"One Sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds" clearly sensed the sudden turbulence in X's heart. She smiled faintly and slowly raised the hand that wasn't holding her cross.
With that motion, the edges of the ruined monastery around them began to blur and turn translucent, as if a layer of mist had settled over the world. At the same time, a gentle, pure-white glow gathered in her palm, condensing into a steady sphere that pulsed with a soothing rhythm.
"This is the first time I've been able to speak so clearly with someone from the 'outside'…"
Her voice remained airy and serene, carrying a trace of quiet reflection—half confession, half self-talk—as the light hovered, stable and calm.
"You seem… very tense. Even afraid."
She tilted her head slightly, her gaze soft as it fell on X.
"Would you like to hear… my story? Perhaps it will help the heart that trembles before the unknown… settle a little."
X exhaled slowly. Realizing the old 'bone' was trying to ease his nerves, he let the tight air trapped in his chest drain away.
"Thank you," he said, forcing a smile that looked as natural as he could manage. "I'd like that."
"Hehe~"
Seeing him accept, she seemed genuinely pleased. A clear, bell-like laugh spilled from her lips.
The light in her palm flared—then expanded in an instant, swallowing them both.
The scenery was wiped away as though erased by an invisible hand: broken stone walls, a collapsed vault, scattered relics of worship… everything belonging to the abandoned monastery dissolved and faded like old wallpaper being peeled from a rotting surface.
In its place rose a dense forest—lush, alive, and quietly dangerous.
Towering unknown trees blotted out the sky. Sunlight could only struggle through leaf-gaps, falling in scattered flecks. The air carried the mingled smells of earth, damp rot, and wild vegetation—nothing like the manicured, carefully maintained "forest parks" X had seen in the Nest.
This forest was raw. Untamed. And that meant it was deeper, darker, more perilous.
Several men in coarse hunting clothes passed nearby, old-fashioned rifles slung over their shoulders. Their eyes swept the undergrowth with sharp vigilance, steps measured and wary as they searched for something.
X held his breath on instinct.
But he quickly realized the hunters didn't notice him or One Sin at all. Their gazes passed straight through them, as though the two of them were nothing more than air, before they moved on into the trees.
X understood immediately: the forest, the hunters—this was being shown by One Sin's light. Her memories. Her story.
At least for him, they were now spectators—something like a soul-projection watching a living hologram.
A gunshot cracked through the woods.
Bang!
Birds burst from branches in panicked flight.
"Damn it… why are there so few deer this year?!"
A burly man with a thick beard spat onto the ground. He shot a jealous, irritable glance at the prey already strapped to his companions' backs, then scrubbed a sweat-slick hand through his hair.
"At this rate I'll be hunting till dark and still won't get my share. I'll go home just to get nagged to death!"
"Relax, old man," a younger companion said, nudging his ribs with an elbow. "Hunting's about patience."
He lowered his voice and cocked his head, listening. A knowing grin spread across his face.
"I can hear something coming this way. Light footsteps—small. Not far."
"Yeah. I hear it too."
The bearded man's instincts were faster than the others'. Almost the moment the younger one finished speaking, he lifted his rifle, flicked off the safety, and aimed at a patch of bushes shaking violently ahead—the rustle was loud and unmistakable.
"Shh—"
The others fell silent at once, spreading out with practiced coordination, breath held, eyes locked on the trembling leaves. Tension thickened the air.
Then the brush parted.
A pair of small brown antlers poked out first—flickering in the dappled forest light.
"Ha! There we go!"
Excitement flashed in the bearded man's eyes. The corner of his mouth tugged upward in a hunter's cruel satisfaction, and his trigger finger tightened—
But in that split second—
"Justin! Run! Run faster! Hahaha!"
A bright, childish burst of laughter came from the exact same direction as the "antlers," sudden and carefree—too close, too real.
X's stomach dropped.
A fast-reacting hunter's face changed instantly, horror dawning in the same way it did in X.
"Wait—Joe! Don't—!"
Another hunter spotted it at the same time.
Those antlers didn't glint like bone.
They reflected light like fabric. Rough, artificial.
And beneath the headpiece—there was a child's terrified face.
They all shouted at once, trying to stop the man whose body had already committed to the shot.
Too late.
Bang! Bang!
Two deafening blasts ripped the forest open, crushing laughter and screams under thunder.
The small figure—still wearing the "antlers"—jerked as if punched by an invisible fist and fell backward with no resistance.
Thud.
A small body hit leaf-littered ground, dust puffing up around it.
Joe's aim was true.
Or rather, his aim was too true.
Both bullets struck the "head" area—an instinctive kill-shot honed by years of hunting.
The excitement on his face curdled into terror. His rifle slipped from his hands and clanged to the ground. He stared, eyes wide, at the motionless child.
"Ah…"
A group of children burst from behind the bushes—just in time to see the blood.
The boy in front froze. His smile collapsed into stunned incomprehension.
"Justin…? H-Hey… you're okay, right? Stop… stop kidding…"
His voice shook as he called his friend's name.
A little girl stared at the red pooling beneath Justin's head. Words broke in her throat.
"We… we didn't… we didn't mean…"
Warm blood splashed onto the nearest child's boot.
The forest filled with choking sobs and the hunters' ragged breathing.
Because the "deer" wasn't a deer.
It was a child—one of theirs.
After that nightmare, the families of the children involved—along with Joe's own family—left the town as if by unspoken agreement. In a very short time, they were gone without a trace.
And then the light bloomed again, the scene switching to another place—
"…Anyway, I… I don't know why our 'little deer' ran into the forest. Maybe… maybe curiosity?"
Inside a containment unit, an employee in Lobotomy Corporation uniform stood before One Sin, speaking in a broken, halting manner.
"…It took us… an hour to realize he was gone. Then… then we went out together to find him…"
His voice trembled.
"…We saw him in the bushes. He… he… I don't know if he was lost, or if seeing us made him too excited… but he ran toward us…"
"…Then we heard gunshots. Yeah—gunshots. We… we didn't know where they came from…"
"When I snapped out of it… I… I saw his blood on my boot…"
"After that… none of us ever dressed up as animals again. That's… that's it…"
His face resembled one of the children from the forest.
-------
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