Min-ho and the others lingered for far too long. No words had to be said for them to think the same thing.
Will these people be a threat?
Though they would have liked to count their options a bit before heading in, the Fog was closing in, only leaving fifty meters between them and it. And the Fog was eating up the distance fast.
With a sigh, Min-ho took the first steps up the stairway toward the front door.
His hand hovered above the handle.
Steeling his nerves, he gripped it and pushed.
The door swung open with a large creak as it revealed a massive hall filled with tables, chairs, pillars, and chandeliers above—
but without a single soul in sight.
The others had mentally prepped themselves to summon their weapons if anything should happen.
"They're on the second floor," Ji-su whispered to Min-ho.
He nodded, then slowly made his way inside.
"Can you sense any traps anywhere?" Min-ho asked Ji-su, and before he was given the chance to speak, all eyes were drawn to the far right of the hall, where one of those floating circular platforms was descending.
At first they could only see three robes, each in a variation of colors, but when the platform came down enough, they could make out three people.
Min-ho squinted a bit, trying to make out their features from the distance.
One was a big and burly man in a red robe and hoodie, the other a man of average height. He was wearing a blue robe. And the last was a leaner man in pink robes. Or perhaps it was a woman.
"You finally made it!" a big gruff voice echoed across the hall. The burly man jumped off the platform before it fully came down. Then he removed his hoodie as he approached them.
From this distance, Min-ho could see a red mohawk on the burly man's head, with the rest fully shaved clean.
The man in blue also removed his robe. He had long blue hair that flowed down his shoulder.
Then the one in pink was the last to reveal her face. She looked young and had strange eye makeup that looked like she was crying. She had pink hair which, like the others, matched the color of her robe.
But hers was packed into two ponytails, with the length of her hair falling far below her shoulders.
All brows raised upon seeing their features. If anything, these people were very adept in the way of a Z-Streamer.
Apart from Jang-book who had an eccentric hair color and contact lenses, practically no one else had the outlook of a Z-Streamer.
The trio walked up to Min-ho, then the burly man outstretched a hand while bearing a wide grin.
"Hello there, my name's Wo Shin-ji."
Min-ho looked at his hand, then lifted his gaze. He had to raise his head quite a bit, because the burly man was very tall.
Had he other options, he would've shaken his hand to avoid being rude. But he didn't know what this Z-Streamer's Affinity was.
"Sorry, but I don't know if you have some kind of enslavement Affinity or something," Min-ho expressed his concerns.
The burly man raised a brow.
"Well you're no fun," the girl with pink hair said, cocking her head to the side.
Looking at them, Sae-wee recoiled, her gaze intent on them. Staring with the same gaze she flashed the pink-hair back at the Event.
"No, he's being fair," the burly man said, retrieving his hand.
"We saw you approaching from the balcony, and we were excited to see other Z-Streamers."
Min-ho glanced at their Z-Eyes; each of them was turned off.
"You see, we haven't come across any others in a while," the blue hair said.
Beside Min-ho, no one else wanted to converse. They were too exhausted and in too much pain.
Caution was etched all over them, stemming from what had happened back at the Event.
Noticing their interaction with these strangers was leaning toward hostility, Min-ho forced a smile.
"I'm sorry if we're acting odd," he winced. "We've been through... a lot, and we need to recuperate."
"Do you mind if we talk more tomorrow?"
The burly man lowered his head and placed his hands on his hips.
As he did so, his robe opened a bit, revealing his clothes.
He was wearing what looked to be military trousers and a t-shirt.
Min-ho raised a brow.
"That much was obvious enough." He lifted his head. "Forgive my ignorance. Come, we'll lead you to a room to rest and regain yourselves."
Min-ho didn't move, and neither did his cohorts.
The long blue hair noticed their hesitance, then he spoke.
"I don't think they would like us to do that, Shin-ji."
The burly man called Shin-ji paused.
"Right, right," he said, then turned on his heel. "That wouldn't be right, would it?"
He stepped to the side.
"You and your teammates can go on ahead, pick any room you would like," he said. "We would just like to have more members in our team. We don't mean any of you harm. So I hope you'll see this as a gesture of good faith."
"Thank you," Min-ho said, then he took the first step.
Sae-wee followed behind, and so did everyone else.
Shin-ji and his peers stood by, watching Min-ho and his group make their way across the hall.
Maneuvering around tables and chairs as they walked toward the floating platforms.
Once they reached it, they got onto the same platform with a quiet haste.
Sae-wee activated the platform while the others turned around to face the trio. They'd be caught dead before turning their backs to some unknown Z-Streamers.
As they began to ascend, the girl with pink ponytails waved at Min-ho, a wide grin on her face.
Min-ho stared at them intently until they were gone from sight when the platform reached the top floor.
"A cautious bunch, aren't they?" the long blue hair said.
Shin-ji placed both hands in his pockets.
"Doesn't matter how cautious they are. Killing them will be easy."
Silence fell.
"Can I keep the leader?" the girl said, a wide smile on her face as she twirled her finger around her hair.