“You mustn't get hit with the spikes that are about to swing your way. Dodge them as long as possible!”

Suddenly, chains with thousands of spikes were let down from the ceiling, swinging back and forth. Small platforms emerged from the hollow ground. They had to step on those platforms and get to the entrance of the next cave on the right side, while dodging the swinging spikes.

Somji easily flew through. Kimji went next. He was slow and steady, crouching while jumping carefully to avoid getting impaled by a spike. Nimji was next. He would have trouble because he was twice the size of Kimji—it would be impossible for him to crouch in such a tiny space. Suddenly, he got an idea. He looked at the chains—the top of the chain had no spikes, while the bottom did. He leaped and suddenly grabbed the top of a chain, swinging from chain to chain, dodging the spikes. At the last chain, he suddenly lost balance, and a few spikes pierced his hand.

He hurriedly jumped to where Kimji and Somji were.

“Oh boy, let me handle this,” said Kimji.

He slowly laid Nimji down and plucked the spikes out. He ripped a part of his shirt from underneath his armor and wrapped the cloth around Nimji’s hand.

“Better?” said Kimji. Nimji nodded.

They moved on to the next task: the Cave of Anger, the second stage of grief. Their task was to stay prepared for sudden rumbles that could happen anytime while they tried to walk on a narrow log. Underneath the log was a void they had to avoid.

They went one by one. Nimji went first, slowly and carefully stepping on the log, tiptoeing across. Somji had already flown past. Kimji approached. The rumbles were strong and sudden. Kimji found himself tripping and slowly started to descend into the void. Nimji grasped his hand, and now both of them were hanging off the log, hand in hand.

“What do we do now?! My hands are slipping!!” said Kimji.

Somji suddenly got an idea. She looked around the cave. It took her a while of precious time, but she found a tiny switch at the side of the cave. She flicked the switch, and a hard metal platform closed underneath the log, blocking anyone from falling off.

“You guys can get back up now—you’ll have to complete the task, but get back on your feet. You’re almost there!” Somji called. She waited for their approval before switching off the device so they could finish the task.

Slowly but steadily, they made it across.

They entered the next cave.

The Cave of Bargaining—the third stage of grief.

Their task was to bargain with a false goblin guarding the gate. The goblin was made entirely of stone, but like before, a mysterious voice echoed through the cave, speaking in place of the creature.

Some legends claimed that one of heaven’s angels was assigned to speak for the stone goblin, guiding lost travelers through the cave.

But this challenge was different. Only one of them needed to successfully bargain to open the gate, allowing them all to pass.

Naturally, Nimji, being the oldest, stepped forward to try.

“Um… hello, Mr. Goblin! It would be really nice of you to let us cross!” Nimji tried to sound cheerful, but it completely backfired. The goblin immediately took it as sarcasm.

“Who do you think you’re talking to?!” the goblin roared.

“Listen, Mr. Goblin—we’re running out of time. If you don’t let us through, many lives could be lost.”

“That’s not my problem,” the goblin snapped.

Nimji narrowed his eyes. Fine. If logic didn’t work—ego might.

“Alright then. If you don’t let me pass, that’ll just prove that you’re not as smart as me.”

Silence. And then:

“WHAT?! I AM SMARTER THAN YOU!”

“THEN PROVE IT. OPEN THE GATE!”

The goblin grumbled, clearly furious—but the ground trembled, and slowly, the stone door began to creak open.

“Fine. But after you pass—you admit I’m smarter.”

Nimji gave a quick nod. “Deal.”

With that, the path was open.

Next was the Cave of Depression.

This time, the task was brutal.

Ropes hung across a seemingly endless void, and the only way to survive was to jump from rope to rope without falling into the darkness below.

One slip, and you’d be lost forever.

Somji flew right across. Nimji made the first jump. He leaped from rope to rope until he landed on the platform. He waited for Kimji to come across as well.

This cave was by far the easiest. They moved on to the next cave—the Cave of Acceptance.

This was their last cave. They were so close to obtaining the Soul Tracker.

Their task was to parkour on the single pieces of bricks hanging in mid-air while avoiding the water at the bottom filled with piranhas. Somji flew past. Kimji went first this time.

He jumped from brick to brick, trying his best to balance himself. After all, they all had gone through harsh training—including balance training. Kimji made it to the other side. Now it was Nimji’s turn. He jumped from brick to brick, but his weight was too much. After all, his training was focused on physical strength—he was heavy.

Nimji had a hard time making it across. He almost tripped, but then he realized something. He slipped, grabbed onto the next brick, and let his legs drop from the last one. He hooked his feet onto the next brick, let go with his hands, and grabbed the next one. By following that pattern, he made it across easily, without tripping.

They walked into the next cave—but there was another cave.

“You have obtained the Soul Tracker. But don’t you think it was too easy? Too good to be true? You have one final task. I will teleport each one of you to a different area. You will be surrounded by clones of your friends. If you can find the right two clones, you will get the Soul Tracker. However—all three of you must have the correct results. I wish you all the best.”

Somji was teleported to a jungle biome, surrounded by copies of Nimji and Kimji.

She decided to focus on Kimji first. She knew Kimji’s mom had died giving birth to him, and his father died from a heart attack when he heard the news. She would use that information to help her.

“LISTEN, ALL YOU CLONES! I WANT THE KIMJI CLONES ON THE RIGHT AND THE NIMJI CLONES ON THE LEFT!” Somji screamed out, trying her best to overpower their chatter but losing her voice in the process.

She took another long breath and waited for them to get sorted.

“Okay. I will ask the Kimji side a few questions. Whoever gets the answer right for all three is the chosen clone. But if there is more than one, I’ll do a tiebreaker question. UNDERSTOOD?”

They all nodded.

“Your first question is: how did your parents pass away?”

She heard all kinds of nonsense, like they were eating poisoned cake, they died while dancing, or they were explorers and died because of aliens.

Somji sighed.

“My mother died when she was giving birth to me, and my dad got a heart attack when he heard the news,” said a Kimji from the back of the crowd.

“I want you to come stand behind me,” Somji said to that Kimji.

“Your second question is: what is his middle name?”

Again, she heard all kinds of stuff. In actuality, his last name was Kim—Kimji Kim. Once more, the Kimji behind her said, “His last name was Kim.” Somji looked impressed.

“Your last question… where was Kimji born?”

The same Kimji said the right answer. Somji made her choice.

She had also given Nimji’s side the questions only the true Nimji would know.

Somji was teleported back to the cave.

Kimji and Nimji figured theirs out too. After all, this was easy for them—they had raised each other for years now. They were practically siblings.

They were all back from the biomes and standing in the cave.

“I’m surprised. Usually people don’t get through this final task,” said the cave voice.

A section of the floor opened up, and the Soul Tracker was there.

It was shaped like a dagger with an antenna on the tip and a moon-shaped lamp on the end.

It looked pretty cool!

It could also help them navigate in the dark.

Their next stop was the Jungle of Pearls.