Tami exhaled sharply as the beetles finally withdrew, shoulders dropping as tension drained out of his stance. He bent slightly forward, hands resting on his knees as he caught his breath. The relief was obvious in the way his posture loosened, like a weight had been lifted from his entire body.

Yuto, however, did not share that feeling.

His gaze stayed fixed on the edge of the strange zone the beetles had refused to enter. The creatures had not hesitated in battle, not once. They had charged relentlessly, taken damage without slowing, and shown no fear of anything they had faced so far.

Yet here, at this boundary, they had stopped.

That alone bothered him more than the fight itself.

He straightened slowly, eyes narrowing.

The logical conclusion was simple. Something here made even those creatures hesitate. Something stronger. Or something they understood well enough to avoid.

Yuto swallowed.

If there was a greater predator in this area, then they had unknowingly stepped into its territory.

That realization settled heavily in his mind.

Turning back would not solve anything. The beetles could still be behind them. Retreating into uncertainty meant risking another encounter with them. Moving forward meant entering unknown danger.

Neither option was safe.

Only one direction remained.

Forward.

He forced himself to breathe steadily.

They continued walking.

The terrain gradually shifted as they moved deeper into the strange region. The ground remained jagged and broken, but the formations began to feel less random, as if shaped under a different kind of pressure. The silence also changed. It was no longer empty in the same way. It felt layered, as though something existed beneath it, just out of reach of perception.

Time passed without clear markers.

Eventually, the faint ambient light that had persisted through the wasteland began to dim.

Not a true sunset, but a gradual fading of illumination across the broken sky. The violet tones dulled into darker shades, and the reflective glow that had allowed them to see began to thin.

Shadows stretched longer between the rocks.

Visibility decreased. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Night was approaching.

Tami looked around uneasily. "We have to stop."

Maya nodded without hesitation.

Yuto glanced at the darkening terrain and agreed silently. Traveling further like this would be reckless. The environment itself was already unstable. Moving blindly into darkness would only increase their chances of encountering something they could not respond to in time.

They began searching for shelter.

After a short distance, they found a cave opening tucked between two jagged stone formations. It was narrow at the entrance but widened slightly inside, offering enough space for temporary rest.

Carefully, they entered.

Maya led the inspection, checking the ground, walls, and deeper interior for any signs of movement or nesting creatures. Tami stayed near the entrance, watching the outside. Shiny and Yuto remained alert, ready for any sudden disturbance.

After a thorough check, the cave was deemed safe enough for rest.

They set up camp.

It was during this process that Yuto noticed something unexpected.

He paused, watching as both Tami and Maya retrieved supplies from seemingly empty space. Weapons, rations, and small tools appeared in their hands as if pulled from nowhere, the motion so casual it felt like something he was supposed to already understand.

Yuto frowned slightly. "What is that?"

Tami glanced at him briefly. "Storage box."

Yuto narrowed his eyes. "Storage what?"

Maya adjusted a small pack in her hand. "A spatial storage system. It allows non-living items to be kept and retrieved at will."

Yuto stared at them for a moment longer. "I’ve never seen that before."

Tami blinked once. "You’re serious? Did you not learn anything in school?!"

"Orphans can’t afford to go to school". Yuto retorted.

The words settled into the cave.

Tami’s expression tightened slightly. "Oh."

Maya said nothing immediately.

Silence filled the cave, stretching longer than before, broken only by the faint sound of shifting gear and distant wind outside.

Eventually, Yuto stood.

He exhaled once and turned toward the cave entrance.

"I’m going outside."

Maya looked up immediately. "That is not safe."

Yuto didn’t stop walking. "I won’t go far. Shiny will be with me."

Okay. Maya said.

After a brief pause, there was no further objection.

He stepped outside.

The cave entrance opened onto a narrow cliff edge overlooking the vast wasteland. Yuto walked a short distance and sat down at the edge, letting his legs hang slightly above the drop.

The light outside continued to fade.

What had been dim before now dissolved completely into darkness.

Yet the darkness here was not absolute. It had a strange quality, as though it carried its own faint luminescence. Enough remained visible to outline the terrain, but everything was softened, blurred, distant.

Above, the sky deepened into a strange expanse that resembled night, though it did not contain stars in any familiar sense. Instead, faint irregular points of light flickered far away, like fragments of illumination scattered across an endless void.

Yuto stared into it.

A thought formed slowly in his mind.

It felt like a long time had passed since he had lived anything resembling stability. Since the moment he had first become an ethereal and briefly believed life might finally become steady.

Now that feeling seemed distant. Almost unreal.

Even though it had only been a single day in this place, it already felt like weeks had passed. Maybe longer. Time itself seemed distorted here, stretching and compressing without consistency.

He leaned back a little, shoulders easing as he let out a slow exhale that hung briefly in the still air.

Footsteps sounded from behind him, steady and unhurried, growing closer against the quiet of the space.

Yuto turned his head at the sound.

Maya was there, standing near the edge of the cave entrance, her silhouette outlined against the faint, distant glow spilling in from the terrain outside, the light barely catching the edges of her form.

She stopped when she reached him, holding her position just within the threshold.

After a brief pause, she spoke. "Can I sit?"