Hearing the woman's name, Jae-Hwa felt like it was somewhat familiar as if she had heard it from somewhere.

"You're the woman from the team that's been missing, right?" Amanda spoke up.

A lightbulb turned on in Jae-Hwa's mind, hearing Amanda's words. "Yeah! You're the woman that one guy was yelling about before we entered the forest!" Remembering that event made Jae-Hwa feel like it was ages ago, instead of being yesterday afternoon.

Jae-Hwa's eyes opened wide, once she realized the significance of the smashed helmets scattered about. A sickening feeling began growing in her stomach.

"Yeah. We were just planning on entering a few hundred feet into the forest, to keep an eye out for another attack by the Modified Humans. It was also proposed as a way to gain intelligence of what to expect and was developing inside there." Ji-Min explained.

Amanda spent a couple of moments digesting this information before saying, "The Modified Humans were looking different than before, right? Seeing as how the forest's appearance had changed so drastically in a short period in conjunction with the Modified Humans, you guys were worried that they were going to be able to overrun the perimeter."

The words Amanda was speaking made Jae-Hwa tremble. Inside of the facility was one of the few places where humans were able to maintain a semblance of normality, a safe haven for the young and old who couldn't fight. Now Amanda was painting a picture that things aren't as safe as they appear. Her knees began to shake, and she collapsed to the ground, not sure if getting out of here alive would even matter in the end.

A growling noise was made in the background, and when turning her head to look back, she saw one of the creatures munching on what looked like a torso. Based on specific characteristics, Amanda realized that it was a woman. The image made her imagine the monster that brought them earlier lifting up her body and tearing off her helmet. With all the pleading and begging she did, Amanda would surely be eaten.

"Jae-Hwa, you need to remain calm and not let such imagery affect you. I'm detecting a rapid increase in your heart rate. You're experiencing a panic attack. I must inform you that I'll be injecting a mild sedative to help you." Seo-Yun attempted to counsel her.

Feeling the screams that were about to crawl out of her throat, Jae-Hwa soon felt a slight sting and then soothing relief. The sedative was relatively fast acting, already helping her to regain her mental faculties.

Jae-Hwa felt a hand touch her on the left shoulder. Looking towards the source, she was grateful to see that it was Amanda who had come over, likely informed by her own AI about Jae-Hwa's mental condition.

"Are you alright?" Amanda asked.

Even with the drugs holding back the fear, Jae-Hwa couldn't help but ask, "If we are able to escape... We're still going to die, right?"

"You can't think like that. Jackie, Jade, and Han are going to be rushing to save us, and the Captain will figure something out. This is the whole reason why we were sent out here, to figure out how to survive." Amanda said.

A barely audible chuckle was heard coming from Ji-Min. When Amanda looked back at her, she said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to hear that." Pointing to a nearby pile, which turned out to be weapons, she continued, "You guys still have your weapons... Do you know why they didn't take them away?"

Amanda was silent, not answering Ji-Min's question.

Shrugging her shoulder, Ji-Min said, "It's because they knew that our weapons wouldn't be effective against them. Before you guys showed up, one of my teammates convinced the others to fight the monsters and make our way back to campus."

The two girls next to Ji-Min began crying, hearing the story and likely reliving the incident.

"All of us ran out to kill those bastards. For a few moments, we thought it would be successful, considering we were able to kill tens of them just like in the combat simulations." There was a pause. "But then a few of the new nightmares stepped in." Shrill laughter slowly began to come out of her mouth, "Our weapons didn't have any effect on them. Grabbing each one of us, they calmly tossed us back into this barless cage. The weapons we were holding weren't even confiscated." Madness had clearly tainted her mind, beginning to break what little sanity she had remaining.

Stolen novel; please report.

Neither Amanda or Jae-Hwa said anything. Just listening to her laughter, the two of them were patient. Jae-Hwa couldn't imagine what it would be like, to watch people you cared about be eaten in front of you by things far removed from humanity. She felt guilty, watching Ji-Min laughing and not wanting to turn into that kind of person. Gripping her hands, she swore to herself that she wouldn't become like that if it were her turn.

Ji-Min's laughter slowly died down, as she slowly regained her sanity. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told you guys such things." Looking at her two teammates, who were shivering in fear, Ji-Min said, "Don't worry. I won't let either of you be awake to experience being eaten."

The two girls wept in happiness, hearing their senior give them that bare minimum peace of mind.

"What happens if we have weapons that may be effective against those things?" Amanda softly asked.

Ji-Min didn't even bother lifting up her head. "The only things that could come close to fighting those things are the weapons we use in the Arena, but those are only able to be used inside that place."

"You mean these things?" Amanda asked, pulling out her crescent moon blades from behind her. At the same time, she activated the gems embedded inside, lighting up cave for a brief second. Turning her head, Amanda checked to see if any of the monsters reacted to what she had done.

Gently getting up, along with the two girls, Ji-Min asked, "How?"

"These weapons are the whole reason why we're out here in this cursed place, to test how they fare against the newer Modified Humans," Amanda explained. "Based on what I've seen, I've come to the conclusion that the simulation rooms, like the Arena, aren't actually simulations. For whatever reasons, our training has been about getting us ready for something. I don't know how Star and Moon knew, but without their help, we would have been like a baby in a blizzard."

Jae-Hwa nodded at Amanda's words. While they were walking, Jackie had been talking about her suspicions, and everyone came to the conclusion that the simulations were real. "We came across these creatures that could mimic the sound of humans calling for help, and we were able to quickly fight them off." She didn't mention how Han was able to take care the majority of the monsters in a single attack, thinking it wouldn't be right to reveal everything.

"Those things usually took nearly the entire perimeter to fight off," Ji-Min was stunned by their words. It only highlighted how desperate the situation was with keeping the campus secure.

Jae-Hwa got back up, looking at the monsters going about doing whatever they were doing. It didn't appear to contain any order, just random activity. The problem is how Ji-Min's story knawed at the back of Jae-Hwa's mind, making her think that something was happening.

Behind her, Amanda said, "Though we have these weapons, just the two of us fighting against these things doesn't sound like a plan. We could try and cause a distraction, but from your story, I get the feeling that the more intelligent ones are aware of whatever we're planning. Are any of the ones you talked about out there, right now?"

"No. Those things only come around occasionally. They seem to be working on something else. Every now and then, a couple of the monsters will begin behaving strangely and go through some type of transformation." Ji-Min informed them.

Jae-Hwa looked back at Amanda, wondering if Amanda had some kind of idea of what was happening. Amanda was standing in the same spot, with her hands below her chin as if thinking about something.