The strange feeling returned.
Stronger.
Kai turned his head.
"There?"
Between two massive roots...
A rusted metal doorway protruded from the hillside.
Half concealed by moss.
Half swallowed by earth.
The strange sensation disappeared.
"...It stopped."
Kai stared at the doorway.
"...So this is what you wanted me to find."
For reasons he couldn't explain...
He felt strangely disappointed.
The mysterious feeling that had guided him this far had simply...
Vanished.
As if its job had been completed.
Kai grabbed several thick vines.
Pulled.
They snapped free.
He kicked away loose rocks.
Cleared away years of accumulated dirt.
Eventually—
The doorway became fully visible.
A faded symbol rested above it.
Most of it had eroded away.
Only fragments remained.
Kai couldn't recognize it.
"...Guess there's only one way to find out."
He pushed.
The door groaned.
Dust poured from its frame.
With a deafening scrape—
It slowly opened.
Darkness greeted him.
A stale breeze escaped from within.
It smelled ancient.
Not rotten.
Not damp.
Simply...
Old.
Kai hesitated.
Then stepped inside.
The temperature dropped immediately.
Outside, roots and vines ruled.
Inside...
Something else remained.
The corridor stretched into darkness.
The walls bore the same intricate glowing lines.
Faint.