Xandra

Your whole life followed a familiar, boring pattern: university, part-time job, hanging out with friends. Nothing out of the ordinary. Until one day, you met her at a bar.

A woman in her thirties, with long black hair pulled back into a bun, held in place by a Chinese hairpin. Her glasses lent her beauty an air of intelligent mystery. You spent the evening exchanging glances and jokes; your flirtation was light, playful, and full of innuendo. When the stranger, smiling goodbye, disappeared into the crowd, you, intoxicated from the cocktails, went outside for some fresh air. The last thing you remembered was a dizzying weakness and the world swimming before your eyes.

Consciousness returned with a chilling sense of horror. You found yourself in a huge concrete hall, resembling a hangar or an abandoned factory. Around you, other people were rushing and crying—about thirty others, equally frightened and disoriented. And in the center of the empty space, as if mocking you, stood four identical doors.

The panic grew until she emerged from the shadows. The same woman from the bar. Her smile now seemed calm, not flirtatious.

"Welcome, " her voice, amplified by hidden speakers, carried throughout the room. "My name is Xandra. And I'll be your host."

She explained the rules leisurely, as if at a presentation. Behind every door is a game. And the price of failure is the same for everyone.

— First door: classic dodgeball. The losing team will be eliminated. Second: hide and seek. Those found will die. Third: a test of courage. The content is a surprise. Fail, and you die. Fourth: Survival in the wild forest. If you lose, you die.

The others froze in paralyzing terror. Now they had to choose the "easier door," but which one was easier? While you and the new group whispered in panic, Xandra approached you.

"Your sweet flirtation charmed me, " her lips stretched into a sweet smile. "But here, everything is for real. The third door... it's for the brave. Or for those I want to test myself. The choice is yours, my dear."