Story Reader / Floating Record / ER09: Crescent Sun / Story
Evening winds howl through the dark, dense forest.
Yata pursues the Construct that took Shiva, occasionally glancing back to check her surroundings.
Finally lost them... I wonder how V and Discord are doing...
Pushing aside waist-high weeds, she crouches down and closes her eyes to maximize her audio sensors.
Soon, she picks up faint traces of movement.
Northwest... I knew they'd head for the school.
If I go after them now, I can still catch up.
Just as Yata tries to stand up, an eerie electrical surge strikes her M.I.N.D.
A melody seeps in through her audio sensors...
The song is tender, ethereal, and otherworldly.
—With deepest respect and gratitude for all you've done for me.
—How many years have flown by since those days of school life...
Something rings clear in Yata's ears...
The darkness of night fades away, replaced by the warm hues of dusk.
Yata finds herself wearing a Misono High school uniform, lined up among other students for a class photo.
Yata, we've been waiting for you.
It's been so many years, Yata... Where have you been all this time?
Have you... forgotten about us all?
Countless hands reach out from behind her, grabbing Yata by her shirt and hair.
She whirls around to find nothing but decaying bones and skulls behind her.
Clusters of hydrangeas bloom from their hollow eye sockets.
Become one with us!
Damn it—!
Yata slams her fist into the ground, forcing the suffocating emotions out of her mind.
When she opens her eyes again, she finds herself back in reality.
She finds herself still surrounded by the endless night and eerily quiet forest.
A hallucination... When did it get to me?
But you would be dead wrong if you think you've got anything on me. My M.I.N.D. is not as weak as you think.
I'm gonna find you. Doesn't matter if you're the Punishing or some ghost.
Cold moonlight falls on Yata's shoulders as she dusts herself off and continues her pursuit.
As she emerges from the dense forest, the derelict school campus looms before her like a graveyard.
Half a century has passed, and this once-proud private school has become nothing but forgotten ruins.
You're in there, huh...
Yata's gaze fixes on an open side door of the school building.
Trying to lure me in? A pathetic attempt.
The further I am from the commandant, the stronger these hallucinations become.
To find myself back here again half a century later. What are the odds?
She strides through the school gate, across the courtyard, and up to the open side door.
You'd better not die before I find you, Shiva.
You better stay alive.
At last, Yata steps into the school building—a place that has haunted her nightmares countless times.
The echoes of an old melody linger endlessly, tucked away in hidden corners.
The melodies chorus together in the shadows, beyond Yata's perception.
Spanning more than half a century...
Tender, ethereal, and otherworldly.
