As the cultist led the other prisoner his way Drake found himself with two choices; either he escapes to the tunnel opposite to the one they were in or return to his cell. 

Thinking fast he picked the later realizing how things would go the moment the cultist finds out he wasn’t where they left him.

Drake climbed back into his cage and closed it careful not to make any sound. He then laid on his side and hid his arms behind his back pretending that they’re still tied.

Seeing the orange glow drawing closer he shut my eyes and played dead praying that the cultist doesn’t notice anything.

Even with his eyes closed Drake could still see the miniature map in the corner of his vision. When he focused for a few seconds it expended showing the entire area he had mapped so far. The white dot representing him was close to the line indicating the dead end. Two more dots appeared at some point, one red and another green, probably representing the cultist and the other prisoner. 

The dots moved slowly until they arrived in front of him. Drake heard the sound of the rusty metallic cell door opening followed by the voice of an adult man saying “Get in” and a loud thud made by something falling on the floor.

“You’ll… you’ll pay for this…” the young prisoner said, clearly struggling to hold back his tears.

“Just behave yourself till the high priest is done.” The cultist said. “Who knows, maybe you’ll get to leave this place in one piece.”

Things went silent for a few second. The cultist lifted his lamp to check Drake’s cell, the orange light becoming visible even through his closed eyelids.

“Two intruders in one day…” The cultist let out a long sigh. “Why today of all days…?”

It was then that Drake realized something important. The cultist was speaking English. Not just him but the kid he brought with him as well. Drake pretty sure he was unable to understand what the other black cloaked men were saying earlier.

How did I-

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

[Would you like to turn off auto-translation?]

[Yes]              [No]

What? No!

When the half transparent blue square appeared with those words written on it Drake panicked for a moment, however the [No] at the bottom blinked once before the square disappeared.

That scared the hell out of me. What the hell? Why would I want to turn off the translation? What was that thing in the first place? System notification? First the map and now that? Could it be that I really am inside a virtual reality game? Don’t tell me my brain has been plugged to the matrix... 

“Is he having a bad dream or what?” As Drake struggled to get his heartbeat under control the cultist caught on to how horrified that notification made him feel. “Well, he did get quite the beating.”

Thankfully the cultist didn’t bother with him anymore and just turned around and left. Drake listened until he could no longer hear the sound of the footsteps while watching the red dot on the map move away. After a while it disappeared as it reached the edge of the area he had mapped.

Shit… I just wonna go home…

Why is this happening to me? And now of all times! The university entrance exams are two months away! I’ve been busting my ass this entire year, this isn’t the time to be stuck in a game or get transported to another world!

Will I be able to return before the exams start? The thought made drake lose hope. Even if he somehow manages to get back he most likely wouldn’t have enough time to get through the materials he has left. That is if he manages to get back in the first place. He realized how low the probabilities of him escaping this place actually are. They were plain unrealistic. As unrealistic as the strange map and the system notification.

Damn it…

He has never been scared like this before. He like he would piss himself at any moment. 

What’s going to happen to me? He asked himself. Those cultists, I hope they don’t use me as a blood sacrifice or something. Can’t they just let me go? I don’t want to die.

“Fucking damn it!”

Thinking he was alone with his thoughts he unconsciously cursed out loud. In the silent darkness of the tunnel any sound is significantly amplified and the other prisoner noticed him immediately. 

“Eh!? Is anyone there? Hello?” He asked, the metallic bars of his cell creaking as he slammed against them in his excitement. 

“Shut the fuck up!” Drake growled, trying to keep his voice as low as possible. “Do you even realize what situation we are in right now?”

“S-sorry, I was just happy I wasn’t alone…”

What the… he’s happy that I’m stuck here with him!? And what do you mean by alone? The damned cultist said there were two intruders just a minute ago!

Drake could already tell the guy in the cell below him isn’t the sharpest tool in the box. He’s been throwing threats at the cultist despite being restrained. Either he has yet to understand the weight of the situation or he’s just dumb and thinks the world works according to his thoughts.

Drake sighed, telling himself that he shouldn’t let that idiot’s stupidity irritate him. He needed to look at the bright side. There is too much that he doesn’t know so hhe was thankful that they brought the idiot there. Drake knew he has to make use of him and extract as much info as possible.

“Hey… I have a few questions.” He said, getting straight to the topic. “Do you know what this place is?”

A few seconds passed before he received a reply.

“I… I don’t know… I was just looking for-…”

“I didn’t ask how you got here.” Drake said interrupting.

“But I really don’t know!”

“Keep your voice down. We don’t want them noticing us.”

This guy really doesn’t understand what kind of situation we are in.

“The men in black. Do you know anything about them?”

“I’m not sure…” the kid said, keeping his voice down this time. “I think they’re followers of the church of Eternal Darkness. I remember hearing the adults talking about them.”

A church? 

Drake had already guessed they were a cult, but he never thought they’re big enough to be called a church.

“Anything else?” Drake asked. 

“I… the elder was really worried when the merchants mentioned them… we were told to not go too far into the forest…”

They’re a dangerous cult, alright. Drake nodded to himself before asking another question. 

“Do you know where we’re right now?”

Connecting the dots, Drake realized the kid ended up there because he ignored this elder's warning. If the forest he spoke of is close to where he lives it’s safe to assume they aren’t that far away. Maybe his family will notice his disappearance and send some people to look for him.

“We’re inside mount Icewyrm… I think…” the kid said. “I found the entrance to the cave while trying to hide from the storm…”

Mount Icewyrm? Cave? Storm? He wasn’t caught when he wondered inside the forest?

“How long has it been since you were caught?” 

Don’t tell me he has gone much further than just the forest…

“Not that long…” 

“The cave you mentioned, how far is it from where you live?”

“About half a day’s walk… when it’s sunny…”

Half a day’s walk. That’s six hours at the very least. This kid had walked the distance despite knowing there is a darkness worshipping cult running around.

There is a lot to take into account, but with everything considered it was easy to say they were miles away from any civilization and as if that wasn’t enough apparently there is a storm outside right now. Help won’t be arriving any time soon. 

In the end I’m still screwed.

As Drake sighed his disappointment trying to think the guy bellow spoke.

“Um… what about you?” He asked. “How did you get caught?”

Drake pondered on whether to answer him or not but decided to keep the conversation going to help him retain his sanity. 

“I don’t know.” He said. “I don’t remember how I got here.” 

Drake doubted that the kid would believe him if he told him about the shadow and how he was dragged there without a warning.

“You don’t remember?” The kid parroted sounding a bit doubtful. 

“Yes. That’s why I asked you if you knew where this place is. I don’t know how or who brought me here.”

That wasn’t really a lie. Drake didn’t know where this place is nor does he know how he got there. He refuses to believe that he had been transported to another world. Being inside a game sounded plausible but technology shouldn’t have developed that far yet. Everything is way too realistic to be a dream too. 

The more he thinks about it the less sense all of this makes.

“What a weirdo…” 

Hearing the quiet murmur, something inside him suddenly snapped.

“You knew those bastards were creeping around and decided to go climbing but I am the weird one?”

“W-well, how am I supposed to believe what you said?” the kid retorted with a shaky voice. “Y-you aren’t actually one of them, are you?”

“like hell I am!” 

Drake wanted to bash his head into the wall. He already had very low tolerance for idiocy but now he wanted nothing but to get away from that kid.