Daniel and the others, who had gone into the forest in search of food, had so far failed to catch anything.
"If we don't find something to eat soon, this island itself will become our grave,"
Daniel said grimly to the rest of the group.
"Come on, Daniel. What's the use in saying that now? We've already set up traps to catch boar. We're bound to get something,"
Francis replied with hopeful confidence.
Thankfully, Francis's hope wasn't misplaced.
They finally managed to catch something for the night—
But it wasn't a boar as they'd hoped.
It was a rabbit.
They cleaned the rabbit and slung it over their shoulder, then decided to head deeper into the forest to see if they could find anything more.
Meanwhile, Charlie and his group—who had set out to see the waterfall—had made it deep into the jungle.
Exhausted from all the walking, the four of them settled down under a large tree.
"Let's rest for a bit before we continue,"
said Edward, weary from the hike.
At that moment, the forest echoed with its own natural sounds—leaves rustling, birds calling.
Then, Harry began telling a story from his life.
The other three listened in silence as he spoke.
When Harry finished, he added one more thing:
"I didn't decide to go to New York just to study.
Life itself is a great test. And I want to pass that test… even if I have to do it alone."
Hearing Harry's words, the rest of the group felt a newfound respect for him.
Once they were rested, the four resumed their journey.
Finally, they arrived at the waterfall.
The moment their eyes met the shimmering cascade, they were mesmerized.
The warm water, the tenderness of nature—it was enough to fill their hearts with joy in mere seconds.
They swam in the falls, they played, they laughed…
Completely forgetting the passage of time.
By the time they finished, it was already evening.
They began preparing to return to the shore.
But the joy of those beautiful moments was about to be replaced…
By the creeping presence of terror.
As they slowly began walking back toward the shore, a terrifying sound echoed from behind.
They stopped walking and slowly turned toward where the sound had come from—
But they couldn't see anything.
All four of them thought,
"Maybe we just imagined it."
But how could all four of them imagine the same thing?
That doubt led them right back into the valley of fear.
From deep within the forest, they heard the sound again.
A low, echoing howl.
It became clear—
It was the howl of some massive, monstrous wild dog.
As they looked ahead, a shadowy creature appeared in front of them.
It had a large, hulking body—
Half human, half beast.
The creature had glowing red eyes and razor-sharp teeth that pushed the group into sheer terror.
Charlie screamed loudly when he saw it.
Although frightened, Edward quickly crawled into a hole in the tree.
Seeing him, the remaining three followed, pulling themselves up after him.
"There was barely enough space in the hollow for just three people to sit."
The beast lunged at them, clawing, growling—it wasn't going to let them escape easily.
It was clear the creature wouldn't give up.
Suddenly, Edward shoved Harry—who had been right in front of him—off the tree.
Harry's screams echoed from the ground below.
From between the gaps in the branches, the three atop the tree stared in horror as the beast pounced on Harry—
And began to tear him apart.
After a while, the three of them listened closely.
There was no sound of the beast.
No sound of Harry either.
But even then, none of the three dared climb down from the tree.
Barry, his voice filled with anger, turned to Edward.
"What the hell did you do? Why did you push him?"
Edward replied quickly.
"There was no other way. I was sure that beast wouldn't leave without someone…
That's why I did it—to save you both. Please, don't get me wrong."
Barry clenched his jaw.
"And what are we going to tell the others?"
Edward calmly responded.
"Just say what I tell you. That's enough."
He then explained a version of the story to the other two—a version they could share when they got back to the shore.
Charlie, meanwhile, was overwhelmed with guilt.
His heart sank with the thought:
"I should have done something. I'm no better than him."
None of them dared to climb down from the hollow.
Time kept passing.
The evening crept in, and by then, it was past 6 PM.
All three of their stomachs growled loudly.
Edward reached into his pocket and pulled out the two stolen pieces of meat from the day before.
They quickly gathered dry twigs and bits of bark from within the tree.
Huddled inside the tree's hollow, the three of them managed to light a small fire.
They roasted the meat quietly.
That tiny bit of pork brought some momentary comfort to their empty stomachs.
But the night was only growing darker.
The wind picked up, howling through the trees—
And the cold turned more brutal with every gust.
To be continued....
Next chapter release date 9/7/25