This episode contains violence, strong language, and themes that may be disturbing to some readers. Viewer discretion is advised.
Simultaneously with the practice room door closing behind them—as those steps moved away from the agency building towards the dorm—another night opened its jaws in a different place.
A long, dim, and somber corridor swallowed two figures in Vanderless High School uniforms lying on the damp ground, like the discarded remnants of a story.
Their breaths were still present, thin and held, yet fragile, as if every inhale could stop at any moment. On their bodies, lines of wounds were deeply woven, etching pain that glistened wetly beneath the dim light.
Their uniform fabric was torn, the rips irregular, like paper dragged by a swift current. Each tear seemed to pulse, oozing red stains that refused to dry, clinging to the fibers of the cloth, marking the young bodies with a palpable, unavoidable pain.
Amidst the passing draft of wind, one pair of eyelids trembled and then opened.
Veriza's previously blurred vision began to find form, the vague silhouettes becoming clearer. Her eyes adjusted to the dim light, and slowly, the figure beside her emerged with painful clarity: Noor's face.
The face was pale, like a candle melting in the dark, but not just pale—there were red stains adorning her temple, marking the trace of impact and injury. Her cheek was scratched, thin yet deep enough to make a red stream creep down, following the curve of her jaw.
"No.. No... Noor."
Her voice wanted to be born, yet it was choked before it could escape into words.
What came instead was a biting ache, a pain that bound her body like wet thread.
She tried to move, a small, almost meaningless effort—merely an intention trembling in her mind—yet her body did not answer, already fettered by the pain.
"Why does it hurt so much?"
"I can't move my body at all."
She slowly shifted her gaze forward.
What was spread out before her felt unfamiliar—she did not know where she was now.
In front of her view, were stacked several small drums, rusted and dented, as if they had been abandoned for a long time without care.
Around them were scattered discarded items that were no longer used—rotting pieces of wood, torn plastic, bent iron—everything looked dull, dead, and lifeless.
Her nose, which somehow was still working too well, caught an unforgiving, pungent odor. The smell of putrid garbage mixed with a sour, acrid stench of carcass, blended with the foul, damp odor of the sewer.
Occasionally, a small cough escaped her throat—like a weak protest from a body that had already received too much.
"Where… where am I?"
"Why am I in a place like this… and ended up with such a pitiful fate?"
"What exactly happened?"
She closed her eyes again, as if the darkness behind her eyelids could help her assemble the scattered pieces of memory.
She forced her mind to rewind, pulling herself back to before everything fell apart—before the pain, before the stench, before this strange place became an unavoidable reality. Before she and Noor ended up here.
The memory started simply: leaving the nearby supermarket with Noor, plastic bags containing snacks and drinks swinging in their hands—supplies to accompany the live broadcast of the group from the NEXT STAR: CATCH YOUR FIVE survival program. They were laughing, guessing the surprises that would come, waiting for the group and fandom names.
Then—
SREEEKKKKK
SRRREEEKKKKKK
SRRRRREEEEEKKKKKK
Both her eyes flew open wide as both her ears caught that strange sound, which for some reason made her body shiver and tremble violently.
"What… what is that sound?"
SREEEEEKKKKKKK
SREEEEKKKKKKKKKKK
SREEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKK
The sound was heard again—this time clearer, closer.
She forced herself to lift her head. Just as her head was raised a few centimeters, pain immediately surged without warning, but she defied the sensation.
With the remaining focus she had, her gaze began to scan the surroundings—slowly, carefully, as if just one careless movement could make the pain explode again—trying to search for a movement or the origin of the sound she had just heard.
SREEEEEEEKKK
SREEEEEEEKKKKKKKKK
SREEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKK
SREEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKK
SREEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK
This time the sound was heard more frequently. It no longer appeared and disappeared, but came in rapid succession, and quickly.
The sound turned out to be coming from in front of her eyes, from a distance that was not too far.
There she saw it: a stack of several small used cardboard boxes, mixed with crumpled and dirty food and drink packaging.
But the stack was not still.
The cardboard boxes that had been stacked quite high began to shift one by one, descending their stack slowly, followed by a quiet scraping sound that made the back of her neck tense up.
Several plastic packages also fell, crumpled and sliding, creating a faint sound that was too loud in the middle of the silence.
Then, accidentally, the vague, dim light caught something.
A silhouette.
"What… what is that?"
"A human?"
The silhouette was tall, but not too tall—the height of a small child's body.
She held her breath as the shadow slowly pulled itself away from the stack of cardboard boxes and packaging that had initially covered it.
And when the silhouette truly appeared clearly before her eyes, she felt her heart pounding harder than ever before.
Standing in front of her was indeed a small child—a tiny body, about seven to eight years old.
Yet, something was absurd.
On the child's head, a pair of ears emerged, erect and twitching as if alert. Not only that—a thin, long, and slender tail snuck out from the lower part of their body, swaying slowly with the child's movements.
"A… monster?"
"But, how is it possible for a mythical story like a monster to exist in the real world like this? And that's impossible."
She closed her eyes again.
The pain in her head continued to pierce, but she forced herself to believe that what she had just seen was merely a hallucination.
However, when her eyelids opened again, the small figure stood upright, seemingly staring directly at her.
She clearly flinched and closed her eyes again.
"Is… is he looking at me right now?"
"Am I… am I really not hallucinating?"
She tightened her eyes to keep them closed, even though she was genuinely curious about what she had just seen.
Silence then descended like a curtain covering the entire space.
There was no sound except the throbbing of her own heartbeat in her ears.
The air felt heavy, pressing, as if every molecule was holding itself still—until the sound of footsteps touched the ground up ahead, slow but sure, followed by a voice.
"What are you doing here?"
"And what is your name?"
The questioning tone crept straight into Veriza's ears.
This time, curiosity and fear wrestled in her chest so fiercely that she could not restrain herself any longer. Carefully, she slowly opened her eyes.
Her gaze returned to the front, and at that very moment, her breath was held.
There, stood another small figure.
Shorter than the child who appeared first, but carrying a similar oddity: two ears protruded from their small head, twitching as if catching the vibration of the air, while a long tail snuck out from beneath their body, curving lightly, alive, and real.
Veriza swallowed roughly.
"Oh my God… what does all this mean?"
"Why are there two humans… with cat and dog ears?"
"Did I… get thrown into another dimension? A dimension full of strange things, which even if I read it in a novel, I wouldn't believe it… but this is real?"
"Those two little kids… how can they have ears on top of their heads and tails on their butts?"
"Or… are they just playing cosplay? But… why do I feel so incredibly scared, as if this is not just them playing cosplay?"
Before she could even decide on something—even though she herself couldn't name what decision she might take—the voice flowed again from the front.
This time, She restrained herself.
She chose silence, holding her breath, hiding the tremor in her chest, then listening attentively, hoping the next few words would give a clue about the strange world that had suddenly opened its door before her.