(Narrator)
Carina disappeared behind the ramparts.
Its silhouette, gilded by the desert light, grew smaller and smaller, then melted into the shadow of the city.
Ki-Moon remained alone.
The wind passed over her face.
He didn't move.
For a few seconds, he retained exactly the same expression as before: that of an exhausted man, abandoned in the middle of a desert where every breath seemed to cost him something.
Then his shoulders stopped trembling.
His breathing changed.
Slowly.
Regularly.
He opened his eyes.
The fatigue had disappeared from his eyes.
Not completely.
It had never been real.
Ki-Moon placed both hands on the sand and sat up.
No problem.
He takes off.
With a fluid movement, he dusted off his coat.
Then he looked at the city in the distance.
No smiles.
No satisfaction.
Only this cold attention that he had long reserved for things he did not understand.
– She is fast.
His voice was perfectly steady.
He lowered his gaze to his own legs.
They worked very well.
He bent his knees slightly.
Then he straightened up.
No problem.
He was not unable to walk.
He never had been.
He had simply chosen not to do it.
Carina must be very important, so we must keep a close eye on her.
It will be very useful in diverting attention from him, "poor injured, helpless, always rescued"
So he waited.
He had waited for her to leave.
He had waited for the system to confirm his progress.
And now...heHe knew the entrance to the city, but also, he was alone.
Ki-Moon consulted his inventory and took out his watch.
He was finally using it.
The screen always displayed the same thing.
ZONE 2 - THE DESERT PARCHMENTS
So this is where he was hiding, after all his suffering in picking up the lily and the coins, following these words despite the doubt.
She hadn't lied, at least not yet.
He looked at the last line.
Then he turned off the screen.
– it's this way
The city truly represented the end of the challenge, but also the end of the map.
Ever since he had crossed the threshold into the second zone, the map had not stopped calling to him.
The Desert Scrolls.
He squats down.
Her fingers plunged into the sand.
He let it flow slowly between his fingers.
Then he looked at his watch and took the wind direction.
A huge area remained untouched on the map.
Now he could fully use the treasure-seeking map he had stolen from the turtle's shell; he had taken it along with the "lucky" cube.
(lost ball test)
– It's there.
At the time, he had not been able to open it.
The system had classified it as:
INCOMPLETE ITEM
Due to the lack of the sacred sword.
He had kept it because she had advised me to.
A deceitful being.
Once above this vast valley of white sand, Ki-Moon took out the sword that Carina had given him.
The King Without a Crown.
He planted it in the warm sand.
Nothing.
He pressed lightly.
Still nothing.
He sighed, ready to withdraw the sword, but he noticed something: a small silver thread was wrapped around the blade.
One of the lines engraved in the sand seemed to show the way.
His eyes narrowed and he placed a thoughtful hand on his chin.
– what could this treasure be?
This mistrust had increased; with all these misadventures he learned to think and to fear the easy way out.
Ki-Moon remained silent.
He first took a piece of the metal wire and had it integrated into "his possessions" in his watch.
QUEST OBJECT DETECTED.
DESERT PARCHMENT: FRAGMENT 1/7.
He unrolled the map again.
The writing was old.
But the system translated it automatically.
Only one sentence appeared.
"He who attains peace before having gone through the trials of life will not be able to find the path of sacrifice."
Sept fragments.
A normal player would probably have followed the path laid out by the wires.
A cautious player would have waited for the other teams.
Ki-Moon did exactly the opposite. He withdrew his blade and cut the wires, then turned around as if nothing had happened and went back in the opposite direction.
As he advanced, he assumed an arched posture and a torn voice.
– HELP!
He ran the last few steps like a desperate man, he did not stop until he reached the center of the groups that had remained on the spot.
– HELP ME
he shouted, throwing himself at the foot of the first person he saw.
He bent down to his level and asked him the question.
The crowd huddled around them, waiting to hear what would come from the lips of this poor boy.
– she's stuck…city of gold.
Ki-moon barely murmured
The survivors' eyes shone and their vivacity returned just at the word "gold".
– go and speak
They said in unison.
Ki-Moon was catching his breath as if he were exhausted
– we found the exit but the exit is blocked by a pile of gold coins my sidekick ended up stuck under a landslide of coins.
These words came out at such speed and with such panic that no one could refuse to follow him.
– Get up, we're all going to help you
Ki-Moon looked up.
Her face was filled with tears and gratitude.
But his fingers slowly closed around the hilt of the sword.
[ACCEPTANCE OF LIFE'S TRIALS]
[statue of the ally: sacrifice]