It seems like everyone is really struggling to find their way. As well as to find rare food supplies in this dark forest. To restore their energy. After a rather long survival journey. Full of hardship, exhaustion, and danger.

That's why the group of that delinquent guy, Riccardo, was quite worn out, having to walk continuously through the forest for several hours. They just couldn't withstand these harsh conditions anymore. So he made a decision for everyone in the group.

Riccardo: "Ugh, I'm so tired! Let's take a break."

Right after saying that, he immediately plopped down under a nearby tree to rest. This made his friends in the group quite confused. Seeing that, Cyrus spoke up, hastily urging Riccardo:

Cyrus: "Oh come on! We've only walked a little bit and you're already complaining? You damn brat."

Hearing that, Riccardo showed a clearly annoyed expression toward Cyrus. He said:

Riccardo: "If you guys still have energy, then go ahead and move on! But I'm tired, so I'll sit here and recover a bit. Then I'll keep going."

Everyone frowned. They stared at Riccardo with clear discontent, as his usual stubborn and defiant attitude flared up once again. Seeing this, Noland tried a softer, emotional approach. He spoke gently to Riccardo, hoping he would understand:

Noland: "Seriously! How could you even think we'd leave you here alone? Besides, since we care so much about you, the least you could do is think about us a little."

But the result of that statement was… no different than pouring oil on fire. When Riccardo noticed that Noland was being soft with him like that, he took advantage and pushed even further:

Riccardo: "If you guys can't bear to leave me here alone, then just sit down and rest with me!"

When everyone heard that line, they truly felt like he was beyond saving. They had no choice but to raise their hands to their foreheads and shake their heads in defeat.

Kano: "Can he still be saved?"

Isaac: "Nah! He's beyond saving."

While everyone was disheartened, not knowing what to do with this difficult friend, suddenly a bone-chilling scream came from behind them:

"Aaaaaaaaaa...."

Startled, they quickly turned around at the horrifying scream to see what was happening. And then they saw a tree ghost using its strong arm to wrap around one of the boys. The boy struggled, screamed, and begged desperately in fear:

"Please, don't kill me!"

"I'm begging you, spare me!"

"Don't eat me!"

"Someone, please save—"

Before he could even finish his sentence, the tree ghost stuffed him into its mouth and began to chew him viciously. The horrifying sight that followed was… after finishing its meal, it spat out the boy's bones, along with fresh blood dripping nonstop onto the ground, forming a terrifying puddle. Riccardo's group, witnessing this, were utterly stunned, mouths wide open in horror.

While everyone was distracted by watching the poor friend being devoured by the tree monster, in the blink of an eye, something suddenly grabbed Alden tightly from behind and lifted him up into the air. He didn't even have time to react, so he screamed out for help:

Alden: "Ahh! Guys, please help me!"

When the others turned around, they were shocked to see the tree ghost about to bring Alden to its mouth. But luckily, this time Alden had better luck than the other boy—because Riccardo acted quickly to save him just in time.

Riccardo immediately crossed his arms to activate his gravity manipulation magic, causing the tree ghost's strong arm to soften and loosen. That made Alden fall to the ground and escape in an instant. Seeing he was falling, the group quickly formed a circle and reached out to catch him so he wouldn't hit the ground directly.

Alden landed safely in the arms of the others, making everyone breathe a sigh of relief:

Boniface: "Thank God! You're okay."

Jasper: "Did it hurt you?"

Alden: "No! I'm fine, thank you all so much."

Alden: "But now… what do we do? These tree ghosts have surrounded us from all sides."

Everyone looked around, and it was exactly as Alden said. They had been surrounded by the bloodthirsty tree ghosts, ready to attack and eat them.

Although the group was facing a life-threatening situation, there was one group of friends who seemed completely relaxed, as if they didn't care at all about the dangers around them. Especially Katharina in that group—she was quite excited when she discovered a bunch of strange plants in front of her. Apparently, they were perfect for her experiments.

This girl was extremely passionate about researching and experimenting with weird and exotic things. However, her work was often unproductive and even problematic. Because of that, the teachers at the academy always had headaches over her strange experiments. One time, during a practical class, due to her fidgety hands, she failed an experiment and almost blew up the entire classroom. Fortunately, the teacher managed to contain the explosion in time. That incident led to many complaints from teachers about her. But it seemed like she didn't care about what the teachers said—she stubbornly and obsessively kept diving into her experiments, leaving the teachers frustrated and unable to do anything.

Back to the scene—when Katharina discovered a bunch of strange and beautiful plants, she couldn't resist. She picked them while shouting and expressing her overwhelming excitement:

Katharina: "Oh my God! How am I supposed to stay sane?! There's an entire paradise right in front of me! Not even in my wildest dreams did I expect this! Hahaha!"

Ann: "Are you done picking yet, girl?"

Sara: "Yeah seriously! We've been waiting for you so long, our legs are about to break."

Otis: "Exactly! Hurry up already!"

Shanley: "Mosquitoes are killing us out here!"

Katharina: "Hold on! Just a little longer, almost done."

Arnold: "Almost done, really?"

Duncan: "Your 'almost done' has been over half an hour now, hasn't it?"

Katharina: "I told you I'm almost done, so just chill already, you dumb bunch!"

And so she continued picking, while the others had no choice but to helplessly wait until she finished.