So the ladies decided to go check it out and see the whole thing and how it got here in the first place, as they did not expect something like this to appear here.
So under the same burning sun, the air near the water’s edge felt different.
It wasn’t cooler, but it was heavier. The breeze carried something else—something subtle- a dampness that didn’t match the dry winds of the dunes.
Evelyn stepped carefully, leading the group closer to the shoreline.
The water shimmered under the bright sky, waves lapping gently over smooth, pale sand. On the surface, small dark shapes bobbed in the shallow edges, drifting with the motion like harmless debris.
One of the girls stepped forward. "Should we test it? I mean, salt water or not, it might tell us what kind of environment this is and tell us if this is the end of the desert area or not."
"Maybe we could rinse our faces, too, after all we have spent so much time in such hot air where the sand keeps blowing, making my skin feel super dry," the short one added, already crouching.
Evelyn’s eyes narrowed as she heard this and just nodded.
But she didn’t move forward.
Instead, she tilted her head, watching the creatures floating in the water more closely.
They were small.
Round-bodied.
Dark-scaled.
Tiny fins.
Nothing strange at first glance.
But then, her stomach dropped.
Her brain caught up with what her instincts had already noticed.
They weren’t random fish.
They weren’t harmless.
They were a specific type of simulation beast she’d read about in the academy logs.
Mimic piranhas.
Tiny, quiet, and deceptively weak-looking.
They stayed still, pretending to be harmless surface swimmers and waiting for prey to enter the water.
And the moment skin touched the surface, they would swarm, bite, and devour everything.
The worst part?
They didn’t even trigger system alerts until it was too late.
Evelyn shot her hand forward. "Stop!"
The two girls who had stepped closer froze.
"What?" one asked, startled. "We’re not swimming. Just checking if it’s salt or—"
"Don’t move," Evelyn said, sharper this time.
She pointed. "Look at the water again."
The girls hesitated, then glanced down.
And then they saw it.
The small creatures had begun to stir—fins twitching, tails shifting.
And worse, they were all turning.
Toward them.
"Those aren’t normal fish," Evelyn said. "Those are simulation mimics. Piranha type. They hide in shallow water and attack anything warm-blooded. One touch and they’ll strip half your leg before you blink."
The girls’ faces paled immediately.
Both of them took quick steps back, boots crunching on the sand.
The scarf girl cursed under her breath. "Holy hell. I almost walked right into that."
The short one shuddered. "I thought they were just... floating debris or clumps of stuff, but when I look closer, I can see their gills and fins, but they are so small that it is easy to ignore."
The last girl exhaled hard. "They weren’t floating. They were watching."
The creatures let out low, guttural growls from the water. It was strange to hear growls from something so small, but it echoed faintly across the shore.
They didn’t chase.
They didn’t lunge.
They just hovered at the edge, glaring at the girls like they’d lost a free meal.
Evelyn slowly lowered her hand.
The other three girls took a few more steps back until they were safely out of range.
"I read about these things last month," Evelyn said. "They only appear in the forbidden zone with massive bodies of water, as they need a set of perfect requirements before they are born.
Normally, they’re locked behind university-level missions. Guess the academy’s testing us harder than we thought."
"Could’ve told us," the scarf girl muttered, still catching her breath.
"Probably the point," Evelyn replied. "To see if we think before acting."
The group stood silently for a few seconds.
Then the short girl looked around again. "So, what now? We can’t use the water and are still in the middle of nowhere."
"We walk," Evelyn said.
"Toward what?"
She pointed further down the shoreline. "There’s something ahead. A bit of green. Could be nothing. Could be shelter."
The others followed her gaze.
Far in the distance, barely visible through the heat shimmer, was a patch of color—something not brown, gold, or blue.
Green.
And not just a faint dot. It was larger than expected. Wide enough to stand out. It could be plants. Maybe something else.
"Let’s go," Evelyn said.
They didn’t waste time.
The group set off along the curve of the beach, staying close enough to the water to keep direction but far enough that no one risked a misstep.
The sun beat down from above.
Sand gave way beneath each step.
But there was a purpose now.
They had a goal.
And it felt like they were walking toward something for the first time since the simulation started, instead of just surviving.
Behind them, the mimic piranhas growled again.
But the group didn’t look back.
They kept moving.
Focused.
Steady.
What they didn’t notice—what none of them could hear—was the faint sound beneath the sand a few meters behind them.
A soft scrape.
Then another.
Something large.
Something slow.
And patient.
It slithered just under the surface, its shape hard to define—long, segmented, and quiet.
But as the girls got closer to the greenery ahead, the thing beneath the sand shifted direction.
Not toward the water.
Not toward the beach.
But toward them.
Still distant.
Still waiting.
But closer than before.
The green ahead became clearer now.
Palm-like shapes.
Low bushes.
A raised ridge.
It could be a groove.
It could be a nest.
It could be something worse.
But whatever it was, they were too close now to turn back.
Evelyn tightened her grip on her weapon.
"Eyes up," she said quietly. "Let’s finish this detour fast."
No one complained.
They just moved.
Toward the trees.
Toward whatever came next.
Unaware of what was slowly trailing them just beneath the sand.