[Lobotomy Corporation] I'm an Abnormality...

Someone's Story EP.0

Once upon a time, there was a man who roamed the various corners of the world.

He was a traveler who moved wherever his feet took him, but at the same time, he was also a pioneer.

One day, as he was passing through a village, he overheard a rumor.

[Somewhere, there is a forest where countless creatures live. It is a peaceful forest where everyone is free, no one fights, and all are happy.]

Intrigued by the peaceful and beautiful 'forest,' he made inquiries and eventually succeeded in finding its entrance.

Even at the entrance of the forest, the warm and cozy sunlight filtering through from within brought a smile to his face. The gentle chirping of birds and soft sounds from inside calmed his heart.

However, his hopes of entering the forest were blocked by three birds that lived there.

He wore a black robe pulled low, obscuring his face, and his clothes were tattered from his long journey.

His appearance was so shabby that anyone would consider his suspicious. The three birds, who wished for many creatures to visit the forest but also desired more than anyone that the forest not be harmed or destroyed, deemed him suspicious and refused to let him in.

Perhaps he saw this as unfair treatment, or maybe he was disheartened by the fact that he could not enter the paradise before his eyes.

In the end, he left the forest, shouting angrily at the birds and casting a curse upon them.

"Soon, tragedy will befall this forest. The forest will be stained with evil and sin, and the fighting will never cease. The day the tragedy ends will be the day a terrible monster appears and devours everything. The sun and moon will never again appear in this forest, and it will never return to its former state."

How much time had passed since he left the 'Black Forest'?

As time passed, his anger subsided, and he considered returning to the 'forest.' But perhaps due to his intense anger at the time, he couldn't remember what he had said.

He pondered for a long time whether he should return now and apologize, but eventually, he came to a decision.

He decided to treat the rumored 'forest' as if he had never been there and continued his journey.

Some might call it cowardly escape, but what could he do?

Even if he didn't remember, it was just a verbal curse from a mere traveler. What could possibly happen?

He buried the incident in his heart and continued his travels, seeing various places.

In one village, seeing children dying weakly from an epidemic, he wished the village well as he left, saying, 'I hope the children will no longer suffer and become healthy.'

In a wandering troupe, he shared drinks with the audience next to him and admired a dancer's movements.

He said he wanted to be like the dancer because she looked freer than him, who traveled freely.

Though it was something he said in a drunken state, he meant it sincerely.

After the enjoyable banter at the wandering troupe, he continued his journey as always.

As he traveled, his memory of the 'forest' gradually faded.

One day, in a village he visited, strange rumors were circulating.

"Creatures that enter the forest all suffer terrible fates."
"The large bird constantly watches over the creatures in the forest, so they are never free."
"The long bird's scales are not fair at all."
"The small bird's punishments are too fearsome."

He immediately knew what these rumors were about.

They were about [the beautiful forest and the three birds].

Who could have imagined that such strange rumors would arise from the forest that was, until recently, called peaceful and beautiful?

Dismissing them as mere nonsense felt wrong.

He decided to retrace his steps and check the rumored 'forest' again.

Passing through several villages... upon reaching one, his eyes widened in bewilderment.

This village, which had been filled with children suffering from an epidemic when he last passed through, was now vibrant with life. Laughter bloomed in the streets and squares.

Though it was a cause for celebration, a corner of his heart still held anxiety about the 'forest,' and he hastened his steps.

Arriving at the 'forest,' he entered its entrance with trepidation.

As if his unease were prophetic, the entrance, once bathed in brilliant sunlight, was now shrouded in pitch-black darkness. The warm, lush gate of trees had withered away, leaving no trace.

The three birds that had been there when he first visited were nowhere to be seen guarding the entrance.

Clearing away the remnants of what could hardly be called an entrance, he stepped into the 'forest.' Piercing screams began to reach his ears.

The gentle chirping of birds had been replaced by screams filled with terror and fear.

The happy chatter of creatures was no longer heard.

The forest, once a paradise, had become a scene of chaos.

'What happened to make it like this?' He wondered where the three guardian birds of the forest had gone, but his priority was the evacuation of the pitiful creatures.

Then, he saw countless lights moving in the depths of the darkened forest.

"Wh... What are those...?"

No, they weren't lights.

What he had mistaken for lights were the eyes of a monstrous creature.

The sight of so many eyes moving independently was utterly horrifying. Upon closer inspection, he saw massive legs and a mouth filled with countless teeth, proportional to the creature's size.

He decided to warn the remaining creatures in the forest with a loud voice.

"There's a monster! A huge, terrifying monster lives in the dark and black forest!"

...

...

In the end, no one remained in the 'forest.'

Neither creatures, sun and moon, nor monster.

All that remained was a single bird and a forest that had lost its light... yes, only the 'Black Forest.'

...

...

"No matter how I look at it, I think you were in the wrong."

"There's still a lot to talk about, so be quiet."