Sherry's gaze slowly moved across the room. There were six people standing before her, all members of the expedition that had entered the ancient ruins with her parents three years ago.
But something was clearly wrong.
There should have been ten people in the expedition, including her parents. Yet only six were here, and neither of her parents was among the survivors.
"Where are the others?"
Her voice was quiet, but the question immediately made the room fall silent. Sherry looked around once more, as though her parents might somehow be among the people standing before her.
Then her gaze settled on the middle-aged woman.
"Where are my parents?" she asked, her voice trembling.
No one answered immediately. The six survivors exchanged uneasy glances, their expressions complicated, as though they had been expecting this question but didn't know how to answer it.
Sherry's heart sank as she watched their reactions. Their expressions were not those of people who had good news to share.
"What happened?"
Marie hesitated before finally speaking.
"We got separated."
Sherry's eyes widened.
"Separated?"
"It happened after we encountered the guardians. We were exploring the ruins when they suddenly started appearing." She paused, her expression becoming grim. "Everyone tried to retreat, but we were forced to split up. The situation became chaotic, and some of us managed to escape together while the others went in different directions."
The woman lowered her gaze.
"By the time we were far enough away, we couldn't find them anymore. We've been searching for them ever since."
Sherry listened silently, her expression gradually stiffening.
Alex had been quietly observing the conversation, but his attention shifted toward the System Map. The entire section was still highlighted as the search area for the missing expedition team, just as it had been when they first entered.
The map didn't show the exact locations of the missing members, but the highlighted area indicated that the search objective was still active.
Alex glanced at Sherry. The hope that had appeared in her eyes was beginning to waver. She had finally found the expedition team, only to learn that her parents were still missing.
He couldn't let her lose hope now. He looked toward Sherry and spoke calmly.
"Your parents were separated from the group, but that doesn't mean they're dead. We just need to find them as well."
Sherry remained silent, listening carefully.
"You've waited for more than three years to find them," Alex continued. "Don't lose hope now."
The moment he finished speaking, everyone in the room turned toward him.
One of the men stared at Alex with a trembling expression before finally speaking.
"So... three years have already passed outside?"
Alex nodded.
The man's expression changed completely. "To us, it has only been a little over a month." The room fell silent.
Alex already knew that the flow of time inside the independent space was different, but hearing the survivors confirm it made the situation much clearer.
The survivors had entered the ruins more than three years ago, yet from their perspective, only around a month had passed. They had known that such a difference in time could occur inside an independent space, but knowing something theoretically and experiencing it firsthand were two very different things.
The others exchanged uneasy glances.
They had already suspected that more time had passed outside when they saw Sherry. The small girl they remembered had somehow grown into the young woman standing before them.
Now, after hearing Alex confirm that more than three years had passed outside, the truth finally sank in.
"So that's why..." one of them muttered.
Sherry's expression became complicated as she listened.
If the expedition had only experienced a month inside the ruins, then the possibility that her parents were still alive was far greater than they had initially assumed.
Alex looked toward the survivors.
"Then we don't have time to waste. Tell us everything that happened after you were separated."
The survivors exchanged glances before slowly nodding and beginning to explain exactly what had happened.
Alex and Sherry spent some time questioning the survivors about everything that had happened since they entered the ruins. The information they received was fragmented, but it was enough to give them a general idea of what had happened.
The expedition had initially entered the ruins without encountering anything particularly dangerous. They had explored the first section, passed through the maze, and reached the abandoned complex without any trouble.
It was only after they ventured deeper into the ruins that things began to change.
According to the survivors, they had been exploring normally when something triggered a mechanism somewhere deeper inside the ruins. Not long afterward, the guardians suddenly appeared.
The appearance of the sentinels had caught everyone completely off guard.
"They just appeared?" Alex asked.
"We didn't see anything like them before that. One moment, everything was quiet. Then suddenly, those things were everywhere."
They still seemed uneasy whenever they talked about the sentinels.
"We tried to avoid them at first, but we didn't understand how they worked. Once they started moving, everyone panicked. That's when the group was separated."
Alex nodded thoughtfully.
So the sentinels hadn't been actively patrolling the ruins when the expedition first arrived. Something had caused them to activate, and whatever that trigger was, the expedition had encountered it only a few days ago.
That meant there was a possibility the same thing could happen again.
After discussing the situation for a while, Alex eventually came to a decision.
The survivors would stay in the current area. They were exhausted, and some of them had clearly been through more than enough already. More importantly, taking all six of them deeper into the ruins would only make the search more difficult.
Alex had been particularly insistent about this.
"There are too many of us," he explained. "Searching with a large group will slow us down, and we don't know when those guardians might appear again."
The survivors didn't seem entirely convinced at first.
"You intend to search the ruins with just the two of you?" one of the men asked.
Alex nodded.
"It'll be easier that way."
There was other reasons he preferred searching alone, but he had no intention of explaining it.
Sherry, however, immediately spoke up.
"I'm going with Alex."
He had expected that answer.
Even if he told her to stay behind, Sherry would probably insist on coming. This wasn't simply a matter of curiosity for her. Her parents were somewhere in these ruins, and there was no chance she would willingly remain behind while someone else searched for them.
After a brief discussion, the survivors finally agreed.
They would remain in the current area and wait for Alex and Sherry to return with the others.
The other four members of the expedition had been separated somewhere in the middle section, so Alex and Sherry decided to begin their search there.
◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆
Alex and Sherry left the survivors behind and continued deeper into the ruins.
The moment they entered the more dangerous part of the middle section, Alex cast
They kept to the shadows whenever possible, avoiding the open streets and constantly checking their surroundings. The System Map was especially useful now, as several red markers were moving throughout the area.
The sentinels were everywhere.
Fortunately, most of them were far enough away that Alex and Sherry could avoid them. Whenever one came too close, Alex simply changed their route and waited for it to pass before continuing.
Their search proceeded slowly.
They were looking for any trace of the remaining members of the expedition, but there were simply too many ruined structures to investigate. Every building could potentially contain a clue, yet spending too much time in one place would increase the chances of running into a sentinel.
Alex kept his attention divided between their surroundings and the System Map.
A slight disturbance suddenly came from somewhere to the north. Alex immediately stopped. Sherry, who had been following closely behind him, also stopped and looked in the same direction.
"What is it?"
Alex didn't answer immediately.
He focused his senses on the area, but the distance and the ruined structures made it difficult to determine exactly what had caused the disturbance.
His eyes shifted toward the System Map. One of the nearby red markers had stopped before changing direction and moving north.
Alex's expression changed.
'It noticed something too.'
The sentinel was heading directly toward the disturbance. Alex stared at the map for a moment before a possibility suddenly occurred to him.
'Could that be them?' His thoughts immediately turned toward the missing members of the expedition.
If one of them had caused the disturbance, the sentinel might have detected them as well. And if that was the case, they could be in serious danger.
Alex looked toward Sherry, who seemed to understand from his expression that something was wrong.
"Sherry, go to the disturbance to the north and search that area."
Alex pointed in the direction of the disturbance before turning his attention back toward the approaching red marker.
"I'll deal with the sentinel."
Sherry's expression immediately became worried.
"Alex..."
"Don't worry. I won't fight it unless I have to."
He gave her a reassuring look.
"Just find out what caused that disturbance. If it's one of the expedition members, get them somewhere safe."
Sherry hesitated for a moment before nodding. She turned toward the north and carefully moved away.
Alex watched her disappear between the ruined buildings before looking back at the System Map. The red marker was getting closer.
His expression gradually became serious.
'If that disturbance really was caused by one of them, I can't let the sentinel reach them.'
He stepped out from the cover of the ruins and moved in the opposite direction.
If the sentinel was going to investigate the disturbance, Alex would simply give it something else to worry about.