Kim woke with a start.
The room around him was dimly lit, bathed in pale yellow from a single flickering bulb. The air smelled of damp wood and something faintly metallic. His hands shook as he tried to move, but every muscle protested. Still, he forced himself to stand.
The corridor outside was empty.Too quiet.
No footsteps. No whispers. Nothing… normal.
A shadow flickered on the wall ahead.Kim froze.
"Who's there?" he whispered.
Silence.Then—a soft, hollow chuckle.
It wasn't human. Not fully. It echoed somewhere deep inside his chest.
Kim's mind raced. He remembered the taxi, the house, the hanging bodies… the shadow who called him Master.Was it a dream? Or something else?
He followed the corridor, drawn by a strange, almost magnetic pull. At the end, a large door stood ajar. Beyond it, faint candlelight flickered.Kim approached. Each step felt heavier, as if the air itself resisted him.
Inside the room, a large table waited.Not with food this time—this table had papers, photographs, and old newspaper clippings scattered in chaotic order.
Kim bent over a newspaper:"Oigami – City in Quarantine, Thousands Infected"
The date: 1998.
A familiar face stared back at him… his own, slightly aged yet unmistakable.
He stumbled back.
The shadow appeared again, silently, just behind him.
"You're starting to remember," it said."Not everything stays buried, Kim. And DeathLaugh… waits for those who do not see the truth."
Kim's chest tightened."What… what are you?" he whispered.
The shadow did not answer. Instead, it extended one pale, long-fingered hand toward the table.On it lay a dark, smooth stone, pulsing faintly like a heartbeat.
Kim reached out. The moment his fingers brushed it, a jolt of images hit him:
The virus spreading, people screaming.
The hanging bodies, lifeless yet moving in his mind.
A strange laughter echoing everywhere, but no one around.
Kim fell to his knees.It wasn't just a virus. Not just a haunted town.Somewhere, something—someone—was feeding on fear itself.
And it was only beginning.
The shadow leaned closer, whispering:"Welcome to Oigami, Kim. Welcome to DeathLaugh."