising!" Soobin cried.
"Yeonjun!" Taehyun called out for him. You turned back around to see Yeonjun almost fully submerged into the water, and it was now rising quickly.
In a state of panic, and a last-minute feeling, you jumped out towards Yeonjun, grunting as you just now remembered your torn wings. Your back seared in pain, but you ignored it, reaching Yeonjun right before you the water completely submerged him. You had planned to pull him up and try to smack him out of it so that you all could quickly find a way out, but it was no use, and it was as if Yeonjun was tugging you down, under the water. It was way deeper than you thought, deeper than it possibly could be. The floor was right there, right?
With the both of you submerged under the water, you held your breath and looked up at what was the supposed to be the surface, but you were met with darkness. You looked around, eyes wide, trying to find everyone else, but they were...gone.
Your arms were still tightly wrapped around Yeonjun, and his eyes were closed. You didn't notice before, but he had passed out and now you just felt completely alone. Submerged in what seemed to be a deep and dark ocean, there was no one else around, and nothing left but emptiness. It was like you had fell into the pit that the victims of this level were pulled into, yet you had deeply hoped that you wouldn't turn into them.
Sad, sad clowns subjected to a tragic end with no way out. Meeting visitor after visitor and forced to collect their last bit of happiness before joining the heart wrenching waters of level 609.
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SO, since it's been a while since I've posted a chapter, I want to remake my masterlist. If you'd like to be apart of the masterlist for any future chapters, please reblog and tell me in the tags! (also tell me your thoughts on this chapter, I LOVE to hear what readers have to say!!)
