Chapter 3

Miji walked down the street with her hands in her pockets. She kicked a rock, but it’s a little too big. She winced and stopped for a moment.

Then she sighed.

The crowd of people in the market parted slightly to move around her. Miji looks up at the ceiling. Her environment of stone was unrelenting.

She closed her eyes.

She whispered something aloud.

Miji: “I wonder what it’s like outside the city.”

Miji stood still for another moment. She felt something brush against her.

A shoulder. She stumbled back, opening her eyes.

Miji: “Wha…?”

Another shoulder hit her. Then another.

Miji looked around. The crowd that had just been flowing normally was now going against its normal rhythm.

Miji watched as people ran down the street. She blinked and looked around.

Then she shook her head.

The crowd around her was running. It was almost a stampede at this point. She had to get out.

Miji scanned her surroundings. There was a building ledge nearby.

She pushed through the crowd, ignoring the swarm around her.

The ledge was right in front of her.

Miji reached out.

Suddenly an elbow hit her back.

Miji stumbled onto the ground. Footsteps slammed into the ground next to her.

Miji flinched as one came incredibly close to her head.

She quickly pulled herself to her feet and brushed herself off. She looked up. The ledge was right in front of her.

Miji jumped up, grabbing onto it with both hands. Then she quickly pulled herself up. The ledge wasn’t able to fit both of her feet, so she had to adapt. She put her arms out, hugging the wall to the best of her ability.

She stepped forward, one step at a time. Before long, she reached a windowsill. She looked up. There was another ledge above her.

Miji took a breath. Then she focused.

Miji quickly ran up to the windowsill, leaping up and grabbing it with one arm.

She hung there for a second, trying to catch her breath.

She glanced down. She was pretty high in the air now.

Miji looked back up at the windowsill and grabbed it with her other hand. With a grunt, she pulled herself up.

Inside the building that Miji was climbing, a family was enjoying a meal. At one end, a boy was taking a bite of his sandwich.

Then he froze. He looked up at the window in front of him.

Miji stood right outside of it, face red with effort. She noticed him and gave a small wave before pulling herself up again.

The boy’s sandwich fell from his hands. He frantically pointed at the window, gesturing to his parents.

They both turned to look, but there was nothing there.

Miji jumped up from the top of the windowsill and grabbed the roof. She pulled herself up and turned around, sitting at the edge.

She was now roughly two stories off the ground. Her legs dangled off the edge of the building.

Miji took a moment to collect herself before turning her attention to the busy streets. From her vantage point, she could tell that the people in the streets seemed to be converging to a certain point.

Miji squinted.

Miji: “Where is everyone going?”

Miji followed the hoard of people in the streets with her fingers. They slowly grew closer until they finally touched.

Miji blinked.

Miji: “Why is everyone going to the opening?”

Suddenly her eyes widened. The pieces started to fit together in her head.

She scrambled to her feet.

Miji scanned her surroundings. The buildings around her were tall, but they were pretty close together.

Miji grinned. She took a few steps back. Then she sprinted forward.

She leaped off the edge of the building she was on. Her body seemed to float in the air for a moment.

Miji’s smile only widened.

Then,

Her feet touched solid ground. She fell into a roll. She pulled herself back up and kept running, jumping off the building in the same way as before.

From the ground, a young girl pointed up at Miji. The girl’s mother instantly slapped her hand away and scolded her.

Then she looked up and froze.

The two stared as Miji jumped from rooftop to rooftop.

—

Before long, Miji landed on the last rooftop. She looked out onto the city below. She could now clearly see the opening to the outside.

Set up below was some kind of convention. The townspeople gathered in the street below Miji, just as they would when the divers would return to town.

Miji frowned. She sat down on the edge of the roof. Thankfully, no one was paying any attention to her or they would likely tell her to get down. Their attention was fixed on the scene in front of them.

The divers were arranged in a line, equipped with their iconic all-black attire. They stood rigid, with their hands behind their backs.

The people below were whispering loudly. Miji couldn’t make out what they were saying, but it seemed like no one knew what was going on.

Suddenly, one of the divers stepped forward. Miji instantly recognized him as Bane.

Miji peeled her eyes. Bane was just at her father’s inn. Why was this convention set up now? And how hadn’t she heard about it?

Bane held a device in his hands. He held it up to his mouth, and the crowd slowly fizzled to silence.

Bane: “The Mask is dead.”

Miji stopped kicking her legs underneath her.

The crowd was now completely silent.

The silence was incredibly loud.

The words started to set in.

Miji’s eyes widened. Her shoulders dropped.

The crowd below her started to murmur to each other.

Bane slapped the device in his hands, and it outputted a loud screeching noise, causing everyone to cover their ears for a moment.

Miji slowly lowered her hands.

The divers had just returned barely a day before, and the Mask was with them. Out of all the divers, the Mask was the most powerful by far. Everyone knew that.

So, how? How was he dead? Something in town killed him?

That’s not possible. He fights deadly monsters every day on the outside. Miji saw the divers cart in their spoils all the time.

But Bane wouldn’t lie. Not after calling the whole town here like this.

The Mask was dead.

Bane put the speaking device to his mouth again.

Bane: “But do not fear! The gods will surely provide us with a new Mask, and we will set out once again!”

Bane raised his hand into the air. The divers behind him started to clap.

The crowd didn’t cheer right away. But soon, the cheering started to get louder. Soon enough, everyone was clapping or yelling because of Bane’s words.

Miji didn’t cheer. She just sat at the edge of the roof, lost in thought.

Bane waited for the cheering to die down. Then he spoke again.

Bane: “Tomorrow, there will be selections held for the position of Mask as well as for new divers. All able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 25 will be expected to participate.”

Miji blinked. They were holding tryouts. For the Mask.

She leaned a little closer.

Bane: “We will not allow this setback to stop our adventuring outside the stone walls that surround us. We will not allow the beasts from the outside to taint our glorious city!”

The people erupted in cheer right away this time. Miji still didn’t join them.

She took one more glance at the divers. Then the townspeople. Then Bane.

Then she bit her lip and started scaling her way down the building that she was on.