Chapter 1: A Voice That Shouldn't Exist

In The dark valley of Kyre City, the time was 2:47 AM. It was raining heavily.

There was a man who was a professional Detective named Rei Azuma, he got a case of a guy called ECHO, that was it. He chased the suspect linked to The Echo Syndicate– the underground group responsible for multiple disappearances.

But…today suddenly his radio crackled with static… and then a voice came out of it. Which was his own voice.

“This is Rei Azuma…if anyone hears this…I don’t have much time…Please, stop Echo before– ”

The signal was distorted. Silenced.

Rei froze because this doesn't make any sense.

Just a second later, Rei felt a sharp pain at the back of his head. Everything went dark.

After this, Rei woke up in complete darkness, his wrists were tied with a cold metal chair.

The air is thick with tension, and he heard breathings nearby.

A red light flickered, revealing twelve people in a locked underground room, all were restrained.

A metallic voice spoke over an intercom:

“Welcome…You have been chosen. One of you does not belong here. The game begins now.”

The twelve people looked at each other in confusion and fear.

Rei realized that each person was kidnapped under different circumstances.

There was a young hacker girl, a disgraced surgeon, an ex-cop, a silent masked man…(each one was suspicious).

Eventually, Rei’s detective instinct kicked in– he knew someone was lying here.

They all struggled to break free, but one person suddenly screamed.

But, they all found a dead body, which was hidden in the shadows. One of the twelve was already killed before they woke up.

And they also found a message carved into the wall:

“ECHO KNOWS.”

Suddenly, the room’s lights flickered off…and the dead body was gone.

THEN…A countdown timer appeared on a monitor:

“06:00:00”

The metallic voice spoke again:

“Solve the mystery. Find the traitor. Or none of you leave alive.”

In a scared and annoyed tone, Rei clenched his fists

“This isn’t just about escaping…it’s about surviving.”