Time seemed to have slipped away. Yota opened his eyes. Before him stretched a clear and bright morning. He was lying on the ground.
"I distinctly remember collapsing in the mud during that stormy night…" Yota muttered as he tried to recall his memories.
"Is it just my imagination? Did I really come all the way here back then?" He asked himself, looking around.
To his surprise, his clothes and body were completely clean. "How much time has passed?" Yota, intrigued, got up and walked outside.
After walking for a while, he faced the building he had sought shelter in from the storm.
Looking down at the ground, he said, "It should have been around here… or is it just my imagination?"
Suddenly, a sharp headache and dizziness overwhelmed him. Wincing in pain, Yota looked around. Though it appeared no one had been tending to it, the garden and lawn were well-maintained. The building was made of wood.
"What is this… it really looks ancient." Yota muttered as he examined the cracked and broken parts of the old trees.
"How old could it be? It's eerie and frightening… as if ghosts might appear…"
Despite his archaeological knowledge, he couldn't determine the building's age.
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"There's something mystical about it… and frightening…" Yota muttered, observing the vines that encircled the building as if protecting it.
He walked slowly around the building. It looked enormous.
"This is no ordinary building…" Yota said to himself.
Except for certain areas, most of the building was old and crumbling. He circled the structure and found what he assumed to be the main entrance.
"I can't believe such a building was here…" Yota marveled as he gazed up at the entrance.
At the top of the entrance hung a carved plaque.
He couldn't read the weathered letters clearly, but his archaeological knowledge allowed him to estimate the general era and language.
Yet, something was off. It was different from other ruins. Yota felt a profound sense of mystery.
"This type of inscription… I feel like I've seen something similar in an old book…" he muttered as he searched his memory.
But he could discern no more. Yota stared blankly at the plaque. He thought he could read one of the characters, but it was obscured by shadows.
After a moment's hesitation, Yota began climbing the large pillar of the entrance. The pillar wobbled constantly, and he kept slipping.
Yet, he eventually reached the plaque. He tried to examine it closely.
At that moment, the entrance collapsed. Yota fell to the ground but was fortunate that the soft earth cushioned his fall, preventing serious injury.
As the entrance crumbled, a fierce sandstorm erupted. Yota searched through the debris for the plaque.
No matter how hard he looked, he couldn't find it. Had it been shattered into pieces?
He stared blankly for a moment. Then, he walked back towards the building.
"There's something I realized from seeing that earlier…"
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"sun"