CHAPTER 39 — THE CHOICE TO BELIEVE
---
Kyoichiiro stood at the intersection of the dark corridor, his body frozen in place like a statue freshly carved from stone. His light blue eyes—usually sharp, usually calculating—were now empty, hollow, like two motionless lake surfaces. His hands hung limp at his sides, his fingers still trembling faintly, like leaves shaken by a thin wind. His mind—his mind wouldn't stop. He still remembered every death. Every tiger bite. Every tear of flesh. Every moment when his head exploded and he returned to this starting point.
What does all of this mean? he thought, and his mind spun like a wheel that couldn't stop. Why do I keep coming back? Why am I the one experiencing this? Is this a curse? Or is someone doing this to me? Someone who's been targeting me from the start?
He looked at his own hands—his hands still intact, still there, never bitten by a tiger. He squeezed them, feeling his bones still whole, feeling his skin still smooth. Everything was still the same. Everything was still as before. Nothing had changed. Nothing had changed.
Kyoichiiro: (To himself, his voice nearly screaming inside his head) How many more times? How many more times do I have to die? How many more times do I have to feel this? Until when?
He didn't know. And for the first time, he didn't want to know. He just wanted it all to stop. He just wanted to get out of here.
He walked.
No words. No explanation. No backward glance. He just walked—leaving Amura and Aetheria still sitting against the stone wall, still eating bread, still not understanding what was happening to him. He walked through the dark corridors, past the same turns, past the same walls.
Amura: (From behind, his voice startled) "Kyoichiiro? Where are you going?"
Aetheria: (Also startled, her voice anxious) "Kyoichiiro-san? Wait!"
Kyoichiiro didn't answer. He just kept walking. His small feet stepped on the cold stone floor, his steps quick and steady, as if he already knew where he was going—even though he actually didn't. He just wanted to go. He just wanted to get away. He just wanted to find something that could stop everything.
He arrived at the place where he had died earlier. Where the button had been. Where the tiger had eaten him. He stopped before the solid stone wall—the same wall, the unchanged wall, the wall that refused to open its path.
Kyoichiiro: (His eyes moving quickly, searching for the button among the stone scratches) "Where... where's the button...?"
He felt the wall—his trembling hands touching the cold stone, searching for a small protrusion that could be pressed, searching for something that could take him back to that room. Nothing. Nothing at all. Only stone, and dust, and silence.
Kyoichiiro: (His voice beginning to rise, beginning to break) "Where's the button?! Where did it go?! I'm here! I came back! Why is it gone?!"
He punched the wall—once, twice, three times, with his small fists, with his trembling hands. Pain shot from his knuckles to his wrist, but he didn't care. He kept punching, kept searching, kept hoping that something would appear.
Kyoichiiro: (Shouting, his voice echoing in the silent corridor) "APPEAR, DAMN IT! STOP PLAYING WITH ME LIKE THIS, YOU BASTARD!"
No one answered. Only silence. Cold, hollow silence that laughed at him from behind the solid stone wall.
Kyoichiiro: (Falling to his knees, his chest rising and falling rapidly, his breath ragged) "Damn it..."
He didn't know what to do. He didn't know where to go. He just sat there, before the stone wall that refused to open its path, with his mind still spinning, with his heart still shattered.
What should I do? he thought, and his mind began to grow chaotic. What should I do now? Keep looking for that doll I'll never find? Or just resign myself to this fate?
He looked down, staring at the stone floor beneath him. Fine dust clung to his boots, to his pants, to his hands. He felt dirty. He felt tired. He felt powerless.
Or... he thought, and for a moment, he felt something strange in his chest—not fear, not anger, but hope. A small hope, but real. ...save that girl?
He lifted his head, his empty eyes beginning to focus.
That girl, he thought, and his mind began to move again. The girl who died in front of me. The girl who might still be trapped somewhere. The girl who might be waiting for someone to save her.
He stood, brushing the dust from his cloak. His decision was made. He would find that girl.
Kyoichiiro: (To himself) I don't know if this will work. I don't know if this will stop the cycle. But I can't just sit here and wait for the next death.
He turned, and he saw them. Amura and Aetheria. They stood at the end of the corridor, looking at him with expressions he couldn't read—expressions between worry, confusion, and exhaustion. They were waiting for him. Waiting for an explanation. Waiting for something that could make them understand.
Kyoichiiro: (Saying nothing. He just walked past them, toward another corridor, toward a place that might hold the answer)
Amura: (Grabbing Kyoichiiro's shoulder, stopping him) "Wait."
Kyoichiiro stopped. He didn't turn.
Amura: (His voice firm, but with a note of concern within) "Kyoichiiro, what's happening to you? You've been acting strange since earlier. You talk to yourself. You shout at walls. You walk without purpose. I don't understand. Please explain."
Kyoichiiro: (Still not turning) "There's nothing to explain."
Amura: (His voice rising slightly) "Kyoichiiro! I'm not stupid! I can see that something's wrong! We've been together since the start! We've been through so much together! I have a right to know!"
Kyoichiiro: (Silent for a moment, then turning—looking at Amura with empty, hollow eyes) "You wouldn't understand."
Amura: (Smiling—a bitter, tired smile) "Try me."
Kyoichiiro looked at Amura—looked at his sharp red eyes, full of determination. He saw something there. Not just concern, but also trust. Trust that never wavered, even though he didn't understand. Trust that said he would stay here, no matter what happened.
Kyoichiiro: (Whispering, his voice soft) "I... I don't know how to explain it. But I have to go there. I have to find that girl."
Amura: (Startled) "That girl? The one you mentioned earlier?"
Kyoichiiro: (Nodding) "Yes."
Aetheria: (Approaching, her voice small) "Kyoichiiro-san... what happened to that girl? Why are you so determined to find her?"
Kyoichiiro: (Looking at Aetheria, then at Amura, then ahead—into the dark, endless corridor) "I can't explain it. But I have to go. You can come, or you can wait here."
Amura: (Exhaling—a long breath, a breath that felt like releasing a burden he didn't ask for) "You're really stubborn, Kyoichiiro. But I already promised to follow you. So I'll come."
Aetheria: (Nodding) "Me too."
Kyoichiiro didn't answer. He just turned and began walking—through corridors growing darker, colder, more unfriendly. Amura and Aetheria followed behind him, with slower steps, with more confused expressions.
Amura: (To himself, his eyes watching Kyoichiiro's back) He's strange today. Not strange like usual—strange in a different way. Like something has changed inside him. Like something is missing.
He remembered everything they had been through together. The dark dungeon. The terrifying monsters. The wounds that nearly claimed their lives. And Kyoichiiro was always in front—always leading, always making decisions, always protecting them. But now, he looked like someone who had lost his way. Like someone who didn't know where to go.
But I still trust him, Amura thought, and for a moment, he felt something strange in his chest—not fear, not doubt, but something deeper, like conviction. I've trusted him from the start. And I won't stop now.
Aetheria: (To herself, her eyes watching Kyoichiiro from behind) He looks so tired. Not like usual. Usually he's always calm, always confident. But now... he's like someone fighting something he can't see. I want to help him. But I don't know how.
She remembered all the moments they had been through together—when she fell in the dungeon, when Kyoichiiro carried her, when she fainted and woke up with a blanket over her. Kyoichiiro was always there for her. Always protecting her. And now, when Kyoichiiro needed help, she couldn't do anything.
But I'll try, Aetheria thought, and for a moment, she felt something strange in her chest—not fear, not doubt, but determination. I'll try to help him. No matter what.
They kept walking. Kyoichiiro in front, Amura beside him, Aetheria behind. Amura's fireball still burned, illuminating the corridors growing darker, colder, more unfriendly. No sound. No whispers. No footsteps. Only silence, and the three of them.
Kyoichiiro: (Stopping suddenly, his voice soft) "Aren't you tired of following me like this?"
He didn't turn. He just stood there, with his back to them, with his hands hanging limp at his sides.
Amura: (Startled) "What do you mean?"
Kyoichiiro: (Still not turning) "I've led you to dangerous places. I've made you face things you shouldn't have had to face. I've made you suffer. And you're still following me. Why?"
Amura: (Silent for a moment, then answering) "Because I trust you, Kyoichiiro."
Kyoichiiro didn't move.
Amura: (Continuing, his voice firm) "You're the one who brought us here. You're the one who's been leading from the start. You're the one who's saved someone so many times—saved us. I also trust your actions, even though they're always reckless and desperate. But who else should I trust besides you who leads? There's no harm in it, is there? Trusting someone?"
Kyoichiiro froze. His empty eyes began to change—slightly, but enough. There was something there, something he couldn't explain.
Aetheria: (Her voice small, but clear) "I also... I also trust you, Kyoichiiro-san. You always protect me. You always look after me. You're always there when I need you. And I know... I know that you would never abandon me. So I'll stay here. No matter what."
Kyoichiiro fell silent. He couldn't say anything. He just stood there, with his back to them, with his hands still trembling.
They still act like that, he thought, and for a moment, he felt something strange in his chest—not fear, not anger, but warmth. A soft, warm warmth, like light in the middle of darkness. While I'm just a loser who's lost his way. They don't know anything. But I'm the one who brought them here. And I'm the one trapped in this strange cycle of death.
He clenched his fists. Not too tightly, but enough to feel something in his hands—something real, something no one could take away.
Kyoichiiro: (His voice soft, but firm) "Alright. Let's continue the journey."
They began walking again—Kyoichiiro in front, Amura beside him, Aetheria behind. The corridors grew longer, darker, more endless. But Kyoichiiro didn't stop. He kept walking, with steady steps, with renewed resolve.
I don't know what's waiting ahead, he thought, and for a moment, he felt something strange in his chest—not fear, not doubt, but determination. But I won't give up. I won't stop. I'll save that girl. And I'll get out of here.
And they kept walking, toward whatever awaited them at the end of this corridor.