After the brief welcome, Luke pushed open the gate of the grand mansion, its rusted hinges groaning like something old awakening. The three entered the vast, dimly lit hall.
Their tour began with the dining area to the right, where an unnaturally long wooden table stretched into the gloom—crafted to seat dozens at once. Gleaming silverware and porcelain plates sat perfectly aligned, untouched, as though waiting for guests long since buried.
"You can come here anytime. You'll find hot food and chilled drinks ready," Luke said, picking up a pile of yellowed paper notes from a small, ornate tablet near the entrance. "Just write the dish name and the time you want it. It will be there."
Jay narrowed his eyes. "Where are the cooks?"
"There are none. Or at least… I've never seen one," Luke replied, his voice dipping.
"Then who makes the food?"
Luke gave a hollow smile, his eyes glinting with eerie amusement. "I think… ghosts."
"Huh!?"
With that, he turned and walked off as if it were nothing. Jin followed silently, expression unreadable.
Jay stood frozen for a moment, unsettled, before scrambling after them.
Luke led them up the creaking wooden staircase to the second floor. Jay stuck to Jin's back like a shadow, each groan of the ancient steps sending a shiver up his spine.
The stairs led to a long, narrow corridor lined with empty rooms. The walls were cracked, and the air held the cold scent of time. Shadows seemed to stretch further than they should.
"Here, choose any room you want," Luke said, gesturing lazily. He pointed out that the room at the end of the right hall belonged to Miss Mira, while one in the center-left was his.
Without hesitation, Jin picked a room two doors away from Luke's. Jay, after a quick glance around, took the room in between—next to Jin's, as if proximity could protect him from whatever haunted this place.
Jin entered his room in silence and shut the door behind him with a soft click, locking it.
The room wasn't luxurious. It was bare, functional… and unsettlingly quiet.
A modest single bed sat in the left corner. A desk held a lamp similar to those he'd seen in the city, powered by a mysterious energy source that glowed with a cold, artificial light. A larger version of the same light hummed faintly from the ceiling, though Jin didn't need it. Morning light crept faintly into the room.
A towering window dominated the wall across from the entrance, draped in heavy, dust-laced curtains. Jin walked over and pulled them aside, revealing a window made of two broad slabs of translucent, mirror-like glass.
He slid one panel open, revealing a balcony. Beyond lay a breathtaking view—the base of a towering mountain, a sheer waterfall cascading beside it, crashing with deafening force into the river below.
It was the kind of view that might steal one's breath. But Jin only stared, his crimson eyes reflecting the falling water. Silent. Unmoved.
The balcony offered a tea table and two wooden chairs, weathered by time and wind. He spared them no thought.
Leaving the window open, Jin returned to the bed. Despite its worn appearance, it was strangely comfortable. Or perhaps the desolation of the Forbidden Land had twisted his sense of comfort—now, even a ruin felt like home.
He laid his head on the soft pillow, but sleep did not come.
Instead, he raised one hand, his mind focusing on a single command.
An object appeared from nothingness.
A black, square box—cold and silent—manifested in his palm.
It was small enough to hold, yet its presence felt wrong. Its surface was completely smooth, yet shadows clung to it unnaturally, as if absorbing the light around it. It didn't reflect—it devoured. The longer one looked, the more it seemed to twist... not in shape, but in reality. Something inside it pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat.
Jin stared at it, emotionless.
Whatever the box contained—it wasn't meant for the world.
***
After Jin shut his door behind him, Luke also left.
Jay, still afraid of visiting the mansion, quietly returned to his room.
The room was simple yet elegant—of slightly lower quality than the house Mr. Hank had left behind, but far better than the orphanage he had spent a year in.
So, he had no complaints.
After spending some time on the balcony, basking in the gentle embrace of nature, he returned inside. But he didn't go to bed. Instead, he sat on the chair by the table.
He avoided the bed entirely. He didn't want to lie down—not when he was alone.
Every time he was left by himself, those unwelcome thoughts returned—haunting him like shadows creeping at dusk. And now was no different. Even the beauty of nature couldn't suppress them.
As he sat there, a stream of tears rolled down his cheeks, as the memories of that incident enveloped him like a suffocating fog.
Once again, he saw Martha dying before his eyes… and Mr. Hank being devoured by that creature.
His heart sank. His eyes widened. Bile surged up his throat.
He rushed toward the bathroom.
Unfortunately, it wasn't attached to his room. There were only two shared bathrooms on the floor, each in a far-off corner. But he managed to reach one just in time, sparing the floor from disaster.
After finishing his business, he stood before the sink, staring into the mirror.
With a handful of cold water, he slapped his own face.
Then, without a word, he stepped back out—this time needing company.
He knocked on Jin's door. No response.
He knocked again. Still silence. But this time, something stirred within.
Thanks to his heightened senses as an Awakened—even if only a low-rank Mage—he picked up on sounds no normal human could.
From Jin's room came a thud, as if something had been thrown violently to the ground. A sharp, metallic ringing followed.
Then, a faint scraping, as if metal was being dragged—or broken.
"Is... is he doing some kind of ritual... like summoning the dead...?" Jay's inner voice trembled.
His body froze, too afraid to move. But his ears kept listening, locked in dread.
Then came Jin's voice—commanding, irritated. He was shouting at something, calling it a "stupid box."
That was the final straw.
Jay, now fully convinced Jin was in the middle of some forbidden dark ritual, summoned what little courage he had and fled—running back to his own room next door.
He made a decision then and there: to lock himself in, bury himself under layers of blankets, and respond to no one. Not until death claimed him.
Just then, Luke stepped out of his room and stared at Jay's wide-eyed, terrified expression.
"Hey... um... whatever you're doing... it's 12:15 now. Want some lunch? I'm going anyway. Wanna come?" Luke asked casually.
"W-what?!" Jay shrieked, mostly in an attempt to settle his racing heart. After a pause, he blinked. "What time did you say?"
"12:15."
"Umm... yeah. But please... don't go alone. I'm coming with you."
He wasn't hungry. In fact, he hadn't eaten a proper meal since Mr. Hank's death. His body had withered down to skin and bone.
But he followed Luke anyway—not for food, but for comfort. For safety. He was too afraid to be left alone.
***
They reached the dining hall, where steaming dishes waited for them, lined neatly across the long table.
"Wow... there really is food. But I haven't seen anyone else in this whole mansion. You must've cooked it, right?" Jay asked, staring at the untouched plates.
"Nope. I told you already—there are ghosts doing chores in this mansion," Luke replied with a cheeky grin.
Jay gulped a mouthful of saliva and slowly turned toward the empty kitchen adjoining the dining hall.
"R-r-really?!"
"Hahahaha! You're such a baby," Luke laughed with delight. "But don't worry. The food's not poisoned."
Only then did Jay finally glance down at the food.
It looked delicious—even its appearance made his mouth water. Then the aroma hit his nose.
Grrrr…
His stomach growled loud enough to echo.
Luke chuckled and handed him a plate. "Come on, eat already."
And so, after days of starvation, Jay finally ate.
His body had somehow endured all this time only because he was an Awakened.
He devoured the food almost instantly, and let out a small bark of relief.
"You were really hungry, huh?"
"I-I guess I was..." Jay murmured, his voice quieter now.
He placed a hand over his chest. For the first time in days, that unbearable weight pressing down on his heart felt a little lighter. Or maybe... he was simply getting used to it.
Whatever the reason, he no longer felt awkward in front of Luke. In fact, at that moment, Luke felt like a friend.
They hadn't talked much before, but Luke carried a strange, familiar aura.
And now Jay found himself speaking to him freely. Almost without thinking, he began a conversation.
"So, umm... Jin. Who exactly is he?"
"You don't know? Didn't you two come here together?" Luke asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, but he was silent the whole way. Except... except when we talked on the platform. He talked a lot back then."
"Really?! Then give me the details," Luke leaned in eagerly.
So Jay recounted everything about their conversation. In return, Luke told him all that he knew about Jin—his experience, and everything Albedo had shared.
By the end of it, Jay sat there stunned, his mouth slightly agape.
"What?!! How?! And... why?! So... what the hell is that ritual he's doing in his room?"
"...Sorry, come again?"