"Everone is getting too exhausted..."

Even the battle crazed woman was beginning to show signs of fatigue as she charged through the enemy, trying to overwhelm the number of enemies with a sea of flames.

Ji-Min shook herself as the world turned black for a micro-second. "I can't afford to lose consciousness!" Biting her lips, she felt herself waken slightly from the pain.

Turning her head to look at Katya and the others who stumbled into this world, Ji-Min didn't want to think about the consequences of being killed and respawning at the beginning. "It's a sheer fluke that none of us have been killed."

Off in the distance, they could hear a rumbling approaching them. Though all of them tried to ignore the rumbling as they struggled to survive, the shaking ground destroyed any chance to toss the problem aside.

"Looks like our problem is just going to get worse," Jackie grumbled, sounding half-dead from continuing to try and kill the monsters swarming their position.

"This isn't fun anymore," Lulu complained as she slammed her fans into the body of a monster.

Hearing the overly cheerful psycho sounding tired gave a chill to Ji-Min. During the entire time they'd been diving deeper into the dungeon, the girl had looked as though she were having the time of her life.

Another shaking could be felt on the floor, stronger than the previous one. "When that thing gets here, whatever it is, we're all fucked," Ji-Min kept her mind from panicking. In addition to not wanting to be killed to help the others survive out of the meat grinder, they found themselves in, Ji-Min didn't enjoy the idea of dying brutally. Even now, she could remember the feel of the tentacles covering her body and trying to tear her apart. "I can only imagine what kind of nightmare is going to show up."

------------------

"Do you feel that?"

Bella nodded her head. They had been feeling a shaking of the hallway floor for a while. It had initially been growing in intensity, but lately, it had been fading away.

"It sounds like something we don't want to run into, so it's a good thing that is decreasing. I'd feel sorry for anyone running into something that could make the floor shake to such a degree." Bella shuddered and increased the intensity of her light, feeling the soothing sensation as it washed away the negative thoughts from her mind.

Turning into a different hallway, they continued at a faster pace.

"I don't get what's happening..." Cynth muttered.

Bella looked over at the woman, wondering if something had happened.

"What do you mean?" May asked her friend.

Cynth waved a hand in front of her, disgustedly. "It's been ages since we've been attacked! What happened to all of them?!"

"I'm glad we haven't run into any more of those things," Su sounded relieved.

Facing forward, Bella agreed with Su's sentiment. However, she was equally as unsettled after Cynth had pointed out the unusual lack of enemies. Bella reached out to the orbs floating in front and back of their group. "There's nothing there."

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"What is it?" Olivia moved closer. "Did you find anything?"

Bella shook her head. "There's nothing. Just like what Cynth said."

Olivia became quiet.

As they continued to try and find a way out of the maze of hallways, Bella had been able to develop a method to alert them of enemies. The balls of light were now able to sense any enemies. It had been helpful a few times, but now, "I'm concerned the lack of monsters is due to the shaking we felt."

"What do you mean?" Sin jumped into the conversation.

Bella took a moment to organize her thoughts. "As soon as we started to feel the ground shaking, we haven't been encountering any more enemies. It's what makes me think there's some kind of connection."

"But if that's the case, isn't our situation even worse, considering how we seem to be moving away from it?" Olivia's eyebrows raised in alarm.

Thinking of what Olivia had pointed out, Bella wasn't sure what the correct path was for them to take. The question was whether heading closer to the potential threat was what needed to happen. "We've been trapped inside of here for ages, without any clue of how to escape. The shaking of the ground is the only new thing that's emerged." Bella couldn't help but have a thought that they needed to head towards the sound.

"At this point, I don't know if we'll be able to head away or towards the danger. Until we figure out a way to navigate this place, such thoughts may only lead to anxiety in our group." Bella paused as she sighed. "But... If we do encounter whatever is making the quakes to occur, I think we should face it. I get the feeling the quakes may lead us to a clue as to how we can escape."

As they discussed the matter, Bella began to feel something through the lights ahead of them.

"Let's pick up the pace," Bella ordered as they began rushing towards whatever awaited them.

----------------

"Ivy! No!"

Ji-Min heard Han yell as they witness one of the tails penetrated through Ivy's chest.

"Damn it!" Ji-Min squeezed her eyes shut. "It was only a matter of time before we became too exhausted from battling these things."

Ivy had been the second person to be killed in the hallway by the creatures around them. The first had been Amanda, who had shoved Jae-Hwa out of the way when she noticed one of the monsters try to reach out and grab the woman.

Remembering the screams of the woman as she was torn apart had shaken Ji-Min, making her remembering her teammates who had been systematically extracted from their protective outfits back in the cave. "You can do this!" Ji-Min pleaded with herself as she looked at her hands, which had begun to shake. Though she understood that they weren't actually in danger, the simulation or world they currently battled inside had created a sense of vulnerability to a degree never experienced before for any of them. Even if it didn't approach what they had experienced in the real world.

"Let go of her!" Liz could be heard shouting.

Quickly turning her head, Ji-Min could see Venessa having her legs wrapped in numerous tentacles and being dragged out of their group.

Liz had abandoned her weapon and had grabbed hold of Venessa's hands in an attempt to rescue her friend.

"Liam!" A girl screamed in panic.

Unable to register what was happening, Ji-Min rushed over to Venessa, not even bothering to think what else was happening in their group. "No!" She screamed, the image of Jason's face flashing in her mind. Ji-Min remembered the look of he had given her before being swallowed up by the Modified Human. Grabbing one of Venessa's hands so Liz could focus on just one.

"It hurts!" Venessa cried out to them. "I don't... Ji-Min!" She pleaded before she screamed in pain as blood began to soak the stone floor.

Tears clouded her vision as Ji-Min continued to try and pull her friend out, not connecting what had just occurred and the futility of their action.

As Venessa's body was pulled free of the monsters, she continued to sob in pain.

With Venessa having been freed, Liz quickly grabbed her shield and used all of her strength to activate her stone, purple light flooding the area. Affected by the stone, the monsters immediately in front of it began being pressed into the ground from the severe increase in gravity.

Not caring about Liz holding back the monsters, Ji-Min cradled Venessa's body. "It'll be okay. It'll be okay." She kept repeating, trying to reassure Venessa, while also to herself. Ji-Min didn't care whether her inaction would cause them to be overwhelmed, instead only caring about being there for Venessa.

"Jackie! What is that glowing ball?!" Lacy's shouted.

Not hearing the shouts of confusion, Ji-Min continued to be hunched over her friend, sobbing as she became overwhelmed by the past.