Hayami: "Every man carries within him an abyss that he tries to ignore, a silent scream that we call reason. We convince ourselves that we are masters of ourselves, yet all it takes is a glance, a word, a betrayal, and that abyss emerges, crawling through our veins, ready to devour every trace of civilization. Perhaps the monster we fear in others is merely a mirror: the truth is that we ourselves are monsters hidden beneath skin and smiles, and the whole world does nothing but remind us, day after day, until nothing remains but cold, naked instinct, pure and cruel like the life we have always tried to mask."
[STREETS OF LONDON - 11:00 PM]
Hayami: "Guys, maybe it's just me, but I'm utterly bored."
Edric: "Yeah... me too..."
Amets: "You're telling me..."
Amets: "It's all Edric's fault."
Edric: "Huh? What? Are you kidding me... it's not my fault they kicked us out."
Hayami: "It's definitely your fault..."
Edric: "Whatever... it's not my fault that girl found me charming."
Hayami: "And look how that ended... did you really have to punch her boyfriend?"
Edric: "Alright, alright, let's forget about this unpleasant business, let's move on to more serious things..."
Edric: "Tell me, what do you guys want to do tonight?"
Hayami: "Hmm... I honestly don't know..."
Amets (bored): "It doesn't matter, as long as we do something."
Edric: "How about another nightclub?"
Amets: "Not a chance..."
Edric: "Mhhh... A stroll downtown?"
Hayami: "Where do you think we are right now?"
Edric: "Damn... thinking about it made me bored again..."
Edric: "What if we went to pick a fight with someone?"
Hayami: "Nahh... too much fuss... it has to be something not too frantic, but not too boring either."
Edric: "Hey guys, what if we went to the arcade today?"
Edric: "It's been a long time since we've been, what do you say?"
Hayami (happy): "Sure, that's a great idea, it has been ages since we went."
Hayami: "At least that way we'll do something instead of wandering around like idiots."
Amets (ironic): "Wonder whose fault that is..."
Edric: "Alright, alright, I get it, I'm sorry, now let's focus on having fun, but this time, I'm not paying for anything, clear?"
Amets: "Fine. Just try not to go overboard like you usually do this time, or they'll kick us out like last time."
Edric: "Actually, that time was Hayami's fault."
Hayami: "Huh, are you messing with me? You were the one who suggested stealing the prizes."
Edric: "And why did you follow my idea? You know I always make bad choices..."
Hayami: "Who knows... maybe that time it could have been the right one."
Hayami: "That card set wasn't bad..."
Edric: "Alright, alright... let's think about the serious stuff."
Edric: "Let's hurry up, it closes in less than an hour."
Hayami: "Then run instead of blabbering."
Amets: "We're not waiting for you, your problem."
Edric: "Hey bastards... Wait for me."
Hayami: "Last one there pays for everyone."
Edric: "Hey wait a minute, that's not fair, you two wait for me."
The boys are out having fun in London; the city is full of smiling, happy people, some shopping, some at restaurants, and some out at nightclubs—a classic Saturday night where things never stop. But beneath that serene and peaceful façade, something much darker and more unsettling is hiding.
Edric: "Man, this beef burger is so good, guys, come on, try it."
Hayami: "Yeah maybe, but I swear this chicken burger is fantastic, I also got the fries with cheddar, which are just incredible, seriously..."
Edric: "You try mine, trust me, I assure you you won't regret it."
Hayami: "No thanks, I prefer to finish this one, it's much tastier."
Edric: "Alright... suit yourself... you're the only one losing out, hahaha."
Hayami: "Hahaha, if you say so."
Amets: "You two are bottomless pits, honestly."
Hayami: "Well no kidding, we haven't eaten anything today."
Amets (bored): "It's Edric's fault, because of him we skipped a day of the academy today."
Edric: "Hey wait... I only suggested if you wanted to skip with me today, I didn't force you."
Hayami (smiling): "Come on, Amets, what's the big deal about skipping a day or two, we never skip, sometimes it's okay not to go."
Amets (bored): "If you say so..."
Amets: "Anyway, it still doesn't feel right to me, but you tell me."
Edric: "Come on, don't be a party pooper, whatever happens, happens."
Amets (bored): "I think it will end badly, it would have been better if we went, but if you're happy."
Hayami: "If you say so, hahahaha."
Edric: "Speaking of things that ended badly, guys..."
Hayami and Amets: "..."
Edric: "Yesterday..."
Hayami and Amets: "..."
Edric: "We lost the game 5-0 against the other school, if the coach hadn't benched me maybe we would have won, darn it, too bad."
Amets: "Are you kidding... that's all?"
Hayami: "Yeah... that's all?"
Hayami: "We thought you were about to say something crazy."
Hayami: "What a surprise, you're practically last in the league, you haven't won a single game this season."
Hayami: "Even I could play better than you, hahahahaha."
Amets: "Exactly... it would have been weirder if you had won."
Edric: "Well, so what? I'm still the one who scored the most goals on my team."
Amets: "Well, no shit... you're the only one who scored on your team."
Hayami: "And with a penalty kick at that..."
Edric: "Yes, yes, alright, I get it."
Amets: "Seriously though, guys, what do you think about the various murder cases popping up everywhere in the world?"
Edric: "Mhhh... honestly, I don't care, people die for everything these days, so who cares."
Amets: "Yeah, but the problem is that we're talking about thousands of people worldwide, not just two random jerks."
Hayami: "Exactly, if it were just two people, fine, but we're talking about thousands of people killed every day."
Amets (talking to Edric): "Do you ever read the news?"
Edric: "Oh, I have better things to do than think about people I don't even know."
Hayami (joking): "What if it happens to us?"
Edric: "Dude... you're creepy."
Amets: "Yeah, don't think about stuff like that, man, it's bad luck."
Edric: "In that case, your problem, I prefer to save my own skin."
Amets: "Wow... so much for friendship."
Hayami: "I agree with him... in these cases, everyone for themselves, and what's seen is seen."
Edric: "I agree with the strategy, hahahahaha."
Edric: "Anyway, who cares, let's not talk about these things while we're out having fun, let's relax now and not think about anything."
Hayami and Amets: "Ahhh... idiot."
[STREETS OF LONDON - 11:45 PM]
Edric: "Come on guys, hurry up, the arcade closes in 1 hour."
Hayami: "We're coming, we're coming."
Amets (talking to Hayami): "I can't believe it, does it seem normal to go to the arcade at this hour?"
Hayami: "Better than doing nothing, right?"
Hayami: "Next time I want to go to a club, though, I'm not going with Edric anymore."
Amets: "Yeah... and to think we even bought the presale tickets..."
Hayami: "Imagine how much fun we would've had tonight."
Amets: "Oh well... complaining is useless now."
Hayami: "HEY Edric, don't run, calm down."
Edric: "I can't, I'm going ahead, you guys catch up later."
Edric: "See you there."
While Edric is running, he bumps into an unsettling figure.
Cult Member (eerie smile): "Hey kid, you alright?"
Edric (surprised): "Y-yes... yes, everything's fine."
Cult Member: "Good... next time be careful, please, it's dangerous not to look ahead, clear?"
Cult Member: "Come on gentlemen, let's go, we must find that demon."
Cult Member: "One group go that way to the left, we won't go the other way."
The cult members walk away, with people looking at them, some curious, some intimidated, and some even happy.
Hayami: "Friend, you okay?"
Edric: "Guys, damn, that guy gave me the chills."
Hayami: "Jeez, them again, don't these people ever sleep?"
Edric: "I can't stand them at all, they control everything and everyone as if we were in a prison."
Amets: "Those are members of the Paradisus sect..."
Hayami (ironic): "No kidding... wow, we hadn't figured that out..."
Amets (annoyed): "Smartass..."
Edric: "I heard they do some kind of rituals where they... sacrifice people... how scary, guys."
Amets: "Maybe so... but unfortunately, they are also part of the authority in this country, we can't do anything about it, man."
Hayami: "My grandfather had dealings with these crazies a while back."
Hayami: "He told me they are just sadistic lunatics who get rid of anyone they don't like."
Edric: "Thank goodness nothing happened to me..."
Edric: "They must have realized it was better not to piss me off and let it go."
Hayami (ironic): "You can be sure of that, that's definitely why they let you go."
Amets: "Did you hear earlier, it sounds like they're looking for someone."
Hayami: "Probably someone else has gone missing..."
Hayami: "It happens practically every week now..."
Amets: "I don't know about you... but I don't want anything to do with these guys..."
Edric (ironic): "Who knows... maybe they want to join... maybe... they are the ones responsible for the disappearances."
Hayami: "For the first time since I've known you... I agree with you."
Amets: "Shh, they're coming this way."
The cult members pass near them, led by one of the sect's most important members, Dashiell, the second-in-command of the cult. After seeing the members pass, an idea comes to Edric.
Edric: "Guys... change of plans... I've got a pretty exciting idea..."
Amets: "Oh no... I already know it's not going to be a good idea... I can feel it."
Edric: "What if instead of the super boring arcade... we went... and looked for the so-called 'demon' ourselves?"
Hayami and Amets remain silent for a moment, stunned and shocked by Edric.
Amets (ironic): "You really don't want to mind your own business, do you?"
Edric: "Come on, man, this will definitely be much more interesting than playing at the arcade, aren't you dying of curiosity to find out what's going on, come on."
Amets: "Honestly no... I don't give a damn... I just want to go have fun on a quiet Saturday night, then go home, eat some ice cream while watching TV, and then go to sleep."
Amets: "Not go looking for someone or something we don't even know what it is."
Amets: "It could be a missing person, or at most it'll be a typical criminal, nothing special."
Edric: "The beauty of discovery, my friend..."
Edric: "Don't you want to know too..."
Amets: "I'm sorry... but I'm opting out."
Edric: "Ahhh... what do you say, Hayami?... "
Edric: "Hayami?"
Edric: "Where did he go?"
Hayami from afar: "Come on, hurry up, you stupid idiots, we're losing them, if you don't come, I'm going alone."
Edric (very happy): "Ahhh... I'M COMING HAYAMI!"
Hayami: "Amets, if you don't come now we're leaving you here, alright?"
Amets thinks for a bit, he is quite reluctant and doubtful, but after thinking it over for a while...
Amets: "FINE."
Amets: "Wait for me, you stupid idiots."
[WOODS OUTSIDE THE CITY, 12:00 AM]
Hayami and his friends have been following the cult members for quite some time; the cult members are walking down an apparently empty highway, everything is deserted, there is only the unsettling cold of the night.
Hayami: "Where the hell are they going?"
Edric: "I don't know... but I'm getting more and more curious."
Amets: "I still say this seems like a terrible idea."
Hayami: "Come on, don't be a spoilsport, let's just go see what happens."
Edric: "Yeah... at this point, you might as well not have followed us, since you're complaining."
Amets: "I'm complaining because you make reckless choices..."
Edric: "Me... and you never do anything wrong, right?"
Hayami: "Shut up, look."
Hayami: "They are heading towards the woods."
Amets: "See... I don't know about you, but usually, in horror movies, in cases like this, a sensible person would turn tail and leave."
Edric: "Yeah, but we're not in a movie, genius..."
Amets: "All the more reason to leave..."
Hayami: "Come on, let's go too."
Edric: "Hahaha, that's what I like to hear, Hayami."
Hayami and Edric enter the woods, while Amets, despite his initial reluctance, eventually follows them.
Amets: "Why did I decide to follow you, damn it..."
The boys walk for a long time, but they no longer see the cult members, now deep in the heart of the woods.
Hayami: "That's it... we lost them... damn it..."
Edric: "It's all Amets' fault, if he had hurried up earlier maybe..."
Amets: "What, are you messing with me? You're the ones who took off like a rocket without telling me."
Amets: "That's what you deserve, you stupid idiots."
Amets (thought): "And to think I could be at my house right now..."
Hayami: "Damn... I saw them sneak in this way."
Hayami: "And to think they were here just a moment ago."
Edric: "Probably... we're dealing with killer ghosts..."
Hayami: "I know where you can stick your ghost..."
Edric: "Alright... sorry..."
Edric (thought): "F*** you..."
Suddenly, chilling screams begin to echo from the woods, screams that break the unsettling silence of the woods, giving way to dying shrieks.
Amets: "Wh-what was that...?"
Edric: "There's only one way to find out."
Amets: "Oh no..."
Hayami: "It sounded like those screams came from that direction, come on, let's go."
Meanwhile in the woods, the cult members who had headed into the forest are almost all dead...
Cult Member: "D-damn"
The last cult member, gravely wounded, tries to escape as best he can, but a strange figure stands in his way.
Mysterious Figure (eerie smile): "Friend, where do you think you're going?"
Mysterious Figure: "I told you to leave me alone, but apparently you don't understand when asked nicely."
The mysterious figure grabs the last remaining member by the neck and lifts him, then cleanly slices his head off with a thrust of a dagger...
Mysterious Figure: "And that was the last one..."
The mysterious figure is about to leave, when suddenly, they turn around sharply and sense the presence of three other people.
Mysterious Figure (curious): "It certainly is never boring around here..."
Meanwhile, after 10 minutes of walking, the three arrive at an open and isolated part of the woods, illuminated by the moon and stars shining high in the London sky, but what they see is anything but pleasant and serene.
Hayami: "They should have gone this way..."
Edric: "If it's the wrong way... take it up with Amets..."
Amets: "If it's the wrong direction... punch Edric in the face for me."
Hayami: "If it's the wrong way, I'll punch both of you, and we'll end it here."
Hayami: "Yet it seemed like the right posit..."
Hayami is about to take a step but feels he has stepped on something... something from which a fountain of blood erupts... Hayami looks and sees...
Hayami: "What... what the f***..."
All three are completely stunned and pale... the entire section of the woods is full of the cult members' corpses, all disemboweled, dismembered, killed with unparalleled brutality.
Edric (nervous laughter): "Ah... ahhhh... ha ha ha ha"
Hayami (worried): "What... what the hell happened here..."
Amets (extremely worried): "I... I told you it was a terrible idea, guys..."
Edric (nervous laughter): "Fan-fantastic... ha ha ha..."
Hayami (shocked): "Okay guys... I think it's time to go home..."
Amets (dark irony, scared): "Now... now you want to go home? Why don't we stay a little longer, no, it might be 'exciting'?"
Edric (scared): "I think Amets has gone crazy."
Amets (shocked): "You're the ones driving me crazy... this is all your fault... I... I told you not to go but you were like 'NOOOO' "
Hayami: "Is this the time to lecture us?"
Amets: "No... but it's definitely time to run..."
Hayami: "Okay... now... let's try to leave... very slowly guys..."
Just as the boys try to turn around... an unsettling shadow stands before them... observing them from top to bottom as if calmly deciding who to kill first, the air grows colder, and darkness covers the entire woods, now a pool of blood, while the boys are petrified, staring at the figure without saying a word.
Mysterious Figure: "Tell me... do you know any beautiful girls..."
The boys are surprised, not understanding what the mysterious figure meant.
Hayami: "Uh... what...?"
Amets: "Any... beautiful girls...?"
Mysterious Figure: "Answer me, or I'll kill you..."
Edric decides to act immediately.
Edric (scared but clear-headed): "Uh.. well... yes... yes of course."
Edric: "We know a lot of beautiful girls... l-lots and lots of beautiful girls."
Hayami: "Yes... yes, obviously... in fact, we just saw some passing that way."
Mysterious Figure: "Where, show me."
Hayami: "Look, exactly there... that way..."
Mysterious Figure: "Would you like to accompany me..."
Mysterious Figure: "I'd like to see with my own eyes which one is the most beautiful... and then kill her."
Hayami: "Well look... we'd love to help you, but we're in a bit of a hurry right now, my friend... you know..."
Mysterious Figure: "Alright... as you wish..."
The boys breathe an initial sigh of relief, but then:
Mysterious Figure: "Then how about I just kill you now and get it over with."
Mysterious Figure: "But thank you for the tip, you were very helpful."
Amets (thought): "Damn..."
Edric: "Why am I such an idiot?"
Mysterious Figure: "Last thing... right or left?"
As the Figure turns, Hayami makes an unexpected move, picking up a rather large stone from the ground, and then:
Hayami: "Look that way..."
As the Figure turns again...
Hayami: "RUN GUYS, HURRY UP"
Amets and Edric: "HUH?"
The figure turns around quickly, but Hayami hits them from behind with the stone, then runs with all his might.
Hayami: "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, RUN"
Amets and Edric start running as fast as they can in the opposite direction from Hayami.
Edric: "THE WORST IDEA I'VE EVER HAD"
Amets: "WHY, HAVE YOU HAD BETTER ONES?"
Edric: "DON'T BOTHER TRYING TO INSULT ME, JUST RUN"
Edric: "WHO THE HELL WAS THAT?"
Amets: "WE'LL WORRY ABOUT QUESTIONS LATER, RUN NOW"
Meanwhile, the mysterious figure remained motionless and impassive; the blow had no effect on them, yet they were still, as if lost in thought.
Mysterious Figure: "Darn... there's no respect these days."
Mysterious Figure: "I just wanted some directions... how rude."
The mysterious figure, with a burst of speed, heads towards Hayami, moving with unusual swiftness while Hayami runs with all his might.
Hayami: "I hope I bought myself some time..."
Hayami: "But who the hell was that..."
Hayami: "Was that who those guys were looking for..."
Hayami: "Better not ask questions for now..."
Unfortunately for Hayami, just as he is about to reach a highway, he feels a searing pain in his leg.
Hayami: "Uh... what..."
His left leg has been struck by a huge dagger slash from the mysterious figure, severely wounding him.
Hayami: "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
Hayami: "FUUUUUUUUUUUUCK"
Mysterious Figure: "Ah... don't you know it's rude to leave without saying goodbye?"
Hayami screams in pain while the mysterious figure decides to end it quickly.
Mysterious Figure: "I'd love to keep talking with you, my friend, but I have to find some beautiful girls right now."
Meanwhile, Hayami, while screaming in agonizing pain, reflects on the bad idea he had.
Hayami (thought): "Damn... why... why does it always end like this... why do I always make the wrong choice, damn it..."
Hayami (thought): "D-damn those two idiots... I hope... I hope they got away... otherwise I'll kill them... ha ha..."
The mysterious figure raises the dagger... and strikes Hayami straight in the chest, killing him... Hayami can only die in silence... while dripping blood... and exhaling... his last breath...
Meanwhile, the mysterious figure looked at him with immense contempt.
Mysterious Figure: "You were a poor fool..."
The mysterious figure walks away calmly and peacefully, cleaning their dagger and preparing to massacre other innocent victims.
Mysterious Figure: "Now to deal with the other two party poopers."
But just as they are about to leave... they feel something strange... something they are not remotely ready for this...