Chapter 15
Balancing an entire island on a single point of gravel and rock was not an easy task- one false step, one wrong accidental muscle movement, could level the whole place down. But of course, everyone was well aware of that. As if that wasn't stressing enough, Yuri began feeling the consequences of the intense heat produced by the magma down below, as the flames and molten rock kept sucking the oxygen of the entire treasure chamber. She wasn't the only one suffocating from the lack of oxygen. She wanted to collapse on her knees to rest but knew she couldn't for the sake of not only herself but the other three as well.
"How much time... do you think we got... before we die... of suffocation?" Yuri asked, barely able to breathe.
"Judging by the temperature... and the moisture level..." Tae replied between huge gasps of air, "I'd say... that we have... about 30 mins at most..."
"Well... is there... any sign... of a possible... exit?"
"Knowing King Sejong... I'd say... that he would build... an escape tunnel... just in case something like this... occurred to him..."
"Wait, what do you... mean by saying... 'knowing King Sejong'? You're saying as if... you know him personally..." However, Tae didn't respond and instead, looked all over the room for a possible exit path. Yuri, desperate to escape the heat, tried to look for one as well. So did the other two. Time was something they couldn't afford to waste.
Sweating, Yuri frantically searched for anything that looked like a tunnel, a passage, even a door. Then, across from her face a couple yards away, what she thought was a wall painting only moments ago turned out to be her possible savior: an air ventilation system big enough for one person to crawl through. Soon, everyone else noticed it and getting on it became their first priority. The ventilation system tunnel was separated from the island by no more than 15 feet. According to the timer, they only had 22 minutes left.
"So here's what we're going to do," Tae ordered, breathing heavily, "I'm going to jump onto the tunnel first, since I know that Hyo and Sica don't have a farther jumping range than I do and I'm quite positive that you, Yuri, don't either. When I jump, each one of you follow. We'll go clockwise from our position. Yuri goes after me, then Sica, and finally Hyo. Now, while you're moving watch your step and careful to balance it out!"
On the count of three, all four began moving simultaneously to the right, where Tae's position gave a perfect aim at the tunnel. Suddenly, the island began to vibrate and sway to the sides. Everyone got down onto the floor in surprise. "What the hell was that?!" Then, cracks in the island, which was invisible at first, began to appear, running from the center and going through the entire platform, ready to break open and end the lives of all four at any moment. The earth beneath their feet was rapidly melting and crumbling into hell below.
"All of you guys, try not to panic! Now softly and gently, move to where I'm standing so that I can back up and sprint, in order to balance the platform out."
Everyone followed suit and Tae began to back up to the center carefully, calculating each step he took to determine whether the balance was off or at the point. When he reached his mark, he stopped and gazed at the small opening, never leaving his concentration elsewhere.
"Alright, on the count of three, I'm going to sprint and jump off, and as I'm sprinting, two of you move to the back while one stays in the front! When I jump off, one of you has to come to the middle, preferably Yuri. Now, when I give the okay sign, Yuri, you sprint to the tunnel and everyone else stays where they are. On the count of three: one... two... THREE!"
Immediately, Yuri and Sica ran to the back at the same time that Tae sprinted to the edge of the island and leaped into the air. But just as his feet stepped off the ground, the island gave in and some of the cracks in the ground opened up, causing a huge chunk to break off and surrender to the flames of molten rock. This caught all of them in surprise. Tae flew through the air and his fingers grabbed onto the tunnel's entrance point just in time. Pulling himself up, he thanked his legs for being able to leap so far, but his joyful face turned into horror as he witnessed a quarter of the island disappear. He looked at his watch. Fifteen minutes left.
