Host, Please Be Honest! What Exactly Are You?

Bam!!

Donghai fell flat on his butt but didn't feel the pain.

His attention was on the strange surroundings he now found himself in.

He had been falling into what seemed like a giant rabbit hole that had many spiral turns.

Back hunched, body in defensive mode, Donghai looked around his dim surroundings.

Ground walls and ceilings surrounded him with exposed plant and tree roots embedded in them.

And with his sharpened eyesight, he also saw a long tunnel leading to heaven-knows-where.

Very slowly, Donghai picked a stick lying around and took several breaths, wondering what to do next.

From the looks of it, he couldn't leave the same way he came. So his option would be to move forward and find another exit point.

Donghai was least comfortable with this solution. But what could he do? Who asked him to fall down the hole?

What's more, the roots covering the hole up on ground surface seemed to have minds of their own.

At the start, the giant roots opened up, causing him to fall below. And the moment he fell, they closed up again, covering and masking the hole.

Alright.

With such a conclusion, how confident was he that even if he somehow managed to head back out the deep and different while he fell from, these roots would push him down again?

They had a mind of their own, and without a dagger or anything to create opportunities for himself against them, he would be wasting his time with that approach.

His only worry was that there might be something or some dangerous creature living here.

This was why he dared not raise his voice or call Leah and the rest for help.

The layout of this place signifies it is a nest for some creature(s). Thus, working in absolute silence would be best.

Hmmmm...

'Don't fail me now, trusty stick.' Donghai inwardly murmured, tightening his grip on the stick in his hand.

One step forward, another step forward...

In no time, his heavy feet began obeying his instructions, advancing into the dimly lit space.

On the walls, there were a few glowing algae that provided some illumination in this dark nest.

As he walked, Donghai's heart pounded Like a beating drum.

His body went into vigilance mode, and his senses heightened without knowing it.

If leaves rustled, he would hear. And if the ground had any slight tremors, he would also feel it.

Damn!

Not even police Detective cases had made Donghai so on edge.

'What a big place.'

He walked through the bending tunnel, took several turns, and even crawled through smaller crevices just to keep moving.

At some point, he felt it was a dead end. But even at that, he was already far from his starting point. So there was no use turning around now. Again, even if he did, he wouldn't be able to leave the same way he came. So should he just sit here forever, waiting for whoever owns this nest to come back to hack him to death?

The intelligent thing to do is find a way out first!

.

Drrr~~~

A familiar trickling noise echoed in his ears.

"Water?... Is that the sound of a flowing stream?"

Donghai's face lit up like stars the moment he thought it to be true.

Very quickly, he hastened his steps, still staying vigilant as always.

"If it's water, I can follow its movements to find an exit point."

Yes...

If it's a stream, the stream must connect with the big waters outside. And if it's a pond, it too must have a source.

After all, how could a pond just appear underground like that?

Maybe at the bottom, there will be an exit point that connects the pond to the outside waters.

(^?^)

Donghai felt he had found his salvation.

He had been moving in this hole for an 'eternity,' with the fear of something bigger coming to eat him up. 𝙛𝐫e𝚎wℯ𝗯𝒏𝗼ѵ𝙚l.𝒄o𝚖

Luckily, he hadn't stumbled on any creatures yet, maybe because they were out of their nests... Or perhaps because they were dead... Who knows...

What's important is that his plan of finding another way out would soon beat fruit.

.

Trickle. Trickle. Trickle.

Donghai reached an open circular space with a strange pond in its middle.

The pond was shaped like a lotus leaf, with its water glowing pink.

Sure enough, it should be connected to the pink waters down the mountain he, Leah, and the others were tasked to carry water from.

At this point, he didn't feel anything wrong seeing pink water. He had drunk it before and accepted that it was fresher than any water outside the Academy.

It also had a subtle sweetness that was both intoxicating and calming.

Never in his life did he think he would like water that had a subtle sweet taste. Yet, here reality was, smacking it hard in his face.

The waters here also did wonders to his insides, clearing any indigestion or subtle bodily worries he might've had before coming in.

Looking around the space, Donghai noticed 4 giant nests docked in one corner on the ground. And from the looks of things, these nests didn't belong to any bird, giant or not.

Donghai's pupils dilated.

This was not a good sign!

The earlier he left, the better for him!

Looking at the pond, he was just about to dive in when something else caught his eye.

.

Trickle. Trickle. Trickle.~

At the far corner of the room, a small portion of the wall had water streaming down it like a little waterfall.

The water flowed down and moved across the space in a straight line until it connected to the pond at the center.

But this wasn't what caught his eye.

Just underneath the waterfall, a blurry and silverish image suddenly glistened mesmerizingly.

Donghai had a hunch that if he didn't check it out, he might regret it for the rest of his life.

It was just that... how would he get it?

The inside of this space was akin to a 3 Story building.

It was ironic that the tunnels he used to get here were barrow and similar in height to himself.

But the space here was extremely tall, clearly not made by any creatures digging the space.

Nature was at its best here, creating the giant open space to accommodate this point and this small interior waterfall. 𝘧𝓇𝒆𝗲𝓌𝙚𝙗𝓷o𝘷𝒆𝘭.𝐜𝚘𝒎

'How to get up there? How to do it?'

Donghai's eyes flashed about maniacally until he stopped a few roots shooting out the towering walls.

'These should be strong enough to hold my weight.'

Like so, he began his climb, only keeping his eyes on the price.

His moves were quick and professional, thanks to his level of skill in rock climbing.

If audiences were watching him now, they would clap in awe of his skills.

Though he used roots in this case, he still had a measure of what could and could not be done.

'Damn... It's in the middle of the waterfall.'

Seeing this, Donghai knew he would have to move in. Luckily, the water current and pressure weren't high enough to shatter or push him back.

You have to know that while Waterfalls were beautiful to look at, moving against their current high attitudes was incredibly dangerous.

Yeah... Maybe at ground level or lower levels, one wouldn't feel it.

But if one reached a high altitude and faced the waterfall from its head far up, the pressure alone could act like blades, cutting one cleanly.

It should be known that at dangerous pressures, even a firehose from a fire struck would act as a blade.

Imagine that 50 times greater.

That would be the case if one were going against the current. If one was falling with the waterfall, they might not feel the said pressure.

.

1, 2, 3...

He now moved horizontally across the waterfall until he reached its middle.

There it was... The silvery object that shone brightly.

Well, at least he initially thought it was an object. But who would've known it would be a fruit?

'... So peculiar...'

Grrrrr~~~~

The fruit's enticing aroma made his belly bubble.

But now isn't the time for this.

Since he had gotten what he wanted, it was time to get the hell out of here… Or so he thought.

Braaaawww!!!~

Donghai froze, tightening his grip on the roots he held.

Too late.

Various disturbing sounds echoed out.

And sure enough, he saw a gathering of creatures emerge out of the pond, heading straight for their nests.

They looked like Crocodiles... Except they had 2 tails and longer necks.

Donghai swallowed hard.

... Mommy, how would he get out of this mess now?

Donghai was still in a daze, trying to make a perfect escape plan out of here.

But suddenly, many of the beasts paused and began sniffing maniacally. And soon, their eyes fell on Donghai, suspended high up on the waterfall.

There was an intruder in their nest. Moreover, the bastard had plucked out the fruit they had been waiting for so long to bloom.

For such a person, death would be too easy!!

[Donghai]: (!w!)