The next morning—
Kito pushed open the front door and stepped inside.
Everyone was already there.
Alex.
Shina.
Sam.
Yuri.
Daniel.
All sitting in the living room.
Waiting.
The moment they saw him, they stood up.
Alex spoke first.
"Where did you go?"
His eyes quickly searched behind Kito.
Then his face tightened.
"And where is Rin?"
"We've been worried sick, you know."
Kito's throat went dry.
He avoided everyone's eyes.
"...Rin didn't come back."
The room fell silent.
Shina stepped forward.
"You know where he went?"
Kito clenched his fists.
"Not exactly."
Sam frowned.
"For the past few days..."
"You and Rin have both been acting suspicious."
Kito stayed silent.
Sam continued.
"And now Rin disappears?"
Kito rubbed his face in frustration.
"For a few hours..."
His voice sounded dead.
"Please don't disturb me."
"I need sleep."
Without waiting for permission, Kito walked past them and headed toward his room.
Yuri watched him go, worry filling her face.
"What happened to him?"
Daniel crossed his arms.
"Don't know."
"He's been acting weird..."
"And now no one knows where Rin is."
The tension in the house only grew heavier.
A few hours later—
Kito woke up.
His body felt slightly better.
His mind didn't.
He walked slowly toward the living room.
And stopped.
Everyone was still there.
No one had moved on.
No one had let it go.
They were waiting for him.
Yuri stood up first.
Her expression was firm.
"We are not letting you leave..."
"...until you tell us what happened."
"And where Rin is."
Kito looked at all of them.
Alex's worry.
Sam's suspicion.
Shina's sharp stare.
Daniel's silence.
Yuri's insistence.
Kito exhaled slowly.
He knew there was no escaping this now.
His voice came out low.
"...Fine."
"I'll tell you."
The room grew still.
Kito lowered his head.
And began.
Kito sat down slowly.
His hands were trembling.
For a few seconds, he said nothing.
Then—
he began.
"It started a few days ago."
Everyone stayed silent.
Kito swallowed.
"Rin and I started noticing something strange about the people in this kingdom."
Alex frowned.
"What strange?"
Kito looked up.
"Their smiles."
Shina narrowed her eyes.
Kito continued.
"They smiled too much."
"Too wide."
"Too empty."
"And their eyes..."
He clenched his fists.
"They looked dead."
No one interrupted him now.
The room had grown cold.
Kito took a shaky breath.
"At first we thought we were imagining things."
"But then..."
"all of you disappeared one evening."
Yuri blinked.
"What?"
Kito nodded.
"Rin and I searched everywhere."
"The streets."
"The alleys."
"The outer walls."
"We looked for hours."
His voice tightened.
"When we came back..."
Kito's face turned pale at the memory.
"...all of you were sitting in the dining hall."
Daniel slowly leaned forward.
"And?"
Kito looked at each of them.
"You were smiling."
The room fell silent.
"The same way those people smiled."
Alex felt a chill.
Kito continued.
"Rin dragged me away before any of you noticed us."
"We locked ourselves in Rin's room the entire night."
"No sleep."
"No sound."
"Just waiting."
Yuri whispered,
"That's impossible..."
Kito shook his head.
"I wish it was."
"The next morning..."
"all of you acted completely normal."
Sam frowned.
"So you thought it was over?"
Kito laughed bitterly.
"No."
"That only made it worse."
He rubbed his face.
"Rin and I spent the next day trying to find clues."
"We thought someone was controlling this place."
"We thought if we found the source, we could save all of you."
His breathing became heavier.
"But that night..."
His fingers curled tightly.
"...it happened again."
Everyone was staring now.
No one even blinked.
Kito's voice cracked.
"You all smiled."
"The same dead smile."
"And this time..."
"You attacked us."
Yuri slowly stepped back.
Alex whispered,
"No..."
Kito nodded.
"Yes."
He looked at Daniel.
"And Daniel..."
Daniel stiffened.
Kito lowered his gaze.
"You stabbed Rin."
The room exploded.
"I WHAT?!"
Shina's voice shook.
"That's impossible!"
Kito shouted back.
"I SAW IT!"
Silence crashed down again.
Shina's breathing became uneven.
Kito looked away.
"After that..."
"we ran."
"We got separated."
"And before that happened..."
Kito hesitated.
Yuri noticed.
"What?"
Kito swallowed.
Then said it.
"Shina confessed to Rin."
Everyone froze.
Shina's face turned bright red.
"W-WHAT?!"
Even in the middle of the horror, Alex nearly choked.
Daniel stared.
Sam blinked.
Yuri's eyes widened.
Shina looked like she wanted the ground to swallow her.
Kito covered his face.
"Yes."
"That happened too."
For one strange second—
the room was too stunned to process whether to panic or be embarrassed.
Then reality returned.
Alex stepped forward.
"Forget that part for now!"
His face darkened.
"Where is Rin?"
Kito slowly looked up.
And the guilt in his eyes answered before his mouth did.
Kito lowered his head.
"I don't know."
Alex grabbed him by the shirt.
"What do you mean you don't know?!"
Kito shouted back.
"We got separated while running!"
The room fell silent again.
Fear was no longer distant now.
It was inside the house.
Kito took a breath and forced himself to stay calm.
"There's no point arguing."
He looked at all of them one by one.
"You all need to come outside."
Sam frowned.
"Why?"
Kito's face darkened.
"Because you need to see the people."
A few minutes later—
the group stepped out into the streets.
And froze.
Everywhere—
people were walking normally.
Talking.
Carrying baskets.
Sweeping doorsteps.
Doing ordinary things.
But all of them...
all of them wore that same smile.
Too wide.
Too fixed.
Too empty.
Like masks stretched over dead faces.
Yuri covered her mouth.
"Oh my god..."
Daniel felt a shiver run down his spine.
Alex's fists tightened.
Shina's breathing became uneven.
And the worst part—
when those smiling eyes passed over them—
it felt like they were being watched.
Not by many people.
By one thing.
Through many bodies.
Sam whispered,
"This is..."
"This is insane..."
Kito looked at them grimly.
"Now you understand."
No one answered.
Because now they did.
Every creepy detail Rin and Kito had noticed—
was real.
Terrifyingly real.
Kito turned around.
His voice became firm.
"We need to chain all of you up."
Everyone snapped toward him.
Yuri blinked.
"What?"
Kito continued.
"Every night, all of you lose yourselves."
"You become like them."
"If we don't restrain you before dark..."
"you'll attack us again."
Alex stared.
"You're serious."
Kito nodded.
"Completely."
Shina clenched her fists.
Her face had gone pale.
"So every night..."
"...we become puppets?"
No one answered.
Because the silence already confirmed it.
Kito looked toward the slowly dimming sky.
"We don't have much time."
"We need to prepare before sunset."