Is he dead...?" Suzie whispered before looking at Hezekiah.

  Hezekiah nodded. Not wanting to miss this chance, he called out to Wayne.

  "You're welcome. Go find the keys on him."

  Wayne took a while to recover from his shock, but his feet began moving. The odor was horrendous, causing Wayne to gag and pinch his nose. The chunky substance was smudged all over Hyonda's clothes, but Wayne had no choice.

  "Abna," the old man spoke with a resigned look. "I take it you're going to leave me here?"

  "Of course," Hezekiah responded with no hesitation. In past encounters, nothing good came from helping those who sought his harm. He formally believed they might turn a new leaf if he did so, but reality declared otherwise.

  Suzie may have only revealed his intentions to Hyonda to save Wayne, but Hezekiah couldn't find it within himself to fully trust her. Still, he probably would've done the same in her situation.

  After searching the body for a minute, Wayne finally found the key—covered in the same murky substance.

  "Finally, that bastard is dead. How long do you think we've been down here? A month already?" Suzie remarked.

  Wayne approached Hezekiah’s cage before responding. "I ceased keeping track a long time ago. I was sure a search party would eventually find us, but they were either killed by the deer or gave up." As soon as those last words left his mouth, their expressions darkened.

  "The deer is still out there, isn’t it?" Hezekiah said after the lock was released by the key.

  When he was writing the rules, he only had Hyonda in mind. So it's doubtful the deer would be affected by any of them.

  Wayne helped Hezekiah to his feet before looking at Suzie, then back at the man who saved him.

  Hezekiah, noticing this, already knew what Wayne wanted.

  "Again, thanks for saving me back there. I guess people with supernatural powers really do exist. Are Abnas rare?" he asked.

  Hezekiah only shrugged. "I don't even know what an Abna is. Didn't Hyonda say that I wasn’t one?"

  Based on what Hyonda said, an Abna contains Abna Energy, which he couldn’t detect in Hezekiah. Which made him wonder if he was even an Abna in the first place.

  "Who cares about that?" Suzie interrupted. "We still have no idea where we are or how much time has passed. I have siblings to take care of, and God knows what happened to them."

  "Did neither of you pay attention to Mr. Hyonda’s teachings? An Abna is a human who possesses Abna Energy. They’re able to use this energy to utilize their special abilities and control the elements. Their lifespan is also far greater," the old man added.

  His eyes met the individual responsible for his master's death. "It’s unfortunate a cunning fox has somehow avoided his detection."

  Hezekiah observed the old man, bound by chains and famished, his bony body lined with thin cuts and stitches.

  Is that what this is about? Maybe being on life’s end makes people cleave to the bizarrest of hopes. But his was potentially attainable, despite the risks.

  Maybe his way of surviving was being Hyonda’s favorite. If that meant prolonging his life alongside getting superpowers, even that may be hard to mock.

  Hezekiah had no interest in finding out the truth. To him, the man had tried to kill him—completely jeopardizing everyone else’s lives for the sake of being the favorite.

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  "Now that the monster is dead, I don’t believe we ever got your name. I’m Wayne, and this is Suzie, my best friend."

  "Name’s Hezekiah. But I prefer if you call me Tank."

  Wayne lightly laughed. "That explains how you’re still standing despite an injured leg. But we should do something before you bleed out."

  Wayne made his way to Suzie, fiddling with the lock with the keys in hand. It didn’t take long to hear the lock click and the cage open.

  Hezekiah didn’t complain. Given the circumstances, he’d let it go. But when Wayne made his way to the old man, Hezekiah clutched his arm.

  "He stays here."

  Wayne froze, seeing an expression that left no room for negotiation. He gently nodded. His life was already spared, and he was allowed to free his best friend. Deciding it was better not to push his luck, he handed the key to Hezekiah.

  "Alright, I get it. I won’t interfere in your choice." He then looked towards Suzie, who had yet to exit the cage. "We should get going. You’ve been complaining constantly about how much you’re dying to leave." He smiled.

  "Shut up, you were the one crying when I finally found you."

  But her playful smile ended when she saw his head suddenly rotate 180 degrees.

  The audible cracking of bone stirred the dead silence in the air. Hezekiah remained speechless as the man’s head faced toward him. Confusion and shock etched in the man’s eyes.

  His throat was scrolling, like he was trying to speak, but only inaudible whispers followed. Wayne collapsed to his knees and fell to his side, resembling a soulless puppet.

  "Wayne?" he called with a shaky tone, taking a few steps back.

  "WHY DID YOU DO THAT!?" Suzie shouted, causing the fluid in his ears to violently shake, snapping him out of his daze.

  Seeing death wasn’t anything new to him. But to see someone’s neck snap for no reason at all would send a shiver down anyone’s spine.

  "You murderer. Sick bastard." Tears caressed down her face. "If you wanted to kill something so bad, then you should’ve killed me, you monstrous freak!"

  Her eyes overflowed with rage and sorrow, no longer caring what happened next.

  "This has nothing to do with—"

  He froze mid-sentence.

  Wait, do the rules apply to everyone here? Why did I assume they would only apply to Hyonda?

  He couldn’t discover any other explanation for Wayne’s death. Hezekiah figured this happened when he violated the final rule.

  He was supposed to remain still for ten minutes after he took his first step. That’s probably why Hyonda’s ankles suddenly snapped out of place.

  In the midst of his thoughts, the scarred man spoke.

  "So foolish." The old man shook his head. "Wayne was naive to believe this Abna had pure intentions. This is a man who only looks out for his own skin. How dare you judge Hyonda, you Abna."

  "Your description of me may not be entirely wrong, but you're way off the mark suggesting I maliciously killed Wayne."

  Suzie still had her hands balled into fists, eyes burning to charge at the individual in front of her—knowing only one outcome awaited.

  "Then why did he die?" she questioned.

  He weighed whether it was better to tell her about the rules. Considered what she might do if they managed to get out afterward. On top of that, he had already broken the rules himself when Wayne collapsed before him.

  The consequences of breaking the rules don’t happen immediately, but I don’t know how much time I have left. I have to hope all I get is a broken finger. But for now, I must remain still.

  But since Hezekiah wasn’t sure what classified as being still, he ceased speaking entirely. Even turning his head was no longer considered an option.

  Suzie, seeing him unresponsive, only made her blood surge more. The redness through her teary cheeks signified for Hezekiah to do something.

  If she tries to attack me, I’ll be forced to move. Either by dodging or being knocked over.

  Knowing not moving at all was unavoidable, he hoped speaking wasn’t considered movement at least.

  "Suzie, I’ve come to realize we’re still in a dangerous situation right now. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize it until Wayne died. I won’t ask you to forgive me, but for both of us to make it out of here, you must follow my instructions."

  Seeing Wayne’s twisted neck with a helpless expression roused a sense of guilt. Although situations like this weren’t foreign to his work, he never had someone pay the price for a mistake he made—especially someone who lived a sheltered life.

  "Why should I trust you? How do I know you're not as deranged as that tentacle monster?" she said after taking her eyes off Wayne.

  "You can’t." The old man chimed in, resting his head against the bars. "Who knows what this Abna is planning? He told the coward to survive, and yet his neck snapped like Hyonda’s ankles. I suspect you’ll suffer the same fate, young lady."

  Hezekiah wanted to respond. But he hadn’t said anything particularly wrong. Though he wasn’t planning on doing anything to her, in her view, she had reason to doubt him.

  But there’s also another issue. The torches—what happens if we don’t remove them? And do they have to be removed within a specified time?

  Rule Number 2 states the torches have to be removed from the wall. But they can only take a step every ten minutes. There are dozens of torches in this cave. Hezekiah rested his chin on his palm, thinking about how to explain all of this to Suzie.

  I can’t believe I trapped us by my own rules. I thought the rules heavily favored us, but all I did was make it difficult to leave this damn cave. No wonder the Satisfaction Percentage reached 100%.