Chapter 26: Fountain spouting water

“It’s strange. Shouldn’t there be four angels in this fountain, in all four directions, east, west, south, and north? But why is one missing?”

Sia carefully examined the fountain, looking uneasy. At that moment, a strange movement was seen in the empty spot.

“Wait, there’s something there.”

I stopped and began to stare intently at the angel’s spot. Something was slowly rising from there.

At first, it was a small, slender silhouette, but soon it revealed its original form.

It was a long hand.

The hand was emaciated, and the skin was grayish.

The fingers were abnormally long and slender, like only bones remained. But the wrist and arm were clearly connected, and it was definitely different from the hands we had seen before.

“This… It’s completely different from the hands we’ve seen so far.”

I stepped back, my voice trembling.

Sia also took a step back, her eyelids shaking uneasily.

The hand slowly stretched upwards, then began to sway in the air as if beckoning us. And at some point, the hand’s movement stopped.

“That… is it calling us?”

Sia muttered in a small voice.

I held my breath and watched the hand’s movement.

The emaciated hand slowly turned downwards, pointing to the empty spot on the fountain. After that, the hand slowly turned and pointed at us.

As if to say, ‘You have to fill this empty space,’ the fingers swayed towards us.

“What should we do now…?”

Sia trembled and asked.

I silently looked at the fountain and the hand alternately. I didn’t know what this situation meant, what would happen next.

That was when it happened.

The emaciated hand moved slowly, and then suddenly changed direction and stretched out towards us.

The movement was slow but firm, and above all, the overwhelming presence pressed down on our hearts.

“What, what! Is it coming?!”

Sia was startled and stepped back. I grabbed her hand and shouted.

“Let’s run away quickly! Move!”

We started running at full speed to get away from the fountain. But the hand didn’t miss us.

It stretched out long, bending like a living snake. The sound of the fingertips scraping the ground scratched our nerves and maximized the sense of crisis.

“Damn it, I can’t get away like this!”

I gasped for breath and looked around. There had to be a way. There must be a reason why that hand is coming towards us.

“It’s because of that empty spot!”

Sia shouted. She pointed to the stream of water spouted by the angels on the fountain.

“There are four of those angels, but the fourth spot is empty. That’s the problem!”

I caught my breath and stared at the empty spot.

Right. The hand pointed to the empty spot and then came towards us. It was as if it was insisting that we should fill that spot.

“Then what do we do? Do we have to go into that spot?”

“Are you crazy? If you get caught, you might become like those angels! You’ll be trapped in the fountain and doomed to spout water forever!”

“…I can’t do that.”

I gritted my teeth and glared at the fountain.

At that time, the patterns engraved under the angels caught my eye.

“Those patterns… maybe there’s a hint!”

I approached and checked the pedestals of the angels. Since the fountain was quite high, I couldn’t see it in detail, but there were unique patterns engraved under each angel, and one of them was half-broken.

“That pattern… seems to have been intentionally damaged.”

“Is the pattern related to the empty spot?”

The hand once again cast a huge shadow and came threateningly. We instinctively stepped back.

“Time’s running out! Let’s try something!”

We looked around the fountain, trying to find something we could use.

The hand was getting closer and closer, and there was almost no time left.

Then, my eyes fell on the stone figures of people. Numerous statues were placed around the fountain, all in different poses.

“There, look at those statues!”

Sia pointed and shouted.

I followed her direction with my gaze.

The statues were in poses as if people were praying for something. Some had their hands clasped together, and some had one arm raised.

Some of those statues had symbols similar to the angel’s patterns engraved on them.

“That’s it! Those statues are the hint!”

I shouted and ran towards the statues. Sia followed me and asked, “What do you mean? How are those relevant?”

“Look. There are patterns similar to the patterns under the angels engraved on those statues! If we use these statues, we might be able to fill that empty spot!”

I approached the nearest statue and checked the pattern. Clearly, the same pattern as the one engraved on the pedestals of the angels was engraved on the statue. However, some of the statues were damaged.

“Let’s move these statues and fill the empty spot! That might be the key!”

“But how? That hand is following us!”

Sia looked back anxiously. The emaciated hand was still stretched out around the fountain, and its tip was slowly approaching us.

I looked at the stone statues nearby and came up with an idea.

“Okay, let’s make that hand grab the statue at the right timing.”

I said firmly.

Sia widened her eyes as if she couldn’t believe it.

“…Will that work?”

“There’s no other way. That hand sent a signal to fill the empty spot. We have to make that statue take that place instead of us!”

I grabbed the nearest statue and pushed with all my might. The statue was heavy, but the distance to the fountain wasn’t too far.

Sia also came to my side and added her strength.

“Let’s move quickly! That hand is getting closer!”

“I know! Push!”

We pulled the statue towards the empty spot with all our might. But the hand got closer and closer, and now it was clearly coming down towards us.

“The hand is faster!”

“It’s okay, just match the timing! Just make it grab the statue!”

When the statue reached near the empty spot, the hand was already hanging over us. The shadow slowly covered us as if to swallow us.

“Now! Push!”

I pushed the statue into the empty spot with all my might. At that moment, the hand quickly came down and grabbed the statue.

“It worked!”

I cheered, watching the hand completely grab the statue and move it to the empty spot.

But the cheers didn’t last long. Because an unexpected thing happened.

When the hand grabbed the statue, I realized that it had also caught my sleeve.

“Huh?”

I was startled and struggled, but the hand was already pulling me along with the statue.

Sia screamed in horror.

“Oh, no!”

The hand’s strength was beyond imagination. My body was getting closer and closer to the empty spot along with the statue.

The fountain vibrated strangely as if it had finally caught it, and the stream of water grew stronger and stronger.

“Let go! I can’t go like this!”

I grabbed my sleeve with one hand and tried to grab the edge of the fountain with the other. But the hand, as if mocking me, pulled me even harder.

“Ugh, ah!”

“Wait! There must be a way!”

Sia urgently looked around, trying to find something that could help. But unfortunately, time was running out.

Day 1 in the outside?… room.

Today, I faced death-like fear again.
The empty spot in the fountain. And the emaciated hand that appeared from there. It was aiming for us.

I thought we should do something, and Sia and I worked together to move the stone statue to the empty spot.

But the moment the hand grabbed the statue, it also grabbed my sleeve.

I started to be dragged helplessly.

Even if I try to escape, the hand’s strength is too strong, so it’s impossible.

I’ll stop writing my diary for today.

It’s urgent, and there’s nothing to write.

Monster file: [Fountain Spouting Fountain]

Appearance: It’s in the shape of a large fountain.

There were supposed to be four angel statues placed in the east, west, south, and north, but the fourth spot is empty.

From the empty spot below, a grayish, emaciated hand slowly rises.

The hand has abnormally long fingers and an arm that looks like only bones remain.

Characteristics: The hand targets nearby objects to fill the empty space, and the movement is slow but it seems to have overwhelming power.

It has a tendency to grab or drag the target and fix it in the empty space.

It seems that the target fixed in the empty space by the hand turns into an angel statue that spouts a stream of water, judging by the numerous statues scattered around.

However, since the spot where the statue spouts water is not the mouth, but, ugh… that place in the lower body, I absolutely don’t want to be caught.

Danger: The hand’s power is overwhelming, and it seems difficult to stop it with simple tools or weapons.

If caught by the hand or dragged into the empty space, the target is in danger of becoming irreversible.

Moving quickly around the fountain or approaching the empty space is very dangerous.

Weakness: It seems that the movement of the hand will stop if the empty space is filled with a suitable statue or substitute, but I’ll have to try it to know.

The hand doesn’t seem to be very interested in actions unrelated to the empty space.