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Chapter 2 - Chapter 2: mysterious path

Chapter 2: mysterious path

"Your reward… is anything you desire.

Solve the mystery—

…and conquer this world."

The voice vanished like mist swallowed by nightfall.

Then, silence.

The kind of silence that doesn't wait for permission.

Sweat trickled down Daisuke's temple.

Kintaro swallowed hard, his adam's apple jerking.

Nobody moved. Even the wind didn't dare to speak.

"I'm done with this shit!" Daisuke snapped. His voice cracked like dry wood under pressure.

And just like that, he bolted. Not forward, but the opposite way—away from the path.

He ran, and ran… and ran again.

Only to find himself… back.

Back where he started.

"No… no, no, nooo—this can't be—!"

He fell to his knees, panting.

"Help me! I don't want to die!"

His scream shattered the dead silence.

Then, footsteps.

The others emerged from the fog. Kintaro approached slowly, lips curled in mockery.

"You pig," he sneered, then kicked Daisuke in the stomach.

"Didn't you hear the freakin' voice? Don't go the other way! Kekekeke~ What are you, Stupid pig?"

"Enough," Sayuri muttered. The mist was thickening.

"This place doesn't want us here."

Emiko wrinkled her nose with every step, as if offended by the dirt daring to touch her shoes. "Ugh... this place is disgusting. Smells like poverty."

Sayuri halted. Turned.

"Are you serious right now?"

Emiko flipped her hair. "I'm just saying—"

"No. You're whining. While we're trapped in a forest." Sayuri's voice sharpened. "Try being useful for once."

"Move. All of you," Kintaro ordered.

He shoved Hiro, Daisuke, and Arata to the front. "Shields first. Let's see if you're good for something besides bleeding."

Uyeda walked behind Kintaro, eyes narrowed, every glance a silent challenge. The rivalry between them sizzled without words.

Eventually, the path split—two trails, left and right.

A crude wooden sign sat in the center, with a strange inscription:

"Where shadows walk, the truth hides. One path lies. One path binds. But only minds unclouded shall find the sign."

Kintaro grunted. "Tch. Riddles? Screw that."

But Arata squinted. "Wait. Let me think..."

He scanned both paths. Noticed the sun—or what passed for one in this world—casting light only to the right. Shadows to the left.

He muttered, half to himself, "Unclouded… no shadows…"

He pointed. "Right. That's the one."

"Tch. Nerd," Kintaro scoffed, but he followed anyway.

Soon after, a decrepit cabin emerged from the fog. It looked abandoned—like something forgotten by time.

"Hey, pig," Kintaro snapped. "Be useful for once. Open it."

Daisuke stepped forward.

But just before his hand touched the door—

Uyeda vanished.

No sound. No struggle. Just—gone.

Panic erupted.

But Kintaro? He smiled.

"Let him rot," he muttered. "He was nothing but dead weight anyway."

Sayuri's fists clenched, but she said nothing.

They had no choice but to enter. The night was cold.

Inside, they found old furniture, moth-eaten bedding, and a wooden table with a strange book lying atop it—closed… for now.

That night, unease crept beneath their skin.

Emiko flopped onto the bed without a word. Sayuri scowled.

Kintaro rummaged through drawers, looking for anything of value. Old habits. Sticky fingers.

"You can't just act like this isn't happening."

"And what do you want me to do? Cry? Hug people?" Emiko scoffed.

The three bullied boys lay on the floor. Kintaro claimed the upper bed, no shame in his voice.

Sayuri hesitated. "I won't share with you."

"Fine," he said. "Sleep on the floor. Or sleep with her. Doesn't matter."

Reluctantly, Sayuri joined Emiko on the lower bunk.

Then—

The book opened on its own.

A glow spilled out, blinding white.

"What… the hell is that?" Hiro shouted.

"Shut it! I'm trying to read—" Kintaro stood, stepping closer.

The book spoke.

"HUNGRY… I want to eat you…

You have entered the wrong place!"

Kintaro froze.

The air turned magnetic—pulling, dragging, sucking him in.

But he was smart. Twisted.

He grabbed Arata and threw him toward the book.

"Eat him instead!"

Gasps filled the room. Horror. Rage. Disbelief.

One by one, they were all dragged in.

Until only Sayuri and Kintaro remained.

Then the book slammed shut—vanished into dust.

They collapsed.

Panting. Shaking.

Covered in sweat and fear.

But Kintaro's mind… didn't stop.

His eyes shifted. Predatory.

Sayuri, still trembling, was vulnerable.

"You owe me for surviving…" he whispered, crawling closer.

That night… became a nightmare for Sayuri.

A night of pain. And silence.

…until the sky began to bleed with morning.

She lay motionless. Broken.

Kintaro stood over her, self-satisfied.

"That's what power feels like," he muttered.

Then—

Crunch.

A sound outside.

A shadow loomed at the window.

The monster had returned—its long tail dragging… something.

Uyeda's severed head.

Kintaro fell backward, trembling.

"No—no—stay back—"

He ran to Sayuri, trying to use her as a shield.

Too late.

The tail pierced his chest like a spear.

Kintaro gasped, blood and tears flowing together.

He screamed—

—and died.

Then…

Nothingness.

A floating void.

Kintaro's soul drifted.

And there—

He saw Sayuri's life.

A flickering reel of sorrow.

Her mother—gone.

Her father—an addict.

Her brother—paralyzed from the waist down.

Sayuri worked three part-time jobs.

Never complained.

Never asked for help.

"She still smiled…"

Kintaro's mind fractured.

Guilt bled into fear.

"Why did I…?"

The darkness around him pulsed.

"Ahh… It hurts—IT HURTS—!"

Boom.

Kintaro's body jerked. He was alive.

He was back.

Same clearing.

Same clothes.

Only this time…

The sky was night.

A moon hung above—with a clock on its face.

It read: 9:00 PM.

But the number 6 AM glowed in bright yellow.

"What… the hell… is this?"

Voices echoed behind him.

Uyeda. Alive. Angry.

"I'm not done with you, bastard! You hear me?!"

Sayuri stood nearby—

…but something was different.

Her eyes. Her aura.

She didn't look at Kintaro and not mediate between the two of them.

As if...

She didn't remember or… she different?.

"What is this… déjà vu?"

Then, the voice returned—booming inside their minds.

"Welcome…

Follow the path.

There is no escape.

Defy, and vanish."

Kintaro's heart pounded.

This world was a loop.

But the question was:

Did he get a second chance…

or a second punishment?

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