"Eek! Waaa…"
Just as Nobita was about to scream after being passed through by a ghost, he quickly remembered the danger of his current situation.
He hurriedly covered his mouth to muffle the sound and cautiously watched the direction the ghost had gone.
It seemed the ghost didn't notice him.
Then, Nobita turned his gaze to the hospital room the ghost had emerged from.
Inside, on the bed, sat another ghost!
Gulp.
The sudden appearance made Nobita instinctively swallow hard, stepping back slowly.
"Forget it, just keep moving!"
He urged himself to continue forward and not pay attention to the ghosts.
But after walking a short distance, he was shocked to find—
The previously empty hallway was now filled with ghosts.
These ghosts had indistinct features, their faces unrecognizable.
Their bodies were semi-transparent, able to pass through any obstacles.
And they seemed to have no purpose—just aimlessly wandering.
"Wuuuuh!!"
Seeing this many ghosts appear out of nowhere, Nobita pressed his hands tightly over his mouth, afraid he'd scream from fear.
Now, he actually missed the earlier silence.
"I have to find Doraemon! Find Doraemon fast!"
Nobita repeated his objective in his mind as he carefully moved forward.
He did his best to avoid the ghosts and pushed ahead.
The farther he went, the more ghosts there were.
They nearly filled the hallway, leaving barely any space to squeeze through.
Walking among them chilled Nobita to the bone. If he stopped, he'd start shivering uncontrollably.
"Right!"
Suddenly, he remembered something and quickly dug through his pocket.
He pulled out a small badge.
"The Four Seasons Badge! If I wear this and switch to summer, I won't feel cold anymore!"
Nobita placed the badge on his chest and turned the dial to "summer."
Sure enough, a wave of warmth instantly spread through his body.
"Phew… That's better."
He wiped the sweat from his forehead, feeling warmer now.
But when he looked at the mass of ghosts ahead, he still felt cold.
Not the kind of cold from the environment…
But a chill from deep within.
Even with the badge, it couldn't fully dispel the icy fear.
Shaking his head forcefully, Nobita stopped worrying about the cold and ran forward.
He didn't care if he bumped into ghosts—he'd just pass through them!
"Doraemon! Doraemon!"
Nobita shouted anxiously, hoping Doraemon would hear him.
He didn't know how long he had been running, or where he was in the hospital anymore.
Exhausted, he leaned against a pillar to rest.
"Seriously, where did Doraemon go? He said we'd meet here…"
He grumbled a little, though he was mostly worried.
Looking around, he accidentally kicked something and lost his balance.
"Ow ow ow… What was that?"
Getting back up, he quickly checked his Stone Cap to make sure it was still on properly.
Then he looked down at what he stepped on—it was a statue.
And not just any statue—it had a grotesque face, resembling the ghosts he'd seen.
"Wait a minute! Could it be?!"
A realization hit him, and he scanned the area.
He soon found more similar statues nearby.
"It's the Solidification Lamp! Doraemon must've used it to freeze the ghosts!"
Seeing the ghostlike features of the statues, Nobita understood what had happened.
"But why would Doraemon be fighting ghosts? Was he discovered?!"
The thought made him tremble. He feared Doraemon had been caught—and that Sadako might've noticed him too!
"This is bad!"
"Doraemon! Doraemon!!"
Panicked, Nobita stood up and shouted as he frantically looked around.
Then, not far away, at the stairwell, he saw more statues.
He rushed over and followed the trail of frozen ghosts up to the second floor.
"Doraemon! Are you here?!"
Nobita shouted into the hallway on the second floor.
Just then, a flash of light appeared at the far end of the corridor.
"That's the Solidification Lamp's light!"
Seeing that glow, Nobita was sure Doraemon was there and ran toward it.
"Doraemon!"
As he reached the corner, a cluster of statues suddenly came flying toward him!
He immediately dove to the ground to avoid being hit.
Looking closely, all the statues were once ghosts, now petrified.
"Die... die... die…"
Nobita's heart was still racing when he heard a low, sinister voice.
"Huh? That voice…"
It sounded familiar.
He turned toward the source of the voice and saw Doraemon, standing with his back facing him, aiming the Solidification Lamp at a crowd of ghost statues.
"Doraemon! It really is you!"
Overcome with emotion, Nobita ran over and hugged Doraemon's round head tightly.
"Doraemon, so you were here! I'm so glad I found you!"
After all the hardship, Nobita couldn't hold back his tears of joy.
But no matter how much he talked, Doraemon didn't respond at all.
"Huh? Oh right! I still have the Stone Cap on."
Thinking the cap was preventing Doraemon from noticing him, Nobita quickly took it off.
"Hey, Doraemon, let's go back now."
He shook Doraemon as he spoke.
"Die…"
But suddenly, Doraemon muttered a word that made Nobita freeze.
Doraemon slowly turned around—
Revealing his face.
It was twisted in rage, his teeth clenched, his eyes ringed in dark shadows, glowing red pupils glaring.
Gone was the cute face Nobita remembered.
Now, Doraemon looked like a killer.
"Dorae—"
Before Nobita could finish his sentence—
Doraemon raised the Solidification Lamp and aimed it at him.
"Go die!"
With those two words, he pressed the button.
He was trying to freeze Nobita!
"Eeeek!!"
The sudden betrayal shocked Nobita so much he barely managed to dive out of the way, narrowly avoiding the blast of light!
(End of Chapter)
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