Everyone paused when they saw the hill of debris they had to climb over in order to advance.
There were buildings stacked on top of one another, the pile stretched upwards to about 12 meters. And the rubble ran a long distance to the far right and left, making traversal around it impossible.
The only option was to go over.
Begrudgingly, they began to ascend one by one. Each person being careful not to step on loose rubble and bring them crashing down.
Min-ho stayed at the back, trying to create enough distance between him and the trio. Though he didn't want to alarm his teammates about the secrets the trio were keeping, he also felt the need to share with at least one person, as the weight of it all felt crushing in a sense.
The first person to come to mind was Sae-wee, but he never had any opportunities to speak to her in private.
Perhaps now…
"You're really good-looking, you know," a tiny squeaky voice whispered into his ears.
He became startled a bit when he realized whose voice it was.
Turning to his left, he saw Lee Seo-bi staring at him, her lashes fluttering as she looked at him.
His heart thumped as an uneasy feeling settled in his soul.
'Why won't she leave me alone?' Min-ho pondered, having realized she was one of the reasons he hadn't spoken to Sae-wee yet.
He frowned, then turned to the path ahead as he began the ascent.
"You know it—that's why you're playing hotshot," Seo-bi teased, hovering around Min-ho.
"What do you want from me?" Min-ho asked.
In response, she got to his front, then brought her face so close to his he flinched back. She grinned.
"Isn't it obvious?" she asked, then drew closer. She then whispered into his ear, "I want to do a Nightshade stream with you."
Min-ho paused upon hearing this. His heart thumped for the wrong reasons. He bit his lip and began to scratch his thumb.
"Not interested," he said, then walked around her.
The thought of what she had said unsettled him.
He ignored her along with the emotions stirring within him.
He began to scratch his thumb as anger laced his being.
Seo-bi grinned, then followed behind.
The climb up the small hill had been a laborious one, but after some time, they made it to the top. Somehow, he had gotten ahead of everyone without even knowing it.
Perhaps it was because he was tired of being around Seo-bi, who had impeded him from talking to Sae-wee the whole time.
Sighing, Min-ho pulled himself over a slab piece of stone. So he finally stood atop the rubble.
Once he straightened himself, he exhaled to relieve himself of some tension in his muscles.
But when he opened his eyes, a gasp escaped him.
The others tensed up upon hearing his gasp. Ji-su focused on their surroundings, but found no threat within a hundred-meter radius.
Maybe the danger was in the distance.
Everyone carefully made it to the top, only for them to gasp as well.
Because in the distance, was a large stretch of land covered with pits and holes.
The buildings, streets and architecture surrounding a 40-kilometer expanse had all sunken into the ground. Leaving behind a valley of shattered ground every few stretches, with buildings jutting out every here and there.
By its look alone, the group could tell the ground was unstable. Like a frozen lake with shallow ice that would shatter under the smallest weight.
Seeing this as a non-viable option, Min-ho turned to the right and then to the left.
It was the same on either side. The shattered plains stretched over a hundred kilometers to the far right and left.
The shortest route was across, which meant they had to traverse this death trap somehow.
Everyone stared, but no one said a thing.
They knew it would be foolish to go around it. Time was not on their side after all.
"We have to make it across," Sae-wee said, being the first to speak up.
Min-ho looked down. The plain below was just like the one ahead. It was cracked, filled with holes and looked rickety.
He peered into the gaps between, wondering how far they would fall if the ground gave out.
He gulped, then looked back.
"Or we could try to go around it," he said, trying to see which way they would lean toward.
"It'll take too long," Ji-su said. "We should do as Sae-wee said."
Silence fell.
"If we moved one at a time, the ground should hold," Shin-ji chimed in, then he pointed. "That building looks stable. We could make it there before nightfall and rest up."
Everyone trailed the line his finger pointed, which revealed to them a tower half sunken into the ground.
It barely stood upright, leaning at a dangerous angle.
Min-ho paused at Shin-ji's interjection.
'Pretending to be a good sport I see,' he thought, then returned his attention to the matter at hand.
Though he wanted to deny, Shin-ji wasn't wrong.
"He's right," Min-ho admitted. "Spreading ourselves thin should hopefully get us across. Does anyone have any objections?"
No one said a thing. Which was enough of an answer.
"Okay then," Min-ho said, then he began to make his way down the hill of debris.
The others followed behind.
Once they reached the bottom, Min-ho hesitated for several moments while staring at the weakened ground just in front of the debris.
He took in a deep breath, then carefully placed a foot on the ground.
"Careful big boy," Seo-bi said, almost making Min-ho slip.
She giggled, while the rest of his team blinked a couple of times.
Shin-ji turned his gaze to Seo-bi, angered by her behavior.
Looking at Seo-bi, Sae-wee's scowl deepened and her lips tightened.
Min-ho paused, then he ignored her and focused on the ground.
After testing the integrity of the ground, he put his full weight on it. It came as a shock to him, but despite how rickety the ground looked, it held firm.
He exhaled, then turned to the others.
"Follow behind me, one at a time," he said, then faced forward.
He pinned his gaze to the sunken tower in the middle of the shattered plains.
They would have to walk roughly 15 to 20 kilometers to get to it.
Which meant they'd reach just before sunset if they were lucky.
As he thought about nightfall, a sudden dread began to knot his heart.
As far as they could see, there were no Spectors in sight. Yet the tower made no promises, and the setting sun would welcome more Spectors.
If they fought on such a terrain, it would be over before it even began.
He shook this thought off and hastened his steps a bit. The sooner they got to the sunken tower the better.
Min-ho continued to lead the way, and just like Shin-ji had said, the ground held as long as they distributed themselves evenly across it.
They had managed to walk 3 kilometers, drawing ever closer to the...
KRACK!
Everyone paused at the sound.
SHRACK!
The ground a few feet away gave out, everyone gasped and Min-ho went cold. His stomach dropping.
This reaction was not because the ground had given out, but because three Spectors had emerged.