Time went on, and nothing happened after the person who knocked on the door had disappeared.

But I couldn’t say we hadn’t heard anything else.

In fact, we were on edge the whole time.

Every now and then we’d hear footsteps outside. Sometimes they were running at breakneck speed, and at other times they sounded as if they belonged to a large group moving together.

On some occasions they’d come very close to the bus, so close we’d hold our breath, then suddenly change direction and move away.

It was as if those things were being chased by something else.

But what made us even more nervous were the roaring sounds echoing from afar.

Huge, deep sounds, like the roars of monsters.

In any case, this place was strangely eerie.

We remained quiet the whole time, sitting close to one another.

Yet we didn’t speak much. Each of us was lost in our own thoughts.

As for me... I couldn’t stop thinking about that person.

How could he look so much like me? It was unbelievable, even illogical.

But does my being here make any sense at all?

No... it seems I’ll have to throw logic in the bin for the time being.

So what is the proper explanation for what I saw?

Could it be that thing is capable of changing its form depending on who it’s talking to?

But wait... what on earth made me even consider such a possibility in the first place?

And how did I even come up with it?

I sighed silently.

I needed to calm down and stop jumping to conclusions based on nothing.

But even so... this explanation might well be correct.

Or it might not be.

I spent a long time thinking about it, and in the end I had to admit that my imagination was far more expansive than I’d expected.

I mean, I came up with ideas I never thought I’d consider.

And yet, I wasn’t even a single step closer to understanding what had happened.

So I finally stopped thinking about it. I was just going round in circles.

Meanwhile, it seemed the rain had stopped. Even the red lightning wasn’t striking as violently as before.

The flashes had become faint and sporadic, as if the storm itself was gradually losing its strength.

Suddenly, I noticed that the darkness was beginning to fade, whilst the sound of thunder gradually grew fainter as time passed.

I stared out of the window, as I could now see my surroundings, albeit only faintly.

Moments later, the sound of thunder vanished completely, and I slowly approached the window. Then my eyes widened.

It seemed as though morning had broken, yet I could see no sun.

All I could see were thick clouds covering the sky, occasionally pierced by fleeting red sparks.

Slowly, the darkness faded... then faster and faster...

until my vision became completely clear.

At first I couldn’t believe my eyes, but with every passing second I realised that what I was seeing was real.

The scene was strange... so strange it was hard to describe.

And how could it not be?

For what stretched out beneath us was not land at all.

Rather, it was a vast sea of an unknown grey substance resembling thick fog or piled-up clouds, yet it moved slowly and rippled as if it were an endless ocean.

As for the trees surrounding us, they seemed to be growing right on top of that grey mist, their trunks and branches twisted and contorted in an unnatural way.

On the horizon rose gigantic black mountains. Their peaks were sharp and jagged, like the fangs of a colossal beast that had emerged from the depths of the world.

The grey mist also formed countless hills, some of which looked large enough to hold an entire city atop them.

Yet, I couldn’t see everything from where I stood.

"Tsk..."

I turned towards the others once I could see them clearly.

In truth, I was trying to remember what on earth I’d done in my life to find myself stuck in this bloody predicament.

And to top it all off, the bloody system had chosen the worst possible moment to crash.

When on earth would it start working again?

I took off my glasses for a moment and rubbed my eyes for a while before putting them back on.

It seemed everyone had grown tired of staring out of the window, and we looked at one another instead.

I heard Liana say as she rubbed her forehead.

"You know what? It’s strange seeing you wearing glasses. It’s like seeing a criminal doing a good deed."

My face twitched.

"Don’t you know this isn’t the time for jokes?"

"I’m not joking, I’m just saying what I feel out loud."

"Do you know how I feel after your stupidity nearly got us killed?"

"Well... at least if we’d died, I wouldn’t have to hear your voice ever again."

That was a bit harsh. It would be better if I just kept quiet, wouldn’t it?

I mean, if this carries on, I might say something even harsher and hurt her feelings, which would cause yet another problem.

Yes... I’m not backing out. I just don’t want to hurt her feelings.

.

Srin smiled quickly and said:

"Is it safe to go out now? I mean, we can’t stay here forever, can we?"

Leo frowned.

"Have you forgotten what happened yesterday? I don’t think it’s safe outside, but you’re right—we can’t stay here forever. Still, we can’t rush into this. So I think it’s best if one of us goes out to see if it’s safe."

At that, we all looked at him at the same time. He seemed a little surprised by our reaction.

Liana approached him, placed her hand on his shoulder and said:

"Who’s the club president?"

"Me."

"Right. And who brought us here in the first place? Weren’t we on an expedition to the Malanif Mountains? Then who is the oldest among us?"

She paused for a moment before flashing a bright smile.

"So, President... we will never forget your sacrifice."

"Huh?... Oh."

At first, he didn’t understand what she meant. But after just a few moments, he fully grasped what she was getting at.

He resisted at first and tried to object, but eventually gave in.

To be honest, giving in was better than continuing to listen to Liana, as her talk could go on endlessly.

Besides, there was something rather strange about it.

The first time I met Leo, I thought he was a very sociable person who didn’t pay much attention to what was going on around him.

But now it seems my first impression of him was completely wrong.

I turned my gaze towards him and saw him take several deep breaths.

Then... he slowly reached for the handle and opened the door.