Half asleep and half awake, Mianmian found herself by the sea.
On the beach ahead, a little girl with a bob haircut and a kimono crouched on the ground, concentrating on building a sand castle.
The little girl seemed to notice her presence then. She looked up, smiled at the sight of her, and waved, beckoning her over to play.
Mianmian walked over instinctively.
Before she could take more than a few steps, however, several dark figures suddenly appeared behind the girl. They covered her mouth from behind and carried her away. No matter how the little girl struggled, it was useless. She could only stretch out her hand toward the distance, begging for help.
Seeing the girl being captured, Mianmian hurried after her. But as soon as she started running, she discovered how heavy her body was. Her whole body felt as though it had been filled with lead, making every step a struggle.
Worse still, the sand beneath her suddenly turned into quicksand. With every step she took, she sank a little deeper, until both legs were completely buried. Unable to move at all, she could only watch helplessly as the girl cried out and grew farther and farther away...
"No..."
Mianmian jolted awake from the nightmare, only then realizing she was lying in bed, with the blanket in front of her inching upward.
Following the blanket with her eyes, Mianmian looked to the side. A pitch-black, humanoid Shadow Fiend stood beside the bed, carefully pinching two corners of the blanket and pulling it over her. Her movements were extremely gentle, as though afraid of waking her.
Now that Mianmian was awake, their eyes met, and the Shadow Fiend froze. After standing dumbly for two seconds, she let out a mournful cry, turned, and fled through the door.