4| Satoru Gojo

You and Satoru were always inseparable, best friends since you first shared a desk in elementary school. There was something about the way he looked at you, the way he brushed your shoulder when he laughed, that made many swear you were a couple. And although you both hid behind the classic "it's just friendship," not even he could believe that lie. More than once, he caught himself wanting to kiss you.

That afternoon, he accompanied you to visit potential houses for purchase. Amidst jokes and laughter, you entered an office where a strange man greeted you, his smile too broad to be sincere. He told you about a new property, "perfect," in his words. You accepted, little suspecting that you were about to cross a threshold of no return.

The place looked like a cursed cartoon: spotless, symmetrical, but with a perfection that chilled the blood. Satoru sensed it immediately. Something wasn't right. He was the first to want to leave, but when they looked for the man who had brought them, he was gone. He had vanished as if he had never existed.

"This has to be a fucking joke!" he yelled, slamming the steering wheel furiously. Frustration was boiling in his veins. He couldn't understand what the hell was going on.

They drove for hours, until the sky turned dark. But no matter which route they took, they always came back to the same place: gate number 9. Again and again. As if the world had shrunk to that single point. As if they were stuck in a loop with no way out.