Caren stared at the stone slab.
Four handprints were painted on it.
There was a light shining on it, but the rest of the room was completely dark.
There was no wind, yet Caren felt as if multiple things were staring at him.
Was he imagining it?
He stepped forward to search the rest of the room, but bumped into something.
“Eh?”
It was as if something invisible didn’t want him to search that area.
Maybe it was the darkness?
Caren shook his head.
He had to get out of here as soon as possible.
He turned toward the stone slab and licked his dry lips, then coughed.
There was sand on them.
Caren looked down at his black T-shirt.
Sand was all over it.
He let out a soft sigh and looked at the slab again.
He could clean himself at home.
That wasn’t important right now.
Caren took a deep breath, then hesitantly placed his hands on two of the handprints.
The stone was cold beneath his touch.
The slab wasn’t smooth, and if Caren pressed his hands against it too hard, he could hurt himself.
“What now?”
The moment the words left his mouth, something began to take shape out of nothing.
It was so bright that it hurt Caren’s eyes.
It took only a second, but to Caren, it felt like a minute.
He couldn’t move a muscle, as if something was stopping him from moving.
Maybe he was simply too scared to move.
A text appeared in front of him, glowing with yellow sparks.
It was like the texts he could make appear, but different somehow—more mysterious, unknown, and dangerous to learn about.
Caren forced himself not to step back.
His mind was screaming at him to move, but he didn’t want to ruin everything.
He wanted to go home, and that desire overcame his fear.
The text was written in another language, and Caren couldn’t understand it.
He clenched his teeth.
“What the hell is this?
How the hell am I supposed to understand this nonsense?”
But suddenly, the text began to change.
The strange letters slowly turned into a language he could read.
Maybe the text—or whatever was making it appear—could automatically translate itself into the reader’s language.
Show your love to great dhdhedhf
Shown love: 1/2
Caren stared at the text.
Great what?
When he tried to read the name, the random letters began to shift, rearranging themselves into a meaningful order.
“It can’t show the name?
But why?”
Then Caren stared at the number.
He needed one more person!
He lowered his gaze to the Dead Guide, which was staring at him.
Or at least, Caren felt like it was staring at him, since it didn’t even have eyes.
“How can you see me?”
Caren picked up the Dead Guide and placed its tiny hands on two of the painted handprints.
The Dead Guide sat on the stone slab without moving, simply waiting for orders.
Caren smiled at it weakly.
He didn’t know why, but that little monster somehow made him feel a little softer.
And after what had happened before entering the structure…
it was good to have the Dead Guide with him.
Caren placed his hands on the other handprints again and waited for a few seconds, unsure whether it would work.
The Dead Guide seemed nervous too.
It was as if Caren could feel its nervousness.
The text appeared again.
Show your love to great hafrfgtdf
Shown love: 1/2
Love is not enough.
Caren bit his lower lip.
That wasn’t good at all.
He didn’t have to kill Ren.
At least, not that time.
Caren looked back.
He shivered.
Just thinking about it was enough to make him feel disgusted.
“Should I really do that?”
Caren wanted to punch the stone slab, but he stopped himself.
He didn’t want to break it, or he would be stuck there forever.
He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again.
He could do this.
He had to go home.
Caren started walking.
With every step, he could feel his legs trembling like a tree in a tornado.
He didn’t want to lose another attempt; that would be too much.
Caren knelt beside something—or someone.
A girl with white hair and deep blue eyes.
She was so beautiful…
but only when she was alive.
Her skin was pale from blood loss.
Her chest wasn’t moving, and blood covered her body and the ground beneath her.
If Caren hadn’t been the one who killed her, he would have thought a monster had done it.
“I’m sorry for using you like this.
If things weren’t like this, I would let you rest.”
Caren was glad he had killed Ren, but this was different.
He was using her body.
Caren wasn’t that bad yet.
And now, he had to become that bad.
Caren picked her up.
She was cold, with no sign of life left in her body.
Her eyes were open, but they no longer held the light they once had.
Caren slowly walked toward the jungle.
With every breath, he took another step forward.
She wasn’t that heavy.
Was that because she was dead, or had she always been this light?
Caren didn’t know and didn’t want to know.
He entered the structure again.
The darkness was so thick that he couldn’t even see the floor.
He could only guess that it was made of something like stone.
He knew it was hard, at least, and not smooth.
Suddenly, the slab seemed much farther away.
Caren placed Ren on the floor, then grabbed her hands and placed them on the handprints.
He also made the Dead Guide hold her hands in place.
It made for a strange scene.
A Spoil was holding the hands of the person who had brought it into existence.
One of them was small and harmless.
The other was dangerous.
Caren shook his head and pushed the unnecessary thoughts away.
Then he placed his hands on the slab.
Text appeared, glowing as always.
Caren forgot to breathe for a second.
Everything depended on this.
Show your love to great dhyeruih
Shown love: 1/2
Love is not enough.