They are thrown back, and the door shuts back to continue the riddle.


Jaemin knelt before the symbols, eyes scanning every curve and carve of the glyphs: a Clock, an Eye, and a Flame—each one etched into its pedestal, glowing faintly.


"Let's try this again."


He murmured, steadying his breath.


"Clock, Eye, Flame… they're not just literal—they're metaphorical."


"The Eye isn't about fire. It's about seeing—light, maybe insight."


Everyone turned toward the pedestals again, more thoughtful now.


"Hana."


Jaemin said, turning to her.


"Take the Eye. You've got Shimmering Light too, right? It's healing, sure, but more than that… It's vision, illumination. That's what the Eye needs."


Hana blinked, then nodded slowly.


"Got it."


"Auxiliary Core: Shimmering Light."


Her healing lamp flickered into existence, spinning gently in her palm. She let it hover over the pedestal, and a pulse of pale gold surged through the stone. The Eye glyph glowed softly, lines of light crawling toward the door.


Jaemin turned next to Jisoo.


"Clock's yours."


She cracked her knuckles.


"Right. Flux Core fits with temporal flow anyway."


She stepped up and placed her hand on the Clock pedestal.


"Flux Core: Temporal Sync."


Her aura flared a smooth indigo as the glyph thrummed beneath her fingers. The circular pattern ticked once… then aligned.


"Minjae's still running Guardian's Domain, so…"


Jaemin looked at Naeun.


"You're up for Flame."


"Auxiliary Core: Strings of Life."


Golden threads unfurled around her arms and shoulders, wrapping delicately around the Flame pedestal. As the light met stone, a deep hum vibrated through the room.

"Flame isn't destruction—it's passion, connection, energy. And Naeun's threads? They burn with purpose."

For one tense second, nothing happened.


Then—


CRACK—THOOM!!.


The stone door split open down the middle, mist pouring from the dark corridor beyond.


They had passed the test.


Jaemin stood up slowly, dusting his knees off.


"Well done!!!!"


Jinhwan grunted with a rare nod of approval.


"Didn't think I'd see brains before brawn today."


"Speak for yourself."


Jisoo smirked.


"I just followed the nerd's lead."


Jaemin just smiled awkwardly...what a way to compliment....


The stone parted with a low grind, revealing a dark hallway cloaked in dense mist. The group exchanged glances, nerves still high from the earlier tension. Without a word, they began stepping through.


The moment the last boot crossed the threshold, the stone door slammed shut behind them—no warning, no delay. A cold rush of air surged through the hall as the floor rumbled beneath their feet.


CRACK—CHUNK.


The very ground beneath them began to split and fall away in massive stone segments, like a collapsing puzzle. Jaemin's breath caught as the stable floor beneath him shrank and lifted, separating into a single floating platform suspended over a void of swirling abyssal mist.


One by one, the others steadied themselves as their footing adjusted to the now-isolated platform drifting in the vast, hollow chasm. There were no walls anymore—only endless shadows surrounding them.


"Yeah. No. I'm not paid enough for floating ghost floors."


Jinhwan said as he turned to Jaemin.


"We are getting paid for this???"


Jisoo asks


"Go on, chosen one. Lead the way. Hero moment fr."


"Me???"


" Look at this—does this scream 'tank terrain' to you?"


Jisoo leaned over and grinned.


"Aww, what happened to our fearless meat shield?"


"Fearless meat shield doesn't like floating death LEGOs."


Jinhwan shot back.


"This was not in the tank manual."


"Did you even read the tank manual?"


"It was in Latin. I skimmed."


"We live in Korea...how did you get a Latin one in the first place????"


The platform creaked ominously.


Everyone stopped joking.


"…That wasn't funny anymore," Jisoo muttered.


Each of them stood on separate circular platforms — discs of ancient stone, floating midair in a chasm of nothingness. No visible floor. No ceiling. No gravity, it seemed. Just mist and flickering motes of light — and somewhere in the deep, something breathing.


"Uh... guys?"

Naeun called out nervously, peering into the dark. Her platform wobbled slightly.


Jinhwan stepped back, eyeing the separation.

"This is new. Don't look at me. Jaemin, you're up."


"Oh, how the mighty tank retreats. I'll make sure Yura hears about this."

Jinhwan scoffed, folding his arms.

"Tell her I chose life."


Jaemin ignored their banter. Something was wrong. A subtle hum vibrated beneath his feet, like tension building in the air.

He looked down.

A chill crawled up his spine.

"Is it getting colder?" he asked, his breath forming fog.

"I feel it too," Hana nodded. 

"We shouldn't be feeling temperature shifts here. This place—it's sealed."

"It's not the cold that matters," Jaemin murmured. "It's what it means."


His eyes widened as he pieced it together.


"Temperature drop... increased density... we're sinking."

"Sinking into what?"

"Whatever is under this mist," Jaemin said. 

"And I don't think it wants us here."

He spun around. The platforms weren't just lowering. They were descending at different speeds. Like weights being pulled down based on mass or energy.

"Try activating your Core!" Jaemin shouted.

Jisoo instantly caught on. 

"Flux Core: Dynamic Overdrive!"

Her purple aura shimmered into a soft indigo, and her platform slowed... then lifted slightly.

"It's gravitational!" she yelled. "Core resonance is resisting the pull!"

"We're not just on floating discs," Jaemin said.

"This is a flux field. We have to balance our Core output to counter it."

"Minjae!" Hana called out. "Your domain!"

"Auxiliary Core: Guardian's Domain!" Minjae roared.

The dome expanded around his platform, stabilising his position.

One by one, the others flared their Cores. Bright auras lit up the mist. Naeun's healing threads. Hana's shimmering lamp. Even Jinhwan ignited his Lion's Mane again to keep the balance.

But Jaemin stood still.

His platform continued to sink.

"He doesn't have a Core!" Jisoo snapped.

"We need to pull him up!"

Naeun acted fast. "Auxiliary Core: Strings of Life!"

Golden light coiled from her arms like celestial threads, latching onto Jaemin's platform. Hana reinforced it with her light. The two began pulling him toward a central position.

But something resisted.

Jaemin squinted downward. His platform trembled as it scraped against others. The surfaces — they weren't smooth. They had grooves.

"Wait... stop!" he shouted.

Everyone froze.

He knelt, running his fingers over the platform. The carvings were angular, overlapping. Not random.

His mind flashed back to the wall etchings they saw earlier — that twisting, spiralled abyss symbol.

"These tiles... they form a symbol," he whispered.

"A spiral?" Jisoo asked.

"A perfect spiral. But right now, we're just floating out of order. That's why we can't combine the platforms. The energy's resisting."

"So we rearrange?" Hana asked.

"Yes. Align the grooves to match the symbol. Then we connect."

"Easier said than done," Jinhwan grumbled. 

"We're floating. Not exactly mobile."

"Jisoo," Jaemin turned, snapping his fingers.

 "Remember when you used your Core Jump to kill those striders?"

"You remembered that?"

"Stormy memory."

She grinned. 

"Say less."

"Use that again. Hop to Minjae's tile first. Then counter-jump to Hana, align them into the curve. We'll follow."

Jisoo moved like a blur.

"Flux Core: Phase Shift!"

She blinked across the gap in two stuttering jumps, each perfectly calculated. Her hands glowed as she guided the tiles gently into place, her indigo aura leaving a trail.

CLACK!!


The two platforms merged.

One by one, the rest followed.

Naeun's Strings of Life formed a web. Jinhwan, grunting, used the Lion's Mane armour to anchor the tiles. Minjae reinforced the lines with his Guardian Dome.

And at the very centre, Jaemin was pulled up.

The spiral is completed.

BOOM!!!.

HISSSSSSSS!!

The mist surged outward. The tiles are locked.

And the moment they did, the entire room rose as one unit, now a single spiral platform.

Jaemin exhaled.


"It's done..."


Jisoo whistled.


"Stormy memory, huh? You're starting to scare me."


Jaemin didn't answer.


He was already staring ahead.


The spiral began rotating. And in front of them, another door appeared — this one made of obsidian.