It took some time, but they managed to work out the first two clues on their list once they discovered the tree they needed was on the way back to their cabin.

They had to find a fallen log, a boulder shaped like a horse head, follow a trial left behind by a deer to a clearing, and now they were trying to find rabbit tracks.

"How is it there are tracks placed perfectly in the direction we need to go?" Mingi asked, kicking a rock out of his way.

Yunho watches him do it, as he'd been watching Mingi for years now, with a small smile on his face. "My guess it to teach us how to identify the different tracks, this is supposed to be a training after all."

His friend huffed a small laugh and nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right. It just seems..."

"Odd?" Hongjoong finished for him.

"Exactly."

Their captain shoved his hands in his pockets and started examining the ground again. "It's all too convenient sometimes, but I think it's best not to question it for now."

"I agree." Jongho said from a short distance away, where he was crouched down and carefully clearing away pine needles and leaves. "I think... We need to approach this with more of an open mind and a curious one. It appears they want us to do well enough that they are guiding us at the moment, so we should take advantage of it."

"Yes, Alpha." Mingi teased, earning him a glare from their youngest.

Yunho just laughed to himself and kept following Mingi. Based on that comment alone, he felt like Jongho was a wise decision to be their 'in public leader'. He had a different way of seeing the world sometimes, and it was really beneficial to their group as a whole. Jongho was wise for his age.

"We should still remain cautious though." Hongjoong added, walking over to join Jongho's search.

The younger nodded immediately. "I know." His hand drifted to his stomach, and he sighed. "I wish this ache would go away."

No one answered him. Yunho figured it was because no one knew how to answer. They were all hungry...

"Finally!" Jongho spoke again after a few minutes. "Here they are." He motioned to a path in on the ground.

Everyone else stayed behind him while he led the way, careful to not destroy the tracks as they went.

They jogged for several minutes, crashing through the forest and startling birds and rodents as they passed by.

It probably wasn't the best idea, and Yunho made a mental note to mention it once they stopped, but he knew that right now they just wanted to find the end of this puzzle.

Which ended up being a cave dug into the side of a large hill.

This was the first they'd seen of anything like this... Most of the forest had been flat and riddled with trees. But this area was starting to rise up, forming hills and more large boulders started to mingle with the thickly growing trees.

It was a lot cooler here too, noticeably making the hairs rise on their arms and necks.

"How far away from the cabin would you say we are?" Yunho glanced over his shoulder, frowning when he realized he wasn't exactly sure which way they had come from...

"No idea." Mingi murmured from next to him.

Meanwhile, Jongho started slowly creeping into the cave. He was slightly stooped over and had his fists raised as a precaution.

Yunho hurried forward to join him, wanting to back up the younger as best he could.

The cave mouth was wide, providing a large entrance to get plenty of the sunlight that managed to pierce through the trees. Once inside, it sloped down just barely, going deeper into the hillside.

There were signs of activity there based on the crumpled leaves and disturbances in the dirt floor, but it was impossible to tell what kind of creature had done it.

That was the other thing.

It was completely silent except for the soft sound of their feet pressing into the dirt.

If there was something in there... they'd be able to hear it... right?

Yunho shivered and swallowed the lump in his throat. His mind was racing with all the possibilities of what dangers could be waiting for them. Bears, mountain lions, wolves... any other dangerous predator he couldn't think of right now... There's no way those would be put in an arena with humans...

No possible way...

Suddenly Jongho straightened up, making Yunho flinch at how quick and unexpected the movement was. He turned to see what the younger was looking at and...

They'd made it to the end of the cave.

Only thirty or so paces back, the ground curved up into a rock wall which curved into the ceiling above them. It had widened a little bit into a decently sized area that could probably fit their whole team comfortably if need be.

Plus, sitting in the center, was a locked chest.

Yunho and Jongho exchanged a confused yet amused look at the very video game notion before they stepped forward to examine it.

"It's a four-digit combination." Jongho said, gripping the lock and tugging on it a couple of times.

"Well... If your train of thought from earlier is correct, and they meant for us to find it, do you think they would have programmed it with a combination meaningful to us?" Yunho rubbed his chin as he pondered his own question. "And it would have to be something the other teams couldn't guess."

Jongho's fingers started spinning the dial, faster than Yunho could keep up with, and in a matter of seconds the lock clicked open and fell to the ground. "You're a genius, Hyung."

"What was it??"

Jongho looked up with a proud twinkle in his eyes. "1024."

Yunho was both impressed and mortified that the people behind all this knew their debut date, though it did prove that they did a lot of research leading up to this.

Pushing his unease aside, he knelt next to Jongho, and they both opened the chest.

Inside was five hunting knives, three collapsible bows, a large box of collapsible arrows and a box of several different kinds of tips. There were also instructions on how to put everything together and use them.

"Wow." Jongho whispered as he reached in to pull one of the bows out. "This is... intense."

Yunho nodded and started scanning the instructions, then let out a long sigh of relief when he saw, 'Use of bow and arrows on other participants is strictly prohibited. Anyone found breaking this rule will be immediately disqualified.'

"This makes me feel a little better." He said, handing over the paper.

"Me too." Jongho continued to scan the paper, then pointed at the bottom. "Look, we get extra points if we can successfully complete a hunt."

"How would they know?"

Jongho pointed up and to the left to answer Yunho's question, revealing the location of a camera hooked up in the corner.

"Right... I kinda forgot we've been filmed this entire time." The older chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck.

The cameras were always placed higher up and out of the natural line of sight for most people, so it was easy to miss them. And really, with the reality shows they've done in the past, they were instructed to ignore cameras in the houses before so they could act more natural.

Cameras just... didn't faze them anymore.

Once they gathered up everything, the pair emerged from the cave to find Mingi and Hongjoong surveying the area with calm expressions.

Hongjoong was the first to turn around and his eyebrows rose slightly when he noticed their haul. "Bow and arrows?"

"Yeah, and we have plenty of arrows so we should be set for a while, especially if we make a conscious effort to retrieve as much as we can." Yunho set the boxes he'd grabbed and started putting together some of the arrows.

"Well, you'll have to give us a rundown." Mingi joined him, eyeing the pointed tips nervously.

"I can do that." The older pursed his lips and turned to Jongho for a bow. "It's pretty simple." He explained how to hold the bow, how their body should feel when they drew it back, how to notch an arrow, and how to aim.

Though, he'd only ever fired a bow at a target... never at a living creature.

That's what worried him the most about this. He didn't know if he could kill an animal.

But then the horrible ache in his abdomen returned and a wave of heat shot through his body.

They needed to eat...

"Alright, let's see what we can find anything on our way back." Jongho said, a determined look on his face.

"I'll carry the boxes." Hongjoong volunteered. "We need to try and be as quiet as possible."

The others nodded in agreement, already falling into hunting mode as each of them notched an arrow.

As they began to walk, Hongjoong seemed to have some semblance of the direction they needed to go, so he stayed at the front of the group. But... the forest seemed much quieter now.

Maybe it was just because they were actively listening for sounds of wildlife, but it left Yunho feeling on edge.

He started to chew on the inside of his lip just as something to distract himself. The slight pain was a nice change from the ever-growing pain in his stomach, too.

Sometime later, maybe minutes, maybe an hour, Jongho jerked his head to the side and froze in place.

The other three looked as well and scanned every section of the forest around them, hoping, praying, for something they could bring back for food.

And as luck would have it, a buck appeared between two trees in the distance. It was big, like one of the bucks seen in advertisements shown for the mountains in the States, and it had its own majestic beauty that had Yunho marveling at it.

But unfortunately, there were more important things, and with very slow, cautious movements, he stood up straight and drew his bow.

The deer's head was down to the ground, snuffling a little as it pushed aside pine needles and leaves in search of the grass hidden beneath.

Yunho lined up his shot and took a deep breath. He wasn't entirely sure where the best place to hit was, so he decided to try and aim for the head, although really, he'd consider himself fortunate if he even managed to hit it.

One more deep breath in... and he released.

The arrow zipped through the air and landed at the base of the beast's skull with a muffled thunk, dropping the deer instantly.

"Holy shit." Mingi's jaw dropped open.

He was the only one to speak for what felt like minutes as all four of them just stared at the fallen deer.

They'd done it...

They'd done it.

They had food to feed all eight of them now! And if they managed to skin the deer right, they could probably fine a use for the pelt!

Suddenly, all four of them were gathered together and jumping up and down, cheering as loud as they could before they ran to the carcass to examine it.

"Leave it to you to get it on the first shot!" Hongjoong laughed, clapping Yunho on the back. "Let's hurry back! I don't think we are far from home! I don't want this to go to waste and we have to figure out what the hell to do next!"

"I can help with that."

All four of them yelped and jumped a few feet back when the robotic voice of an Android startled them. One of the silver things appeared from behind a tree and held out a small packet of papers.

"Congratulations. You have completed the hunting training in just under four hours. You will be rewarded 1600 points for completion, along with 1000 points for completing it as quickly as you did. A final 500 points will be added for bringing down a deer."

"Um, thanks?" Mingi said, looking at the others for confirmation before he took the packet.

The Android turned and walked away as soon as he did, vanishing in the distance and leaving them feeling utterly confused.

"Oh my god." Yunho breathed, glancing at the packet over Mingi's shoulder.

The others shared his sentiment when they saw that it was a detailed explanation on how to skin, gut, and carve the deer. It even had pictures to walk them through what they needed to do.

"Can I start questioning things again?" He looked at Jongho, who seemed just as perplexed.

"Not right now." Hongjoong started breaking down the bows and arrows, placing them all in the boxes and nodding at the deer. "I'll carry these if you three can get that."

No one denied his wishes, hurrying to lift the deer off the ground. Several curses left their lips, complaining about how heavy it was, but somehow Yunho, Mingi, and Jongho managed to get into a mostly comfortable position to lug the carcass through the forest.

Eventually, they came along a path that Hongjoong recognized, and they were able to travel a lot faster.

The few other people they encountered on the trail looked at them with complete shock. One woman even came forward and tried to ask them something, which Yunho assumed was either how they'd killed it or where they found it, but she spoke a language none of them understood.

It was a very awkward interaction that left both parties cringing as they parted.

Yunho could feel his muscles starting to give out the closer they got to the cabin. His arms trembled from the weight of the deer and his legs burned from the grueling walk.

But his stomach also started to get worse.

He could tell his breathing was getting more and more labored...

And so was Mingi's and Jongho's.

"We are almost there, guys." Hongjoong said, concern laced throughout his voice. He kept constantly checking on them, his head whipping back and forth between them and the trail.

Yet he had his own layer of sweat glistening on his forehead.

It felt like an eternity had passed when they finally saw the cabin. They were so close, so close. All four of them started walking just a little faster, desperate to dump the deer and finally get to relax.

They were ten steps away when the weight started to change.

Then... one of Yunho's worst fears happened.

The first thing he noticed was the deer slipping from his grip.

Followed almost immediately by watching Mingi's legs give out from under him.