They continued employing the same method as the previous day, spending the first six hours without any significant findings. However, during the fourth meeting of the day, Ara failed to return.

"Has anyone seen Ara?" Seong inquired.

All of them responded negatively. Jin Ae probed further, asking, "Where was the last place you saw Ara?"

"I saw her half an hour ago," Hwan mentioned.

Seong asked, "Where?"

"I'll take you there," Hwan offered.

***

Guiding them to the location where he last spotted Ara, Hwan pointed and said, "This is where I saw her last."

Jin Ae suggested, "Let's have everyone search this area; we might discover something."

As the group scoured the area, Amelie made a discovery – a wall adorned with nine distinct symbols, each portraying a diverse image; one featured a dinosaur, another a planet, and one remained blank. At the wall's top, a discreet inscription caught Amelie's eye: 'You can only try this once a day.' This revelation instilled a sense of apprehension in Amelie, but she still touched the wall, this made her discover that the symbols could be moved.

she announced, "Hey guys, I found something!"

Gathering around Amelie, she shared her insight, saying, "I believe we need to arrange the symbols, and we only have one chance per day. let's start by discussing the tiles and what each of you thinks the order is."

Hwan expressed his confusion, stating, "The tiles seem random to me; I don't see any correlation."

"I think they might represent different time periods," Alejandro proposed.

Curious, Jin Ae inquired, "What leads you to believe that?"

Alejandro laid out his interpretation, "There are nine tiles. The first tile, representing emptiness, signifies the time before the universe was formed. The second tile, with its planet shape and lack of distinctive features, marks the early formation of planets. The third tile, depicting cells, signifies the period when life was in its genesis. The fourth tile, featuring a T-Rex, represents the era when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Moving forward, the fifth tile, portraying an ice glacier, suggests the onset of the Ice Age. The sixth tile, depicting a caveman, signifies the emergence of the first humans. The seventh tile, symbolizing a kingdom, represents the advancement of human civilization. The eighth tile, featuring Big Ben, denotes a milestone in the 1850s. Lastly, the ninth tile, depicting a national stellar competition trophy, symbolizes the present-day goal."

"You're either a genius or a dumbass, but since no one else has any ideas, we should give it a shot," Seong remarked.

Following Alejandro's sequence, they removed the tiles from the wall and arranged them accordingly. As they completed the task, the air suddenly filled with the sounds of gears turning, and the wall itself began to rotate. To their astonishment, they saw Ara on the other side, her appearance indicating that she had been crying profusely.

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"You guys made it," Ara exclaimed, rushing towards Seong and enveloping him in a tight hug.

"You seem to have cried a lot," Seong observed, attempting to uplift her spirits.

Ara responded, "I thought that I would starve to death."

"Why would you think that when we have such a capable group? And you should probably let him go," Jin Ae teased, injecting a bit of light-heartedness into the moment.

Ara, who had been caught up in the moment and hadn't realized she was hugging Seong, heard Jin Ae's comment and took a few steps back, saying, "Forget about that."

"Sure," Seong replied, not wanting to make the situation awkward.

Eun-Jeoung scolded Ara, "Are you dumb? You could have been stuck here for days if not for Alejandro and Amelie."

"I didn't know it would do that," Ara explained.

Jin Ae proposed a rule, saying, "From now on, if you find anything first, tell the group before taking any action, so this doesn't happen again."

While they were discussing, the door behind them began to close. Amelie urgently instructed, "Stop that door from closing!"

Hwan quickly responded, using his strength to hold the door in place, and added, "I can only hold it for a bit!"

"Someone needs to go out and bring back the food," Amelie suggested.

Alejandro and Minjun volunteered, returning half an hour later. "You really saved us, Amelie," Alejandro expressed his gratitude.

Amelie, feeling a sense of responsibility, replied, "No, I almost cost us our food supply. Handling it was my job, and I almost lost it all."

Seong reassured her, "It isn't your fault. Your job was to distribute the food. Bringing it back and taking care of it was all of our responsibility. If anything, you saved the food supply."

Amelie remarked, "Seong, you always know what to say to make people feel better. How do you do it?"

"I don't know; I just say what comes to my mind," Seong replied modestly.

Minjun proposed, "I say we eat some food and start exploring this mineshaft."

"Yeah," Alejandro agreed.

Amelie distributed the three cans as before but also opened a pack of two jerky packets, sharing them equally among everyone.

"This meal at least felt like I ate something," Hwan remarked.

Jin-Ae suggested, "Let's start exploring this mineshaft

As they entered the semi-oval-shaped mineshaft, the rundown condition became evident. The metal supporting the mineshaft had rusted completely, causing a sense of unease among the group. They knew the academy wouldn't let anyone die, but the deteriorating state added an element of fear. The flickering lights raised questions in Seong's mind, wondering, ‘Is the electricity actually fluctuating, or is it just trying to make this feel more realistic?’

Continuing for another hour, they reached a small room with carts, but they weren't on the rails, and there were three different paths to explore.

Eun-Jeoung suggested, "I think we should stick together instead of splitting apart."

"But wouldn't that make us waste more time?" Alejandro countered.

Amelie intervened, "Before this becomes an argument, how about we just do a vote? Those in favor of sticking together and exploring the rooms one by one, raise your hands."

Eun-Jeoung, Ara, Hwan, and Minjun raised their hands.

Amelie suggested, "So, it's a tie, then we should just use grades here."

Understanding the implied hierarchy, they agreed without further discussion. "We should do three, three, and two. I think that would be the best," Amelie proposed.

"I and Seong will be the two, Ara, Hwan, and Jin Ae will be a three, and the last three are Eun-Jeoung, Alejandro, and Minjun. I think that is the fairest group," Amelie concluded.

With everyone in agreement, they formed their groups and proceeded through one of the shafts. Seong and Amelie chose the third shaft, and after a few minutes of walking, they found themselves in a pitch-black room. Seong's foot hit something, prompting him to bend down and inspect it. The outline suggested it was a flashlight.

"I think this is a flashlight," Seong commented, examining its shape. However, he struggled to find the button until he accidentally dropped it, and the button on the top clicked, turning the flashlight on.

Amelie exclaimed, "You turned it on." Seong picked up the flashlight and shone it on a...