Around the time Eustar was employing every means to break the wardrobe that had swallowed Laila, a commotion also broke out at the Adiak branch where Marnak was located.

It was because of Daicok. After having a conversation with Marnak, he seemed to regain his composure for a moment, but less than an hour later, he took his own life.

“It’s better if you don’t look.”

“Don’t say such nonsense, Lobsker. I’m the one responsible for this branch.”

At Marnak’s firm reply, Lobsker gave up and stepped back. A groan escaped Marnak’s lips as he rushed to the front of the room where Daicok had been, his long robe fluttering.

“Oh God.”

Lobsker grumbled ‘I told you so’ in his mind, but only in his mind.

Daicok’s corpse was horrific. It was unbelievable that a living human could do such a thing with their own hands. Even a person with no desire to live wouldn’t dare do such a thing to their own body…

“Branch Chief!”

Lobsker shouted, tapping on the glass. Marnak, who had tightly closed his eyes unable to bear the terrible sight, looked into the room. His mouth fell open.

“What on earth…?”

Daicok’s corpse was slowly shrinking.

No, it wasn’t shrinking. It was disappearing. Like a castle precariously built with dry sand scattering in the wind, his body crumbled and dispersed. It vanished too quickly for them to even try to stop it.

Eventually, only a handful of sand remained where Daicok had fallen. Only the sticky pool of blood that had not yet dried proved the existence of the horrific corpse that had been there until just moments ago.

“Lobsker.”

“Yes, Branch Chief.”

“Collect the remaining… sample there and take it to the research unit members. Tell them to check what components it contains… if there’s anything related to Sync. As quickly as possible.”

“Understood.”

As Lobsker opened the door, the thick smell of blood that had been trapped inside rushed out.

Marnak, suppressing the urge to vomit, bowed his head and offered a brief prayer. May Daicok’s soul find rest. May he no longer suffer…

“Marnak!”

Marnak, who had been praying, raised his head in surprise. It was Eustar. His usually neat and composed appearance seemed to have been sold to a junk shop; his appearance was a mess.

“Sir Eustar! What’s the matter?”

Marnak’s expression darkened as he asked urgently.

“What about Miss Kristrad?”

Eustar said,

“Gather all available members. Right now.”

“Sir Eustar, please tell me what’s happening…”

Eustar held out one hand as if to say not to say anymore – or perhaps he needed a moment to catch his breath.

When Marnak closed his mouth, he swallowed the breath that had risen to his chin with difficulty and raised his head. His bright green eyes were flashing with burning anger.

“Laila has disappeared. No, I think Sync has swallowed her. Gather the members immediately. Right now!”

Laila had lost consciousness. She didn’t know exactly how long she had been like that, but when she opened her eyes, her whole body was so cold that her knuckles had stiffened.

“Ugh…”

She slowly bent her fingertips, then gradually applied force to her palm, wrist, elbow, and shoulder to raise her body.

While lying down, she felt cold and damp soil on her cheek, but when she got up and looked around, it was a house she had never seen before.

‘What on earth…’

Stay calm, Laila thought. Stay calm. Don’t panic… She carefully placed her hand on her chest. She could feel her heart beating. Thank goodness. I’m still alive. I’m not dead.

Then I should be able to get out of here. Laila tightly clenched her frozen fist and then released it. After repeating this a few times, she could feel warmth gradually returning from her fingertips.

“I’m alone.”

Laila murmured in a low voice.

Although it was a very small voice, it felt as if her voice was echoing off the walls everywhere as if she had shouted. Perhaps the walls were mimicking Laila’s words and whispering them back…

“I’m all alone. Eustar isn’t here.”

She shook her head a few times and slapped her cheeks to shake off the nervousness that was rising. The stinging pain actually calmed her mind.

“So I have to figure this out on my own.”

Eustar wasn’t there, she didn’t have any useful magic… She didn’t even have a strong enough tincture to make her faint. Suddenly, it felt like it had been so long since she had made a tincture herself.

If she managed to get out of here safely – wherever this was – she thought she should immediately get an iron pot and herbs to make a tincture.

Imagining closing her eyes and surrendering her whole body to the bitter and fragrant steam, her shaky breathing became much more comfortable.

As Laila carefully looked around, she soon realized that this was someone’s bedroom.

The bed was big enough for two adults to lie down snugly, and the frame was old iron. The mattress was old, with the middle sagging, and the sheets looked dirty with yellowed corners.

Besides the bed, there was a small dressing table, a drawer, a bedside table, and a wardrobe. Laila was startled, wondering if it was the wardrobe that had swallowed her, but upon closer inspection, both the material and pattern were different. The shape of the handle too.

‘That one… had round handles. They were curled up. Like a coiled snake.’

Laila thought. The handles of the wardrobe in this room were ordinary ring-type. At first glance, they looked like knockers.

Laila hesitated for a moment with her hand on the handle, then flung the wardrobe open.

She squeezed her eyes shut, thinking something terrible might pour out from inside, but all that awaited her was musty dust and an old smell that seemed decades old.

“Clothes…”

There were a few clothes hanging in the wardrobe. They were also old, but at least they looked ‘still wearable’.

A dress with small daisy patterns and a deep red muslin dress were wrapped in thin paper, perhaps saved for special occasions. The rest were all ordinary clothes.

After looking between the clothes and finding nothing, Laila turned to the dressing table and bedside table. On the dressing table was an old comb, with hair tangled between its teeth.

Other than that, there were only empty glass bottles. Once they might have contained perfumes or lotions that would have evoked sweet sentiments just by looking at them, but now they were no different from trash that hadn’t been thrown away in time.

—Tap tap tap…

Laila, who was examining a horn-shaped cosmetic bottle, startled and gripped the bottle tightly.

Footsteps! Laila shouted inwardly. Her throat went dry and her tongue seemed to curl inward. She definitely heard footsteps… Light and with short strides. It sounded like a child running.

“Is anyone there?”

Laila put down the bottle and went out of the room, deliberately raising her voice. But there was no answer. The footsteps were no longer heard either.

“Hey!”

As she called out again, suddenly a giggling sound came from behind her.

Chills ran down her spine. Laila turned around abruptly and stumbled, hitting her waist against the railing. There was no one behind her. Just an empty wall with a cheap frame hanging askew.

Inside the frame was a portrait of a child. A picture slightly larger than a palm… It clearly wasn’t drawn by a professional artist. It was a fairly well-drawn picture, but pencil marks were smudged here and there.

The child’s hair was short on one side and long on the other.

So it was hard to tell if it was a boy or a girl. The facial features were the same. The child had a thoughtful expression as if looking at something interesting, with their gaze directed to the left.

Laila, who had been staring intently at the picture, shouted,

“Stop playing around! The hide-and-seek is over now!”

Her voice shook the empty house. There was a creaking sound from the stairs, but that was because Laila had leaned too hard on the railing.

My chest feels tight, Laila thought. She tightly closed her eyes and then opened them, slowly taking her hands off the railing. When she straightened her back, her waist that had hit the railing ached.

That’s when Laila saw the portrait in front of her gradually darkening from the corners as if shadows were falling. It was changing color to a dark hue very quickly, as if rotting rapidly.

Laila rushed to the wall like a madwoman and grabbed the frame. When she shook it violently, the precariously hanging frame fell off with a thud.

“Stop it! I said stop! Why are you doing this? Show yourself! Let me out!”

—No. Because you’re it.

Laila swallowed her breath in surprise and dropped the frame.

For a moment, the child’s face in the picture spun around. The back of the head that shouldn’t be there, couldn’t be seen, appeared and when the face reappeared, the eyes that had been staring blankly at some distant place were now looking directly at Laila.

—The seeker has come, so find me. You’re it. The seeker has to find me. That’s the rule, isn’t it?

“You’re talking about rules.”

Laila shouted, breathing heavily. The voice was heard from the air, beside her, behind her, in front of her, from everywhere. Laila, who had been tightly pressing her lips, raised her head.

“Don’t even mention rules! You’re playing however you want without any rules! If you want to play, do it fairly! You follow the rules first!”

—If I follow the rules, will you keep playing with me?

Laila slowly inhaled. ‘Keep’. She knew well how much meaning that word held.

A witch should never carelessly use words like ‘keep’ or ‘forever’, ‘certainly’. How many stories had she heard of foolish humans who became unfortunate for not thinking of this simple fact?

But now there was no choice.

“…Alright, fine. If you follow the rules, I’ll follow the rules and play with you.”

“Good.”

A strange moan escaped from Laila’s throat as she bit her lip to suppress a scream. She stared blankly at the child that appeared before her eyes, then took a step back.