Chapter 6

—Team 2—

[Yumi’s P.O.V]

We were wandering through the forest. Our path was still close to Houndlet Village, but there were more little monsters jumping around.

It's bearable, and we were able to defeat every single one of them on our path. While the boys took care of things, I was preoccupied with my phone.

Jeongmin noticed my focus on the device and inquired, "So, where do we find those diamonds?"

"That's the problem; it doesn't mention that in our objective," I explained, carefully examining every detail recorded on my phone.

Its strength, what it is composed of, its name, and its single location are all that is known about it.

"Then... are we lost?" Jun wondered and was frightened.

"No, it only offered us one hint: the diamonds we're after are concealed within a cave near Houndlet Village," I explained.

"Then we'll just look for the first cave we find!" Jaeseong proposed.

"The problem is that there are three caves near this village," I explained.

"So... we split into groups?" Yejoon inquired.

Even though that looked like a terrific idea, I was nonetheless concerned about the boys' safety. Even though I've seen them battle and experienced their skills, I'm still skeptical and concerned about them.

"I'll send Heric a quick message; just wait."

I quickly messaged my friend, and he responded right away, giving us tips on how to discover the diamonds. I was shocked by his response—that he knew where these diamonds were. He was very certain. So I trust him.

"It appears that Heric knows where the diamonds are," I replied, "and he told me to search for a blue and red crystal scent."

"Scent?" Joseph asked, puzzled.

Except for Jeongmin, who understood exactly what I meant, the other members shared the zoologist's confusion. We utilized our scent powers to discover the diamonds together.

The others were perplexed by what we were doing, but when they noticed our original eye color changing into a rainbow, they realized we were using our powers.

With my powers activated, I looked around and saw a faint blue crystal scent coming from the west.

"I see the scent! Over there!" I exclaimed, pointing in that direction.

We hurried forward, following the scent, and we eventually arrived at the cave. We moved closer to the opening without hesitation and instantly noticed that the blue crystal had been mingled with the red crystal.

Jeongmin said, "Blue and red crystals," as he saw what I saw flowing out of the cave in front of us.

"Can you see it?" Jaeseong questioned. He was startled. Jeongmin could detect the scent we were tracking, forgetting his friend was an Imaginator like me.

"Of course, Imaginators have the ability to detect scent," Jeongmin added.

"Do you think it's risky to proceed forward?" Joseph inquired.

"Dangerous or not, we can't back out, or the mission would fail," I answered. Because I was the group's leader, I led the way inside the cave while the rest trailed behind.

We then arrived at a shattered bridge after following the crystal aroma. This bridge was our only way to go to the other side, but it had broken, leaving us stranded.

I looked down to see the remainder of the bridge crumble; it was now unusable.

"Well, that's unfortunate," I said, disappointed.

"What should we do now?" Jun said, worried.

"There's no way we can restore the bridge magically," Seongho stated.

"Unless?" Jaeseong attempted to draw the bridge back up with his string skills, but the rocks were simply too heavy for the boy to lift.

"That's not going to work, Hyung," Yejoon remarked.

"Well, it was worth a shot," Jaeseong said.

Everyone else began to consider alternative routes to safely reach the opposite side. It wasn't simple for me to come up with a plan, but after brainstorming for a few seconds, a light bulb lit up.

"I think I have an idea."

The boys watched me prepare my plan while my heart raced in fear. Using my imagination, I took some dirt from the ground and transformed it into a grappling hook.

I utilize the item to swing to the opposite side after it's constructed. Before jumping off the platform and swinging, I tossed the hook on top of the rocks and tugged on it to ensure it was secure.

Before I could even begin to gain momentum, the rock on top gave way under my weight, leading me to plummet to the ground and die.

The members who were present during the murder were terrified, as their hearts were about to explode in horror.

"Yumi!" the boys screamed in terror as they watched my body turn to ashes.

"Oh no," Joseph shakily said. Everyone was just absolutely terrified, and they had no idea what to do without a leader. Dying didn't cross their minds during the mission.

I reincarnated behind them just as they all stood up. "Well, that failed," I said, stunning the boys with my unexpected appearance.

I realized how much my unexpected death affected these youngsters. It may be because I am the eldest member of this group, or it could be because I traumatized them. But whatever it was, I still felt loved.

"Oh my gosh, you frightened the heck out of us!" Yejoon said, placing his palm on his chest as he took a deep breath.

"Are you okay?" After witnessing my death, Jiwoo inquired. His shaky hands grasped my shoulders as he stared into my eyes and all over my body.

"Yes, I'm perfectly fine!" I exclaimed, "I told you, we have several lives in this realm. I won't die, but that death did hurt a lot," I nervously giggled.

When my idea failed, the boys and I brainstormed another strategy to get to the other side.

Jun scanned his powers in his information box and discovered something beneficial that he might utilize to assist us.

"Is it possible to send someone to the opposite side while utilizing my teleportation power?" he inquired.

"That may work!" Jaeseong remarked as his brows raised in anticipation.

"Give it a go!" I said.

Jun excused himself first before carrying Yejoon, the nearest member, bridal style.

Holding his hyung securely in his arms, he attempted to utilize his power and teleported to the opposite side of the platform successfully…but with Yejoon still at our side.

The rapid disappearance of Jun caused Yejoon to drop to the ground, grunting in pain. Everyone winced as they saw him fall, their buttocks clenching as if the agony were telepathic.

The Musician growled in pain, holding his bottom and gently turning over. Members nearby offered assistance by patting his back to relieve his pain.

"S-sorry!" Jun apologized, "I think I won't be able to bring you guys with me."

This brings us back to square one. It may appear simple to some, but it was difficult for us to come up with innovative plans that would ensure our safety. Nothing in this world is safe, especially during a mission.

But fortunately, it wasn't that long until Jeongmin had come up with a totally new strategy. "Ah! I have an idea!" he said, his eyes lighting up.

He moved to the end of the platform, his hands open in front of him. Everyone was watching him, hoping that this time his plan would succeed.

Jeongmin closed his eyes as he envisioned what his plan was. As he murmured, "Create," a light blazed beneath his fingers, and the earth trembled as pillars slowly appeared in front of them.

When the boys watched the magic unfold in front of them, they were astounded.

"Great thinking, bro!" Jiwoo said.

"Is it safe?" Seongho inquired, his voice shaky.

As the leader, I felt I had to keep the boys safe and go first, even if it appeared risky. "Let me go first!" I offered.

I then rushed from platform to platform until I successfully made my way through the pillars and to the end. My heart raced anxiously, but it immediately turned to relief when I reached the other side.

The boys were praying for the pillars to remain stable when I landed on the other side. Fortunately, it did, and the pillar was safe for them to traverse.

"Race you to the other side!" Jaeseong said, competing with his younger mates as he sprinted, pillar after pillar, while Joseph and Seongho joined him.

Others, who believed rushing was a bad idea, chose to play it safe and move carefully over to avoid getting harmed or falling to their deaths.

Minutes after we got to the other side of the platform, the crystal scent that we were following got stronger and plenty.

We moved quickly, following the scent trail that brought us inside a cave room. We were met by an astounding sight of gorgeous chunks of crystal around the area as we entered.

"Oh my God!" Jiwoo exclaimed, taken aback by the sight.

"This is beautiful," Joseph added.

Blue and crimson diamonds with their scents drifting around could be observed in my field of vision. This is the first time I've seen something so gorgeous in glittering form. It is indeed lovely.

"Could we remove one crystal from the game?" Jaeseong inquired.

Seongho was taken aback by the boys' sudden greed. Jaeseong was a mischievous kid with a lot of tricks up his sleeve, and it was noticeable.

"Bae Jaeseong, let's not be greedy now," he said.

"Think about how much money we'd make if we sold this in our world!"

"You're a millionaire, Hyung; there's no need for that," Jeongmin said.

"Uhm, guys, less chit-chatting and more picking?" Yejoon reminded them.

We all began selecting gems and placing them in the basket that Angela had given us. We were extremely cautious with these because they were worth millions and may possibly be used to cure various diseases.

We decided to go back and grab our reward after collecting enough diamonds for both colors. Jun was the first to turn around, and his eyes widened when he saw what greeted him.

"G-guys... We've got a problem here," he said hesitantly.

"What do you mean—?" Yejoon asked, turning behind him, as hundreds of little snakes with horns on their heads greeted us.

"Snakes!" Seongho exclaimed softly in terror.

"One of the most venomous snakes in this realm, the banshees." I explained softly.

Everyone froze in their place as the snakes' hissing and rattling tails filled the silence.

"Isn't that from mythology?" Joseph wondered.

"In our realm, it is. But in this realm, it's one of the most well-known snakes for its terrible venom," I responded.

Joseph gulped before summoning the courage to speak up for his team. He was the only teammate who could communicate with animals; thus, he was our last hope.

"H-hi! We didn't mean any harm; we were just going to leave." While he was talking to the snakes, we gradually moved closer together to keep ourselves safe from the snakes.

In reaction to Joseph, the snakes hissed. It was incredible to witness them having a real-life dialogue. You wouldn't see something like this in the real world, would you?

"Oh no! We weren't here to hurt you!" he exclaimed.

The snake hissed again, and Joseph stared at the basket I was holding. "The diamonds?" he inquired.

And as the lad mentioned that, everyone froze as we all gazed at the basket at the same time. Joseph gave a shaky chuckle.

"Well, about that..."

Their rattling sound got more forceful. We were at a loss for words as we took a step back, trapping us in a corner.

One of the banshees suddenly attacked me, but Jun immediately destroyed it with fire. The other snakes did not like what they saw, as their eyes turned crimson and their sharp teeth dripped with poison.

"Oh no!" Yejoon exclaimed.

The snakes charged towards us, but before they could reach us, Jaeseong instantly deflected every single one of them with his string ability, creating a wall out of it.

Because we were cornered, this gave us more time to prepare an escape. Jeongmin discovered another route, utilizing his "imaginary" power to make a door-sized hole leading to another pathway.

"Over here!" he cried, as we dashed down the path Jeongmin had carved out, fleeing for our lives. We followed the path in the hope that it would lead us outside the cave, where it is safer than inside.

Throughout our escape, I checked behind me to see how much space there was between the snakes and us. Every glance sends thrills through my spine.

It looked terrifying, like a swarm of zombie snakes charging at us at breakneck speed. But the longer we ran, the slower and fatigued we became, giving the snakes an opportunity to speed up.

While I continued to run and looked behind me, a snake was able to catch up and jump onto Jiwoo's ankle. But before it could bite, I pulled him forward and took the attack.

The snake bit my ankle and injected me with poison. As I tripped, the agony prompted me to grunt.

"Yumi!" Jiwoo exclaimed in surprise when he heard and saw that I was in danger.

Seongho, the member closest to us, rapidly assisted me while Yejoon utilized his "engineer" ability to construct a fire gun and burn the snakes surrounding us.

"S-seongho, use your protection power," I barely murmured.

The venom made it difficult to ignore the pain, and it was difficult to speak without groaning. But nonetheless, Seongho followed my orders and used the power that I commanded.

We were able to avoid all of the snake attacks and, fortunately, find an exit thanks to his assistance. But once outside, we came to a cliff. It was a dead end.

The lads considered jumping down, but that plan vanished along with our hearts, because down below was a pool of Banshees.

"Shit, what are we going to do?!" Jeongmin panicked.

"V-vehi... ahhhh!" I cried in agony as the poison began to throb violently.

"Vehi?" Seongho inquired.

"Vehicle!" I yelled again as pain engulfed my leg, forcing me to kneel. I've never felt such physical anguish in my life, and it made me want to die and stop the agony rather than bear it until I could obtain treatment.

"Jaeseong hyung!" screamed Jiwoo, concerned. Jaeseong was the only teammate who had a vehicle we could utilize, and Jaeseong was well aware of this.

While Jun and Yejoon were busy burning the snakes with fire, he hurriedly pulled his vehicle out after hearing Jiwoo's concerned cry.

However, the balloon dog vehicle could only hold six people, leaving two others behind.

"We'll be alright!" Yejoon reassured us as he and Jun attempted to defend us from the never-ending banshees.

"We'll sort it out; now go!" Jun said.

Jaeseong, despite his trickster attitude, is not a complete sadist. He didn't want to abandon any of his comrades, so he reluctantly drove the vehicle to a safer ledge where the snakes couldn't reach us.

[Author's P.O.V]

"Yejoon, you go first; I'll just use my powers to teleport," Jun said.

Yejoon was as hesitant as Jaeseong, but after being informed that Jun had an advantage with his powers, he no longer felt that way.

"I'll leave it all to you, bro; don't die!"

"Leave it to me."

Yejoon instantly devised a plan to get where his comrades had gone. His solution was a tree branch between himself and his companions.

He utilized his powers to create a grappling hook out of clay from the rock. He twirled the rope and threw the hook on the tree branch once he had momentum.

"Yejoon-ah! Swing! I'll catch you!" screamed Seongho.

After securing the hook on the branch, he sighed, "Here goes nothing." He then leaped from the cliff and swung. He gained momentum and leaped to where the others were.

And, as Seongho stated, he successfully caught the musician. "Uncharted at its finest," Yejoon said.

Jun transported himself to them before the snakes could consume him when he saw the musician safe on the opposite ledge.

As he approached his friends on the opposite side, Joseph, Jeongmin, and Jaeseong were tending to Yumi's injury.

The guys were alarmed by the sound of her agonizing groaning. They had no idea what to do or how to help her.

"I'm very sorry, Yumi," Jiwoo apologized as he rushed to her aid. To keep the poison from spreading, he squeezed Yumi's ankle above the bite.

Yumi couldn't react because the venom's torment prohibited her from speaking as she sweated and saw her right ankle swell into a large purple mass.

"Do you have anything, Joseph?" Jaeseong inquired.

Joseph is our doctor who specializes in animals, including injuries made by them, so he realized he had to act.

He was seeking answers with his given power when he discovered something incredibly beneficial in his inventory box that is only available to zoologists like him.

Yumi was soon given a bottle of poison medication to consume before he healed her wound. Yumi felt as though vapor rub mint had seized control of her body. It wasn't uncomfortable; rather, it helped to relieve her agony as she enjoyed the comfort she was experiencing.

She expected the pain to remain, like a muscle cramp in your leg, but she was mistaken. There was no discomfort left, and her calf was back to normal.

"Oh my gosh, I'm never messing with a Banshee again," she said, relieved.

The lads were relieved to see Yumi mended and much better than before.

"Thank heavens you’re fine. We thought we were going to lose you," Jeongmin replied.

"Are you feeling okay, Yumi?" Jun spoke softly.

"I'm OK; as I already stated, we have—"

"Multiple lives, we know," Seongho added, "but you're always the one dying for us."

"I'll do whatever to keep you all safe; even if you reincarnate, the sense of death isn't pleasant, and I don't want you to go through it," Yumi said.

Her deed of kindness touched the boy's heart. They felt terrible for Yumi, who went through so much suffering to protect them.

Yumi rose up and dusted the dirt off her rear after the sweet talk was over. "Let's go back to the Poffice!" she said.

Yumi learned an important lesson on their way back, and that is to not underestimate any mission, no matter how difficult it appears to be. This is an app game, but there are no challenging decisions for you to make and already they’re playing in an extreme level.

Heric's crew was already with Angela, presenting their task and receiving their payment, when they returned to the Poffice with their gems.

Yumi's crew did the same, and they were all paid handsomely.

***

Yumi and the guys returned home and were now sitting on Yumi's living room couch, enjoying the gold coins they had received on their missions.

"Damn, I can't believe we made money," Sujin said, stunned.

"You may keep it if you wish, but I doubt you'll need it any longer," Yumi said.

"Why? We risked our lives to achieve this!" said Seungjae.

"You're not coming back here, are you?" Yumi said.

Which is correct. The only reason they worked together on a mission was because it was the only chance for the Arkane lads to return to Earth.

Yet the lads were depressed. They weren't sure how they felt about the experience coming to an end. Even though it was risky, they all appreciated what they had just experienced.

"I don't know. It depends," Jeongmin shrugged, unsure.

"Even though the mission we were on was extremely perilous, I had a lot of fun having superpowers," Jun stated.

Yumi understood at this point that the lads would have to decide for themselves after hearing their responses and witnessing their indecisive looks.

"Hey, it's not my decision whether you want to play again or not; you have the right to choose," she explained.

"Let's see. If we're free, we might come back," Jaeseong said.

"Says the person who didn't want to come here," Minjoon argued.

"That was before we met Yumi and Heric!" said Jaeseong.

"But seriously, without you and Heric, we would still be lost, so thank you for assisting us," Seongho said, bowing.

When she saw the guys bow one by one to her and Heric, she felt proud of what they'd accomplished.

"I'm relieved to be of help," Yumi said cheerfully.

"It's no big thing, and I had a lot of fun managing missions with you guys!" Heric said.

They all said their farewells and logged out at the same moment, returning to the earth realm, where they all belong.

As the Arkane members returned, reality hit them again, and their mission as idols to keep their fans happy resumed.