Chapter Twenty-Six: Manman

Han Su charged up to the fourth floor without looking back. Following the familiar, utterly silent corridor, he reached the third room, opened the door, and went inside. Only then did he draw a deep breath.

If Half-Woman changed her mind and decided to catch him, the stairs would be the most dangerous part of his journey.

By contrast, once he made it up the stairs and onto a new floor, he would be temporarily safe.

The monsters each had their own territory. The stairs seemed to be a public area that any of them could enter, but the floors they inhabited were private domains. Under normal circumstances, the others wouldn't cross into them at will—except for the Old Butler.

"This weapon the kid made is pretty good..."

Han Su glanced at the thing in his hand and waited for his heartbeat to settle. He had no idea where the kid had found it. It seemed to be made of some strange metal, and its edges were quite sharp.

He looked around. The room was piled high with battered toys, each in a different style from a different era.

There were dolls, dusty plastic soldiers, stuffed toy dogs, black electronic spinning tops, and rows of wooden dolls behind a glass cabinet along the wall. Each one wore a foreign-style dress and stood nearly half as tall as an adult.

"Finally made it up..."

Han Su couldn't let his guard down, but his nerves had already begun to stir, driven by instinct.

The key was on the fourth floor, so the door would appear there too.

And although the fourth floor had those annoying wooden dolls, the monster here was fat and sluggish. If he was careful enough, he could surely snatch the key from it.

Once he had the key, the door would appear. As long as he got through it, he would have escaped the Ancient Castle, no matter which floor he left from.

He didn't know exactly how it worked. The door hadn't originally been part of the Ancient Castle. It had appeared out of nowhere, along with the key, after he'd happened to save Xu Ji.

As if it were some kind of reward from fate?

Unfortunately, Han Su had no way to investigate the reasons behind these strange events. All he knew was that this was his chance to escape.

"The Pale Giant has poor eyesight and moves slowly, but its hearing is very sharp..."

"The dolls in the glass cabinets are alive, but they seem to like pretending to be lifeless. They won't make a sound unless they have to..."

"The dolls are hostile toward living things in this castle, but they aren't on the Pale Giant's side..."

"More new information!"

"Last time, after the pale monster was injured, its flesh suddenly melted and spread like flowing water. So this time, I'd better avoid hurting it unless I have to. It's actually easier to deal with when it isn't injured..."

"Also..."

"If I avoid the injury to my eye this time, will that cause a major change in my Life Path when I return to the future?"

"..."

All kinds of information flashed through his mind. There was a lot Han Su couldn't be sure about. He wanted to avoid changing his Life Path too much, but too many factors were beyond his control.

He even wondered about the Spell Song Chushi had given him. It had activated the power in his right eye. Now that everything about him had returned to how it was when he was ten, would the Spell still work?

But no matter what, everything had to give way to the goal of escaping.

As he thought, Han Su slowed his steps and edged toward the back of the room.

Inside the huge glass cabinet beside him, a wooden doll with an eerie smile on its face slept with its big eyes wide open.

The room was large, yet somehow felt cramped.

Besides the mountains of toys, there was a big pink bed at the far end, a piano, and heavy black curtains that seemed as if they had once been pink.

"Manman..."

Han Su stopped and looked beside the bed. A small, thin girl sat in the corner, hugging her knees. Hearing his voice, she stared up at him, dazed, with tear tracks still on her face.

She was Li Manman, the daughter of the Chairman of Magic Box Group.

She was also the doll he had nearly managed to bring out of the underground fortress last time: a timid but obedient little girl who had tried her best to help.

Han Su noticed that in the nearest cabinet, one of the golden-haired dolls had tilted its head slightly.

It had "woken up" and was watching him through the glass, smiling.

"Shh..."

Han Su steadied himself, looked at Li Manman, and raised a finger to his lips.

The little girl was clearly frightened, but just as she had every other time Han Su had seen her, she reacted quickly. Even though someone had suddenly appeared in front of her, she didn't make a sound.

Han Su slowly approached and patted her head. The image flashed through his mind of her head being torn open just as they had nearly reached the door last time.

But he quickly pushed aside that useless feeling and looked the girl in the eye. "Manman, I'm here to save you. I know today's your birthday, and I know you have a card with you. Your mom and dad gave it to you. It says they love you."

"I also know you have one of Magic Box Group's latest toys. It can fold into lots of fun little things, like a magnifying glass, a set square, and small pliers. It even has a mirror."

"Right?"

Li Manman slowly widened her eyes. She didn't know Han Su well.

But the boy had called her by name, correctly identified who she was, and even knew what she had on her. That dispelled her doubts. She nodded hard, her eyes bright with anticipation.

"Now, I'm going to get you out of here."

When Han Su saw her nod, he continued, "But there's a monster guarding the outside. Before I can get you out, I need you to help me with something first. Can you do that?"

Li Manman nodded hard.

"Good."

Han Su leaned close to her ear and carefully explained the important points, keeping it as simple as possible so she'd understand.

Once he was done, he ignored the increasing number of wooden dolls waking in the glass cabinets beside him, watching him with strange, excited eyes, and quietly moved toward the cabinet.

He glanced back at the little figure curled up in the corner. A flicker of hope suddenly stirred in him.

If he only planned to take one person out, could this actually be the perfect opportunity?

He hadn't intended to save anyone when he came back this time, but now the chance was right in front of him. If he could get the key and take her out of the room, might he be able to bring her out of the Ancient Castle too?

The thought made him hopeful, but he stayed alert.

Han Su slowly clenched his fist, then went to the room's door and took two deep breaths. Suddenly, he yanked down a cabinet beside the door, sending a cloud of dust into the air. It fell across the doorway, blocking it.

The plastic dolls in the glass cabinets were startled. Their expressions twisted horribly, as if they were cursing furiously.

The tremendous noise also shattered the silence on the fourth floor.

Soon, the heavy sound of flesh dragging across the old floorboards rang out. The monster had started lumbering toward the room.

Han Su's heart beat faster and faster, but he only closed his eyes for a moment before his expression went blank again. In moments of such intense tension, he had gotten used to facing every crisis with an expressionless face.

The stench of rot began to fill his nostrils. The dragging sound reached the doorway, and Han Su heard ragged panting. A shadow seemed to peer in from outside.

Then he turned and signaled to Li Manman.

The little girl stood up and bravely approached the glass cabinet, giving it a gentle tap.

The dolls inside saw her coming and grew even angrier. The air filled with a shrill, strange noise, as if they were cursing at her.

The monster outside seemed able to hear the noise. It grew tense, let out a low, guttural growl, and shoved hard at the door, shaking loose bits of dust as it tried to get inside and see what was happening.

The cabinet Han Su had pulled down was blocking the door. It wouldn't open without a hard shove.

At Han Su's instruction, Manman took out her little toy and unfolded a palm-sized mirror in front of the dolls in the glass cabinet.

She rose onto her toes and aimed the mirror at one of the dolls, making it see its own reflection.

The doll in the cabinet had been cursing. Normally, the dolls pretended to be still when people were around, and they weren't the least bit afraid of a little girl like Li Manman. Their curses had been vicious.

But the moment the mirror was raised in front of one of them, it froze.

Its two plastic eyeballs nearly bulged out of its head.

Suddenly, it let out a horrifying scream. It no longer sounded like something a plastic doll could make, but more like the desperate, broken wail of a girl.

The plastic dolls were afraid of mirrors. They drove them to despair and made them lose their minds.

"Bang!"

The scream immediately alarmed the Pale Giant outside.

At last, it stopped bothering to move gracefully. It suddenly shoved the door open with all its strength. The cabinet blocking the doorway flew apart, its wooden boards scattering in every direction. Even some of the glass cabinets inside the room were smashed by the flying debris.