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mira decides to take part in one of these while rumi and zoey watch in the audience, with the goal of earning a bunch of money for a turtle charity that zoey is really invested in.

specifically she decides to take part in a classic planking challenge. whoever wins picks the charity

it starts off pretty normally. people are placing bets on her and her maybe 30 or so competitors, and one by one over the course of the first 30 minutes until just a third of the people are left, mira included

people are allowed to help the plankers with things like water and food, so rumi and zoey have been jumping in to help her sip water while staying in place

there are some pretty athletic people left with her so shes got

around the hour mark 1 other person drops out, leaving 9 behind. over the course of the next half hour three more fall. it takes only another hour after that before its just down to mira and one other person, some elite athlete who doesnt look like hes broken a sweat

mira hasnt either though

they persist

donations/bets are rolling in. large amounts of money are on the table here

the athlete is showing some strain around the 4 and a half hour mark

mira beats the woman’s world record for planking (4:30:11) still visibly unfazed

she wins at 5:45:34. the guy is red in the face, his arms are trembling, and he cant really sit up right

but heres the thing

while mira has won the right to chose the charity, she can still keep going in order to rack up more money, and while the competition aspect is gone, people are fascinated by her lack of strain, and keep checking in to see if she’s still going after this point

its only around hour 7 she actually seems to show any considerable discomfort. another hour in she’s sweating and shaking a bit.

the internet is freaking out. people are speculating on how mira is doing this, on what theyre feeding huntrix

zoerumi are watching her intently the entire time. people swear theres a span of about 20 minutes where they’re staring at her and not blinking at all. theyre speaking to each other at several points, but it’s too quiet for any microphone to pick up, and their mouths arent moving enough to actually lipread them. they dont look particularly surprised by how well she’s doing (which further add fuel to the fire of speculation)

around 6 hours in they start to whisper something to her whenever going to give her some water. around 7:45 it becomes clear they’re begging her to stop. their facades (which, to be fair, didnt start being facades until around about 6:45) of not being worried crack around 8:30. still, they watch on, assisting her with water and all that

she beats the overall world record (9:38:47) by about 15 minutes, and seems like she’s gonna tap out, but ends up making it to an even 10 hours before she does so

rumi and zoey have to lift her up when she announces her charity of choice, for which she has an entire speech that she prepared and still has memorized even 10 hours later. she earned the charity a Lot of money that day

she is rewarded by her girls with a hot bath, a massage, and some gentle loving, which all she can really handle for the next few days while she recovers from the challenge

only once shes fully back to normal again does she get the absolute body wrecking annihilation from her girls that she’s been eagerly anticipating

everyone is questioning how this nepo baby pop princess is gonna be able to make it past the first day, with several people tuned in just hoping to see her crash out early on

but rumis been raised with a lot of survival knowledge. she knows how to start a fire, hunt, fish (with and without a pole), preserve food, make a cooking spit, etc

by the end of day 1, shes the only one with shelter. and its a good shelter too, one that people got to watch her build in real time. its sturdy, and warm, and somehow, inexplicably, made of WOOD. she actually built a little hut.

shes got enough preserved food to get her through several months ready by the time any other people have built proper shelter

millions of people watch as the queen of kpop gets through this competition effortlessly. no one can quite fully believe what theyre watching but they cant look away, and they have no choice but to start to believe

almost a month in, all but one other person is left. the weather has been a nightmare for the other contestants. people who were doubting rumi at the start are now her honest to god fans.

the last one other than rumi is cold and pale, shivering and struggling to make a proper fire. his food is dwindling. he’s not looking too hot, and people are pretty sure that if he doesnt just give up outright in the next day or so, hes gonna be med evaced

rumi looks just fine, health wise.

but shes clearly sullen. her health has stayed steady this whole time, but her mood has been nosediving over the course of the last few weeks

“its weird,” she says to the camera at one point, while chewing on a piece of jerky she made herself, “if i was doing this a decade ago, i would probably have been in good spirits right about now. i didnt have many people in my life who i could consider close to me. this isolation would’ve meant nothing to me.

“but since then, ive met mira and zoey. two people who i couldnt imagine my life without. whose souls feel so tethered to my own.” her voice grows rough. “these past few weeks have been agony without them. i havent even been able to hear their voices. look at their faces. my only solace is that my dreams are full of the two of them, and my mind has cataloged every detail about them to the most minute of them all, so their voices are closer to echoes in my brain than imitations, and their faces appear to me as vividly as if they were in front of me.”

she stares at the jerky in her hand. “i cant wait to go home to them. i wont quit, even though it kills me being away from them any longer.” she turns her attention back to the camera, and points at it, knowing her girls are watching her in that very moment. there are tears in her eyes. “just you wait, mira and zoey, im gonna win this whole thing, and when i do, we’ll never be apart ever again!” her lip wobbles, and the tears begin to spill. “i love you girls so much!”

(back home, mira and zoey clutch each other, sobbing as they watch her, “WE LOVE YOU TOO!”)

luckily, it only takes another day for rumi to win the show. her picture is shown next to those of the former winners at the end of the last episode, and the contrast between their end of show appearances (tired, malnourished, pale) and hers (well rested, full, flushed) is almost terrifying.

Did emergencyducky delete "We Are Warm Now"?????