I headed toward the third door and reached it after a few seconds of walking.
I pulled the door outward, and just like in the other rooms—
There was nothing inside except a figure standing on her feet with her eyes closed.
But this time, the figure was a woman.
She had white hair that fell smoothly onto her shoulders and down to her waist.
Her facial features looked delicate, and she had full red lips.
Her body was not extremely thin, nor fat, but rather in an almost perfect shape.
She wore a long white dress with beautiful golden patterns.
She was much shorter than me, but her height seemed fitting for a girl.
"She's really beautiful."
These words slipped out of my mouth unconsciously when I saw her.
But I shook my head and pushed away those thoughts as I approached her to wake her up.
Of course, I didn't wake her the same way I did with the blue-haired boy.
Instead, I shook her body a little and spoke loudly.
"You, wake up."
After a short while, I saw her eyelids begin to tremble, so I took a step back.
She opened her eyes, and her blue pupils shone like a precious gem.
She looked around with slight confusion, not knowing where she was, before realizing I was in the room and staring at her.
Her eyes sharpened, and she looked at me cautiously.
"Where am I? And why can't my body move?"
Her way of speaking sounded elegant, at least to me.
I slowly explained our current situation to her so she could take it in.
"Hmm, you're right, I don't know who I am. This feels a little strange."
She was lost in thought for a while, trying to accept what she had heard, before looking back at me.
"Then why can't I move while you can?"
"Well, maybe because I have a high healing speed."
I shrugged, because I myself didn't know the reason.
"Can I take you outside? There's water there, maybe drinking a little will help you recover?"
"And how exactly do you plan to take me?"
She mocked my idea slightly, pointing to her legs that weren't moving at all.
I didn't answer her question. Instead, I approached her until I was very close, which caused a hint of tension to appear in her eyes.
"Forgive me."
Ignoring her unease, I placed my hands under her legs and lifted her in a princess carry.
'Hmm, she's really light.'
"You! What are you doing? Put me down now!"
"And how would you get out?"
She went silent after hearing my logical words, but I managed to catch the redness in her ears.
I kept walking until I reached the center where the small pond was.
I saw the blue-haired boy lying down with his hands under his head and his eyes closed.
I wanted to put the girl in my arms on the ground, but—
"Don't put me on the ground, it's dirty"
I looked at the girl, who had a slight expression of disgust on her face, with a blank stare.
"And do you think we have the luxury to worry about cleanliness?"
"No, no, I won't sit on the ground."
She shook her head vigorously, rejecting my words, which made me glance around helplessly.
That's when I noticed the blue-haired boy, who had a wide grin on his face as he was lost in sleep.
I walked over to him and stomped hard on his stomach to wake him up.
"Bwoooogh! What's happening!?"
He opened his eyes wide and woke up instantly, feeling sick in his stomach from my foot.
"You, take off your shirt. Now."
"Hah? And why would I…"
He lifted his head and wanted to protest, but the moment he saw the girl in my arms, his attitude completely flipped.
"oh My God! I didn't know such a beautiful lady was here, forgive me for this unsightly appearance."
He immediately stood up from the ground in a strange way and approached me, trying to hold the girl's hand, but she pulled it away instantly.
"Disgusting!"
Even from my spot, I felt like I heard something shatter inside the blue-haired man before me.
'Poor guy, I feel a bit of pity for him… just a little.'
The blue-haired boy pulled his hand back and placed it behind his head, embarrassed by the situation.
"Did I frighten you, my lady? I apologize for that."
The girl in my arms ignored his apology and turned her gaze away.
"Take off your shirt now."
"Hah? And why would I do that?"
The blue-haired boy tried his hardest not to get angry because of the girl in my arms.
"Do what he tells you."
"Of course, my lady."
My lips twitched when I saw how he instantly stripped off his shirt at her request, as if those were the most precious words he'd ever heard.
He removed his shirt, revealing a well-trained body with every muscle clearly defined.
He stretched out his hand and handed me the shirt, his face unwilling—but the moment he noticed the girl was looking at him—
A wide smile instantly spread across his face.
"Disgusting!"
Crack!
I heard that strange sound again and knew something inside him had broken beyond repair.
I placed the shirt on the ground, then gently lowered the girl from my arms and helped her sit, though she still seemed to struggle moving.
"I'll go wake up the rest."
Both of them nodded, while I turned my back and headed toward the fourth door.
I pulled the door outward, letting light spill into the room, and saw the person inside.
It was a man who looked like a gorilla packed with muscles.
He was slightly taller than me, but his build was much bigger.
He had short black hair, and from his face I guessed he was probably in his thirties.
I approached, intending to wake him, but before my hand could reach him, his eyes shot open and his fist swung toward my face.
Since he had just woken up, his movement was slow, so I easily stopped his punch.
"Calm down, I won't hurt you."
'Sigh, I am tired of repeating the same thing over and over.'
"Who are you? And what happened to my body?"
"Well, here's what happened…"
So, I explained everything I knew in detail until the caution in his eyes eased a little.
"Let's go meet the others. Do you need any help?"
"Wait a minute."
The man clenched his teeth tightly and began moving his legs with difficulty, trembling, but managed to advance on his own without any help.
'That's expected, given his build.'
We walked slowly until we finally reached where everyone was gathered—but I saw a new face I hadn't recognized.
There was a girl with brown hair sitting on the ground beside the white-haired girl, speaking to her nervously.
She looked like a teenager, maybe fifteen or sixteen years old.
She had hazel eyes and slightly round facial features.
But I didn't care much about that at the time.
'Did she wake up on her own and make it to this pond in the few minutes I was gone?'
It felt strange, since it had taken me a long time to reach this place myself.
When the girl noticed me walking with the huge man beside me, tension appeared on her face, and she tried to hide behind the white-haired girl.
"Damn it! Not another pretty girl, but an old man filled with muscles."
I heard a voice from the side, so I turned toward it and saw the blue-haired boy cursing.
'Why do I feel an urge to punch him so badly?'
I ignored that odd feeling in my chest and began scanning around for any changes.
'That strange screen asked me to wake everyone up—so now what?'
The answer didn't take long to arrive.
The ground began to shake, as if an earthquake had struck.
Shake! Shake!
Because the ground was unstable, the blue-haired boy fell on his backside and began groaning in pain.
"Owwww."
Everyone ignored him, as they were all looking around cautiously.
Then, everyone saw that a new door had appeared, one that hadn't been there before.
Before they could hesitate about whether to enter it or not—
A red screen appeared in front of everyone, displaying a few words.
[Congratulations on awakening the Five Rulers. Everyone must proceed to the next point in order to begin the first mission.]
Everyone looked at one another and knew they had read the same thing.
But I was the only one confused, because the screen in front of me was a different color. Theirs was red, while mine was gray.
"Do you see my screen?"
I asked them to confirm whether I was imagining it or not.
"Yes, what about it?"
The blue-haired boy replied as he rubbed his butt from the earlier fall.
"I don't see any problem with it. It looks the same as mine."
I confirmed after hearing from the white-haired girl as well that I was the only one who saw it in that color, which made me feel a little strange.
'It's just a color anyway, I don't think there's any problem with that.'
"Shall we go now?"
I asked everyone to make sure they were ready to face what was hiding behind the door.
"As if we had a choice."
"Let's go."
"Give me a minute to stand up."
Everyone replied except for the brown-haired girl, who remained silent.
We all began walking toward the newly appeared door, unaware of what awaited us behind it.