I can rewind time to prevent death

No matter which direction Yuko turned, she could feel the grotesque Multi-limbed Being swiftly closing in on her.

She let out a piercing scream, stumbling backward, and stepped into the bathroom behind her. At the same time, her hand fumbled for the bathroom light switch, slamming it down with force.

The bathroom was instantly flooded with light. The glow drove away the darkness, even spilling out into the corridor beyond the bathroom door, illuminating a distance of about two or three meters.

Yuko's entire body felt weak, almost paralyzed. Her limbs trembled as she stared at the doorway, scanning carefully. Nothing was there. Her gaze shifted back to the storage room door from where she thought she had glimpsed the Multi-limbed Being. That corner remained shrouded in shadow, but there was no sign of the grotesque figure.

After hesitating for a moment, Yuko convinced herself that she must have been mistaken, scaring herself unnecessarily. There couldn't have been a Multi-limbed Being at the storage room door.

Still uneasy, she peeked her head out from the bathroom door, glancing left and right. That creature was nowhere to be seen.

Just then, from inside the bathroom, above Yuko's head, a deformed hand with only four fingers emerged slowly. Immediately following it, a severed foot descended as well, dangling from the bathroom ceiling. It hung suspended behind Yuko's head, tilting unnervingly as its gaping mouth silently loomed closer to the back of her skull.

It was the Multi-limbed Being.

Yuko's entire body froze in an instant, her muscles locking up as she felt something lightly brush against her shoulder.

Instinctively, she dared not move an inch. From the corner of her eye, she glanced at her right shoulder—where she saw a deformed, four-fingered hand resting, cold, and creeping slowly forward.

Her whole body was rigid, like a stone statue. Her lips twisted and distorted in fear, but as much as she tried to scream, no sound came out. It was as if the sheer terror had swallowed her voice whole, rendering her mute.

Then, her body dipped slightly as the Multi-limbed Being fully climbed onto her, pressing its weight against her back. Its severed hands and feet wriggled forward, clutching at the bathroom doorframe for support.

Somehow, Yuko, frozen stiff, bore its entire weight without collapsing under it.

The split, disjointed foot of the creature stepped onto her left shoulder. In a sickening motion, the mass of flesh plopped onto the floor in front of her, finally leaving the bathroom.

The creature briefly turned its head to glance at her before inching its way toward the storage room.

Faintly, Yuko could make out the storage room door creaking open as the Multi-limbed Being slithered its way inside.

She had no idea how long she remained standing there in the same spot. She couldn't feel her legs anymore, her entire body numbed, her mind just as dulled.

It took her a long time to regain some sense of herself. Only then did she realize that the Multi-limbed Being had gone into the storage room and hadn't come out.

Clinging to the wall for support, she staggered out of the bathroom and looked in the direction of the storage room. The door there was ajar. The creature hadn't emerged yet.

Turning her head toward the way she'd come, she noticed it was still raining outside. But neither Yan Junze, Kurosawa Tsuyoshi, nor Daisuke Kitahara was anywhere in sight.

After a moment of hesitation, Yuko, trembling uncontrollably, forced her steps toward the storage room.

Standing at the doorway, she gritted her teeth and reached a hand inside, feeling along the wall until she found the light switch. She pressed it, and the storage room lit up.

But the light immediately flickered a few times, plunging the room into darkness for about three seconds before coming back on. The light wavered erratically, dimming and brightening, but at least it didn't fully extinguish again.

At the end of the narrow alleyway outside, at the corner of the roofline, Yan Junze, Kurosawa Tsuyoshi, and Daisuke Kitahara leaned against the wall.

Kitahara pulled his head back and said to the other two, "It looks like she just went into the storage room."

During their pursuit of the Multi-limbed Being, Daisuke had searched every room in the compound, so he knew there was a storage room there.

"Is there anything unusual about that storage room?" Yan Junze asked.

After Kurosawa translated, Daisuke shook his head. "No, it's just filled with a bunch of old junk. Nothing out of the ordinary."

"So it's not the Multi-limbed Being's lair?"

"No."

"Then why would it want to lure Ito Yuko in there?" Yan Junze asked, puzzled.

"Could it be intending to kill her inside?" Daisuke speculated, his voice trembling.

"No," Kurosawa dismissed the thought outright. "If it wanted to kill Yuko, it could've done so anywhere."

"Let's wait a bit longer," Yan Junze said.

The three men fell into silence.

About two minutes later, there was still no sound or movement from the storage room's direction.

"Let's go check," Yan Junze finally said.

Just as he finished speaking, Ito Yuko emerged from the storage room, her face blank and dazed. She glanced toward where they were hiding.

The three of them stepped out from their cover and quickly approached her.

"Did you find anything inside?" Yan Junze asked.

Yuko shook her head.

As though afraid she might collapse, Daisuke reached out to steady her.

Yan Junze moved to the storage room doorway and peered inside before stepping in for a closer look.

The room wasn't very large, only about ten square meters. There were wooden crates stacked against the wall, containing rusty pipes, old light fixtures, and various tools.

The others joined him at the doorway, and Kurosawa went in as well, casually scanning the room.

Daisuke, meanwhile, stayed at the door with Yuko.

"When I went in, the Multi-limbed Being was already gone. I looked around, but it seemed to have vanished into thin air," Yuko said, her face pale.

Yan Junze glanced back at Daisuke and said, "Mr. Kitahara, we might need your help here."

Daisuke had Yuko lean against the doorframe to steady herself. Then, with long strides, he stepped into the storage room and asked, "What should I do?"

"Clear away the items stacked against the walls so I can check if there's any sort of opening in the wall." Yan Junze instructed.

Daisuke, strong and efficient, casually set aside his katana and moved the wooden boxes from the wall to the center of the room with ease.