Suho knew, even before he rushed at Hyuna, that he was making a huge mistake. He knew the moment when, while he was running away from the frog monster with Sunghyun and Kitae, his feet slowed.

Wind whistled through the trees, a sign that the frog was inhaling, sucking in everything it could—trying to capture them. He looked back as smaller objects went whizzing past him and straight into the frog’s giant maw. Whole trees that were too close by were swallowed. Hyuna was holding out by separating herself from it using magic.

Its belly bulged the more it ate. It was grotesque how it ballooned. And inside, maybe not physically, but in some way, were the kids who had gotten sucked in the moment it appeared. How many—five? Ten? No matter what the number, it was too many people who couldn't go home.

“Suho?” Kitae called, confused as to why he’d stopped.

Suho didn't hear him. He was fighting with himself again. He had never run away from anything before—he’d never had the option to. Why was he now? Because it was logical? Because Hyuna had ordered them to? Because he was afraid of being the person who arrogantly jumped in and played hero when he wasn't actually needed?

Every bone in his body hated the idea of leaving the other students behind. But maybe doing the uncomfortable thing was just part of growing up. People change. And yet…

Just who was he trying to become?

Suho’s feet were rooted in place as he stared at the monster in the distance.

“Its stomach,” he finally said, “it keeps getting bigger.”

Sunghyun’s brow furrowed as he saw the expression on his face. Suho was right—the frog’s stomach was larger than it had been before. But he was getting a bad feeling.

“Don't you think we could make it sick?”

“No,” Sunghyun immediately responded. “Don't even think about it.”

But Suho had made up his mind already. Maybe he was going to regret this soon. Even so, he lifted Yuna and passed her to Sunghyun, who looked at him like he couldn't believe it.

“You wouldn't…”

“Call Oh Jihyuk. We need hands.”

“What do you me—HEY!”

He shouted after him as Suho ran back towards the frog. He knew it was a bad choice. He’d been trying so hard to get away from that monster. Even as he neared it, his mind was still racing, oscillating between doubt and certainty. And yet his legs continued to carry him. Because between all those complicated thoughts, one simple thing seemed to win out.

Fuck it.

Suho leapt up and crashed into Hyuna, pushing her out of the frog’s open mouth.

“Sorry.”

Suho wasn't sure what he was sorry about. Maybe he was apologizing for doing something this stupid. Maybe he just wanted to soften the blow of how angry he knew she’d be. Less than a split second later, his entire body was jerked in a new direction as the frog’s tongue pulled him inside. Its mouth clamped closed, cutting him off from the world. Everything went black.

Suho braced himself to hit something—the back of its mouth, or wherever the other kids had landed—but instead he found himself continuing to fall.

He opened his eyes. He was falling through the sky, no longer held by the frog’s tongue. Around him were black, volcanic hills. Smoke and sulfur permeated the air. And below him—

Splash!

Suho landed in something soft and thick, like mud. He groaned. The impact hadn't injured him that badly, but the mud was seeping into his open wounds. It stung worse than salt.

He looked around as he caught his breath. Like Sunghyun had surmised, he was in a completely different place. It was something between a bog and a volcanic spring. The ground was all dense, beige mud, while geysers and bubbling ponds dotted the landscape. The trees and other debris that had been sucked in by the frog stuck out from the bog like discarded garbage.

Suho tried pushing himself out of the mud, but his hands sunk into like quicksand. As he tried to pry his spear out of it, he heard a female voice in the distance.

“Hey, I found someone!”

Suho leaned his head back to try and spot who it was. A student with a bob cut was waving a couple others over. They were covered in mud, but seemed to have found a safe route through the bog, where the ground was a little firmer.

Bob cut’s eyes widened as she got closer.

“Lim Suho?” she said, almost doubting her eyes.

He just nodded.

“Hi.”

Two other students arrived after her. They had feral dungeon vines in their hands, probably ripped from the trees that had gotten sucked in.

“Here,” she said, “lift your arms.”

Suho lifted his arms as far as he could. She looped it around him and tied it securely.

“Hold on. One… two… three!”

She pulled along with the other two students. Suho finally popped out of the mud, getting dragged onto the more solid ground.

“Thanks,” he said.

“No problem,” she replied. “We’ve got some practice. I’m Park Soobin.”

Soobin shot him a smile. She seemed pretty positive for someone who was stuck here.

“How many others are here?” Suho asked.

“There’s nine of us total now, including you. No major injuries, just shocked by the situation.”

The students started heading back.

“Follow closely,” Soobin said, “or you’ll end up in the bog again.”

He stayed close on their tail as they wove between the geysers and volcanic hills. At one point, they passed the grey corpse of the salamander Sunghyun had thrown in. It was half-buried in the mud, its head totally smothered by it.

“We’re lucky to have Beomseok with us,” Soobin commented when she noticed him staring at the dead monster. “He’s an earth mage. Suffocated that thing while it was still stuck in the mud.”

He was grateful there was one less monster to worry about. The ground slowly got more solid under his feet, until they reached a dry patch where the other students had been waiting. Black gravel crunched under his feet. He scanned the faces and was surprised to see a familiar one. Ma Woojin frowned at him, but didn't say anything. They all were too exhausted.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“Did anyone else fall in?” a male student with glasses asked.

“We didn't see anyone,” Soobin replied. “Did you?”

She glanced at Suho. He shook his head.

“It’s just me. Everyone else evacuated.”

“I guess that’s a relief. Why didn't you…?”

Soobin left the question hanging in the air. She didn't want to pry, but kind of had to. Suho hesitated. He wanted to pick his words carefully.

“I had something to tell you,” he answered.

“Me?”

“No. To everyone here.”

They waited for him to speak. It was too late to back down now.

“I think there’s a way out of here.”

“Bullshit.”

As expected, Woojin was the one to call him out.

“We’ve tried everything,” he said. “This is some kind of subspace. There’s a border to it, but the magic is way too powerful for us to break through. And we can’t contact anyone. The exam store won't even open.”

He crossed his arms, frowning deeply.

“No supplies, no way out. Our only chance is to wait for the teachers to kill that frog thing.”

“The teachers have already arrived,” Suho replied. “Headmaster Hyuna is outside. But she can't kill this monster until we get out first. There’s no guarantee that this space won’t collapse with us in it if the frog dies.”

“So?” Soobin said, stepping between them. “What did you want to suggest, Suho?”

“Every time this monster inhales and sucks more stuff in, its stomach gets larger,” he explained. “I saw it from the outside. ‘Subspace’ or whatever this place is, it’s still connected to its physical stomach.”

“Which means…?” Woojin prodded.

“It means we don't need to cut all the way through its belly to escape,” Suho answered. “If the border can’t be broken, then we just need to make it sick enough to throw us up. We’ll go back out the way we came in.”

The students took a moment to absorb that information.

“That’s not a bad idea,” Soobin said. “Do you have a way to make that happen?”

“…I have a guess,” Suho admitted. “But I can’t do it alone.”

“What could our combined power possibly do?” Woojin asked. “Not everybody is as strong as Lim Suho.”

He ignored the jab. Suho had confidence in his plan. Not because of himself, but because of everyone else.

“It’s not just us fighting for this,” he said. “Outside, they're gathering too.”

“The teachers?” Soobin asked.

“Everybody who wants to see us again,” Suho said, “they’re going to help us break out of this place.”

⊕

The white-hot anger that went through Sunghyun’s head when he saw Suho leap willingly into the frog’s mouth almost made his vision blur. After everything, after all the effort they'd gone through to get away from that thing, he’d decided to jump back in alone?

“That fucking reckless bull-headed bastard!”

He knew friends weren't supposed to cuss each other out, but of all days, today was going to be the day. Kitae pulled Sunghyun away, bringing him partway back down to earth.

“Let’s go,” Kitae said. “You're not jumping in there too.”

“Of course I’m fucking not!”

Sunghyun turned away, still mad.

“Who the hell is Oh Jihyuk?” he asked as they headed back to the cover of the trees. He’d never heard the name before, but he barely bothered to remember names to begin with.

“I don't know either,” Kitae replied, clicking through screens on his watch.

He quickly searched the student roster and located a single “Oh Jihyuk” among the second years. He clicked on his name, and then “CALL”.

Ring… Ring…

Click.

“Who’s this?” The voice on the other end also seemed half out of breath, like he was in motion.

“Kim Kitae. I’m Suho’s friend. Do you know him?”

“That I do. What’s going on?”

“Suho asked us to call you,” he said. “Is there anybody with you? We need a lot of help here. As many people as possible.”

“Where are you?”

“At the central return portal.”

“Are you… at the monster?”

“…Yes.”

There was a second of silence on the other end. Kitae held his breath, concerned that nobody would want to come to the source of all the danger. The evacuation order for students had been sent out long ago, the midterm ending early so that people could get off the island.

“The teachers have instructed us to evacuate,” Jihyuk said. “So that’s what we’re doing.”

“I’m aware of that,” Kitae replied, “but even so, we need your help.”

Overhead, a couple silhouettes raced over the trees, headed for the frog. Instructors. They had finally caught up to Hyuna, but none of them could force a subspace to open without the host’s permission. No human was capable of that yet.

“I don't have a lot of strong fighters here that can help you,” Jihyuk said. “We’re all exhausted.”

“You don't need to fight.”

“…Explain.”

“The monster here is swallowing things,” Kitae said, “including students. In order to get them out, we need to make it throw up.”

“How are you going to do that?”

He exchanged a look with Sunghyun. He was still fuming inside, but he nodded. Something needed to be done, no matter how he felt.

“We’re going to fill it up with so much garbage that it needs to empty its stomach. Once the students come out, the teachers will be able to go for the kill. The more hands we have, the quicker it’ll be done.”

There was a pause on the other end as Jihyuk weighed the idea in his head.

“Is there any guarantee that the monster won’t just reach its limit and stop eating stuff?” he asked.

“There isn’t,” Kitae replied. “But there’s somebody inside its stomach that I know will try everything to annoy it to death.”

“Who’s that?”

“You know him.”

“…You mean Suho?!”

The shock was evident in his voice. Jihyuk sighed.

“Alright, we’re heading over. I’m sending you my location so you can track it.”

“Thanks. How many people are you bringing?”

“You’ll have to see when I get there,” Jihyuk replied.

The call dropped. Kitae hadn't heard of the camp that Jihyuk and Suho had set up, so he didn't know how many people could possibly be with him, let alone how many could be convinced to come here. Three? Five? He kept his hopes low.

A notification popped up on his watch as Jihyuk sent his location. He was partway between them and the next nearest warp circle. He’d probably been on his way to participate in the Goliath tortoise raid when the emergency evacuation alert went out, making him turn back.

Sunghyun backed up into the cover of a tree as another instructor raced overhead towards the frog.

“Suho’s about to get us in so much trouble,” he muttered. “We shouldn't be doing this.”

“I totally agree.”

Reasonably, they should've just told Suho’s theory about making the frog throw up to the instructors and let them handle it. But…

Sunghyun checked the instructor locations on his watch. Even if he couldn't see all of them, he could tell by the spread that not enough were coming here. They’d seen three arrive after Hyuna. The rest were aiding in the evacuation of students, guarding the other warp portals back to campus. Only the ones that could travel fast had been sent here—after all, Hyuna alone had been able to hold back the frog fairly well. They didn't need a large raid team. While they were tying the monster down, they wouldn't have hands to spare to try and fill its stomach.

“…Put me down.”

A familiar but unexpected voice cut through his thoughts. Yuna was awake in his arms, eyes open but downcast—like she was contemplating something.

Sunghyun set her on her feet. She stayed steady.

“When did you wake up?” he asked.

“When you were on the call,” she answered. “You’re really going to do this?”

She seemed surprisingly calm. Kitae and Sunghyun looked at each other, then nodded.

“We’re in too deep now,” Kitae said. “And… Suho left this to us.”

Maybe that was the real reason. Not the rationalized version about there not being enough teachers, or their desperate belief that this might really work—it was just the fact that Suho had trusted them enough to ask for their help. They had to answer that trust somehow.

“…Alright.”

Yuna opened the exam store on her watch. She moved to the pharmacy page and purchased a set of magic power pills. They were made to replenish magic power, but like the caffeine pills, they were more of a temporary solution than real sustenance. A tin materialized out of thin air and dropped into her hands.

“What are you doing?” Kitae asked.

Yuna opened the tin.

“I’m helping you,” she said. “You’re going to need me.”

She popped a blue pressed pill into her mouth, savoring the slightly vinegary flavor. It melted quickly.

“Who can force-feed that thing faster than I can?”

She flexed her hands, feeling the magic power in her veins already beginning to respond to the medicine.

“Let’s start before the teachers find us.”