For a moment, no one spoke.
The atmosphere inside the cave slowly returned to calm after Hana's words. Some students began to focus on the belongings they'd brought from the bus, while others simply sat in silence, trying to calm themselves.
But the calm felt fragile.
No one could truly forget what had just happened.
The first bus that plunged into the ravine. The people chasing them. The spears flying at an unbelievable speed. And now they were hiding in a cave, in the middle of a forest they didn't even recognize.
Raven was still sitting with his back against the wall. Hana was not far from him, occasionally glancing his way without saying a word.
Meanwhile, Theo was checking the number of students who had managed to get off the bus when a soft voice came from the corner of the cave.
"Um… sorry. I want to say something. Is that okay?"
Several heads turned.
A skinny student with messy hair stood there hesitantly. His shirt was a little too big, and his face was still pale, but his eyes looked serious.
Theo looked up.
"Go ahead, Erik."
Erik took a breath. Beside him, a guy and a girl stood not far away, as if offering a little support without wanting to become the center of attention.
"I..." Erik swallowed. "This might just be my hypothesis, so don't assume I'm right right away."
A few students began to pay attention to him.
Erik scanned the cave before finally continuing.
"But after everything that happened today… I think there's something we need to consider."
He paused for a moment.
"I think… we're trapped in another world."
Silence fell over the cave once more.
No one laughed right away.
Some just stared at each other, as if unsure they'd actually heard what he'd said.
"Another world…?" someone's voice whispered.
Then another voice followed.
"What do you mean?"
"Another world? Seriously?"
"Are you crazy?"
"How could that be?"
Doubt quickly turned into a small commotion. Some students interrupted one another, while others simply shook their heads in disbelief.
Kyle bowed his head, rubbing his face with both hands. Karin just snorted, clearly uninterested in following the debate.
Lisa covered her mouth, trying to hold back her trembling breath. Meanwhile, Hana, who had been trying to look strong all along, turned pale again. The mention of another world brought her thoughts back to Carl, the first bus, and everyone they'd left behind.
Raven remained silent.
She sat leaning against the cave wall, her fists slowly clenching until the knuckles turned white. Her gaze was fixed on the stone floor, but her thoughts returned to the things that had seemed nonsensical from the very beginning.
"Quiet."
Theo's voice cut through the commotion.
He looked at them one by one before turning his gaze to Erik.
"If you don't believe him, at least hear him out first."
Erik took a deep breath. This time, his voice sounded more confident.
"I know this sounds crazy. I don't want to believe it either."
He scratched the back of his neck for a moment, then pointed toward the mouth of the cave.
"But think about what we just went through."
A few students began to pay attention to him again.
"What ordinary person could throw a spear that far?" Erik continued. "And at that speed? They almost caught up to our bus."
He paused for a moment.
"Not to mention this place."
Erik's gaze swept across the entire cave.
"Weren't we just on the highway a moment ago?"
No one answered.
"We suddenly found ourselves stranded in a grassy field. No roads, no cars, no buildings. Even our cell service is gone."
His voice grew quieter.
"So if this isn't our world… then where are we, exactly?"
Silence.
No one could answer that question right away.
"And if I'm wrong…" Erik glanced at William and the female counselor standing not far away.
"I can ask the advisors directly. At least we can confirm where we really are."
Several pairs of eyes turned toward them as well.
William and the female counselor exchanged glances. Both seemed a little surprised by the question, but William finally took a few steps forward.
"If you're asking whether we're really in another world..." He shook his head slowly. "We don't know either."
Erik fell silent.
"But there are some things we really can't explain."
William recalled what they had seen while they were still in the meadow.
"We were supposed to be on the highway just a moment ago. But when we got off the bus, all we saw was a grassy field and a forest. No roads, no other vehicles—not even any signs of a settlement."
He paused for a moment.
"And about the cell service… it's true. Our phones still work, but not a single one of us has a signal."
The female counselor beside him gave a slight nod.
"That's what's been puzzling us from the start."
Those words only made the atmosphere feel even heavier.
"If… if what you're saying is true…" a student asked softly, "does that mean we're going to be stuck here forever?"
Erik lowered his head for a moment.
"I don't know."
The answer sounded so honest that no one could argue with it.
"But if we really are in another world..." Erik continued hesitantly, "there's usually something that helps people like us survive."
A few people frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know. A system, special abilities, some kind of power..." Erik shrugged. "At least that's how it usually goes in the novels I've read."
"So you think we have powers?"
One student gave a hollow laugh.
"If we really had it, why were we only able to run just now?"
Erik opened his mouth but couldn't come up with an answer right away.
"I was just talking about a possibility."
"A story from a novel?"
Someone snorted from behind.
"We just went through something that almost killed us. We even saw our own friends die, and you're comparing it to a work of fiction?"
A small murmur rose again.
"Enough!"
William's voice cut through the commotion.
Everyone slowly fell silent.
William looked at Erik seriously.
"If everything you said earlier was just based on speculation, then what exactly is your conclusion?"
Erik swallowed hard.
He glanced briefly toward the cave entrance before turning his gaze back to everyone.
"It's just a theory."
He took a deep breath.
"But if you look at the people chasing us… the weapons they're carrying, the power they've displayed…"
Erik paused.
"I think we're no longer in our own world. Everything we've seen so far clearly shows that this world is different."
His gaze slowly swept across the entire room.
"The world we're in right now..."
He swallowed hard.
"...is the world of Murim."
Silence.
"Murim…?"
Someone repeated the word in a near-whisper.
"What is that?"
Confusion spread quickly. Pale faces glanced at one another, seeking an explanation.
In the corner of the cave, Raven, who had been silent until then, suddenly furrowed his brow.
"Murim…"
For some reason, it sounded both strange and familiar to him. Like a faint echo of something he once knew—or should have known.
Erik took a breath before continuing his explanation.
"From a few novels I've read… Murim is a kind of fictional world usually set during the era of ancient empires or dynasties. It's about martial arts, and the people there can train their bodies to far surpass those of ordinary humans."
He paused for a moment, making sure everyone was still listening.
"They're called martial artists. And some of them can use something called qi—energy within the body that's trained to the point where it can be used to strengthen the body or to attack."
A few students exchanged glances.
"So… a world full of martial artists?" someone asked hesitantly.
Erik nodded.
"More or less."
He then looked at them one by one.
"If this really is the Murim world, that means we can't expect the laws we know to apply here."
"Why?"
"Because strength determines everything."
Erik's voice sounded increasingly serious.
"The strong can protect themselves. The weak..." He paused for a moment. "Can be trampled on. Even killed."
The cave fell silent again.
A few students shuddered.
"Nonsense!" someone suddenly interrupted. His tone sounded more like an attempt to convince himself. "That's just a story from a novel. How could it possibly—"
"Then try explaining those people from earlier."
Erik cut him off.
He pointed toward the mouth of the cave.
"They were able to run after the bus. One of them threw a spear that destroyed the first bus. They were also wearing clothes that looked like they were from ancient times."
No one answered.
"If we were still in our world," Erik continued, "I'd also like to believe there's another explanation for all of that."
He sighed.
"But now… I'm not so sure."
"Ancient clothing…?"
Raven furrowed her brow. Those words immediately pulled her into the shadow of a dream that often haunted her sleep—one in which a strange man wore long, ancient-style robes, characteristic of a dynasty she had once researched herself.
Instantly, a chill began to creep down her spine.
"Could it be… that the dream has something to do with all this?"
"If that's true…" another voice trembled,
"what's happening to us? Do we also… have to become like them?"
Erik was silent for a moment, then looked down. His hand clenched the hem of his loose-fitting shirt. "I don't know. But if the novel's pattern holds true… then we have two choices: adapt… or die."
A small commotion broke out again; some students began to panic, some were angry, and others laughed cynically in disbelief. But Theo's gaze remained unwavering. He stared at Erik, his eyes dark, lost in silent thought.
Raven, for his part, was still leaning against the cave wall, his face lost in the shadows of his thoughts. Murim's words swirled in his head, mingling with a strange dream that felt increasingly real.
Suddenly, Lisa's voice cut through the commotion. "Wait!" she said quickly, her tone almost desperate.
"In those stories you were talking about earlier, Erik… there's always a way home, right? The main characters… they usually manage to return to their own world, don't they?"
"If this were a typical fantasy world, maybe," he said finally. "Usually there's magic, artifacts, or something that can bring them back."
He shook his head slowly.
"But if this really is the world of Murim, we can't expect it to be that easy."
"Why?"
A woman's voice came from behind him.
"Because the world of Murim doesn't work that way."
Everyone turned their heads.
The girl who had been sitting near the wall slowly stood up. She winced slightly as her sprained ankle bore her weight.
"Rahel, your foot still hurts," a female student sitting not far from her reminded her. "Don't push yourself."
"It's okay. I can still stand."
Rahel replied calmly before turning her gaze back to Erik.
"You're right about one thing. If this really is the Murim world, we can't expect to find our way home just because we want to."
She took a slow step toward him. Her golden-blonde hair, braided into two plaits, fell across her shoulders, while her blue eyes looked sharp even though her face was still pale from her injuries.
"We might be able to find a way home," Rahel continued, "but don't expect this world to give us that answer easily."
Several students fell silent.
Kyle, who had been sitting not far from there all along, only just realized who the girl was.
Rahel.
The girl he'd helped earlier when they got out of the overturned bus. But seeing her now, Kyle felt there was something different about her.
Before, Rahel had just looked like any other injured and frightened college student. But the way she was speaking now made Kyle unconsciously keep his eyes on her.
It wasn't because she seemed brave.
Rather, it was as if Rahel were speaking based on something more than mere conjecture.