⚡️-REWRITTEN ELECEED ALTERNATE UNIVERSE-⚡️

CHAPTER 22: A STRANGE DAY.

AUTHOR: Leaving people extremely confused from the last chapter and writing 'normal' (🤡)back-to-school shit like nothing happened 🤡🙈👀👣

Bet y'all are wondering what happened WELL GUESS WHAT— YOU AINT GONNA KNOW FOR (probably) A LONG(?) ASS TIME SO YOU BEST JUST FORGET WHAT HAPPENED 🤡😍😍😍

CHAPTER 22: A STRANGE DAY

KANG HA-EUN'S POV:

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"Zantestu."

"Zantetsu, huh?" I mused, sparing a wary glance at the tall man beside me. His eyes, as empty as pits never left the corridor ahead of him.

"You don't look Japanese."

He was silent for a moment. Then, his heavy gaze slided to me and a shiver went up my spine. Youngsters these days...

They certainly know how to scare an old woman.

"Let me guess, is it a codename?" inspecting the man closer, he had very paled dark skin and shaggy, shoulder-length black hair that was held back in a ponytail. His eyes, as dark and emotionless as they were, had flecks of mahogany brown.

"No," he said, quietly and curtly.

The only ones here traveling down this dark and richly designed corridor were none other than us.

But in the distance, somewhere echoing in the hidden pipes and through the walls, I could faintly hear the sound of a piano.

The sound was almost completely drowned out by our footsteps.

"So... what is it I'm supposed to be doing for you people?"

Again, he glanced at me from the side. "Akeldama will explain that to you. Not me."

I nodded slowly, clearing my throat at the mildly tense silence.

The sound of the piano grew closer the further we went, its music becoming clearer and more defined.

The piece, whatever it was, was slow and dreary. Something desolate and lonesome that only reminded me of anxiety. It wasn't pleasant.

But its beauty couldn't be denied, especially when it grew higher and slower, before stopping for just a brief moment and then proceeding to play a devastating cadenza.

Zantetsu, finally speaking of his own volition then added, "It seems she's added a new room."

Sparing him a quizzical look, I never acknowledged his comment and continued to follow him.

"I won't be following you beyond this point. Keep going down. Once you reach the end, there might be another corridor on the left. Go down that and you'll find a single room."

He stopped in his tracks, staring at me for a long moment before lastly adding, "If you live, then you're accepted. If you die, then... well, it's self-explanatory."

And then off he went. He quickly turned on his heel, his body contorting into a shadowy wisp of numen before disappearing with remnants thereof.

The further down I went, the more my anxiety grew. The piano continued to guide me and the thickening tension sucked the air from my lungs.