Kirana found herself standing in the middle of the hut as she had done before. 

Beside her, Banyu and Bintang looked equally bewildered. Before she could say anything, however, Banyu fell down. 

“Brother!” Bintang quickly ran and caught his older brother before he hit the floor. Kirana observed as Banyu reassured his little brother that he was fine. 

Banyu then turned to her. “What did you see?” 

Kirana raised an eyebrow. “And what did you see?” 

Banyu looked chagrined, realizing that he couldn’t just ask her nilly willy. He was silent for a few seconds before he said, “I saw a bunch of young girls being tortured,” he whispered. “They were trying to escape, but they got caught back in the forest. I couldn’t do anything because I was invisible.” 

Kirana realized with a heavy heart that because it was the past, she couldn’t change it. The girls never escaped, because she didn’t actually go to the past.  

“I saw the same girls,” she said. From what she heard, Banyu and Bintang didn’t get to participate in any event. They just saw it. Why did she, then? She didn’t say anything about that. “They transformed into the monsters we saw earlier.” 

She touched her [Space Bag] and was reminded of the golden hairpin she took from the box in the old couple’s house. Maybe it was because of that thing that connected her to the past. 

Banyu nodded. “Well, now we know what those things were,” he said. “Bintang, what did you see?” 

The teenager fell silent for a few seconds. “I saw those girls drowned as part of a sacrifice,” he said at last. 

“To the so-called River God,” Kirana nodded. “I see it now. The river god or whatever needed sacrifice. Us, the players, who stumbled into this village at the right time of festival, are going to be used as sacrifices, too.”  

“Then what should we do?” Banyu asked her. 

Kirana shrugged. “Let’s go back first.” 

When they got back to the village, the village chief’s funeral was still going on. So did the festivities. True to Seruni’s words, though, there was no longer music and dancing. She saw nothing interesting like Seruni said, though, probably because of the village chief’s unexpected death? 

The village chief’s body was submerged in the river like Miranda did yesterday. However, there were no water vines like yesterday that pulled him in. Kirana got the feeling that even the ‘river god’ was reluctant to ‘feed’ of him. 

Kirana was thinking of the next move. When in the ‘mini level’, she saw the route to the forest. So, in this dungeon, the forest existed. Why was the boundary limited them to the village? 

Was it because of the ‘river god’? That djinn protected them from ‘ghosts of the forest’ like Mina, the shaman’s daughter said, but also prevented them from going out? But that couldn’t be true. The players could come in. Not to mention the village had to have resources delivered to them. 

Kirana was convinced that something was in the forest; it was just unnecessary for the dungeon’s plot. Obviously, it was about the shaman sacrificing many girls to the ‘river god’ so that he could revive his son. She frowned again. The danger to the girls was obvious, then what about the male players? Were they here just to lay down and win? She didn’t think so. 

There must be another hidden danger that she didn’t notice. She made up her mind to ask the two brothers tomorrow. 

When Kirana entered the bedroom, there was no one inside. Putri probably went out and hadn’t come back. She didn’t care about that woman and just went to rest. 

Tomorrow would be a big day. 

 

[Day 5]

Kirana woke up early in the morning when the sun hadn’t risen yet. She noticed that Putri’s bed had no trace of being slept in and frowned. That woman didn’t come back all night? 

The night wasn’t very dangerous these last few days, and she didn’t know if Putri had any other means of saving her life. She didn’t think about it anymore. She had something to do today and decided to leave the house early. 

The old shaman couple hadn’t woken up yet. Kirana curled up her lips. If they were there, perhaps she couldn’t control her anger anymore. These two disgusting humans actually sacrificed their daughter for their dead son. Such patriarchal and immoral mindset... 

When she went out, the village was still quiet. At first, she thought it was because it was still early, but as she walked on, she realized that something was wrong. Even if it was early, shouldn’t the villagers be preparing for the festival? 

What was going on? Has she unexpectedly stepped into another space, or was this a dream? 

She stopped in front of the village chief’s house and knocked. One minute, two minutes... No response. Narrowing her eyes, Kirana simply pushed open the door. 

She knew the door in front belonged to the two brothers, and the other room was for the other two men. They were still staying there despite the village chief’s death, because the villagers had no other place for them. So, when she knocked on the brothers’ door, she expected some answers. 

Nothing. Did they not go back all night? 

Kirana stood in front of the door for a few seconds. Something was wrong. She realized that the noises that was usually there – the villagers waking up, the old women cooking, the performers preparing... None of them existed. 

She finally decided to open the bedroom door and... found no one inside, as she expected. Expressionlessly, she went through every door and realized that no one was inside. Her face slowly turned grimmer by the second. 

She paused right before opening the main door, but thinking about it... Fine, she had no other choice. 

When she went out of the village chief’s house, the old shaman that she had rarely seen these days stood in front of her. “Shaman,” she said, “shouldn’t you be preparing for the festival?” 

The shaman’s wrinkled face didn’t change as he said, “I am preparing right now.” 

Out of nowhere, from the village chief’s house behind her, vines broke through and restrained her limbs. She narrowed her eyes. “What is this? Is this how your Mountain Village treat their guests?” 

The shaman just curled his lips without speaking. The vines kept coming at her, restraining her. Kirana frowned tightly. From this, the goal was probably to capture her to become the sacrifice. 

She estimated that she had come to another space, probably made by the shaman. Did Miranda come here too before she died? If that was the case, then what did Kirana touch that caused her to be targeted? 

Maybe it wasn’t what she did, maybe it was just... the festival needed a female sacrifice every day. The first day was the chief’s wife, the second day Miranda, the third day... Well, the village chief died, so there was no need—or no chance—to target anyone. 

Kirana gritted her teeth. Well, the shaman chose the wrong person to target. She wasn’t one to give herself up to fate. 

Getting the [Golden Hairpin] out of her space bag, Kirana quickly cut off the vines around her. The shaman’s face changed when he saw the hairpin. “That thing... How could it be with... You!” 

Kirana clasped the hairpin in her hand, making it disappear back into the space. Smiling, she took out the [Stick]. “Well, your daughter gave it to me,” she said casually as she ran away. 

She reviewed the places in her mind. The terrain of the village was obviously not beneficial to her, since the shaman could summon vines from the crack of the wall. She assumed from the earth, too. But the river was even more dangerous. The river djinn that the shaman worshipped lived there. 

So, she climbed the house to get to the straw roof, using the [Stick] to help her. 

The shaman was lifted by his vines and was at the same level as her. “Return it to me!!!” 

Seeing his visceral, red-eyed reaction, Kirana seemed to realize that the [Golden Hairpin] was more valuable than she thought. She glanced down and realized that the vines she cut off with the hairpin were basically dead. Kirana couldn’t help but laugh. Mina’s soul was helping her even now. 

“Your own daughter is against you, your son is dead, you are really a failure,” she mocked even as she agilely moved away. Anytime the vines got closer, she cut it off with the hairpin. However, she was an ordinary human after all. Even though she was stronger than most and knew martial arts, she was no match for a supernatural power like these water vines. 

The vines constricted her several times, causing bruises everywhere on her body. She swung her stick at the shaman, though it wasn’t very effective as the vines blocked her every time. Kirana had to run around all over the village. 

Even after all her maneuver, the vines came after her, causing the buildings around her to be destroyed. 

Kirana was tired and injured after an hour of running around and cutting vines. The red-eyed shaman, however, seemed inexhaustible. She gritted her teeth and finally decided to go to the small hidden cove, where the hut was. 

Temporarily hidden, she pulled out a bottle of [Inferior Healing Potion] from her [Space Bag]. She only had three bottles, so she treasured it... But she needed it right now. Kirana didn’t hesitate anymore and gulped it down. 

This pocket dimension that she was trapped in couldn’t be maintained forever, right? Otherwise, who else would lead the festival, besides the shaman? That vine ability must have had a limit, too. She just had to hold on a bit longer... 

Feeling a bit miserable, Kirana decided that once she got out of this dungeon, she must buy a weapon better than this stick. Preferably a sharp weapon or a long-range weapon! 

Kirana sighed. She shouldn’t daydream and instead, should focus on surviving. Exactly at that moment, the vines smashed through the big stones surrounding her, and she quickly got up and ran again. 

True to her thoughts, after another hour, the artificial dimension disappeared, and she was back in the undestroyed village. She stood in the middle of the village, in front of the chief’s house, looking miserable. 

Bintang, who opened the door at that time, was startled when he saw her messy condition. “Uh... Miss?” 

Kirana looked around and with a determined face, she took out another [Inferior Healing Potion] and gulped it down. Her injuries were healed, and her stamina regained. Today would be a big day, after all. “Have you been inside the whole night?” 

“Yeah...” Bintang said, the teenager looked concerned. “Are you okay?” 

She waved her hand casually. “Fine. The shaman’s just looking to sacrifice me, but I’m not easy to catch.” The fact that she had been brought to another space before meant that the shaman couldn’t attack her in broad daylight, but to be safe, she decided not to go back. “Is your brother inside?” 

“Uh, yeah...” 

“Go in, I have clues to share.” 

She followed Bintang inside to find Banyu. It was a small room, but she didn’t realize how cramped it would be when there were two grown boys living inside. “Miss Kirana! Why are you here?” Banyu asked awkwardly. 

Kirana narrowed her eyes when she realized that his arm was bandaged. “What happened to you?” 

“Ah, just a little bit of trouble...” He laughed and brushed it off lightly. “Why is Miss here?” 

Her frown remained and she glanced at Bintang. The teenager’s lips curled up, looking like he was about to cry. “Miss, please help my brother!” 

“What happened to him?” She asked Bintang. 

“I don’t know! He woke up and he’s like this...” Bintang pulled Banyu’s right arm and pulled out the edge of his bandage. 

Kirana’s expression didn’t change, but she hissed a little in her heart. There was a vine-like pattern on him, bleeding red with blood, similar to what happened to Miranda a few days ago. “What did you do?” 

“He woke up like this!” Bintang looked panicked. “We didn’t go out last night at all...” 

“Really?” Kirana glanced back at Banyu. The young man was about to agree before recognizing her glance. 

Banyu sighed in resignation. “Alright, alright, I’ll tell you,” he said. “I went back and picked this up yesterday in the hut.” 

Kirana frowned when she saw what he took out. “Why don’t you throw it away?” 

It was a rope. It was bloodied and old, and honestly, she had no idea why he took it. Did he find its use somehow? “I just thought it may be useful...” 

A flash of inspiration hit her. Was it the rope that was used to tie up the girls? Could that be useful? She saw that he was still unwilling to say, so she didn’t push anymore. “Did you have any dream last night?” 

Banyu looked up at her, surprised. “No... But I was in another dimension when I slept. Did you dream?” 

“Yeah, that happened to me too,” she said. “What happened to you?” 

“Well, the shaman tried to pull out my soul,” he said lightly. “It’s only because Bintang woke me up that I escaped.” 

Kirana couldn’t wrap her head around that. “Pull out your soul?” Was he meant to be the sacrifice before her? That didn’t make sense. She thought the sacrifice was always girls, but maybe it wasn’t--after all, that village chief counted as one. But she couldn’t really be sure... Rituals were really out of her field of knowledge. 

“Yes, I feel myself almost out of my body... I can almost see myself.” Banyu shuddered when he said that. 

Kirana started to think. Earlier, the shaman wasn’t trying to pull out her soul or anything. He tried to capture her. What use does that shaman have for Banyu, then? 

“Miss, can you save him?” Bintang asked hurriedly seeing her think. 

Was that why he had these vine-like cut wounds on his arm? Because the shaman was still attempting to pull out his soul? Kirana frowned. However, the blood kept flowing. If this kept going, he’d die of blood loss. 

“Do you have any health potions?” she asked, just in case they hadn’t tried it. 

Turned out they really hadn’t. The two brothers stared at each other, dumbfounded. “Ah... Right. Would that be useful?” Bintang was anxious. “We only have this one bottle of [Weak Healing Potion] from last dungeon’s reward...” 

“There are two of you,” she said suspiciously. 

“I didn’t get any reward,” Bintang said, his face turned grim. He gave the bottle filled with red liquid for her brother to drink. Banyu had been lying weakly in bed, and Bintang had to help him drink the potion. “And we can’t afford anything with just three coins...” 

Hearing this, Kirana realized she was lucky she had 5 coins in the first place. 

The potion took shape a few minutes later, and the exposed bleeding wound started to close... and then it stopped. 

Kirana did see [Weak Healing Potion] in the game store before this dungeon. It was priced one fourth of her [Inferior Healing Potion], so the efficacy must be low. Sighing, she took out her last [Inferior Healing Potion]. She wasn’t doing it out of the kindness of her heart or anything. She just felt like Banyu couldn’t die now, otherwise the shaman’s plan, whatever it was, would come true. 

The [Inferior Healing Potion] had a slightly bigger bottle with a different, wider shape. The two brothers looked at her in astonishment. 

“Well, what are you waiting for?” 

“Thank you, Miss, thank you,” Bintang almost knelt down in gratitude. He hurriedly took the potion from her hand and fed it carefully to his brother. 

The vine-like wounds on Banyu continued to close, and after a few more minutes, no more blood left his body. Banyu stood up, helped by Bintang. “Thank you so much, Miss Kirana...” He almost bowed if Kirana didn’t prevent him.  

“Why did you take that rope?” she asked now. 

Banyu looked at him for a few seconds before sitting back down, helped by his brother. “I... Can see useful things,” he admitted. 

Kirana raised an eyebrow. “Useful things?” 

“In the last dungeon, I can see glow from anything that could become useful,” he replied. “A weapon, or... artifact, if you’d like.” 

“More like a game item,” Bintang murmured to the side. “Some games have only certain items you can take into your inventory.” 

Banyu glanced at his brother. “Yes, something like that.” 

“I guess that’ll become useful later,” she said as she looked at the rope. “Well, keep that then, if you say so.” Kirana turned around to leave the room. 

When she did, she heard a commotion from outside the chief’s house. Kirana frowned. At that moment, the door next to the brothers’ room opened and Jet came out. 

To her surprise, it wasn’t just Jet. Following behind him was... Putri. 

Kirana raised her eyebrow but didn’t comment. Putri was startled when she saw her standing there. Jet, however, only smiled calmly. “Good morning, Miss Kirana,” he said. 

Kirana turned around, ignoring them. It was none of her business. They were both adults, they could do whatever they wanted. It was true that their country was relatively conventional, but in the big cities, certain practices were common for young people. 

What interested her even more was the commotion outside. If she wasn’t mistaken, the bespectacled young man, Kevan, was supposed to be staying with Jet. Why wasn’t he there? 

The answer was right outside the door. 

Following the sound and the trail of villagers, they arrived at the backyard of the village chief’s house. Kirana walked by the side of the house to the back garden where she saw the poisonous plant before. She frowned when she saw what attracted the villagers. 

It was Kevan. 

Putri gasped behind her. “He...” 

“Someone died with blood,” the villagers whispered amongst themselves. 

“Yes, this is really unlucky for the festival...” 

“How can this happen?” 

The shaman was standing there with his wife. The two of them looked at Kirana sharply but didn’t say anything. “It’s alright, everyone,” the shaman calmed the villagers. “This will not affect the festival. We’ll bury this young man after the festivities.” 

“If Shaman says so,” the villagers were nodding. 

Kirana felt chills by their words. Not only did they not care about dead people, which was expected from a sacrificial village, but when they say ‘with blood’... It gave her a really bad feeling. Indeed, the village chief died without blood spilled yesterday, given that he was poisoned. Miranda who was killed before had blood all over her, but her body itself was drained of her blood... 

She suppressed her shudder and inspected the corpse. 

Kevan’s neck had a clean-cut line on his blood vessels. Kirana’s mind turned. This didn’t seem like what the villagers would do, and with extension, what the shaman would do. He would be occupied all night with Banyu and her, after all. 

This wasn’t what happened because of the game! 

Her conclusion was shocking for her. This was man-made; someone murdered him. Her gaze turned to Jet, who was now standing by the side of the garden, observing. Next to him Putri was looking quite pale, sticking close to Jet. 

“He didn’t return last night,” Jet said when her gaze laid on him. He was, however, smiling. “I don’t know if he realized his presence is superfluous or what...” He pulled Putri in closer, then winked at Kirana. 

Right now, her suspicion was on Jet completely. But why? He had been really hostile from the get-go, trying to provoke distrust and quarrel before. 

Kirana kept that in mind as she retreated from the garden. She had something big to do today, and that was... trying to cross the river from the cove. 

The hidden cove where that hut stood bordered the river. It was the widest part of the river, too. The reason she thought of it was because of what the kidnapped girls said before. They said Mina’s friend, Pelita, had been trying to escape by crossing this part of the river. She was always caught back, but didn’t that mean this river could be crossed in the first place? 

Across the river were the dark woods. Kirana narrowed her eyes. She was wary of the river, but as she walked closer with [Stick] in her hand, the water ran normally. 

She took a few steps back... 

Then Kirana ran and jumped. 

She managed to get across without getting wet and couldn’t help but smiled widely. She actually got out of that weird Mountain Village! Of course, she couldn’t just waltz out without completing her ‘main quest’ -- but she would come back only after figuring out why the villagers were so scared of the forest that they worship the river. 

However, plans were only plans after all. 

As it turned out, after a few steps, she was stopped by an invisible barrier. However, unlike the strong barrier before, this barrier was like a flexible elastic. She kept walking, and pushing, and it pushed back. 

Kirana narrowed her eyes when she stared at the warning appearing out of nowhere. [Warning! Warning! You’re walking out of the boundary, please go back quickly!] 

She looked straight for a few moments. The forest was dark. She was sure she saw something flashing by. However, the barrier grew stronger and stronger by the second. 

Kirana curled her lips. She could probably guess what happened. The game didn’t expect anyone would cross the river and added a barrier in hurry, but the barrier needed time to ‘harden’. Laughing, she turned back to the village. 

She could almost hear the sigh of relief from behind her. 

Going back to the village, the festivities weren’t as noisy as they were at first. It was true what Seruni, the shaman’s wife said. It died down by the end. 

However, the ritual that day was brutal. 

Screaming and crying. One of the female villagers were pulled in and tied tightly, while vine-like pattern started to appear on her skin. That villager was young, not far from the age of the teenage Miranda. Kirana frowned. The tied villager wasn’t reacting in the slightest. It was an old woman near her who screamed and cried. 

“We must finish the ritual!” The villagers all said at once, repeating. Chanting. “We must finish the ritual!” The girl was submerged. The old woman’s cries grew weaker. “We must finish the ritual!” 

Kirana’s heart slipped. Was today’s sacrifice supposed to be her? Turned out that the villagers weren’t above sacrificing one of their own. 

That very night, Kirana didn’t return to the shaman’s house. She wasn’t sure what the shaman and his wife would do to her if she went back there, so instead, she decided to rest at the village chief’s house. 

“Why don’t you go back?” Bintang asked in confusion. 

“Well,” Kirana replied, sitting on the floor against the wall, “the shaman pulled me into another dimension this morning, trying to capture me. I’m guessing I was supposed to be today’s sacrifice.” 

Bintang looked at her, astonished. 

Banyu also looked equally astonished. “You escaped on your own,” he said. “Without any wounds. That’s amazing.” 

“I drank a potion.” Or two. 

“Still...” Banyu said. “You must have a good combat skill!” 

She shrugged. 

“That’s awesome. If only I trained. I enrolled Bintang in a martial arts course during elementary school, but he didn’t want to go!” Banyu glanced at the teenager, who only looked down. “If he can do it, I don’t have to be worried even if I died...” 

“Brother, don’t say that!” Bintang frowned, his chest heaved emotionally. “You won’t die, you won’t die, you’re not allowed to die!” 

“Okay, okay, calm down...” 

They didn’t dare to fall asleep for fear of being targeted by the shaman, so they chatted the rest of the night. Kirana didn’t reveal much about herself, but she learned that the two brothers were orphans. Banyu raised Bintang himself since childhood and they both had depended on one another all these years. 

Kirana couldn’t help the envy in her heart. At least they had one another. 

“We got into the game when we were in a car crash,” Banyu said wryly. “I was dying when it appeared in front of me. Bintang could’ve survived, but he went back instead...” 

“Do you really think I can live on my own, brother?” The teenager glared at his older brother. 

Banyu laughed. “The game gave us a chance to survive. When we got to the hospital, the doctor was surprised that our wounds weren’t as severe as they should be. We were out of the hospital in two weeks.” He smiled bitterly. “The doctor said he never saw anything like it.” 

Kirana was stunned when she heard that. There was a sudden throb in her head, but she managed to control her expression. “Do you like this ‘game’, then?” She couldn’t hide her distaste as she said it. 

“Having to survive between life and deaths in every moment... Who would like it?” Banyu sighed. “But it is true that this game gave us a second chance in life.” 

Seeing the mood turned somber, Bintang turned to Kirana. “How did you get into the game, Miss Kirana?” He asked. 

Kirana pursed her lips. “I don’t know. I’m just inexplicably inside a dungeon.” Her head throbbed even more. She had thought it was instant teleportation, but now she realized... a chunk of her memories was missing. 

It was a feeling she didn’t like. 

How on earth did she get into this game?