Chapter 1 — The Thing in the Alley

The digital clock mounted on the office wall blinked faintly.

00:03 AM.

The entire office floor was empty.

Only the soft sound of keyboard typing echoed through the dimly lit room.

A young woman let out a tired sigh and leaned back in her chair.

“Finally done...”

Her shoulders ached from hours of overtime work. After saving the final document, she shut down
her computer and grabbed her bag.

Outside the building, the city felt strangely quiet.

Cold midnight wind brushed against her face as she checked her phone.

“No buses at this hour...”

She frowned slightly.

“If I take the shortcut, I’ll get home faster.”

The shortcut was a narrow alley hidden between old buildings—an area most people avoided after
dark.

But exhaustion clouded her judgment.

Without thinking too much about it, she started walking.

Tap...

Tap...

Tap...

Her footsteps echoed through the empty street.

The deeper she walked into the alley, the quieter the world became.

Then suddenly—

She stopped.

Something was standing ahead of her.

“...Huh?”

At first, she thought it was a person.

But the moment she looked closer, her body froze.

No human could possibly look like that.

The creature’s body was unnaturally tall and twisted. Black smoke-like shadows leaked from its
skin as though darkness itself had taken shape.

And its face...

Her breathing stopped.

A grotesque smile stretched across its face—far wider than any human’s should.

Its empty eyes stared directly at her.

Cold.

Dead.

The air around it felt heavy and poisonous.

Instinctively, the woman stepped backward.

Crunch.

Her eyes widened.

She had stepped on a dry branch.

Silence filled the alley.

Then slowly...

The creature turned its head toward her.

Her blood ran cold.

“...!”

In the next instant, the entity rushed toward her at terrifying speed.

“AAAAAH!”

She ran.

Her heart pounded violently as panic consumed her.

The creature’s footsteps echoed behind her.

Closer.

Closer.

Closer.

She turned into another alley—

—and immediately stopped.

A dead end.

“No... no... please...”

The creature slowly approached her.

Its horrifying smile widened further.

Her legs gave out beneath her.

Unable to scream anymore, she shut her eyes tightly.

“Please...”

A few seconds passed.

But nothing happened.

The footsteps disappeared.

Silence returned once again.

Slowly, she opened her eyes.

The alley was empty.

The creature had vanished.

---

The next morning, the city returned to its usual chaos.

Crowded streets overflowed with students heading toward school.

Among them walked a boy named Yuka.

Seventeen years old.

A second-year high school student.

Average grades.

Average appearance.

An ordinary life.

At least, that was what everyone believed.

Unlike the loud students around him, Yuka walked alone with headphones resting around his
neck.

Most people at school barely noticed him.

He preferred it that way.

During lunch break, he sat near the classroom window while casually scrolling through his phone.

A notification appeared.

[Vlad / Infire]:

bro upload schedule dead again 💀

A faint smirk appeared on Yuka’s face.

[Yuka]:

your viewers survived this long

they can survive another day

The person he was talking to was his online friend, Vlad—better known online as Infire.

A small content creator with around five thousand subscribers.

The two often spent hours chatting online about random things.

Nothing unusual.

Nothing serious.

Then suddenly...

Yuka’s expression changed slightly.

“...?”

He heard something.

A faint noise in the distance.

Distorted.

Unpleasant.

Almost like metal scraping against concrete while whispers echoed underneath it.

But instead of panicking, Yuka calmly looked toward the classroom door.

As if he had expected it.

Ringggg—

The lunch bell interrupted the silence.

Yuka locked his phone.

[Yuka]:

cya later

He stood up and quietly returned to class.

---

Evening.

On his way home, Yuka heard the sound again.

This time, it was clearer.

A strange distorted noise echoed somewhere nearby.

He stopped walking.

Cold wind passed through the empty street.

Without changing his expression, Yuka placed an earbud into his ear.

“Check the sound source,” he said quietly.

“Street code: XXX.”

A calm voice answered from the other side.

“Understood.”

The call ended.

Yuka continued walking home as though nothing had happened.

---

Later that night, Yuka sat in front of his computer while casually browsing through online articles.

Then one headline caught his attention.

“Office Worker Claims to Encounter Unknown Entity at Midnight.”

He clicked on it.

The article displayed the woman’s statement.

> “I don’t know if anyone will believe me... but on 13/10/3023, after finishing overtime work around
midnight, I encountered a strange entity while walking home.

> It didn’t look human.

> It had a horrifying face... and when it noticed me, it started chasing me.

> I ran until I reached a dead end.

> I thought I was going to die.

> But after I closed my eyes... it suddenly disappeared.”

Below the article, countless comments flooded the screen.

“Hallucination.”

“Too much overtime lol.”

“Fake story.”

“Probably drunk.”

Yuka stared at the screen in silence.

Then he slowly leaned back in his chair.

“...So they’re finally starting to appear publicly.”

For the first time, interest appeared in his usually emotionless eyes.

He closed the article and stood up.

Dinner.

A quick shower.

Everything looked completely normal.

But Yuka wasn’t preparing to sleep.

He was waiting.

Waiting for midnight.

12:00 AM.

The city fell silent once again.

Then—

That sound returned.

The distorted noise echoed through the darkness.

This time much closer.

Yuka immediately opened his eyes.

“...There you are.”

Without hesitation, he walked toward his closet.

Inside, black clothes had already been prepared.

Dark combat boots.

A black mask.

A handgun.

And a sword.

Within seconds, the ordinary high school student disappeared.

And someone else took his place.

Yuka opened the window and jumped outside.

Cold wind exploded around him as he landed perfectly on a nearby rooftop.

Then he ran.

Jumping across buildings at terrifying speed.

The strange sound beca