Into the inferno

We weren't the only ones who stumbled into the seventh door.

Compared to other scenarios, this one had a relatively small number of people - exactly three hundred and twelve individuals, all of whom had made the choice accidentally, just like us.

No one in their right mind would willingly opt for this desolate place.

In contrast, other scenarios had massive crowds, with hundreds of millions of people drawn to places that eerily resembled Earth.

Even the place filled with pure darkness had a small but willing contingent of thirty soldiers from a Russian army base.

Meanwhile, the snowy wasteland and the endless ocean remained untouched, with no one foolish enough to venture into those places, even by mistake.

Chimsy still had the little girl in her arms, holding her tight in her arms so she wouldn't fall into the raging inferno that threatened to consume us all.

This was no ordinary scenario; it seemed as though we had entered a planet akin to a colossal volcano, stuck in a plateau phase, neither erupting nor dormant.

That was my guess, based on the 312 people scattered across this unforgiving landscape.

That was it; we were at the start of a monumental survival challenge, one that had already claimed countless lives.

The place was strange.

Not in the history of science had a place like that be found.

Within seconds, beads of sweat trickled down everyone's faces, except for Jackson Lee's.

At first glance, one could think that he was impervious to the scorching heat because he wasn't putting on anything but that wasn't the case.

You could say that he had a natural buff against heat or any extreme temperature.

His body had undergone a forced evolution, granting him a peculiar resilience to extreme temperatures.

What would I call it?

Would I call it natural ?

I hesitated to label it as such, for it was a product of the forceful evolution that just happened.

"Are you okay?"

Jackson Lee asked Dae-su Han.

His speech was gradually returning to normal.

But this was supposed to be the least of our concerns.

A more pressing question would have been "What's next?"

Yet, Jackson's inquiry was justified, as something was indeed amiss with Dae-su Han.

His soul was burning with an intense, fiery heat, replacing the usual dark expanse of space that usually dwelled deep within the human's consciousness.

It was as if his inner self was mirroring the planet's volcanic landscape.

There was no apparent source of the immense heat.

Dae-su Han remained silent, feeling uneasy, like being submerged in scalding water without any pain, yet still deeply uncomfortable.

He took a few tentative steps away from the group, scanning the horizon for any semblance of shade or refuge.

"What do we do?"

Chimsy asked, desperation apparent in her voice.

But there was nothing to be done, no escape from the planet's unforgiving nature, which seemed determined to consume us whole.

The desolate landscape stretched out before us, devoid of buildings, rocks that could serve as a shade, or any shelter to speak of.

Even the other humans scattered at various places in the desolate planet saw nothing but scorching heat and empty broken rocks .

"Everywhere is the same,"

Dae-su Han muttered, his face contorted in a mixture of discomfort and concentration as he squinted into the distance.

The landscape stretched out before us, punctuated by gaping holes that led to fiery abysses, reminiscent of the mythical hell.

It seemed Jackson Lee had chosen a literal inferno for our destination.

What was the purpose of this ordeal?

In other scenarios, people were facing diverse challenges, some more bearable, none as brutal as our predicament.

One misstep would send us plummeting into the raging flames.

To avoid this fate, we averted our gaze from the treacherous gaps in the floor.

Meanwhile, Dae-su Han's condition was deteriorating.

His organs had melted into a red, molten mass, yet his skin remained intact, possibly due to his forced evolution.

Chimsy, still cradling the baby, was emitting a healing aura, initially an instinctive response, but soon became a deliberate act that extended a protective shield around her.

The baby remained comfortable, shielded from the extreme temperatures by Chimsy's healing aura, while Chimsy herself became impervious to the scorching environment due to her healing aura.

It left me and Dae-su Han to the elements.

Left to face the elements, I felt my body on the verge of melting, the atmosphere so harsh that I contemplated surrendering my physical form to return to the great library.

"We've been walking for probably hours, and I'm exhausted... so exhausted,"

Dae-su Han gasped, his breathing labored, as he halted and slumped forward, his arms dangling almost to the ground.

His body, once human, now seemed to be made of a stretchy, molten material, as if molded by the fiery landscape itself.

Chimsy gazed at him with a worn expression, her eyes reflecting the fatigue and surrealism of their situation.

"Your face..."

she trailed off, her voice barely above a whisper.

The bizarre events of the past hours had become the new norm, making the memories of their pre-evolution lives seem distant and abnormal.

The group's desensitization was evident in their indifference to Jackson Lee's nudity, a fact that would have raised eyebrows just days before.

Dae-su Han, ignoring Chimsy's comment, said,

"We're heading nowhere. It's no use. This is the end of humanity as we know it. None of us even understands what is going on and why this is even going on... This is even tiring."

With a defeated tone, he collapsed onto the ground, his body resembling a stretched piece of plastic.

His tendency to give up easily had always been a trait, even during his days as a K-pop idol, where he would often seek the easiest solution or surrender when faced with obstacles.

Jackson Lee had frequently criticized his pessimistic nature, but what use was optimism in this desperate situation?

Stranded on a hostile alien planet, where danger lurked around every corner, and time itself couldn't be measured; none of the watches worn in any of the scenarios were functioning, making it impossible to keep track of the passing moments.

Chimsy, too, was exhausted, her aura's effectiveness waning.

The aura stemmed from her abilities but it seemed that her abilities had limits, and the countless steps through this hellish landscape had taken their toll.

I, on the other hand, was a mystery to myself ; how had I, with my ordinary, unevolved body, managed to endure this far?

My physical form was uncooperative, refusing to speak, and my fatigue was so extreme that I could hardly stand.

The scorching floor forced me to alternate raising my feet, lest I suffer further discomfort from the hotness hurting my feet if it rested for too long on the floor.

Amidst their debate; Dae-su Han pleading to stop, questioning the purpose of these trials, while Chimsy and Jackson Lee urged him to press on; a strange creature emerged from the depths, its arrival a harbinger of unknown consequences.

In a remarkable coincidence, at that very moment, one of the groups of people scattered across the planet stumbled upon an ancient temple-like structure, its imposing presence sparking hope within me for my own cohort's prospects.

However, this glimmer of optimism was short-lived, as an imminent danger had appeared, threatening to extinguish my new-found hope.