"What is this 'treasure hunt'?" Astha asked. His voice was calm as always, flat enough that it was impossible to tell whether he was curious or simply collecting information.
For a moment, Sian did not answer. He stood near the edge of the pathway, his eyes fixed on the dark forest behind them. The wind moved quietly through the trees, carrying the damp smell of earth and leaves.
Finally, he spoke.
"It's not just a game," he said slowly. "It's a reward system. If you clear a level with enough points, you receive something valuable."
Silence settled over the group.
No one looked relieved.
If anything, the explanation only made everything feel worse.
Sreyan stepped forward first, his eyes fixed sharply on Riju.
"Then why lie?" he asked. "Why pretend to be a newcomer?"
Riju lowered his gaze but said nothing.
Sian let out a quiet breath and answered instead.
"A newcomer gets ignored," he said. "Less suspicion. More freedom."
Sreyan's expression darkened immediately.
"Or more freedom to use the rest of us."
Sian glanced at him briefly but did not argue.
That silence alone was enough.
Kiupa suddenly snapped.
"You bastard!"
He lunged toward Riju without warning, rage written clearly across his face, but James and Yug caught him before he could reach him.
"I didn't want to use anyone!" Riju finally shouted back, his voice rough and unstable. "Nobody asked me anything! Everyone just assumed I was new, and I… I just went along with it."
No one responded.
The air became unbearably heavy after that.
Riju looked exhausted. Guilty. Cornered.
But nobody trusted him enough to care.
Sian broke the silence first.
"Do you have healing medicine?"
Riju shook his head slowly.
"No."
Without another word, Sian tossed a small vial toward him.
"Use it."
Riju caught it automatically, staring at the medicine for a second before lowering his eyes again.
Around them, almost everyone looked injured in one way or another. Torn sleeves. Cuts. Bruises. Mud and dried blood stained their clothes after everything that had happened inside the forest.
Only Sian, Yug, and Astha looked relatively steady.
Astha walked toward Yug without saying anything.
"You're injured."
"It's nothing—"
Before Yug could pull away, Astha caught his wrist.
His movements were efficient and emotionless as he cleaned the wound carefully. The bandage tightened around Yug's arm just enough to sting.
"Careless people are inefficient," Astha said calmly.
There was the faintest trace of a dimple near his mouth.
Yug looked at him quietly before letting out a soft breath that sounded dangerously close to laughter.
"…Give me your hand."
Astha paused for a second, then held it out obediently.
Yug placed something into his palm.
Chocolate.
The change in Astha's expression was immediate.
His eyes brightened slightly, small and unguarded in a way that almost didn't fit him at all.
Then his attention shifted elsewhere.
Nearby, Sreyan and Xingxing had already started arguing again.
"You're annoying," Xingxing said coldly.
"And yet you keep talking to me," Sreyan replied immediately.
"That's because silence around you is impossible."
Meanwhile, the others kept their distance from Riju completely.
No one approached him.
No one spoke to him.
Kiupa, especially, stared at him with open hostility, his expression burning with anger that refused to cool down.
Under all those eyes, Riju slowly lowered his head.
Smaller somehow.
Quieter.
"It's getting dark," Sian said at last. "We should move."
No one disagreed.
They had barely walked a short distance when Astha suddenly stopped beside an elderly man struggling to carry a heavy sack across the road.
"Grandpa," Astha said calmly as he stepped forward, "let me help."
The old man blinked in surprise before relief softened his tired face.
"Ah… thank you, young man."
Astha lifted the load without hesitation as though it weighed nothing.
The old man thanked him several times before reaching into his pocket and handing him a few roasted sweet potatoes.
Then, after studying Astha more carefully, his expression changed slightly.
"Are you new here?" he asked.
"Yes."
"And… you came back from the jungle?"
"…Yes."
The old man froze.
Fear flickered across his face so quickly that it almost disappeared before anyone noticed it.
"Young man," he said quietly, lowering his voice, "be careful."
Astha waited silently.
"You remind me of my grandson."
The old man hesitated for a moment before continuing.
"Don't ever go there again."
His voice grew even quieter.
"Ever since Mia disappeared… nothing has been the same."
The moment he finished speaking, he left almost immediately, walking away faster than before as though staying near them any longer was dangerous.
Astha returned carrying the sweet potatoes.
Everyone stared at him.
Sreyan looked genuinely confused.
"…Did you just make friends with a villager?"
"A child named Mia disappeared," Astha replied simply.
Sian's eyes sharpened instantly.
"That could be important."
He looked toward the others.
"We'll investigate tomorrow. We need to find out who Mia is and speak to her family."
Then he glanced at the darkening sky.
"But first, we rest."
Without wasting more time, the group headed toward the western side of the villa.
The moment they entered the courtyard, they realized the elder was already waiting for them.
He stood silently near the entrance, hands behind his back, his gaze sweeping slowly across every injured face.
No one spoke first.
"I heard," the elder finally said, his voice cold and heavy, "that you entered the jungle."
Several people shifted uncomfortably.
Others avoided his eyes altogether.
Sian stepped forward calmly.
"We needed information."
"And you thought risking your lives was the best way to get it?"
No answer came.
The elder's gaze lingered on their torn clothes and bloodied injuries.
"Foolish," he said quietly. "Reckless."
Then his eyes moved toward Astha.
For one brief second, something unreadable flickered across his expression.
"…Inside," he said finally. "Clean yourselves up. Dinner is ready."
The dining hall was warm.
The atmosphere was not.
The sound of utensils lightly hitting plates echoed through the room, mixed occasionally with quiet hisses of pain whenever someone moved too suddenly.
Nobody had the energy to speak much.
Kiupa sat stiffly at one side of the table, anger still visible in his eyes.
Across from him, Riju sat silently with untouched food in front of him.
"Tomorrow," Sian said at last, breaking the silence, "we speak to the villagers again."
Nobody objected.
Later that night, the villa slowly fell silent.
Doors closed one after another.
Lights dimmed.
Outside, the night felt unnaturally still.
Astha stepped into the courtyard alone.
Cool air brushed lightly against his skin as leaves rustled somewhere in the distance.
He walked slowly without any clear destination, hands resting loosely in his pockets.
Then he stopped.
A little girl stood near the edge of the courtyard.
Small.
Motionless.
Her head tilted slightly to one side while dark hair covered part of her face.
But it was her eyes that stood out.
Empty.
Not blank.
Not lifeless.
Empty in a way that did not belong to any living child.
Astha looked at her calmly.
"…You shouldn't be outside this late."
The girl did not answer.
"It's dangerous to wander around at night."
Still nothing.
Astha stepped closer until he could clearly see the dust covering her clothes and the dirt on her bare feet.
Her eyes never left him.
He crouched slightly so they were at eye level.
"Do you understand what I'm saying?"
A long pause followed.
Then the girl finally spoke.
"…You can see me?"
Her voice sounded thin and fragile, as though she had not spoken in a very long time.
Astha showed no reaction at all.
"Yes."
The air changed instantly.
Cold spread through the courtyard so sharply that even the shadows behind her began to move unnaturally across the ground.
Slowly.
Quietly.
Reaching toward him.
The girl's lips parted slightly.
Not into a smile.
Into something worse.
"Then go home," Astha said simply. "Don't wander around outside like a rough little munchkin."
The shadows paused.
"Grow up properly and become a good girl."
He placed the chocolate into her cold hand.
"I didn't even get to try this flavor."
The girl stared silently at the chocolate.
Then at him.
Astha gently closed her fingers around it before patting her head once and walking away.
Behind him, the girl remained perfectly still.
Blood slowly slipped from the corners of her hollow eyes, tracing thin red lines down her pale face.
But she never blinked.
She only watched him leave.
A little while later, Astha returned to his room.
Someone in the hallway handed him folded clothes.
"The elder sent these."
"Okay."
He accepted them casually before entering the room.
A few moments later, the door opened again.
Xingxing stepped inside—
—and immediately stopped.
Astha was already lying across the bed horizontally, occupying the entire thing like a cat that had claimed territory.
Xingxing stared at him in disbelief.
"…What are you doing?"
"Resting."
"You're taking up the whole bed."
"Yes."
"…Move."
"No."
Xingxing looked genuinely speechless.
"You cannot be serious."
Astha finally sat up slightly.
For one hopeful moment, Xingxing thought he would actually move.
Instead, he adjusted the pillow behind his head and lay down even more comfortably than before.
Xingxing slowly blinked.
"…Wow."
After another moment, Astha sat up again.
"I'm going to bathe."
"…Okay?"
He walked toward the bathroom without even glancing at her.
At the door, he paused slightly.
"Do not disturb my arrangement."
Xingxing's eye twitched violently.
"…YOUR WHAT?"
The bathroom door closed.
Click.
Silence filled the room.
Xingxing stared at the perfectly empty bed for several seconds.
Then she looked away with visible disgust.
"…Unbelievable."
Instead of climbing onto the bed, she dropped onto the floor with a loud thud, crossing her arms stubbornly.
"I'm not touching that bed anymore," she muttered. "Who knows what kind of cursed logic is attached to it now…"
Water began running inside the bathroom.
Xingxing scoffed quietly.
"…Emotionless freak."
Inside the bathroom, Astha stood silently beneath the dim light.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then he turned the tap.
Water rushed out—
—and the atmosphere changed immediately.
The air became freezing cold.
Astha's hand paused.
Something felt wrong.
Slowly, he opened his eyes.
The water pouring from the tap had turned dark red.
Blood.
Thick liquid spilled into the bathtub, spreading slowly like something alive.
The entire bathroom became suffocatingly silent.
Watching.
Astha stared at it without expression.
Then annoyance slowly crossed his face.
SLAP.
He smacked the tap sharply with one hand.
"Brat," he said flatly.
The air trembled faintly.
"Don't you have any shame?"
Silence.
"Peeking while someone is bathing is perverted."
The moment the words left his mouth, the blood flickered—
—and instantly became clear water again.
The freezing cold disappeared completely.
The bathroom returned to normal as though nothing had happened.
Astha watched the tap for another second before continuing his bath calmly.
Later, the bathroom door opened.
Astha stepped out with damp hair and the same emotionless face as always.
Without acknowledging Xingxing at all, he walked straight toward the bed and lay down again.
Taking up the entire thing.
Xingxing slowly turned toward him.
"…You have got to be kidding me."
No response.
Astha had already closed his eyes peacefully.
Xingxing glared at him so hard it looked physically painful.
"That's it," she muttered. "I'm surrounded by insane people."
Astha remained silent.
"…One day," Xingxing grumbled while staring at the ceiling, "I'm throwing you off that bed."
Astha spoke without even opening his eyes.
"Unlikely."
Xingxing nearly exploded.
"…YOU WERE AWAKE?!"
At midnight, the villa fell completely silent.
Then someone entered Astha's room.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Soft footsteps echoed slowly across the cold floor.
Careful.Measured.
Deliberate.
Moonlight slipped through the curtains in pale silver lines, revealing a long shadow stretching unnaturally across the room.
The figure moved closer to the bed.
Closer.
Then stopped.
Right beside him.
Silence swallowed the room whole.
The figure stood there without moving.
Watching him.
And slowly—
the air turned cold.