Another two hours had passed. Annie had cried for a long time until exhaustion took over, and she fell asleep in Arda's arms. Her short hair was drenched in sweat, sticking to her face, but now, her expression was more at ease. She was probably having a pleasant dream.
Arda, however, had stayed on high alert the entire time. Not because he feared what was behind the door, but because he feared being deceived again. The last time had been too real. That man had truly been desperate for help, and he had truly been torn apart alive by a bear. His agonizing screams still echoed in Arda's ears. It made him doubt everything he thought he knew. He was no longer sure if following his father's warning was the right choice. Maybe this was all a test—a test to see if he would succumb to his conscience.
Actually, Arda realized he knew nothing about his current situation, which meant… anything was possible.
'Damn it. What if I was wrong?' What if this really is hell?' After all, aren't these things beyond human understanding?'
When people think of hell, they always imagine fire and flames. But isn't the true essence of hell just suffering? Maybe, as the newest visitor to this place, this was the way he was meant to suffer.
As his mind filled with new possibilities, another hour passed.
Despite remaining on edge the whole time, nothing else happened. Just as he began to think things were finally settling down… that sound came again.
A knock at the door.
Annie jolted awake at the noise. With dazed eyes, she sat up and looked around.
Arda, on the other hand, braced himself.
"Kids! I'm back!" a man's voice called out.
"Dad!" Annie shouted with excitement.
Yes, it was their father!
Relief washed over Arda.
He knew this wasn't his real father, but right now, even if his real father had come, it wouldn't have made him happier. The strange events of the night had pushed his nerves to their limit. The two of them got up and started toward the door.
"Hurry up and open the door! I'm freezing out here!" the man urged.
But just as they moved, Arda stopped Annie.
Something felt off.
Their father had said he'd come in the morning, but it wasn't morning yet. Maybe he had finished his work early? Time could be unpredictable, after all. But there was another detail—something far more important.
"Dad… are you alone?"
A brief pause came from the other side. Then, the man responded, sounding confused. "Of course, I'm alone! Who else would be with me? Hurry up, it's freezing out here!"
Arda frowned.
"Dad… where's Mom?"
Silence. Just for a second.
Then—"She fell behind a little! She'll be here soon! Now open up!"
Annie looked from Arda to the door. She seemed to have noticed the strangeness too.
And in that moment of hesitation… a roar echoed through the air.
It sounded just like the bear from before!
Their father screamed in fear.
"What the hell!? What's a bear doing out here!?"
The bear hadn't left. It was still out there!
Arda tensed up. His mind flashed back to the last time. He imagined hearing those screams again.
Back then, it had been a stranger, yet it had still affected him deeply.
But now, this was someone he believed to be his father.
In his moment of hesitation, his grip loosened—and he failed to notice Annie breaking free!
"No, Annie, stop!!"
But this time, he wasn't fast enough.
Annie reached the door and flung it open.
"DAD!!"
The door, which had remained shut for so long, finally swung wide—
But the only thing waiting beyond it was darkness.
No one was there.
Annie frantically looked around. "Dad! Where are you!?"
Arda rushed forward and yanked her back. Before slamming the door shut, his eyes caught a glimpse of the ground.
There was no blood.
The man from before had been torn apart right here, but there wasn't a single trace of it left.
With a loud bang, the door was sealed once again.
Arda was panting. He turned to Annie, who had fallen to the floor from his push. His eyes burned with anger.
"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!? YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE OPENED THE—"
But his words died in his throat.
Because suddenly, the cabin wasn't the same anymore.
The once dimly lit room was now… divided. Half of the cabin, where Arda and Annie stood, remained as it was—but the other half was completely shrouded in darkness.
It was as if a curtain of pure void had descended.
A suffocating silence filled the air.
Annie got to her feet and fearfully hid behind Arda.
Arda took a defensive stance, staring into the darkness.
He knew.
Whatever his father had warned them about… was now inside.
Unfortunately, the chainsaw was on that side. Not that he was sure it would have worked against something like this anyway.
Then, a sound broke the silence. A low, scratching noise.
Like nails scraping against wooden floors.
But there was nothing to be seen.
The noise continued for several seconds—until finally, it spoke.
"Hello, my delicious little ones."
The voice was neither male nor female.
"You should've listened to your father."
With every word it spoke, Arda grew more certain. Whatever this thing was… it was evil. There was no reasoning with it.
"Annie," he whispered to his sister, who was still hiding behind him.
He waited a few seconds, but no response came.
Still, he continued.
"Run. Head for the forest."
Then, without hesitation, he lunged into the darkness.
He was planning to sacrifice himself.
But the moment he took a single step—
His entire body froze.
It was as if every bone in his body had turned to stone, trapping him in place like a frozen photograph.
He struggled with all his might, but no matter what he did, he couldn't move a single inch.
The creature laughed—a sick, twisted laugh that filled the room.
Rage and helplessness surged through Arda.
No… I couldn't even protect a little girl!
Then what was the point of coming back to this world!?"
If I can't do anything, why didn't you just let me stay dead!?
Why!? Why!? WHY!?!
The only thing he could do was glare into the darkness, as if trying to tear it apart with his eyes.
And then—
A lullaby started playing.
A soft, wordless tune.
Like the kind sung to babies in their cribs.
He couldn't tell where the music was coming from.
"What?" A surprised voice echoed from within the darkness. "No! You… you tricked me?!?" It screamed in both fear and rage!
Arda was confused. Why was this demonic thing acting like that?
Then, he noticed something else—his 12-year-old little sister, Annie, hadn't made a single sound. Since his body was still frozen, he couldn't even turn to look at her.
Yet, he realized he could move his mouth. "ANNIE! THIS IS YOUR CHANCE! RUN!!"
But despite his words, there was no response. No footsteps, no sound of running. The only thing he could hear was that unsettling melody.
Then, at last, he heard footsteps. But instead of moving away, they were drawing closer.
"You really are fools."
Finally, Annie's voice rang out. But… what did she just say?
"You always fall for the same trick. A little girl, abandoned in the forest at night… What a compelling sight, isn't it?"
As she stepped into his view, Arda finally saw her. And that's when he noticed something was very, very wrong.
Her eyes… were pitch black.
"NO! NO! NO! STAY AWAY FROM ME!" The creature in the darkness shrieked in terror.
Arda couldn't understand. Why was this monster—this thing—afraid of his sweet little sister?
Annie stepped toward the edge of the darkened area. "You make twelve."
"WAIT! I—I KNOW YOU! YOU'RE THE DEMO—"
Before it could finish, something horrifying happened.
Annie's chest split open, stretching wide into a massive mouth that filled the entire cabin!
Though Arda couldn't see the full extent, he caught a glimpse of the countless, hideous teeth inside.
That mouth snapped shut over the darkness in an instant.
Then, just as quickly, it was gone. Annie's chest returned to normal. And with it, the cabin's other half returned to the way it was before.
'HOLY SHIT, WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?!'
Arda's mind couldn't keep up. He had been thinking through countless possibilities for hours, but not once did he imagine this.
The real monster wasn't outside.
It had been inside all along.
Annie turned to face him. Her pitch-black eyes were darker than the night itself, their glossy surface like an endless sea, drawing him in.
As she slowly approached, Arda struggled to move. But… he still couldn't.
That's when he realized.
The thing keeping him frozen…
It hadn't been that monster.
It had been Annie.
She stopped right in front of him.
Arda, despite everything that had just happened, had only one thing on his mind.
"What's going on, Annie?"
Annie smiled. "That's what I should be asking. What's going on?"
Arda was caught off guard. He didn't expect that. Was he the strange one here?
Annie continued.
"You were supposed to be nothing more than a pawn. Just like this one."
With a snap of her fingers, a cloud of dark smoke swirled to his right.
A second later…
His father appeared.
"D-Dad?"
Annie laughed.
"Dad? You've really gotten into the role, haven't you, slave?" She studied Arda's reaction, but all she saw was pure shock.
This time, she was the one caught off guard.
"Wait… You really don't remember?" Her brows furrowed. Normally, that expression would have looked cute. But with those eyes, it was pure nightmare fuel.
"How strange… None of the demons I've eaten have ever been broken like this. They all obeyed me completely. You're the first."
'Demon?'
He remembered what she had called that creature.
'Wait… me and a demon? What is she talking about?'
"Regardless," Annie continued. "You broke my rules. So, I have to eat you again."
She scowled. "You shouldn't have touched that door."
Arda, still processing everything, ignored that last part.
So it had all been a lie from the very beginning.
His father wasn't real.
His sister wasn't real.
Hell, even he wasn't real.
So he had been worrying, panicking, and suffering for nothing.
He had been fooled to the very end.
And realizing that…
Made him feel relieved.
He had already given up on everything. Being forced to care about someone had felt like a burden. But now, he knew.
The people he thought he needed to protect… were never real to begin with.
Arda looked at Annie. He was grinning.
Annie raised an eyebrow. "You're not afraid? I just told you I'm going to eat you."
"Afraid?" Arda chuckled. "Well, if it's going to be a painful death, I might be a little scared. I had a bad experience with drowning once—wasn't fun. But death itself doesn't scare me much. So go ahead."
Annie stared at him in surprise for a few seconds. Then…
She burst out laughing.
"I can't believe it! You really are something special! If only you hadn't broken the rules… We could've had so much fun together!"
Arda laughed along with her.
"Yeah, I think so too. By the way, what was up with that thing's fear? It was pissing itself back there, hahaha!"
"Right?" Annie smirked. "Its face when the hunter became the hunted was priceless! Ah, but I guess you didn't get to see it."
She snapped her fingers.
Instantly, the expression of the puppet she had called "father" changed.
It was frozen in pure, absolute horror.
"Something like this!" she giggled. "Hahaha!"
Arda thought to himself, 'Okay, maybe this isn't as funny as I thought.'
That was the face of someone who had been utterly broken before death.
He had no idea what Annie had done to that thing. But it was clear that the demons she devoured… didn't simply die.
Something far worse happened to them.
"Still," Annie mused. "I want to give you a chance."
In an instant, her chest split open once again, revealing that terrifying mouth.
As Arda stared into the rows of endless, razor-sharp teeth, he finally understood why that demon had been so afraid.
He empathized with it.
Then, Annie's voice echoed from somewhere unknown.
"If you can find a way to remember who you really are, I'll give you a gift."
Arda wanted to ask more.
But before he could…
That massive mouth closed in on him.
Everything went black.
[Mission Failed]
[Calculating Score]
[Negative Score]
[Falling Into Hell]