A frightened rat scurried into a corner.

  Through the stained-glass window, harsh sunlight streamed in.

  Withered vines crept inward from outside, spreading across the floor like sinister serpents.

  A boy in a small black suit sat on the floor, a terrible gash torn open on his neck.

  Blood gushed out in a steady, sickening stream.

  His eyes were already beginning to lose focus, yet he strained to keep them open, pleading at Han Su, who stood before him.

  Han Su was the same age, just a boy of ten, but his face held a maturity and resolve unlike the others.

  This was likely why all the kidnapped children trusted him and followed him on this desperate escape attempt.

  The room was utterly silent.

  The slightly taller girl with a ponytail, wearing a birthday crown and a frilly dress, along with the others behind her—Skinny Monkey, Tails, and Bowl Cut—didn't dare make a sound.

  The sight of the wounded boy terrified them, tears glistening in their eyes.

  From behind, a sensation of being watched prickled their necks.

  It came from the rows of exquisite doll girls inside a glass cabinet, standing there innocently, as if nothing were amiss.

  Han Su looked at the boy, who now had only a breath of life left in him.

  He slowly crouched down, took the boy's hand, and pried open his fingers to remove the weapon he still clutched with a death grip.

  It was a sharpened steel shard, honed to a fine edge and wrapped in cloth strips.

  Seeing the despair flood the boy's eyes, Han Su told him calmly, "You're not getting out of here. This won't do you any good anymore. Consider it... lent to me."

  "But you did well today. I'll remember that."

  ...

  If it weren't for this boy, they would have likely been caught by that fast-moving, severed woman back on the third floor.

  It was a pity he wouldn't make it. Now, anything else would be a waste of time.

  Standing up, not waiting for the boy on the floor to close his eyes, Han Su turned to the others.

  "Stick to the plan. He's gone, but the rest of us still need to think about getting out of here."

  "Let's get the fire started."

  ...

  The girl with the birthday crown—Doll—immediately nodded obediently, even with tears still on her cheeks.

  She reached into the delicate pocket of her dress and pulled out a small, folded toy.

  Unfolding it revealed a tiny magnifying glass.

  She aimed it at the sunlight outside, focusing a bright pinpoint of light onto her most cherished card, the one she always carried.

  It bore the words, "Mom and Dad love you."

  On the card, the bright spot became a dark one, smoke began to curl, and a weak flame flickered to life.

  Han Su watched intently, not blinking.

  Only when the flame was steady did he suddenly look at Ponytail beside him.

  "Latch the glass cabinet. Don't let them out."

  "Them?"

  Ponytail glanced back at the glass case, seeing only a row of old, grotesque toy dolls with fixed, staring eyes.

  But she didn't question it. She immediately stepped forward and gripped the two handles of the cabinet.

  Now, seeing the flame was established, Han Su carefully yet urgently took the burning card from Doll.

  Without hesitation, he touched it to the heavy purple curtains.

  He'd done this many times before. His movements were practiced and fluid.

  The fire leaped up the curtains with a whoosh, like a greedy serpent slithering through the room.

  Thick, choking smoke began to billow almost instantly.

  Inside the cabinet, the dolls seemed to writhe under the intense heat.

  Their realistic materials and little dresses began to scorch and contort.

  Their painted, smiling faces distorted in the wavering air, becoming surreal and monstrous.

  Suddenly, vicious curses erupted from within the display case.

  The doll girls dropped their pretense, thrashing violently against the glass.

  Segmented plastic arms hammered against the windowpanes.

  Ponytail's face was white with terror.

  Her instinct was to flee, but thinking of the others, she mustered all her courage, throwing her weight against the shuddering glass.

  Tails and Bowl Cut snapped into action, rushing forward to help brace the violently trembling cabinet.

  However, the screams of the dolls seemed to have disturbed something else.

  A low, heavy panting echoed from the hallway outside.

  "Wheezing... wheezing..."

  Accompanied by the sound of floorboards groaning under pressure, it was as if some colossal entity was slowly, methodically moving toward the room they were in.

  Inside the room, everyone was terrified, their legs trembling, their minds paralyzed with fear.

  But Han Su barked an order, "Hold the cabinet! When I get the key, run! We willget out!"

  "..."

  "..."

  Those who had followed him this far were carefully chosen. Though young and scared, they clenched their eyes shut, resisting the urge to flee, and threw their weight against the glass.

  The dolls inside the cabinet, tormented by the flames spreading downward, redoubled their frantic hammering.

  A piece of glass shattered, and a plastic arm shot out, searing several bloody welts onto Ponytail's arm.

  Tears of pain welled in Ponytail's eyes, but she bit down hard and refused to let go.

  Yet the dolls' shrieks, the spreading fire, the billowing black smoke—each element chipped away at their courage, their hearts gripped by icy hands, their small faces deathly pale.

  They could only look to their sole pillar of strength, Han Su, only to see he had already moved to the side of the door.

  Covering his nose and mouth, he crouched down.

  He began counting silently in his mind, blocking out the chaos in the room.

  Heavy footsteps thudded in the outer hallway, the floorboards protesting with agonized creaks.

  A thick, rotting odor assaulted Han Su's nostrils.

  He tightened his grip on the sharpened metal shard, his eyes narrowing with a focus far beyond his years.

  The footsteps halted just outside the door.

  The red-lacquered wooden door slowly pushed open, and a pale, bloated creature squeezed its way inside.

  It was abnormally massive, almost filling their entire field of vision.

  From its silhouette, it appeared to be a man.

  It stood a full two meters tall, with grotesquely swollen legs.

  From behind, its face wasn't visible, but the skin of its exposed neck and body was.

  It was a deathly, corpselike white.

  The skin looked bloated, like a corpse that had been submerged for weeks.

  The black trench coat and coarse work pants it wore were stretched to tearing, ragged and torn.

  At its belt hung a single, antique-looking brass key.

  Suppressing the visceral disgust he felt every time he saw this creature, Han Su fixed his gaze solely on the torn, eye-shaped hole in the back of the trench coat.

  Not yet.

  He had to wait for it to take a few more steps inside, to get closer to the wardrobe.

  "Wheezing…"

  The pale creature's eyesight was poor.

  It had shuffled several meters into the room before the spreading flames finally registered in its vision.

  It grew agitated, laboriously heaving its heavy legs to move further into the burning room.

  Amid the rolling smoke, it didn't even notice the children trembling before the glass cabinet.

  Even the doll figures inside the cabinet fell abruptly silent the moment the monster appeared.

  They huddled within, allowing the flames to rage around them.

  It was as if this creature was more terrifying than the fire itself.

  But in that exact moment, Han Su sprang forward, the metal shard in hand.

  Though not yet ten years old, he used the wall for leverage, pushing off with his feet.

  His slender body shot forward like a young leopard pouncing, launching himself at the swollen monster.

  Every move was calculated—the timing, the posture, the point of impact.

  Gripping the shard with both hands, he drove it with all his strength into the creature's back, right through that eye-shaped tear in the coat.

  This spot corresponded to the heart.

  "Thud!"

  The shard struck true, plunging into the monster's back.

  But the metal was too short, and the body wielding it was too weak.

  It penetrated only six or seven centimeters.

  The pale creature roared in pain, arching its back violently.

  Its body, as massive and powerful as an elephant, threw Han Su off instantly.

  Han Su was flung backward, crashing into the wardrobe.

  It felt like every bone in his body was about to crack, but he endured it without a sound.

  In one fluid motion, he slid down the wardrobe and landed seated on the floor.

  At that moment, the creature's body slammed violently into the wardrobe.

  This impact drove the metal shard protruding from its back even deeper into its flesh.

  Han Su had already slid down its body, avoiding being crushed between the monster and the cabinet.

  Seizing the opportunity, he snatched the brass key hanging from the pale monster's belt.

  He then ducked between its legs, scrambling out and sprinting toward the room's doorway.

  He shouted at the top of his lungs, "Run!"

  Every child in the room jolted into action.

  They scattered like a flock of startled mice, rushing to follow behind him.

  But the girl with the ponytail was too close to the glass cabinet.

  As she tried to flee, a plastic hand shot out from within the cabinet.

  It seized her ponytail, yanking her head backward violently.

  With the barrier gone, a swarm of doll figures poured out from the glass cabinet.

  In an instant, they swarmed over her, burying her beneath their bodies.

  Her terrified screams cut through the crackle of the flames.

  No one dared to look back, focusing only on charging toward the doorway.

  Unexpectedly, the monster—with the shard embedded in its heart and movements seemingly slowed—suddenly lurched back to its feet.

  Enraged, it began flailing its bloated, swollen arms wildly, grabbing at the air around it.

  Bowl Cut and Tails, rushing past it, were caught in its grasp.

  It flung them savagely to the side.

  Bowl Cut's head struck the edge of a cabinet.

  His neck twisted at a grotesque angle, losing all elasticity like a snapped rubber band.

  His head lolled limply, bobbing up and down.

  Tails was clenched in its five-fingered grip.

  The fingers dug deep into flesh, snapping bones.

  He vomited a mouthful of blood mixed with fragments.

  Meanwhile, Doll and Skinny Monkey, who had been slightly slower than the other two, managed to dart past the monster.

  They bolted for the doorway.

  Desperate to keep up with Han Su, they were terrified of the creature behind them.

  Yet, the Han Su running ahead also frightened them.

  They were terrified of being left behind, abandoned to the fury of the enraged monster.

  Just as Han Su, closest to the door, was about to burst through, he suddenly remembered something.

  He yelled at the top of his lungs, "Stop! Stop right there!"

  He shouted with all his might, but Skinny Monkey couldn't control his momentum.

  He charged headlong toward the doorway.

  At that exact moment, a heavy rush of air whooshed toward them.

  A dust-covered piano sailed over their heads.

  It smashed down squarely beside the doorway.

  Skinny Monkey, the clever boy who had just reached the door, was caught underneath.

  For being just one step too fast, he was crushed into a pulp of blood and flesh.

  Han Su's heart clenched violently.

  Gritting his teeth, he leaped into action.

  He jumped onto the piano now blocking the doorway.

  Turning back, he grabbed the arm of Doll, who had just reached it.

  He pulled her up, and together they scrambled over the piano, plunging into the pitch-black corridor outside.

  "The door... the door should appear now..."

  Clutching the key in his hand, he repeated the thought in his mind, then looked up.

  A bizarre scene unfolded before him.

  At the far end of the dark corridor, the space ahead began to warp and distort.

  It was as if something was forcing its way in.

  In a dizzying blur, a door materialized, marked with the word "EXIT."

  The style and design of this door were utterly different from the ancient castle.

  It was as if two disparate realities had been forcibly spliced together in that moment.

  A surge of fierce joy shot through Han Su.

  With one hand dragging Doll, and the other tightly gripping the brass key snatched from the monster, he sprinted straight for the iron door.

  Behind them, the monster stumbled and staggered to the room's entrance, only to be blocked by the piano it had thrown there.

  Its massive, cumbersome body couldn't simply climb over the piano to get out.

  It could only roar in fury, tearing the obstructing instrument into splinters.

  Seizing this brief window, Han Su practically dragged the young Doll toward the waiting door.

  The tender skin on her knees was scraped raw, a large patch bleeding.

  But she didn't make a sound, understanding this was a fight for survival.

  The brass key in his hand, wrested from the monster, was cold enough to chill the bone.

  It was slick with some strange, unidentifiable mucus.

  This mucus seemed to give the key a mind of its own.

  Taking Han Su by surprise, it suddenly became slippery.

  It shot from his grasp, clattering to the floor with a ting.

  Han Su hadn't anticipated this.

  A cold sweat of panic broke out on his forehead as he bent to retrieve it.

  But the monster had already barged into the corridor.

  "Big brother!"

  A clear, sharp cry rang out.

  Doll, being dragged along, had seen the key slip free.

  Reacting swiftly, she scooped it up the moment it hit the ground and urgently thrust it toward Han Su.

  A happy smile even spread across her face in that moment, as if she felt she was finally not just dead weight.

  She had helped.

  "I..."

  Han Su snatched the key without even turning his head.

  Relying on familiar feel alone, he reached back and inserted the key into the lock.

  At that moment, he even felt a surge of intense gratitude towards this youngest member of their group—the obedient, clever Doll who always managed to help at the crucial moment.

  However, in that very instant, Doll's delicate little face suddenly exploded right before his eyes.

  Her ingratiating smile still lingered in Han Su's vision, but her head had already shattered.

  Han Su's face was splattered with blood. Through the crimson haze, he saw the monster by the doorway.

  It had just burst out of the room, but its massive bulk made pursuit impossible.

  So, it began to melt.

  Flesh and blood flowed like water, flooding the corridor and surging rapidly closer.

  Within it, he could even see its dissolving face, its arms merging with the spreading pulp.

  It was one of those arms, swinging from within the viscous fluid, that had smashed Doll's skull.

  Its sharp nail even grazed Han Su's right eye as it passed, leaving a icy cold trail.

  The eye itself didn't hurt, but it felt as if something had spoiled inside it.

  A sticky liquid flowed down, covering his entire face within two seconds.

  But Han Su had no strength left to care about that.

  He could only stare with his uninjured eye at the little girl who still clutched his hand.

  Behind him, the iron door had been pushed open.

  A blinding light shone in from the outside.

  In the corridor, the monstrous tide of flesh and blood surged like a wave, crashing toward him.

  Han Su slowly loosened his grip on the little girl's hand.

  He let her small body fall backward.

  Simultaneously, he himself took a step back.

  His feet met empty air.

  Free fall.

  Before him, in the doorway, the furious, churning mass of flesh raged.

  Above him, was a expanse of blinding white sunlight.

  "Hah..."

  Han Su suddenly woke up, gasping for breath.

  Sitting up straight, he found himself in a university lecture hall.

  His arms were numb from being used as a pillow, and his sleeves were damp with sweat.

  The classmate beside him turned with a grin. "Pretty bold, Han Su. Sleeping through the Dragon Lady's class? What, have you finally decided to join us decadent trust-fund kids in our downward spiral?"

  "..."

  It took Han Su a good moment to steady his mind before he realized it.

  He had escaped back.

  This time, once again, he was the only one who made it back.

  He checked the digital watch on his wrist.

  The time read 4:52 PM. Time was still moving forward, as if nothing had happened at all.

  He sat there rigidly, taking a long moment to digest the emotional shock and the new fragment of memory.

  Then, slowly, he looked at his buddy Xu Ji beside him. "Lend me your mirror."

  Xu Ji's expression instantly changed. "Don't talk nonsense. I don't wear makeup. Why would I have a mirror?"

  As he spoke, he glanced around, then pulled a small mirror from his bag and handed it over, lowering his voice. "My girlfriend's. She left it with me."

  Han Su opened the mirror and saw his own nineteen-year-old face.

  Delicate, pale—features that could have been called handsome.

  But a vicious, suture-like scar ran from his right eye all the way to his hairline, making him look almost frightening.

  It wasn't just the scar. Even his right eye had taken on a faint, grayish-white hue.

  It carried an ugly, menacing quality, much like his own defeated self.

  "What, brooding over that scar again?"

  Seeing Han Su studying the scar, Xu Ji chuckled. "You've earned plenty from your part-time jobs. Why not get scar revision surgery?"

  "If you're short, I can loan you the money."

  Han Su didn't respond to his friend's words.

  He just gazed intently at his reflection in the mirror, a firm thought settling in his heart: Maybe if my hand hadn't slipped at that moment... maybe both of us would have escaped?

  "Han Su, someone's looking for you."

  Just as he was packing up to leave, he heard a familiar classmate calling from outside the lecture hall.

  Han Su turned and saw a man and a woman standing outside the Lecture hall.

  The man wore a suit.

  The woman wore a white dress, with a string of round, exquisite pearls around her neck.

  A driver stood behind them, holding bags.

  They appear to be people of status, likely from well-off families.

  Yet their faces bear the heavy grief and desolation that only comes from years steeped in sorrow.

  "Holy shit, they're here again?"

  Before Han Su could even speak, Xu Ji beside him had already changed his expression.

  "It's been almost ten years now..."

  "Xiao Han, Xiao Han, over here..."

  But before Xu Ji could finish his grumbling, the couple had already spotted Han Su and hurriedly made their way over.

  The woman wore a look of profound sorrow mixed with an almost pleading deference.

  "Please, please don't get tired of us..."

  "Have you... remembered anything recently?"

  "We truly mean no harm, and we don't intend to disturb you on purpose."

  "Really, we just want to find Manman. Even if... even if it's just her remains..."

  The classmates nearby instinctively gave them a wide berth.

  Everyone knows that this university classmate, Han Su, was kidnapped as a child.

  Several dozen other children were kidnapped at the same time. It was a huge scandal back then, mobilizing the entire city's investigative force.

  The cruel twist is that, in the end, only Han Su came back alive.

  He told the police he was trapped in a dilapidated castle, and that the other kidnapped children were there too.

  He said there were monsters in that building that ate the other children.

  Hearing his account, the Security Bureau went into high alert, dispatching special forces and a large number of officers to search.

  But they never found any so-called castle, let alone any monsters.

  At the time, everyone just thought Han Su had been too traumatized and was rambling nonsense.

  But that is the reality. All the other children vanished from that point on.

  No one has ever seen them again, and no other clues have ever been found.

  After so many years, many of the parents have given up hope, quietly nursing their wounds alone.

  But there are still some who frequently come to see Han Su, hoping he might remember some useful clue.

  Even if all that's recovered is their child's remains.

  This couple is one such pair.

  Han Su understands this. After all, just minutes ago, he was still trying to lead their daughter to safety.

  She really was adorable.

  It's just that, accidentally, she lost her head.