Eternal Malediction (RE)

Kieran launched the blanket off himself instantly like a man escaping an assassination attempt. "I’M AWAKE."

The entire cabin turned toward him briefly.

Tanaka looked disappointed immediately. "... Coward."

Kieran sat upright while pointing aggressively at the three standing over him. "What the hell were you planning to do to me?"

Roy crossed his arms calmly. "Nothing illegal."

"That sentence alone makes me uncomfortable."

Graham sighed quietly beside them. "I attempted to stop this before it escalated."

"You didn’t stop anything!"

"I verbally disapproved."

He was no longer a saint to Kieran anymore. "That’s not enough!"

Tanaka placed a hand against his bare chest dramatically. "You wound me, Kieran. We were merely trying to strengthen our friendship."

"You were trying to violate human rights."

"Semantics."

Kieran narrowed his eyes suspiciously at all three of them before slowly getting up from the floor with the blanket covering his private parts. Despite the conversation ending, he still didn’t feel remotely safe anymore.

Reasonably so.

Eventually, the cabin fully woke up. People stretched tiredly, rubbing their eyes, also complaining about their stiff backs from sleeping on the floor while others argued over blankets, bathroom schedules, and who snored the loudest during the night.

Apparently, Marcus was currently public enemy number one.

The morning atmosphere felt strangely domestic compared to everything they’d experienced so far. A bizarre sense of normalcy settled over the group; that was until one discovery changed everything.

"...Why is there a microwave in the corner?"

Silence filled the cabin instantly, and every head slowly turned. There was indeed a microwave sitting quietly near one of the walls.

Nobody knew how they missed it earlier.

Roy stared at it blankly. "...What?"

Tanaka looked equally stunned. "HUHHH."

Victor pointed aggressively toward one random guy, whose name was Kim John, sitting near the corner. "WHY DO YOU HAVE A MICROWAVE?"

The poor Kim looked startled from the sudden interrogation. "...I was carrying it."

"THE ENTIRE TIME?" Daniel shouted.

"Yes?"

Marcus blinked slowly. "During the Trial Chambers?"

The man nodded nervously.

Ethan asked. "Even while falling from the sky?"

"...Yeah."

Roy was astounded; the image of someone desperately clutching a microwave while getting dragged through time and space nearly killed him spiritually.

Tanaka looked amazed. "...Your dedication is inspiring."

Kim adjusted his glasses awkwardly. "I was transporting it for someone before all this happened."

Victor stared at him. "You prioritised the microwave over your own survival?"

The man looked confused. "Well yeah. It wasn’t mine."

Somehow... that logic almost made sense.

Almost.

Then another important discovery was made.

The Kim’s Soul Art involved something around electricity, which meant the microwave could still work. The cabin atmosphere shifted instantly, and hope returned to humanity.

"What’s your Soul Art exactly?" Ethan asked curiously.

Kim looked slightly embarrassed from suddenly receiving attention. "I can generate and manipulate electrical currents."

He raised one hand slightly and faint sparks crackled briefly between his fingertips. "Mostly low-voltage output, though," he admitted. "I’m not exactly combat-orientated."

Tanaka pointed towards him. "You’re literally a living battery."

"...That’s the worst possible description of my ability."

Roy stared thoughtfully at the microwave and then slowly looked toward the electric guy and then back toward the microwave.

"...Do it."

And so, human innovation peaked.

They stuffed food inside; they had originally bought a load of instant cup noodles they found in a corner store, which surprised them that globalisation was already this far away in the past. They put 5 pots of instant cup noodles in the microwave and slammed the door shut.

Kim placed his hand on the side of the microwave, letting a steady current flow through the wiring. The machine hummed, flickered, then lit up with a glorious beep.

The timer blinked 5:00.

five whole minutes. Five minutes of powering a microwave while everyone stared at him, then Tanaka’s eyes lit up with dangerous inspiration.

He announced. "Wait, Kim."

Kim was already hating the fact that he was being used as a portable living batter. "What?"

Tanaka asked, "You’re Korean, right?"

"... Yes. But does that have to do with anything?"

Victor grabbed the cabin’s old radio, a battered, half-broken thing that the previous tenant left, and slapped it onto Kim’s leg like he was attaching a cybernetic upgrade.

Kim yelped. "What are you—"

"Because," Victor said proudly, "you fixed this light bulb earlier using your electricity."

Tanaka nodded. "Which means you can also fix this as well."

Kim froze. Oh no.

Kieran crossed his arms. "Make it play Gangnam Style."

Kim stared at him, scanning him, thinking he was a racist, but no, there was only a sincere glow in his eyes. "That’s not how electronics—"

Tanaka pointed at the microwave timer. "Five minutes. You’re stuck here anyway. Give us morale."

Kim sighed, sent a small pulse of current through the radio, and... the cursed, static-filled beat came to life from the half-dead radio till it started sounding proper. Gangnam Style started blasting through the cabin.

No one moved; they all looked at each other, waiting patiently for the drop. They started bopping their heads up and down. The microwave timer ticked, and the whole male cabin exploded into absolute chaos.

The cabin floor shook. People collided. Someone tripped over a blanket. Someone else screamed "MOSH PIT!" and immediately regretted it.

The moment the beat dropped, Tanaka launched into the horse-riding dance like a man gifted with the ability to dance. His arms pumped, his legs kicked and his face contorted with the intensity of someone trying to summon a demon through choreography.

Victor attempted the sideways shuffle, sliding across the cabin floor with dangerous enthusiasm. He nearly kicked Daniel in the shin.

Daniel retaliated by doing the lasso move with such aggression he smacked Marcus in the face.

Marcus spun dramatically, clutching his cheek, and began doing a chaotic helicopter‑arm dance that endangered everyone within a two‑metre radius.

Ethan tried a smooth body wave, failed, and transitioned into something that looked like interpretive suffering.

Aster and Liam were doing a duet; they were moving like prime Michael Jackson.

Roy surprised everyone by doing a cheeky leg shuffle leading to a slide backwards to then a Kieran doing sidesteps inline the with beat of the song, all while jabbing his elbows to the opposite side, which made a tough view. Graham got pushed into popping a robot-like arm pop with a spin and arm wave.

Orion didn’t dance; he just nodded rhythmically. Everyone thought he was a boring guy. But they excused the old guy because he was thirty years old and because maybe his joints don’t work in the way they used to.

Kim stood perfectly still, hard pressed to the microwave, electricity flowing steadily, radio blasting from his leg like he was some kind of cursed DJ.

He sang the melody reluctantly because apparently that was his fate now, and the timer blinked 2:00.

Victor attempted a backflip and barely landed, with Daniel trying to crowd-surf. Marcus attempted a spin kick which went amazingly to another person smoothly doing a moonwalk like a criminal.

The once mosh pit has become a battleground; Tanaka was sweating like he’d run a marathon, Kieran was now shirtless, swinging his shirt around, and Victor was sliding across the floor as Marcus was lying on the floor, complaining about him pulling a muscle.

Roy, Aster and Liam were just shooting little moves to the beat with Graham while the room started to die down as the song came to an end with 47 seconds left.

Kim stopped singing. The radio sputtered out and silence washed over the cabin.

The dance pit collapsed instantly; the radio crackled violently once again with a little smoke fuming from it.

The microwave hummed louder until it beeped. The electricity faded from his fingertips.

The cabin smelt like sweat, desperation, and faint microwave steam.