Raven was the first to set foot on the ground.
As soon as she stepped off the bus, the cold air immediately hit her face. It was a different kind of cold from the night air on the mountain road earlier. It felt sharper, piercing right down to her bones.
She stopped.
Her eyes slowly scanned the scene before her.
A vast meadow stretched out beneath the faint moonlight. A few tall trees stood far ahead, their trunks and branches slowly disappearing into the fog. There were no streetlights. No sound of vehicles. Even the sound of insects was barely audible.
It was too quiet.
In the distance, several counselors and students from the first bus had already gathered. Some were busy talking, some were trying to hold their cell phones high to get a signal, while others simply stood there, looking around with confused expressions.
Shortly afterward, the students from the second bus began getting off one by one.
"Where are we, anyway?"
"Wow… this place is crazy."
"Brrr… it's freezing."
"Hey, do your phones have a signal?"
"Nope. Mine doesn't either."
"Seriously? But the air feels so nice."
Those voices spread among them. Some chuckled to break the awkwardness, while others began to look restless.
Raven wasn't paying any attention to them.
Instead, his gaze was fixed on the fog in the distance.
There was something there.
He didn't know what.
The same feeling he'd had when he woke up from his dream earlier came back. Only this time, it was much stronger.
"Raven..."
A soft voice brought him back to his senses a little.
Hana was already standing beside him.
She looked at Raven, her face still showing concern.
"Are you okay?"
Raven didn't answer.
His gaze remained fixed on the forest hidden behind the fog. Hana waited a few seconds before calling out to him again.
"Raven?"
A hand then gently tapped his shoulder.
"Hey, bro."
Kyle was standing beside him.
"What was up with you earlier? You're okay now, right?"
Raven remained silent.
Kyle waited a moment, then turned his head away.
"What's wrong with him, anyway?"
Karin, who was standing not far from them, sighed.
"I don't know either. He's been acting really weird this whole time."
Lisa shot Kyle a glance.
"Even this idiot can't get a reaction out of him."
Kyle immediately turned to face her.
"Hey! Why am I the one getting blamed?"
Lisa just shrugged.
"Isn't that true?"
"You bookworm."
"At least I don't make a racket every five minutes."
"Oh my gosh, here you go again…" Karin tapped her forehead.
Their conversation continued, but Raven could barely hear it. Her friends' voices sounded faint, as if coming from a place far, far away.
She looked down at the ground beneath her feet.
For some reason, something felt wrong.
It wasn't because they were suddenly in a strange place. On the contrary, this place felt all too familiar.
Raven took a slow breath.
The scent of wet earth carried by the wind and the cold air brushing against her skin, with fog hanging among the trees.
It all felt like something she had known before.
Once...
Raven furrowed her brow.
The memory didn't come into focus clearly. Just fragments of a feeling that were hard to grasp, but the longer she stood there, the stronger that feeling grew.
It was as if his body recognized this place before his mind did.
Déjà vu?
No.
Raven wasn't sure it was just déjà vu. He stared at the forest hidden behind the fog. There was something there that made his chest feel strange. As if he had stood on this ground before, as if this air had once been a part of his life, as if this foreign place—which he should never have known—...
was a home she had long since left behind.
Amid their still-tense conversation, Carl suddenly appeared, waving his hand.
"Hey, everyone!" he called out.
Kyle immediately frowned. "What now, wibu?" he asked listlessly, his voice flat but clearly tinged with annoyance.
Everyone turned toward Carl, except Raven, who remained silent.
"Why are you all so tense? Seriously, it's like you just came back from a war," Carl said with a wide smile, trying to lighten the mood.
"If you want to joke around, find another time. It's not funny."
"Whoa, whoa. So the Clown can actually be serious too."
Kyle immediately narrowed his eyes.
"Huh? You're such a delusional guy. Just go live in your two-dimensional world over there."
"Speaking of you, your voice sounds just like an alarm clock every morning," Carl retorted, his tone flat but cutting.
"What?!"
Kyle was about to respond, but Lisa's voice cut him off first.
"Can't the two of you just shut up for one day?"
Carl and Kyle both turned to look at her.
Lisa stood with her arms crossed over her chest, her face clearly showing that her patience was running out.
"We're trying to think about Raven, and you two are arguing like little kids."
"She started it," Kyle said quickly.
"Take a look in the mirror, Clown," Carl retorted.
"Oh my gosh…" Karin massaged her temples. "Is it really that hard to go five minutes without arguing?"
Meanwhile, Hana didn't budge. Her gaze remained fixed on Raven, who stood stiffly as if she hadn't heard a thing. Hana's face was full of concern, as if she wanted to know what was on Raven's mind.
Carl, sensing the tension, approached Kyle and whispered, "What's going on with Raven, anyway?"
Kyle snorted in annoyance. "It's a long story."
Carl scratched his head. "Uh, but… I heard someone screaming on your bus earlier, like they were possessed. Who was that? Because the kids on the first bus were all abuzz about it."
The atmosphere among them suddenly shifted. Hana tensed up, Lisa immediately shot Carl a sharp glance, and Karin could only let out a soft sigh.
Carl blinked, confused.
"What?"
No one answered him. He immediately followed the direction of their gaze.
Raven.
Carl immediately understood what they meant.
"Oh…"
He swallowed hard.
"Him?"
Lisa just gave a slight nod.
"Oh." Carl rubbed the back of his neck. "Okay. I said the wrong thing."
Kyle patted him on the shoulder.
"Good that you realized it."
"Shut up."
For a few moments, no one continued the conversation.
Carl then looked around. Fog still hung among the trees. There were no roads. No buildings. Not even the sound of a vehicle could be heard.
His smile returned, though this time it looked a little forced.
"But seriously…"
He gestured around them.
"Don't you guys think this place is weird?"
Kyle raised an eyebrow.
"Just now realizing that?"
"That's not what I meant."
Carl stared at the forest in the distance.
"The situation is like..."
He paused for a moment, then his eyes lit up.
"…Another world."
Lisa immediately closed her eyes.
"Don't even start."
"A foreign world, mysterious fog, no signal, no roads…" Carl counted them off on his fingers.
"And then we suddenly find ourselves stranded in the middle of nowhere." He pointed at himself with conviction.
"If you ask me… I don't think we're in the same place anymore. This situation is exactly like what I often see in comics or anime."
Kyle just chuckled.
"If that's true, I hope I get superpowers."
"Kyle!"
"What?"
Lisa stared at him in disbelief.
"Are you seriously going along with this?"
Kyle shrugged.
"You never know."
"You're such an idiot."
"Hey!"
Carl chuckled as he watched the two of them argue again.
But Karin didn't laugh.
Her gaze, however, was fixed on the coaches standing not far away.
They were still talking in small groups. No one was laughing. No one looked relaxed.
Even from a distance, Karin could see that some of them kept staring toward the fog as if they were waiting for something.
Suddenly, Raven moved. His steps were slow but steady, breaking the silence as he headed toward the coaches.
That movement silenced everyone. Hana was about to call out to him, but her voice caught in her throat. They could only look at one another, tension creeping through the air.
What exactly was Raven going to do now?
Raven kept walking until he finally stopped a few steps behind the instructors.
William and the others were still busy watching the fog in front of them. Not far from there, the faint silhouette of the driver who had left earlier was still visible from time to time behind the white fog.
Raven stared in that direction. For some reason, her chest suddenly felt tight. A strange feeling welled up the moment she looked that way.
It wasn't just worry.
It was more like…
Fear.
The fear that something bad would happen if that person kept walking.
Raven's breathing grew heavy.
"Call that person back."
Her voice was flat, but clear enough to silence the counselors' conversation.
William turned his head.
"Raven?"
"Call him back."
William furrowed his brow.
"Why?"
Raven didn't answer right away. Her eyes were still fixed on the fog.
"Don't let him keep going."
One of the counselors sighed.
"He just wants to find out if anyone's there. It won't be long before—"
"Call him back."
This time, Raven's voice sounded firmer.
William stared at him for a moment.
"Calm down. There's no reason to panic. We don't know what's behind that fog yet."
Raven finally turned her head, and her expression changed.
There was something there that made William fall silent without realizing it.
"I know."
Raven clenched her fists.
"That's the problem."
William hadn't had a chance to ask any further questions when Raven turned her gaze back ahead.
The driver's silhouette was growing fainter.
And for some reason, Raven's heart was pounding harder and harder.
"Hey!"
Raven stepped forward.
"TURN BACK!"
Her voice echoed across the meadow.
The driver didn't stop.
Raven took a deep breath, then shouted with all her might.
"DON'T GO THERE!"
Raven's scream suddenly burst out.
Everyone jumped.
"HEY! TURN AROUND! DON'T GO THERE!"
Her voice echoed across the meadow, then was slowly swallowed by the fog. A few students standing not far away immediately turned to look.
William himself looked startled.
"Raven, that's enough!" he snapped. "Why are you yelling like that?"
But Raven didn't answer.
Her eyes remained fixed on the figure in the distance.
The driver didn't stop but instead kept driving.
Raven felt her heart beating faster and faster. She didn't know where that feeling came from, but something inside her kept screaming that this person must not go any further.
Raven took a deep breath.
Then she screamed again.
"STOP HIM!"
Everyone fell silent.
"IF NOT... HE'LL DIE!"
Silence. The atmosphere suddenly froze as those words, like a bomb, exploded in the air.
"What do you mean?" Mr. William's voice changed; there was a barely audible tremor of panic.
Several counselors exchanged glances, confused and uncertain.
"This kid… said someone's going to die? Is he crazy?" one of them said firmly.
Whispers began to rise from among the students.
"Isn't he Raven?"
"The one who was yelling on the bus earlier?"
Kevin stood not far from the crowd. His gaze fixed on Raven, then shifted to the fog.
"He does look like someone who's lost his mind."
That remark was immediately met with more whispers.
"Oh my gosh, this person is getting weirder and weirder."
"Such a show-off. Acting like a hero."
"Is he crazy or something??"
"Wow, this is so dramatic, hahaha!"
A few chuckles could be heard. Some faces held back sarcastic smiles.
A few chuckles could be heard. Raven's friends, standing nearby, could only hold back their reactions. Karin clenched her fists, her face tense; Kyle glared at Kevin with a sharp, angry look; while Lisa merely snorted, her eyes sweeping over the people who had started gossiping.
But Hana didn't say a word.
She just stared at Raven.
There was something in Raven's expression that made her unable to just brush all this off as a joke.
Raven didn't look like someone seeking attention.
She looked...
Scared.
Hana clutched the hem of her own shirt.
"What exactly did you see, Raven?"
The next second, the world seemed to come to a standstill as a piercing scream suddenly rent the air.
"AAAAAAHHHHH!!!"
Every head turned at once.
A female student stood a few meters away from them. Her face was deathly pale, her body shaking violently, while one hand pointed toward the fog.
"S-She...!"
Her voice was barely audible.
"HE'S DEAD!"
Instantly, the atmosphere froze.
William turned immediately.
"What?"
No one answered.
All eyes slowly followed the direction of the female student's pointing finger, and they saw it. Behind the fog that was beginning to thin, the driver's body hung lifelessly.
A large spear had pierced his chest.
The tip protruded from his back, black and wet with blood that was still dripping slowly onto the grass.
There was a moment of silence, then chaos erupted.
Someone covered their mouth.
Others backed away with trembling steps.
"Oh my God..."
"Is he... really dead?"
"Run!"
Panic broke out in an instant.
"AAAAAAHHHHH!!!"
The students scattered.
Some collided with one another. Some tripped and fell to the ground, while others ran back toward the bus without daring to look back.
"EVERYONE BACK!"
Raven's voice boomed amid the chaos.
It was unlike anything before.
There was no hesitation in her voice.
"DON'T GO NEAR THE FOG!"
William snapped out of his shock.
"EVERYONE GET BACK ON THE BUS!"
The counselors immediately tried to guide the students back to the vehicle. But panic had already spread too quickly.
Karin pulled Hana aside as several students jostled past them.
"Hana! Come on!"
"Wait—Raven!"
She turned her head.
Raven was still standing in the same spot.
His gaze wasn't fixed on the driver's body.
Instead, he was staring further ahead.
Beyond the fog.
His expression slowly changed.
"There's something out there..."
Her voice was barely audible.
No one noticed that behind the increasingly thick fog, other shadows were beginning to move. Heavy footsteps. Rough breathing. Those figures began moving toward Raven's group.
This wasn't just an accident.
This was the beginning of a nightmare.