Deep Breath Beneath the Depths

Tang-Ji felt her stomach churning and her head reeling, like she was plummeting into bottomless darkness. Bumping against an oddly shaped object, Tang-Ji struggled to right herself.

"Ugh, my head," she whispered, attempting to reach for her sore head but finding herself immobilised.

'Huh? Where am I? Why can't I move?'

The place she was at felt unnaturally still and cramped; it was as if her whole body was submerged underwater. Everything was heavy, suffocating, and strangely rough. She slowly wiggled her legs around to find an open space.

"Ouch!", she winced as she skinned her finger.

The exposed wound burst into little crystal shards, glowing a bright red in the dark. With gradual effort, she continued to move, as if attempting to dig through concrete. She could feel the tightness on her upper body slowly loosening while the uneven floor pressed against her feet. 

Suddenly, she felt something tightly grab her hand and pull her upwards, out of the distorted ordeal. Now well out of the rock pile, Tang-Ji felt a growing sense of nausea, like her stomach was tying itself into knots. 

A familiar face looked down on her. "Hey, are you alright?" Ji-Soon asked, stretching out his hand from above the pile of junk. He was filthy, and there were black spots on him, making him almost unrecognisable to Tang-Ji.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She murmured, holding her hand over her mouth, trying not to puke from the sudden movement. 

"Jeez, stay close to me, alright? I'm going to get an earful from Kaz​​ if something were to happen to you." 

"Kaz? Do you mean Kazami?"

Ji-Soon brushed some dust from his hair, glancing around at the rocky surroundings.

"Well, the guy always goes on and on about you to me." He grinned, shifting on his feet. "I mean, it's no surprise he comes to me with this stuff. We're like brothers."

He chuckled lightly, eyes flicking up.

"Although, it's kind of a hassle hearing the same thing over and over. This is the first time he's talked about someone this much. I've known him since we were kids, and Kaz's not the type to casually mention crushes."

A mischievous grin spread across his face. "Makes me wonder... maybe he's into something else. Hehe!"

'What could Kazami be saying about me.' She wondered. 

"He would get so pissed off whenever I told him that. If he heard this, he'd probably beat me up." As if reminding himself of the punishment he'd receive if this conversation ever got out, Ji-Soon turned awkwardly away from Tang-Ji.

Tang-Ji could sense the change in Ji-Soon's tone.

'Did I really do that much? It must have been me—the me in the past—that he is referring to," she thought. "So Kazami was talking about me a lot…' Tang-Ji suddenly felt her face getting slightly hotter. 

Shaking her head violently, she began to gather her thoughts again. 

Dust trickled down from the craggy ceiling, settling on their shoulders as the air felt heavier, thick with the scent of earth and rock. 

Ji-Soon shrugged, his voice quieter now. "However, ever since he met you, it's like the way he views people has changed." He paused, looking off into the distance.

"I mean, he had a pretty rough childhood, so I can understand why he acts the way he does."

His gaze flickered to Tang-Ji, a softness in his eyes. "I don't know what your relationship is with him, but I still want to thank you for bringing out the old Kaz, even if it was momentarily."

Tang-Ji's hand moved in a soft gesture, shaking her head. "No, no, I... I don't deserve thanks." Her voice wavered as she spoke, the words catching in her throat. "There's so much more I wish I could do. I just—" She trailed off, her words swallowed by the heavy air.

Ji-Soon gave a small smile, his eyes gentle as he glanced at her one last time.

"You know, Tang-Ji, it seems to me that you've got all you want already, " he said quietly.

"I wouldn't be thanking people who don't deserve it; I know you have the power to change lives." Ji-Soon said gratefully, and without elaborating further, he turned away from her before sliding down the pile of rocks, leaving Tang-Ji lost in her thoughts.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————

The cave seemed to be playing with everyone's nerves. The air hung heavy with tension as Tang-Ji, Decker, Junyo, Kompto, and Ji-Soon found themselves grouped together, half submerged in a mass of rocks and soil. 

The teleportation had left them disoriented, and Decker's frustration began to boil over as he approached Kompto. 

"Hey, asshole…" Decker brushed some clay sediment off his shoulder and pointed a finger at Kompto.

"Couldn't you wait a while longer to turn on us? Thanks to you, the enemies jumped on us, and now we're in the middle of nowhere. Or perhaps that was your doing, and you were always going to get rid of us from the start." Decker's frustration mounted.

The echoes of his accusations bounced off the cave walls, drawing attention from the shadows.

"Could you please shut the fuck up?" Kompto retorted, finally snapping at his antics.

"You're the one who seemed to want to get rid of me since the beginning. Said the one who clearly stated that he never even liked any of us. And now he points fingers. Well, fuck me then. Sorry, I couldn't change my skin colour to make you like me more." He quipped.

"If this was a trap set by a traitor, then you would be most likely to be behind it. So, if you have nothing else better than poor speculation, I'd suggest you stop screaming and use your brain for once." 

"Whoa, hey, hey. We have no such intentions," Junyo interjected hastily, his hands raised in a gesture of denial.

"We genuinely wanted to form an alliance with people that we can trust. A smaller, tighter-knit group would be way better for communication and coordination. That's why we wanted to join you guys." 

Junyo's eyes swept over the faces of the others, silently pleading for understanding. However, despite his effort, he already knew without looking back that his 'dumbass' partner would disagree. 

"Please believe us when I say that we mean no harm—" Junyo was abruptly stopped by Decker.

"Alright, time to shut up," Decker groaned, grabbing Junyo by the shoulders and flinging him to the ground. 

He began to walk towards Kompto, but just as Decker was about to raise his voice again, the ground beneath them started to tremble. 

"Huh!!" Everyone gasped. 

"What was that?" Tang-Ji asked, her eyes still adjusting to the darkness. 

"Let's try not to make too much noise," Kompto suggested, adjusting his stance in case of a surprise attack. 

"Pfft! Whatever, I don't care anymore." Decker began to walk in the opposite direction of everyone. "I'm finding my own way out. If everyone still thinks this monkey is trustworthy, then go ahead and stay with him. I ain't gonna waste my breath." 

"Hey, where are you going jackass?" Junyo called as he began to follow Decker.

"Tsk! Racist bastard." Ji-Soon clicked his tongue. "Maybe I should drill it into his thick skull by giving him another beating."

"Welp, it looks like we have to follow the idiot then. Maybe we'll run into the others." Ji-Soon suggested, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.

As Decker stormed off, his frustration palpable in the dimly lit cave, the group's dynamic shifted, leaving Tang-Ji and Kompto lingering at the back.

The man with braided hair sighed as the rest of the group walked off. Tang-Ji, still trying to shake off the disorientation from her predicament, found herself strangely drawn to Kompto's calm demeanour despite the tense situation.

"Um, excuse me," Tang-Ji began tentatively, her voice barely above a whisper as she struggled to find her words.

The man turned to her, his gaze still somewhat stern. "Yes, what is it?" he replied softly, encouraging her to speak.

"I-I just wanted to say… thank you," Tang-Ji stammered, her cheeks flushing from embarrassment. "For helping me back there and… um… for talking to me now. I-I'm not very good with… new people, but for some reason, I feel okay talking to you." She murmured incoherently.

Kompto's stern expression became a warm smile. "It's no problem at all. I'm glad I could help. And don't worry about being shy; it's completely normal. We're all just trying to navigate this strange situation together."

The group ahead was getting further away. "We should get going, lest we be left behind," Kompto suggested.

As they began walking, Kompto became silent, his brow furrowing in concern. "Hmm, it seems the map function isn't working here. This definitely feels like a trap," he mused, tracing his finger in front of his vision and activating a pop-up menu.

Tang-Ji nodded in agreement, her anxiety rising at the realisation. "Y-yeah, it does seem suspicious..."

Kompto then turned to face Tang-Ji. "My real name is Creed, by the way," he confessed, his tone slightly sheepish. "I know how Japanese honorifics work, but you can just call me Creed, no need for the 'san'."

Tang-Ji's eyes widened in surprise, but she quickly nodded. "Okay, Creed-san… I mean, Creed," she corrected herself with a shy smile.

Tang-Ji felt a sense of camaraderie growing between them. "Um, Creed…" she asked meekly. Back when I read that letter, you seemed...really upset. Did you know the person who wrote it?"

Creed's expression darkened momentarily before he sighed heavily. "The person mentioned in that letter... was a close companion of mine. Their initials were on it," he explained sombrely. He noticed Tang-Ji's solemn expression.

"But it's okay. It's not your fault, and thank you for keeping it. Otherwise, I would have never gotten to hear his dying wish." 

Tang-Ji felt a pang of guilt wash over her, but Creed's reassurance comforted her. "I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice barely audible in the cavernous space.

'Perhaps death was unavoidable,' Tang-Ji thought.

Ever since this game started, a reality she had tried to ignore has continued to find its way back to her. She was afraid, and she knew she would die if she was killed here, but seeing another person who died before her only reinforced her fear.

However, 'this feeling of knowing you could die at any moment isn't so different from real life; in fact, it was still way better than feeling nothing at all,' she thought.

Tang-Ji felt as if she were standing on the precipice between dream and reality. 'To not feel anything would be no different than being dead.' Tang-Ji struggled to gather her logical thoughts. 

Despite the swelling sensation of dread that continued to burn inside her, she was drawn to a profound yearning to know her actual identity—to break free from the confines of a hollow existence that she had been forced to endure for so long.

She knew that once she'd come back to reality, she would have to continue to live out her mundane life without ever knowing the truth about herself.

Thinking back on everything that had happened thus far—all the steps she had taken since she met Kazami—she was constantly finding herself teetering on the edge of a past discovery. She knew that the key to answering all of her questions resided within the depths of this mysterious world.

"No, I shouldn't be thinking this way," she murmured, knowing full well that this was nothing more than a momentarily selfish wish outside of danger.

'I wouldn't be thinking this way without the protection from others. I should be grateful rather than selfish; after all, I am the dead weight in the group.'

She knew that her main priority was to escape the game alive with all her friends. She knew that, yet beneath the surface of her resolve to live and protect those dear to her laid a labyrinth that contained all of her yearning excitement to truly experience what it means to really live her own life.

In the end, no one can escape its grasp, no matter how desperately they try. Whether it came swiftly or lingered on the edge of consciousness, death is the great equaliser that renders all fears and ambitions meaningless in its wake. They all lead to the same path of abandonment, leaving everyone behind to go into another world, much like this one.

Perhaps our fate had already been sealed from the start. It would just be better to die a painless death inside a video game where everyone can be buried by the illusion of the game's excitement and adventure. Tang-Ji also had the same thought, which really surprised me. It seems like our minds are still somewhat in sync. 

Creed chuckled softly at Tang-Ji's fidgety gesture as he read her like an open book and knew exactly what was on her mind.

"I can tell you are still very attached to reality. That's good. Hold onto it and don't ever let go." He made a sad expression.

Creed's voice echoed softly through the cave, the sound absorbing into the damp, rock walls. As they walked side by side, the distant glow from ahead flickered, casting faint shadows across their path.

"Death is natural," he continued, his words steady, but his eyes distant. "And while it feels like our loved ones are gone, remember... the dead stay dead. Mourning won't bring them back."

A small breeze stirred the air, carrying the faint scent of damp earth and stone, mingling with the quiet hum of dripping water from above. His gaze shifted, as if searching for something in the shadows.

"But as long as we keep them in our hearts," he added, his tone softer, "they'll continue to live on through us. We're all seeking something in this life. Let the spirit of the dead be a guide—a lesson—to lead us to the end of our journey."

Tang-Ji walked in silence for a moment, the weight of his words lingering in the air, the sound of their footsteps muffled by the cave's hollow interior.

"I-I'm sorry for bringing up your friend." Tang-Ji apologised nervously; she was caught off guard by what Creed had said.

It was strangely profound, but she still found it out of character for him, even though she only knew him for a day. The fact that a complete stranger was able to understand her was something that she could never dream of seeing her old classmates bothered trying.

Now that Tang-Ji thought about it, she had been feeling a strange sense of ease around everyone here. The odd feeling has continued to linger inside of her ever since her first encounter with Kazami.

It was as if the hardened jade stones that were sealing her heart together were finally cracking; every new face she saw after him seemed to bring forth the human expression she had previously believed she was incapable of expressing. She still vividly remembered the face she would make through the mirror heart in her room every day before going to school.

"Dull doll," "expressionless nerd," "ice queen," "basic freak," she still remembered all those insults that people threw at her, which didn't really bother her.

She didn't even know how to react to those comments; the feeling of loneliness would be the closest thing she had felt; however, even then, she would just immerse herself in reading and forget about it the next day.

'What face am I making right now?' She wondered while trying to pace herself to keep up with the others.

Creed shook his head, his gaze gentle. "It's alright. You don't have to keep apologising. Let's focus on finding out who orchestrated this fucked-up game instead," he suggested, his determination clear.