"One day, five men were trapped inside a spooky cave. They sat around a campfire, accompanied by a mysterious, unidentifiable skull."
"Each of the five had distinct personalities—one was a coward, another wasn't used to such situations, one was chatty, one was helpless, and one of them was fearless... and, according to himself, very handsome!"
Roy was telling the story with great excitement.
Cris: "So, what happened to them?"
Roy: "What happened was...!!!"
Noa, roasting marshmallows, glanced at Roy and snorted.
Noa: "Cris, don't listen to him. He's just telling a story about us."
Cris: "What? You mean those five guys are us?"
Noa: "Of course. Who else? Look at our situation—we're trapped in a cave, sitting around a campfire, with a skull over there."
Noa continued, pointing at his friends one by one.
Noa: "The coward is you, Cris. The inexperienced one is Ken. The chatterbox is me. The helpless one is Glen. And of course, the fearless handsome guy is Roy—who clearly defined himself."
Cris and Glen shouted in unison, "Hey!!!"
Roy folded his arms and looked away defensively.
Roy: "Who said I was talking about you guys?"
They all stared at him sharply, except for Ken, who was still focused on his marshmallow.
Feeling cornered, Roy looked around nervously and finally raised his hands in surrender.
Roy: "Alright, alright. I admit it. It was you guys."
Their glares didn't fade.
Roy: "Okay, I'm sorry! Don't be mad!"
(Inner thoughts: Man, these stares are scary...)
Finally, they turned their attention back to their marshmallows.
Noa: "So, are we continuing, or resting for a bit?"
Glen: "Let's rest. It's already night. We'll continue tomorrow."
Roy: "Alright. Good night."
Roy quickly got into his sleeping bag, handed out by Cris.
The three of them looked at Roy with flat expressions, as if saying: "Seriously... Roy just doesn't want night duty, huh?"
Cris: "Then I'm sleeping too. Good night."
Cris joined Roy in a sleeping bag beside him.
Noa: "Cris, help with the night watch."
Glen: "It's fine, Noa. I'll take the first shift. You go sleep."
Noa: "Alright. Wake me up at 2 a.m. to switch, okay?"
Glen: "Of course."
Ken: "I can stay up with you, Glen."
Glen: "No need, Ken. You're still new, and your stamina isn't like ours. Get some rest."
Ken: "Okay. Be careful."
Glen glanced at Cris who was already sound asleep, a faint look of guilt in his eyes.
(Glen: It really was all my fault... Sorry.)
---
Morning came.
Noa, who had replaced Glen for the night watch, heard the alarm go off at 5:30 a.m.
Noa: "Guys, wake up! It's morning!"
Ken and Glen started getting up, while Roy and Cris were still fast asleep.
Annoyed, Noa used his water powers and drenched them instantly.
Blurr!
Roy: "FLOOD!!!"
Cris: "I'M DROWNING!!!"
They both woke up in a panic, only to find Noa standing with his arms crossed, glaring at them.
Roy: "Oh... h-hi. Good morning?"
Cris: "Yeah... uh, peace be upon you?"
Noa grabbed their sleeping bags and yanked them roughly.
Noa: "GET UP!!!"
Cris and Roy were thrown out of their bags.
"Hehehe!"
Ken chuckled watching the scene, while Glen just shook his head with a smile.
After packing up the campsite, they continued their journey using flashlights.
They walked for a while until they found a strange door standing in the middle of the cave passage. It looked ordinary, but swirling wave-like patterns covered its surface, giving off a mysterious vibe. The most striking feature was a flame-shaped symbol carved in the center of the door, as if hiding a secret.
Without hesitation, they stepped inside...