Chapter 6: The Nameless Girl.

Watching the figure of the Thousand-Handed Demon carrying the burlap sack gradually disappear into the depths of the endless night, the human-skin lantern hanging on the grocery store doorframe suddenly flared back to life with a whoosh.

White Sugar glanced at the wall clock.

2:35.

There were still ten minutes until closing time. It looked like no more customers would come tonight.

She retrieved the human-skin lantern hanging on the rusty iron hook outside the door. Without the lantern’s repelling effect, the ghoul pack lurking in the darkness surged forward like a tide.

Their bamboo-pole-like slender limbs propped against the ground, resembling a circle of starving wild dogs waiting to be fed.

This time, however, White Sugar did not choose to “spend money to avoid disaster.” She directly slammed the shop door shut with a bang, bolted it, and left without looking back.

She shut the pack of ghouls outside.

“Before sleeping, I still need to clean the floor inside the store.”

Heading to the washroom to get the mop, White Sugar muttered to herself.

She had to admit that tonight, when facing the threat of the Thousand-Handed Demon, she had gone a bit overboard in order to make herself seem difficult to provoke and plant wariness in him.

It wasn’t that her wrist had lost strength and let go of his. White Sugar knew that chopping off two hundred of his hands was already her limit.

That number was just right. It was enough to instill terror and wariness in him toward her, White Sugar, while not pushing him to the brink and forcing him to fight desperately.

All in all, it had been a close call without real danger.

The girl diligently mopped the sticky black bloodstains on the floor, not missing a single corner. Otherwise, if she waited until tomorrow when the bloodstains had completely dried and hardened, sticking firmly to the floor, being picked on by Witch Teacher would lead to another tragedy.

After finishing, she washed the mop clean and returned it to its original place. Finally, she tidied the goods on the shelves and arranged them neatly.

The last ten minutes passed, and it was time for the grocery store to turn off the lights and close.

White Sugar lit a palm-sized lantern, held it in her hand, climbed onto a stool, and blew out the larger kerosene lamp hanging under the beam.

The grocery store fell back into darkness, no different from the silent and dangerous Long Night outside.

Carrying the small lantern and relying on the faint remaining light, White Sugar returned to her narrow bedroom, which had been converted from a storage room next to Witch Teacher’s room.

Just before entering her bedroom, her footsteps paused.

She didn’t know if it was because the door hinges were old, but Teacher’s room door was still not fully closed, leaving a finger-wide gap just like before.

But unlike before, this time White Sugar didn’t dare to lean in and peek.

She shook her head hard, then walked into her small bedroom converted from the storage room.

She closed the door but did not go to bed to rest immediately.

Placing the small lantern on the bedside table, she followed her memory and rummaged through the cabinet drawer to pull out a small pink notebook.

This was hers.

Or more precisely, it was left behind by the original owner of this body White Sugar now inhabited—a diary filled with the records of an unfortunate human girl struggling alone in the hell world, living every day in fear and on the verge of mental collapse.

It was also a survival guide left for White Sugar.

Opening the first page of the diary and counting backward from the added dates, it was roughly July 25th.

【Where is this place?! Shouldn’t I be on the high-speed train heading back to school?

Why did I suddenly appear here!

Why are there so many monsters!

There are terrifying-looking monsters everywhere! I don’t dare leave the hole! My stomach is so hungry…】

【Date: July 25

I haven’t slept for nearly 24 hours. So sleepy… So hungry… I’m still hiding in the hole, surrounded by the cries of terrifying monsters.

I accidentally found two pieces of nougat in my skirt pocket. I ate them, but I’m still so hungry…

Am I going to die soon?】

The diary entries for the following days showed that the girl had been hiding in an abandoned slanted cave. She had no food or water, and her mind was on the verge of collapse.

This situation only changed after seven days.

【Date: August 1 (supplement)

I’m really so hungry. I’ve already eaten all the grass around me. If I can’t find food, I will starve to death tomorrow.

With that thought, I walked out of the cave.

I originally thought I would die on the way to find food, but I was wrong.

When I left the cave, the sky was exceptionally dark. I didn’t know what that meant, but the moment I stood up, I felt a wave of dizziness.

I fainted.】

【Date: August 2

I can’t believe it. I can’t believe my eyes! But I really woke up inside a grocery store!

I originally thought this world was full of monsters that crawled on all fours, ate rotten flesh, and couldn’t speak. But the person who saved me was wearing a gray Zhongshan suit from the 80s and a octagonal hat!

Although he wasn’t human, we could communicate. It seems I might have a chance to survive!】

The handwriting on this day was especially forceful. White Sugar could clearly feel the excitement between the lines.

However, this excitement took a sharp turn a few days later.

【Date: August 5

I’m really so happy. I was assigned to watch the store in the grocery shop. This is my job.

Although there isn’t even basic pay and the food is hard to swallow, it seems there is really hope to survive!

In the evening, Mr. Cless brought back a human named Lele. She looks like another unfortunate person who crossed into this world like me. Am I going to have a new colleague?

No… That’s not right!

Screams from Lele came from the kitchen. Is Mr. Cless going to kill him?

Tonight’s dinner is… stewed meat… Ugh… Ugh…

I accidentally dropped and broke the bowl. Mr. Cless got angry and scolded me for wasting food. The way Mr. Cless looks at me is wrong, like he’s looking at… food!

Cless dug out my right eye as punishment for wasting food…】

In the subsequent diary entries, the girl who lost her right eye became extremely cautious and avoided all dangers.

The more she understood this world, the more hopeless her situation felt.

While recording a large number of dangers to avoid, she was also trapped inside this small grocery store. Inside the store was the night demon teacher who could eat her at any time. Outside was darkness full of malice that was difficult to step into.

This fate finally saw a turning point a month ago.

【Date: March 3

Today Mr. Cless went out and left me to watch the store alone. During White Night, a customer came to mail something. I told him Mr. Cless was out today and not in the store.

The customer didn’t say much. He only left the item to be mailed and asked me to deliver it when Mr. Cless returned.

Although I knew I might be punished by Mr. Cless afterward, I couldn’t help but open that small wooden box out of curiosity.

Inside the wooden box was actually a gray eyeball. It looked as beautiful as a gem.

What a coincidence. I just happened to be missing one eyeball…】

White Sugar had not inherited the girl’s memories, but based on the diary that abruptly ended here, she could barely piece together the full picture.

White Sugar raised her hand and gently touched the gray Eye of Breaking Delusion in her right eye, her thoughts heavy.

Perhaps the girl in the diary had realized the unusual nature of this Eye of Breaking Delusion and, struggling to escape her fate, chose to transplant the eyeball into herself.

As for the result… whether due to rejection or some other reason, the girl in the diary had not survived.

The remaining young girl’s body had conveniently become available for White Sugar, whose soul had fallen into this world.