Chapter Text
It was an incredibly steep slope, and with a fleeting leap, his body plunged into the hard black soil.
He couldn't stop.
Driven by an intense urge, he rose again, resembling a startled trapped beast clumsily navigating through tangled shrubs.
He couldn't stop.
Sharp branches scratched his pallid skin, leaving ghastly wounds. Behind him, the spreading mist rolled in, echoing the chilling mantra—
"Cannot stop..."
His fate was sealed. Exhausted, his purposeless flight drained him, yet closure remained elusive.
He couldn't comprehend.
Kneeling, the tombstones exuded a frigid aura. Ravens perched on withered trees heard his desperate breaths. The lone companion, a lantern, rolled aside, its pale glow finally revealing the relentless nightmare.
Finally, he saw it—the Demon, and the world's most malevolent, heartless —
"Smile".
A fresh day dawned.
Morning sunlight filtered through the thirteenth window of Saint Heart Hospital's top floor, stirring the stifling ward. Simultaneously, a scream shattered the calm. Immediately, the nurse overseeing visits suppressed her astonishment and anger, quietly querying a tall figure standing by the hospital bed.
The figure, known as "Mr. Antonio," nervously twisted his unruly mane of hair, resembling a child caught red-handed, trembling fingers pointing at the motionless figure on the bed.
"He... just... seemed to faint again..."
[To be continued]