My name is Zephyr.
Seventeen years old.
An ordinary student… or at least, that's what I liked to believe.
I live in Misaria, a small town tucked away between forests and hills — so isolated it feels like the world forgot we existed.
Here, the seasons pass slowly. The same winds blow through the same streets, and the same people walk by every morning with the same tired smiles.
It's a peaceful town.
Or… it was, until three years ago.
Until my father disappeared.
Back then, everything felt warm.
My father worked from home, my mother always cooked too much food, and my little brother, Kaen, laughed about everything.
But the day my father vanished… the light in our home died.
No more laughter, no more warmth — only silence and the faint smell of cold coffee that lingered on the kitchen table.
My mother tried her best to stay strong, but I could see it in her eyes: she had already given up on waiting.
Kaen, on the other hand, kept smiling. Maybe because he was too young to understand what we'd truly lost.
Before disappearing, my father had been obsessed with a strange project: the Misaria Tunnel.
An abandoned passage at the edge of town, buried under years of dust and myths.
No one ever went there. No one ever talked about it.
But he did.
He claimed to have seen people inside.
Moving shapes, human silhouettes that vanished when he approached.
I still remember his voice that night:
"Zephyr… there's something inside that tunnel."
"Dad, come on. You're imagining things."
"No. I saw them. And I heard voices too."
I laughed at him back then.
If only I'd known.
Three years later, everyone had moved on.
Everyone… except me.
That day, the sun was setting behind the hills as I walked home from school.
My backpack felt heavy, the air smelled of rain, and the wind carried the faint sound of cicadas.
As always, I passed by the tunnel.
A dark, gaping mouth at the edge of the forest.
I'd promised myself to forget about it, but my legs stopped on their own.
Something — I don't know what — whispered to me to take one more step.
And that's when I saw it.
A shadow.
Standing motionless in the middle of the tunnel.
The same silhouette as my father.
"…Dad?"
"Dad, is that you?!"
No answer.
Only silence.
And before I knew it, I had already stepped inside.
One step.
Then another.
The world dimmed, and the light vanished completely.
Even the flashlight on my phone couldn't pierce the darkness.
It wasn't just dark — it was alive, swallowing everything around me.
My heartbeat echoed in my ears.
And then… something cold brushed against the back of my neck.
I panicked and ran out, gasping for air.
That evening, I tried to act normal.
Mom was making dinner, and Kaen was teasing me while setting the table.
"You're so slow, big brother!"
"Yeah? Let's see you handle high school homework then."
"You should help us sometimes, you know."
"What? Sorry, can't hear you over how amazing I am."
"That's probably why you suck at school!"
We laughed.
Mom smiled faintly — the kind of smile that hides exhaustion behind affection.
For a while, it felt like our family was whole again.
Kaen's laughter always had that power.
He was only fifteen, but somehow, he carried the warmth that our house had lost.
Later that night, while he slept peacefully, I lay in bed staring at the ceiling.
No matter how much I tried, I couldn't stop thinking about that tunnel.
Rain began to fall outside, tapping softly against the window.
It grew heavier, louder, almost rhythmic.
I sighed, got up, grabbed my jacket and umbrella, and stepped out.
The streets were empty.
The rain poured relentlessly, soaking through my clothes.
Each step echoed in the mud as I made my way back to that cursed place.
When I reached the tunnel, I hesitated.
"…What the hell am I even doing here?"
A voice suddenly shouted through the storm.
"Zephyr! What are you doing here?!"
I turned around, startled.
Kaen.
Soaked to the bone, clutching his umbrella against the wind, his eyes wide with fear.
"You're insane! You'll catch a cold out here!"
"Kaen?! Why are you here?! Go home!"
"Not without you! Mom's worried sick!"
His voice trembled — not from the cold, but from something else.
Before I could say anything more, he screamed:
"Behind you!"
I froze.
Something grabbed my shoulder — hard.
A chilling force pulled me backward into the darkness.
"Kaen!!"
I saw his hand reaching toward me, his face twisting in terror…
and then everything collapsed.
A black flash, followed by silence.
No rain.
No wind.
Just emptiness.
And in that void…
a voice.
Calm.
Cold.
Almost human.
"Zephyr. Are you ready… to pay the price?"