“……”
Holding my breath, I looked down at the stairs leading below.
It was the way back.
At the end of those long, dark stairs stretching down beneath the box….
there was a place for me to return to.
[Oh, so you’ve finally achieved your long-held goal. Congratulations, friend!]
…!
“Brown!”
I snatched up the rabbit doll resting on top of the ruined suit beside the tank.
[Indeed, Mr. Roe Deer. You’ve found the path. And fortunately, it seems the reception is good again too!]
In the silence of my head, I heard clapping, and the sound of fingers tapping the antenna on top of a TV screen.
‘So I really couldn’t hear that voice again….’
Just like when I was 130666, right after signing the contract with Director Cheong.
As a lump with nothing but thought capacity remaining, I hadn’t been able to perceive my Good Friend. Perhaps… that was because I had been in a state where I couldn’t make friends.
Thinking about the mangled shape I had been in made my stomach turn, but before that came relief.
Not being alone was always reassuring.
Even if the one by my side happened to be the great host with a TV for a head who wanted to turn me into a talk…