It wasn’t dark anymore despite the dull sky. The world around them was shining so bright, every speck of dust and dirt visibly burning. It was almost beautiful, but the heat radiating from a particular region of the platform did nothing but instil fear and anxiousness in everyone.

Taehyun remained stuck against a wall, his body stiff and rigid as beads of sweat rolled down his forehead and collected at his brows. He could hear his heartbeat accompany the crackling fire. His eyes reflected the scene in front of him, and he saw with utter shock how large flames engulfed his best friend, lighting up the area at once. He didn’t know what to do, what to say, so he remained put despite the strong urge to step forward and pull his friend out of the fire. All he could do was let out a panicked gasp, his breathing shallow and his limbs aching.

There was a disturbing storm forming in his stomach, and he couldn’t quite decipher whether it was the seriousness of their situation or the hunger – of food and survival. Whatever it was, he realised that he had to do something. The gears in his brain didn’t turn, and he was too stunned and puzzled to come up with a plan. Still, after the long silence that followed his bloodcurdling scream from earlier, he muttered out, “Help us… Help us, please…”

That voice grew into something stronger, the fear of seeing his friend die in front of the slime was too terrifying to even imagine. At some point within those few seconds, he yelled in the loudest voice he could muster while maintaining his breath, “Somebody help us, please!”

One sharp inhale was all it took for him to detach himself from the heated wall, the sweat causing his clothes to stick to his body anyway. He could catch a quick glimpse of Kai standing amid the flames, and he realised that the younger simply formed a barrier around him.

That was enough to calm his heart just a little.

He couldn’t handle any more deaths.

He couldn’t lose anyone else. Not Kai, or anyone else.

Especially not Kai.

Suddenly, he realised that there were others that joined the vicinity, clear confusion and panic written on their faces too. He watched as the other tattooed members spread out across the area to help Kai defeat the slime in front of them.

No one could compare to Kai’s exploding power, however, not the others and not the slimes. While the flames gathered the attention of the other slimes on the platform, all of which crawled at rapid speeds to assemble at once place, the other members took turns with their attacks, making sure not to counteract each other.

With the sizzling flames standing tall, gusts of wind momentarily disabled the herd of slimes, followed by sharp icicles that pierced through the viscous material. Both boiling and freezing water was thrown at awkward intervals, leading to puffs of steam and vapour emanating off the creatures. Finally, vibrations were targeted at the metallic claws, causing the weapon-like arms to shake tremendously, small cracks and fissures growing into large ones in just under a minute. There was no time to be surprised at how they were suddenly able to manipulate and control their powers, not only because of the extreme situation they were in, but also because they were rather fascinated by Kai’s massive aura of sheer strength and power.

The fire continued to burn magnificently, sputtering, roaring constantly, flaming spheres being catapulted towards the crowd of slimes so effortlessly.

Taehyun watched as the slimes gradually dissolved into a collective pile of an awfully familiar substance. He waited for the sticky material to seep into the concrete, and when there was only a faint trace left, he finally let out a breath he wasn’t aware he held in. He wondered if the others were somehow able to activate their powers because of their proximity to the slimes, but there was no time to make correlations and hypotheses – not when the flames died down to reveal a body lying on the ground.

“Lead the way, lead the way!”, called out Yeosang as he managed to place Kai on his back.

Taehyun could do nothing but nod, running forward through unbalanced steps. He began navigating his way through the maze, letting the others take charge when he ran out of directions. Throughout it all, he remained silent. He simply had no strength, but on top of that, it was fear that kept his mouth clamped shut.

“Hurry up!” Soobin’s voice was loud and clear from where he stood, having already cleared the maze. It irked him inside that he wasn’t able to join the fierce battle, but with his tattoo never reappearing, he had no choice but to wait for the others, worried about their safety, doubtful about himself.

He waited.

He contemplated on whether he should just make a move and find the others in the middle of the maze, but he replayed Yeonjun’s advice from a few moments ago: ‘What if the maze changes again?’

Jisung stood next to Soobin, his hands funnelling around his mouth as he yelled out an obvious suggestion, “Can’t you use your powers to make a staircase or some sort of path?!?”

He only grimaced as he heard a series of complaints about the others trying that already.

He wondered why they were just able to use their powers against the slimes but not anymore after said slimes were defeated.

Thankfully, it wasn’t too long before the entire team reunited at the apparent end of the maze. They crowded around Kai, checking his forehead and his pulse, collecting water into their hands and flicking their fingers outward to spray some water onto the unconscious body.

“Whoa, are you okay, Yuqi?”

“I-I’m fine, just a little dizzy…”, she croaked out as she immediately sat down, crossing her