He stepped forward, crossing the red circle surrounding the tower.
Behind him, the barrier red circle flickered— Then shattered like glass.
"Woah!?" Si Hon jumped back. "This always startles me…"
Then they walked.
***
(Somewhere deep among the trees— genuinely nowhere in particular.)
"So…" Si Hon muttered, "how exactly are we supposed to investigate? We don't even know where we're going."
Sixxy barked.
Hana sighed. "Dad… Sixxy thought you already know the way, but she guess you don't."
"Oh." Si Hon scratched the back of his neck. "Wait— she's not wrong. Where are we going?"
He sighed, then gently patted Sixxy's head. "Alright. Lead the way."
Sixxy barked once and turned around, starting down a narrow path.
"Dad, she said to follow her," Hana added, holding onto Sixxy's fur as she sat on her back.
"Okay," Si Hon said.
As they walked, Si Hon noticed things he'd completely missed before… things he'd never seen while running for his life. Strange insects crawled along the tree bark.
Lizards blended perfectly into trees, their scales mimicking wood. Small frogs hopped rhythmically, once every few seconds.
He turned his head just in time to see Hana smiling cutely, small and peaceful against Sixxy's back.
He thought faintly, I really forgot Hana was once an emotionless, powerful entity…
Then the light began to fade.
The day shifted again. Darkness crept in.
Si Hon unsheathed his katana and instinctively moved in front of Sixxy— but she barked calmly.
"Dad," Hana said comfortably, still hugging Sixxy's fur, "she says there's nothing hostile here."
"I— wait. I can't see anything," Si Hon replied.
Suddenly, something glowed green.
It was one of the camouflaged lizards from earlier.
Then another lit up. Then another, this one glowed red.
Sixxy barked again.
"She says the lizards' only purpose is to light the forest when it gets dark," Hana explained. "So don't worry. Just follow her."
"…That was one bark," Si Hon said slowly, staring at Hana.
Hana looked back at him with innocent eyes and nodded repeatedly.
Si Hon sighed, then looked around— quietly amazed.
That was when he noticed a plant.
It had a mouth.
The plant began to glow. Its roots followed, pulsing softly. As it throbbed, every plant around it lit up in response, spreading light through the forest like a heartbeat.
"Wow…" Hana whispered.
"Yeah," Si Hon said softly. "It really is amazing."
They continued walking.
As they moved deeper into the forest, Si Hon casually picked up things along the way, as usual. sticks, stones, anything that looked even useful and slipped them into his spatial bag out of habit.
Gradually, the world around them began to lose its color.
The glowing lizards they'd seen earlier dimmed, their light fading as their bodies shifted back into perfect camouflage, even though their purpose had been to illuminate the darkness. The forest grew quieter. Heavier.
Then they reached it.
The place where light simply… did not exist.
Si Hon smirked.
He shrugged the spatial bag off his shoulder, opened it, and pulled out the stick wrapped in mole-rat skin, still darkened from dried blood. Taking out the lighter, he flicked it on and held the flame to the skin.
"WoahoSHOwosh."
The moment it caught, the fire burst violently, then settled, steady and calm, clinging to the stick as if it belonged there. Si Hon raised it, pointing the flame toward the darkened path ahead. No matter how he swung it, the fire refused to go out.
"Hehe," he muttered, satisfied.
Placing a hand on Sixxy's back, he nodded forward.
"Lead the way."
Sixxy barked once and stepped into the darkness.
Then minutes passed, suddenly. "Dad…" Hana whispered softly, fingers tightening in Sixxy's fur. "I'm kind of scared. I feel like… something's watching us."
Si Hon's eye twitched.
"Haha," he replied weakly. "I was trying really hard not to think about that… I was genuinely thinking something random."
Si Hon let out a quiet sigh and gently patted Hana's head. "I'm scared too," he admitted softly. "But hey… if something jumps out, Sixxy can just run away with you on her back."
Hana froze.
Then her eyes welled up.
"Dad—! N-no," she cried, shaking her head. "Don't say that…"
Tears spilled over as she suddenly leaped forward, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. She buried her face against his shoulder, sobbing.
"D-don't say things like that," she whispered, voice breaking.
Si Hon stiffened for a moment, then sighed and wrapped an arm around her, patting her back until her breathing slowly calmed. Gently, he set her back onto Sixxy's furry back.
"Yeah, yeah," he muttered. "Don't worry."
As they moved on, his thoughts drifted. Why is she this emotional… She reminds me of Ivy… Come to think of it, they're probably still frozen back there, staring at the portal.
Time here was twisted. Years will pass in this place while only a single second slipped by in the real world.
Si Hon exhaled slowly.
This time, instead of resting his hand on Sixxy's back, he reached up and gently patted Hana's head as they continued forward.
Sixxy suddenly stopped and barked sharply.
"Dad," Hana said quietly.
"What? Are we here already?" Si Hon asked, while grinning.
Sixxy growled.
The sound was deep. Threatening.
Si Hon's smile suddenly dropped. "Yea, nevermind."
Then—
White, glowing eyes appeared in the darkness ahead.
One pair.
Then another.
Then many more.
A familiar chill crawled up Si Hon's spine.
「WARNING — HOSTILE ENTITY DETECTED」
[THE MUNCHES]
"…Fuck," Si Hon muttered.
The darkness shifted as massive shapes emerged from the trees. Ten of them. Their hulking bodies loomed as they stepped into the faint light, grinning with wide, ugly mouths.
One of them spoke, voice thick and mocking.
"Oh. Human back. We saw human disappear. One time, we saw human die."
It tilted its head.
"But human standing here."
They clapped their hands together, laughing.
"Human got himself a woof-woof."
Another snickered, pointing.
"That one look like woof-woof that ran away."
Si Hon narrowed his eyes.
"Huh?" he muttered. "Are these monkeys mocking us, or are they just stupid?"
He scoffed. "Because I clearly don't know what you Mother Fuckers are talking about."
Sixxy's growl deepened, vibrating through her massive frame.
"And that little human," one of them said, pointing at Hana. "Her hair look different."
"We got toy again," another laughed, eyes gleaming with excitement.
That was it.
"Shut your mouth," Si Hon snapped.
He reached for his katana— but before he could draw it, Sixxy suddenly lowered her head, pushed it between his legs, and forcefully lifted him.
"HUH?!"
Si Hon yelped in surprise, instinctively grabbing onto her thick fur as she surged forward.
In one smooth motion, Sixxy turned away from the MUNCHES and began to run.
She barked.
"Dad," Hana said quickly, clinging to him from behind. "Sixxy says… they're the ones who ambushed them."
"What?!" Si Hon adjusted his grip as Hana hugged him tighter.
"Them?!"
"Yes!" Hana replied.
Sixxy barked again, louder this time.
"She says she'll lead us to where her family and her owner are," Hana translated. Another bark followed.
"And… she said not to worry. We're pretty light."
Hana paused, then added softly,
"We should've done this from the beginning."
Si Hon glanced back.
The MUNCHES was chasing them.
Their massive forms crashed through the trees, muttering and laughing as they ran.
"Human run again!" one of them spoke out.
"Follow them!"
A sharp whistling sound cut through the air.
"!!!"
A stone came flying toward them.
Sixxy reacted instantly, leaping to the side mid run. The rock smashed into a tree where they'd been a second ago, splintering bark everywhere.
"Hana!" Si Hon shouted. "Take the other sticks, the ones wrapped with skin!"
Hana nodded quickly, fumbling open the spatial bag behind him. She pulled out two wrapped sticks and handed them forward.
Si Hon grabbed one, brushed it toward the Lit torch, and the flame burst to life.
He hurled it backward without hesitation.
"Take this, motherfucker."
The burning torch slammed into one of the MUNCHES. It staggered, crashing into another, flames spreading as the skin ignited. The creature shrieked, flailing wildly.
Enraged, another MUNCHES tore a larger stone from the ground and hurled it with all its strength.
Sixxy didn't even slow down.
She twisted, ducked, and surged forward, every movement precise, practiced, experienced.
Si Hon tightened his grip, heart pounding. He glanced at the one unlit stick in his hand.
Should I throw everything?
If I do, we'll disappear into the dark… but then—how will Sixxy see? This fire is the only light we have.
Suddenly— bark, bark.
"D-dad!" Hana said quickly. "Sixxy says to throw it. She can see in the dark!"
Without another thought, Si Hon flung the lit torch and kept the unlit one.
The fire struck again.
Another MUNCHES caught flame, panicking and crashing into its own kind. Two of them burned together, their pursuit breaking apart as they screamed and rolled on the ground.
"That's an amazing view." He whispered to himself.
Sixxy sprinted faster.
The light behind them faded.
Darkness swallowed the forest once more.
Hana clutched Si Hon tighter from behind.
"Y-yeah," Si Hon muttered, lowering his head against the wind. "Just hold on, Hana."
And they vanished unto the dark.