Chapter 58: Warm Moments After Returning to This Door
Ummm—
The ground trembled.
Cracks appeared on the walls.
Dust and small fragments of stone fell from the ceiling.
The Shirakawa apartment complex seemed to be gradually collapsing.
In the instant when everything became clear, it was as though the final cage, the last chain, was broken, and everything that had once existed in this place began heading toward an irreversible state.
"What… what is happening here?!"
Green widened his eyes, realizing that the room had, at some point, been filled with tattered furniture and a decayed corpse reduced to bones and scraps of remaining tissue. At the same time, stagnant water pooled more and more, and green moss grew across the walls, as if everything from floors 1, 2, and 3 had melded together.
"Outside… there seems to be some noise?"
Sun Dajun looked nervously toward the door. He heard strange, indescribable sounds that stirred unease.
"Yo, hold up, why are you all staring at a cassette player that isn't making any sound? That's weird as hell."
Mameir paid no attention to other details, only finding it odd that Takakai and the others were sitting in front of a silent cassette player for so long.
Meanwhile, Maeda Miwa screamed in fear again, though her soundproof mask kept the scream from being too loud.
Apart from Takakai, Kaguya, and Maki, it was clear that no one else could hear the sound from the cassette player. The player wasn't actually playing a tape but was instead using it as a medium to project some kind of information. The condition for receiving this information was the degree of understanding of the truth.
"I heard quite a lot, but it seems to have stopped midway. Kai-kun, did you hear something different from us?"
Maki hadn't caught Xu Sheng's final words to Takakai, but based on the others' reactions, she quickly realized that the information received might vary from person to person. So she immediately turned to Takakai to confirm his response.
"Yes, we have to go now. Everyone… everyone must leave this place. This is the last chance. Maki-san, give me that toy… only I can bring her back."
Takakai took a deep breath and turned to look toward the door.
Bang, bang—
The apartment shook more violently.
He took the doll, which appeared to everyone else as a ruined, unrecognizable object. But in Takakai's eyes, it was a small, battered child, her body smeared with dirt.
Though the stitches on her mouth had been severed, the pain continued to torment him.
The burns on his body grew increasingly severe, as though he was reliving her torture, scalded with boiling water again and again.
However, none of that mattered anymore.
It was time to end this and leave this cursed place.
Creak—
Takakai stepped out of the room, striding forward.
Though not dressed in a rescue team uniform, the faint image of the uniform seemed to linger on his body, shielding him from the curse clinging to him.
The ruins before him became increasingly distorted. Floor by floor, the building collapsed, and furniture piled up chaotically like an abandoned landfill.
The ground trembled endlessly.
Countless doors came into view, either floating mid-air, standing upright against the walls, or lying toppled on the ground. All the doors with numbers starting with "1" bore severe signs of water damage. The doors beginning with "2" emitted faint knocking sounds from within. Meanwhile, the doors starting with "3" had been smashed to pieces, their locks broken beyond repair.
Takakai knew these doors were not the ones he was looking for.
He had already sensed the location of the door.
He knew the direction he needed to go.
"Don't fall behind; this is the last chance."
He strode forward quickly.
The ruins echoed with a cacophony of sounds.
White porcelain dolls mischievously moved amidst the wreckage, but when they saw Takakai and his group passing by, they stopped, giggled, pointed, and seemed ready to give chase. However, upon seeing the dirty puddles and filthy mud covering the ground, they hesitated, unwilling to proceed further.
Footsteps echoed continuously through the rubble, weaving through the doors. When Takakai and the others passed, the sounds faltered for a moment, then, for some unknown reason, redirected elsewhere.
From a distance, there seemed to be the sound of [parents] screaming.
Within the group, Shijo Maki turned her head to see a man and woman rushing forward at high speed, only to be obstructed by the sound of footsteps.
"Pay up, pay up!"
"I don't have money! Let me go! I have no money to give you!"
"Pay up, pay up, pay up—"
It seemed both sides had entered a stalemate.
The bizarre entities in this apartment complex and the parents of the child appeared to be in conflict due to the logic governing their actions, momentarily ignoring Takakai's group.
Were those children afraid of getting their clothes dirty? Since they existed as the "clean children from someone else's house" in memories, would they do everything possible to avoid filth?
These strange entities, now hindered by flaws in their own mechanisms—was someone helping we?
Maki couldn't hear the last words Takakai had heard.
But she vaguely guessed the only person who could be aiding them now.
Drip, drip—drip, drip—
More and more streams of water impeded their progress.
From the sky—or perhaps the ceiling—more droplets began to fall, as if it were raining.
Takakai, leading the way, continued striding forward.
His mouth, under the curse's power, was stitched shut with thin threads.
Burns began to spread across his body once again, to the point where even the strength of the rescue uniform could barely hold up.
The pain grew increasingly intense.
His body seemed to lose strength.
It felt as though he was trapped in a box, unable to move.
As if locked in a restroom for ages, starving and in agony, only able to crawl on the ground.
As though stuffed into a hole in the restroom wall, tightly wedged into a space no bigger than a small box, sinking into darkness.
No, that wouldn't happen.
This wasn't the end of the story.
Takakai, despite enduring excruciating pain, took deep breaths, using his willpower to resist the torment and continued moving forward.
That door would open.
The door that had stretched across countless years until now would certainly reopen at this moment.
He could see the faint glimmer of light ahead.
He saw the door right in front of him.
Step—
Sun Dajun, now gasping for breath, could no longer run.
Seeing this, Mameir hesitated not a moment and immediately supported him, helping him move forward.
On the other side, Maeda Miwa was also nearing exhaustion, unable to keep running.
However, Green paid her no attention, focusing only on keeping up with the three leading figures.
Takakai no longer had the capacity to pay attention to these situations. Or rather, even if he noticed, he couldn't act. Both his body and willpower had reached their limits. If he stopped even for a moment, he might not be able to continue moving. Locked in a tug-of-war between the curse and her obsession, he could only focus all his attention on the door drawing closer.
Shijo Maki and Kaguya were in similar states. Though their mouths hadn't been stitched shut like Takakai's, burns from scalding water began to surface on their bodies, as if the wounds were forming from the inside. To fight the pain, they could only speed up, leaving no time to care about anyone else.
The darkness enveloping the Shirakawa apartment was gradually dissipating.
As the final moment approached, time seemed to accelerate, as if something didn't want to see them succeed and was trying to stop them at the very last second.
But ultimately, Takakai reached the door.
A plain door, nothing special. An old, slightly rusty security door.
There was only a small plate reading [309]—that was all.
Takakai stopped.
He reached out and gently knocked on the door.
Just like that child, in their last moments, had crawled to the door, reached out, and softly knocked.
...
"Hey, whose kid are you? Why are you standing alone in the hallway at this hour?"
A young man with a boyish face opened the door, a toothbrush still in his mouth. He looked down at the girl standing in the hallway.
"You okay? Come in and sit for a bit. Don't worry, I'm not a bad person."
"Want some candy? I brought these back from a friend's wedding. Oh, man, people these days are something else—I don't even know what job I'll get yet, and they're already married."
"Chew slowly, okay? Don't eat too fast; you might choke. Here, have some hot tea. Sorry, I don't have any drinks kids usually like."
The young man laughed heartily as he invited the girl inside, guiding her to sit at the small table in his modest room. He turned on the heater, offering her candy and tea.
"So, whose kid are you? I'm new here. My name's Lin Xu Sheng. You can call me Brother Xu Sheng if you'd like."
"Come by whenever you want; you're always welcome. Though, to be honest, there's probably nothing fun for kids here."
"Haha, am I that different from others? Maybe a little, haha. My dad always said I have the temperament of a child—guess that makes me good at talking to kids."
In the warmth of the cozy room, with laughter and conversation, the young man smiled gently at her.
"Hm? Someone's knocking at the door. Is that your parents? Oh, you don't want to see them?"
"These wounds... You can stay here. Don't worry, I'll talk to your parents. I won't let them in or let them hit you."
"Why would anyone treat a child like this? I'm going to step in today. Don't worry, you're completely safe here."
And so, she stayed in the room while the young man went outside alone to argue with her parents, even fighting them in the end.
Brother...
Brother, are you home?
Brother... brother...
...
I'm here.
Of course, i'm here.
I said it before—I'll always welcome you.
...
The door slowly opened, revealing the familiar room.
Takakai stepped in, moving forward.
The door to the small bedroom opened as well, revealing the little table inside. On the table were candies and a cup of hot tea.
It was as if that day had returned.
She had entered this little room, while Brother had shut the door and stayed outside, arguing with her parents until they fought, ensuring no one else could enter.
She had stayed in this warm, safe, and cozy room, free from fear, scolding, or harm.
[Don't worry; you can stay as long as you like.]
[You can think of this as your new home.]
It felt like Brother was saying that.
No, Brother was really here, always here, just invisible to her until now.
Finally, she could see him. Finally, she could see Brother.
[You really going to stay here?]
[Of course.]
[Can I have more candy? It's so good.]
[You can eat as much as you want, but it seems we're all out now. Haha, let me go get more for you later, okay?]
[You won't scold or hit me, right? Everyone says I'm a dirty, disgusting child.]
[Dirty child? Who said that nonsense? Don't listen to them. Here, no one will scold or hit you.]
[Can I stay just a little longer? Just a little?]
[You can stay as long as you want. Don't worry so much. Do I look like someone untrustworthy? Haha—]
....
The white light shone from the small bedroom door.
"...This is the place. Entering here will allow us... to leave this place," Takakai spoke weakly, his sentences broken. When the core of this apartment collapsed, the stitches sealing his mouth disappeared, but the wounds remained, making his speech difficult. The burns on his body stopped spreading but continued to throb painfully, showing no sign of healing.
"Kai-kun, are you okay?"
Shijo Maki, despite also suffering from burns, crouched down to help Takakai up. Nearby, Kaguya stood, panting heavily, her eyes fixed on the door in front of her.
The door in room 309, which was supposed to lead to a small bedroom, now glowed brightly, like a gateway to somewhere else. From within, warmth radiated, bringing Kaguya an unprecedented sense of peace.
"This is... the exit?" Kaguya murmured, her voice trembling with emotion.
Green, standing at the forefront, swallowed nervously, his eyes flickering with hope but also tinged with unease.
"All we need to do is step in, and we can..."
But just then, something unusual happened.
Hiss—
The sound of boiling water echoed, and immediately, a stream of scalding hot water splashed onto Green. He screamed in agony and collapsed to the floor. On his body, stitches began to form, quickly tightening, pulling his flesh into a distorted mass. Blood gushed out everywhere. No sound came after—he was completely immobile.
"She's my child. I can treat her however I want..."
A chilling voice echoed, making the air in the room feel even heavier.
From a shadowed corner, a man emerged, his body ragged as if he had just escaped from an execution chamber. His hands were contorted, and his mouth stretched into a bloody grin, with crimson dripping from between his teeth.
"Rats have gotten into the house again..."
From the opposite direction, a woman appeared, her face dark and ominous, holding a kettle of boiling water. Her crazed eyes gleamed as she glared at the group standing in front of the door.
It seemed as though both of them were terrified of the light emanating from the door and dared not approach, yet they refused to let anyone escape so easily.
They stood blocking every path, determined to obstruct the only way out.
The light from the door grew brighter, as if urging them to make a swift decision. But with these horrific figures blocking their way and time running out, could they make it through?