While Kai remained unconscious but now resting against the wall instead of lying on the ground, the others continued to keep an eye on Jisung, who had his gaze fixed on the black box just a few metres away from his reach. They were anxious, worried that he’d make a rushed move and ruin all the progress that they’ve made so far. However, deep inside, they knew that Jisung was terrified too.

“Why is Minho-hyung in a box?” It was Felix who asked the question on Jisung’s behalf, taking note of how miserable the latter seemed about the whole situation. “Is he okay? Is he hurt?”

Other Jisung had a rather concerned expression on his face, one that the others couldn’t quite explain or reason with, but it was noticeable, nonetheless. He walked towards the box, keeping a firm hand on the surface and dribbling his fingers in an uneven pattern.

He began, “He was too weak by the time he made it across the platform, and my girlfriend put him in this box to protect him.”

“Protect him?”

“Yes, Felix-ssi.” He smiled, and it seemed genuine. He may have seemed suspicious, and he may be filled with urging vengeance, but he wasn’t completely heartless. “By keeping him in this box, his energy is being saved up, and his body isn’t being dehydrated or starved. However, when you open the box and get him out, he may seem a little shaken up and tired.”

For a moment, there was room for nothing but silence.

Other Jisung kept glancing at his watch and then looking over his shoulder, clearly hoping for someone to arrive and appear at the edge of the platform. He only turned back to face the others upon hearing a question – or a series of them – he found rather ridiculous.

“If you’re planning on fighting the giantess, can’t we just give you the powers when she arrives, and then we can go back to earth while you and your people handle your case?”, asked Yeonjun from the distance. He was sitting next to Kai, his fingers resting on the younger’s head. “She’ll help transfer the powers, and then we can just go away, right? You and your friends can take her to your world and fight her there, no?”

“Oh, I wish it were that simple.” Other Jisung swiftly climbed up the rigid box, seating himself in a cross-legged position. He then leaned forward, quite literally looking down on the others. He saw the contorted expressions looking up at him, and that urged him to continue, “You see, you get weaker the further away you are from your original world. By having the giantess come over to this platform, she is not only away from the Higher Realm, but she’s also away from the platform connecting her world to mine, and she’s obviously going to be away from my world too.”

“Theoretically, she’ll be at her weakest on earth then.”

“Yes, but you earthlings aren’t ready for that.”

“We could easily kill her.”

“She wouldn’t dare step on earth anyway. Not when she knows that you all are here. After all, she controls the platforms. It is fortunate for us that she can’t hear conversations on the platforms.” Other Jisung waited for Yeonjun to nod, and upon receiving a rather hesitant one, he added, “We need her as weak as possible, and this platform is the last option.”

“There’s still the other option?”, said Taehyun in a rather unsure voice. He furrowed his brows and looked at the other with puzzled eyes, wondering if the other was pretending to ignore the very obvious escape to all of this. “Sure, she’ll need to be here to be weak. Fine, we get that, but we really don’t need to be here, do we?” He gestured at his team.

He then added, “As you mentioned before, she can take the powers from us, give them back to your people, then take those same powers and have it for herself. When she first returns the powers to you and your people, can’t my friends and I just leave? We don’t have to be here. We don’t want to fight.”

Other Jisung lifted his head up to look at the gloomy sky, a loud laugh escaping his lips. He then narrowed his attention on Taehyun. “Again, not so easy, Taehyun-ssi, and I’m not a fool. Do you really think I never thought of that?”

He then kicked his legs forward to have them swinging over the corner edges of the box, dangling his legs. With a clearly belittling tone, he remarked, “Besides, I don’t trust you all and your fighting skills one bit!”

“Then let us go!” Yuqi looked absolutely exhausted, dark circles underneath her eyes, her hair all frizzy and messy from all the hurried movement. “Give us our friend back and let us go! Fight the giantess on your own!”

“Yuqi-ssi, calm down!” He let out another loud laugh, this time even placing his arms around his stomach to emphasise just how ridiculous he found the others. It was demeaning, no doubt, and he took Yuqi’s lack of response as a chance to explain, “I can’t do that, it’s not so easy.”

He waited, waited for someone to burst with rage. A frown formed on his lips as he didn’t receive the reaction he truly wanted. All he saw instead were desperate eyes, the purple tint that some of them had almost unnoticeable.

“When she transfers the powers to my people, there’ll be a refractory period, which means we won’t really be able to use our powers immediately. I suppose you all had the same experience when you first saw the tattoos on your wrist, correct?”

A collective nod.

“There you have it, then. A refractory period. My friends would have to wait before they can use their powers, but this means that you earthlings can still utilise them, just until those few minutes are up.” He jumped off the box, restless now.

He looked at his watch once more, cursing incomprehensible sentences to himself, visible frustration on his face. He in a deep breath, forcing a smile as he continued, “Now, you must’ve felt weak and drained when you all appeared on the platform. That happens to all of us whenever we enter a new world, a new platform, or approach a gate. When the giantess shows up, she’ll be weak, powerless, almost dizzy, but we’ll have her initiate the transferring process.”

“How would she do that?”

“Great question, Wooyoung-ssi.” He folded his arms across his chest, walking along the platform in circles, but making sure he kept his distance from the others. “She’ll do it on her own, she’s desperate. She’ll use whatever strength she has to get it started. She’s been waiting for this moment for years, I can assure you that.”

Wooyoung nodded, lowering his head as he nibbled on a granola bar.

“Anyways, within that refractory period, we’ll all collectively attack her. This means we need to destroy the crystal that floats between her horns.” He hummed for a moment. “You’ll know it when you see it.”

“A crystal.”

“Yes.”

Yeosang mimicked the other’s humming melody, before adding, “And we need to destroy the crystal, and by ‘we’, it’s just us with the powers, you, and your friends who already have their powers. Your other friends would just be here in the background, waiting to receive their powers, right?”

“Precisely so. They won’t be involved in the battle at all, they’ll be temporarily powerless. Obviously.” Other Jisung then put his hands together, interlocking his fingers. With a rather suspicious smile that didn’t quite have any sincerity, he asked, “Any questions?”

“Yes, many.” Beomgyu tried not to sound provoked and continued to maintain his breathing, his head heavy with rage. “But I’ll stick to just a few.”

“Please proceed.”

“Your world… Is it just South Korea? Is it a coincidence that we happen to all speak the same language?”

Other Jisung looked rather impressed with those questions. He nodded slowly, paying attention to his watch once again, and he looked a little surprised. He then returned his attention back to th