?Phoebe had been pacing, building up her momentum, yet it took more than three minutes for the rest of the group to reach the entrance. The path was a graveyard of jagged stones, forcing Ten to carry Letty on his back. Surprisingly, Ten stood taller than Terumi. Laili followed close behind, while the unreliable father brought up the rear, gasping for air as he performed what seemed like a lifetime’s worth of exercise in a single burst.

  ?"I catch a wonderful scent."

  ?Laili was keenly sensitive to the aromas of Earth.

  ?"It’s fragrant orange osmanthus—Kinmokusei," Phoebe, who had arrived first, spoke with a dreamer's passion. "I love it so much that I keep its essential oils even in the depths of winter."

  ?But wasn't it strange? At this depth, a hundred meters underground, the scent of osmanthus was overwhelming. It wasn't drifting down from the surface. They peered into the tunnel's maw. As their flashlights cut through the gloom, a faint wooden door appeared. In a tunnel where the line between natural cavern and man-made structure was blurred, something undeniably artificial was embedded. Why would a solid door, designed to seal a passage, be crafted to let such a fragrance breathe through? The mystery only deepened.

  ?“Man-made.”

  ?Laili, usually so nonchalant, peered in at the same time, her face betraying genuine surprise for the first time.

  ?Ten set Letty down and took her hand. "You're too slow," he urged the father, and finally, five shadows converged at the threshold.

  ?Terumi, hearing the details of the door, agreed to lead the way.

  "Am I the point man, then?"

  ?"Good luck, Captain," the former frontrunner teased, gleefully appointing the VIP—or rather, the guinea pig. Suddenly, the gravel thinned out, making the footing easy. It was silent. No sign of insects, no scurry of small animals. Phoebe and Laili took the rear, guarding the group as they advanced in double-file behind their leader.

  ?They reached the artifact—which looked like the side of a wooden shipping container—sooner than expected. Up close, it was bizarre; light and the scent of osmanthus leaked through narrow, blind-like slits carved into the upper half in a series of vertical lines.

  ?"This is the door. No keyhole. Should we pry it open? Or just ram it?"

  ?"Wait. If we knock, someone might answer."

  ?"Alright. I'll give 'em a shout."

  ?"Hello! Is anybody there!?" Terumi bellowed.

  ?His voice echoed through the tunnel for ten, twenty seconds. No response. Did their voices even reach beyond their own reality? Though it looked as thin as a sheet of paper, the door was sturdier than any wood had a right to be. It seemed to possess a soundproofing quality—or perhaps a barrier-like function. No one could identify the craftsmanship or the technology that had shaped it. It looked valuable enough to be a relic worth taking home. Laili touched it with her bare hands, bringing a small light close to the scanner embedded in her eye to observe the material at a microscopic level.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  ?Five minutes passed. Terumi knocked again, shouting even louder this time.

  A surge of tension, sharper even than when they first approached the UFO, electrified the air. Then, the door slid sideways. A sliver of golden light widened, growing blindingly bright. A human finger became visible. The identity of the person who answered was...

  ?"C-Clamo!?"

  ?Terumi nearly collapsed in shock.

  ?"Terumi-san, Phoebe-san, Amethyst-san, Letty-chan! I knew you'd come!"

  ?"What do you mean 'you knew'? And wait... have you gotten taller?"

  ?"I'll explain everything later. Come in, come in! I’ve been so looking forward to your arrival today. And... the new lady from the distant galaxy, too."

  ?"Nice to meet you. Call me Laili." She joined them without a second thought.

  ?The sky appeared yellow—a brilliant gold, a landscape unlike any they had ever seen. Why did such a world stretch out behind a tunnel wall? In a space where one would expect dark, claustrophobic passages like a limestone cave, a vast, open world unfolded. Phoebe recalled a novel she read as a child, A Journey to the Center of the Earth, where a second sea existed deep underground, and beneath that, a blue sky filled with flashes of plasma.

  ?"Hey, Clamo. Is this heaven? It’s not cold; it’s strangely warm. And the color of the sky..."

  ?Time felt irrelevant here. The sky was bright and seamless, as if gold leaf had been meticulously applied to vast sheets of paper. It looked as though twilight lasted from morning until night. For a moment, it felt like being inside a grand museum's projection exhibit, but the fresh breeze proved this was a city from another world. Above all, the scent of osmanthus anchored them to reality. Ten meters behind Clamo, the trees were in full bloom, branding the undeniable proof of this planet into their senses.

  ?"I'll take you to my house. Please follow me. It’s about a five-minute walk."

  ?"It looks close, but I can't see anything. Just a flat forest... is it beyond that?"

  ?"Yes, exactly. You should see the 'Cooloof'—a roof made of marble-like natural stone reflecting the sunlight. It’s easy to spot."

  ?"I see it. A good landmark."

  Amethyst’s eyes were more vibrant than ever. Opening up to Laili more than usual, the six of them—young and old—walked down the flat path with almost no luggage.

  ?"We’re here."

  ?There was no gate to speak of, but next to a red-brick cottage stood a granite entrance framed by rubber trees and other houseplants. The main wooden structure was square, like an inn, with a spacious, open interior.

  ?"Keep your shoes on. You can see the sea from the back of the room."

  ?"The sea!?" Laili exclaimed, her tone revealing her first encounter with the truly unexpected as she threw open a window. It was elegant yet grand.

  ?Indeed, once they stepped inside, they realized the opposite side of the house sat atop a cliff, overlooking a vast coastline. It looked just like Tahiti.

  ?What struck Phoebe most was the horizon: aluminum mines, tropical thickets, and subarctic conifers coexisting in a single vista, dotted with pyramid-shaped mountains and volcanoes. Looking closely, she could even see species of migratory birds that usually travel between the poles.

  ?"I heard as a child that a massive grassland stretches across Antarctica..."

  ?"You're on the right track," Clamo said proudly, looking taller than before. "You can see the Aurora at night."

  ?Phoebe still couldn't solve the riddle, but she had to venture a guess.

  "You're the Clamo from the future, aren't you? And this place... it must be a man-made recreation of a treasure hoard. Like a giant studio. You must have made a fortune."

  ?"Very warm! Close! But to deduce that much is impressive."

  ?"Or did you take the lead in buying land that no one else wanted?" Amethyst chimed in.

  ?"T-that's..."

  For the first time, Clamo showed visible agitation. For just a moment, he overlapped with the Clamo of the present.