Beneath the shade of a tree stood a small child.

He was thin and frail, leaning against the trunk. He seemed to be naturally out of place here, as though he’d been rejected by his surroundings.

A short distance away was a little park, with plenty of play equipment for children. There was even a small sandbox where they could jump around to their hearts’ content.

But none of it had anything to do with the little boy standing beneath the tree.

His thin arm rested against the trunk. The rough bark pricked his fingers, but the child showed no sign of letting go.

Perhaps that slight physical pain made him feel a little better.

“Look, that brat’s come out again.”

People whispered in a distant corner.

The child didn’t dare turn to look at them. He knew that even if he did, they wouldn’t stop talking. They might even add a few more words because of what he’d done.

Besides, even if he turned around, all he’d see were a few shadows shaped like people. It was as if there were gaps in his memories, holes in his body. No matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t make out their real faces.

“Tsk, tsk. Don’t his parents ever do anything about that brat? He’s obviously a—after what he did, honestly...”

“Heh heh heh. It really is a shame about —. Such a good life, and now it’s just—”

For some reason, the little boy couldn’t make out certain words. It was as if part of what they said had been naturally blocked out.

It made him feel awful and confused. Wild guesses only deepened his fear and confusion, and did nothing to help him.

“Hah. He’s nothing but the spawn of a—. So full of himself, and in the end, he still got—! Hahahaha...”

What were they even talking about?

The little boy couldn’t help feeling confused. Their words were growing stranger and stranger, until he could barely understand them.

He hadn’t done anything wrong. He knew that much.

He hadn’t. He really hadn’t...

He hadn’t done what, again...?

“That’s a little devil!”

He vaguely heard someone shout in a rage. “Don’t be fooled by the fact that he looks like us. It’s all just a disguise!”

“He’s a demon through and through. He’s been watching us, waiting to eat us!”

What was any of this supposed to mean?

The little boy was more confused than ever. He couldn’t understand what these people were saying at all, but their whispers kept circling around him, full of hatred.

Were they the other children’s parents?

What had he done?

He was...?

“Huh?”

The little boy drifted for a moment, then suddenly remembered something.

He wasn’t sure he knew who he was anymore.

“Who... am I, anyway...?”

When he tried to remember, a fog seemed to settle over his mind. Fragments slipped through, but they looked strangely out of place.

Because the scenes in those fragments didn’t belong to the same person.

Suddenly, a breeze brushed his face. The little boy looked up and saw that the children who’d been playing in the park had gathered around him. They were looking him over like some new...

toy?

“You...?”

He took a hesitant step back and bumped straight into another child.

Without making a sound, that child fell backward.

“Look! He ate someone again!”

A scream suddenly rang out in his mind.

That voice sounded so familiar, but the little boy couldn’t remember whose it was.

The children scattered in every direction. There was still no sound, and the little boy still couldn’t see their faces.

He turned to look at the child lying on the ground and saw that they were incomplete. A piece of their neck was missing, replaced by dense gray mist, thick enough to seem almost solid.

Lying on their back, the figure stared blankly upward with hollow eyes that reflected not a trace of light.

What was this?

The little boy was terrified. He had no idea what any of this nonsense meant.

All he knew was that the shouts, whispers, and roars from the shadows around him were growing louder, drawing closer, and growing angrier.

Had he done something wrong?

Was he a bad person?

What was he...?

The thought sent the child’s emotions to the brink of collapse. He wanted to run, but where could he run from? And where could he go?

Just then, a little girl in a dress appeared.

Her clothes had a distinct medieval style, and her hands and feet were covered in scars. She walked straight through the voices and took the little boy’s hand.

She pulled him bodily out of the water.

The boy looked at the little girl with gratitude, as if he’d been granted a reprieve—but then he suddenly screamed in terror.

The little girl had no face. Only a pair of pitch-black eyes, like the night sky, stared calmly at him as blood ran from them.

But that wasn’t why the little boy screamed.

Because he remembered.

She saved him. He killed her!

......

Leticia didn’t know whether she’d been jolted awake or had woken naturally.

The dream had reached its end, laid out in full before her, but she couldn’t appreciate it at all.

She should’ve felt calm and detached. So why...?

Was she crying?

Tears trickled from the corners of her eyes. She tried to wipe them away, only to find she couldn’t.

What was going on?

Staring in shock at what was happening, Leticia realized that her body wasn’t obeying her. It was moving on its own!

She couldn’t open her mouth or make a sound. All she could do was watch her own hand, wet with her tears, rummage through the dry branches beneath her and pull out a small, rusted piece of iron.

Leticia had no memory of this piece of iron, yet her body hid it and then found it again with practiced ease...

Suddenly, she understood.

It was already night!

But for some reason, her connection to Stano hadn’t been severed!

“Stop! Stop right now!”

Her furious cry inside her mind was like a tiny pebble dropped into the Abyss. It didn’t even make an echo.

The scrape of iron against chain was swallowed by the wind outside. The strange woman, dressed in black even in her sleep, had her back to Leticia and hadn’t noticed anything had changed.

Damn it!

Leticia shoved that bizarre dream from her mind and struggled with all her might. But no matter how hard she puffed out her cheeks, she could only watch.

“Ngh... It’s no use!!!”

She was so frustrated she could’ve died.

Leticia really wanted to scream. Why did every other transmigrator arrive with a cheat ability and get to start an overpowered, invincible adventure, while she couldn’t even control her own body?!

This is so messed up!

Click.

That soft, crisp sound made Leticia stop complaining at once.

The chain had snapped.

The shackle was still around her ankle, but now Leticia could move around as she pleased.

She slowly stood up, her stiff movements like those of a long-neglected machine starting up.

Only now did Leticia truly feel it.

Someone was going to die tonight.