---

I look at the remaining signpost’s numbers.

Number 1.

It probably means we only have one chance left.

Suddenly, it would be nice to have another sign with a zero written on it after failing here, but that’s merely wishful thinking.

“…”

She looks at me with a worried expression, glancing back at the house.

“Is this really the right thing?”

“What makes you think it isn’t?”

“…”

She gazes at me.

“This sort of thing, well, it’s not recorded…”

“That’s true.”

If there were records of breaking through here, she wouldn’t be this anxious.

She’d have a more confident or mature expression.

“Let’s go.”

Without hesitation, I shift my foot behind the signpost.

“…”

She follows behind me.

This time, we’re heading home.

<"Jae Heon, where are you!">

“Again, it’s just an echo of your memories; I’m not the same as I was then—”

“No.”

She’s mistaken.

As I walk the road to the house, I ponder.

How did I navigate this crisis when I was younger?

The answer is, “I didn’t.”

The younger me wasn’t particularly clever, like the heroes in stories.

I didn’t have keen eyesight nor a firearm. I had no reliable companions either.

In short, I didn’t resolve this incident through my own will.

“…”

“…huh?”

It must mean that I navigated this obstacle alongside the child next to me.

“…”

Our house wasn’t that high up.

It was on the second floor of a villa. Thus, I didn’t have too much trouble climbing stairs.

The only downside was that mosquitoes often came in during the summer.

-Creeeak…

I open the front door.

Just like what I saw earlier, the house was covered in pitch-black darkness.

Only my younger sister’s room had the light on.

I listen intently to the sounds.

The sound of a knife hitting a cutting board, and something bubbling.

It was just like when I would come home from school to find my mother waiting for me after playing with friends.

The only difference was,

“Jae Heon, is that you?”

I gaze at the entity that’s mimicking my mother’s voice.

A pitch-black shadow was slamming something down on the cutting board.

It looked more like a shadow imitating a person than a person itself.

“…”

What would I have done?

No, what would the younger me have done?

In this darkness, would I have seen my parents and run away in fear?

My gaze shifts to the brightly-lit room.

If there hadn’t been a lit room, then yes, I would have done that.

But whether my younger sister was in that room or not, I wasn’t sure,

“Follow me.”

“Huh? Huh?”

I grab the hand of the child who’s standing vacantly by my side and dash into the room where the light is on.

-Thud!

And then, after shutting and locking the door, I block it with a chair.

-Bang! Bang!

“Jae Heon! It’s time to eat!”

I hear something wailing from beyond the door.

Ignoring the sounds from outside, I calmly scan my surroundings.

In my childhood, I entered a room like this.

Then,

“Think carefully.”

“Uh, okay.”

In any case, it was impossible to receive accurate information.

“What was I like when you saw me as a child?”

“Uh…?”

-Bang! Bang!

“Jae Heon! If you don’t open the door, Mom will eat you!”

“I mean, just as I was.”

“…”

With my eyes closed, she falls into thought.

Soon, she opens her eyes and looks at me.

They were earnest eyes.

“Honestly, you were no different from other kids. Well, you weren’t particularly smart, and you had your playful side.”

“…”

It’s a natural observation, but it feels unsettling.

“Anyway, if there’s one distinct difference between you and others, it was your adaptability and decisiveness.”

“Adaptability and decisiveness?”

She nods.

“Yeah. You could quickly accept and adapt to your situation, and you acted a bit more courageously.”

“What? Isn’t that something quite impressive?”

“I think there were times when you got a bit cocky after being praised and then got a surprising reality check.”

“…Let’s not discuss that.”

So, according to her words, I was quick to adapt and decisive.

So what was I supposed to do?

In the only room where the light was on, what I needed to gather was…

I look around and grab a flashlight, switching it on.

Click, the flashlight illuminates.

At the very least, this flashlight might be useful in this pitch-black darkness.

For some reason, everything in my younger sister’s room was glowing.

-Creak!

I open the window.

A terrible air wafts in from outside.

“…What are you planning to do?”

“I’m going to jump.”

“…”

The child looks at me, dumbfounded.

“Aren’t I being reckless if I’m sure I won’t get hurt?”

“I didn’t know that.”

So I hadn’t gotten hurt.

“You were trying to drop a child from the second floor without knowing it wouldn’t hurt?”

The child mutters as if it were absurd,

“Ah, don’t worry.”

“Yikes!”

As I throw her over my shoulder, she lets out a strange noise and starts hitting my back with her palm.

“Wait, put me down! I can do it by myself—”

<Jae Heon!!!>

-Bang!

The door swings open, and the shadowy figure enters,

<Aaaah!>

-Screeech!

As soon as it steps inside, light hits its form, and in that moment, it screams and recoils.

“…”

I was about to jump out the window but stop to look at it.

It flees from the light.

-Click!

<Aaahh!!>

As I turn the flashlight on, it screams again and backs away.

I get it now.

“Let’s go.”

“Wait, I’m not finished talking. Put me down, Aaaah!”

I leap down while still carrying her, her screams echoing behind me.

Jumping from the second floor isn’t particularly difficult.

-Thunk!

Unless I forget that I jumped down with a pack of pseudo-rice.

“Oof…”

My knees throb.

“Why are you so heavy, ugh!”

As I finally let her down, she opens her eyes wide and gives my shins a full-on kick.

“There’s a time to say things to a person and a time not to!”

“You’re not even a person, oof!”

As I hold my shins, groaning, she looks ahead.

“Now, where do we go?”

“…To school.”

“No, wait, why are you acting like you don’t know? We went through this together.”

While I’m still nursing my sore shins, I start running toward the school again.

*

I push open the door to the school I saw earlier.

Yes, just as before, trash is strewn everywhere.

“…But is this really right?”

She looks at me with an anxious expression.

Her dark blue hair shines even in the darkness that barely reveals anything ahead.

“It is.”

“…If you say so, I guess I’ll go with it, but…”

She fidgets with the hem of her clothes, seeming worried.

“Come on.”

It’s a perfect reenactment of the past.

I thought the person who pushed over this trash can while escaping back then was the child next to me.

But that’s not it.

I push over the trash can.

This is a trace of my past self.

I should have realized it the moment the men’s restroom door was ajar.

I don’t know what mechanism “trials” operate on, but it was clearly recreating the path I walked.

Only, it seemed like it was reproducing a location I already solved.

I recall the note I left for myself.

Why couldn’t I write in the manual back then?

The reason is simple.

I must have been alone back then.

The child next to me must have been wandering in the darkness.

Since nothing had been recorded, there’s no one left to survive.

Crossing the corridor, I head to the restroom and open the door.

Indeed, there’s a chair and a small window open.

“Go out through there.”

“…Me?”

She looks at me as if finding this ridiculous.

“So, am I going in?”

But I can’t go in.

“…Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Why on earth am I…”

“Hurry up.”

“…Fine…”

With a sulky expression, she climbs onto the chair and struggles to reach the window.

“I haven’t really done this much…!”

“Should I push?”

“No, uh…!”

Shaking her head, she’s halfway over the window when she suddenly yells,

“Aaaah!”

She loses her balance and falls.

Good. She got over the window; I’ll just follow.

After confirming she disappeared out the window, I exit the restroom and slip out through the adjacent window.

Soon, I catch sight of her, covered in grass stains, glaring at me.

As I wipe her face with my sleeve, she forgives me, as if to say, “When did this happen,” but

“What’s next?”

“Now we have to see it through to the end.”

-Whir…

A sound emerges from afar.

It’s much slower than before.

-Click.

I turn on the flashlight, and the light pierces the darkness ahead.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

With the flashlight shining, I move deeper into the tunnel.

“…But.”

“Yeah?”

As we walk through the tunnel, the child looks at me.

“Aren’t you scared?”

“What of?”

“Of death, or the things that are about to come.”

She hesitates as she looks at me.

What is she talking about?

“Of course I’m scared.”

Who wouldn’t be afraid of death?

-Whoosh!

Darkness closes in again.

In the end, most people either become selfish to overcome their fears or are consumed by horror.

“Then why?”

“I learned.”

“What did you learn?”

Turning my gaze away from the child, whose puzzled expression begs for an answer, I recall.

“I’m happy.”

The value of sacrifice I learned from Yu Da On.

“I’ll believe you.”

The value of faith I learned from Jang Chae Yeon.

“Do you know who I am?”

The value of courage I learned from Song Ah Rin.

It was made possible because I learned from those who do things better than I do.

If it weren’t, I would have selfishly tried to sacrifice myself, wouldn’t have trusted others, and wouldn’t have acted courageously.

-Whir…

The darkness closes in even tighter.

I glance back at the darkness.

“…This isn’t something I have a record of, right?”

“Uh? Er, yeah.”

She nods.

“Then let’s do it.”

“Uh…?”

“Don’t we need to register a new containment object?”

“…We should.”

At my words, she lets out a small laugh and places her hand on my back.

“Just turn around for a moment.”

“I’m already turned around.”

“Do you have to be so pedantic?”

I chuckle at her words as I shine the light.

-Whooosh…

As I shine the light, it feels like the darkness is retreating.

No, it isn’t just a feeling.

“…I’m ready.”

I hear her voice,

And behind the light of the flashlight illuminating our surroundings, I speak.

“Starting now, I will record the containment object.”

-Rustle, rustle!

-The pages of the manual in my hands begin to turn.

“The object’s name is… Darkness.”

[Manual for Office Staff]

[Containment Object – Darkness – Recorded by Human Resources Team Kim Jae Heon]

I catch my breath.

“The status of this object’s eradication is still uncertain, but this entry has been rewritten based on past records.”

[The status of this object’s eradication is still uncertain, but this entry has been rewritten based on past records.]

“This object is made of darkness, and being consumed by it leads to the permanent loss of the body.”

[This object is made of darkness, and being consumed by it leads to the permanent loss of the body.]

As I speak, letters begin to etch themselves onto the page.

“To resolve this, an item with a light source is necessary. Upon encountering this containment object, one must find a light source by any means.”

[To resolve this, an item with a light source is necessary. Upon encountering this containment object, one must find a light source by any means.]

“…End of entry.”

-Rustle, bang!

-Dong…

A sound of paper crashing like thunder echoes, and the darkness that was before me moves back.

To be precise, it seems like something is being caught.

The passageway of the tunnel hidden in darkness begins to reveal itself.

I hurriedly look back and run through the exit of the tunnel.

As I rush out, nothing from behind chases after me.

*

“…Huff… huff…”

I catch my breath and look behind me.

Somehow, I find myself at the back of the tunnel,

And there stood a signpost.

“…”

In front of it was a child basking in sunlight, looking at me.

Her dark blue hair gleamed in the sunlight.

“…You really did it.”

“Of course.”

I’m the kind of person who accomplishes what I set out to do.

At my words, she smiles faintly.

“…I’m so glad, truly.”

She softly smiles and mutters.

“I thought I would lose you here again.”

“…”

“I’m glad, really… …truly…”

She clutches her heart, muttering “I’m glad” several times.

“…Oh.”

Then, her body, washed in sunlight, begins to turn transparent.

“…I guess it’s time to go.”

“…I suppose so.”

She smiles gently as she looks at me.

“You’ve become quite the person, growing like this.”

“…”

“I’ve always believed in you.”

Her hand lightly clasps at my sleeve before letting go,

“It seems it’s time for me to go.”

“…Yeah.”

“It’s okay. I’ll always be by your side.”

She smiles gently.

“Don’t worry, can you turn around for me?”

“For the same reason as before?”

“Yeah.”

She gives a playful smile.

Though my face quivers, I think she’s trying not to worry me.

“I suppose I just don’t want to show you this side of me.”

“…Yeah.”

I turn around.

The sunlight begins to shine even brighter,

“Oh, by the way. There’s something I didn’t get to say.”

“Yeah.”

I respond to her words while still turned away.

“The one who helped you escape here wasn’t me.”

“…Huh?”

“It was your younger sister.”

“…What?”

I spin around in haste,

And now, lying on the floor was just one manual.

Slowly, I reach for the manual.

What does this mean?

But there’s no time to think about it; dizziness overwhelms me.

Am I slipping away?

If that’s the case, I need to hurry and reassure everyone…

But even as I think of that, I lose consciousness like falling into slumber.

*

“…Ugh.”

I awaken.

The same blood-soaked chapel greets me, and suddenly—

-Bang!

A priest flies past my sight, crashing into the wall.

His white hair disperses in the air.

With cold anger in her eyes, she swings her hand, sending the priest flying into the wall.

Soon after, numerous parishioners follow, clenching their fists or raising chairs, starting to beat the priest.

They all moved as if connected by strings, creaking at their joints.

Finally, someone steps in, clenching their fist, and joins in the beating.

The priest raises his hand to grab her throat and break it.

-Crack!

Though the neck breaks, she doesn’t stop swinging.

Dark hair sways as Yu Da On’s despair-filled face emerges.

“Give them back, give them back, give them back, give them back, give them back!”

She swings her fists despite her neck being twisted.

“…Da On?”

My words halt her fists in midair.

“…Jae Heon?”

Yu Da On turns around,

A whirlwind of emotions crosses her face before,

“Jae Heon!”

Her smile blossoms radiantly.