- Hidden Floor -

It was said in the manhwa that after completing his journey in the Hell Train, Zahard had the strong feeling that he will soon be a "God". Believing this, he wanted to leave his "human self" in this train.

A disciple from the Workshop knew about his concerns and offered him the "mirror of the past" as the gift. That mirror had the mysterious ability to store one's current self within it. Zahard was delighted and immediately stored himself with that mirror.

Hearing that Zahard had figured out the way to store himself in the mirror, his friends were also interested and gave it a try. Zahard then left the mirror in the train for the people who will finish the dangerous road in the Hell Train to see about his past self, before he reached the said "God level".

The disciple of the Workshop realized that not only Zahard's past self was stored inside, but everyone who looked in the mirror also found their present selves stored inside the mirror. He decided to protect that place and used the "spell of oblivion" so that no one will reveal its existence. After that, he created two keys in order to get in to that place. One of them was given to the king and the other one was for the administrator of the train.

Zahard who was amused to know all of this then named this place with two words:

Hidden Floor.

At the same time as Charlotte was thinking about this, the door was opened from the sky and the three of them fell together from it.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!"

Realizing that they were falling, both Hockney and Khun couldn't help but to shout. Charlotte wasn't really surprised, but she wasn't screaming for she had seen this coming.

"WHAT?!"

"Khun! Khun!" Hockney cried, calling out Khun's name. "I....IF WE KEEP FALLING LIKE THIS, W- WE'LL!!!"

"WHAT?"

"WE'LL BE !"

Turned out, if they fell, they won't fall into the sea that they saw for the first time, but a giant beast like eel was opening its own, saying hello to these newcomers by trying to eat them.

"HUH?!"

Before they could do anything about it, they were being eaten by the eel.

It was rather fast.

They had good lives, but not long enough.

A crocodile and a human watched how those three newcomers who had just arrived to the Hidden Floor were eaten by the eel. Their eyes widened in shock and disbelief.

".............."

The crocodile had a tough appearance, with a pair of red eyes and a spear on his hand. Seeing those three were eaten by the eel, he couldn't just stand and watch them dying that quickly.

"DAMN IT!"

He ran to fight the eel that was bigger than him multiple times.

"Hey!! Where are you going, warrior?! Warrior!"

"Where do you think?! To save those stupid turtles!"

The crocodile bravely jumped and pointed his sharp and pointy red spear to the eel. Meanwhile, the person who was standing at the beach, watching his so called "warrior" was going to fight with the eel again, he couldn't help but to feel the sense of admiration.

"Look at him charging at that giant monster without even hesitating, just to save those people! How can he be so brave? That's my warrior! Now he'll use his hidden power to tear that monster into pieces!"

CHOMP!

"......or not?"

But that moment of admiration ended up rather quickly as his warrior was eaten as well. He was defeated before he attacked the eel.

Inside the eel, the three of them were sliding on the water before they stopped.

"AAH!!"

"AHH!"

They let out a sigh of relieve once they stopped sliding inside the eel. But still, the pain from crashing to things inside the eel was still hurt.

"Ouch......"

Aside from Charlotte, neither of them expected to be eaten once they arrived to this Hidden Floor.

"Whew....it looks like we managed to survive somehow....are you okay, Charlotte?" Khun asked, looking at the brown haired woman. "Are we inside the monster from before?"

"Certainly" said Charlotte as she stood up. Her clothes were a bit wet, but aside from it, she was fine. The brown haired woman tied her brown hair into a ponytail.

'Aren't you going to ask about me as well?' Hockney thought.

Aside from the shock that they received earlier and the small amount of pain, the three of them were fine.

Charlotte looked around. For the gigantic black and carnivorous eel earlier, their sizes were quite small that they were just a snack for him. Inside the eel was filled with meat, of course. Even though she had tasted eel's meat before, she didn't have the appetite of eating the meat of a living eel. Thinking about eating this living eel's meat made her felt disgusted.

"TURTLE! BLUE TURTLE!!"

That familiar voice couldn't be forgotten by both Charlotte and Khun. Hockney might not know who it was, but the two of them were certain who it was.

The one who arrived was none other than Rak Wraithraiser, their teammate who disappeared ever since the fight between Yuri and Karaka in the Station Name Hunt.

" "

" "

"Turtles! You came!" said Rak as he ran towards them.

"You!! Rak, what are you doing here?" Khun asked in surprise. "What happened?"

"There was a tremendous flash and when I came to my senses, I was here."

"Huh? A flash....and you were here?"

"That's right! There was a flash of light because of that insane turtle's attack and when I woke up, I was here! I wondered if I had died and come here but I guess not! Then how did you guys come here? You are not dead, are you?!"

Khun was confused, clearly. It was written on his expression. Charlotte smiled and walked forward as she explained.

"Rak fell down with the swordsman and Ehwa. And that swordsman, happened to receive something from Yura."

"What?" Khun asked, turning his head around to look at the brown haired woman.

"This story is related with Yura's past. Her mother gave birth to a pair of twins. I don't see exactly how- but since Yura's mother's husband had a cursed blood in him, there was no way for Yura's mother to give birth to both of the twins without one of them dying.Therefore, she make an offer with someone.

The data of her gave birth to the boy in the Hidden Floor while the real one gave birth to Yura. That someone gave Yura's mother something, a piece of mirror, to see her son in the Hidden Floor.

Yura seemed to trust that swordsman and left a mirror for him. When Rak fell down with the two of them, that mirror was the reason why he disappeared and arrived to this place."

"........"

Rak honestly had no clue of what Charlotte said. It sounds rather complicated. Charlotte understood that feeling since both of them didn't read the manhwa on their own or see with both of their own eyes. But Khun's intelligence was on another level. He understood Charlotte's words better.

"But who is that person?" He asked her.

"You will know about it later," said Charlotte. "This Hidden Floor is a bit unique. Once we get out from this place, someone will explain it for us. There is no hurry."

Khun, "...."

Right, it wasn't like they were going to leave until they find the item that Gustang wanted Bam to find.

"But Female Black Turtle! I have something to ask! Why are there only the two of you? Where is the Black Turtle?"

"He was with us before but we lost him when we came here. I don't really understand what's going on but....."

He smiled to Rak sincerely and said, "Anyway, I'm glad to meet you again, alligator."

Rak snorted, "I MISSED YOU! NOT YOU, BUT THE BLACK TURTLE!"

'Still noisy as ever. I wouldn't mind if he isn't here' Khun thought, but we all knew that it was a lie.

"THEN NOW- LET'S GET OUT OF THIS FILTHY BEAST RIGHT AWAY!!"

".....how?"

Charlotte smiled as she couldn't wait what Rak will be doing. She knew that a chaos was coming. There was no peace and calmness with Rak, only chaos.

"SO FAR, I'VE KEPT TRYING TO THROW MY SPEAR AT HIM BUT FROM THE OUTSIDE, I CAN'T PIERCE THIS BASTARD! I DIDN'T EVEN THINK OF ATTACKING HIM FROM INSIDE!"

Charlotte, 'That's because you shouldn't......'

"YOU'RE FINISHED, YOU BEAST! I'LL PIERCE THROUGH YOUR BELLY AND ESCAPE FROM HERE!"

Khun, 'I feel like this guy is stirring up the hornet's nest....'

"HAH!"

Rak threw his spear to the eel from inside.

The eel felt sharp pain from inside and couldn't help but to roar and cry in pain. At the same time, something came towards them. That something was a liquid, a green liquid that was rushing towards them in high speed.

"W...What's that?!"

"Something's coming!"

It took some time for Khun to figure out what the liquid was.

"W...What is that! Stomach acid?!" He said.

"I....It looks dangerous...." said Hockney, still holding his drawing book but stopped drawing to see the green liquid.

"Crap! "

The four of them ran off together as fast as they could before they died because of the stomach acid. Because of the pain that Rak gave to the eel, the eel vomited them out.

"WAAAAHH!!!!"

When they were thrown outside from the eel's body, Charlotte immediately activated her [Blue Oar] and unlike the others, she didn't fall to the sea and gets wet.

SPLASH!

The eel coughed several times. As it had just vomited and suffered some damage, it didn't have the appetite to eat something again. Whatever it ate before was too sharp.

"GODDAMMIT...! HEY, MAN!! I ALMOST DIED BECAUSE OF YOU! YOU STUPID ALLIGATOR!"

Rak didn't seem to hear Khun as he let out a sigh of relieve. Hockney, on the other hand, he was floating on the water while protecting his picture.

"I really thought I was going to succeed this time! That beast is tough!"

Khun had to admit that the eel was really tough. Even when it was stabbed by the Mad Shocker, a spear made the Workshop, it was still fine with just little damage.

His thoughts were distracted as he heard someone chuckling rather mischievously. Only then did he realize, Charlotte was the only one who didn't fall to the water like them.

"Come to think of it, you have seen this coming right? Why don't you stop that alligator from stabbing the eel? You almost got us killed!"

Charlotte sat on her [Blue Oar], covering her mouth with her right hand and smiled to Khun mischievously.

"Can't do that. The only way for us to get out from the beast is to make it open its mouth. What could be better than letting it vomit? Besides, it wasn't like Rak would listen to me."

"Then why don't you catch us when we are falling down? You are doing this on purpose to watch us get wet, don't you?"

Charlotte wondered how she should reply for a moment before she smiled at Khun, "So what if I did that? It wasn't like you are going to die because of drowning right? Little water won't hurt anyone."

While saying that, she playedfully kicked the water to Khun right on his face.

"......"

He angrily grinned, "I see. So little water won't hurt anyone huh?"

Quickly, he grabbed the young girl's ankle and pulled her down to the water.

SPLASH!

He was dragging her together with him.

Charlotte of course knew how to swim. Once she was pulled and fell to the water, she came out again. And this time, she was drenched from head until toe that she felt heavier because her clothes seemed to absorb water.

Water dripped from her glossy brown hair and she wiped water from her eyes. Once she wiped water from her face, she glared at Khun.

"You! Why did you do that?"

Khun smirked, "I thought someone said that little water doesn't hurt anyone. It isn't a problem to get wet a little right?"

"You-"

'Are you blind? Can't see you that I'm drenched from head until toe because of you?!'

Charlotte wanted to splash some water to Khun as revenge, but before she could do that, someone had arrived by riding a giant green turtle.

That someone had black hair tied with a pair of black eyes. His outfit was rather different and unique, his white outfit made her felt that he came from a village. That person was exactly the same person who accompanied Rak before.

"Warriors~!! Warriors~!! Are you alright?"

"Who...?"

"I'm a wandering minstrel who's going to guide you warriors! You can call me Mi- Eum!"

"A wandering....? What...?"

"A wan-dering min-strel!!"

The eel returned to the sea, caused water to be splashed at them more. It seemed like it had no more desire to attack them and returned to take a break. Now that the eel had disappeared or returned to its home, it seemed like they had survived. Otherwise, if that eel really tries to attack them again, considering how tough it was, it won't be easy to defeat it.

Riding the giant green turtle, they returned to the beach safely.

Both Hockney and Khun had to take off their outer clothes, for they were drenched. But Charlotte could only bear with the coldness and the uncomfortable she felt before reaching to the beach and change her outfit. She started to feel cold and sneezed several times.

It was very uncomfortable.

"Well done, Goliath" said Mi- Eum to the turtle named "Goliath".

Hockney noticed that and friendly smiled to the turtle, "Thank you for bringing us here, Goliath. Have a safe journey back to the sea."

Shockingly, Goliath stood up and began to walk with both of its legs back to the sea. What was even more shocking was that Goliath could speak.

"What's he talking about? I live in apartment, super fancy one."

Charlotte chuckled when she saw how Hockney's expression turned purple and was shocked. But when she sneezed once more, she remembered how cold she was and what she should do. She walked towards the blue haired male while holding her collar rather tightly. She pulled his sleeve slightly and pointed to a direction.

"I'm going to change my clothes over there."

"Huh?"

"My clothes are wet. I have to change it" said Charlotte. "It's not like I could change here before you guys right?"

"If you are willing then do it here" Khun sarcastically said and Charlotte frowned. "But do you even bring extra clothes?"

Charlotte smiled and showed her silver bracelet that was given by Nathan.

"Storage bracelet that Mr. Nathan gave to me is certainly useful to store things. I have my stuffs stored inside here, so you don't have to worry."

"I see.....then go ahead" Khun said. "Don't get too far and lost."

"I know."

As the brown haired woman left to change her clothes, Khun earned some information from Mi- Eum. Apparently, they have entered the Hidden Floor.

In this Hidden Floor, they called people who have finished their journeys in the Hell Train with "warriors". But usually, the warriors who have finished the train will appear in the town, not in the beach and not through the door they fell before. Khun assumed it was because they entered the Hidden Floor with the key, not by finishing the journey there.

Mi- Eum offered to guide them to the town where warriors usually gather there. It might be far, but they needed to change their clothes and find a good place to rest for awhile before finding a way to look for their missing comrades. Rak refused, saying that he should stay and defeat the monster first but Khun argued as Rak can't even scratch the beast.

It took Charlotte several moments to return to their team.

Charlotte had always preferred black for it was once had been mentioned, with black, no one could tell whether she was bleeding or not unless they saw her wounds from close or had sharp senses. Her outfit was simple black shirt with short sleeves along with light gray long pants. The pants that she wore wasn't really tight, perfect for exercise.

She had heard and was sure that they will have a long journey. From this beach to the town, it will take a long time and a long journey. It would certainly be exhausting and it was better to wear something casual for it.

But even though her outfit was rather casual, her outfit didn't seem to hide her beauty even the slightest. No matter how simple an outfit could be, as long as the one who wears it was a beautiful woman or handsome man, that simple outfit will definitely look great.

Once the brown haired girl was back, Khun looked at Mi- Eum and said, "Well....for now, let's go. We may be able to meet them."

Rak was lost in words. He had spent lots of time trying to beat that eel but it never worked. At the end, he should follow these turtles on their long road back to the town.

As they were walking, they reached a forest. When Charlotte looked at the sky, as expected, there was still no sun in this Hidden Floor. Considering that Hidden Floor was a bit unique than any other floor, she thought that she might be able to see the one that gave her former world light and warmth.

"So Mi- Eum, are you also the data of someone who cleared the train?"

When those who had finished the journey reached the Hidden Floor, once they stayed here and fulfilled the journey, when they left, their data will remain in the Hidden Floor. It was just like a virtual world.

"Nope! Not me. I'm composed of data generated from this place only. There are lots of generation data created independently here like me" Mi- Eum answered.

"Hm.....I see.....so you are saying that all of this is fake?" Khun asked, looking at their surroundings. "This...data?"

Charlotte nudged him, looking rather displeased.

"What? I'm just saying the truth" he defended himself.

"Yes. Except you guys who just got here, everything here, including me, is data " Mi- Eum answered. Charlotte snorted when Khun looked at her as if he was the right one here.

"But since I was born and grew up in this place, I don't want to call everything here fake " Mi- Eum added again. "From the blades of grass and trees to the dewdrops, everything is real to me since I live here."

"That makes sense" Khun said as he understood now why Charlotte was like that.

Speaking about the woman, she was looking at a dew on a leave and touched it. Her index finger that touched the dew felt wet, she thought that whoever created this Hidden Floor must have spent lots of energy to make things here- even the trivial things- looked real.

"Don't just randomly touch things" Khun warned her. "Have you never seen grass before?"

Charlotte glared at him, "I just want to touch the dew. It's not like the dew will turn into a monster right?"

"Ah- and...be careful. If you make a mistake here, you might end up running into your sworn enemy ."

".....sworn enemies...?"

That talkative and big-mouthed scale had mentioned about it before, but they didn't understand it. Charlotte was of course an exception.

"Yes. All warriors who have looked at themselves in the mirror before coming here have their own sworn enemy . In order to prevent your power from having excessive influence in this place, one enemy equal to you is generated. Most of the time, it's the powerful enemies you have encountered or a rival that you wanted to defeat."