Chapter 451

That cry was filled with something fresh, as if it had been freshly pulled from despair— viscous and heavy. The words were sticky and weighed down, struggling to be spoken aloud. The sound was sluggish, reluctant to rise, and stubbornly stayed in place, floundering repeatedly. And so, the melted figure screamed again and again.

“There is a monster. This monster exists within the Commonwealth of Australia!”

Attempting to force out that tar-like voice, they yelled. They squeezed their throat, overworked it, and drew out the voice. It felt like pressing melted flesh against hot asphalt— an agonizing heat and pain—but they ignored it and continued to shout, and shout again.

Spitting out blood, their liquid body crying out, the man spoke:

“I shout and shout again. With the fervor of burning my entire body, and with the resolve to offer everything from a single strand of hair to the very last fingernail, I denounce this! Esteemed audience, who have kindly gathered here, lending me your precious time— please listen! There exists a monster— on our precious land, within Australia!”

Wearing a belt made of empty chairs, toward the horribly crammed empty chairs scattered throughout the vast space, the man yelled again and again.

As if there were people present.

As if there were listeners to his words.

With melted ears, he imagined hearing the murmur of a crowd. With melted eyes, he envisioned the space packed with people. With nothing left but his sagging skin, unable to function, the man kept shouting.

His silhouette looked like a great black mass shouting.

From afar, it resembled the tongue of a monster luring prey with its voice.

“You all are aware. Of the bounty of our land! It isn’t so cold that, like in Russia where feet freeze and rot despite thick boots, nor is it oppressively hot like the Middle East where boiling water emerges from the tap. We often walk barefoot toward nearby places and can even survive with light clothing in the winter. You see, we live in a blessed land!”

The black mass roared, spewing something grotesque, uncertain whether it was blood or sticky pollution.

“But we must remember: blessings are treasures, and treasures attract those who seek to exploit them! We know of the dangers hidden within our blessings. We acknowledge the curses lurking beside us in this blessed land. I know, you know, we all know!”

The melted man continued, addressing the completely empty space.

To spark empathy, he spoke.

Into a completely vacated, hollow expanse.

“A spider bite can kill you. Kangaroos might cross your path! Giant insect-like creatures in the streets! Deadly jellyfish and octopuses threatening beachgoers in the seas! Snakes in any patch of tall grass! Sinister crocodiles waiting with their mouths open for humans! Dingos that seem like our best friends but are actually from hell! Camels polluting oasis waters and devouring crops, reducing the land available for human habitation! Emus destroying harvests! And rabbits and foxes damaging the Australian ecosystem!”

A sticky sound echoed across the space, bouncing off the walls, reflecting over and over again, finally reaching its sole audience.

The sound clung unpleasantly to the ear, wriggling grotesquely as it crawled into the mind, transmitting its message.

“Ah, we live alongside the threat of nature. Every encounter brings injury, pain, and even death! These are our unpleasant neighbors. This is the cost of living in this blessed land. What we must endure, what we struggle endlessly to overcome!”

Was the increasingly disturbing sound of that melted man’s cries due to the lighting?

“But the astonishing thing is that all this isn’t the worst. We’ve never experienced the worst, and we’ve never even imagined it. This worst surely exists, yet unaware, we have not prepared for it. It’s approaching us, getting closer each day, and we know nothing! Nothing at all!”

The excessively clustered lights were shining eerily, like countless eyeballs, uncomfortably illuminating the space below as if mimicking the grotesque skin of a mythological monster studded with many eyes.

The light was brilliant and clear, precisely why it felt so unpleasant.

Because it revealed this bizarre scene in stark detail.

“We may not have known before. Yes, we could have been completely ignorant. But we can no longer remain in the dark! Not because ignorance is a sin, but because knowledge can save our lives. We must know. We must recognize the approaching threats, the dangers, the crises, and this monster!”

The figure, reduced to a puddle but still acting as a tongue, spoke.

Despite an exaggerated form nearly devoid of human shape, they acted as if they were perfectly intact.

“The moment you face this monster, it will consume you. You might be able to evade it by turning away, but should you meet it, its approach is fated. It will harvest your life. It is the worst possible encounter, the most terrible conclusion imaginable, far more horrifying than anything we could experience alive. It is our destiny, our inevitable doom. But it’s also something we dread meeting! And thus we fight, flee, and run, abandoning lovers, spouses, children, parents, all our family ties. It’s the kind of entity you have to run from headfirst! And that monster, it is…”

*

“…Death.”

Anastasia whispered this, lowering her voice dramatically. Her recitation starkly contrasted with the earlier exaggerated imitation of the “melted man.”

“Um…that was kind of creepy, huh?”

This method worked on the audience. When she softened her tone during the story’s climax, it made the prior content hit harder and sent shivers down the spines of the listening girls. Especially those who had accompanied Anastasia in the dream remembered the strange visions she had been referencing, amplifying the spooky effect.

“Hee-hee.”

Satisfied with the reactions, Anastasia smiled with delight, adjusted her expression, and continued her story, maintaining the atmosphere.

This was the story from the bizarre entity Anastasia had encountered in her dream.

“Death takes human form. It walks on two legs. It has two arms, two eyes, and a nose with two open holes. It possesses a mouth, just like all humans, and a throat so deep it seems bottomless. It walks across deserts, through forests, along beaches, lurking nearby, like a neighbor among humans and animals alike.”

In a silent darkness, the sound of distant cars formed the background noise.

Anastasia’s whisper spread through the silence among the girls.

“The monster sees animals with its two eyes. It smells humans with its nose and addresses them with its mouth. Then, stopping them in their tracks, the monster approaches them with two legs and stretches out its two arms to capture them. After seizing its prey, it reveals itself, just before taking the unknowing, ignorant soul’s life. Right before snatching their soul and collecting it into its body, the monster clumsily removes a covering of skin to reveal a faceless skull and declares…”

“…”

“I am… death.”

Whoosh—

The moment Anastasia uttered those words, a cold breeze swept between them.

It was unnaturally cold for the season, shocking the girls. Watching their startled reactions with satisfaction, Anastasia remained silent, savoring the moment.

As if inviting them to enjoy the atmosphere.

Time flowed.

One second.

Two.

Three…

When it hit exactly ten seconds, Anastasia grinned and announced cheerfully,

“That’s all for the story, everyone!”