The showdown between the old granny and Yuki had started. The old woman lunged at Yuki with her walking stick, while Yuki stood grinning a wild smile. Then—
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*BLANK!*
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The fight had ended. As expected, the fight ended up with the granny losing, and she walked out looking sad and defeated. Yuki had literally slammed the chair she was stepping on right onto the old granny. But Yuki was later arrested right there in the hospital for assaulting an old lady, while the old granny grinned and chuckled evilly from behind the scenes. Hanabi was discharged from the hospital at the exact same time, since she was supposed to be discharged on that same day anyway.
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Hanabi and the rest of her friends walked out of the hospital exit, only to see Yuki causing a massive ruckus outside.
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"This isn't over, you old lady! You hear me?!" Yuki shouted angrily while three policemen were actively trying to force her into the back of a squad car. "You will regret this!" Yuki screamed, stomping her foot hard against the car door frame to resist them.
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"Hanabi, I think we are going to part ways here now," said Mio.
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"That's fine since you all have jobs. But who's going to take care of Yuki?" Hanabi asked, looking at them while glancing over at Yuki, who was finally forced into the car.
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"Hmph," Hanabi muttered, looking at the three policemen who were all heavily breathing, literally fighting for their lives just to close the door.
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"Well, she can clearly take care of herself since her dad is a very reputable man. She will be out in a minute," said Min-seo.
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"Okay then, I will be seeing you guys later," Hanabi said, turning around as she waved behind her back with her left hand while clutching her huge teddy bear tightly in her right arm.
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"Bye!" her friends called out, waving back at her.
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Hanabi started walking home calmly, but it seemed she would have to visit somewhere else first. After moments of walking, she reached a steep hill with an old bungalow house painted entirely black sitting right at the top. She stood at the base, gazing up at it, then sighed and continued to walk uphill toward the house. The moment she reached the doorstep, she took a deep breath and knocked.
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*Knock! Knock!*
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"Come inside, my child," said an old lady's voice from within.
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Hanabi opened the door and walked in slowly, leaving her shoes outside. When she entered, she found herself in a small, cramped room that didn't match the size of the rest of the house. There was an old-looking lady who appeared to be in her 70s, wearing a black cloth and a dark veil that completely covered her face. She was sitting on a black mat on the ground with a small mini-table set before her.
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A heavy fire was burning sticks in a large, black vase pot, creating a thick smoke of incense, while her black magic and voodoo items were placed directly before the flames.
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"Greetings, Gran Sarume," said Hanabi, bowing her head respectfully.
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"Greetings, my child," said Gran Sarume, lifting up her veil with a warm smile. "Sit." She gestured with her right hand.
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Hanabi sat down on a small stool chair on the floor, facing Gran Sarume through the rising smoke of the burning fire.
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"I got the news that you were kidnapped but you managed to survive. I was so worried about you. So how are you feeling now? Is your body okay?" Gran Sarume asked, staring at Hanabi with calm worry.
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"Well, my body is doing fine. I got very lucky this time," said Hanabi, shifting her eyes to the left while rubbing the back of her neck with her left hand.
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"Yes, you got lucky for now. You could have died for real. I saw a vision of you dying a miserable death a day before you were kidnapped, and when I tried to reach out to you the next day, disaster had already struck," Gran Sarume said, her voice laced with frustration.
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Hanabi’s face turned completely serious, fully focused on the old woman.
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"The curse of bad luck on you seems to be getting worse, and more calamities will befall you. You are now going to have much harder and more chaotic times in your life," Gran Sarume warned.
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"What?! Isn't there any way to stop this curse, or at least find the cause of it?" Hanabi asked desperately.
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"I've tried everything, and I've been trying for years, but everything I get is a total blank. I can't get any clues to break through this curse. Sometimes when I even try, I get a violent backlash. It's like there's something... a power that doesn't want me to see anything about your curse or trace it. It keeps making my eyes see only darkness, followed by a severe backlash."
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"So, what are you going to do?" Hanabi asked worriedly, clutching her teddy bear even tighter to her chest.
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Gran Sarume looked at Hanabi seriously, then let out a heavy sigh. "But after all these years, I've come to the conclusion that it could either be a very powerful entity behind this, or a strange and incredibly strong phenomenon that caused it," Gran Sarume said as she poured herself a glass of tea, blowing softly into the steaming cup.
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"So, how do we deal with this?" Hanabi asked, curious.
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"I don't know for now, but I'm starting to get small cracks out of my hard work. Maybe it might pay off with something that could be a good clue for us," Gran Sarume said, taking a slow sip of her tea.
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"Ok. I hope at least something comes out of it," said Hanabi, feeling a small weight lift from her chest.
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Gran Sarume’s eyes instantly locked in, her gaze piercing right through Hanabi. "One of those cracks is this exact incident that just happened to you," Gran Sarume said in a deadly serious tone.
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"My kidnapping incident was one of the cracks?" Hanabi asked, suddenly wary and intensely curious.
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"Yes. Because you were supposed to die because of your curse in the hands of those criminals. Your fate had already been sealed by the earth, by the lords of the skies, and Death itself had written your name in its book. The moment I saw this in my vision, I knew it would be impossible for you to survive. And the proof is that you forgot the bracelet I made for you to suppress the curse of bad luck," Gran Sarume said, raising her left hand to reveal the bracelet.
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Hanabi looked at it, shocked and serious, her curiosity spiking before she slowly cast her gaze downward.
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"This is your bad luck at work to destroy you. It was supposed to be completely impossible for you to escape or survive," Gran Sarume emphasized.
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"But they were all wrong. I'm alive and sitting right here. Those fate stuffs are all lies," Hanabi snapped back, looking directly at Gran Sarume.
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"The spirits can never be wrong. And the proof is that forces from different realms—the sky, the earth, and Death itself—had all approved that you were meant to die," Gran Sarume countered.
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"That's a lie!" Hanabi said angrily.
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Gran Sarume looked at her calmly. "Okay, tell me how you felt when you were kidnapped. Did you think you could escape? Did you think you could live? Just tell me what you were thinking, and what you honestly thought you were capable of," Gran Sarume said, her voice dropping to a heavy, serious register.
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Hanabi remained completely quiet.
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"Did you even have a single shred of hope? No. This actually proves that even you knew that it was impossible, and your time to die had come." She gazed at Hanabi with genuine pity. "I didn't mean to say those words to harm you, because I know they do. But I was trying to pull out the crack—the solution to our problems. Your problems."
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Hanabi’s eyes suddenly widened with a flash of absolute clarity. "I'm sorry, aunt... it's just that I—"
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Before Hanabi could finish, Gran Sarume cut her off.
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"I understand. Even I, if I were in your position, would have acted the same way. But the point I'm trying to pick out here is that you were meant to die, and your name had already been marked by Death. You ended up in an impossible and hopeless scenario, but suddenly everything changed immediately. For the first time in my entire life, I have never seen such a thing happen. The heavens agreed, the earth agreed, and even Death had your name—but it all changed. Not even the strongest man on the planet would have been able to save you, but you somehow survived even in the midst of death. So tell me... how did you manage to survive?" Gran Sarume asked, intensely curious.
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Hanabi remained quiet for a long moment, then let out a slow sigh. "I've decided to forget about everything, but I'll give you the story then, since you asked," she said.
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She then started talking, detailing her entire kidnapping incident. She spoke about how she met P, the wild moments they shared together, how they were ruthlessly chased and shot, and the moment she passed out. Then she explained how everything she thought was real turned out to be false—how it was physically proven that P never truly existed, and why she finally decided it all had to be a crazy trick of her imagination born from a desperate survival instinct. She explained that she just wanted to forget the incident entirely because thinking about it caused severe headaches.
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"So, that's everything that happened," Gran Sarume murmured.
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"Yes. None of it was real," Hanabi stated.
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"Hmmm... this is very strange," Gran Sarume said. She went dead silent for a moment, resting her left hand on her chin as she fell deep into thought. "The universe works in strange ways. I think I will have to look into this. But Hanabi, I think you made the right choice to forget about the incident for now."
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"Okay, Gran Sarume. But what about the crack? The crack?" Hanabi asked, still searching for answers.
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"The crack? Well... just forget about it. It seems like a powerful external force appeared and just put your brain to work. Here you go—I amplified the bracelet even more to subdue the curse for some time," Gran Sarume said. She reached out and handed the lucky bracelet to Hanabi, who took it and slid it onto her right wrist.
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"Thank you," Hanabi said, feeling genuinely grateful.
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"No problem, my child. You can go now," said Gran Sarume.
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Hanabi got to her feet and walked toward the entrance to leave the building, Gran Sarume watching her closely from behind. But just before Hanabi could step out, Gran Sarume called out to her one last time.
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"Hanabi, remember this. Sometimes even good people and bad people can bring good luck and good things into your life. So cherish those people around you with your whole heart."
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"Hehhh? I thought you were the kind of person who didn't say corny stuff like that," Hanabi taunted playfully, her hand resting on the door handle.
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"Do you think I would actually say corny words like that? It's actually a hint. Take note," Gran Sarume said firmly.
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"Ok, I will," Hanabi replied.
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The moment Hanabi shut the door, the room plunged back into complete darkness, saved only by the eerie glow of the burning incense fire. Gran Sarume’s eyes instantly locked forward, narrowing into a gaze of absolute, deadly seriousness as she uttered a single word into the empty room:
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"P......."20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI0slmOEvjn
and then Add to home screen.