The sun sank lower, and the planet yielded to its dark side. Only faint specks of light remained—not enough to illuminate a vast expanse, but enough to see what lay directly before them.
Hurry-up footsteps echoed clearly—loud, heavy, and precise. Two figures were running toward the western forest.
Iyas and Icam kept running straight ahead, neither veering off course nor slowing down.
Neither asked if they were heading in the right direction.
They simply ran toward the western forest, following the path the old lady had pointed out earlier.
The trees began to draw closer. The beaten path gradually turned into dirt overgrown with wild grass.
The lantern in Iyas's hand swung rhythmically with his footsteps.
Icam clutched a bundle of clothes in his arms, sometimes hoisting them up, sometimes almost dropping them.
"Cam," Iyas called out, still sprinting.
"What?" Icam asked, turning his head as he ran.
"Is this the right way?" Iyas asked, glancing back at him.
Icam stared straight ahead.
CRASH!
He plowed right into a tree and tumbled to the ground, scattering the clothes everywhere.
Iyas finally came to a halt.
"Search me," Icam continued.
Iyas stood there in silence.
"That's why when you're carrying clothes, don't stare at trees," Iyas instructed, putting on a completely heartless face.
A moment later, Iyas looked ahead, thrusting his lantern forward.
"Cam."
"What now?" Icam asked, rubbing his head as he gathered the clothes.
"Didn't we pass this exact same tree earlier?" Iyas asked.
Icam looked to the side.
A massive tree stood among the tall grass.
He shrugged.
"All the trees here look the same," he explained.
Iyas nodded and lowered his lantern.
"Oh."
"Let's run again. Hopefully, we'll find the old lady's grandkids," Iyas suggested.
Icam was still gathering the fallen clothes, not bother to look up at his buddy.
"Run?" he asked. "Why run? Who are we running from?" Icam said, picking up the clothes without looking at his friend's face.
And without having any idea what he actually meant.
Icam stood up, gathering the clothes against his chest, cradling them in his arms.
"I swear, clothes these days are terrible quality. Not fit for world rulers," Icam rambled randomly, a faint smirk visible right before Iyas's eyes.
Iyas stayed silent.
He raised his right eyebrow.
Then he let out a bizarre smile.
"You're so sweet," he murmured softly. "Bringing clothes for the old lady's grandkids."
Icam looked up. "Huh?"
"For the grandkids?"
"Who else? For you?" Iyas asked.
Icam dropped the clothes he had just picked up.
Then he grabbed a single garment in both hands.
"For me? Wahahahah!" he laughed.
"For us!" Icam declared firmly.
Iyas raised both eyebrows, bewildered. "How is one piece of clothing going to fit three people?"
"Who said anything about wearing it?" Icam asked in confusion. "The old lady?" he added sarcastically.
"This is for this," he muttered, followed by the sharp sound of tearing fabric.
Hearing the clothes get ripped apart, Iyas's face turned into a gloomy pout, having no clue what Icam was doing.
"Hey! If you do that, nobody can wear it!" he lamented.
Iyas pointed his lantern at him. "Do you even know what you're doing?" he asked.
"Ugh, 'for the pawns,' 'for us'—you sound so communist!" Icam grumbled, continuing to rip the clothes apart.
"Then what are you ripping it up for?" Iyas asked, pulling the lantern back. "Is today Christmas or something?"
Icam shrugged.
"No, it's not for Christmas," he denied softly, still busy tearing the cloth.
"I forgot too," he explained.
Iyas went quiet for a second.
All at once, he slammed Icam's head into the exact same tree Icam had crashed into earlier.
"What are you doing?!" Icam snapped. "Lumberjacking?!" he asked, annoyed.
In his hands, the torn clothes had turned into strips of cloth rope.
"Now answer me," Iyas demanded firmly. "What's the rope for?" he asked seriously.
"Pfft," Icam scoffed, rolling his eyes in utter contempt.
Iyas stared at the cloth rope Icam was holding.
"Oh, to make rope, right?" he guessed, pointing quickly.
"Make rope? For the old lady? Hell nah," Icam snorted.
Icam then approached a tree—the very tree he had crashed into and Iyas had slammed his head against.
He tied the cloth strip around a branch.
Iyas had no idea what Icam was up to.
"Oh, I get it. To look pretty," he guessed.
Instantly, Icam turned to Iyas.
"Pretty?" he asked in disbelief. "This is a trail marker!" he blurted out loudly.
Iyas nodded.
After nodding, he turned around, getting ready to run.
"Let's keep running then!" he urged.
"Wait!" Icam called out.
Iyas looked back.
"I haven't made the marker for the way home yet," he explained, tying another strip of cloth around the exact same branch.
"Didn't you just do that?" Iyas asked.
"That one was for us to map the area. This new one is for the way back," he explained, completely oblivious to the fact that a single cloth strip was more than enough.
Iyas naturally noticed the absurdity—a deeply peculiar flaw in Icam's logic.
"Why mark it twice, bro?" Iyas stared, utterly uncomprehending. "It's night time! You won't even see the markers!" he argued.
"Just wait until morning so we can see them," Icam replied nonsense-wise, as if time could just leap forward at will.
Iyas stood there agape—not because the answer was absurd, but because it was an absolute masterclass comeback.
Icam stepped forward, passing Iyas.
"Let's run like thieves. I have a plan to tie these cloth ropes onto every single tree branch," he declared, staring straight ahead with absolute pride.
"Your plan is genius!" Iyas praised, clenching both fists and raising them slightly in awe.
"Hehehe, a Great IQ like me wouldn't move forward without thinking things through," he said, oozing confidence.
"Got big brain energy, kid," he added, tapping his own head repeatedly.
It made zero sense.
Before long, they were running again.
They began to notice their steps growing heavier, feeling a distinct incline beneath their feet.
They realized that the longer they ran, the higher they climbed above ground level.
Not a mountain, just a small hill packed with trees.
Iyas had briefly left Icam behind because Icam was busy tying cloth strips to every single tree branch.
With every knot finished, Icam would sprint as fast as he could to catch up.
And that cycle repeated several times.
Iyas kept running until the beam of his lantern unveiled something hiding behind the darkness.
Instantly, Iyas and Icam froze.
Iyas pointed his lantern forward, hoping the light would expose whatever was lurking in the dark.
It was a person wearing bright clothing.
The figure turned around.
"Oh, hey guys," he said in an innocent voice.
It was Alif.
Standing alone in the middle of the darkness, staring up at the sky.
Iyas tilted his head, confused as to why Alif was right in front of them.
Icam caught up, immediately gesturing with his hand for Iyas to step back—though not for any real safety reason.
"Alif, are you lost too?" Icam asked. "Why didn't you tell us you were getting lost?"
Alif whipped his head around quickly to look at his two friends.
"That's why it's called getting lost..." he explained. "HEY, WHAT IS THAT?!" he suddenly yelled, startling Iyas and Icam, pointing right at Iyas's lantern.
"Oh, this? This is called an anti-darkness machine," Iyas answered.
Alif nodded for no apparent reason.
"Get to the point—have you found those little pawns yet?" Icam asked, pointing straight in reference to the missing kids.
"Because the markers have been set," he added, throwing a thumb back, which obviously had nothing to do with any markers.
"Pawns?" Alif asked, confused.
"He means the old lady's grandkids," Iyas clarified.
"Ohhh, the old lady's kids and the other people's kids who aren't hers," he explained, a satisfied smile appearing on his face.
"Did you find them?" Icam asked.
Alif looked at Icam.
"Nope," he answered instantly.
"So close!" Iyas lamented, swinging his lantern wildly as if he were about to smash the ground with it.
Even though if they had been found, the children obviously would have been right there with Alif.
"What if we just burn down the forest so we can find the kids right away?" Icam pondered out loud.
Alif nodded in agreement.
"If we do that, it won't be called 'getting lost in the forest,' it'll be 'lost on a bald hill,'" Iyas countered.
Alif nodded in agreement to that as well.
Icam denied it, refusing to accept the fact like a pouting child. He resumed tearing up another piece of clothing.
"Bald hill my ass, that's just a fast way to clear land so you can sell the property."
Iyas shrugged, confused.
Icam stopped pouting and looked at Alif.
"Oh right, why don't we ask Lord Kirios for help?" Alif asked, smiling innocently.
"There's no way Lord Kirios would bother looking for missing kids that aren't his," Iyas explained, not quite making sense.
"Honestly, he probably wouldn't even look for his own kid," he added quickly, without any sarcastic intent.
"Yeah, besides, fantasy world heroes fight Demon Kings, not bald hills," Icam chimed in, each explanation growing progressively weirder.
Icam looked upward.
"Is it just my imagination, or have we been running for a long time without actually getting very far?"
Alif looked up at the sky as well, sensing a subtle spatial thrum—faint, but slightly distorted.
"That was bothering me earlier too," Alif grumbled, dropping his gaze back down, no longer caring.
Not wanting to feel left out, Iyas didn't feel a thing. He didn't see anything either.
"Look at what, exactly?"
"Speaking of things being bothersome," Alif shifted the topic.
"I found this," Alif pointed at the ground, his face still completely innocent, having entirely forgotten about the strange sky moments ago.
Iyas stepped forward, standing side-by-side with Alif.
He aimed his lantern downward.
It was a single sandal.
"What's that?" Iyas asked.
Icam immediately rushed over to pick up the sandal, stepping over in a hurry.
"This wasn't part of my marker plan," he said, inspecting the sandal by turning it over in his hands.
"It's not mine either, I'm wearing shoes," Iyas said—firm, fast, as if desperately trying to establish an alibi.
Even though nobody was chasing them.
Alif looked at the lantern and quickly pulled something out of his pocket.
It was a smartphone, but Alif immediately shoved it back into his pocket.
"And I also found these cat tracks," Alif continued, pointing to another spot that Iyas was currently stepping on.
Iyas instantly lifted his foot, backing away from the evidence.
Icam leaned in close to inspect the track, even though it was slightly ruined from merging with Iyas's footprint.
Icam crouched down to investigate.
"It's huge."
"Is this a cat?"
Iyas shoved Icam onto the dirt, wanting the exact same investigation spot for himself.
"Anyway, this definitely isn't my footprint," he said, offering another alibi.
As if he were the one who had kidnapped the children.
A low, aggressive snarl echoed out.
A four-legged beast with razor-sharp fangs—longer than those of any canine—glowing red eyes, and pitch-black fur.
It assumed a hostile, menacing stance.
It looked like a wolf, but it wasn't one.
Alif lined himself up beside Icam and Iyas to get a clearer view.
"Is that what you found too?" Iyas asked Alif, still staring straight ahead.
WHOOSH!!!
Alif immediately bolted backward, running frantically as if his life were hanging by a thread.
Without missing a step—firm, decisive, and ridiculously fast.
Icam stood there in peaceful, blank silence.
Iyas went wide-mouthed.
Both of them then turned their attention back to the massive predator.
Now the wolf growled, crouched and ready to pounce.
"Do you have a plan?" Iyas asked Icam.
"Nope," Icam replied.
END!
A wolf? Or not? A predatory monster? It looks dangerous!
How will this unfold?!