A voice sneered in the dark."Still breathing, Yu? Even after all that?"Laughter followed, sharp and cruel."Your sister screamed for you until her throat split."Another voice, colder than the rest:"And you weren't there."
Yu's knees buckled. The voices were too familiar.He tried to look up — but the darkness pushed back."You're not a hero. You're just a man who ran.""Tell us, Yu — did you ever bury her body, or did you just forget her too?"
I knew whose voice it was. I could see its face — reflected in my own cracked, broken mirror. It was me.
But not me anymore.
I wore a twisted smile, cold and merciless, the same smile that had torn open my sister's throat. The same smile that devoured my whole family, piece by piece.
Because I wanted to survive.
This was my survival instinct — dark, savage, unrelenting.
A scream tore through my mind, sharp and raw.
And then, I woke.
Sweat drenched my skin. My eyes trembled like fragile glass, flickering between panic and numbness. My hands shook uncontrollably, gripping at myself as if to hold back the storm inside.
Beside me, she stood — silent and steady — pressed against the cold wall. Her spear rested by her side, a quiet sentinel in the oppressive darkness.
We were trapped inside a hallway that seemed to swallow all light, all hope.
At its end, a faint glow flickered — a fragile promise of escape.
Behind us, nothing but choking blackness.
No sound but the ragged beating of our hearts.
I swallowed hard.
This wasn't over.
This wasn't over.
She shifted slightly, eyes narrowing in the dim light.
"We don't have much time," she said, her voice low but steady. "Two shadow beasts are coming. Beast level. Not like the ones we've faced before."
I swallowed hard, feeling the weight of her words settle over me like a stone.
"Beast level..." I echoed, the phrase tasting like a death sentence.
"They'll tear us apart if we're not ready. We have to fight. Together."
Her gaze locked onto mine, unwavering and cold.
"No more running. No more hiding."
"We survive — or we die."
She stepped closer, eyes cold as steel, voice low and sharp.
"There are two beasts coming. Beast level. Nothing we can outrun."
I felt the weight of those words settle over me like a shroud.
Beast level.
The same monsters I'd barely survived before, now doubled.
I'm dead. No matter what I do, this is the end.
My hands clenched into fists so tight my nails bit into my palms.
"Why… why me?" I whispered, voice cracking with something close to despair.
She didn't look at me. Didn't even blink.
"You're the bait," she said flatly.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
"The bait?" I echoed, disbelief choking my throat.
Her gaze finally met mine—unflinching, unyielding.
"You're the only one who can take the hits and keep coming back. That's why they'll focus on you."
A cold pit opened in my stomach.
"I'm... their target?"
"Yes."
No comfort, no soft words. Just brutal truth.
I wanted to scream, to run, to break everything around me.
But I was frozen.
Used.
A tool.
Not a partner.
A sacrifice.
I looked away, mind spiraling.
All my deaths… all those times I thought I was alone.
Now I know. I'm nothing but a shield.
She stepped back, tightening her grip on the spear.
"You won't survive this by yourself. But your wounds will buy me time."
I swallowed hard, trying to choke down the rising bile.
Time.
Time to die.
The cold air pressed harder.
My breath caught.
There was no escape.
No salvation.
Only the beasts, the fight… and a body that would keep coming back just to be broken again.
I am the bait.
And the end is already written.