She ignored the dolls that were frozen in place, her mouth blankly repeating a single word, her breathing somewhat heavy...
She had heard it not long ago...
A massive sound...
Like something being overturned...
Then, everything slowly returned to silence...
She waited, trying not to let her thoughts drift toward the worst-case scenario.
Because he had said he would be fine.
But... there was no more movement.
For a long, long time...
There was no more movement.
Why was it like this...
Time passed, second by second...
But still, he did not appear...
He didn't show up in the room they had agreed upon; she didn't see him, didn't find him waiting...
Suddenly, she thought of that roar from earlier...
Why would something be pushed over?
Then, as if realizing something...
An unease born from the depths of her heart surged out like a tidal wave.
Her mind suddenly went blank, unable to think of anything else.
In the next moment, she climbed over the railing and walked into the darkness he had entered.
"mono..."
"Don't leave..."
"You must not..."
Footsteps echoed in the darkness, a small flame illuminating the surroundings.
All around were dolls moving with the wind.
She didn't know how far she ran or how long she walked, until finally, at a certain moment, she reached a hall.
Inside the hall, everything looked very messy.
puppets—similar to the dolls she encountered on the way that rushed at her but froze once they entered the light—were all gathered in the center of the hall.
In the center of the hall, what they surrounded was a fallen cabinet. The cabinet was broken, twisted, and deformed.
Seeing this scene, she suddenly felt cold and began to shiver.
An unease, an extreme fear, bred in the darkness.
Like a fish losing water, or flowers losing sunlight, it felt as if her throat was suddenly being strangled.
A suffocating despair was growing...
In the unventilated room, gusts of wind actually began to blow slowly. It seemed they were provoked by the sudden arrival of this small figure.
All the dolls that were originally motionless suddenly stood up slowly and turned their bodies in unison toward her direction.
They "saw" her.
Under the faint light, a small Yellow Figure,
stood straight in the darkness
there.
Under the brim of the hat, her small head was slightly lowered.
No expression could be seen, no face, no eyes. Only a slow black mist swirled around her.
"Crack, crack, crack..."
All the dolls were once again attracted by the scent of the living. Just like they had chased that small prey not long ago, they pounced toward her frantically.
However, when they rushed in front of her, they stopped in their tracks.
The light of the yellow flame was held high by a small hand.
All the dolls close to her froze.
The dolls behind them couldn't break through either.
Ooo...
In the darkness, faint footsteps trod on the dusty floor, moving forward slowly.
The Yellow Figure, carrying the firelight, slowly wove through them.
Amidst this madness and eeriness, the figure appeared composed and calm, like the calm before a storm.
All the dolls attempted to seize her.
But when they reached her, they stopped.
They bent their backs and hunched their arms, instead bowing and showing deference to her, as if atoning for a crime, as if begging for forgiveness.
Finally, the light stopped in front of the fallen cabinet.
Under the yellow felt hat, nothing could be seen.
Her shadow remained motionless.
A vibration came, and an object rolled from the side of the cabinet to her feet.
It was a... broken... flashlight.
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