"I'm here?"
Hesa tried to recall what had happened before he woke up in this place.
"That Copy again."
He stood up and looked around. The building was circular, like the ones he often visited in malls, but this place was much bigger and looked filthy and abandoned.
Hesa walked slowly, exploring the area. The structure was truly a mess, typical of a neglected building.
There were many empty rooms along the way until he finally found one that looked strange. He stopped in front of it.
The room was very clean, with several chairs, monitors, and computers that were still on.
Hesa stepped inside and realized the chairs were connected with cables whose ends were plugged into the computer devices.
Not far from there was a table. On top of it lay a sheet of paper, which Hesa immediately picked up.
The paper contained personal data of several people. The photos looked very similar to Hesa and his friends, but the information was different. On the back of the sheet, several names were written.
"Names?"
Lee Heeseung – Rahesa Adinarta
Shim Jaeyun – Arkanel Vintara
Kim Sunoo – Setta Dinantha
Yang Jungwon – Joan Xavero
Park Jongseong – Jio Alfaresh
Park Sunghoon – Satya Alfahri
Nishimura Riki – Niki Shinraze
"Wait… are these our names from the past?"
'You're right. Those are our names.'
Hesa immediately turned and found his twin standing beside him.
'So? Fun exploring this place?'
Heeseung smiled brightly, but Hesa knew for sure this was not a good sign.
~~~~~~~
The morning breeze accompanied Arkha's steps as he exited the market. He had stopped by to buy some snacks he felt were missing, and also to grab breakfast.
"Why is the market near my house closed? I had to go this far," he muttered.
Still grumbling, he sat on an empty bench. While enjoying his breakfast, his eyes accidentally caught sight of a cheerful young man walking not far in front of him.
Without thinking, Arkha immediately pulled the young man back.
"You're the kid from yesterday, right? The one who said Hesa was with you," Arkha said bluntly.
"Arkha, you startled me," the boy said while removing Arkha's hand from his arm.
"We don't even know each other. How do you know my name?" Arkha asked.
"I'm Sakala. Hesa told me about you, and you've heard about me from him too, right?" Kala replied.
"No way he'd trust a stranger that easily," Arkha said.
"Well, the proof's obvious. I know you, and I also know about the terror you guys experienced," Kala said casually before sitting on the bench across from Arkha.
"O-okay, I'll assume Hesa told you about me. Then what did you mean earlier? You said Hesa is under your supervision," Arkha said, sitting back down.
"Well… you already know Hesa was kidnapped by Heeseung and Sunoo, and now he's being held in their dimension. I secretly go there to keep an eye on him," Kala explained.
"You can go there?" Arkha asked.
"I'm an esper, by the way," Kala said lightly.
"Shaman," Arkha muttered.
"Hey, isn't classy at all," Kala said flatly.
"Skip that. So you really can go to their dimension," Arkha said, and Kala nodded.
"Then… why are you only watching? Why don't you just save Hesa while you're at it?" Arkha pressed.
"Kidnappers rarely leave their hostage alone without supervision. Even just monitoring him is hard for me, because one of them is always beside Hesa," Kala replied.
"B-But there's a way to bring him back, right?" Arkha said.
"You all have to pick him up in that dimension," Kala answered.
"Huh? How? I'm not an esper like you who can just go there," Arkha said.
"Didn't you realize your camping trip is going to run smoothly?" Kala asked.
"The opposite," Arkha replied.
"Exactly. They're the ones who will bring all of you there," Kala said.
"That's the problem. The chance of us coming back alive after that camp is slim," Arkha muttered.
"Because of Jihan's story, huh," Kala smiled.
"Relax. Thirteen won't die that easily. You're different," Kala said.
"What do you mean?" Arkha asked.
"You're special compared to their other victims. That's why I'm sure your game won't end quickly," Kala replied.
He then left just like that, leaving Arkha silent with countless questions in his head.
~~~~~~~
Arkha was still lost in thought even as the car was already on its way to the camping site.
He sat in the very back seat with Joan, his gaze fixed on his three friends joking around in the middle row.
He felt guilty, but he still didn't dare to say anything.
Sakala… the red-haired boy's words kept replaying in Arkha's mind. Should he let his friends go to another world to save Hesa, or should he just sacrifice himself instead?
"No way…"
Arkha sighed and turned his head toward the window beside him.
Joan had been quietly watching Arkha, who looked deep in thought. It seemed something was really bothering him. He glanced at the rear-view mirror in front—were the two people in the front seats the reason?
"Now that I think about it, it is suspicious. Hesa suddenly let Setta sit beside him, even though anyone can read directions from a digital map. And lately Hesa's been talking more with Arkha."
~~~~~~
Time passed quickly until they finally arrived at the camping site.
One by one, they began setting up their tents.
Arkha stepped out of his tent to look around and realized two of his friends were missing.
"Where are Setta and Satya?" he asked.
"They went to the river for water," Jio replied while preparing a frying pan.
"What are you cooking?" Niki asked.
"Cooking you. Of course I'm cooking food. Just fast food so it's quick," Jio replied.
Hesa came over and stood beside Arkha, making Arkha reflexively step aside.
"Did you guys know there's a waterfall near here?" Hesa asked.
"Oh really? Now I kinda want to go there," Niki said.
"Yeah, we can go—if we have time," Joan said lazily, glancing at Hesa.
"We'll definitely have time, Jo. We're not going straight home tomorrow anyway," Hesa replied with a smile.
Satya and Setta returned, briefly drawing everyone's attention.
"Thank goodness Satya's fine," Arkha sighed in relief inwardly.
Satya handed over a bucket that wasn't filled with just water—there were several fish inside.
"We fetched water from the river and went fishing at the same time," Satya said.
"Oh good. No need to fry sausages and nuggets then. We'll save those for later," Jio said.
"We can just fry the fish normally, or use sauce if we have any," Setta added.
"I brought some," Jio said.
Jio immediately started cleaning the fish so they'd be ready to fry, while the others helped prepare rice, eating utensils, and the rest of the supplies.