Deep Breath Beneath The Depths

Tang-Ji felt her stomach churning and her head reeling, like she was plummeting into bottomless darkness. Bumping against an oddly shaped object, Tang-Ji struggled to right herself. "Ugh, my head," she whispered, attempting to reach for her sore head but finding herself immobilised. 'Huh? Where am I? Why can't I move?'

The place she was at felt unnaturally still and cramped; it was as if her whole body was submerged underwater. Everything was heavy, suffocating, and strangely rough. She slowly wiggled her legs around to find an open space. "Ouch!", she winced as she skinned her finger. The exposed wound burst into little crystal shards, glowing a bright red in the dark. With gradual effort, she continued to move, as if attempting to dig through concrete. She could feel the tightness on her upper body slowly loosening while the uneven floor pressed against her feet. 

Suddenly, she felt something tightly grab her hand and pull her upwards, out of the distorted ordeal. Now well out of the rock pile, Tang-Ji felt a growing sense of nausea, like her stomach was tying itself into knots. 

A familiar face looked down on her. "Hey, are you alright?" Ji-Soon asked, stretching out his hand from above the pile of junk. He was filthy, and there were black spots on him, making him almost unrecognisable to Tang-Ji.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She murmured, holding her hand over her mouth, trying not to puke from the sudden movement. 

"Jeez, stay close to me, alright? I'm going to get an earful from Kaz​​ if something were to happen to you." 

"Kaz? Do you mean Kazami?"

Ji-Soon nodded, shaking some dust off his head.

"Well, the guy always goes on and on about you to me, so I feel like we should be on a nickname basis, right?" He said proudly. "Although, it's kinda a hassle hearing him talk about the same thing over and over again. Honestly, this is the first time I've heard him talk about someone this much. I've known him ever since we were kids. Kaz's not the type to talk about his crushes so nonchalantly. The guy really doesn't have any romantic interest, which makes me wonder if he could swing another way. Hehe!" He giggled.

'What could Kazami be saying about me.' She wondered. 

"He would get so pissed off whenever I told him that. If he heard this, he'd probably beat me up." As if reminding himself of the punishment he'd receive if this conversation ever got out, Ji-Soon turned awkwardly away from Tang-Ji.

Tang-Ji could sense the change in Ji-Soon's tone. 'Did I really do that much? It must have been me—the me in the past—that he is referring to," she thought. "So Kazami was talking about me a lot…' Tang-Ji suddenly felt her face getting slightly hotter. 

Shaking her head violently, she began to gather her thoughts again. 

"However…" Ji-Soon continued, "Ever since he met you, it's like the way he views people has changed. I mean, he had a pretty rough childhood, so I can understand why he acts the way he does. I don't know what your relationship is with him, but I still want to thank you for bringing out the old Kaz, even if it was momentarily." Ji-Soon said gratefully before sliding down the pile of rocks, leaving Tang-Ji lost in her thoughts.

—————————————————————————————————————————

The cave seemed to be playing with everyone's nerves. The air hung heavy with tension as Tang-Ji, Decker, Junyo, Kompto, and Ji-Soon found themselves grouped together, half submerged in a mass of rocks and soil. 

The teleportation had left them disoriented, and Decker's frustration began to boil over as he approached Kompto. 

"Hey, asshole…" Decker brushed some clay sediment off his shoulder and pointed a finger at Kompto. "Couldn't you wait a while longer to turn on us? Thanks to you, the enemies jumped on us, and now we're in the middle of nowhere. Or perhaps that was your doing, and you were always going to get rid of us from the start." Decker's frustration mounted.

The echoes of his accusations bounced off the cave walls, drawing attention from the shadows.

"Could you please shut the fuck up?" Kompto retorted, finally snapping at his antics. "You're the one who seemed to want to get rid of me since the beginning. Said the one who clearly stated that he never even liked any of us. And now he points fingers. Well, fuck me then. Sorry, I couldn't change my skin colour to make you like me more." He quipped.

"If this was a trap set by a traitor, then you would be most likely to be behind it. So, if you have nothing else better than poor speculation, I'd suggest you stop screaming and use your brain for once." 

"Whoa, hey, hey. We have no such intentions," Junyo interjected hastily, his hands raised in a gesture of denial. "We genuinely wanted to form an alliance with people that we can trust. A smaller, tighter-knit group would be way better for communication and coordination. That's why we wanted to join you guys." 

Junyo's eyes swept over the faces of the others, silently pleading for understanding. However, despite his effort, he already knew without looking back that his 'dumbass' partner would disagree. 

"Please believe us when I say that we mean no harm—" Junyo was abruptly stopped by Decker.

"Alright, time to shut up," Decker groaned, grabbing Junyo by the shoulders and flinging him to the ground. 

He began to walk towards Kompto, but just as Decker was about to raise his voice again, the ground beneath them started to tremble. 

"Huh!!" Everyone gasped. 

"What was that?" Tang-Ji asked, her eyes still adjusting to the darkness. 

"Let's try not to make too much noise," Kompto suggested, adjusting his stance in case of a surprise attack. 

"Pfft! Whatever, I don't care anymore." Decker began to walk in the opposite direction of everyone. "I'm finding my own way out. If everyone still thinks this monkey is trustworthy, then go ahead and stay with him. I ain't gonna waste my breath." 

"Hey, where are you going jackass?" Junyo called as he began to follow Decker.

"Tsk! Racist bastard." Ji-Soon clicked his tongue. "Maybe I should drill it into his thick skull by giving him another beating."

"Welp, it looks like we have to follow the idiot then. Maybe we'll run into the others." Ji-Soon suggested, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.

As Decker stormed off, his frustration palpable in the dimly lit cave, the group's dynamic shifted, leaving Tang-Ji and Kompto lingering at the back. Kompto sighed as the rest of the group walked off. Tang-Ji, still trying to shake off the disorientation from her predicament, found herself strangely drawn to Kompto's calm demeanour despite the tense situation.

"Um, excuse me," Tang-Ji began tentatively, her voice barely above a whisper as she struggled to find her words.

Kompto turned to her, his gaze still somewhat stern. "Yes, what is it?" he replied softly, encouraging her to speak.

"I-I just wanted to say… thank you," Tang-Ji stammered, her cheeks flushing from embarrassment. "For helping me back there and… um… for talking to me now. I-I'm not very good with… new people, but for some reason, I feel okay talking to you." She murmured incoherently.

Kompto's stern expression became a warm smile. "It's no problem at all. I'm glad I could help. And don't worry about being shy; it's completely normal. We're all just trying to navigate this strange situation together."

The group ahead was getting further away. "We should get going, lest we be left behind," Kompto suggested.

As they began walking, Kompto became silent, his brow furrowing in concern. "Hmm, it seems the map function isn't working here. This definitely feels like a trap," he mused, tracing his finger in front of his vision and activating a pop-up menu.

Tang-Ji nodded in agreement, her anxiety rising at the realisation. "Y-yeah, it does seem suspicious..."

Kompto then turned to face Tang-Ji. "My real name is Dale, by the way," he confessed, his tone slightly sheepish. "I know how Japanese honorifics work, but you can just call me Dale, no need for the 'san'."

Tang-Ji's eyes widened in surprise, but she quickly nodded. "Okay, Dale-san… I mean, Dale," she corrected herself with a shy smile.

Tang-Ji felt a sense of camaraderie growing between them. "Um, Dale…" she asked meekly. Back when I read that letter, you seemed...really upset. Did you know the person who wrote it?"

Dale's expression darkened momentarily before he sighed heavily. "The person mentioned in that letter... was a close companion of mine. Their initials were on it," he explained sombrely. He noticed Tang-Ji's solemn expression. "But it's okay. It's not your fault, and thank you for keeping it. Otherwise, I would have never gotten to hear his dying wish." 

Tang-Ji felt a pang of guilt wash over her, but Dale's reassurance comforted her. "I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice barely audible in the cavernous space.

'Perhaps death was unavoidable,' Tang-Ji thought. Ever since this game started, a reality she had tried to ignore has continued to find its way back to her. She was afraid, and she knew she would die if she was killed here, but seeing another person who died before her only reinforced her fear. However, 'this feeling of knowing you could die at any moment isn't so different from real life; in fact, it was still way better than feeling nothing at all,' she thought.

Tang-Ji felt as if she were standing on the precipice between dream and reality. 'To not feel anything would be no different than being dead.' Tang-Ji struggled to gather her logical thoughts. 

Despite the swelling sensation of dread that continued to burn inside her, she was drawn to a profound yearning to know her actual identity—to break free from the confines of a hollow existence that she had been forced to endure for so long. She knew that once she'd come back to reality, she would have to continue to live out her mundane life without ever knowing the truth about herself.

Thinking back on everything that had happened thus far—all the steps she had taken since she met Kazami—she was constantly finding herself teetering on the edge of a past discovery. She knew that the key to answering all of her questions resided within the depths of this mysterious world.

"No, I shouldn't be thinking this way," she murmured, knowing full well that this was nothing more than a momentarily selfish wish outside of danger. 'I wouldn't be thinking this way without the protection from others. I should be grateful rather than selfish; after all, I am the dead weight in the group.'

She knew that her main priority was to escape the game alive with all her friends. She knew that, yet beneath the surface of her resolve to live and protect those dear to her lay a labyrinth that contained all of her yearning excitement to truly experience what it means to really live her own life.

In the end, no one can escape its grasp, no matter how desperately they try. Whether it came swiftly or lingered on the edge of consciousness, death is the great equaliser that renders all fears and ambitions meaningless in its wake. They all lead to the same path of abandonment, leaving everyone behind to go into another world, much like this one. Perhaps our fate had already been sealed from the start. It would just be better to die a painless death inside a video game where everyone can be buried by the illusion of the game's excitement and adventure. Tang-Ji also had the same thought, which really surprised me. It seems like our minds are still somewhat in sync. 

Dale chuckled softly at Tang-Ji's fidgety gesture as he read her like an open book and knew exactly what was on her mind. "I can tell you are still very attached to reality. That's good. Hold onto it and don't ever let go." Kompto made a sad expression.

"Death is natural, and while it may seem like our loved ones are gone, remember that the dead will stay dead, and mourning won't bring them back. But as long as we keep them in our hearts, they'll continue to live on through us. We are all seeking for something in our lives; I'd say let the spirit of the dead act as a lesson to guide us to the end of our journey."

"I-I'm sorry for bringing up your friend." Tang-Ji apologised nervously; she was caught off guard by what Dale had said. It was strangely profound, but she still found it out of character for him, even though she only knew him for a day. The fact that a complete stranger was able to understand her was something that she could never dream of seeing her old classmates bothered trying.

Now that Tang-Ji thought about it, she had been feeling a strange sense of ease around everyone here. The odd feeling has continued to linger inside of her ever since her first encounter with Kazami. It was as if the hardened jade stones that were sealing her heart together were finally cracking; every new face she saw after him seemed to bring forth the human expression she had previously believed she was incapable of expressing. She still vividly remembered the face she would make through the mirror heart in her room every day before going to school.

"Dull doll," "expressionless nerd," "ice queen," "basic freak," she still remembered all those insults that people threw at her, which didn't really bother her. She didn't even know how to react to those comments; the feeling of loneliness would be the closest thing she had felt; however, even then, she would just immerse herself in reading and forget about it the next day.

'What face am I making right now?' She wondered while trying to pace herself to keep up with the others.

Dale shook his head, his gaze gentle. "It's alright. You don't have to keep apologising. Let's focus on finding out who orchestrated this fucked-up game instead," he suggested, his determination clear.

—————————————————————————————————————————

The pair continued walking through the dark tunnel, their only guide being the faint silhouettes of the group ahead of them and the sound of their footsteps. One of the silhouettes began to grow larger as it came closer to them. It was Junyo, who had come to check up on them.

"How're you guys holding up?" He asked through an awkward smile. 

"Fine," Kompto said sternly. "Isn't it embarrassing having to continuously apologise for Decker?"

Junyo sighed. "It gets like that sometimes, and he means well, truly." Junyo rolled his eyes. "He just isn't very people-smart, and I understand that."

"Hmph," Kompto replied. "Regardless, we should catch up with the rest of the group." Tang-Ji and Junyo agreed.

As they caught up to the party, a pebble fell from the darkness and landed squarely on Kompto's head. 

"Dale, are you alright?" She asked, confused by his reaction.

"Ouch! What the hell?" He rubbed his aching forehead and crouched down to examine what had hit him. Its surface was hard, but it looked like a normal rock. 

"Hey, wait a minute," Junyo said, looking concerned. He summoned his Leere and did a quick scan of the rock. "Just as I expected. This rock is an obsidian ore." 

"Huh? Obsidian?" Kompto asked.

"Yeah, you can tell from its glass-like features, it's also a little too dark to be just a random pebble."

"Wait, did you just say that rock is obsidian?" Ji-Soon asked with dread in his voice. 'Obsidian ores don't usually fall from the ceiling.' He clenched his fists and lifted his gaze from the ground, now looking behind the tail end of the group. What greeted him was an abnormally shaped boulder with two glowing rings and multiple dark spots all over its surface.

Ji-Soon raised an eyebrow. "Wait, guys. What's that?" Everyone turned around, but before anyone could say anything else, the boulder began to shake, causing the same rumbling from earlier.

A red icon appeared above the boulder, with text highlighted in bold. <Mineral Mites> 

"That's not a boulder! Everyone, get ready for combat!" Ji-Soon yelled out. 

The creature somehow managed to cling to the ceiling. Tang-Ji's eyes widened as she was immediately lifted off the ground by Ji-Soon who tossed her a dozen steps back to prevent it from landing on her. 

The Mineral Mite's landing sent up a huge cloud of dust, which made visibility worse than it already was. The mite's large body slowly emerged from the cloud, slowly revealing its oppressive features. 

"Ah, shit! I can't see a goddamn thing here!" Decker shouted before furiously charging into the dust cloud. 

"Wait, you moron! HEY!" Junyo cried out, however, it was a bit too late. The monster's body suddenly split into dozens of little mites that surrounded the entire group. 

"What the fuck!?" Decker jumped backwards and dodged several high-velocity rocks thrown at him. "These little shits are everywhere!"

Decker became enveloped by a blue light. "<Coiling Devastate: Weeping Path Blue>." Decker emerged from the light with a deep blue mask covering his face. His clothing had also taken on a different appearance, now being akin to armour. On his back sat the power source of his armour, a spine-shaped generator that radiated crackling blue energy, which illuminated the walls of the cave. His entire outfit was a similar colour to his mask, now adorned with strips of glowing blue scales beneath his armour. The mask itself resembled that of a fierce Oni, and it had a deep red scar over its right eye and two horns, the left one larger than the right. 

"Alright, you shits! Time to die!" Decker screamed, making a mad dash for the enemies in front of him.

"<Slot Burst>!" Ji-Soon called, summoning his Leere. "Decker! I need you to buy me some time while the slots are running. Then I can support you!"

"Piss off! You'll just get in the way. Hell, you might even hit me!" he replied angrily. "I AM the big glowing target after all!" He jested before eagerly diving into the mass destruction to show off his dominance.

"HAHAHAHA! Can't catch me!" Decker yelled out, catching the attention of the hordes.

Ji-Soon clicked his tongue. As the Mineral Mites began to crawl closer, he started kicking them away, sending them flying back in the hopes that it'd stall them for a little longer. Kompto joined in, unable to use explosives in this environment, lest he bury the mites and all of them. 

"I've debuffed their defence severely! You should be able to kill the mites now instead of repelling them!" Junyo called, typing something into his Leere, which resembled a glove that had a screen and keyboard on it. 

Ji-Soon and Kompto kicked and stomped on the creatures as they continued their unending approach, reducing them to piles of ground-up dust.

Tang-Ji summoned her Leere and attempted to charge a group of mites in front of her but tripped over a rock she hadn't seen, causing her to drop her shears. Looking out into the darkness, not even the light from Decker's armour could help them see further than a metre or two at most. 

More mites began to emerge from the rocky floor, their stony bodies blending seamlessly with the cavern surroundings. The emerging Mineral Mites took notice of Tang-Ji and began making their way over to her instead. "Tang-Ji!" Ji-Soon cried as he tried to rush over to her. However, his legs were firmly stuck, with most of their length covered by masses of mites. Ji-Soon tried to brush off as many as he could, but fell over in a panic, causing more and more mites to crawl onto his body. 'Damn it! If only I had a bit more time!' he thought, reaching out to his slot machine. 'Should I use my trump card now?'

Kompto was faring no better, with his legs also being weighed down by the weight of the Mineral Mites. Junyo was beside him, trying desperately to peel off the mites, not noticing the mites climbing up his own body. Everyone was being overwhelmed, and without support, so would Decker, who was doing well holding his own. Suddenly, a faint ring echoed amidst the chaos. The slot machine had finally stopped rolling, with the icons on the face of each slot landing on a hammer. 

Ji-Soon got an idea. "Decker!" he called. "Pull the lever on my slot machine and give yourself a weapon!"

Decker flashed him a look but continued to wail on the enemies in front of him. 

"You're the only one who can help us right now! Please!" Ji-Soon begged.

Even beneath the mask, it was obvious that Decker had his signature shit-eating grin on. "Finally realised how bad you need me, huh?" In an instant, Decker was beside the slot machine and extracted his prize, a large, solid hammer, perfect for smashing stones. "For me? You shouldn't have!" he said playfully.

 "Now…" Decker said, adjusting his stance. "I'm gonna need all of you to get down for me. This is gonna be a very precise operation, so try not to move too much or I might break your kneecaps." 

"Rush technique, deployment level 2, Midnight Rampage: Special." The once-dark tunnel became filled with bright blue light as Decker ran through it, smashing Mineral Mites along the way using his new weapon. With each move he made, he left a trail of light in his wake, moving at explosive speed where no one but himself could move. Within the span of a single second, the overwhelming numbers of the Mineral Mites had been reduced to nothing, and all that remained was the party and several piles of crushed minerals. 

Decker slammed the hammer into the ground and leant on it, releasing his Weeping Blue mode. "So, what'd you think of my technique?" He asked, still wearing the vile smirk from before.

"Thank you, Decker," Ji-Soon replied, helping Tang-Ji up from the floor. 

"You know, quiet girl, you should really work on not being useless, you know," Decker added, his ego now getting to his head.

Tang-Ji did not respond. 'He's right. So far, I've had to be saved over and over, without doing any of the saving myself…'

"Leave her alone, dude. We appreciate your help, but it doesn't mean that you can be a dick," Ji-Soon replied.

"Listen cunt! If you keep pampering her like this and keep letting her do nothing, we'll all die when we have to rely on her. Something about the weakest link, right?"

As Ji-Soon was about to speak up, a hole opened up beneath Tang-Ji, swallowing her whole in an instant. As she fell, Ji-Soon reached out for her hand, but the earth where she once stood closed up before their hands could touch. 

Silence filled the air, and Decker slowly backed away, fearing that he had somehow triggered her disappearance. "Oh. Shit." Ji-Soon put his hands on his head. "She's gone, just like that…"

"DAMN IT!" Ji-Soon shouted, slamming his fist into the hard, rocky wall of the cave. Pain welled up in his hand, causing tears to form in his eyes. 

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his back. It was Kompto. "Fret not," he interrupted. "I'm sure she will turn up if we keep moving. She went below us, no?"

Ji-Soon nodded, still with tears in his eyes from the pain and the fear of her safety. "Kaz is going to kill me when he finds out I lost her," he mumbled.

"Then we will have to find a path going downward." He looked back at Ji-Soon, who was cradling his hand. "Tang-Ji will be fine. I'm sure of it. I haven't known her for very long, but she is stronger than even she knows. She will survive."

"I don't know what you see, but I have to believe in her too," Ji-Soon replied. 

"Let us continue onwards then."

—————————————————————————————————————————

As Tang-Ji fell, she once again felt the nauseating sensation of her stomach tying itself into a knot. Falling for what seemed to be an eternity, her senses became overwhelmed by the rushing wind, and her screams were lost amidst the darkness that enveloped her. Tang-Ji's body tumbled uncontrollably, bouncing against the rough, rocky walls of the pit as she continued to plummet further into the abyss. Blood spilt each time she made contact with the walls, filling the air with tiny shards as the blood evaporated into crystals of code. Each cut and scrape shot searing pain across her entire body. 

Panic set in and her mind was consumed by a primal fear of the unknown. With a jolt, her descent stopped abruptly, and she landed roughly on the rocky, hard floor of the cavern. Tang-Ji felt the impact in her bones and let out a cry as the shock knocked the breath from her lungs, leaving her struggling for air in the darkness. Disoriented and dishevelled, she struggled to compose herself and push her body upright, her trembling hands searching fruitlessly for any semblance of familiarity. In time, Tang-Ji rolled onto her back and attempted to steady her breathing, but the adrenaline pumping in her veins made it difficult to concentrate on anything other than the aching pain throughout her body from where she had been knocked, scraped and cut. 

Looking from side to side, Tang-Ji stared into the blackness that surrounded her and took a sharp, ragged breath as she realised that she'd been completely separated from the others.

Dragging her eyes upwards towards the left side of her vision, she noticed that her health bar was dangerously far into the red zone. 'I'm alive, somehow,' she sighed. She tipped her head back onto the cold floor, relieved that she hadn't been reduced to a bloody mess of flattened flesh and bone. 

Now looking directly upwards into where she had fallen from, she could see dim light filtering down from above, contrary to how the hole had sealed up when she had first fallen in. it was clear to her now that the tunnel she had fallen into was adorned with small, colourful crystals, each shining beautifully, albeit faintly. Droplets of blood hung suspended in the air, casting crimson shadows against the walls of the shaft as the faint light of the crystals shone through them. It was a morbidly beautiful sight, that something so pretty could be created by the suffering of another. 

Now having the strength and composure to sit up, Tang-Ji gently pushed herself from the ground, the cuts on her hands sending jolts of pain throughout her body as she pushed on a dull, raised groove. Properly upright, Tang-Ji opened up her inventory with a subtle, yet painful, wave of her hand and reached for a healing potion. As she drank the sweet, deep-red liquid, she heard the whispering of a small voice, no louder than the rustling of a tree's leaves. 

"Hm?" Tang-Ji thought as she scanned the room. Besides herself, there was nothing but the multitude of illuminated crystals keeping her company. "Maybe I'm still shaken up by the fall…" she mused, brushing the sound off. 

"...t's… ou…" a wispy voice called. Tang-Ji shuddered, her eyes darting around the room once more. As she looked behind herself, her eyes met a pair of bright yellow ones.

"Eek!" Tang-Ji cried, jumping backwards, away from the glowing eyes. 

"It's you," the voice called calmly. Tang-Ji slowly opened her eyes. The voice seemed to come from a shadowy figure sitting on a rock ahead of her. 

The shadow's form wavered but seemed to resemble the silhouette of a cat. Its unnerving, bright yellow eyes pierced the darkness and seemed to look right through Tang-Ji. Behind its shadowy body appeared to be two dimly coloured lights, one a deep purple, and the other a faint yellow. The lights moved hypnotically, almost as if they were swaying gently in the breeze, despite there not being any breeze so far underground. 

"What's a cat doing down here? Is it an enemy?" Tang-Ji pondered. "Umm… Hello, kitty. Do you know the exit to this place?" She smiled awkwardly. 

The shadow did not respond; instead, it tilted its head slightly. Tang-Ji put a hand over her face. "Of course that wouldn't work... It's a cat." She shook her head. "I need to find a way out of here, so I can get back to-"

"Kazami," the shadow whispered. Tang-Ji's stomach dropped as her eyes widened.

"Did that cat just talk to me?" She thought, frozen in fear. 

"Indeed," the 'cat' replied bluntly, as if it knew her very thoughts. Again, Tang-Ji froze, shocked that she had not only discovered a talking cat but also one that could read her mind. 

"Tang-Ji… I bring a message of utmost importance," said the shadow cat, its eyes unblinking. "A calamity approaches, Tang-Ji. Be wary."

"How do you know my name?" Tang-Ji replied. "And what do you mean, a calamity?" 

"You will see for yourself when the time comes. I look forward to what you wish for this time, Tang-Ji," the shadow whispered. "Until then, I will watch over you, Tang-Ji." The cat's shadowy form began to waver more than it had before, eventually beginning to dissipate and blend into the rest of the darkness. 

"Wait! Who are you?! I don't even know your name!" Tang-Ji asked the dissolving shadow.

"Divi," the voice called. Its body had almost evaporated, leaving nothing of what it had once been.

Before Tang-Ji could even begin to process what had just happened, a larger shadow began to take shape where the previous one had been. However, this shadow did not waver and had loud, heavy footsteps accompanying its arrival. Tang-Ji looked up, awe-struck. The thing that stood before her was a man, and a very tall, burly man at that. The man was dressed in very futuristic gear, well past the time in which Tang-Ji herself lived. It seemed that he had cybernetic implants, as his left arm and right leg appeared to have a silvery, metallic glint barely visible underneath the fabric of his clothing. The man stopped marching and stood directly in front of her, his gaze aimed downward towards her.

Tang-Ji broke into a cold sweat and stared up at him awkwardly, wondering if he was a player or an in game mob.

"Have you seen a girl with blue hair and a white dress?" the man asked robotically.

"Blue hair, white dress? I'm not sure who you're talking about…" Tang-Ji answered honestly.

"No," the man said adamantly. "I am sure you know something! You were brought here for that very reason!"

Tang-Ji shook her head profusely. "I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Don't lie to me!" the man called, beginning his charge towards her. 

It seemed that conflict was unavoidable now, and Tang-Ji had only herself to rely on. Taking a breath and gritting her teeth, she called out.

—————————————————————————————————————————

"Come forth!" Tang-Ji cried, summoning her Leere. A bright flash of light enveloped them both, blinding the armoured adversary as she brandished her Leere. Now brandishing her shears, sparks flew as their blades collided with the man's hulking frame.

Tang-Ji took a step forward, preparing to attack "Level 6 deployment, rush tech—" Tang-Ji began, however, her command was interrupted by a heavy hand on her shoulder, locking her in a vice grip. Before she was given the chance to activate her skill, Tang-Ji was forcefully thrown across the room, her back landing squarely against the wall of the cave. 

The force of the impact created a loud bang, causing several crystals and pebbles to fall to the floor. Tang-Ji winced as she felt a burning pain in her back.

"Agh!" She groaned in pain. The strength in her body began to leave her.

She began to slide down the wall, but before she could collapse, a single mechanical hand clamped down around her neck, hoisting her back up to eye level as if she weighed less than nothing. 

"Where. Is. The girl?" The gruff voice demanded again as he choked her.

A mechanical sound hissed into her ears, and Tang-Ji's gaze locked onto the spiralling neon light that emanated from his mechanical arm. Fear washed over her face as she realised that she was losing her grip on her Leere. 

"I-I don't know what you're talking about." Tang-Ji managed to croak out the words, her voice trembling.

The hands that had been tightly gripping her neck released their hold slightly, offering a brief respite. Tang-Ji heard a loud, resounding bang before everything became black. It was as though a massive town bell had fit in her head and then begun ringing.

When she finally regained consciousness, Tang-Ji found herself sprawled on the ground, her head throbbing with pain. Virtual blood oozed from a gash on her forehead, forming a dark trail down to the ground. The mechanical titan grabbed her by the neck once again and hoisted her up, his grip unrelenting.

"I won't ask again; where is she? The girl with blue hair in a white dress."

'White dress? Blue hair?' she thought, despite the excruciating pain in her head. 'Those descriptions only match one person… Ukiyo? But why? What does this man want with her?' 

Tang-Ji remained resolute, refusing to utter another word. It was painfully clear that he was after Ukiyo. No other girl met his description but her. 

The man smiled vilely and continued his work. Loud, thundering bangs echoed from the cave for roughly ten minutes, until they weakened and ultimately stopped. 

The iron titan couldn't help but chuckle, seemingly impressed by Tang-Ji's unwavering resolve. With a swift motion, he lifted his right leg and forcefully stomped it down upon her hand, which clung tightly to his leg. 

This time, the cracking sound was even more pronounced than before, resonating through the walls of the dark cave like the sharp popping of corn kernels. 

Tang-Ji, who had endured the torture thus far, was at her limit, as her health crept slowly back into the red zone. Her five fingers were mangled beyond recognition, and her wrist had been twisted at an unnatural angle. She lay in a small pool of her own blood and tears, a result of the cyborg's unrelenting dedication to his work.

A powerful kick to the head sent Tang-Ji's limp body hurtling towards the wall like a discarded rag doll. Her ears were ringing, and her body was numb, unable to do anything. 

"You must be really dedicated to her, huh, girlie?" The man crouched over her. Tang-Ji could only watch as his cybernetic implant transformed itself into a cannon. Neon light spiralled throughout its barrel, as he stood up and pointed it down at her. 

"It's been fun, but you're of no use to me if you keep your mouth shut." The cannon began charging with a violent electric hum. "Sayonara kiddo."