SEVEN MANIS

A dense, eerie jungle stretched endlessly before them. But something was unsettling—there were no chirping birds, no rustling leaves, only an eerie silence. Sunlight barely filtered through the towering trees, their immense height casting long, ominous shadows. The shortest tree they could see stood at least six meters tall.

Owen, his voice trembling with fear: "Where... where are we?"

Lian and Mason exchanged uneasy glances before replying in unison: "We don't know."

Just then, something appeared in the air, glowing faintly.

"Welcome to Suzan," Lian read aloud, his voice barely above a whisper.

Owen frowned, confusion laced in his words: "Suzan? But as far as I know, there's no jungle named Suzan in all of Australia."

A realization struck him, his eyes widening in shock. "Mason... this is the jungle mentioned in the book, right?"

Mason, lost deep in thought, suddenly snapped back to reality. "Yeah... but how is this even possible?"

As they stepped forward cautiously, another glowing text appeared in the air.

"Level 1: Find all seven Manis."

Owen read it aloud, his heartbeat quickening.

Mason and Lian exchanged nervous glances before speaking together: "Level 1?"

Owen turned to Mason, desperation creeping into his voice. "You've read the book, right? You must know how to solve this!"

Mason shook his head, frustration evident. "No, the Suzan book only has three parts. The jungle isn't even mentioned in those. According to the story, the main jungle plot starts in the fourth book, which hasn't been released yet!"

Lian and Owen's faces fell. "Great… there goes our only hope."

Suddenly, a rustling noise came from behind the thick bushes. A shadow flickered between the leaves. Fear clenched their chests.

Owen, panic setting in: "Is… is that a lion?" He let out a small yelp.

Lian, turning to Mason: "You've read about Suzan! Are there lions in this jungle?"

Mason hesitated before answering: "All I know is that this place is classified as a horror jungle… so maybe? I don't know."

Owen's eyes widened in sheer terror. "Then what are we waiting for? RUN!"

Just as they turned to sprint, a familiar voice called out from behind the bushes.

"Owen! Mason!"

They froze. Turning around, they saw two familiar figures stepping out of the shadows.

"Luna? Sophie?" Owen and Mason exclaimed at once. Lian, still confused, simply stared.

Owen demanded, "What are you two doing here? How did you get here?"

Luna and Sophie looked just as bewildered. "We don't know… we were just taking a walk after dinner, and suddenly, we saw something written on the wall. The next moment, we were here."

Before they could process the situation, a loud alarm blared through the jungle, making their hearts pound.

A deep, ominous voice echoed through the trees:

"YOUR TIME STARTS NOW."

Their eyes widened in horror as glowing timers suddenly appeared on their wrists, counting down from six hours.

They tried to remove them, but the timers wouldn't budge.

Mason's face paled as the realization hit him.

"I understand what's happening..."

To be continued...