Having had no prior warning or instruction given regarding the potential dangers of the supernatural by the silver-haired Gin or silent Miss Tsuki, Shin had no idea what the next steps were.
Do I need to run? Fight it? Or maybe it's another human… it can't be, can it? Running through all the different types of scenarios in his head regarding the situation, the glow of the medallion started getting brighter. Suppressing his overwhelming fear, Shin then called out.
"Who is there?!"
Nothing but silence remained; however, the blue glow of the medallion got even brighter.
Danger?! The question rang in Shin's head.
He began to run towards the ajar door and pushed his body against it, then, turning the lock, he shut himself inside. Steadying his breathing, he tried to listen to what was happening inside the corridor.
Light footsteps could be heard on the hardwood flooring. One can easily imagine the scene of a cat slowly tiptoeing like a stalking predator.
Knock knock!
The vibrations of the knocks against the door sent shivers down Shin's spine, making his legs feel weak. Then a soft, raspy voice spoke.
"Hello… Who… is there?"
A sudden cold permeated Shin's entire being, amplifying the fear rooted deep within; for a few seconds his mind had gone blank. Snapping out of his daze, he felt the slight warmth of the glowing medallion, which had become an incandescent light source illuminating the whole bedroom.
Seeing the light shining against the window, an idea began to form in Shin's head.
Phew, only one shot. 3…2…1.
Dashing from the door and running towards the window, the plan that Shin roughly put together seemed simple; however, he knew whatever entity stood behind the door would definitely sense his desire for escape. And just before his hand reached the handle of the window frame, he heard a loud crash.
Thump! A large hand punched through the door; the three-fingered hand then balled together and retracted back to the other side. Looking through the hole were two glowing green eyes stacked above each other. The raspy voice then spoke again.
"Hello…helloooo."
Shit! Releasing the latch and pulling open the window Shin positioned himself in the window frame; looking down, he felt the churning of his stomach as he stared at the empty streets from the 5th floor of the apartment complex.
Composing himself with steady breaths and stretching out his arm to a drainage pipe on the left side of his bedroom window. He could feel the slimy grime on the cold metal pipe from years of weathered negligence. Before he could fully position himself out of the window, Shin heard the growl of the creature getting more agitated.
With a leg still supporting himself on the window frame, Shin peered his head inside and saw the door being broken down.
Under the dim illumination of the crimson moon in the room, Shin could vaguely make out the features of the entity.
Crawling on the ground with 2 pairs of arms, each hand having 3 fingers. Its face was like a smooth blank surface, with only 2 pairs of glowing green eyes, both having one eye stacked above the other.
Without any hesitation, it immediately dashed towards Shin, making its way past the Hollow Aunt Min and pouncing in the air. The two hands on its right arm began protruding sharp talons and sliced towards Shin.
Bam!
A bright flash of blue light burst out and repelled the claws of the creature. Looking at his body, Shin noticed a thin blue aura around him; not wasting any time, he began mounting the slimy drainage pipe and made his way to the top of the roof.
It seems like this medallion really protects me; however, a small crack appeared on it. Hopefully it can hold out a little longer.
Finally making his way to the top, he quickly pulled himself over the edge and onto the roof. Huffing heavy breaths, Shin picked himself up and looked over the edge.
Sinking its sharp claws intothe concrete walls of the apartment building, the creature began making its way to the roof.
Running to the other side of the apartment's roof, Shin began to formulate a new impromptu plan, his head swinging from side to side looking for anything to use as a weapon.
However, it seemed that his luck had finally depleted; all that Shin managed to scavenge was an old worn-out mop, with most of its hairs frayed and fallen out. Just as he began to ready himself, the creature had made its way up and began prowling towards Shin in measured steps. It was clearly wary of the unknown light that repelled it previously.
Flailing the worn-out mop before him, Shin then moved on to the next phase of his impromptu plan. Use supernatural to fight supernatural!
"Slep! Slipe! Slapp!" Shin began calling out.
Dammit! What the hell was it Tsuki said?! Trying hard to recall the previous incantations Tsuki had made, Shin knew it had to be a potent spell or power; however, no matter how he tried, nothing seemed to happen.
It's on the tip of my tongue. Sleep? Slapin? Or was it Apen?!
Lost in thought and not paying attention to the closely approaching creature only a few metres away. Shin stood rooted in place before the moment of realisation suddenly struck.
Ah yes! It was Slapen… Before he could finish the thought, his instincts immediately spiked, and he subconsciously swung the mop in a large sideways arc. Without any effort the creature simply moved out of the way and struck the fragile wooden handle of the mop before turning its gaze back at Shin.
Being temporarily shocked by the quick action of the creature, Shin involuntarily stumbled a few steps backwards, losing his balance. In the moment of his tumble, he could see that another claw was incoming.
Slapen!
A stern female voice sounded out, instantly stunning the creature, causing it to fail in its attack.
Feeling a soothing relief from hearing this voice, Shin turned his head to the side and saw the silent Miss Tsuki. She still wore the familiar black attire and trench coat. And her right arm stretched out with a silver pistol in hand.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three shots rang out from the pistol; however, the creature managed to dodge in its daze, causing two bullets to whizz past and one hitting in one of its four arms, causing a non-lethal wound.
Tsuki then spoke in her teacher-like voice, "Get behind me, Shin."
Scrambling to his feet, he began to run towards Miss Tsuki. Feeling the growling of the creature behind him, it felt as if it could gnaw at his heels any second now.
Sensing the fine hairs on the back of his neck rising in warning, he tried to jump to the side. However, he heard the familiar voice speak again.
Slapen!
Two more gunshots rang out, with both bullets hitting this time. One shot crippled It's one arm, while the other found its way towards the creature's left leg.
Having finally made his way behind Miss Tsuki, Shin began huffing at air trying to fill his empty lungs, then, forcing himself to ask a question, he enquired,
"What…" inhale "… the hell…" exhale "… is that?"
"Rank 1 Monster: Mimic." Tsuki said simply.
Turning her gaze towards Shin, she added, "Your luck is bad."
Don't I know it. After a few seconds of laborious breaths, Shin finally managed to find some composure.
"So what do we do?" He raised another question.
Miss Tsuki then reached into the left pocket of her black trench coat and pulled out what looked like a small rectangular card; it had a deep grey lusterless surface with a few etchings in it and was about the size of her palm. She handed it to Shin, with only a simple instruction:
"Binding Charm. Say the word 'Bind', then throw it at the monster."