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The shout was vividly alive, as if pulled fresh from despair, filled with something thick and slimy that refused to leave the mouth, heavy and reluctant. The sound sank heavily, lingering in place, stubbornly avoiding ears. Thus, the melted person yelled and yelled again.

“There is a monster. That monster exists in the Commonwealth of Australia!”

To extract the tar-like voice outward, he screamed.

Squeezing his throat, pushing his voice, he dragged it out.

A terrible heat and pain, akin to placing skin against melted asphalt, was felt, but disregarding it, he screamed and screamed again.

Spitting blood.

With a body that dripped away.

He declares.

“I shout and shout again. With the intention of offering everything from a single strand of hair to a toenail in flames, I wish to testify! You, everyone gathered here, taking precious time! Please listen! There is a monster in Australia, in our precious land!”

Wrapped in a belt made of empty chairs,

toward that grotesquely overflowing empty chair in the broad space.

He screams and yells again.

As if there were people there.

As if there were those who would listen to him.

He imagined the sound of people buzzing in his melted ears and was filled with the sight of people jammed into chairs with his melted eyes. Now, reduced to skin that flowed uncontrollably, he used it as his only outlet and screamed and screamed again.

His form was that of a black mass screaming.

From a distance, it looked like the tongue of a monster making sounds to lure prey.

“You must know of the richness of our land! It is not so cold that you must worry about freezing and rotting your feet while wearing boots as thick as those in Russia, nor is it so hot that turning on the tap brings forth boiling water as in the Middle East! We often go barefoot to nearby places, and in winter, we can live even with thin clothing. Yes, indeed! We live in a blessed land!”

The black mass shouted,

heaving up some disgusting substance that was either blood or a sticky pollutant.

“But we must understand. A blessing is a treasure, and it’s a natural fact that many covet treasures! We know the dangers hidden within blessings. We know the curse that accompanies us in this blessed land. I know, you know! We all know it!”

The melted man spoke.

To evoke sympathy, he spoke.

In the now-empty void.

“A tiny spider that can guarantee no life if stung! A kangaroo encountered on the way! Giant insect-like creatures seen in the streets! Terrifying jellyfish and octopuses with horrible toxicity threatening those playing in the sea! Snakes lurking just off slightly overgrown grass! Evil crocodiles waiting wide-mouthed for a person to come by! Dingo dogs that resemble our closest friends but are truly from hell! Camels that pollute desert oases and diminish the land we can live on by eating grass! Emus that destroy crops and attack people! And even rabbits and foxes wreaking havoc on Australia’s ecosystem!”

The sticky sound reverberates.

Bouncing off the walls, reflecting, and reaching only one audience.

The sound, having arrived, clung thickly to their ears, squirming unpleasantly, moving within their minds to deliver its intent.

“Ah, we live alongside the threat called nature. Where encounters bring harm, suffering, and even danger to life! We live with these unpleasant neighbors. Everyone! This is the cost of living in the land of blessings. It’s something we must endure, and is difficult to overcome!”

The way the melted one’s voice sounded even worse might be due to the lighting?

“But the amazing thing is, none of this is the worst. We have yet to experience the worst, nor can we even imagine it. The worst undoubtedly exists, but we, we have shown no readiness for it. Despite the worst approaching, coming ever closer to us, we know nothing! We knew nothing!”

The excessively bright lights gleamed unpleasantly downward like eyeballs emitting light.

Stuffed densely like the skin of a mythical beast adorned with numerous eyes, casting an uneasy glow.

The brightness was splendid and bright, yet that made it even more uncomfortable.

It vividly showcased this bizarre scene.

“We could have been ignorant. Yes, we might be completely unaware. But we must not continue in ignorance! Not because ignorance is a sin, but because knowledge can save our lives; we must all know. We must be aware of the approaching threat, the danger, the crisis! The monster!”

The tongue-like individual, fulfilling the role of the tongue, spoke.

With exaggerated gestures, acting as if remaining intact despite being difficult to discern from a human form, he spoke.

“The monster, the moment we confront it, swallows us whole. If not confronted, we can avoid it, but upon confrontation, it comes like fate to harvest our lives. That is the worst we can face, offering the most horrifying conclusion than all we endure while alive. This is fate and inevitability, yet something we detest facing! We must wriggle to evade this, to run and run. We must flee, abandoning lovers, partners, children, parents—all family ties! The existence, that monster…!”

“…is death.”

Anastasia whispered that in a hushed tone.

In stark contrast to the somewhat loud imitation she had made earlier to mimic the “melted person” seen in her dream.

“Uhh… a bit chilling, huh?”

Anastasia’s method worked.

At the most critical point, she deepened her voice as everyone was intense on the story, making the prior words resonate, sending shivers down the spines of the listening girls.

Especially as someone who had ventured into a dream with Anastasia, they could vaguely imagine the bizarre landscape she must have witnessed, making it all the more chilling.

“Hehe.”

Anastasia laughed happily upon seeing the girls’ reactions. Then she managed her expression again, lowering her voice to continue her tale.

It was the story told by the bizarre being in her dream.

“Death takes on a human form. It walks on two legs, has two arms. It possesses two eyes, a nose with two holes, and a mouth like everyone. It has a throat as deep as the abyss. It walks through deserts, forests, and beaches, existing nearby, like a neighbor to animals and humans.”

In the suffocating darkness.

The sound of a car from beyond the fence served as background noise.

Anastasia’s whisper spread amidst the girls’ silence.

“The monster sees animals with its two eyes. It smells humans with its nose and makes sounds at them with its mouth. After halting both animals and humans, the monster approaches them on its two legs and stretches out its arms to seize them. Then revealing its face, just before harvesting the souls of the unsuspecting who have no idea of the worst! Before it captures their souls within its body, it flings off the flesh covering its face, revealing mere bones and says…”

“….”

“I am Death.”

Whoooosh—

The moment Anastasia spoke those words, a chill breeze swept through them.

The chill was unnaturally cold for the season, causing the girls to flinch in surprise. Seeing the girls’ startled reactions, Anastasia kept her lips pressed together.

As if to say, “Enjoy this atmosphere.”

Time passed.

1 second.

2 seconds.

3 seconds…

Exactly ten seconds later, Anastasia beamed a smile and shouted,

“Now, that’s enough of the story!”

 

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