As the car entered the highway leading to Bogor city, Irwan, from the back, asked Vincent,
"Where exactly is our destination village?" Irwan asked.
"You'll know soon enough. Don't worry, we'll arrive in about 3 hours," Vincent replied.
"Just answer the question, admin, it's not hard, is it?" Riana added curtly.
"Haha, alright, if you're so curious, we're going to Mount Halimun," Vincent said.
"Huh... is there really a village there?" Brian asked.
"Oh, maybe he means the villages around the mountain, right?" Riana added.
"No, on the peak of the mountain, right within the mist," Vincent replied.
Hearing Vincent's words, all six immediately fell silent. They looked at each other.
"Hey, Vin, we're here to commit suicide, right? Why do we have to go all the way there?" Brian asked.
"Do you want it to be considered an accident? Your aunt and uncle will get your insurance money, you know," Vincent replied casually.
"I don't know what you mean, but this is strange... really strange," Brian said.
"Do you want to back out?" Vincent asked.
"Who said I want to back out? I just said it's strange," Brian said angrily.
Brian leaned back in his seat, arms crossed over his chest, and turned to look out the window. Vincent glanced at Brian and smiled again. He looked into the rearview mirror and saw Irwan, Nadia, Riana, Lusi, and Felix looking worried. Then he pressed a red button on the dashboard. Ten minutes later, "blugh," sounds of falling could be heard from the back. Vincent glanced at the rearview mirror again; he saw Irwan, Nadia, Riana, Lusi, and Felix sound asleep. Then he glanced to the side and saw Brian, who was leaning against the window and wearing his seatbelt, also asleep with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Hehe... good, sleep. Otherwise, you'll all be stressed," Vincent said with a smile.
Five hours later,
"Hey... wake up," Vincent shouted in the car. "Ugh," Irwan woke up and opened his eyes. His eyes immediately widened as he saw a shabby-looking city before his eyes, a city similar to modern cities but looking slightly more ancient. The entire city was clearly enveloped in fog, and Irwan began to feel a cool air from outside because Vincent had opened his window. Many cables stretched above them, like electrical wires, fiber optics, telephone cables, and so on. Irwan turned to look out the window from his side; it turned out they had stopped in front of an apartment-like building located alone by the roadside.
"Wh-where are we?" Irwan asked, confused.
"Uhm," Nadia slowly woke up, followed by Riana, Felix, and Lusi in the back. Irwan shook Brian's body, and he immediately woke up.
"Huh... a city? Where is this?" Brian shouted, confused.
"Everyone's awake? Welcome to the Mist Village," Vincent said.
"Mist Village?" Nadia asked.
"Yes, the hidden village on the peak of Mount Halimun," Vincent replied.
"Huh... isn't there a tall building here too? It's not like Jakarta, but... this is a city, not a village," Riana said, looking out the window.
"We're on the peak of Mount Halimun? Where exactly? Is there really a city?" Lusi asked.
"H-hard... to... b-believe," Felix added.
"Yes, of course, there is. I already told you, we're going to do everything here. Come on, get out, we've arrived at the house prepared for us," Vincent said, unbuckling his seatbelt.
The six of them got out of the car. They saw a building resembling an apartment complex but standing alone in the middle of an empty plot of land, right by the highway. The building was only four stories high, about 7 or 8 meters wide, and divided into two rooms per floor, as indicated by the windows from the outside. On top, there was a water tank and several television antennas, similar to modern buildings.
"This... a house? It looks more like an apartment building," Nadia said.
"Yeah, and it's all alone. There's a big building next to it too, a mall?" Lusi asked.
"Oh no, that building is a processing plant for our food and clean water," Vincent replied.
"Hmm... u-unique. Th-the shape of the b-building is like... fr-from the past... b-but it's... m-modern," Felix said.
"I really want to go explore. Let's take a look around," Riana said.
"Me too, I'm also curious," Brian added.
"Hmm, I see. Alright, first put your belongings in your respective rooms, then feel free to look around," Vincent said.
"But isn't it already night? What time is it now?" Irwan asked.
"It's already 11:30 PM, or you can go tomorrow morning. Rest tonight. Once you're satisfied with walking around and having fun, we'll proceed with our objective," Vincent replied.
"Alright, agreed," Irwan said, representing everyone else who nodded in agreement.
After that, they went inside. Brian and Riana got rooms on the second floor, Irwan and Nadia on the third floor, while Lusi and Felix were on the fourth floor. Vincent himself had a room on the first floor. Irwan entered his room. Inside, it was like a studio apartment, consisting of a living area, a kitchen, a bed at the end of the room, and a door to the bathroom.
There was also furniture such as an antique-looking teak wood wardrobe next to the bed, a teak wood desk, a dressing table complete with a round mirror, a shelf with a 24-inch television on it, a refrigerator, and a stove in the kitchen. As he was looking around his room, suddenly "tok..tok," there was a knock on Irwan's room door. Irwan opened the door and saw Nadia behind it.
"What's up?" Irwan asked.
"Come with me for a moment," Nadia replied.
Nadia pulled Irwan into her room. They immediately walked to the kitchen window to look outside.
"Look down there," Nadia said, pointing to the empty field next to the building.
Irwan looked down and saw many small children playing soccer in the nearby field, illuminated by neon lights on each side of the field.
"What's strange?" Irwan asked.
"What time is it now? Why aren't those little kids sleeping yet? They look fresh, and they're wearing elementary school uniforms. At night?" Nadia replied.
Irwan looked again at the children playing. Nadia was right; they looked very energetic, and they were wearing complete red and white elementary school uniforms with hats.
"You're right... that's strange, it's like they live at night," Irwan said.
"I don't know why, but I feel like there's something strange about this city. I haven't stopped getting goosebumps since we got out of the car," Nadia said.
"Whatever, our purpose here is to die, not to vacation. I'm not thinking about that kind of thing," Irwan said.
"Yeah, I guess, but still," Nadia said.
"We'll see tomorrow morning," Irwan replied.
"Okay then, good night, Wan," Nadia replied.
"Good night to you too," Irwan replied.
Irwan walked to the door, followed by Nadia who was escorting him. But before Irwan could reach for the doorknob, "tok...tok...tok," Irwan was startled by the knocking on the door, and Nadia grabbed Irwan's arm from behind. They both looked at each other, confused as to who would be knocking on Nadia's room door so late at night.