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The setting sun ushered in the night.
Ryu, walking through the desolate wilderness, was met with eeriness and fear.
In the gloom, Karupin's vertical pupils, seemingly glowing, added to the eeriness of the scene.
A rustling sound, seemingly from nowhere, drifted from the surroundings, as if thousands of insects were welcoming their arrival.
Ryu's body tensed; his heart was pounding in his chest.
In his previous life, although he had visited cemeteries, it was always with his family to pay respects to their deceased elders.
There were many people around then, so he didn't feel anything.
But now, at this very moment, Ryu felt a little panicked.
Coming to a place like this alone with a cat just felt a bit awkward.
'Karupin, if we get there and there's nothing, I'll definitely take you to the vet to get spayed,' Ryu thought to himself.
He didn't know how much time had passed.
Ryu was completely numb.
Like a puppet on strings, he walked step by step deeper into the cemetery.
Suddenly, a glimmer of light flashed in his vision.
Ryu's heart skipped a beat!
Holy crap, a will-o'-the-wisp?
He saw something flickering in the distance.
Ryu shuddered, his steps slowing considerably.
He was now regretting coming.
'Why did I come here! I could have told Karupin to come by himself, why didn't I think of that?'
Ryu wanted to slap himself.
Sure enough, he had become too complacent; his brain had gone dull.
Suddenly, Ryu heard a strange gurgling sound beside his ear.
Ryu felt a chill run from his heels to the top of his head.
He quickly looked in the direction of the sound, but saw only darkness, though the gurgling sound persisted.
Ryu telepathically asked Karupin, "Did you hear anything?"
After waiting for a while, Karupin didn't reply.
"Speak up! Karupin... hey!"
Ryu looked down and found himself surrounded by darkness; Karupin was nowhere to be seen!
Damn it...
Ryu cursed inwardly.
At the crucial moment, Karupin had vanished.
Ryu felt as if thousands of invisible eyes were watching him with ill intent.
"Karupin..."
Ryu mustered his courage and called out.
The only response was the buzzing of mosquitoes hidden in the shadows.
What to do?
Ryu's legs suddenly trembled.
He wasn't usually afraid of these things.
But now that the atmosphere had built up to this point, he couldn't help but feel a chill.
Heaven knows, if even time transmigrated had happened, wouldn't ghosts and monsters become a reality?
Thinking this, large beads of cold sweat streamed down Ryu's forehead.
Gulp... gulp... gulp...
Just as Ryu was lost in thought, the gulping sound suddenly rang in his ears again.
And the sound was not far in front of Ryu.
Ryu quickly turned to look in the direction of the sound, his body trembling slightly. To hide his fear, he exclaimed in alarm and anger, "Who? What is that?"
Before he finished speaking, Ryu heard the gulping sound begin again.
And the sound seemed to be getting closer.
Ryu's pupils contracted, and he involuntarily took a step back.
'Could there really be something unclean?'
Ryu swallowed hard, his eyes darting around in the darkness.
Just then, thump... thump... thump... rustle... rustle... rustle...
The strange sound suddenly started again, accompanied by thumping and rustling sounds.
Ryu's eyes widened, his heart pounding.
Closer... closer still.
What should he do, run?
Regardless of what that sound was, anything active in a graveyard in the middle of the night was definitely not something to be trifled with.
He took a deep breath and tiptoed backward, intending to leave this eerie place first and deal with things when it was light.
However, Ryu had only taken two steps back when he bumped into something behind him.
Feeling a touch behind him, it was probably a wall.
'Is there a wall here? I didn't see it when I arrived.'
Suddenly, an object flashed through Ryu's mind.
'Could that be a tombstone behind me?! No way, no way...'
He instinctively turned around.
But as soon as he turned, he heard a gurgling sound beside him.
And the sound seemed to be right in front of him.
Ryu froze. Not bothering to check if it was a tombstone behind him, he quickly turned his head back, and then his heart seemed to stop for a second. His pupils suddenly shrank to pinpoints, a chilling sensation assaulting his brain, as if his entire brain had shut down.
Before him stood a strange black shadow.
The shadow's shape was indistinct, but at the very top of it, there seemed to be many tentacle-like things, which were swaying erratically.
Below the shadowy figure, Ryu couldn't see clearly, for he had already fainted.
Not from fright, but from an automatic backward reaction the instant he saw the shadow.
Startled, Ryu instinctively leaned back, his head slamming heavily against something behind him—whether a wall or a tombstone.
He felt a sudden darkness, and then he lost consciousness.
The next day, the deep darkness was replaced by long-awaited light.
The quietly emerging dawn began the history of a new day.
Dewdrops dripped from countless leaves, branches, and flowers.
They fell onto the soil, onto the tombstone, and onto Ryu's face.
His eyelids trembled slightly, as if threatened by the furrowed brow, refusing to open his eyes.
A ray of sunlight pierced through the myriad leaves, illuminating Ryu's face, soothing his struggling eyelids and smoothing his furrowed brow.
Feeling the long-lost warmth, Ryu slowly opened his eyes.
His bewildered gaze revealed a hint of confusion.
But quickly, that confusion transformed into tension.
Ryu abruptly sat up, his pale face filled with terror as he looked around.
Suddenly, his vision blurred, his head spun, and he nearly lost his balance and fell to the ground.
"You've just woken up from unconsciousness, so don't do anything strenuous for now. You'll be fine in a bit."
Just then, a voice reached Ryu's ears.
Ryu looked in the direction of the voice, then his eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the person leaning against the tree.
"It's you..."
Ryu never dreamed that the person appearing before him would be him.
'Have I been kidnapped?'
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