Under the gentle morning sunlight, the town of Silly Vision buzzed with its usual energy. The black-and-white cartoon-style rooftops basked in the early glow, while its residents-characters straight out of the world of animation-were already bustling about the streets.

Yet, in stark contrast to the town's lively atmosphere, the home of three main characters-Alice, Boris, and Bendy-remained steeped in a peaceful quiet. Perhaps it was because today was Sunday, allowing the trio a rare moment of leisure.

Alice Angel was the first to wake. After tidying her hair and dressing neatly, she made her way downstairs to prepare breakfast. The enticing aroma soon filled the house, stirring Boris awake soon after. As usual, the wolf simply couldn't resist the pull of a delicious meal wafting from the kitchen.

Only one remained fast asleep-Bendy.

Buried beneath his blanket, he lay curled up, seemingly unbothered by the passing time. Alice glanced at the clock, then turned to Boris with a look of mild exasperation.

"Bendy still isn't up? It's already ten in the morning."

Boris merely shook his head, his wolf ears drooping slightly. Alice sighed, contemplating whether she needed to take a more assertive approach to wake him.

Alice walked to Bendy's room, knocking twice before pushing the door open. As expected, the little demon was still curled up on his bed, wrapped in a blanket like a taco.

She was far too familiar with this scene-every morning was a battle to drag her stubborn friend out of bed. No matter what she tried, Bendy never woke up on time. There was even a period when she left the task to Boris, but that only resulted in all three of them being over thirty minutes late. After that, Alice had no choice but to take back the responsibility.

"The sun is already high in the sky, Bendy. Get up now, or your breakfast is going to get cold."

She stepped closer and gave the "taco" on the bed a gentle shake. But aside from a sleepy mumble, Bendy didn't budge. Instead, he simply rolled over, turning his back to Alice in silent protest.

"It's Sunday..." His drowsy voice dragged out lazily. "Why get up early when I could just stay in bed?"

Alice shrugged-even though she knew he couldn't see it-and replied in a calm, measured tone.
"You know I have to go to church every Sunday. Get up already. If I didn't make breakfast, would you just starve? And since I did cook, how could you just let the food go cold like that?"

Her patient reasoning finally got through to him. Bendy let out a small groan before sluggishly worming his way out of the blanket's warmth.

"Alright, alright... I'm getting up."

Alice decided to head downstairs first, leaving Bendy to get himself ready. She wasn't in any hurry-her friend's sluggishness was as predictable as the morning sun. Sure enough, it took more than fifteen minutes before Bendy finally wandered into the kitchen, looking as if he had just rolled out of bed.

By then, Alice and Boris were already seated at the table, waiting patiently. Seeing her friend at last, Alice rested her chin on her palm and shot him a teasing grin.

"Our dear Bendy has finally arrived ~ I was starting to think you fell asleep in the bathroom."

Bendy, however, paid no mind to her playful jab. His focus was entirely on breakfast. Plopping down in the chair next to Boris, he responded in an offhanded yet equally teasing manner:

"Even demons need skincare, you know."

Alice chuckled, while Boris simply shook his head, used to their banter by now. The three of them then enjoyed a leisurely breakfast together.

Afterward, Bendy took charge of clearing the table while Boris handled the dishes. Meanwhile, Alice made her way into the living room, reaching for her favorite coat and slipping it on.

"You two don't have any plans to go out today?" she asked.

"Probably not." Bendy emerged from the kitchen just in time, flopping onto the couch with a sigh. He grabbed the remote from the coffee table and switched on the TV. "Looks like it's going to be a boring Sunday."

Alice smiled lightly, picking up her bag and slinging it over her shoulder.

"I'm heading out. I should be back around twelve in the afternoon."

As she spoke, she glanced around, searching for her favorite pair of heels. Meanwhile, Bendy casually flipped through the channels, landing on the morning news.

"We have just received reports of a new missing person case in the western part of Silly Vision Town..."

The broadcaster's steady voice filled the room.

Alice, in the middle of putting on her shoes, froze for a brief moment before turning back toward the TV.

"What? Another missing person?" she asked, concern lacing in her voice.

This town had always been peaceful and safe-since when had disappearances become so common?

Bendy casually switched the channel, showing little interest in the news. It was probably just another lost kid-nothing worth paying attention to.

Alice sighed but chose not to argue. As she stepped toward the door, she turned back, delivering her usual warning:

"Goodbye, you two. Try not to wreck the house while I'm gone! Especially you, Bendy."

Anytime she left them alone, this was a line she simply had to say. Even without concrete evidence, her instincts told her that, one way or another, Bendy would stir up trouble the moment she wasn't around.

Bendy merely shrugged, flashing a completely "harmless" smile, as if he had no idea what she was worried about. What could he possibly do? He wasn't destructive! Well... aside from that one time he accidentally broke the TV while playing ball indoors.

Catching his innocent act, Alice shot him a sharp look before turning to Boris.

"Keep an eye on Bendy for me, Boris."

Boris nodded firmly, a silent promise to do his best.

"Oh, and one more thing," Alice added, as a thought crossed her mind. "If you guys don't have anything else to do, could you clean up the attic? It's still a mess from when we moved in."

Only after making sure they had heard her instructions did Alice finally head out.

Once Alice left, the house fell into silence, save for the steady hum of the television. Bendy and Boris sat watching for a while until the wolf nudged Bendy's arm."Huh?" Bendy turned, his eyes filled with lazy reluctance.

Boris didn't say a word. Instead, he gestured toward the attic, reminding Bendy of the chore Alice had assigned them. Seeing the expectant look in Boris's eyes, Bendy sighed. He had absolutely no interest in cleaning, but with no real way to refuse, he begrudgingly followed Boris upstairs.

The attic door creaked open, revealing a mountain of cardboard boxes and miscellaneous clutter scattered everywhere. Bendy took one glance at the mess and scoffed.

"Geez, it's only been two months, and it's already this dusty?"

He wiped a finger across the nearest box, leaving a clean streak amidst the thick layer of dust. Meanwhile, Boris got straight to work, lifting several heavy boxes and neatly stacking them to the side. He then reached for a nearby vacuum cleaner, figuring he should tackle the dust first before organizing everything else.

The vacuum whirred to life, filling the attic with a low drone. But Bendy paid little attention-rather than helping, he busied himself rummaging through the boxes instead.

"Oh, hey! My old toy car!"

Amidst the pile of forgotten belongings, the little devil pulled out a small toy car, his face lighting up with nostalgic delight.

"Hm?"

Boris's vacuum cleaner had been running smoothly-until it suddenly hit something on the floor. He frowned, stopping to inspect. A large rug lay in the corner of the attic, but something felt off. The surface bulged unnaturally, as if something had been hidden beneath it.

Setting the vacuum aside, Boris crouched down and carefully lifted the edge of the rug.

"Boris, look! I found-"

Bendy came running up at that moment, holding an old, black-covered book in his hands. But just as Boris pulled the rug back completely, both of them froze in place.

Beneath the rug lay a strange circle drawn in dark ink, with a prominent pentagram in the center. Scattered around it were five unlit candles, haphazardly placed-as if someone had begun a ritual but never finished it.

Both Boris and Bendy stared at the eerie symbols on the floor, their minds blank with confusion. What was this?

"Uh... I found this weird book in the junk box. Is it yours?"

Bendy held out the book for Boris to see. The cover bore a title in gold ink: The Illusion of Living. Strangely, there was no author's name. Boris tilted his head, puzzled. Had they brought this along with them?

Curious, Bendy flipped the book open. Most of the pages were smeared with black ink, rendering the text unreadable. He quickly skimmed through several sections, eyes narrowing as he tried to decipher the obscured writing.

"Ah-ow!"

The little demon flinched, pulling his hand back sharply. A razor-thin paper cut now marked his fingertip, and from it, a droplet of-ink?-began to drip onto the floor.

It landed directly in the center of the ritual circle.

Boris's ears twitched as he glanced at Bendy in concern, silently asking Are you okay?

"I'm fine! A tiny cut like this isn't gonna hurt me-"

But before he could finish, chaos erupted.

First came a blinding flash of golden light, so bright they had to squeeze their eyes shut. And then-ink.

Ink exploded outward from the circle, an inky whirlwind spiraling across the attic. It splattered everywhere-on the walls, the floor, and most of all, on them.

The inky whirlwind only seemed to grow stronger, showing no signs of stopping. The force of it pushed both of them back a couple of steps.

Bendy, shielding his eyes with one arm, turned to Boris in a panic.

"What the heck is happening?!"

Boris had a terrible feeling about this. Without hesitation, he grabbed Bendy's arm and bolted for the attic exit. The two of them worked together to slam the door shut the moment they stumbled out of the storm-but not before ink had already splattered all over the walls and floor outside.

With the door finally closed, they both collapsed onto the stairs leading up to the attic, completely drenched in ink.

...

Neither of them spoke. Neither of them knew what the hell had just happened.

Boris stole a wary glance at the attic door. A part of him dreaded the idea of going back in there. He had just cleaned up that space not long ago, and now? It was a complete disaster. Worse yet, an inexplicable one.

They exchanged uneasy looks.

"...Do you think that ink storm has stopped yet?" Bendy finally broke the silence.

Boris just shook his head. He had no idea.

What were they supposed to do now? If only Alice were here-

"I'm back, boys~"

As if summoned by their thoughts, Alice's sweet, familiar voice rang out from the living room.

She stepped inside, her eyes sweeping across the house. Everything looked fine. No damage, nothing out of place. Good. But-where were Bendy and Boris? Were they still cleaning up the attic?

"Jeez, you guys are taking a while up there! Was the mess really that bad-"

She called out in a playful tone, climbing up the stairs. But the moment she reached the top, she froze.

Bendy and Boris were sitting there on the steps, looking utterly dazed.

"Alice!!"

Bendy shot up instantly, rushing over to her.

"What happened to you two? And why are you covered in ink? I don't remember leaving any ink in the attic..."

Her eyes flicked to the wall near the attic door-where dark ink splatters stained the surface.

"What the...?"

Alice's eyes widened in shock.

"Hey-Alice, wait-!"

Bendy called out hastily, but it was too late. Before either of them could explain anything, Alice had already stormed up to the attic door and yanked it open.

Both Bendy and Boris held their breath, bracing for the worst.

But-nothing happened.

The inky whirlwind was completely gone.

The two of them exhaled in relief. Maybe it was finally over-

"Oh my goodness!!"

Alice's sudden exclamation made them jump.

"What happened in here?!"

She stood frozen at the doorway, staring in utter disbelief at the mess inside. The attic was in complete chaos-black ink was splattered across the walls, the floor, even the cardboard boxes and scattered belongings. Everything was coated in a sticky layer of ink, as if some monstrous ink creature had run rampant through the room.

And worse still, the sound of drip... drip... drip... echoed ominously, as fresh droplets of ink continued to trickle from the ceiling onto the already ruined floor.

"Listen, you won't believe what just happened! We-"

Bendy rushed back into the attic, but his words died in his throat when he saw Alice standing there, completely silent.

Boris, sensing something unusual, quickly followed in. His sharp eyes scanned the ink-covered mess before settling on Alice-who stood right in the center of the strange ritual circle.

Right in the center of the mysterious ritual circle-the very thing that had started all of this-lay a small figure curled up on the floor.

"Guys...?" Alice's voice wavered slightly, filled with confusion. "Who is this boy?"