A swirl of gray mist slowly rose.From within it emerged a humanoid shadow dressed in an old, tattered school uniform.His face was covered with a strip of gray cloth, leaving only two pitch-black hollows that seemed to breathe.On his chest hung a broken dorm supervisor badge, the faint letters spelling: Graye.
Maya's breath caught — she almost screamed.Lucian stepped in front of her, his voice low and cold."Graye — the academy's first dorm supervisor, right?"
The figure lowered his head, moving stiffly, mechanically.With each step he took, the air seemed to thin, as if something was sucking it away.
"Graye…" Lucian murmured the name.From beneath the gray cloth came a shattered voice:"That night… the children all fell… I tried to save them… I wasn't wrong…"
At those words — I wasn't wrong — a strange ache tightened in Maya's chest.That voice carried not just madness, but sorrow —like a sigh dragged from the depths of a broken soul, soaked with obsessive guilt.
Maya's voice trembled."Save them? You mean… those missing students?"
Graye's movements halted for a moment.Then his head slowly lifted.From beneath the cloth, the dark hollows quickened — breathing, gasping."...They were in pain… Only by falling… could they be quiet."
Lucian raised his hand — a glowing circle of runes flared around him."But your way of saving them," he said coldly, "was dragging them into the underworld."
At his words, the gray mist surged violently.A piercing ding—! echoed from all directions.All around them, countless twisted elevator doors materialized on the walls —behind each one, only endless blackness.
Maya stumbled backward in horror."It's replicating the elevators!"Lucian's voice cut through the noise: "Not replicating — trapping. Step into the wrong one, and you fall into the underworld."
But at that moment, Alice reached out, eyes blank, pointing at one of the doors."...Sister… that one's crying."
Maya turned —Through the narrow gap of one elevator door, a small girl's hand could be seen.Pale and trembling, fingers quivering as if begging for help.Maya's heart lurched. Without thinking, she moved toward it—
Lucian grabbed her wrist sharply."Idiot! That's an illusion!""But— what if it's real—"
Before she could finish, a piercing series of chimes rang out from the corridor's end.Ding— ding— ding!
Graye's shadow appeared behind that same door.The gray cloth over his face slipped slowly away."Go down," he whispered."The elevator has arrived."
Every door in the hall snapped open at once.From the darkness beyond, countless black hands reached out, clutching at their ankles.
Maya screamed as she was yanked backward.Lucian spun, pulling her forcefully into his arms."Close your eyes!" he shouted.
The air exploded with a violent shockwave —the gray mist tore apart like shredded fabric under a blade.
Graye's hoarse roar echoed through the void:"You shouldn't have saved her… She belongs here… Only here will the children be free from pain!"
Maya's eyes flew open — and she found herself staring straight into the gray void.For a split second, it felt like she was falling endlessly downward.
All around her, spectral figures flickered into view —students in torn uniforms, some still carrying schoolbags, their faces frozen in terror.
"Save us… we want to go back too…"The voices overlapped, whispering in her ears — or perhaps, from inside her own heart.
Her chest clenched as if invisible hands were crushing it."They…" she stammered, "they're still here…"
Lucian lifted his head, his gaze sharp enough to freeze the air itself.He growled,"She belongs to the living — not to you!"
With that, Lucian drew his scythe —a pale blue-white blade streaking through the darkness like a falling star,cutting the shadows apart piece by piece, forcing them back into the void.
Yet even as the gray mist was ripped away,Graye's shadow did not vanish.