The midnight bell continued ringing through the storm.
DONG.
DONG.
DONG.
Each sound echoed unnaturally long across Kuroyami Village, as if something deep beneath the mountains was answering it.
Nobody inside Kaito’s house moved.
The air itself felt wrong.
Heavy.
Breathing became difficult.
Ren stared at the scratched symbols on the window while Mika nervously flipped through one of the old books Kaito’s father had brought from storage.
“There has to be something in here,” she muttered.
Haruto paced the room anxiously. “Forget the books. We need to survive until morning first.”
But Yuna remained silent near the door.
Listening.
Ren noticed her trembling hands.
“You know something about this thing, don’t you?”
Yuna looked away immediately.
“I… don’t know.”
“That’s a lie.”
“Ren,” Haruto warned.
“No, seriously!” Ren snapped. “The monster stopped when she talked to it. It looked at her like it knew her.”
Yuna’s eyes darkened.
Before she could answer—
BANG.
Something slammed against the front door.
Everyone jumped.
Kaito screamed and hid behind his mother.
Another impact shook the house.
BANG!
Dust fell from the ceiling.
The Hollow Beast had found them again.
Haruto grabbed the hunting rifle from Kaito’s father.
“Get away from the windows!”
The creature growled outside.
Low.
Violent.
Like an animal trying to break into a cage.
Then suddenly—
Silence.
Too sudden.
Too complete.
Rain still fell outside, but the growling stopped entirely.
Ren frowned.
“What now…?”
A distant sound echoed through the village.
Footsteps.
Not the Beast’s.
Human footsteps.
Slow.
Dragging.
Mika carefully peeked through the curtain.
Her face instantly turned white.
“There are people outside.”
“What?”
More figures appeared through the rain.
Villagers.
Dozens of them.
Walking slowly down the street with blank expressions and dark shadows beneath their eyes.
Their movements looked unnatural, almost puppet-like.
Kaito’s mother gasped.
“No… not again…”
One woman suddenly stopped directly in front of the house.
Her head slowly tilted upward toward the window.
Her eyes were completely black.
Mika stumbled backward in terror.
“What’s wrong with them?!”
The villagers all turned toward the house at the exact same moment.
Then they began smiling.
Every single one of them.
A horrible empty smile.
Yuna whispered shakily—
“The Hollow Walkers…”
The villagers rushed the house.
CRASH!
Windows shattered instantly.
Hands clawed through the broken glass.
Kaito screamed as one of the villagers grabbed his arm.
Ren yanked the child away while Haruto fired the rifle.
BOOM!
The shot echoed through the room.
One villager collapsed.
But the others kept coming.
“They’re not stopping!” Haruto shouted.
The front door burst open.
The Hollow Walkers flooded inside with twisted smiles and hollow eyes.
“RUN!” Ren yelled.
The group escaped through the back of the house into the storm.
Rain soaked them instantly as they sprinted through narrow alleyways.
Behind them, the Hollow Walkers chased silently through the darkness.
No screams.
No voices.
Only endless footsteps.
Mika struggled to breathe. “Where are we going?!”
Yuna pointed ahead desperately.
“Lantern Street!”
Haruto’s expression changed immediately.
“That place was abandoned years ago.”
“We don’t have a choice!”
Lightning illuminated the village as they turned the corner—
—and froze.
The street ahead should not have existed.
Rows of glowing red lanterns stretched endlessly into the darkness.
Old wooden buildings lined both sides of the road, untouched by time.
But Ren knew this place.
The street had burned down decades ago.
Yet now it stood before them perfectly intact.
The lanterns swayed gently despite the absence of wind.
A chilling silence filled the air.
Then the villagers behind them suddenly stopped chasing.
They refused to step onto Lantern Street.
One Hollow Walker pointed toward the road fearfully before backing away.
Even they were afraid.
Haruto stared ahead uneasily.
“This place…” he whispered. “Something’s wrong.”
The lanterns flickered.
Far down the endless street—
A shadow moved.
Tall.
Massive.
Watching them.
And one by one…
The lanterns began turning off.
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