His friend, Brent Skylar, said that it was his best decision ever made, but trekking the mountain for more than three hours was not even fun for June. He was just keeping himself from lashing out because he was surrounded by college students that were surprisingly thrilled to meet him. However, his sharp gazes would always land on Brent's laughing face.
Brent and June had been together for a while. They might be high school buddies only, but Brent was there the whole time June was trying to figure out his life. It was deeper than with anyone June met after that time. It's not like the new ones stayed, anyway.
This man who used to be an average face back in high school… didn't change much. His eyes had become smaller due to his rounder cheeks, but his nose and lips were still big. He had indeed grown chubbier, but he had become a film course teacher. He even looked like he had been doing this for quite a while. Perhaps even before June debuted on the big screen.
"June, did you trek like this during your taping for Cartridge Falls? The location is on top of the mountains there as well, right?" Brent tried to lighten up the mood of the other and perhaps get something out for his students to consume.
"No, that mountain had a road dedicated for tourists and production teams." With a slight squint, June stared at the teacher. "Mountains like this… we should have been flown to the top. Though for the fun of it, trekking is nicer… only if you told me about it earlier."
"Hehe, it's more fun to see your shocked face followed by the 'are you kidding me' one." Brent laughed out. "You always play the cool, charming guy onscreen. I miss more of your expressions."
At that, June only frowned before dismissing the other, causing Brent to laugh again. The actor only looked up and prayed that the top was in sight. He didn't even care about the students that were watching him intently. However, at times he caught them taking pictures, he had to at least smile.
Soon enough, they reached the temple at the top of the mountain. The steps were heavily corroded, and the whole entrance was almost ruined by the weather. It's just that June realized how scenic the place was. The winds were gentle and clear, and the clouds looked to settle around them.
"What kind of temple is this?" June whipped out his camera and kneeled down to take landscape photos. He played the role of a photographer protagonist before, so he was taught about taking good ones to make his stance look believable. He enjoyed that workshop, too.
"It's an exorcism temple… shrine… tomb." Brent didn't know how to say it. He just received the script from one of the students, one that he had looked over before. "June, take a look. This is the place we're discussing. Do you think you can learn this in a few hours?"
June stopped taking photos and got to his feet. He received the script and counted the pages. "Sure. There are teleprompters, too, so it will be fine. I hope you got all the needed permits for this. This tomb… looks very old. Is it safe?"
"It should be. We were given a green light by the city mayor to come here."
The students began to set up, and someone kept on handing June more materials, such as the maps marked with the places they could walk around. It seemed that they were only allowed to go around the first floor. The basement floors must be compromised.
"…I'll take a look first to get the feel of the place." June waved his script and left Brent to supervise his students, gauging how they prepared for the shoot.
The actor walked to the entrance of the tomb and felt the eerie wind that kept on coming from it. He took a few steps in before being followed in by some students who were also hoping to look around to set the cameras later. Realizing that June was not much of a chatty person, they didn't ask him too many questions.
Even if the tomb was open to the public, the overall traffic of visitors was almost zero. After all, the temple was not accessible aside from directly trekking the side of the mountain. It was even as if it was not meant to be reached by others.
Stone was the main material of the construct. The place was not designated as a place of worship, but it was recorded to have heard multiple chants as if monks kept on praying and praying into the mountain. Based on the script, the tomb was a magnet for disaster, so it received a lot of prayers. However, June didn't feel like this tomb was built as a place to pray away the storms.
After all, it wouldn't be called a tomb if it was.
"What is buried here?" June finally asked one of the directors of the documentary. "The script didn't say anything about it being called a tomb. Are you going to incorporate that or not?"
"We don't know yet. We did find out that this place is indeed a tomb, but the reasons we found were not similar in any way," the female director answered, holding back her heart-eyes. "At most, they said that some monks had died here due to the disasters brought. It was like some of them had to be sacrificed just to stop the disasters."
June only nodded before he checked the map. Even if the path was getting smaller, they could continue further. He pocketed the map and only used his flashlight to visually inspect the arc before them. It looked so unstable that the pillars seemed to be corroded. "Let's advance carefully. The area up ahead should be connected to the staircase to the basement."
However, at the next step that he took, the ground suddenly gave in. The female director screamed as she was pulled back, but June went down along with the rubble. He didn't even scream on his way down because he quickly blacked out the moment the floor left his soles.
'Is this how I will die? Dammit, will I be implicating Brent and his students? Heh, I wonder what kind of actor will I be remembered as.' These were his last thoughts as he was falling into the abyss deep within the tomb. Then, there was a voice…
["Worry not, sweet mortal child. The great Lucirien knows no bounds for you."]