Tachibana stared in shock at the slowly approaching figure.
Its grotesque, liquid-dripping appearance assaulted her fragile heart over and over again. Every detail seemed designed to trigger some primal terror. The way the flesh hung from its face. The unnatural gait. The smell that preceded it was like a warning.
She'd watched plenty of horror movies before, usually with her little sister. Whenever scary scenes came on, she'd clutch her younger sibling tight, hiding in her embrace to escape the fear the screen brought. Sometimes she'd peek through her fingers, curiosity winning over terror.
But that had always been through a screen. A dimensional barrier separating fiction from reality. Deep down, she'd known it was all fake. Makeup and special effects. When the credits rolled, the monster would stand up and wash off the prosthetics.
This was different.
She was facing a real monster in reality. Standing on the same ground. Breathing the same air. No screen to protect her. No director to yell cut.
The burnt smell saturated the air, constant and inescapable. Her nerves kept firing signals, triggering primal responses deep in her brain.
Run! Hide! Survive!
Every instinct screamed at her to flee, but her body felt frozen.
Tap. Tap.
The monster in her vision drew closer, moving faster now. Each step sent a jolt of panic through her chest.
Tachibana instinctively retreated two steps, immediately returning to Hayato's side.
"Hayato-kun, it's that monster. It's... It's coming for us again. What you said... might be true. We really are trapped here."
The teacher's voice trembled uncontrollably.
If Tachibana had been alone, she probably would've broken down screaming by now.
"What should we do? Should we turn around and go back the other way?"
Tachibana Hina wanted nothing more than to turn and run immediately. But with Hayato here, she waited for him to suggest their next move.
"Sensei, go ahead. I'm going to check something out."
"Eh?"
Tachibana froze. Her grip on his hand tightened reflexively.
"No! You can't! It's too dangerous!"
"Sensei, just running away won't help. We need to find clues on how to escape this place."
But how could we find clues?
Looking around, the street was completely empty. Nothing stood out as particularly unusual except for that monster.
"Trust me, Tachibana-sensei. I won't let anything happen to myself. I value my life quite a bit. I'm still single, never even had a girlfriend. I definitely don't plan on dying here."
The slightly joking tone eased the atmosphere just a fraction. Tachibana clenched her fists.
"I'm the teacher here."
She was terrified, but when it came time to search for clues, she tried to volunteer herself.
"Let me handle this as the guy. You're still a woman, sensei, teacher or not. Let me have this chance to look cool, alright?"
Tachibana watched as Hayato pulled his hand free and walked directly toward the approaching creature. She didn't run. Instead, she bit her lip hard and stayed in place, thinking maybe she could help somehow.
There's information I can't gather during a time stop, so...
Hayato focused on the figure steadily closing in.
The distance shrank. Ten meters. Eight meters. The burnt smell grew stronger, thick enough to make his nose sting. His eyes watered from the acrid fumes.
"Heh..."
The creature's bulging eyes rotated, tracking his movement. Its mouth stretched into a grotesque grin, expression twisted and wrong. Liquid dripped steadily from the cracks in its flesh.
Drip drop. Drip drop.
Each drop hit the pavement with a faint sizzle. The temperature rose noticeably.
Hayato could feel waves of heat radiating from it. Like standing too close to an open oven. Sweat formed on his forehead, trickling down his temple. The air around the creature seemed to shimmer and distort.
"ROAAAR!"
With a furious howl, the creature suddenly launched itself forward in a flying leap. The abrupt change made Tachibana's heart jump in terror, fearing for Hayato's safety. Her hands flew to her mouth.
"Look out!"
Bang!
The creature slammed down hard. The asphalt cracked slightly under the impact, small fissures spreading outward.
But Hayato had already moved, maintaining a distance of three to four meters.
Hayato kept that gap consistent, carefully observing. He noticed the asphalt beneath the creature's feet showing signs of melting. Small bubbles formed in the tar, popping and releasing wisps of smoke.
High temperature....
Charred smell....
This thing was burning. Actively burning, like a walking bonfire wrapped in human skin.
After missing its first strike, the creature immediately lunged again. The flesh on its face split open further, exposing more raw red tissue. Steam rose from the wounds. Its right hand swung in a vicious arc, fingers curled like claws.
Hayato calmly retreated, maintaining distance with practiced ease. The creature couldn't reach him, no matter how it tried, growing more furious by the second as it failed to land a hit. Its movements became more erratic, more desperate.
But it still couldn't close the gap.
The temperature climbed higher.
The heat intensified. Hayato could feel it even from several meters away, like standing near a roaring fireplace.
"I see...."
A hypothesis was formed in Hayato's mind.
Then the creature seemed to realize it couldn't catch Hayato. It immediately pivoted, charging toward Tachibana Hina instead. Its eyes locked onto her like a predator finding easier prey.
The sudden change sent alarm bells screaming through the teacher's head. Her body instinctively moved backward, preparing to flee. She stumbled, nearly falling.
THUD.
The creature went flying, crashing to the ground hard enough to crack the pavement.
The metallic sound of something rolling across the pavement is a coin.
"I didn't give you permission to leave!"
During that brief time stop, Hayato had not only beaten the creature savagely but also stuffed his sock into its mouth. The fabric bunched up between its jaws, muffling its sounds.
And now, watching the sock burn away at a visible rate, his hypothesis was confirmed. The white fabric turned brown, then black, then disintegrated into ash. The smell of burning cotton mixed with the creature's charred stench. In less than five seconds, the sock was completely gone.
"The creature is burning."
Everything pointed to it. The charred smell. The rising temperature. The melting asphalt. And as time passed, the combustion grew more intense. Like a fire steadily fed with oxygen.
Without a time stop, in the creature's current state, direct contact with bare hands would result in his flesh burning to charcoal in mere seconds.
"Sensei, I know how to solve this."
"We can't let this monster grow hotter anymore."
"Water is the key to defeating the monster."
Tachibana's eyes widened slightly. She couldn't quite piece together why water was the answer. But she believed Hayato.
Except...
Where the hell were we supposed to find water?!
Looking around frantically, scanning their surroundings, she couldn't see anywhere that might have water.
What were they supposed to do? Even knowing the key item needed to kill the monster meant nothing if they couldn't find it.