Bang, bang, bang.

Bang, bang, bang.

Yota wondered who it could be. He felt an overwhelming sense of dread. He thought he absolutely shouldn't open the door. He hesitated for a moment...

Suddenly, someone kicked the door hard.

"Open the door now!"

"Before I break it down!"

He heard a shout mixed with curses. Yota was terrified. He led his trembling body slowly towards the door.

Someone was shaking the door wildly and kicking it.

As soon as the door opened, huge, fearsome-looking men entered. They all had muscular builds and sharp eyes. One of them was holding a big bat, and another had a knife hidden in his jacket. Cruel smiles appeared on their faces. The man holding the bat had gleaming eyes and glared at Yota. His lips twisted into a terrifying snarl.

As they entered, they asked, "Where is 000?"

(Here, 000 refers to Yota's parents' names.)

The scary man looked at Yota and said, "What's with this kid?"

"Do you know where 000 went?"

Yota was too scared to say anything. The man, seemingly angered, smashed a nearby object with the bat. Shards flew in all directions. He shouted even louder, "Where did they go!!!"

Terrified, Yota stammered, "They went for a walk."

"Really?"

The man with the bat whispered to the man who seemed to be the boss, "Boss, could this kid be 000's child?"

"Could be."

"If they can't pay the debt... we might have to take the kid..."

"Let's take him and sell him... on the black market..."

"They owe billions!!!"

"No way they ran away, right?"

"Could they have... left their own child behind to escape?"

"..."

Yota instinctively knew he would die if he stayed.

Gathering his courage, he said to the frightening men, "Um, sirs... My parents brought a huge amount of money to the room on the second floor..."

"They said it was too much to manage..."

Of course, it was a lie.

"Is that true?" "You should have said so sooner!"

All of them rushed upstairs. The sound of their footsteps echoed in Yota's ears. Taking advantage of the distraction, Yota entered his room, grabbed his piggy bank, and hurriedly ran outside. His heart was pounding with fear and tension. He was out of breath, and his hands were sweating.

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With a determination to survive, he ran under the night sky. He ran for a long time. While running, he dropped the piggy bank... it shattered. The broken pieces scattered on the ground. As Yota picked up the money from the shards, his fingers began to bleed. The blood left red stains on the ground, as if his pain and despair were being laid bare. His fingers had deep cuts, but he continued picking up the money without feeling the pain. The blood from his fingers left red streaks on the ground. Plunged into despair, Yota started running again.

He spotted a passing bus and flagged it down. The bus driver said, "We don't usually stop here... Where are you headed?"

He repeated to himself, "I have nowhere to go... Nowhere..." swallowing his tears. Despair weighed heavily on his heart. After a long pause, Yota forced a smile and said to the bus driver. His lips were trembling, and his tears were on the verge of falling. "I'm going to my family's house..."

His voice was low and feeble. It was filled with uncontainable sorrow and despair. At that moment, his eyes were empty, as if he had given up on everything.

Yota sat in the back seat of the bus. As the bus started moving, he gazed out the window. His eyes were still filled with tears. He sat like that for a long time. Yota looked at the darkness passing by outside the window and sighed deeply. Then he closed his eyes. He fell asleep, exhausted from crying. Even in his dreams, he was tormented by pain and despair. Before he knew it, the bus had reached its final stop.

Yota got off the bus and was left alone in the dark after the bus departed. He was surrounded by mountains on all sides. The very cold wind and atmosphere pierced his skin. The sounds of insects and owls broke the quiet of the night. Occasionally, the cries of wild animals could be heard. Yota realized he was in an entirely unknown place.

"Where... am I?" It was all mountains and fields. There was, of course, no sign of people or traces. "I hate people, but... I wish there were people..." "But... what should I do?" "I'm scared..."

Unable to shake off the shock from earlier, Yota ran through the fields at midnight. He ran without any purpose. The wind blew fiercely against him. "I wish this wind would erode my body and make me disappear..."

He tripped while running, and blood oozed from his leg. But he got up and kept running. Yota's face was covered in tears.

After a long time, exhausted, he couldn't muster the strength in his legs. He walked slowly, looking up at the night sky. His face was wet with tears. Looking up at the night sky, he said, "What am I supposed to do now?" "No more..." "No one will help me!!!"

Yota sobbed and spat out negative words, looking up at the night sky. He asked the moon again, "What am I supposed to do now?"

His whole body was engulfed in despair, shaking to the core. And that despair deepened with the cold wind and the atmosphere.

To shake off the fear and sadness, Yota started singing while looking up at the night sky. His song, laden with his pain and despair, spread into the night sky. His voice seemed to ride the wind, echoing through the mountains, the ground, and the entire night sky. The melody, in its fantastical atmosphere, dramatically emphasized his tragedy and despair. Under the moonlight, Yota's tears sparkled, making his pain stand out even more.

He sobbed, pouring all his emotions into his song. The song wasn't just a voice, but a cry bursting forth from the depths of his heart. Pain and sorrow intermingled on his face, and his voice grew increasingly desperate.

The last verse of the song echoed in the darkness:

"I am searching for a non-existent hope, into the endless darkness...

There is nowhere else to go, nowhere to return to.

In this place where everything has vanished...

Now, I too shall disappear."

Yota's voice rang hollow, revealing the pain and sorrow deep within his heart. His song reached the pinnacle of pain and despair, achieving the height of tragedy. His voice, like the final cry before disappearing, reverberated across the ground and the night sky, spreading to the end of despair.

As the moonlight reflected off his tears, Yota's song, like a final cry at the end of despair, faded into the deep, dark night sky.

When the song ended, Yota opened his eyes and looked up at the night sky again. Suddenly, a shooting star fell, pointing in a specific direction. It was the first time in his life he had seen such a beautiful sight. The shooting star seemed to draw a golden line across the sky, pouring down. Its fantastical light beautifully painted the night sky, creating the illusion that countless tiny stars were shining.

"Wow..."

Yota, as if entranced by the shooting star, started running in that direction. It felt as if he absolutely had to go there. He ran across the night sky, running all night long. He was utterly exhausted. But his body kept running.

The beautiful moonlight in the night sky illuminated Yota.

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