The massive truck rumbled along a winding path, slowly ascending toward the mountain peak shrouded in gray fog. Inside, the chosen children sat silently after enduring brutal tests. Fatigue painted their faces, though some tried to mask their tension with chatter... or noise.
As expected, Hairo Shin was the first to break the silence.
In a loud voice, leaning toward Kaito, he said:
"Kaiiiitooo! Did I ever tell you these seats are harder than my mom's heart when she saw my grades?"
Kaito looked at him coldly without replying, while Hairo let out a dramatic sigh, then said, stretching his legs toward Tsuki:
"Ah, this is the life... adventure, the mountain, and the beautiful girl sitting in front of me..."
Tsuki replied, pushing his leg aside with an icy glare:
"Please, keep your delusions to yourself."
Hairo laughed as he held his nose after it got bumped by her knee, saying:
"Ah! A strike from an angel! I'm blessed!"
Some students in the back chuckled, but Kaito remained distant, gazing out the window at the distant mountains and the clouds hugging the summit. Despite Hairo's noise, he wasn't annoyed instead, he felt something strange… like he didn't belong here, and yet, there was nowhere else he wanted to be.
Then, the first oddity happened...
Halfway up, the truck suddenly stopped. The driver got out, then returned and said:
"There's a wild goat blocking the road."
Hairo instantly yelled, sticking his head out the window:
"Goat! You survived all this time just to block us?! Move already!"
But the goat didn't budge. Instead... it looked at them with disdain, then sat down.
One of the instructors stepped out to kick it away, but as he approached, the goat let out a bizarre screech that made everyone cover their ears. then it ran off into the woods.
Hairo grinned:
"Was that goat one of the evolved insects? We should recruit it!"
Finally, the truck resumed its climb amid faint laughter, until they reached the mountain crater.
At the top, the view was surreal: a massive pit swallowed the earth, surrounded by towering government machinery and floodlights casting long shadows on the rocky walls. Guards in black suits stood watch, and monitoring teams prepared ropes and lifts for descent.
One of the instructors stepped forward and shouted sternly:
"Recruits! Before you is the only entrance into the depths. There's no turning back after this step!"
Kaito looked at Tsuki, then at Hairo, who was adjusting his headband in a goofy way and whispered:
"I'm ready! Just don't make me fight any bugs that look like my school teacher!"
One by one, they began to descend. The ropes creaked. Breaths grew shallow. Everything slowly disappeared into the darkness of the pit…
They were heading into the unknown.
But something was waiting for them down there.
End chapter