Left alone in the hospital room, I fell into deep contemplation. What should I do from now on? How can I find the people whose fates I have to tie? Is there really anyone else besides the boy who can see me?
I gazed at the face of the elderly man lying on the bed in the room. The artificial respirator he was hooked up to emitted a regular, cloudy mist. It reassured me that he was breathing. As my gaze shifted to the side, I noticed the bedsheet was slightly askew.
I reached out my hand to fix it. However, my extended hand passed through the bedsheet, unable to grasp it.
“Why didn’t you call for help immediately, then?” The boy’s words echoed in my mind.
“Grandpa, I’m sorry I couldn’t call for help right away,” I uttered, and a sense of futility washed over me. I knew that my voice couldn’t reach the man. He couldn’t hear me.
The clock in the room was pointing to twelve o’clock—the day was coming to an end. Time was passing by, and I could do nothing.
I didn’t know where to go. I had no destination. I couldn’t think of anything I could do. Was I destined to simply wait for the deadline to arrive?
And then… just like that…
Overwhelmed by anxiety, I hurriedly shook my head. I crouched in a corner of the hospital room, holding my knees. I couldn’t gather the courage to wander the night streets, so I decided to wait for the morning.
I was utterly exhausted.
With my knees hugged close, I closed my eyes and gradually drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, I woke up to the morning sun streaming in through the window.
Ah, what a relief. I momentarily hoped for a scene where I would wake up and realize it was just a dream. But my memories remained uncertain, and I was still crouched in the hospital room. The morning sunlight streamed through the window as the nurse opened the curtains. I could see a crossroad from the window, and I watched the people bustling about, starting their day along with the morning sun. I lifted my gaze, and a cloudless blue sky stretched out above.
I decided to venture outside. I had nothing but anxiety about what would happen, but there was no point in just lingering there. I tried to recall fragments of my memories from just before I became a half-spirit. Tumbling down a long staircase…
Glancing at the nurse efficiently carrying out her duties, I stood up. In my heart, I silently apologized to the sleeping old man in the bed for intruding on the hospital room, and I slipped through the door.
The long staircase leading to the Death God’s Mansion… Maybe if I went to that staircase, I could trigger some other memories. With a glimmer of hope in my heart, I left the emergency hospital.
Once outside, I realized I recognized the roads in the surrounding area. When I came to the hospital at night, I focused on the grandfather being taken away, not paying attention to the cityscape. Vague memories of the directions to the Death God’s Mansion were still in my mind, and my feet naturally started moving.
Perhaps my memories were missing only the parts related to myself. I also noticed something else. The people bustling in the city wrapped in coats and scarves seemed cold, but I didn’t feel the chill as a half-spirit wearing only a sailor uniform. It seemed that, as a half-spirit, I couldn’t even sense the temperature.
I followed the directions from my memories, crossing the intersection from the hospital and walking along the railway tracks. I passed by numerous people, but still, no one noticed me. Some people even seemed to pass through my body without realizing it.
I was worried, but after walking for a while, I safely arrived at the long staircase of the Death God’s Mansion. The endless rows of worn-out tiles on the long staircase towered above me.
When I thought about the ominous mansion, I couldn’t help but feel scared. If it truly was the dwelling of the Death God… If the Death God finds me, I will die . With that thought, my hand trembled.
But this long staircase was the only clue in my memories.
Taking a deep breath, I swallowed my fear and tightly gripped my trembling hand as I stepped onto the staircase.
Anything will do. If I can regain even a single memory…
I climbed the stairs step by step. I was scared, and my heart pounded loudly in my chest. As I reached the middle section of the stairs, the shadows of the plants beside the staircase rustled, causing my heart to shrink. Fearfully, I turned my gaze toward the source of the sound and saw a black cat in the shadow of the plants.
I instinctively forgot to blink. The black cat’s golden eyes were looking at me with caution.
It was still a kitten. Upon closer inspection, the black cat had a wound on its head and seemed weak.
“Are you… okay?”
As I tried to approach it gently, the black cat seemed startled and fled up the stairs toward the Death God’s Mansion.
“Wait!”
I was about to chase after it but stopped in my tracks.
From the top of the long staircase where the black cat had gone up, a figure was coming down. A shiver ran down my spine.
Could it be… the Death God?
Just as I thought that, a sudden, intense pain surged through my head. I instinctively closed my eyes, and in my mind, I saw flashes of memories like a sandstorm.
It was an elementary school. I, as a child, stood in front of the blackboard in a classroom where students were seated. The child version of me had an incredibly pale face.
Next to me stood a young female teacher who opened her mouth.
“It gets lonely, doesn’t it? Everyone, let’s give her a round of applause.”
At the teacher’s words, the students clapped in unison.
The sound of applause from dozens of people echoed in the classroom, and the young me, with sadness in my eyes, looked down.