“Haah…Haah…”

Darkness enveloped him, and the world went away.

There was no more light; only a flickering gray dimness all about him.

The sound of his own laboured breathing seemed to fill the air about him from every direction at once, as if it were coming out of an endless distance.

His lungs burned with pain, but he could not draw breath.

Yes, he couldn’t afford to do so. Pitch black wasn’t the only thing that had made itself aware of him now.

Something else was close by—close enough to hear him breathe—and whatever it was, its awareness extended far beyond mere hearing; for though his heart gave a great thump when he heard it move, the eerie silence of this cold, dark place deepened as swiftly as it came: there was nothing save the faintest murmur in the air.

“Where are you~?” A woman’s voice whispered through the darkness, her words coming from some point in front of him.

It seemed to be calling his name, but he dared not answer lest he bring down death upon himself.

The woman sounded very near; perhaps just ten feet away.

He knew she must have been following his tracks from earlier; yet he sensed that her movements had been stealthy and careful, as if she was on a hunt and in pursuit of her prey.

Crouching in the locker room, Yomite wondered if the woman was a witch or something worse, and how he might escape from her clutches when she finally caught up with him.

The whispering sound grew fainter and fainter with each passing instant, as if she were moving farther off into the gloom…

His breathing became easier when he realised that the danger was over for the moment.

He listened intently, but heard no other sounds besides the faintest rustle of his own breath. Everything was utterly still except for the whisper of his own tortured lungs.

The girl who had followed him here was gone now; he didn’t know where.

Perhaps she’d given up trying to catch him, or perhaps she’d lost him after all, he decided.

“Why…Why is this happening to me…?”

Light sobbs escaped his lips despite his efforts to keep them inside.

Whatever might have been wrong with that girl, he knew he couldn’t get away from this place.

Wiping off his tears, he gathered enough courage to peek out through the small linear holes of the locker room.

His heart leaped when he saw a pair of keys that lay on the floor. They were the keys to the main door of the university building.

“The keys!” he muttered, feeling a sudden rush of hope. “She must have dropped them by an accident when she was chasing after me earlier…”

They were too far from the locker to reach without stretching, though.

And even if they weren’t, he doubted whether he could get a grip on either key in the pitch-blackness.

His eyes were now accustomed to the gloom, and he could somewhat see even in this absolute darkness.

‘I have no other choice…Eventually she is going to find me…even if this is a trap…I must get the fuck out of this place…’

So, rather than try to stretch over to the keys, he slipped out of the locker, grabbed the keys, and moved towards the entrance.

Step by step, he crept forward, hoping to avoid any further encounters.

He reached for the handle, put the keys in, turned them, pushed hard, and then flung open the door.

The air was much colder than before, and he shivered involuntarily from the sudden chill.

A sharp wind blew past his face, carrying with it a smell like rotting meat, making him feel queasy.

Before he could run out, however, a sharp pain pierced his shoulder.

He fell forward onto the ground, in pain.

“Found you~”

The woman’s bittersweet voice came from behind him.

Yomite tried to turn around, but could not.

“Ah~”

A gush of blood spilled from his right shoulder.

“Gaaaah!!”

With the last ounce of strength he possessed, he rolled over to the left, narrowly avoiding the woman’s foot.

“Nnngh!!! Stop it! Stop! Please don’t do this!”

As he felt her foot brush past his ear, he jerked his head upwards—and found himself face to face with the woman.

“Did you really think I would drop the keys~? You’re so stupid, Assistant~”

“What do you want from me!? Just leave me be!”

His terror and pleading didn’t seem to have any effect on her. She smiled nastily, took a step closer to him, and raised the blade high overhead.

“I want your love~!” she yelled, her voice low and sweet.

Her smile widened until it formed a ghastly grin; and then she brought the knife down.

The sharp, stinging pain tore through Yomite’s body like lightning.

Even before he passed out, he felt that his insides had been torn apart and his organs shredded.

***

“Hah! Haah…haah…”

Yomite suddenly jolted awake, covered in a cold sweat. His heart raced as he tried to catch his breath, realizing that everything he had just experienced was nothing more than a vivid dream. The intensity of the emotions he felt in the dream left him feeling disoriented and confused. He was back in the healing facility and all in one piece.

“Did I…fall asleep?”

“You did,” Lisa replied. “But it’s okay; you needed the rest. Do you want me to tell you what the next trial will be about again?”

He nodded, “Yeah, sorry for that…”

As Lisa was explaining the details of the next trial, Yomite’s exhaustion caught up to him. His eyelids grew heavy, and before he knew it, he had drifted off to sleep. This time, he would listen to her.

“It’s hard to explain…In essence, you will be forced to run from an entity and hide. You will be powerless and your goal is to escape this trial alive. I think you’ll find it much easier than the last trial though.”

Yomite frowned, “That sounds annoying…like a horror game of some sorts? I hate the horror genre.”

“You’ll be chased by a weird black entity. I personally don’t know what happens once it catches you, but I don’t recommend trying to find out…in the best case youll be greatly injured before being thrown out by the trial…in the worst case, you might not make it out alive. So it’s crucial that you stay alert, move quickly, and avoid getting caught at all costs. Hide, run, find the keys and escape the location.”

***