The darkness of the shopping center swallowed Kai whole.
His footsteps echoes through the ruined structure.
Kai leaped over broken tiles and fallen shelves.
Behind him came laughter.
Soft.
Playful.
Closer than before.
The Smiling Walker wasn't rushing.
It didn't need to.
It knew its prey was trapped.
Kai ducked behind the collapsed shelves, forcing himself to catch his breath.
Think.
Panicking may kill me.
Observation helps me survive.
Kai tried to think as much as he could.
The Nightmare Encyclopedia wasn't completely useless.
Psychological Predator.
Born from the fear of being watch.
Appears from shadows.
Likes chasing.
Likes playing.
Every attack so far had followed a pattern.
It appears.
Attack.
And disappear.
Then re-appear somewhere else.
Never once had it crossed an open ground.
Never once had Kai seen it move from one location to another.
It simply emerged.
As if the shadows themselves birthed it.
A possibility formed in Kai's mind.
"If it uses shadows..."
His gaze slowly moved upward.
The ceiling.
Collapsed skylights.
Broken electrical fixtures.
An emergency generator room nearby.
"...then what happens if there aren't any shadows?"
A distant scream interrupted Kai's thoughts.
H̸̨̭̙̝̺̊́̒̊͊̕ư̵̳͙̣̬͉͓̅̄̽̌̎͝m̶̧̱̦̣͇̹͔̿̽̌̈́̏á̷͔̬͓̥̝͈̉̂ń̵̛̹̯͖̖̳͋̓͂͌̂̓͌
Kai froze.
Another survivor!
The Smiling Walker laught.
Kai's blood turned cold.
The creature wasn't focused solely on me.
It was hunting everyone.
"Aaaaaahhhhhh!..."
The scream became louder.
Desperate.
Terrified.
Kai hesitated.
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Kai's instinct screamed to stay hidden.
To survive.
To use someone as distraction.
Yet the scream continue.
Against all odds—
Kai ran toward the emergency room.
Kai whispered.
"How pathetic."
The survivor was a young man.
Perhaps in his twenties.
Blood covered one side of his face.
A metal pipe trembled in his hands.
His eyes darted wildly through the darkness.
"Please..."
The man shouted.
"Please don't—"
The Nightmare's laughter echoes.
The survivor swung blindly.
Nothing.
Then pale arms erupted from the shadow behind him.
Swoosh.
The man's body froze.
The pipe slipped from his fingers.
Rather his hand been chopped off.
A long slash opened across his chest.
Kai feel the sense of disgust.
The sound of flesh tearing apart.
Disgusting.
Yet Kai stop.
He forced himself to observe everything.
Slowly and precise.
Too fast.
The movement was far too fast.
The survivor staggered backward.
Crying.
Begging.
The Smiling Walker emerged from the darkness.
Smiling.
Watching.
Waiting.
The Smiling Walker didn't kill him directly.
Yet it enjoy every moment, when the man beg, screaming, and crying his eyes out.
The injured man crawled desperately across the floor.
The Nightmare followed.
One slow step at a time.
Like a child following a wounded animal.
"HELP ME!"
The survivor's scream echoed through the building.
Kai clenched his fists.
Move.
Do something.
But Kai's body refused.
Fear anchored him in place.
The Smiling Walker tilted its head.
The smile widened.
Then it vanished.
The survivor looked around frantically.
"No..."
"No..."
"No, please—"
The creature appeared directly in front of him.
The man screamed.
A second later—
Silence.
Blood splattered across the floor.
The smile remained.
The Nightmare slowly chop the mans head.
The sound of cutting flesh echoes on the corridor.
As it slowly arrives at the cervical vertebrae with its cracking bones much louder than the flesh.
Then it raised the chopped head and poke every eye socket before it eat it in a big bite.
Crunch!
Crunch!
The sound of the crashing bones broke the moment of silence.
Kai didn't move an inch he observed every detail as possible.
Kai nearly vomit, when the Nightmare pulled the intestine and wrapped it grounds it's neck.
Then a notification appeared.
Nightmare Encyclopedia Lv.2 New
Nightmare Encyclopedia Progress Increased
Kai made an assumption.
"The System reward death?"
"No."
"It rewards survival and determination."
And the encyclopedia gain experience by observing the Nightmare.
The realization made Kai sick.
Disgusted.
A new line appeared.
Weakness: Light
Kai's eyes widened.
Light.
A genuine weakness.
Not a guess.
Not a theory.
Confirmation.
Kai's heart pounded.
The generator room.
The broken skylights.
The emergency floodlights.
A plan rapidly formed.
Dangerously.
Insane.
Possibly suicidal.
But better than waiting to die.
Kai sprinted deeper into the mall.
The laughter immediately returned.
The Smiling Walker had resumed the chase.
"Good."
"Follow me."
Just a little longer.
The generator room appeared ahead.
A rusted metal door hung half-open.
Kai rushed inside.
Rows of damaged machinery filled the room.
Most were dead.
Broken.
Destroyed.
Except one.
A backup generator.
Still intact.
A grin slowly formed on Kai's face.
"You like games?"
"I'll give you something you enjoy."
Kai grabbed a fuel canister lying nearby.
Then another.
Then another.
Kai emptied them across the room.
The smell of gasoline filled the air.
While the Nightmare started laughing.
it's voice echoes the doorway.
The Nightmare emerged inside.
It appeared through the shadow.
Watching.
Smiling.
Unmoving.
It believed it had already won.
And that arrogance would be its downfall.
Kai pressed the switch button the moment the Nightmare appeared.
SPARK.
The generator roared to life.
The building trembled.
Electricity surged through forgotten cables.
Lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The Smiling Walker stopped smiling.
For the first time—
It stepped backward.
Kai saw it.
Fear.
The creature feared the light.
And suddenly...
The hunter no longer looked invincible.
To be continued...