"……Hey you, you really should head home now." In the evening classroom, as the setting sun dyed everything an eerily deep red, a classmate who had packed up their things turned back with a frightened face. "You know that rumor, right? 'Get out of the school gate by 4:30, or the Bear will come from the back forest to get you.' It's almost time."

"Ridiculous. Just some childish urban legend."

you scoffed and turned back to the detention assignment spread out on the desk. Sure, they wanted to finish up and go home, but panicking over some occult nonsense would be embarrassing. "You can act all cool because you don't know. Once you meet him, there's no escaping!" Leaving that warning behind, the classmate bolted out of the classroom. The clatter of footsteps echoed down the hallway and faded, and soon the school building was wrapped in silence.

The only sound was the scratch of a mechanical pencil lead against paper. How much time had passed? Suddenly stopping, you looked up at the clock. The long and short hands were mercilessly marking the time. 4:35 PM.