Hallucination

What appeared before them were five pitch-black cells, indistinguishable from the other empty cells. Only their bars were brand-new, standing out against the darkness beyond.

The stench was overwhelming.

There was no sound.

No movement.

No... people?

Everyone exchanged puzzled looks.

Ricky patted Semir on the shoulder. Semir seemed lost in a dream and only slowly came back to himself.

Just then.

"Ah—"

A heavy, drawn-out sigh came from the darkness of one of the cells, carrying a lazy undertone.

"Bri, are you snoring again?"

The lazy voice smacked its lips a few times, as if it had just woken up. "Damn, it's louder than thunder..."

At the sound of that voice, Semir's entire body jolted.

The sound of someone turning over came from the darkness.

Everyone exchanged looks and held their breath.

A person.

A living person.

Semir stopped mid-step, seeming to hesitate for a long while between moving forward and standing still.

He stared blankly at the darkness ahead, the torch in his hand trembling slightly.

Seeing Semir's strange reaction, Ricky and Clay exchanged a glance.

Fuse knitted his brows tightly, while Russell was utterly bewildered.

Soon, a muffled thud came from another cell, as if someone had slammed a fist against the wall.

Everyone turned their eyes toward the darkness of that cell.

A desolate male voice rang out:

"Hahahaha, you say that as if anyone here could hear thunder..."

Hearing that somewhat careless voice, Semir jolted again, his entire body beginning to tremble.

The prisoners in the darkness and stench fell silent for a while.

The first lazy voice spoke again:

"Come to think of it, what does thunder sound like? Does anyone still remember?"

The desolate voice hummed, drawing out a long nasal sound as if pondering.

"Of course. Listen, Naki. Thunder sounds like this."