"!!"
Before Miyuki could even blink, the head of the stubborn shadow was severed, shooting forward at the speed of sound, while its shadowy body crumbled lifelessly to the floor.
Even as it collapsed, there was no noise—no crash, no scream. It had been utterly destroyed in less than a second, incapable of defending itself.
How could sothing perish in such a pitiful manner?
It was like witnessing the abrupt end of a protagonist in a story—one who never had the chance to spread his wings, to grow, or to fulfill his potential before being snuffed out.
What if she had continued walking blindly forward, unaware of the danger ahead?
The thought chilled her to the core. She would have undoubtedly experienced the sa anticlimactic end, reduced to nothingness before she even realized what had happened.
Her heart hamred relentlessly.
Th-thump! Th-thump!
A cold sweat covered her skin as dread coursed through her. The sheer fragility of her survival sent a shiver through her, shaking her to the core.
Horrified by the brutal spectacle, Miyuki stumbled back, her legs buckling beneath her. She collapsed onto the cold, unforgiving floor.
Her heart had hardened over ti from the countless horrors she had faced throughout the Main Stories.
But how much could the heart of an eleven-year-old truly endure?
But how much could an eleven-year-old truly endure?
Her fear was not misplaced. Even grown adults would falter under such terror. The difference between her and them was her mindset, shaped by the harrowing trials she had endured.
Inhale... Exhale...
Miyuki focused on her breathing, taking slow, deep breaths in an attempt to calm her racing heart and steady her trembling thoughts.
Gradually, the wild thundering in her chest began to subside, and her mind cleared enough to regain so semblance of control.
A few monts passed before she gathered her strength and pushed herself off the cold tiles. Steeling her resolve, she cautiously stepped closer to the lifeless remains of the shadow.
Stopping at what she deed a safe distance, Miyuki began to observe the strange being.
Its head was missing, but there was no blood seeping from the wound. Its entire form was composed of pure darkness, rendering it incapable of bleeding.
But what caught her attention was the way its neck writhed and shifted, as if mourning the loss of its head — or perhaps desperately searching for it.
Miyuki's earlier fear seed to dissipate as she stared at the Occult entity.
The terror and panic that had overwheld her monts ago now felt distant, almost as if they had been consud by an abyss, leaving her strangely calm in the face of the mystery before her.
Was it truly dead?
She wasn't sure how to feel. It struck her as odd that the shadow had seemingly sacrificed itself to protect her, a complete stranger.
Perhaps it hadn't truly perished.
The mont that thought erged—
"?!"
Instinctively, Miyuki stepped back as the seemingly lifeless shadow stirred. Its form began to rise from the floor, and the darkness around its severed neck began to writhe and twist, reshaping itself.
To her astonishnt, it was forming sothing.
A head.
The newly ford head was devoid of any facial features—no nose, no ears, just an empty, smooth surface. The only distinguishing characteristic was the eerie white light glowing from its empty eye sockets.
In the blink of an eye, the shadow's head fully regenerated. 'It' looked at her with the sa calm and hollow gaze.
Miyuki blinked once, unsure of how to process what she was witnessing.
She couldn't decide whether to be amazed or terrified. A fleeting thought crossed her mind.
How would Ahjussi react to this?
Shaking her head to dismiss the distraction, she spoke cautiously. "Did you know there was a trap ahead?"
The shadow nodded silently.
As expected. It must have known. Otherwise, why would it have stopped her and walked through the trap itself?
Encouraged by the silent response, Miyuki pressed on. "Why did you do that? Aren't you afraid of dying? You… can die, right? Wait, can shadows even die?"
The shadow slowly shook its head.
"Does that an you can't die because you're a shadow?" she asked, narrowing her eyes in curiosity.
The shadow shook its head again.
"Eh? So… does that an you can die or you can't die? Which one is it?"
The shadow tilted its head slightly, as if pondering the question.
Miyuki scratched her nose, clearly confused. Communication was proving to be an uphill battle when the other party didn't—or couldn't—use words.
Her gaze lingered on the shadow's featureless face.
Why couldn't it speak? she wondered. Was it because it didn't have a mouth? Or was it sothing deeper, sothing intrinsic to its nature?
But couldn't that shadow-like monster from before speak? Or was it because the creature used Ryu Yeji's voice?
Overco by her growing curiosity, Miyuki asked, "Why don't you use your words? Is it because you can't speak?"
"..."
The shadow's gaze seed to lower, as if it were saddened by her question.
If it could speak, wouldn't it have done so already instead of relying on these indirect gestures? Miyuki thought, a pang of guilt washing over her heart.
Realizing her mistake, she quickly apologized. "I'm sorry. That was insensitive of . I didn't an it that way… but it's just hard to communicate when all you do is nod or shake your head."
It was a sincere apology filled with aningful words.
The shadow appeared to acknowledge her concern, lifting its gaze slowly. It remained still for a mont, as though lost in thought, carefully considering her words.
Then—
"!"
Its glowing eyes flickered, shining with a newfound brightness, as though an idea had suddenly struck it.
The shadow's glowing eyes narrowed slightly, as though it was focusing intently, summoning every ounce of its ntal capacity.
Miyuki, oblivious to its intentions, tilted her head in confusion, her curiosity piqued by the shadow's strange behavior.
At that mont—
Fu!
Miyuki's eyes widened in astonishnt as sothing materialized before her.
Flas ignited in the empty space, twisting and flickering until they ford into glowing, fiery letters.
[Is this... okay?]
The fiery letters materializing before her were the shadow's thoughts.
Puzzled, Miyuki asked. "You could do sothing like this?"
[I didn't know... until now. This is the first ti I've... tried it. Thankfully, it worked.]
"Is that so?"
[Yes, yes... Like this, I can finally.... talk to friend.]
The shadow's eyes seed to shift. Despite its lack of facial features, Miyuki couldn't shake the feeling that it was smiling. That was the impression she got from its subtle change in deanor.
Miyuki had little experience reading emotions, but she couldn't help but sense that the shadow was incredibly lonely.
Could anyone really be this delighted by sothing as simple as speaking?
If such a person existed, soone who found joy in achieving such a basic gesture, then surely they must have endured imnse hardships, or perhaps a single, overwhelming misfortune. A suffering so profound that even the smallest of victories, even the simplest of actions, would offer a fleeting reminder of what it ans to feel alive again.
Miyuki stared directly into the eyes of the shadow, and a quiet question erged. What was the story behind this lonely, pitiful shadow infront of her?
Click!
Before she could delve any deeper into her thoughts, a sharp sound suddenly echoed from sowhere, snapping her out of her reverie.
It was the distinct noise of gears turning, as if a hidden chanism had been set into motion sowhere nearby.
The shadow narrowed its gaze like it had realised the situation
Miyuki asked. "What was that sound?"
[A... trap... You need to... leave.]
"Leave? Where am I supposed to go? Should I head back?" she asked, glancing behind her anxiously.
[.....]
There was no right answer.
Whether she moved forward or back, the outco would be the sa.
What was the point of retreating when she would inevitably face an assault from all sides?
How would Miyuki be able to defend herself or retreat in such a scenario?
It was a truly precarious situation. The shadow refrained from saying more, unwilling to let Miyuki fall into panic and fear.
The shadow pointed toward an empty section of the wall.
[.... Enter... the door.]
"Eh? Go where?" Miyuki frowned. "There's nothing there. Why are you pointing at an empty—"
Her words faltered, caught in her throat as her eyes widened in shock. A door had erged.
It wasn't a trick of the mind or a vague illusion. A door had quite literally materialized in the once-empty space.
She was certain there hadn't been any door there before.
Click! Click!
A sharp sound echoed.
The sound of gears shifting resonated through the thickening gray fog, which seed to grow denser, as if deliberately concealing sothing.
An unmistakably ominous sign.
The shadow, noticing the situation, urged Miyuki to enter.
[... Enter... Quickly,]
Miyuki held her breath montarily before dashing through the newly appeared door, the little shadow following close behind. Once inside, the shadow swiftly locked the door behind them.
In the next instant—
Thwish!Thwish!Thwish!Thwish!Thwish!Thwish!Thwish!Thwish!Thwish!
With a series of swift, slicing sounds, countless steel arrows shot from the gray fog, embedding themselves into the closed door at incredible speed. The barrage continued, arrows relentlessly striking the door as if in unison.
Had Miyuki been even a second slower, her body would have been pierced by the relentless arrows, leaving her like a macabre scarecrow.
†
†
In a secluded space within the sprawling mansion, Moon Jiyeon advanced slowly along a dimly lit corridor, using the walls for support. Her condition had deteriorated considerably, making it difficult to walk normally.
"...Hah... Hah..."
Her breathing was labored, and her face had turned ashen, as if all the blood had drained away.
She glanced down at her body. The cause of her current state was evident: tal stakes had impaled her left arm, right shoulder, and thigh. Blood continued to flow from the open wounds.
Of course, the tal spikes hadn't appeared there on their own.
She was being hunted by sothing. She referred to it as a 'thing' because there was no way that entity was human. At best, it was simply wearing a human skin.
The only reason she hadn't removed the tal stakes was because doing so would cause the blood to flow out more.
In her current predicant, removing the tal stakes would only exacerbate her situation by causing more blood loss. The impaled objects had inadvertently stemd the bleeding by sealing the wounds. Removing them would disrupt this natural barrier, leading to increased hemorrhaging. Therefore, she had no choice but to endure the pain and keep the stakes in place, despite the discomfort and the blood trail she was leaving behind.
Moon Jiyeon gritted her teeth.
Damn it. Why am I so weak? Is it the blood loss? Or… sothing else?
Her thoughts shifted to the stakes. Could they be enchanted? Did they drain her strength as they pinned her? Removing them might make things worse—or end her life outright.
"Tck!" She clicked her tongue, shaking off the thought, and pressed on.
Then—
Tap! Tap!
The sound of footsteps brought her to a halt. Her breath caught as an icy chill ran down her spine. Slowly, she turned toward the sound.
A figure erged from the shadows.
A girl in a pristine black suit strolled toward her, no more than ten ters away. With her two drill-shaped pigtails and cherubic face, she might have seed harmless, were it not for the blood-red glint in her predatory eyes.
"Hehehe! Aren't you peculiar?" the girl giggled mockingly. "Any normal person would've pulled those stakes out by now. Don't you realize they're draining your strength with every passing second? Or are you too scared of bleeding to death? No, wait... perhaps you're just so twisted masochist who enjoys the pain?"
The unknown "hunter" was overflowing the crazy passion upon confronting the concerned "rabbit".
There was no question who was the hunter and who was the desperate rabbit in this scenario.
Without a mont's hesitation, the desperate Moon Jiyeon drew a concealed dagger and flung it toward the hunter.
The blade sliced through the air, aid directly at the girl's eye.
But the girl didn't move. Her lips stretched into an exaggerated grin, unnaturally wide, as she opened her mouth. Her jaws unhinged like a snake's, stretching far beyond human limits, and with one sickening gulp, she swallowed the dagger whole. The weapon disappeared into the dark abyss of her stomach.
Moon Jiyeon froze due to shock.
Just like that, her desperate assault had been rendered useless by the girl's belly.
"Mmm." The girl licked her lips theatrically. "A fine dagger, I suppose. But your face… oh, your face is far more delicious. Such despair. Such fear. Ah, silly you~ you really know how to tease a girl. I can't wait to eat you up~"
Her smile widened unnaturally, reaching both sides of her face like a demon savoring its victory.
Gula, the Fla of Gluttony.
The word "monster" slithered into Moon Jiyeon's mind. The creature before her eyes that had a human form harbored the terrifying power to devour anything and imprison it within the gaping abyss of her bottomless stomach.
Gula took a step forward towards her.
It was just a single step, but a wave of uncontrollable panic surged through Moon Jiyeon's body as she stumbled backward. She quickly turned around, desperate to flee.
But how could she run with her battered body?
Gula's mouth stretched impossibly wide, revealing a void of black nothingness—a vortex of insatiable hunger. In one swift, rciless swoop, she lunged forward at inhuman speed and swallowed Moon Jiyeon whole.
The corridor fell silent.
The only sound that remained was the faint, rhythmic drip of blood pooling on the cold floor.
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