On the second morning, the sky was so wide open there wasn't even a trace of clouds.
But the sea felt strange.
It was too still.
So still it felt like it was "waiting."
Kael stood at the bow, gripping the rope a little tighter than usual. He stared at the horizon he had once seen from land—but now it looked different.
Because now… they were "outside of it."
"The rope's untied!" Miro shouted excitedly, watching the shore slowly drift farther away.
"We're still within a range where we can turn back if we want," Liora said immediately, though her eyes stayed on the map.
Miro turned to her with a grin. "But we're already here."
He fell silent for a moment.
Kael said nothing, only gave a slight nod.
The ship slowly pulled away from the dock.
Little by little.
Until eventually… the land became only a thin line behind them.
A soft wind blew in.
But it didn't feel like the sea wind Kael knew.
It felt like a wind that was "breathing."
Liora frowned. "Strange…"
"What is?" Miro asked.
"The wind current changed direction on its own," she replied. "With no natural reason."
Kael looked down at the water.
It was too smooth.
No crashing waves like usual.
It felt like a vast surface of water that was "quietly listening for something."
Hours passed.
The shore was gone.
Only sea and sky remained.
Miro had become a little quieter, though he still tried to smile. "Now this… this is a real adventure."
Liora didn't respond. She wrote something in her notebook.
"No other ships," she said softly. "Since we left."
Kael nodded.
He had noticed too.
The sea was vast, yet there were no ships, no birds, no fish—nothing but the sound of the wood creaking and their own breathing.
As if the world had been reduced to just the three of them.
Suddenly, Kael stopped.
"Stop the ship," he said immediately.
Miro turned. "What is it?"
Kael didn't answer.
He stared down at the water.
Something beneath the surface… was "moving."
Not a fish.
Not a wave.
But a large shadow drifting slowly under the sea.
Liora quickly moved closer. "Kael, what's down there?"
Kael shook his head slightly.
"…I don't know."
The shadow passed beneath the ship.
Then disappeared.
Silence.
Too long.
Miro forced a laugh. "Maybe it was just a really big fish…"
But his voice wasn't the same anymore.
Kael looked toward the horizon again.
And he began to feel it.
The sea they were in now…
was no longer the same sea they had seen from land.
The wind blew again.
But this time, it carried a "sound."
Very faint.
Like a call from somewhere too far to see.
Kael clenched his fist.
He didn't know what it was.
But he knew one thing.
They had truly begun their journey.
The creaking of the ship echoed softly with the barely moving waves.
After the shadow beneath the sea vanished, silence returned again.
Miro tried to lighten the mood. "Well, at least it didn't jump out and eat the ship, right?"
Liora didn't answer right away. She stared at the water for a moment before speaking quietly.
"That wasn't a fish."
Miro froze. "Then what was it?"
"…I don't know," Liora admitted. "But the current just now was wrong."
That made the silence heavier.
Kael still stood at the bow. His gaze never left the horizon, as if trying to "read" the sea beyond what it showed.
"We can still move forward, right?" Miro asked again, his voice a little quieter now.
Kael nodded. "Yes."
Just that. Simple—but enough for Miro to breathe easier.
More hours passed.
The sun tilted slowly downward.
The sea remained still. No strong waves, no wind—only a horizon so distant it looked drawn by a single stroke.
Liora opened the map again, but she fell silent.
"Strange…" she murmured.
"What now?" Miro asked.
"Our position…" she frowned. "It doesn't match the map anymore."
Kael turned immediately. "What do you mean?"
"We should be traveling straight, but the route is… bending itself," she pointed at the map. "As if the world refuses to let us move in a straight line."
Silence returned.
But this time, it wasn't the silence of the sea.
It was the silence of something not understood.
Suddenly—
Miro pointed ahead. "What is that?"
Everyone looked up at once.
Far ahead on the water, something was floating.
It wasn't a large island. Not a ship.
It looked like a "fragment of something"—like an old wooden door standing upright on the surface of the sea with nothing holding it in place.
Kael narrowed his eyes.
"We're not heading toward that," he said.
But the ship slowly changed direction on its own.
Gradually.
As if something was "pulling" them toward it.
"Kael…" Liora said softly. "This isn't normal."
Miro swallowed. "Or… maybe it's the way to the edge of the world?"
No one answered.
Kael looked at the wooden door floating in the sea.
He felt something.
Not fear.
But a "pull."
As if the sea itself was saying—
if you want to go forward, you must pass through this.
He took a quiet breath.
"Get ready," Kael said.
Miro smiled again, though nervousness lingered. "Finally, something interesting!"
Liora clenched her fist. "This could be a trap…"
Kael didn't look back.
"Whatever it is," he said slowly.
"we have to see it."
The ship moved closer to the door, inch by inch.
The water around them became unnaturally still.
As if the world itself was "holding its breath."
And in that moment—
all sound of the sea disappeared.
Leaving only their ship… and the wooden door waiting in the middle of the ocean.