As the boy continued to eat the rocks, he suddenly paused before vomiting out the rocks he had previously eaten.

  After he had done that, the boy just sat there, motionless.

  He stayed like that for a while before falling back onto the ground. The prisoners, who had been on high alert, suddenly calmed down as they watched the boy sleep soundly.

  Time passed, and the boy woke up again. This time, however, he didn’t all of a sudden start talking to himself. Instead, he walked over to where Cale and Adin were.

  After the boy reached them, he walked over to the corner where his robe was.

  Cale and Adin watched him in silence, both of their bodies tense from the unease they felt toward the boy.

  Ever since they watched the boy gorge on stone, Cale and Adin had not been able to get a wink of sleep. The creepy scenes kept repying in their minds. The way the boy chewed on the rocks like they were the tastiest things he'd ever had was burned into their memories. As they watched, they both couldn’t help but have one thought.

  "Does this guy not feel any pain?"

  That’s what they thought as they watched him. On the ground, they saw that some of his teeth had begun to fall out. Some were chipped, others whole, but one thing was common. The visible blood that slightly coated them. Even now, they could still see the teeth on the ground.

  Turning his head, Thorn faced the two. He then raised his hand, pointing toward Cale’s side.

  “Can I have some?” he asked.

  Cale, slightly confused, instinctively looked toward his side where he noticed the can of water he had forgotten to dismiss.

  Cale raised the can, looking at Adin as if questioning whether he should comply with the crazy guy. Adin, however, just shrugged his shoulders. He himself didn’t know what to do. It was his first time dealing with a crazy man, and he didn’t know how to go about it.

  After handing the bottle over, the boy took the canister and began downing it. Some of the water slightly overflowed from his mouth as he continued gulping it down.

  The boy only stopped when he began choking.

  “ah,” he coughed a bit before wiping the water off his mouth.

  “Thanks,” he said, facing Cale. Pondering for a moment, he faced Cale again.

  “Why are you guys here? Did you get sucked into a spatial rift? Or did you come here willingly?” he asked.

  Adin looked at Cale before speaking. “We came in here to explore.”

  “Explore?” the boy questioned.

  “Yeah,” Adin said. “It’s been a year since our world became overrun with monsters, but gradually we managed to fight some off. Though it’s not like it did much, since we only managed to create safe points. But we’re slowly improving,” Adin said as he reminisced about the past.

  “But we came here for two reasons. One, to find a friend. And two, for adventure,” he said with a dramatic tone as he gestured a rainbow with his hands.

  The room fell silent. Thorn, who listened to this, scratched his chin, quietly taking in what Adin was saying.

  “Okay, so from what I’m hearing, you came here in search of a friend who got sucked in and for adventure?” he said, mirroring Adin’s dramatic tone and gesture.

  “Yeah!” Adin said as his eyes lit up. “But before we can do that, we need to escape from here, and we were hoping you could help us do that.” The volume of his voice slightly increased as he finished speaking.

  Thorn nodded again, still listening. After a moment passed, he looked at Adin and Cale and spoke. His voice was calm.

  “Forget about your friend and leave this pce. Not only that, but forget about exploring it too. If you want my advice, as someone who’s been here for a while, my best recommendation is to find a way to leave this pce. Well, this world.”

  Cale and Adin looked at each other for a moment before staring back at Thorn.

  “Could you eborate?” one of them asked, rightfully confused.

  “Sure, but there’s not much to eborate,” he spoke as he looked at the canister in his hand, shaking it. “With how you guys are now, it should be considered lucky that you’re still sane, let alone alive. And I mean that, really. That friend you talked about is probably dead. If not, they’re probably being experimented on right now,” he said as he took another drink from the canister.

  “You guys said you wanted my help to escape, right? Well, I can do that, but I’m not going to be coming with you. In a few minutes, I’m going to bust out of here, head to a bar, and then maybe rob the royal pace.”

  “You guys can use this opportunity to escape and go find a way back to Earth, or you can stay here and search for your more than likely dead friend.”

  He said this casually before taking another sip from the canister.

  “Man, I love this. Ahh, how long has it been since I’ve had clean water,” he reminisced as memories fshed.

  “Sorry, can’t do. Thorn—erm, I mean, youthful guest, right?” Adin asked as he looked at the boy.

  “Okay, it’s your life. If you want to kill yourself for your friend, go ahead. Oh, and you can call me Thorn,” he said. “Short and simple. Don’t you think?” He smiled before taking another drink.

  Adin frowned for a moment. Looking at the carefree guy, he spoke.

  “I’m not here for a friend, okay? I’m here for my brother. He’s the one we’re looking for,” Adin said.

  Thorn listened for a moment before replying. “My advice still stands.”

  “Hey Thorn, is there anything you could tell us about this world? I mean, you want us to leave so bad, so there must be a reason,” Cale inquired.

  “Just think of it as me repaying you for the drink. You don’t know how long it’s been since I st had clean water. He replied with a smile But you want advice, right? Ummm, oh, I’ve got some.”

  1. Just know that Humans are the most feared and hated race in this new world… heh Although we’re not the weakest, as fantasy stories often portray us as, we’re also not the strongest. 2. Everything and I mean everything in this world will, more or less, try to kill you simply because you’re human. But 3 the most important threat for you guys, in my opinion, is the "Animals"...

  Cale and Adin both, listening to this had plenty of questions swirling in their minds after hearing Thorn’s words. Yet, those questions vanished instantly, repced by a single, unsettling word: animals.

  "Animals?" Cale and Adin echoed simultaneously, their voices ced with uncertainty and curiosity, as if they weren’t sure they’d heard correctly.

  "Yeah creepy little shits," Thorn shot back. "If anyone hates humans more than anything, it’s them. I get it you might not think of animals as scary. But trust me, they are. And no, these aren’t your cute animal-human hybrids like the ones on Earth. These are full-fledged animals acting like humans. I know right, it's creepy, isn’t it?"

  He leaned forward slightly, his tone darkening. "Have you ever seen a deer running on all fours suddenly stop, stare at you from a distance... and then slowly rise onto its two legs?

  "It’s in that moment when their autonomy somehow shifts that they start running at you like a human, all while still looking like a full-fledged animal," Thorn continued, his voice heavy with tension, casting an eerie weight over the room.

  "If there’s one thing you should never do in this world, it’s trust an animal’s words. Never trust what they say. Never think they're telling you the truth, or follow them… doubt anything you see and hear from them. And if you see/notice one run! Flee the area. Don’t even look back. Hesitate even for a moment, and you’re dead."

  He paused, voice increasing the eerie atmosphere. "And these animals remember, They’re fast, faster than you’d ever believe. Some are small, others massive. But they all share one trait in common: when they get close to you, you start to hear voices. Voices of various people, some could be nobles, others children, even a friend or someone you might have once known.

  "But just know that once you hear those voices," he warned, "know this, you’re already surrounded. And unless you’re strong enough to fight them off, or you’ve got some artifact or item to teleport far away or shield you from these 'animals'—then start counting your days because That’s when you die. Or should I say that's when you join their collection of humans."

  He leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a chilling whisper as he faced the two. "After all... since when could an animal ever speak in the human tongue?"