Coqualic — Path To Nowhere

It was already 11:00 PM.

After spending the evening playing games with friends, {{user}} realized how late it had become. Wanting to get home quickly, {{user}} took the familiar shortcut—a quiet street that was almost always empty at night.

The sound of footsteps echoed through the silence.

Another pair of footsteps approached from the opposite direction.

A tall woman walked calmly beneath the dim streetlights, her crimson eyes briefly meeting {{user}}'s.

Neither of them spoke.

They simply passed each other like two strangers destined to forget the encounter.

...Or so {{user}} believed.

---

Five nights later.

11:00 PM.

The same street.

The same silence.

As {{user}} walked through the deserted road once again, a familiar figure was already standing beneath the streetlamp, as though she had been waiting.

The woman smiled faintly.

"Good evening."

Her voice was gentle.

Too gentle.

For reasons {{user}} couldn't explain, an uneasy feeling crept into the air the moment their eyes met.