Chapter 266

The special forces team member, after being subjected to the terrifying screams of the young boy, found his entire body covered in deep, knife-like wounds. Chunks of flesh kept falling off his body.

"Uuuuugh!!"

He desperately wanted to scream, as his body was being torn apart, the pain beyond comprehension.

But he couldn't. His vocal cords had already been shredded beyond recognition.

Even though his entire body trembled uncontrollably from the agony, not a single sound escaped his lips.

All he could do was shake in agony.

Yet, with each tremor, more pieces of his flesh fell off, creating an utterly horrifying sight.

Eventually, his strength failed him. He could no longer stand and slumped against the wall, his body barely holding together.

With great difficulty, he rolled his eyes to look at the young boy, trying to see what he planned to do next.

To his shock, the boy was carrying a severed head—his comrade's head.

The severed head bore a frozen expression of sheer terror. It was impossible to tell what horrifying experience the person had gone through before death.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Then, the boy casually bounced the severed head on the ground as if it were a basketball. His face remained emotionless, completely unreadable.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

At that moment, the heavily wounded special forces member heard footsteps approaching. He forced himself to turn his head and saw four more members of his squad walking toward him.

One of them… had the exact same face as him!

His eyes widened in sheer disbelief. He had no idea what was happening.

Thud!

Just then, the boy threw the severed head at him.

The impact wasn't strong, but the pain was excruciating. More of his flesh fell off, and his head slammed against the wall behind him.

That noise caught the attention of the four approaching squad members.

However, instead of looking at him, their eyes were fixed on the wall. It was as if they couldn't see him at all.

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

The boy kept throwing the severed head at his face. Each impact caused his head to smash against the wall, making his flesh peel off further.

"Open fire."

He suddenly heard his squad leader's voice.

Then, to his horror, he saw himself—his past self—step forward, aiming his gun at the wall.

From his current perspective, however, it looked like he was aiming directly at him.

At that moment, everything became clear. He had somehow been transported to the past—to the moment when his team had first entered this place and heard the strange noises.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Before he could react, his past self opened fire.

Bullets riddled his already broken body, shredding him into minced flesh. Blood sprayed everywhere, and his body was riddled with bullet holes.

He wanted to scream, to beg his past self to stop.

But no sound came out.

More importantly, his past self couldn't see him at all.

Once the gunfire stopped, the past team members inspected the wall. Just like before, they found nothing but blackened scorch marks. Seeing no signs of life, they turned and left.

From beginning to end, none of them ever saw their dying comrade.

"Haah… Haah…!!"

Meanwhile, another special forces member was desperately sprinting down a corridor, trying to escape this nightmarish place.

Unfortunately, he had no idea where he was going.

The deeper he ran, the more he realized something was wrong. The mansion shouldn't have this many corridors. No matter which direction he took, he never reached an exit.

He had been running for what felt like an eternity.

Yet, there was no end in sight. No door leading outside.

Panic set in.

Behind him, he could hear the eerie sounds of something crawling at an unnatural speed. The creature was closing in on him. It was right behind him.

Stopping was not an option.

Finally, after turning a corner, he found himself at a dead end.

The only way out was a single open door nearby.

Without hesitation, he dashed into the room and slammed the door shut behind him.

Gripping the doorknob tightly, he braced himself to keep the creature from getting in.

But after a few moments, the eerie crawling sounds stopped.

Silence.

For the first time in what felt like hours, he let out a shaky breath, relieved.

"This is C-2018! This is 1018! Can anyone respond?!"

The special forces member, designated C-2018, grabbed his radio and attempted to contact the others.

Static.

Nothing but static.

A cold chill ran down his spine.

Then—

Sobbing…

He suddenly heard the sound of someone crying behind him.

C-2018 immediately raised his gun and spun around.

To his shock, there were people inside the room.

Before he entered, the room had been empty, its lights off.

Now, it was brightly lit. A man and a woman stood inside.

The man looked arrogant and was violently beating the woman.

She was sobbing, desperately pleading for mercy.

But the man showed no signs of stopping. Instead, he grew more aggressive, landing punch after punch.

Sobbing…

C-2018's eyes darted toward the corner of the room.

There, a young boy was curled up, crying.

A family of three.

Yet the father was beating the mother mercilessly.

A chilling sight.

"Hello? Can you stop?"

C-2018 called out, trying to see if they would respond.

No reaction.

It was as if they couldn't hear him.

Frowning, he cautiously approached the abusive man and reached out to grab him.

His hand passed through the man's body.

Eyes widening, C-2018 tried again.

Same result.

No matter how many times he reached out, his hand phased through the man, the woman, and even the child.

They weren't real.

This… was nothing more than an illusion.

"This is definitely a hallucination… I need to get out of here!"

Realizing the danger, C-2018 turned toward the door, grabbed the handle, and tried to open it.

It wouldn't budge.

No matter how hard he pulled, the door remained shut.

Panic surged through him.

He examined the lock—only to find that it was not locked.

And yet, the door wouldn't move.

Bang!

Frustrated, he raised his rifle and fired at the door.

His rifle was powerful enough to pierce steel, yet…

The wooden door remained unscathed.

Not even a scratch.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!!"

A bloodcurdling scream echoed through the room.

C-2018 spun around, eyes wide in terror.

(End of Chapter)

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