The morning sun was already shining on the desert sands of The Valley of The Kings, dominated by dunes and boulders. Near KV5, there was the temple of Hatshepsut and the Colossi of Memnon.

When Ryan arrived at the KV5 excavation site, his colleagues were already busy bustling about with their respective tasks. Dr. Maria, wearing a khaki jacket and a sun hat, approached Ryan. Her bright green eyes sparkled under the sunlight. But suddenly she stopped when she saw Ryan's blank expression.

"Ryan, is there a problem?" she asked. "You seem to be lost in the sands of time?"

Ryan smiled weakly.

Dr. Hassan, who was standing not far from them, joined in the questioning. "Is something happening to you, Ryan?" He asked with a slightly worried tone.

Furrowing his brow, Ryan hesitated to share his experience. In the end, he decided to share just a little of what he had experienced.

"I saw…" he said, massaging his temples. "A priest here at KV5, before we got off work yesterday. He was writing on the tomb wall, then he turned, and our eyes met. He saw me, I'm sure." Ryan's voice dropped to a whisper. "The priest wrote 'Akhet' (the horizon where the sun rises) and 'Kephri' (the scarab god). Then he disappeared. Gone."

Dr. Maria's expression turned curious. "Interesting. Maybe because your mind is processing the hieroglyphs we found yesterday?"

Ryan shook his head.

"Seeing ghosts now, Ryan?" teased Dr. Matt with a small laugh. It turns out he had been standing behind Ryan the whole time during the conversation.

Ryan pouted again. "Not... not just that. The hieroglyphs, the atmosphere... everything felt like it was really happening."

The colleagues exchanged glances.

"Maybe because of exhaustion? We have been working too hard. Or maybe because you are still shaken by what happened to Dr. Rose?" said Dr. Hassan.

"No," said Ryan, shaking his head. "Everything felt... real. Like the priest was really there."

Dr. Maria then placed her hand on Ryan's shoulder to calm him down. "We're all here for you, buddy. Take your time."

Dr. Hassan also nodded with sympathy. "All this excavation work can be very exhausting."

Ryan nodded, but in his heart, he felt disappointed. They all won't believe him.

'They won't understand,' he said to himself. 'Good thing I didn't tell them everything I went through...'

He let out a slow sigh.

***

The rooms inside the KV5 tomb are silent, occasionally interrupted by the soft conversations of the team members and the faint clinking of tools as they dig.

Ryan was sitting on the ground inside the tomb, cataloging some artifacts they had found that day, but his mind kept drifting back to the event where the gods surrounded him and the moment he suddenly found himself in ancient Egypt.

Because he daydreamed, what Ryan wrote in his notebook became an incomprehensible scribble.

Dr. Matt, who was standing behind Ryan, saw what Ryan was doing. He frowned and whispered, "Ryan? Is everything okay?" as he brushed a small clay animal figurine with a brush. The figurine was a children's toy in ancient Egypt, often made in the shape of a cat or dog, and carved by hand.

Ryan looked up then glanced at his indistinct scribble, and then sighed.

Then he replied, "Yeah, I'm fine." Just... a little lost in my own thoughts."

Haha, I'm sure you need a cup of coffee to help you focus. Here, take one." Dr. Matt handed over a cup of coffee, which he had taken from a coffee maker not far from where they were.

Before the cup was fully in Ryan's grasp, it slipped. The hot liquid almost splashed the artifacts lying in front of Ryan.

Ryan gasped and hoped that the coffee would stop for a moment so as not to damage the artifacts.

Suddenly, Dr. Matt's hand that was outstretched to hand him the coffee and his mouth opened and had time to shout "Watch out!", and all the team members and whatever they were doing stopped. Even the dust particles that were seen hovering under the sunlight froze.

Ryan was confused and got up from his seat in panic. But he was the only one who could move, everything around him was not moving.

'What happened...?' Ryan wondered inwardly.

Hesitantly, he reached for the floating cup. His fingers curled around the outside of the cup and scooped up the coffee that had nearly splashed onto the artifacts.

And suddenly, everything around Ryan returned to normal. Dr. Matt's mouth moved again and he shouted, "Ryan! Catch—" He stopped when he saw the coffee cup safely in Ryan's grip. "What... How is that possible?"

"You almost spilled it," Ryan said, trying to keep his voice sounding casual.

Dr. Matt's eyes narrowed slightly. "I could have sworn…"

He looked down at the coffee cup again and was surprised to see Ryan standing up instead of sitting down, but then shook his head. "Never mind. Get back to work."

Ryan took a sip of his coffee, pretending nothing was wrong. But confusion was gnawing at him.

'What happened… How could time stop like that…?'

As he scanned the room, he saw Dr. Maria examining a piece of ceramic. Ryan paused for a moment, thinking about trying to tell Dr. Maria who was usually so considerate of him. But he decided not to tell anyone about his experience.

'There's no point in telling them. They'll blame the heat of the desert sun…'

His hands moved deftly as he examined, photographed, and documented all the artifacts that the other team members kept handing him in batches, but his mind was elsewhere.

This was the third strange incident in just a few days.

***

When the entire team was preparing for dinner in the dining room, Dr. Hassan suddenly spoke loudly with a grim expression. "Team, I received news that another excavation team will be excavating KV7, which is not too far from our location. They will arrive in a few days."

All team members nodded casually and didn't pay much attention to the news.

"Who is leading the excavation team for KV7?" Dr. Maria asked casually.

"Professor James will lead the team," Dr. Hassan replied with a frown.

Suddenly, the dining room fell silent. All the team members exchanged glances.

Dr. Maria squinted when she asked, "James? Isn't he—"

"Who is the titleholder he made up himself, 'King of the Nile', who is famous in the media?" Dr. Matt interrupted with full sarcasm.

Ryan's eyes widened, and he said, "Isn't he the one who stole your discovery, Dr. Hassan?"

Dr. Hassan nodded. "That's right, Ryan. Actually, yes. We just don't have the evidence."

Dr. Matt, who previously also worked under Dr. Hassan, continued with a tone that felt truly uncomfortable. "How could James be in the same area and at the same time as us?"

Dr. Maria carefully asked Dr. Hassan, "Who else is on his team?"

"James's cousin, Sophia Hill," replied Dr. Hassan.

"Sofía?"

The dining room grew even quieter when Sophia's name was mentioned. The woman was known for her cunningness and her presence with Professor James would only add to the problems.