"Ah, ahh, ah!" Amelie screamed after catching sight of a distorted face statue, but Seong simply stared at it for a moment.

Amelie questioned, "Are you not going to say anything?"

Seong calmly remarked, "The statue has a gem in it."

The statue, adorned with a blue demon-like face and two fangs, held a gem within its mouth. Amelie inquired, "What are we supposed to do about that?"

"It's related to the task here," Seong replied.

Amelie questioned, "How do you know?"

Seong explained, "The gem isn't made out of the typical ore used for gems; instead, it's made out of Chlorophane."

Amelie looked puzzled and asked, "What does Chlorophane have to do with all of this, and how are you sure it is Chlorophane?"

"I saw a video once. If you expose the stone to a temperature above 200 degrees Celsius, it glows brightly. Plus, why would they illuminate the rest of the place with lights except for this room?" Seong answered, connecting the dots.

"You're impressive as ever, but why did they have to make the statute so ugly?" Amelie remarked.

"Probably to replicate ancient tribe statues," Seong replied.

Amelie suggested, "Let's look around here to see if we can heat up the area," as she picked up a flashlight she found.

"Okay," Seong agreed, and they both began searching the area. The room was filled with dust and numerous carts. As they removed the debris, they discovered minerals, including the harmless mineral Zime. Seong noted that Zime became problematic only when heated up, which seemed almost impossible in this situation.

"Okay," Seong agreed, and they both began searching the area. The room was filled with dust and numerous carts. As they removed the debris, they discovered minerals, including the harmless mineral Zime. Seong noted that Zime became problematic only when heated up, which seemed almost impossible in this situation.

"There are only carts of Zime. What's the point of it?" Amelie questioned.

"I have an idea why," Seong replied with a smirk on his face.

Amelie, growing concerned, wondered, 'Why does he have that smirk?’

"Anything wrong?" Seong asked, noticing her worried expression.

Amelie said, "No, why?"

"It seemed you were worried about something," Seong replied.

Amelie quickly dismissed, "Nope," avoiding making random assumptions about his ideas.

"Let's start clearing this area out," Seong suggested.

Amelie nodded and began moving the carts to another room, far away from the statue, with Seong. The task took a few hours.

‘This exactly looks like a bombing site,’ Amelie thought.

"Let's head back to the others; we've done enough for today," Seong suggested.

"Okay," Amelie replied.

They both returned to the main room and waited for the rest of the group to join them, which took another two hours.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Finally, you're back," Amelie said.

Jin Ae replied, "We came back before, but it seems that you forgot to return for the past two meets."

"That was my fault, not Amelie's," Seong took the blame.

Jin Ae sighed and asked, "What did you find in your tunnel?"

"A distorted statue," Amelie replied.

Jin Ae looked a bit confused, but Seong clarified, "We have a statue in our tunnel or room, and I have an idea on how to solve the puzzle in the room. However, we will need to do it last. So, starting from tomorrow, Amelie will join your group, while I will join the other group."

"I'm actually thinking of switching to the other group because I believe I could be more useful there. Does anyone want to switch?" Eun-Jeoung proposed.

Ara responded, "I will switch. I don't think I am that useful."

"Okay, thanks," Eun-Jeoung acknowledged.

The groups were now Jin Ae, Amelie, Eun-Jeoung, and Hwan, while the other group consisted of Seong, Alejandro, Minjun, and Ara.

"Let's eat and get some sleep," Seong suggested.

Amelie distributed the same portions as before – three cans of beans and packets of two jerky. Everyone had grown accustomed to the low portions by now, so there was no argument. After they ate, all of them went to sleep, but the temperature in the mineshaft caused a bit of discomfort.

The next day, they noticed their phones had been blacked out except for showing a clock on them. Despite looking visibly tired, they knew they had to push through.

"Let's eat and then head to our tunnels," Amelie suggested. She distributed the three cans of beans, and they all ate before heading to their respective tunnels.

While walking in the tunnel, Seong inquired, "What's in the room?"

"A broken machine, and we have to fix it," Alejandro replied.

Seong sought clarification, asking, "What machine?"

"It's a train connected to a few carts," Minjun explained.

"And there is a lever, but when we pull it, it doesn't do anything," Alejandro added.

Upon entering the room, they found a life-size train set. Seong inquired, "Does the train run on coal?" as it appeared quite old.

"We checked inside, and there was no furnace. Even if there was, we don't have any coal, so it wouldn't matter," Alejandro explained.

Ara noticed a fuel tank and asked, "Is there anything else you found in this room?"

"There were a bunch of cleaning products," Minjun mentioned.

Ara inquired, "Where are they?"

Seong and Ara's eyes lit up as if they had hit a jackpot. Alejandro questioned, "Why are you staring at it like it's a gold mine?"

"Because it is," Ara replied.

Alejandro sought clarification, "Can you elaborate a bit?"

"The cleaning product acts as a fuel, which should be able to power the train, but it's going to take a bit of time for me to do it," Ara explained.

Seong asked, "Why are you acting like you're the only one who knows this?"

"Of course, a grade 10 knows this," Ara joked, "Then we should be able to do this in half of the time."

Seong began separating the chemicals while Ara explained to Alejandro and Minjun what they would have to do. She warned them not to accidentally mix chemicals as it could be very toxic.

"How is this fair if you don't know this?" Minjun asked.

Seong explained, "That's the point of a group project; it's teamwork. If it were solo work, it would be impossible for everyone to succeed."

"Alright, let's get to work," Ara said with enthusiasm, seemingly delighted to be working with chemicals.

Seong and Ara collaborated on combining the cleaning products, while Alejandro and Minjun supported by passing the necessary materials. After a two-hour process, Ara declared, "Done! This should be enough fuel to make the train work."

Pouring the chemical into the fuel tank, Minjun entered the train and started the engine. However, as the wheels failed to move, a concerning sound of something crumbling echoed. "Turn it off quickly!" Seong urgently shouted.

Minjun promptly complied, turned off the engine, and inquired, "Why do you think the train isn't working?"

"I don't know," Seong admitted.

Alejandro stepped in, saying, "I can probably figure that out."

Alejandro went beneath the train, examining the wheels, and observed, "Ah, this academy expects us not only to create the fuel source but also to reconnect the wheels."

Seong questioned, "How are you going to do that without any tools?"

Minjun confidently proposed, "The can opener."

Their faces registered shock as they looked at him and collectively asked, "How?"

"A can opener isn't just for cans; they can do a lot these days, and I'm sure it can tighten things up," Minjun explained. He then headed to the food supplies and encountered Hwan. "It's not what you think," Hwan immediately said after seeing Minjun.

Minjun responded with a bit of anger, "Then what should I think?"

"I was hungry, and I just took a can. I thought nobody would notice," Hwan explained.

Minjun retorted, "You think we're not, but we are living with less, so suck it up and handle it."

"I just ate some. Why are you acting like I committed a crime?" Hwan responded, annoyed by Minjun's words.

The others overheard the exchange and decided to investigate. "I should lower my tone," Minjun was saying, but Seong interrupted him.