Re: Side! (life from zero in another Game)

Chapter 6 : Meeting New friends

Subaru glanced at Tiny Mita, who was still holding onto him tightly. "You okay to help out?"

She nodded hesitantly. "I-I want to help."

With that, the two of them began searching the workshop. Subaru found some wooden planks stacked near a shelf, while Tiny Mita timidly picked up small pieces of iron scattered on the floor. She held them out to Subaru, who smiled warmly. "Good job."

With that, the two of them began searching the workshop. Subaru found some wooden planks stacked near a shelf, while Tiny Mita timidly picked up small pieces of iron scattered on the floor. She held them out to Subaru, who smiled warmly. "Good job."

Once they had gathered enough materials, Mini Mita set to work. She placed the iron into the furnace, using bellows to stoke the fire. Subaru and Tiny Mita helped by keeping the flames strong, fanning the embers until the iron began to glow a molten red.

"Alright, now we shape it," Mini Mita said, pulling out a mold in the shape of an oversized key. She carefully poured the molten iron into it, then gestured for Subaru to use a hydraulic press nearby. "Crank that thing and make sure the key comes out solid."

Subaru wiped his brow. "This better work."

With a loud clank, the press came down, sealing the molten iron into shape. After a few tense moments, Mini Mita retrieved the cooled key from the mold. It was comically large, almost as big as Subaru himself.

"There! One ridiculously big key for one ridiculously big lock," Mini Mita declared, handing it to Subaru with a satisfied grin.

Subaru took it, testing the weight. "Damn, this thing is heavy."

Tiny Mita tugged at his sleeve. "D-Does this mean we can leave now?"

Subaru knelt beside her and ruffled her hair. "Yeah, we can leave. Thanks to both of you."

Mini Mita waved them off. "Yeah, yeah, just don’t break anything important on your way out."

" Alright! Good bye!" Subaru waves smiling back to Mini Mita as he closes the door.

With the massive key now in hand, Subaru pushed open the heavy door, gripping Tiny Mita’s hand tightly as they stepped into the next area. The air was thick with an unsettling stillness, as if the very space around them was watching.

The room beyond was a twisted, distorted version of Mita’s room. The furniture was in the right places, but warped—chairs stretched unnaturally high, tables melted into the floor like wax, and the walls pulsed as if they were breathing. At the center sat a lifeless wooden dummy on a chair, its empty eye sockets fixed straight ahead.

Tiny Mita clutched Subaru’s sleeve. “This place… feels wrong.”

“You’re not wrong,” Subaru muttered, stepping forward cautiously.

As he approached the dummy, a sudden creak echoed through the room. In a blink, the dummy’s head snapped toward him, its carved mouth twisting into something grotesquely human. Without warning, it lunged, sinking jagged wooden teeth into Subaru’s arm.

“AGH! You piece of—” Subaru cursed, wrenching his arm free, splinters scraping against his skin. Tiny Mita shrieked, pulling at his sleeve in panic.

The dummy writhed, its body twisting unnaturally as it tried to move again. Subaru didn’t give it the chance. Raising his foot, he stomped down hard on its head. The wood cracked under the force, splintering apart as the dummy crumbled into a heap of limbs.

Breathing heavily, Subaru checked his arm—bleeding, but not badly. Tiny Mita’s hands trembled as she reached for his wound. “D-Does it hurt?”

“Nothing I can’t handle,” Subaru said, ruffling her hair with his good hand. “Let’s keep moving before something else decides to bite me.”