The little girl had a small wish.

She wanted to travel around and see all kinds of fascinating things.

But her grandfather never allowed her to leave the house.

Perhaps that’s why she dreamed every night, as if it were her only escape.

She had three different dreams.

The first dream seemed to reflect her desire to explore the outside world, where she wandered around Seoul.

Although it was a bit frustrating not being able to move freely in the dream, she could tolerate the discomfort.

The dream showed her many different landscapes, satisfying her desire for variety.

In her dream, she could see and experience every corner of Seoul.

The variety was so extensive that it seemed endless.

When she woke up, most of the dream would fade from memory, but a few scenes remained faintly in her mind.

‘There was a giant tower in the dream, right? The same huge tower I can see from Grandfather's house. I really wanted to go inside it…’

But no matter how much she turned the doorknob in the dream, the tower's door would never open.

Click, click, click.

The sound of the doorknob echoed loudly, but the door never opened.

The second dream was one where her friends visited her in the dream.

Her only friends—because she had no friends in real life—were dream friends who looked exactly like her.

These friends showed her strange memories.

Memories full of joy and happiness.

In these memories, she laughed and enjoyed herself as she visited various places.

The grandfather in these memories was a bit cold, but unlike her real grandfather, he let her roam freely.

She especially enjoyed the Object Danger Zones.

A tree that bubbled with soap suds.

A lake that gave off a scent so delightful it made her head spin with joy.

A stream as clear as flowing crystal.

A forest where kittens, the size of the girl herself, played.

In these wondrous places, the girl and her friends wore bright smiles.

But, as always, these memories would abruptly cut off, as if a fascinating cartoon had been interrupted.

‘I want to see more.’

But no matter how much she pleaded to see more, her friends, who looked just like her, only shook their heads.

The third dream was a deeply unsettling one.

In this dream, a sticky red liquid clung to her incessantly.

It was so sticky she couldn’t remove it by herself.

Moreover, whenever the liquid stuck to her, she would hear strange voices.

Though voices don’t have colors, this one felt red.

And just when she thought she’d be sucked into the liquid and buried completely, her only friends would grab her hands and pull her out with all their strength.

As soon as she escaped the liquid, she would forget both the dream and her friends, waking up instantly.

Every time.

Omu-ryong’s Estate, located in the heart of Seoul.

Omu-ryong’s granddaughter sat by the window, gazing blankly at the beautiful fireworks bursting from the Doll Fair in the city.

As the colorful explosions painted the night sky, a feeling of excitement stirred in the girl's heart, making her long to attend the festival herself.

‘I really want to go…’

As the girl was lost in her imagination, the kindly butler, who always stayed by her side, approached her and spoke softly.

“Miss, I’m sorry, but the chairman is asking for you.”

At his words, the girl nodded.

Putting aside her daydreams about the festival, she curiously followed her grandfather’s summons.

The place where she arrived, led by her curiosity, was an unfamiliar room.

The space was filled with strange machines, and in the center was a tank containing an unsettling liquid.

Feeling oddly cold and foreboding, the girl instinctively shrank back.

Her grandfather, standing beside the tank, smiled at her and beckoned her closer.

With a mixture of curiosity and fear, the girl cautiously approached.

“Grandfather?”

The girl called out, her voice tinged with unease, but Omu-ryong simply handed her a blindfold.

Following her grandfather’s instructions, the girl put on the blindfold and submerged herself in the liquid.

The liquid was warm and sticky.

It was a sensation she didn’t remember, but somehow, it felt oddly familiar.

Then, strange sounds began to fill her ears.

The sound of something being ground up in a blender, followed by the sound of that something being poured into the liquid she was submerged in.

Grinding and pouring.

Grinding and pouring.

As more things were ground and poured into the liquid, it became increasingly sticky, clinging to her.

‘What’s that sound?’

The girl was curious and wanted to peek through the gap in her blindfold, but a voice, as if from nowhere, told her not to.

‘We’re okay. So you shouldn’t look.’

‘I’m sorry we couldn’t be with you until the end.’

The voice, though unknown to her, felt oddly familiar—like a friend’s voice.

And at the moment when the last grinding sound echoed, pain suddenly surged through her.

A sharp pain, as if something was slicing through her.

The pain started at her toes and gradually crawled upward.

‘!!!!’

The unbearable pain overwhelmed her, and she lost consciousness without even being able to scream.

When the girl next opened her eyes, she found herself in a white space, ankle-deep in blood.

It was the same place where she always had her three dreams.

As soon as she set foot in the dream space, forgotten memories returned to her.

The familiar space.

The only difference was the warm blood that now reached her ankles, filling the space with a nostalgic, comforting warmth.

Remembering the voices of her friends from before she woke up, the girl began frantically running around, searching for them.

‘Where are you?’

But no matter how much she ran around the white space, her friends were nowhere to be seen.

After wandering for what felt like ages, just as she was about to give up—

‘I’m sorry.’

‘We just wanted you to be happy...’

She heard the faint voices of her friends.

The sound was coming from the blood-filled floor.

When the girl turned her head and looked down at the blood, it began to bubble.

Then, a small hand—her own—floated to the surface.

‘You were hiding here!’

The girl’s face lit up with joy as she grabbed the hand and pulled, but her friend was so light that she fell back into the blood.

In the girl’s grasp remained only the dismembered hand of her friend.

‘!’

And with that, countless pieces of flesh began to surface from the blood.

All of them looked just like her.

But they were ruthlessly dismembered corpses.

‘Why? Why did this happen?’

At that moment, red light began to descend from the sky.

The red voice returned.

And the sticky red liquid began surging toward her, engulfing her.

But there were no friends left to pull her out this time.

Doll Fair in Seoul, Security Doll Pavilion.

‘!’

I was waving my hand at the Agu-grade security doll that seemed to be watching me, even though I was in Ghost Form.

When I waved to the right, its eyes shifted slightly to the right. When I waved to the left, its eyes moved slightly to the left.

It could really see me?

It felt strange that the association, which couldn’t even create cameras capable of capturing spirits, had made a doll that could detect ghostly forms.

It was like creating a computer without having first invented the calculator.

That was the impression I got.

And after discovering that the Agu-grade doll could see spirits, I waved my hand in front of the other dolls, but none of them could detect my Ghost Form—only the Agu-grade doll could.

‘Nothing special.’

I had entered the “Grand Object Security Doll Exhibit” with high expectations, but my interest quickly waned.

The dolls were merely fast and strong—not particularly fascinating.

As I stepped outside the pavilion, the fireworks continued to dazzle the night sky.

Thud, thud.

I wandered around, watching the fireworks, when something caught my attention.

A parade!

A procession of dolls, dressed in colorful clothes, dancing and singing.

Their tireless energy and precise movements, almost mechanical in their perfection, were quite impressive.

I perched on top of a streetlight doll, watching the parade while still in Ghost Form.

‘I should show this to the mini grim reapers later.’

Especially the Golden Grim Reaper—he’d probably be so excited that he’d try to mimic it. I’d love to see him put on a parade.

The dolls drumming on big bass drums, others playing trumpets.

The rhythm was infectious, making me want to move along with it.

The parade was full of lively energy, but then things began to get strange.

The marching dolls suddenly stopped moving, and an ominous sound filled the air.

It was the sound of something being ground up in a blender.

Then, the sound of a girl groaning in pain.

The noise was so loud that it drowned out both the music playing in the exhibit and the parade’s own music.

But no one else seemed to hear it—only me.

The dolls, which had stopped, began moving again, but their movements were stiff and unnatural, as though something was broken.

Yet, the people around me seemed to think the awkward movements were part of the parade.

The dolls moved grotesquely, accompanied by those horrible sounds.

It was an obvious sign that something was wrong, yet no one noticed.

Something had definitely gone awry.

I began looking around, trying to find the harmful object causing this strange phenomenon, but I couldn’t detect any trace of a malevolent object.

Then, just as the grinding noise and the girl’s screams stopped—

Clunk.

One of the dolls froze again.

And its eyes slowly began to emit a red glow, accompanied by a foul smell.

‘!’

Startled, I quickly stood up.

The dolls were turning into malevolent objects!

The sinister parade dolls, which had started to move again, were now spreading out among the people, pretending to be part of the performance.

Without wasting a second, I focused on the parade dolls and ripped open the space.

As the dolls shattered into pieces, the atmosphere in the doll fair shifted.

The human-like dolls, now torn to shreds, caused the people to scream and run away in terror.

The dolls that had once been playing cheerful music now began playing eerie, haunting tunes.

The dolls that had lit up the fairgrounds like streetlights were now casting a blood-red, ominous glow.

And all of the dolls, in unison, began to attack the humans.

‘There are too many of them!’

To make matters worse, the dolls that I had sliced apart with my spatial tear were slowly regenerating.