"Well, this is the second sea we've seen since we got here. But of all the waters, only the third that has actually held any..." Na-Ri said flatly, staring at the three who sat on the shore of the wide ocean beside her with a solemn expression.
They had dropped through the fall into thick bush, forced their way clear, and found themselves facing an endless ocean with no path forward.
Here, they sat, watching in silence as though the damned world might finally offer them something worth keeping.
At least this sea was clean and colourless, yet it shone blue with the play of light across its surface.
"Yeah, but first for us," Adela said, glancing at Orion.
"Definitely. Do you not think it is even better this way?" Orion added with a grin towards Kyle and Na-Ri.
Kyle, on the other hand, was busy chewing on the piece of meat Orion had saved for him. Na-Ri had cooked it before the whole Black Lotus incident, and while the others had eaten theirs, he had still been asleep at the time.
"No way. Do you really believe there is peace in this world?" Adela asked, shaking her head, her tone making it clear she thought otherwise.
"You sound disappointed, but I cannot say otherwise," Na-Ri replied with a dry chuckle.
Orion let himself drop onto the black sand, stretching his arms as though the beach were some sort of holiday lounge.
"I will take a sea over another cliff. Call it a resort if you like. All we need now are umbrellas in our drinks, like those old stories I read."
Kyle did not bother to look up. He spoke with his mouth full, more interested in finishing the food than the conversation.
"The drinks are gone, so I suppose meat will serve well enough."
Orion groaned, rolling onto his side to watch him.
"Typical. You know, not a word comes out of you half the time. You act like a sadist, but wave food in your face and suddenly you turn into a poet," Na-Ri said in a flat tone.
"He is right, though. Food matters more than sea views. And as Adela pointed out, there is no such thing as peace in this world, so you might as well eat until your heart is content."
Adela gave a short, humourless laugh.
"And yet here we are, staring at the view instead of finding food."
"Correction," Kyle said, swallowing and leaning back on one elbow. "I am staring at the meat."
He raised the last strip between his fingers and finished it in a single bite.
"Priorities, Adela. It keeps me alive, so I would say it is working."
"So your survival plan is to chew so loudly the world loses interest in killing you?" she shot back.
Kyle smirked.
"It seems to have worked well enough so far."
Orion clapped him on the shoulder.
"That is the spirit. Positive thinking, ladies. He is going to outlast us all with sheer chewing power."
The beautiful stranger drew her knees up, resting her arms across them, her eyes fixed on the endless water.
"You lot can joke, but it is still a dead end," she said.
Orion waved his hand dismissively.
"Everything is a dead end if you keep calling it that. We are in a Trial Zone and lucky to have survived a day, and now we are almost clocking two."
She turned her head just enough to look at him.
"What else do you call a wall of ocean with no boats, no land on the horizon, and no way to swim across?"
"A view," the handsome youth said simply, grinning. "And one hell of a better view than the inside of that bush we just crawled out of. At least here the air does not smell like mould and panic mixed with dead creatures."
Adela shook her head.
"You really think this counts as a view worth keeping? I will say it again, Orion, peace does not exist, not in this world, especially."
Orion gave an exaggerated gasp.
"You wound me. I was about to start a travel brochure: 'Visit the End: endless ocean, no roads out, and four miserable bastards for company.' I would even draw a little sun in the corner."
Na-Ri's eyes narrowed further.
"And when the jokes dry up?"
For once, Orion did not answer immediately. His grin wavered before he forced it back.
"Then we are done. That is all that keeps me upright. Either laugh at it or go mad."
Kyle leaned back on both hands, eyes still half-lidded.
"Or just eat. It works better than laughing."
Adela snorted before catching herself.
"Brilliant philosophy, that is. You are all about food, hahaha."
The four of them fell into a loose silence after that, the kind that was neither uncomfortable nor hostile. The sea stretched wide, its surface reflecting the glowing sky like polished glass.
Kyle used the brief pause to check his new item by summoning the voice of the manual in his mind.
***
Items: [Vigour Pill (1)], [Starred Lantern], [Abyssal Orb]
(Information: The Abyssal Orb is a relic descended from a fallen god into the sea of the lifeless. It was reborn to grant infinite vitality, and has since merged with its host's life-force, becoming inseparable from their being)
***
"Huh? Infinite life... does that mean I cannot die, or what exactly?"
Na-Ri spoke again, breaking his train of thought.
"Do you notice anything? No gulls, no fish, nothing like the stories we read. You know, those flying creatures?"
Adela followed her gaze, frowning.
"You are right, Lee. There is nothing for us to see even here." She lowered her voice further. "Even the sea is dead."
The words lingered between them, heavy enough that Orion did not immediately smother them with another joke.
Kyle rubbed the back of his neck, staring at the water.
"Dead or not, it is still wet. Wet means drowning. So unless one of you has been hiding a ship in your pocket, we will have to think around it."
Adela gave him a sharp look.
"And what do you suggest? Swim for it?"
Kyle arched an eyebrow.
"If I wanted to die slower, perhaps. But no. We stay, rest, and scout the edges. The seas end somewhere, probably. Everything has an end."
"Not always," Na-Ri said. "Some things are endless, like our world."
"Endless seas do not have shores," Kyle replied dryly. "And yet here we are, sitting on one. Basic logic suggests there is land somewhere else. It might even be useful land, not just a long stretch of sand. But since nobody here can walk on water, we will not get to find out today."
Orion chuckled low.
"Look at him, giving speeches. It must be the meat. Once again, put food in him and suddenly he becomes a strategist."
"Better than starving and praying for miracles," Kyle said. "At least this strategy does not rot."
Orion lifted his hands in mock surrender.
"All right, all right. Our fearless meat philosopher."
Na-Ri tilted her head, studying Kyle with an unreadable expression.
"...It is too practical for most people."
Kyle shrugged.
"Yes, but most people are dead, so practical thinking works better."
Adela hugged her knees, her gaze fixed on the blank horizon.
"The term 'practical' does not make this world any less pointless."
Her words earned silence again, though not agreement.
A minute passed, the only sound the soft lap of water on the shore. Kyle narrowed his eyes, observing the subtle pattern.
"Does anyone else notice that the waves do not actually break?" he muttered.
Na-Ri shifted her gaze, and Orion sat up to look properly. She was the first to speak.
"They roll in, but they do not foam. They just rise and fall."
Adela swallowed.
"Like they are not moving water, but merely pretending."
"That is encouraging," Kyle said. "An ocean that plays at being an ocean."
Orion attempted a chuckle, but it came out thinner than before.
"Perhaps it is shy and does not want to scare the tourists."
Na-Ri ignored him.
"If it is not real water, it is not a real sea. We do not know what it is."
"That is better," Kyle muttered. "Fake sea. Dead sea. Imaginary sea. Plenty of options, and none of them are useful."
Adela drew a line in the sand with her finger, her hand trembling more than she intended.
"So what do we do if it is not water?"
"Survive. Simple enough," Kyle said, lying back against the sand.
For a long stretch, no one spoke as the sea stared back at them.
Kyle leaned forward, studying the horizon with sharp attention.
"Wait, I think something is out there."
The others followed his gaze. A faint glimmer shone just above the line where the false-blue water met the sky.
At first, it appeared to be light catching a ripple, but the ripple never faded. It pulsed as though something were signalling across the water.
From Orion, a voice softer than expected broke the silence:
"Well, either that is salvation or the start of another bad idea."
Adela's jaw tightened.
"And we never get the first one."
Na-Ri remained silent, summoning her weapon once more, this time in its gun form.
"It does not matter what it is. We will know soon enough. For now, it proves the sea is not empty. That means options," Kyle said.
Orion glanced at him.
"You make it sound like a good thing."
Kyle leaned back again, shutting his eyes.
"I did not say good, only options. And options keep us alive. That is the only word worth holding onto."
The beautiful stranger rose, glancing at the group.
"It is time to move. There is something or someone waiting beyond this ocean."