Satan’s Game

The thunderous sound of the waterfall echoes endlessly, pounding into their ears.

The torrent of water falling at high speed has smoothed the rocks below, polishing them to a slippery shine. The pool at the base of the waterfall shimmers with a deep green hue, dark and bottomless, resembling the depths of the ocean. Its sheer depth inspires an almost instinctive reverence.

Ali notices Carlos approaching and immediately asks, "Got the system notification?"

"Yeah, it's nearby," Carlos replies, scanning the area. 

"If it's within our line of sight but still hidden, the only place it could be is under the pool. There are no clue markers in the areas we can see."

"Damn Satan," Ali curses. "The first clue is already buried this deep. He's going to kill us with the ones after this."

Cillian calmly comments, "Isn't that exactly what he wants?" 

[Live Comments]It's what we want too!

[Live Comments] If the game isn't intense, we might as well play Candy Crush.

[Live Comments] Satan truly understands us.

Cillian walks to the edge of the pool and picks up a rock. He tosses it into the water.

*Thud.

The rock plunges into the pool with a muffled splash, quickly sinking out of sight.

He pulls a rope from her system inventory, ties it around another rock, and throws it into the pool again.

Ali and Carlos step closer to watch as the rope rapidly sinks. It descends almost vertically, indicating the pool is not only deep but also has a steep, straight drop.

Suddenly, the rope stops.

Carlos observes and says, "It's about 80 feet deep."

[Live Comments]Wait, how did he calculate that? I was too focused on the rock.

[Live Comments] And that's why he's the Strategist.

[Live Comments] Give the guy a rocket launcher!

"I can handle this."Ali exhales in relief.

But before he can finish his sentence, Cillian feels the rope in his hand jerk violently, as if something below has grabbed hold of it. 

The rope starts sinking again, this time twice as fast as before.

This is no ordinary descent.

Cillian tightens him grip on the rope to stop it from plunging further, but the line begins thrashing violently in the water, sending loud splashes echoing through the pool.

It feels like a massive fish thrashing against the current.

In moments, the rope digs into Cillian's palms, leaving red welts and cutting deep into his flesh.

Carlos grabs the rope to help and immediately feels the force from below. 

Whatever is at the bottom of the pool has immense strength.

The smooth, slippery rocks beneath their feet offer no grip. Both of them start sliding toward the edge, dangerously close to being pulled into the water.

Ali curses loudly and grabs the rope, pulling with all his might.

His strength far surpasses Cillian and Carlos combined. 

With one powerful tug, the creature seems momentarily caught off guard. But it quickly resumes its struggle, thrashing harder and pulling back.

Ali's muscles bulge as he winds the rope around his arms, veins popping as sweat beads on his forehead.

*Splash!

A shadow emerges from the depths—a massive fish, longer than a person, its colossal size more fitting for the ocean than a freshwater lake.

Realizing it's nearing the surface, the monstrous fish senses danger and releases the rock in its mouth. With one powerful flick of its tail, it vanishes back into the depths.

The sudden release of tension in the rope nearly sends Ali tumbling backward.

Breathing heavily, he steadies himself and looks at the water. 

"What the hell was that?"

Carlos reacts quickly, grabbing Ali before he loses his balance completely.

Ali, still shaken, curses under his breath. 

"What the hell kind of monster is that?"

Carlos replies matter-of-factly, "Most large aquatic creatures come from the ocean, but there are freshwater species that grow to massive sizes too."

"There goes lunch."Cillian sighs.

"Yes, we've lost a chance to replenish some high-quality protein."Carlos nods thoughtfully. 

[Live Comments]Honestly, this is kind of tragic.

[Live Comments] Yeah, I feel that.

Ali stares at the two of them incredulously. Their focus seems completely misplaced. 

"So, are you two going down there or not?"

Depth isn't the problem, but with a fish bigger than a person lurking below, the danger increases exponentially.

Cillian examines the stone Ali pulled up. The bite marks are deep and sharp, evidence of the fish's razor-like teeth. If it had wanted to, it could've crushed the rock into dust.

Ali, still annoyed by the silent woman on the opposite shore, shouts at her, "Hey! Enjoying the view?"

The woman smirks coldly but doesn't reply. 

Instead, she turns and disappears into the dense jungle behind her.

Watching her leave finally eases Ali's frustration. He thinks for a moment before declaring, "We don't even know for sure if the clue is down there. I'm not going."

With that, he turns and walks away without hesitation.

Carlos watches him leave and says, "He'll come back, but he won't be the first to go down."

"I'm not going first either," Cillian says flatly.

"Neither am I."

After all, it's only the first clue—not worth risking their lives for.

For now, they're in no rush. 

But someone will be.

[Live Comments]Why do I feel like they're all secretly panicking?

[Live Comments] Time to see who's the best at acting calm!

With no one eager to dive in, Cillian focuses on more immediate concerns: lunch.

The morning meal of banana core wasn't nearly enough to sustain his energy. If he's going to dive later, he'll need a proper meal to replenish his strength. 

Swimming takes a lot of energy, especially in cold water.

His only food right now is a bunch of unripe bananas—not exactly ideal.

The rushing waterfall makes fishing impossible, and he doesn't have the tools for it anyway.

Meanwhile, Carlos has found a flat spot near the clearing. He pulls dry wood and sharp stones from his pack and starts scraping shavings.

Cillian raises an eyebrow. 

"You're trying to start a fire again?"

Carlos responds without looking up, "You might not always be around, and I need to learn how to do it myself."

Fair enough. 

Cillian had anticipated how difficult starting a fire in the rainforest would be, which is why he chose fire as one of his items—it saved energy.

For Carlos, however, learning to make fire without tools is a necessity.

But without finding flint, he's stuck using primitive methods. Compared to drilling wood by hand, the Iroquois fire-making method suits him better. 

At least it spares his hands from being shredded.

Carlos carefully prepares his tools and begins the process.

Cillian, uninterested in watching, decides to search the forest for food instead.

The rainforest may be full of treasures, but not all of them are edible. 

Fortunately, the weather is good, and the ground isn't too wet from last night.

He collects a dozen fern roots and, to his luck, finds a cassava tree. The soil is soft, and with his knife, digging it out isn't too difficult.

No meat, but it's still a decent meal.

When he returns to the waterfall clearing, thin trails of smoke rise into the sky.

Cillian pauses—did Carlos finally manage to start a fire?

As she approaches, she realizes it isn't Carlos. 

The fire belongs to Ali.

Somehow, Ali has acquired a small crocodile, which he's now roasting over the flames.

The clearing is small, so they're all forced to share the same space. Carlos sits nearby, having chosen another flat spot to work on his fire.

The smell of roasting meat wafts through the air. 

Cillian looks down at the cassava and suddenly finds it utterly unappetizing.

Ali looks at him and says, "I should thank you for the fire starter ."

Cillian quickly deduces that Ali must have stolen it earlier in the morning while he wasn't paying attention.

He doesn't really care, though. 

Ali doesn't even bother to look guilty; instead, there's a smug satisfaction on his face.

Villain!

While tending to his own fire, Cillian casually asks, "Is there a river nearby?"

Ali, perhaps feels the need to pay back the favor in information and replies, "Yeah, I waited by the water's edge for ages before catching this little croc."

Still struggling to get his fire going, Carlos chimes in, "That's a caiman, a small-to-medium-sized crocodilian. Their jaw muscles are underdeveloped, so their bite force is much weaker than similarly-sized true crocodiles. Young caimans are easy targets for predators." 

He adjusts his glasses and adds, "You're lucky you grabbed it before it called for help. Its distress calls would've drawn adult crocodiles immediately."

[Live Comments]Ah, here it comes—the science lesson we've all been waiting for.

[Live Comments] The Strategist never disappoints. Haha!

"This one's too small. Next time, I'll wait longer by the water and catch a big one. Bring them all out at once."Ali raises his fist, large as an iron ball. 

Carlos shakes his head. "You couldn't finish it in one sitting."

Cillian jokes, "How about I trade you some cassava for a leg?"

Carlos glances at him but says nothing.

Ali bursts out laughing. "Deal!"

Protein from meat and carbs from cassava—this is how you keep your strength up.

"Oh, got a spark," Carlos says, shaking the tiny ember on his wood shavings. 

The other two, focused on roasting their crocodile and cassava, barely glance at him.

"Jesus, it's out again," Carlos mutters and continues twisting his cord, unbothered.

Cillian has no intention of throwing him another firestarter. 

Carlos was right—they won't always be traveling together.

And one good deed is enough.

A few minutes later, the two hear a faint crackling sound. Looking up, they see flames dancing in front of Carlos. 

Somehow, he's managed to start a fire on his own.

Ali stares in disbelief for a moment before blurting, "Why the hell am I happy about this?"

[Live Comments]OMG, I'm smiling like a proud nanny.

[Live Comments] He finally did it! He has fire!

Cillian watches Carlos and notices his ever-calm demeanor, as though nothing in the world could shake him—not even a life-threatening chase would speed up his snail-like pace.

He can't help but ask, "Carlos, can I ask you something?"

Carlos, now placing unripe bananas carefully around the fire, responds without looking up, "Go ahead."

"The selection had five stages. The first two were logic puzzles. Stages three and four were maze and escape room challenges. Those are all things you can handle with your brain, right?"

Carlos nods. "Yep."

"But the last stage involved facing a wild animal. That's not something you can outsmart."

Cillian doesn't doubt Carlos's intelligence, but he genuinely can't understand how someone with Carlos's fragile physique managed to clear that stage.

And not just clear it—finish first.

That kind of speed is highly suspicious.

"Oh," Carlos adjusts his glasses. "I was matched against a lion. It was pretty fierce. But luckily, I knew it."

Cillian stares at him. 

Knew it?

A lion you knew?

Carlos explains, "I like lions. Every time I visit the zoo, I bring food to feed them. This one's named Simba—oh, that's the name the zoo gave him. We've known each other since he was a cub. It's been six years now." He looks up, completely calm. 

"When I saw that the wild animal released was Simba, I waved at him, said hi, and told him I needed to get to the exit. He let me pass."

Cillian, who had nearly died in a fight with a tiger: "…"

The live-stream comments are instantly flooded with ellipses.

Even Ali looks dumbstruck, and after a long pause, he finds the only word to express his feelings:

"Damn!"