So, you really want to escape the orphanage! Seems like the forest air has affected your little mind. Korotobi says in disbelief, not believing that a young boy actually wants to escape the orphanage.
"No, I'm serious. Very serious," Haruko says firmly, letting out a sigh as he lowers his head in exhaustion.
"Escaping the orphanage is almost impossible. Have you forgotten about the tattoos on our necks?" Alp says, raising an eyebrow and looking at him intently.
Haruko sighs in frustration, then looks at Haruki, who smiles at him and says, "It's okay. I believe in you." Haruko smiles back, removes his arm from Haruki's shoulder, and straightens up. He then says with determination, "I know about the tattoos, and I know that if we try to escape, their magical power will drag us back. But since these tattoos are based on magic... wouldn't we also need magic to remove them?"
Alp and Korotobi exchange a look of understanding, as if silently agreeing: He has a point.
"Fine, maybe it’s possible, but I think it would require a very high level of magic. Do you have a plan?" Alp asks, raising an eyebrow and looking at him with interest.
Haruko sighs again, clearly exasperated. "No, I don’t have a plan... and I’m not a magician either."
Alp and Korotobi both look at him in disappointment until Alb notices that Haruko’s leg is bleeding slightly, as if from a bite. Alb asks, "How did you get hurt?"
"Huh?" Haruko responds in confusion, but Alb points to his leg. Haruko immediately becomes tense, looking around nervously before clearing his throat and saying hesitantly, as if hiding something, "Oh... there were wolves in the forest. One bit me on my way to the storage depot. It’s no big deal; the bleeding has stopped, and—"
"I only asked about the bite; no need to get so worked up, Blondie," Alp interrupts flatly, cutting him off and walking toward the door.
"Hey! I have a name. Call me Haruko!" Haruko shouts angrily at All. Korotobi laughs and says mockingly, "Alright, Haruko. Our boy here doesn’t like saying names, not even his own."
The three look at Alp, who sighs in irritation. "Did I ask for your damn names? No, I didn’t. So keep your damn mouths shut!"
"No need for such an overreaction, and definitely no need for cursing," Haruki says, slightly annoyed. She steps closer to him and adds with understanding, "It’s natural to not trust each other right away, but we have to, don’t we?"
"No," Alp replies bluntly, his face expressionless as he looks down the hallway. "Let’s go. We don’t have time to waste."
Haruko quickly gets up, walking with a slight limp. Korotobi notices this and pulls a small mouse from his pocket. "Oh, right, Four. I didn’t introduce you to Stuart yet!"
---
Meanwhile, Goryoko walked silently beside Yuna. The only sound breaking the silence was the drip of water falling from the ceiling onto the damp floor. The walls seemed to breathe with moisture, and mold crept over everything. The deeper they ventured, the more a foul stench filled the air, as if something nearby was decaying.
Finally, Goryoko broke the silence with a quiet question: "Are you an Eldean?"
Yuna, who had been looking straight ahead, turned to him with a surprised expression but smiled. "No, I’m not an Eldean. I belong to a completely different tribe."
"What tribe?" Goryoko asked, but Yuna shook her head. "It’s not the right time to talk about that. If we become closer... or if we survive, you’ll know."
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They eventually reached an old metal door with the words Radiation Room etched into it, seemingly older than the storage depot itself. Yuna pushed the door open slowly, the creak deafening, and they stepped inside. The room was larger than Goryoko expected, with an old table covered in dust and scattered, broken equipment.
As Goryoko glanced around, his fingers brushed over an ancient syringe covered in layers of dust. What were these things used for, especially in a radiation room...? he wondered, holding the syringe. Yuna’s voice broke his train of thought.
"Come. I’ll introduce you to my... friend. Or rather, my only friend," Yuna said with a smile, walking toward a corner where two girls stood.
Emma, a cheerful girl with pale skin and radiant pink eyes, looked up as soon as she saw Goryoko. Her brown hair was tied in a ponytail, and her smile seemed to light up the room. Beside her stood Iria, her short dark purple hair and black eyes devoid of any visible emotion.
"Hi, I’m Emma!" the girl said brightly, extending a hand to Goryoko.
"Goryoko," he replied curtly, shaking her hand briefly before glancing at the other girl.
"And this is Iria," Yuna said, gesturing toward the other girl.
Iria didn’t move, only nodding slightly. "Hi."
Goryoko, with a touch of sarcasm, asked, "Are you always this friendly?"
Iria raised an eyebrow slightly but said nothing, prompting a small laugh from Emma. "Don’t worry, she’s nice... deep down. Probably."
The group sat in a circle on the floor, and Emma began the conversation. "So, Goryoko, what brings you here?"
"I was with some friends... or fools, really," he said with a faint smirk before continuing, "One of them, Korotobi, is the worst. He thinks he’s funny but is just annoying. The others? Each one’s dumber than the last. And then there’s this reckless girl who might be useful, and another guy—" Goryoko paused, searching for the right words, then sighed with frustration. "There’s another guy called Four. He acts like he’s the only one with secrets. Mysterious in a way that just gets on your nerves, but I’ll admit he’s less annoying than the others."
Emma laughed, while Iria merely glanced over at him indifferently. "You’re certainly not one to sugarcoat," Emma said sarcastically.
At that moment, Iria stood abruptly, moving toward the other side of the room. She pointed to a glowing green stream of liquid running along the floor. "Anyway, this is why you came here, right? Look at this."
Goryoko cautiously approached and asked, "What is it?"
"A radioactive stream. It seems to contain toxic materials mixed with water. It looks like its source might be the forest or something similar. Despite its radioactivity, it contains traces of magic. But... any creature that comes into contact with it could turn into something... unnatural."
"Like what?"
"Like the wolves we were trying to escape," Iria replied flatly.
"How do you know it contains magic?" Goryoko asked suspiciously.
"Because Emma’s a witch. She’s pretty good at it... or maybe not," Yuna said with a smirk, pointing to Emma, who puffed out her chest with pride and laughed awkwardly.
Before anyone could say more, a howl echoed in the distance. Goryoko immediately turned toward the door. "Wolves?"
"Seems like they found us," Yuna said with clear fear.
The door to the room was slightly ajar. Before anyone could close it, a wolf appeared. Its appearance was horrifying: its glowing green skin, unnaturally long teeth, and rabid foam dripping from its jaws.
"Run!" Yuna screamed, grabbing Emma’s hand.
They all ran through the narrow hallways as the wolves, now many in number, chased them relentlessly. During the chaos, an argument erupted between Yuna and Iria.
"Why’d you leave the door open?!" Yuna shouted angrily.
"Did you think I wanted to stand there and admire them?!" Iria snapped back.
"Enough!" Goryoko barked, silencing them as they continued to run.
Finally, they reached a room with a metal door. Goryoko pushed it open with all his strength, slamming it shut behind them. The sound of claws scratching against the metal was terrifying but not enough to break through. The wolves’ growls were audible just outside.
Inside the room, everyone collapsed, gasping for breath. Yuna glared at Iria but said nothing. Iria, for her part, remained silent, her eyes fixed on the door as if expecting it to break down. The foul stench in the room was overwhelming.
"This place keeps getting crazier," Goryoko muttered, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
"And more disgusting," Iria added, pinching her nose in disgust.
Emma, trying to lighten the mood, smiled and said, "Well, at least we got to see what the wolves look like—"
But Goryoko didn’t respond, his eyes focused on the door, ready for whatever came next. The room was dark, and he pulled out a small oil lamp with a blue flame to illuminate the space. Emma’s warm and cheerful expression faded instantly as her gaze locked onto the lamp, her eyes dark and emotion
less.
Goryoko didn’t notice Emma’s change in demeanor, nor did Yuna. The only one who caught it was Iria
"It's great that you have something to light the way," Yuna said as she approached Goryoku to look at the illuminated area.
"Yeah, Belo gave it to me," Goryoku replied nonchalantly.
"Who?" Yuna asked in confusion, but they both stopped as the blue light from Goryoku's lamp revealed something unsettling.
In front of them lay the corpse of a child wearing a black coat, with a tattoo on his neck that read 37.
"Was he from the previous batch?" Goryoku asked nervously.
"I don’t know, but it seems our friend met a tragic end here..." Yuna said anxiously, staring at the body in shock and sorrow.
Emma and Eria approached to look as well, but Emma felt disgusted, while Eria, despite her revulsion, stepped closer to examine the corpse. She pinched her nose shut and nervously inspected the blood dripping from the neck.
"It seems this body has been dead for more than three hours... and his neck... ouch, it’s gnawed on by something."
"How do you know that?" Emma asked nervously.
"My father used to clean corpses, and I used to accompany him. These are things he knew," Eria replied coldly as she continued to examine the body.
Touching the neck again, she moved it slightly to examine the wound more closely but noticed the corpse's lifeless eyes staring blankly into the void. She closed them and murmured:
"May your soul rest in peace."
"What are you doing? Don’t mess with the dead!" Korotobi said sharply, his voice tinged with worry.
"I’m not messing with the dead! I’m determining the cause of death, you idiot!" Eria snapped back.
Eria focused on the gnawed neck and said with tension:
"It seems his neck was bitten into, but how? There are so many things here that don’t make sense..."
She suddenly froze mid-sentence when crimson blood droplets began falling from the ceiling. Everyone else froze too, as if they had turned into corpses themselves.
The sound of something chewing echoed above. Slowly, Eria tilted her head upward toward the source of the blood. Another droplet fell, this time landing on her forehead, freezing her in terror.
"It seems we’ve found what did the biting...