Tick… tick… tick…
The clock's finger moved forward with a scary sound.
Kael sat on his chair, waiting for the next customer.
The Nightmare World was a terrifying place, its lands shattered into countless realms.
According to Master, the most dangerous of them all was the Vile Realm.
Unlike other realms that could only be reached through certain paths or rituals, the Vile Realm could appear anywhere, at any time. It sometimes showed itself through small cracks in reality, quiet, sudden, and impossible to predict.
Creatures known as Vile lived there, beings twisted beyond reason. Their presence alone could make the air heavy and the light fade.
The master once told him that he had appeared from one of those cracks. Kael had no memory of it.
Just as he was lost in thought about those words…
Creak… eeeek.
A back door opened.
I turned and a smile slowly stretched across my face.
"K-Kai… I'm hungry…" The voice was soft, almost sweet, but it carried a strange,
hollow edge that could make anyone's skin crawl.
A little girl stepped in. Her white hair was tangled from sleep. She hugged a
golden-haired doll tightly against her small chest. The red lamp flickered, casting
shadows that made her crimson eyes gleam like burning coals. When she spoke,
sharp teeth glistened beneath her red blood like lips… each one like a tiny, sharp blade.
I rose from my chair, patting her head. "Can you wake Little Black while I get
breakfast ready for everyone?" Warmth flickered in my chest; no matter what this
place held, I could never hate this girl, my Master's daughter, Xiao.
Her smile widened as she nodded under my pat like an innocent little girl.
***
She shuffled back toward the door, closing it softly behind her.
Creak… eeeek…
As she walked, her gaze dropped to the doll, her face shifting as a dreamy smile
curled her lips.
"Brother Kai… is so handsome…" she whispered, saliva dripping from her lips. Her
A long, dark tongue slid out, licking hungrily along her red lips. "I can't wait to eat him."
The doll creaked as it moved, its head tilting at an odd angle. "Yesss… Kai, he's…handsome. Taste… good. Mummy like… him," it spoke in a broken, hollow voice.
Xiao's dreamy smile vanished, her face twisting with frustration. She stomped down the hall. "When's Mother coming back?" she hissed, her crimson eyes burning.
"She said when Brother Kai could run this shop properly, she'd let me marry him. But
it's been so many years…"
Her lips parted, tongue flicking over her sharp teeth. Her red eyes burned with anger, her small hands clutching the doll so tightly its seams strained. "Do you think… this time… Mother will give Kai to me?" Her voice trembled. "I want to eat him so badly. I can't wait to taste his flesh… feel his blood on my tongue…"
The doll struggled in her tight grip, its joints creaking like brittle bones.
"Too tight… Mummy… you're hurting me… aaa…" it pleaded softly.
Xiao blinked, then loosened her hold. She rubbed the doll's head as if apologizing.
"Sorry, sorry… I just love you too much, Yume." Her voice tilted into a giggle. "But I
love Brother Kai more."
As she walked away, her shadow stretched long across the floor. For an instant, two small eyes glowed within it, staring, unblinking, then vanished back into the dark.
***
Meanwhile, Kai, who knew nothing about this, was in the kitchen, humming softly.
"La… la… la-la… la…"
He laid out his tools: a black knife with a screaming face carved into its handle, a
crooked iron pot and a ladle shaped like a skeletal hand.
Today, Kai had decided to make noodles.
On the counter rested the severed head of a Medusa, its hollow sockets staring
emptily, though the snakes atop its skull still twitched and hissed. Kai grabbed one
and sliced it.
CHOP!
The snake writhed once before falling into the bowl with a wet plop.
He smiled as fresh snakes immediately started growing back in its place.
He set the pot over the fire.
KRRRRNNNG!
The iron shrieked as it heated, the water trembling before bubbling to life. Kai waited patiently, humming all the while, until the boil turned violent: bubbling, churning and spitting steam like an angry beast.
Only then did he drop the severed snake in. The coils writhed as they hit the surface, then slowly softened, unraveling into pale, string-thin strands. He stirred them for a while. A pause. The noodles needed time to soak and loosen. Kai wiped the green blood from the knife and cleaned the counter.
Five minutes later, he returned to check.
The snakes had melted into perfect strands, pale and supple.
Next came the egg or what passed for one here. He held up a ghoul's eyeball, golden fluid swirling behind its milky lens. With a quick crack, it burst into the pot.
SSSHHHH! The hiss echoed as the yolk-like liquid spread, painting the broth yellow.
He let the heat thicken it, then reached for the jar of herbs. The dried leaves twitched faintly as he crushed them between his fingers, sprinkling them in one pinch at a time. An aroma rose through the air.
Finally, the spices. A measure of wraith-bone ash. A dash of crimson flakes, powdered from a banshee's tongue. He let them sink slowly, darkening the broth, letting the aroma grow heavier.
Kai dipped a finger into the bubbling soup and licked it clean. His eyes softened. His smile widened.
"Perfect. Just like back on Earth."
Kai smiled, thinking, If I hadn't been a doctor, I could have been a chef. The creatures here clearly didn't know how to make proper food; most just ate raw meat, and only some ate cooked food.
***
Everyone gathered around the table as Kai poured steaming bowls of noodles.
Xiao leaned forward eagerly. "Noodles, my favorite!"
Kai smiled softly at her happy expression, then placed a smaller bowl on the floor in front of the cute little black dog with six eyes, who wagged its three little tails.
He crouched to rub its head. The dog wagged its tail happily as it buried its mouth into the bowl. He recalled finding it injured and limping in the market years ago, with a broken leg and a scarred body.
As a kind doctor, he had stitched it back together and Little Black had taken a liking to him.
Seeing this, his Master had allowed him to keep it and it had been living with them ever since.
At the table, Xiao slurped loudly, noodles slipping between her teeth, though she glanced jealously at Little Black getting petted.
Her eyes half-closed.
"Mmm! It's so good!" she said, moving her feet beneath the chair in delight.
Soon, Kai sat down and started to eat, watching them devouring his food with a quiet smile.
"Xiao, I've prepared some extra," he said, pointing to a packed container wrapped in red cloth. "After eating, can you take it to Miss Fen? She came by earlier after she smelled the food; she said she'd like to eat some too."
Kai didn't mind her request. He had known Miss Fen for a long time, a kind neighbor and a friend of his Master who often visited.
But when Xiao heard this, her fingers tightened around Yume, strangling her once again.
"Yes…" she muttered, her face darkening with unhappiness.
'''
Note: Once the novel reached Chapter 20, chapter uploads will switch to the schedule I outlined in my review.