Chapter 2119 - Horror Game 55

Drrrrring—!

The landline continued to squeal into the silence, the shrill ringing drilling into every corner of the isolated home.

Joanna's entire body stiffened at the sight of it. Her shoulders locked, her fingers tightening slightly around her flashlight as the sound echoed off the walls.

'What's going on? How is this possible?'

Despite the confusion tightening in her chest, Joanna forced herself to stay alert. Her gaze swept carefully over the living room, windows, hallway, and staircase, cataloging every shadow and corner as the phone continued to ring behind her.

Drrrrring! Drrrrring—!

It was waiting for her.

Waiting for her to answer.

'No, I need to get out of this place.'

She turned toward the front door, deciding not to entertain whatever this was. Stepping quickly across the creaking floor, she reached for the knob and twisted it, trying to pull the door open and get out of the house.

Clank! Clank!

But it was no use.

The door was completely locked.

'Should I just break the door?'

Joanna's mind raced, her body tensing further as she prepared to break the door down. At the same time, her node flared to life as she exerted even more force onto the door.

She drove that force into the door, the impact rattling the frame. The wood groaned loudly under the sudden pressure, cracks spidering faintly along the surface as it struggled to withstand the strain.

And then—

The landline stopped.

The ringing cut off so abruptly that it caught Joanna off guard, like something had severed it mid-breath.

Silence flooded the house in its place.

The air grew noticeably thicker, heavier in her lungs, as if the entire room were holding its breath along with her.

'Ariel. Ariel. Can you hear me? Ariel...?'

Joanna didn't stop trying to force her way out of the house, exerting even more pressure. But for some reason, the door appeared a lot more durable than she had initially expected it to be, as it refused to break apart.

Normally, under such strain it should've broken down...

'Ariel, can you hear me?! Where are you guys?'

Joanna continued to call out for Ariel in her mind. With her ability, it was possible to communicate through their minds.

However—

'Ariel? Ariel!?'

Regardless of how much Joanna shouted in her mind, no voice replied back.

Bang! Bang—

She slammed her shoulder into the door again, the impact reverberating up her arm and through her ribs. The frame shuddered violently, dust shaking loose from the hinges, but the door stubbornly remained in place.

Breathing harder now, Joanna stepped back. If the door wouldn't give, then she'd find another way out.

Her gaze shifted sharply toward the nearest window.

Maybe...

Brrrrrr!

Just as Joanna was about to move toward the window, the ringing came again.

It echoed sharply through the room.

But this time, it wasn't coming from the landline.

The sound was closer.

It was coming from her pocket.

Brrrrrr! Brrrrrr—!

Joanna froze. The vibration buzzed faintly against her thigh, and her expression shifted to something far more unsettled as the realization sank in. Slowly reaching for her phone, Joanna retrieved it and looked at the caller ID.

[Unknown Caller]

Click!

The line went through before she could press the phone.

—Haa... Haa... Haa...

Heavy breathing filtered through the speaker. It felt disturbingly close, as if the caller stood just on the other side of the line... or the other side of the room.

Joanna's fingers tightened around the phone, her pulse thundering as she listened to the sound continue, each breath growing heavier than the last.

The heavy breathing dragged on for another second before it abruptly stopped. Then, without warning, a man's voice pierced through the silence.

—Did you go upstairs?

Du—

Joanna hung up the call.

Her breathing was now rougher than before, her entire body sharp, and her mind alert as she moved towards the window. The wooden floor creaked beneath her steps as she raised her flashlight and swept the beam across the dusty glass.

But just as her fingers brushed against the window latch, her phone vibrated again.

The phone answered on its own again, automatically turning on speaker mode.

—Why haven't you gone upstairs?

BANG!

Joanna urgently smashed her fist against the window.

The impact should have shattered it.

Instead, her knuckles ached. A dull thud echoed through the room as her fist bounced off the glass, pain jolting up her arm.

The window was completely unharmed.

'What's going on? What is this window made out of?'

—...You need to go upstairs.

Joanna's mind reeled, but the voice continued to whisper from her phone, filling the entire room with a chilling calmness that made every hair on Joanna's body rise.

Without waiting for the voice again, Joanna retrieved her phone and turned off the call, silence again settling over her surroundings as her heavy breathing filled the silence.

Biting down on her lip, Joanna slowly turned, raising the flashlight behind her. The beam cut through the dim living room and settled on a narrow flight of stairs leading upward into darkness.

The upper floor was swallowed in shadow, the railing casting long, distorted lines across the wall.

The tension felt unbearable as Joanna kept biting her lip, her gaze flicking between the stairs, the door, and the landline.

For a brief moment, she stood there, frozen.

Then she exhaled sharply and shook her head, forcing herself out of it.

'Get a grip on yourself. I can't panic at this time. If I lose control here... then it'll just prove everyone who ever doubted us right.'

Right, this wasn't just about herself. This was also about the Squad Leader. He trusted her enough to lead the team. She couldn't allow herself to panic.

Taking a deep breath, Joanna calmed herself down further.

Holding the flashlight steady over the staircase, Joanna pressed her lips into a thin line. The beam stretched upward, swallowed quickly by the darkness above.

The doors were locked. The windows wouldn't break. Forcing her way out clearly wasn't an option.

Her grip tightened slightly.

If escape wasn't possible... then that left only one direction.

Up.

But wouldn't this be the exact thing that the voice wanted? Why did it want her to go upstairs? What if it were a trap? There was no doubt about the fact that it wanted her to go upstairs.

'Do I really have no choice?'

Joanna lowered the torch from the stairs and swept it slowly across the rest of the room instead. The beam passed over faded paintings hanging crookedly on the walls, their images too washed out and worn to make out clearly. Dusty picture frames lined a nearby shelf, the photographs inside bleached and hard to make out.

She scanned every corner... searching for anything she might have missed.

After a long moment, her jaw set.

Clutching the torch firmly in her hand, Joanna placed her foot on the first step and began to walk up.

Creaaaaak—

The stairs let out a long, drawn-out creak beneath her weight, the sound echoing unnaturally through the house. Continuing to walk up, she could no longer see the living room as she fixed her gaze away, a lump forming in her throat.

'Joanna? Joanna...? Can you hear me?'

Joanna stopped all of a sudden.

'Ariel?'

Her eyes lit up.

'Ariel, is that you? Can you hear me?'

'...I can hear you. Where are you? What's going on? I lost track of everyone.'

'What? Everyone?'

'Yes, you're the only one I can get in contact with. What's going on? Where are you? Right now, I am standing in front of an old house.'

'Ah!'

Joanna turned around, ready to walk down.

'I am there. I am in the house. Can you get in?'

'Hmm, wait... I think I see you.'

Joanna's steps froze, her face freezing along with the steps.

'The windows are a bit faded, but I can see an outline. Are you on your phone? Is that you?'

-x-X-x-

It was as if someone had poured a bucket of ice-cold water over her.

A sharp chill ran from the back of her neck down her spine, stealing the warmth from her limbs in an instant. Her breath stopped, her pulse quickening as a cold knot formed in her stomach, making her feel wide awake.

Every sound, every shadow, every shift in the air around her suddenly seemed to catch her attention as Ariel's voice continued to echo in her ear.

'That is you, right? Joanna? I can see that you're waving at me. I'm com—'

'Don't!'

Joanna tightened her grip on the wooden handrail, her fingers digging into the aged surface as if anchoring herself in place.

'Don't come in! That's not me!'

'.....'

Ariel went silent a moment after.

Without waiting for her to say anything else, Joanna continued.

'I don't know what's going on, but that's not me! I... am in the house, but I am stuck. I can't get out. The windows and door don't seem to break. I've been getting weird calls telling me to go upstairs. I was just about to do that when I got in contact with you.'

'...Is that so?'

Ariel's response came a few seconds later, like she was carefully processing what she had just heard or sensed.

The slight delay only made the air feel heavier.

But eventually, her reply came.

'If you're saying that the silhouette is not you, then it's likely from the one that was calling you.'

The reply made the air feel noticeably heavier, pressing down on her chest.

But it wasn't unexpected. Not really.

From the moment Ariel had pointed out the figure earlier, Joanna had already pieced it together. The pieces had aligned too cleanly to ignore.

She—

Drrrr! Drrrr—!

Suddenly, her phone vibrated. Joanna's face stiffened as she reached for her phone, but just like before, she didn't get the chance to answer. The screen lit up on its own, and the call connected automatically.

A faint click echoed, then the speaker turned on by itself.

In a demonic tone, the voice screamed.

—WHY HAVEN'T YOU GONE UPSTAIRS!? GO UPSTAIRS!

Click!

The line closed right after, and Ariel's voice echoed in her ear.

'The silhouette is gone. It's moving in... Joanna, get away.'

Joanna spun away from the sound and bolted up the stairs.

Her boots pounded against the wood, each step groaning loudly beneath her as she climbed as fast as she could. Her heart hammered violently against her ribs, so loud it almost drowned out everything else.

The beam of her flashlight jerked wildly up and down, slicing through the darkness in frantic arcs as shadows twisted along the walls around her.

Joanna burst onto the second floor, nearly stumbling as she reached the top.

A long corridor stretched out before her with several closed doors lining both sides. The air felt colder, almost freezing.

Her gaze darted wildly from one end of the hallway to the other.

Without hesitating, she rushed to the nearest door, threw it open, and slipped inside. She slammed it shut behind her with all her strength, the impact echoing sharply through the corridor outside.

CLANK!

Her chest rose and fell rapidly, the flashlight trembling slightly in her grip.

She slowly lifted her gaze to take in the room.

It appeared to be a bedroom. A large bed sat against the far wall, the sheets discolored with age and slightly askew, as though someone had left in a hurry. Beside it stood a wooden desk cluttered with scattered drawers, some half-open, others hanging crookedly from their hinges.

A cracked mirror rested above the desk, its fractured surface splitting her reflection into jagged pieces under the beam of her light.

Joanna took in the scene until she heard a soft, yet muffled creacking sound coming from behind the door, slowly moving closer and closer to her.

Joanna's breath caught, her muscles tensing as she held tightly onto the door.

Thump! Thump!

The steps dragged closer, each one scraping faintly against the floor outside the door.

Joanna's throat tightened. Sweat beaded along her temple and slid down the side of her face. Her fingers flexed around the flashlight as her mind raced, thinking of all sorts of ways to escape the situation.

Until eventually, a thought crossed her mind.

'Should I fight it?'

Joanna had no idea what she was dealing with. She didn't know its limits, its form, or whether it could even be harmed. Charging blindly at something unknown went against every instinct she had.

That was why she hadn't considered attacking it outright.

But the slow, deliberate steps outside the door left her with fewer and fewer options. The room offered no clear path of escape.

'...The key might be in the anomaly or whatever is responsible for this. If I can take it down, I free myself from this.'

The door behind her trembled faintly under the approaching weight.

Swallowing hard, she steadied her breathing.

'I have to catch it off-guard. Remain calm. Remain calm.'

Joanna's thoughts fell on her responsibilities. Her old team, and how they found success without her. The weight the Squad Leader was bearing to keep them in their team, and as her thoughts drifted there, her fists clenched.

'I have to do it.'

Both of her nodes flared at once, heat surging beneath her skin as power flooded through her limbs.

Another step sounded just behind the door.

Joanna didn't wait.

She spun and grabbed the handle, wrenching the door open with explosive force.

BANG!

The wood slammed against the wall as she burst out into the corridor, energy crackling faintly around her as she rushed forward, ready to confront whatever had been stalking her.

The moment she burst into the corridor, a silhouette stood at the far end.

Joanna's heart squeezed.

Her hands moved on instinct, fingers snapping around the hilts of her daggers as she charged forward.

She rushed with all her might—

And then a voice fell over her mind.

'Stop. It's me.'

Long silver hair slipped into view first, glinting faintly under the fractured beam of her flashlight. Then a familiar face emerged from the shadows.

Ariel.

The tension in Joanna's chest didn't release immediately. Her heart was still racing, her muscles still coiled to strike, even as she became certain of Ariel's appearance. For a split second, she simply stared, struggling to come to terms with the situation.

But eventually, she had no choice but to acknowledge it. Only Ariel could talk to her mind like that.

"How did you..."

"The door simply opened."

Ariel answered her, showing confusion herself.

"When the silhouette disappeared, I thought you were in danger and tried to get in, but the door simply opened."

"What...? That easy?"

"Mhm."

Ariel also looked a little surprised as she looked behind Joanna, into the corridor that stretched behind her.

"Is this where the phone told you to go?"

"Yes."

Joanna replied, taking out her phone and looking at it.

"...I don't know why it wants me to go here, but I think we should go."

"I think the opposite."

Ariel replied, her gaze falling on the doors.

"There might be a clue to the situation. We should look."

"Ah, right."

Joanna bit her lips. In hindsight, Ariel had a point. She had been so consumed by the moment that she forgot all about their objective.

'There has to be something here. Otherwise, the phone wouldn't tell me to go upstairs so many times. It might even help us find the rescue teams.'

Joanna let out a shaky breath and quickly slapped her cheeks twice, the sharp sting grounding her and forcing the adrenaline to settle.

Ariel didn't comment. She simply stepped past Joanna, her long silver hair swaying faintly as she moved down the corridor with calm, measured strides. Without hesitation, she stopped at one of the doors further along the hall, reached for the handle, and slipped inside without any real worries.

"Wait, don't go by yourself."

Joanna moved to follow, but something made her glance down at her phone first.

The screen was still lit.

Her eyes lingered on it for a second too long, her steps slowing... then stopping altogether. The call log was still open.

Slowly, her gaze lifted from the phone to the door Ariel had just entered.

And after a moment hesitation, she dialed the number.

Drrrrr! Drrrrr—!

The sharp ringing tore through the hallway again.

Coming right from Ariel's room.

Drrr! Drrr—!

The phone continued to squeal, the piercing ring ricocheting off the narrow hallway walls and spilling down the staircase below. It filled every corner of the house, growing louder with each passing second as Joanna continued to stare in the room where Ariel had just entered.

Joanna's mind spiraled with all sorts of thoughts, her heart drumming loudly within her chest as a knot formed in the pits of her stomach.

But she was also quick to react.

Instead of retreating, Joanna forced herself forward.

She broke into a run down the corridor, the ringing still shrieking from inside the room.

Reaching the door Ariel had entered, she grabbed the handle and shoved it hard, slamming it shut with a violent bang, as if cutting off the sound by force alone.

BANG!

Joanna hurriedly pressed her back against the door; her breathing came fast and uneven, chest rising sharply as she tried to steady herself.

The ringtone still echoed from inside the room, but now it was muffled, dulled by the wood between them.

And eventually, it stopped.

"..."

Silence.

Everything turned silent as Joanna kept her back pressed against the door.

But soon, the silence was shattered.

"Joanna."

Ariel's voice echoed from behind the door.

"Why did you close the door? What's going on?"

The voice sounded just like hers.

"Open the door."

To Tok—

A gentle knock echoed beside Joanna, and her throat tightened as she swallowed. A bead of sweat slid down the side of her face, tracing a cold line along her jaw before falling to the floor.

To Tok—!

"Joanna? Are you there? Is everything alright?"

Ariel's voice echoed once more, gentler than before. However, it was such gentleness that made Joanna's skin crawl as she kept her mouth shut.

She pressed her back harder against the door, refusing to answer, refusing to acknowledge the voice.

"Joanna? Joanna? Are you there...?"

The more the voice sounded, the tenser Joanna's body became.

'That's no Ariel. It can't be Ariel. She... would never speak to me like that. This is definitely a trap. But just what is behind this room? Why is it trying so hard to lead me here? What exactly is its goal?'

Joanna steadied her breathing, drawing in a slow breath before letting it out carefully. Her eyes moved across the corridor, scanning the shadows and the narrow stretch of floor caught in her light.

The darkness felt heavier now.

A faint creak came from the floor on the other side of the door. The wood shifted under the weight of a certain presence.

Closing her eyes, Joanna once again tried to communicate with Ariel.

'Ariel. Ariel. Can you hear me?'

'.....'

Silence was all Joanna was met with. Pressing her lips together, Joanna was just about to try again when a voice whispered into her head.

'Yes, I can hear you. Open the door.'

".....!"

Joanna's body froze. Yet again... Ariel's voice echoed inside her mind. It was this very same trick that made her think that the Ariel she had seen moments prior was the real one. Or maybe that really was Ariel? Otherwise, how could the anomaly communicate with her?

Joanna bit her lower lip.

'What if... W-what if the one standing behind me is really Ariel? What if I made a mistake and trapped her inside with the anomaly? Or maybe it was a trick to separate us?'

Joanna's breath paused, her eyes flicking along the corridor, scanning every corner as a heavy weight settled in her chest, pressing inward until even the faintest sensation felt amplified.

The hum of the torch, the soft scrape of her own boots, the creak of the wood beneath her, the distant drip of water above her all rose sharply in her ears.

The shadows creeping along the walls in the torchlight seemed to twist and stretch as her expression tightened.

"Open the door."

Ariel's voice echoed once more, startling Joanna.

But this time, the voice was less gentle. It was noticeably colder.

Joanna opened her mouth, but suddenly, with a sudden crack, the window at the end of the corridor flew open, slamming hard against the wall.

CLANK—!

The sharp sound split the silence. A rush of cold air spilled inside, sweeping down the narrow hall and brushing against her face and hands. The torchlight wavered as the breeze pushed past her, Joanna's mind jolting.

'The window...!'

For a brief, reckless moment, she felt the urge to move, to sprint toward the open window and haul herself through it without looking back.

'No, it might be a trap... this could be the anomaly's goal!'

Her teeth clenched, and she remained where she was, pressing her back against the door.

The cold wind continued to sweep into the room, curling around her legs and tugging at her clothes. The silence stretched thin, pressing in from all sides. Joanna could hear nothing but the frantic rhythm of her own heartbeat, pounding harder and louder in her ears, as if it were trying to drown out the quiet.

That sound was all she heard, filling her mind completely, until—

In a demonic tone, the voice screamed.

"OPEN THE DOOR."

BANG!

A violent crash slammed against the door behind her. The impact thundered through the wood and into her spine, jolting her thoughts into sharp clarity.

Joanna planted her feet harder against the floor, the soles scraping for traction as she threw her full weight backward. Her shoulders and back pressed tight against the door, muscles straining as she forced it shut with everything she had.

BANG! BANG!

The frame rattled under the repeated blows, but she held her ground, jaw set, refusing to give even an inch.

Then, with one final blow that shook the hinges, everything stopped.

BANG—!

The force against the door vanished as abruptly as it had begun. The violent struggle on the other side dissolved into nothing. Joanna stayed braced in place, hardly daring to breathe, as the silence rushed back in.

Only the soft creaking of the wooden floor carried through the silence as the presence behind the door slowly retreated. Each strained groan echoed faintly, signaling its gradual movement away from her.

'Is it leaving? But why is it leaving? Or is it trying to gather momentum to smash the door? What is it trying to do?!'

Joanna's mind filled with all sorts of thoughts; the silence feeling so loud in her mind.

'What should I do? What should—'

Drr! Drrrr!

The shrill sound of her ringtone cut sharply through the silence, echoing off the walls and shattering the fragile silence. Joanna's breath hitched in her throat as she slowly lowered her gaze to her phone, swallowing quietly.

Then—

Click!

She switched off her phone.

The noise died there.

But only temporarily, as not long after, another chime rang.

Drr! Drrrr—!

This time, the noise came from downstairs, dulled by distance and walls, yet still sharp enough to slice through her thoughts. The sound was more muffled than before, but still felt so loud in her ears.

Joanna's stomach tightened as realization crept in.

The landline.

'What is it trying to do this time? No, I can't continue like this. I need to take the initiative. At this rate, I'll just be playing along with its games.'

Biting her lips, Joanna's expression changed.

She turned slowly to face the door, her hand hovering near the handle as hesitation rooted her in place for a brief moment.

Her nerves churned violently, but her thoughts began to sharpen. If she opened the door and waited for the anomaly to go out while jumping from above, would that be enough? No, maybe... She drew in a slow breath, steadying herself as she began to piece together a plan, considering how she might catch the anomaly off guard instead of waiting to be cornered again.

But just as she was about to move...

"Wait."

A cold hand pressed against hers, freezing her in place.

"———!"

Joanna nearly leapt from her spot, her body reacting before her mind could catch up. Instinct took over. Steel flashed in the dim light as her dagger cut through the air in a sharp arc, aimed directly at the reaching hand.

Her movement was incredibly quick. So fast that the figure before her wasn't even able to react.

If not for Joanna suddenly stopping mid-motion, it was very likely that her head would've come flying away.

"Haa... Haa... Sarah...?"

Recognizing the figure standing before her, Joanna's jaw clenched as she placed the tip of her dagger on Sarah's neck, pressing it slightly.

"...It's you, right?"

Joanna's teeth clenched tightly as she stared at Sarah.

Seeing the familiar pair of dark eyes and hair, Joanna truly wanted to believe that the person standing before her was Sarah, but after everything that had happened to her so far, she started to second-guess herself. Was this really Sarah?

But what if it wasn't? It could be a trap again...

'Damn it! Damn it! Damn it...!!'

The more Joanna looked at Sarah, the more her mind seemed to struggle as she continued to press her dagger against her neck.

But eventually—

"Don't open the door."

Sarah's voice echoed once more, sounding strangely calm.

Joanna looked at the door, her chest rising and falling. She couldn't feel the presence like before. Then, Sarah showed up? Coincidence?

"How did you find me?"

Joanna asked, her expression sharp.

"We're all connected."

Sarah replied, not looking away from Joanna.

"I know that. But how were you able to enter the house?"

"My node."

Sarah replied, pointing at her temple.

"...You should be aware of my abilities."

Joanna hesitated. This was true. In terms of abilities, Sarah was the best at infiltration and scouting. If it were her, then it would be possible to enter.

But...

'No, this isn't enough. I can't trust her just yet. I won't fall for the same trick twice.'

Thankfully, Sarah wasn't completely helpless. They hadn't spent the week prior to the World Congress doing nothing. They had gone over all sorts of scenarios, such as what they needed to do in case someone was pretending to be them.

'I didn't do it before with Ariel because she was talking inside my mind, but since I can no longer trust that, I can do it now. This will—'

BANG!

All of a sudden, a thunderous and sharp 'bang' reverberated throughout the entire house, echoing up the walls as if the structure itself were splitting apart.

"What...!?"

The entire building shuddered in response. The floor trembled under her boots, dust drifting from the ceiling as the walls groaned in protest. Joanna staggered slightly, caught off guard by the sudden force, her pulse spiking all over again as the house continued to shake around her.

Despite this, she still kept her dagger pressed against Sarah's neck.

"What's going on?!"

"...It's Min."

Sarah replied a few seconds later, her gaze shifting towards the lower floor.

"He's breaking into the house."

BANG! BANG—

Subsequently, the house shook once more, the entire place groaning as Joanna's eyes widened.

"Breaking? Why would he..."

"Since we can't enter, we're breaking everything apart. You might not be able to break the door apart, but he is. This is what we learned from the Squad Leader."

"...Ah."

Whatever words had been forming on Joanna's tongue died instantly. Her breath faltered as her eyes locked onto Sarah.

For a split second, she could only stare. Then the tension drained from her fingers. Her grip on the dagger loosened, the blade trembling slightly before she pulled it back, carefully easing it away from Sarah's neck.

A smile soon tugged at her lips.

"...Yeah, he did."

All doubts about their identities vanished like this. This was true. The Squad Leader had indeed mentioned something like this to them. Back then, Joanna didn't say anything, but she truly found it laughable in this situation.

Then—

BANG—!

A deafening crash erupted from below, the sound of the front door splintering under immense force.

Then came the footsteps.

One heavy, and one light. The footsteps calmly walked past the stairs and eventually reached the second floor as two familiar figures appeared in Joanna's view, their steps pausing as Ariel eventually nodded.

"You're here."

"...I am."

Joanna's shoulders relaxed, but not for long, as her gaze moved back towards the door, and the tension in her chest returned. She pointed at it.

"Something is hiding behind the door. It was trying to get me to enter the door, but I felt that it was a trap. It also played several tricks on me. It can mimic voices and even speak inside the mind. We should be careful. Whatever is inside the do—"

BANG!

Joanna had barely begun to speak when Min moved.

Without warning, he lunged forward and drove his shoulder straight into the door. The impact slammed through the hallway, wood cracking under the force.

Joanna flinched at the sudden violence, her eyes widening as the door shuddered on its hinges.

"What are you doing!? Did you not hear what I said?"

"We did."

Ariel answered as Min suddenly smashed his shoulder against the door again.

BANG—

"And?!"

"...And it's for this reason that we're smashing the door open. Since it hasn't attacked you yet, it means that it's weak."

"No, but—"

Joanna's words died in her throat as a strange sensation surged through her mind, sharp and invasive, forcing her to freeze mid-motion.

Her eyes widened yet again. A faint tingling spread from her chest outward, threading through her body, and onto her mind as she looked at Ariel, whose lips curled slightly.

"You... what have you done?"

"Nothing in particular."

Ariel answered, her expression calm.

"I am just giving you some courage."

BANG!

The door burst open with a violent crack, the wood splintering inward under the force.

Joanna's gaze flicked to Ariel, then back to the broken door. She wanted to continue shouting at Ariel and Min, telling them to stop. Telling them that they needed to be more cautious, but when she opened her mouth, she found herself unable to say those words.

Instead...

"Make sure to deal with it quickly."

The words that came out of her mouth were completely different than her previous thoughts as the tingle in her chest grew and her body started to tremble.

But not out of fear.

No.

More like...

Excitement.

'Ah, fuck...'

Joanna realized rather quickly what had happened. Ariel had used her skill to alter her mind.

The fear that had been coiled tightly in her chest only seconds ago dissolved as if it had never existed. The tension left her muscles, the dread evaporating from her thoughts with unnatural ease.

Suddenly, the entire situation didn't feel so scary. But rather, annoying.

'Did I seriously get toyed around like that?'

"Ah, no. I need to fix this."

Without another word, she reached down and retrieved her daggers.

"Min, wait for me."

Walking into the room, her voice trembled slightly as she suppressed a soft giggle.

"...All of a sudden, I feel like I want to cut the bastard who was playing with me. You'll allow me to do that, right?"

Walking past Min, Joanna looked around.

Dear caller...

"Where are you~?"

-x-X-x-

Creak—!

The floor creaked under Joanna's feet as she stepped into the room.

Instantly, her gaze swept across the room, her body alert as she held tightly onto her daggers. Her eyes continued to scan the place in hopes of finding the anomaly or whatever had been causing trouble for her.

'See what happens once I find you.'

Joanna didn't quite know what Ariel had done to her, but at this very moment, the only thing she wanted to do was find the anomaly and tear it to pieces.

'...For everything that you put me through, I'll make sure to tear you apart.'

But—

Scanning the room, the first thing that Joanna noticed was the open window by the far end, the curtains billowing slightly under the cold breeze. Instantly, her steps paused as Ariel entered the room right after.

"It ran away?"

Joanna continued to stare at the window, her face blank. Then, scanning the place once more, she clenched her teeth.

"...It seems that way."

Disappointment lingered in Joanna's voice as she continued to look around. Alongside the disappointment, there was also quite a lot of resentment.

'I was really scared of this crap? What's fucking wrong with me? At this rate, I'm really starting to prove the people right.'

"But I'm curious. I'm rather interested in finding out why it led you into this room."

Ariel looked around the room.

No matter how she looked at it, the room was quite normal. It was a simple bedroom with one bed, a wardrobe, a desk, and a bookshelf. There were a couple of worn-down paintings, and the books on the bookshelf were similarly worn, but aside from that, there was nothing particularly eye-catching about the place.

"Are you sure that it was trying to lead you here?"

Ariel asked as she looked at Joanna.

Looking back at Ariel, Joanna nodded her head, looking a lot more calm then before.

"Yes."

The effects of whatever Ariel had done to her had started to wear down, and she felt a lot more clear headed. At the same time, however, the feeling of anger and resentment towards the anomaly still existed.

If she were thrown in the same scenario again, she was most likely going to start chasing down the anomaly. But there was no use dwelling on the what-ifs.

"Let's check the room to see if there's anything that might be dangerous. Anything that we can bring back to the Squad Leader."

With a cooler mind, Joanna was able to quickly initiate orders once more as she started to scan every item.

Of course, she also had to remind them, "Scan the items before touching them. In case they are anomalous objects, we have to be careful."

She merely said the words as a precaution. Looking back, everyone was busy scanning the items without touching them.

Joanna did the same, scanning the items carefully before eventually stopping at the wardrobe.

It was made out of wood and stood rather tall, with several cracks appearing, likely from the age of the item. Reaching for the knob, she pulled the drawer open as a figure appeared next to her a moment after. Then, as she pulled onto the door, Joanna froze while Ariel's voice echoed a moment after.

"...Looks like we finally know why it was trying to lead you up here."

Joanna opened her mouth, but soon closed it, nodding softly.

This...

***

"It's closed."

I looked up at the trapdoor, flashing the light of my torch in its direction as I pursed my lips together. It all happened so fast and abruptly that I was completely caught off guard.

Mia's voice echoed a moment after.

"That... does that mean that we're trapped? What are we supposed to do now? Should I contact Ariel? She might—"

"No, there's no need to panic."

I cut Mia off, reassuring her that everything was fine.

Indeed, everything was fine. The situation did look quite dire, but I wasn't worried at all. The trapdoor wasn't enough to stop me. If I wanted to leave the place, I could leave when I wanted.

With [Trait Transfer] and the Realmwalker's abilities, escaping was a piece of cake.

But the real question was whether I should leave or not.

'Would it be better for me to go up and catch whoever closed the trapdoor on us, or stay here and figure out more about the place?'

I tapped my foot against the floor for a few seconds before coming to a conclusion.

'...I'll send the Realmwalker up.'

For now, I planned on staying here longer. I wanted to understand this place better.

Looking at my group and seeing them all look at me, I was glad to see that none of them were panicking, but just looking at me in silence. Even the usually loud Mia looked calmer than I expected.

But this didn't take me by surprise.

Although Mia was a little bit silly, in serious situations, she knew how to be serious. Furthermore, with all of the games that I had subjected them to, she was probably the last person to be scared of death.

'She's died the most after all.'

"I can go out anytime that I want. Going out is not a problem. What's important is that we stay here longer and figure out what is going on with this place. I am rather curious to figure out more about this research facility."

By now, it was clear to me.

This place was no regular research facility. The BUA had clearly not disclosed all of the information to all of us. In fact, the main reason why the previous squads were even sent to this place in the first place was that they wanted to research this place, or to be more precise town.

There had to be some sort of secret that was linked to the appearance of the Gate.

'Perhaps the missing squads had found something related to the mist before their disappearance. That's why they sent us? After all, we're the most elite members in the world. There was no better pretext than this. They just kept the idea a secret and pretended it was a trial for the World Congress.'

I let out a slow sigh, dragging a hand down my face as I tried to push the thoughts aside. Right, I might be overthinking. No need to jump to conclusions.

But the harder I tried to dismiss it, the clearer it became.

'...If it's true, then every Guild is being used by the BUA to do their dirty work. I don't know how to feel about this.'

Should I just quit?

No.

I inwardly shook my head while continuing to walk down the corridors. There was no guarantee that I was right, and above all, I was also curious about this place.

Just what sort of secret was hiding here?

"Let's go."

I walked down the long corridor, passing one door after another as my boots clicked against the wet floor. Each step sent faint ripples across the thin layer of water, distorting the reflection of the narrow beam of light stretching ahead of us.

No one spoke behind me.

They followed in complete silence, their presence felt only through the steady rhythm of their footsteps and breaths. The air felt heavier the further we went, and as I moved past another door, I paused and looked behind me.

Making sure that everyone was present, I continued ahead.

"Make sure to keep an eye on each other," I said quietly, my voice carrying just enough to reach them all. "We don't want a repeat of what happened to Mia."

This place had some sort of effect on the mind. I didn't know what it was, but it was certainly dangerous, hence why everyone had to be extremely careful.

"Make sure that the four of you follow quietly and keep an eye on each other. This is so that we..."

Suddenly, my steps came to a complete stop, and the others halted with me.

In an instant, it felt as though the air itself had frozen. The faint echoes of our movements vanished, leaving only the fragile sound of our breathing. Then even that seemed to fade, swallowed by a silence so complete it felt unnatural.

Min. Mia. Sarah.

I swallowed quietly, my throat dry. The beam of my torch trembled in my grasp as the realization settled in. Something began to tighten around my chest as the air seemed to have thinned without warning.

Three.

There were only three of them.

So why...

Why did I say four?

-x-X-x-

The hum of the flashlight reverberated through the narrow tunnel, every hair on my body standing on end as the darkness around us seemed to shift.

Once again, I counted the number of people in my team in my mind.

'There's Nora. There's Niel, and there's... Mia.'

Then—!

My head snapped back, the torch beam swinging toward the others in a sharp arc. Light washed over their faces one by one as I scanned them quickly, searching for anything out of place.

But...

"..."

I looked around carefully.

There were only three people.

Mia stood off to the side, with Niel and Nora close beside her. The beam of my flashlight moved across their faces one at a time, lingering just long enough to confirm what I was seeing. Their expressions were tense and confused, but it was no doubt them.

I shifted the light behind them, sweeping it across the damp walls and the empty stretch of tunnel beyond.

I swallowed slowly, my mouth dry as unease settled deeper in my chest.

Was I seeing this?

"...Squad Leader."

Niel's voice echoed a moment later, his expression tense.

"You... did you..."

"I did."

I answered before he could finish speaking, cutting in as my expression tightened.

My eyes never stopped moving, continuing to sweep across the narrow tunnel we were trapped in.

Broken wires dangled from the ceiling and along the walls, their ends looping down like snakes. Moisture clung to the concrete, the damp surface catching the light and reflecting it in uneven patches.

The beam traced every crack, every shadow, every place something could be hiding, while the weight of the silence pressed in around us.

Taking a deep breath, I muttered, "I don't know why I said that... I thought there were four people, but that can't be possible. There are only three of us; four if you count me."

Why did I even say four in the first place?

It was maybe in the moment I turned back to check on them and gave them a quick look that I thought there were four of us. Even as I held onto the knife in my pocket, I didn't feel any sign of life.

In that case... was I imagining things?

"Maybe you're tired." Nora suddenly suggested, looking surprisingly calm as she looked around.

"You didn't get much sleep today, so you might be more sensitive to things."

"Maybe."

This much was true. I hadn't slept at all, but I doubted this was the truth. This wasn't the first time I had gone without sleep. Hell, even recently, I had given up on sleep for a couple of days in order to finish the update of the game.

I could still function without sleep.

"...I doubt it's sleep."

Mia suddenly spoke, her hands reaching for her arms as she rubbed them.

"After what I saw, I doubt it was just an illusion. I think... I think that someone was really with us."

My arms tingled the moment she spoke, my lips parting to say otherwise, but after everything that had happened, there was no denying it.

There really...

"But how did it suddenly disappear?"

Nora asked, looking around as her brows furrowed tightly. She then went on to say, "Taking into account that not everyone can see it, can we say that it only targets one person at a time?"

"Yes, that seems to be it."

Niel agreed on the side, taking off his glasses and wiping the again.

"...I think whatever is here is trying to haunt us one at a time. It also looks like it's hard to detect. But since it's being so sneaky, it's likely that it's not very strong."

"Don't take that for granted."

Nora rebuked.

"Just because it hasn't attacked it doesn't mean that it's weak. We're not in a gate where we know the level of the entities that we're dealing with. We could very well be dealing with a high-class anomaly."

High class...

For some reason, I had the sudden urge to lick my lips at the mention of the possibility of there being a high-class anomaly.

The Conductor's words reverberated in my mind once more as I tightened my grip on the flashlight.

'No, don't let your thoughts wander. Focus on the task at hand.'

Taking a deep breath, I looked at the others. This time, there truly were only three.

"Since everyone is aware of the situation, I need you all to pay extreme attention to the surroundings. We've already trained for this as well. Always make sure to use the methods that we practiced if you're unsure of the identity of the person before you."

I secretly patted myself on the back while speaking.

'I'm glad we thought of this scenario beforehand and trained around it.'

I knew that something like this was bound to come. Of course, all of the other Guilds were no different. They probably had their own means.

But that wasn't important.

What was important was getting to the bottom of this situation and also learn more about this place.

"Let's not waste any more time."

Tightening my grip over the flashlight, I continued to move head deeper into the tunnel. At the same time, I took out the familiar compass while mumbling inside of my mind, 'Lead me to the path where I can find clues about this place.'

The compass spun rapidly.

It continued to spin for a few seconds before eventually settling ahead.

The tunnel stretched for what felt like an eternity, but eventually, I found myself standing before a metallic door. Its surface was dull and worn, faint scratches and rust lining its edges as it loomed quietly in front of me.

'The compass is leading here.'

I reached for the handle and pulled.

The metal groaned under the strain, the sound grating in the silence. Rust cracked and flaked away from the hinges, sprinkling down onto the floor as the door slowly gave in.

Beyond it was a dim stairwell.

A narrow flight of spiraling stairs curved downward into darkness, the steps faintly illuminated by the edge of my torchlight.

"This should lead to the lower floor."

I turned to look behind me.

The beam of my torch swept across their faces, catching in their eyes and making them gleam faintly in the dimness. They stood close together, waiting for a decision.

"I'll check out the lower floor first," I said quietly, keeping my voice steady. "Once it's clear, you come down. Make sure nothing gets past you, alright?"

My gaze lingered on each of them for a second longer, making sure they understood. Then I tightened my grip on the torch and turned back toward the spiraling stairs.

Step. Step—

Moving down the stairs, the darkness embraced me from all directions as the sound of my steps bounced off from all sides, echoing loudly as I continued to move down in silence.

I kept going until the faint glow from above disappeared completely, and the others were no longer visible.

Only then did I stop.

I pressed my foot firmly against the step beneath me, the dull clang resounding through the hollow space.

Tilting my head slightly, I tapped on the camera in my chest before speaking.

"Come out."

A long shadow stretched out beside me, cast against the curved wall of the stairwell.

Its presence pressed in immediately, the air shifting under its appearance. Slowly, it shifted closer, and under the faint beam of my torch, I caught the outline of a face.

Its lips curled upward in quiet amusement.

Thin stitches lined the corners of its mouth, barely visible in the dim light, tugging at the skin as it smiled wider.

"What do you think?"

I spoke, my expression calm as I quietly took out a white mask and stared at it.

"...From the start, it's like it's been toying with me. It's like I'm making every decision it wants while I can't do anything about it, left only to helplessly hope that it's weak. I... don't really like this. No, I don't."

Something tingled in my chest as I stared at it.

'Ha... HaHAhaHA.'

A quiet laughter rang inside my ears.

My head twitched slightly as my vision started to turn red at the same time.

Spurt—

The sound of blood spilling echoed inside my mind.

"If I turn, I can go all out. I can hunt it down. But there will be consequences."

Holding the mask, I looked at the Conductor and muttered, "It's already started..."

I clenched my teeth.

"The temptation."

It was gnawing at my chest.

"What should I do?"

-x-X-x-

A soft chuckle reverberated across the walls of the stairs as the Conductor looked at me in amusement.

Taking my eyes away from the mask in my grasp, and in its direction, I could feel that it found this situation to be rather entertaining.

Eventually, its voice reached my ears.

"That's a really good question."

The Conductor tucked its chin under its long and slender fingers.

"...Which one should you choose? What a difficult question."

The Conductor tapped its foot against the ground, as if weighing its options. The Conductor looked incredibly torn by the decision, and I understood rather quickly that I wouldn't get the answer that I wanted.

"Between the two, I don't know which would create more chaos. If you become the Jester, you might make the people above panic. You might even give the ones here a heart attack... kek."

Covering its face, the Conductor trembled, the mere thought of what would happen if I became the Jester sending it into a spiral of excitement and euphoria.

"There's also that butcher... If you turn into that and slaughter endlessly, you might truly send the world into a spiral. Both would create chaos, and... kek!"

I shouldn't have asked.

Looking away from the Conductor, I regretted summoning it.

'I shouldn't have expected an answer to begin with. The Conductor loves chaos and will always choose the most chaotic path.'

As the Conductor wavered between the two choices, my gaze drifted back to the mask. The longer I stared at it, the more conflicted I became. The temptation still lingered at the back of my mind, whispering to choose one of the two.

If I simply chose either option, then...

'No, not yet. I can't be careless yet. This is a double-edged sword. I can't fall for the temptation.'

I took a silent breath, trying my best to push away the temptation.

But it was hard.

'Ha... HaHAhaHa.'

The laugh still lingered at the back of my mind, alongside the sudden impulse to shred everything that was in my path.

The hand holding onto the mask trembled as I struggled to put it away.

But what if...? What if—

"Although I would like to see chaos, I would advise against it."

Reaching for the mask, the Conductor pulled it away from my grasp and placed it on its face, eventually making a face as it did nothing to it.

Shifting the white mask slightly to the left so half its face was visible, the Conductor's strings pulled taut as it whispered, "Chaos breeds fun, but it also breeds misfortune. I care nothing for my life or whatever happens to me, but it would be a pity to let it all go to waste like this. Especially when you have so much potential yourself."

Lowering the mask completely, the Conductor handed it back to me.

"...The Jester might sow chaos. The Butcher might spill blood. But they're both you. If I had to choose which one I'd invest in, it would be you."

Pressing its slender finger against my chest, the Conductor's lips stretched into a wide grin as the strings drew even tighter and its eyes twisted with ecstasy.

"You'll be the most devastating of them all at the end of it all. I wouldn't want you to waste your life like this. Especially in a situation that you can resolve yourself."

"So, do you have an idea of the anomaly that I'm dealing with?"

The Conductor paused, its smile fading slightly as it looked at me with a wide look. Tilting its head slightly, it asked, "Anomaly?"

I frowned.

"I'm talking about the current situation that I'm dealing with. Do you have any idea as to what sort of anomaly I'm dealing with?"

"Anomaly...?"

The Conductor repeated the same word, looking even more confused.

Then, as if suddenly realizing something, it smiled once more.

"Oh, so that's what you were talking about."

Chuckling, the Conductor's smile faded after a brief second.

"I'm not quite sure myself. It could be an anomaly, or it could not be."

"What?"

My eyes widened slightly, feeling a little taken aback by the sudden seriousness in its expression.

Above all...

'If it's not an anomaly, then what the hell is it?!'

"I've been trying to figure out since you've come here, but I am not quite sure myself. This is the first time I've experienced something like this. This strange Mist too... something about it is quite weird. I'm not sure how to put it. But let me tell you this."

The Conductor suddenly leaned closer to me, its head next to my ears as it whispered into my ears, the seriousness fading from its face as it chuckled once more.

"Even I am feeling the tingles. I... recommend you get out of here as fast as possible. This might very well be an entity that you can't deal with."

A knot formed in my throat as I absorbed its words, the meaning settling deep and unwelcome in my chest.

It felt as though the space around me tightened without warning. The walls seemed closer, the air turning stale and heavy in my lungs.

I stared at the Conductor as it tilted its head back slowly, then drifted toward the wall as though it found the entire situation to be amusing, its stitched smile never faded.

For even the Conductor to feel chills...

What the hell was I dealing with?

What—!

"Oh."

Suddenly, with one shoulder resting casually against the wall and its arms folded across its chest, the Conductor shifted its gaze past me.

Snap! Snap!

The sound was small but sharp in the confined stairwell. One by one, the stitches lining its mouth split apart. The threads gave way and curled down loosely around its lips, the tension within the room rising as its lips slowly stretched wider.

Its smile deepened into something far more exaggerated, far more sinister.

What had once been restrained amusement twisted into open, extreme delight.

Every hair on my body immediately rose.

And soon—

"It's looking at us."

Its voice reached my ears, its hand raising as it waved.

"Hello~"

My head immediately snapped back without warning, every node inside of my body churning as I prepared to deal with whatever was behind me, but the moment I turned my head, it was gone.

"A pity."

The Conductor's laugh echoed all of a sudden, patting me on the shoulder.

"It looks like it's a shy one."

The chills didn't stop.

"But you'd better hurry. Although I don't quite understand what you're dealing with, I do know something..."

Pausing long enough for a tense silence to settle in, the Conductor brought his hand away from my shoulder and muttered, "...There's not much time left."

No, that wasn't what it wanted to say.

"You all don't have much time left."

***

The darkness pressed in on them from every direction, swallowing the edges of the corridor beyond the reach of their light.

Mia, Nora, and Niel stood back to back, forming a tight circle.

Their shoulders brushed as they slowly turned in place, the beams of their torches slicing through the black in sharp, trembling lines. Dust drifted through the light, catching briefly before vanishing again.

Niel kept his gaze fixed on the door where the Squad Leader had disappeared.

The silence between them felt suffocating, but it was soon shattered by Mia's voice.

"The Squad Leader has been inside for quite a bit. When... will he come back up?"

"It shouldn't be long."

Niel did his best to stay calm as he answered, but the grim edge in his voice made it hard to hide his worry. The Squad Leader had been gone for a bit, and they had yet to hear anything from him.

Above all, something about their surroundings felt unsettling.

As if they were being watched.

"How... long do you think it'll take for him to come back?"

"I don't know."

"But what if it's not him when he returns?"

"Then we can just use the keyword and make sure that its truly him."

There was a subtle pause between the three before Mia continued.

"What if he never comes back?"

"...He will come back."

"But what if—"

"If he doesn't, we look for him."

Nora suddenly cut off the conversation, seemingly annoyed by Mia's persistent cries as she mumbled under her breath, 'Just how long are you going to keep this nonsense up for?'

"If he doesn't come back, it'll mean that something has happened to him and that its our job to rescue him. We're a team."

Nora emphasized the last part, bringing Mia to a quiet.

Nobody said a word from that point forward.

The silence felt even more unbearable. So suffocating that the soft hum of their torches was the only source of comfort. But as time passed, and they heard no news of their Squad Leader, they all started to become more and more unsettled.

So much that Mia started to become fidgety while Niel wiped his glasses more times than he could count.

And just as the tension reached an all-time peak—

Clank!

The door opened, revealing a familiar figure as a pair of dark eyes fell on the group. But just before anyone could get a word out, his voice echoed sharply across the walls.

"We don't have much time. Let's find what we're looking for and leave as fast as possible."

It was only then, beneath the steady beams of their torches, that they truly saw him. His face was unnaturally pale, his expression marked by a strange seriousness that made everyone hold their breath.

"Hurry up."

-x-X-x-

The second sublevel felt different from the one above.

The air was heavier here, colder in a way that settled deeper into the bones. The walls seemed narrower, the ceiling lower, and the air felt even more moist.

We moved quickly, our steps splashing against the shallow water that covered the floor. Each stride sent ripples racing outward, the sound echoing sharply through the submerged corridor.

I kept my eyes on the compass in my hand, its needle steady now as I followed its direction without hesitation.

Unlike the upper floor, every door along this sublevel stood open.

From time to time, I'd stop to take a look at the insides of each room. This came as a result of the compass's occasional glitches, which would spin it toward the rooms, forcing me to go in with bated breath.

'There's nothing here.'

The room was large, yet it was in complete disarray.

Tables and chairs lay overturned, some snapped at the legs, others shoved aside as if something had torn through in a frenzy. Picture frames were scattered across the floor, their glass shattered and glittering faintly under the light. Shards crunched beneath our boots as we stepped forward.

Research papers were plastered against the wet pavement, soaked through and clinging to the ground. The ink had bled and faded, words reduced to blurred streaks, making it hard to read what was written.

"...It doesn't seem to be anything important."

The ones that were in a better state revealed almost nothing.

"It matches what we already know," Niel said, his voice low as I glanced at the ruined documents scattered across the floor. "They were researching a method to produce renewable energy without generating greenhouse gases."

I nudged a soaked stack of papers with my boot, watching the pages peel apart and fall back into the water.

That was when something caught my eye.

Amid the smeared ink and waterlogged pages, a section of text remained untouched. Several large words had been printed in bold.

"Project Gate is what it was called."

Niel's words lingered in the air, hanging between us even after he fell silent.

I kept my eyes on the paper for a moment longer, committing the bold lettering to memory, before finally tearing my gaze away and looking back at the compass.

Without another word, I stepped out of the room.

Water splashed softly beneath my boots as I followed the direction it pointed, intent on seeing where it would lead next.

"Let's continue."

The other rooms were no different from the first.

Each one had once been a research space, now reduced to ruin. Papers lay scattered across the floors in damp clusters, some trampled into the water, others clinging to walls and furniture. Tables were overturned, chairs thrown aside as though abandoned in a panic.

There were no corpses or anything else.

Just... papers and what remained of the old research facility.

'From the way everything is overturned, it's clear that the people here ran out of this place in panic. This might likely be due to the appearance of the Mist. Or could it have been something else...?'

I was honestly unsure.

However, I hoped it was the former.

'We shouldn't be too far.'

I glanced at the compass again and quickened my pace.

The needle was trembling now, no longer steady. It quivered in tight, frantic motions, pulling slightly to one side before correcting itself. The closer I moved, the more unstable it became.

It was reacting.

Which meant I was close.

I was almost running now, my boots pounding against the wet floor as the sound bounced wildly through the corridor. The noise wobbled and echoed off the walls, distorted by the narrow space.

The others hurried after me, their footsteps uneven but close. I could hear them, but I did not look back.

My eyes were locked on the compass. The needle shook violently in my grasp, jerking with every step as if struggling to settle. I tightened my grip and pushed forward, rushing ahead without slowing.

My heart felt heavy.

A deep sense of suffocation settled over me after my conversation with the Conductor.

'Hurry. I need to hurry.'

I didn't even know why I was hurrying, but for whatever reason, I knew that I had to hurry.

I just had to.

"Haa... Haa..."

The sound of my breathing echoed harshly through the corridor, mixing with the distant drip of water.

Slowly, I came to a stop.

In front of me stood a familiar-looking door. Its surface was worn, scratched in several places, and covered in rust.

The compass in my hand began to rattle violently. The needle jerked, then snapped into place.

It was pointing directly at the door.

'This is the place.'

I looked behind, seeing Niel, Mia, and Nora catching up with me, their breath heavy.

"W-where... are we? What is this place?"

"...I am not quite sure myself."

In fact, I didn't even know if this was the correct door. The compass led me here, but what if it was the wrong path? What if waiting behind the door was the very thing that had been haunting us since the start?

I clenched my teeth, every muscle in my body tightening as I reached for the handle.

For a brief second, my hand hovered there.

Then I pulled.

Creaaaaaaaaaaak—!

The old hinges let out a long, aching groan that echoed down the corridor, the sound reverberating in every direction. Rust flaked loose as the door slowly swung inward.

Beyond it, a room began to reveal itself before our eyes, shadows retreating inch by inch as the light from my torch pushed its way inside.

"——!"

For a brief moment, as I pushed the door wider, I thought I saw it.

A small shadow stood in the corner of the room, shaped like a boy, silent and watching as its features were blurred. My hand trembled around the handle, the beam of my torch wavering as my pulse spiked.

But as the beam of light continued to tremble, the shadow thinned and vanished completely, leaving behind nothing more than an abandoned office space.

A large desk sat at the center of the room, its surface buried beneath a layer of dust. Cabinets along the walls stood half open, the insides empty, as I remained completely still, staring in the direction of where I thought I saw the shadow.

"Did you guys..."

No, I pressed my lips together.

Looking back and seeing their looks of confusion, I knew that they hadn't seen the shadow.

I pressed my lips together once more, forcing myself to walk into the room as the others followed.

"This place is different."

Nora was the first one to speak, looking all over the place as she traced her finger over the desk.

"...There's no leakage here, and even though it's messy, it's not nearly as wrecked as the other places. Ah, here."

Nora stopped before a frame, picking it up and looking at it.

"It's slightly damaged, but it's still in pretty good shape. I can still more or less make out the pictures inside."

Nora turned and showed the frame to us.

"Look here."

Alongside the others, I looked at the frame.

The glass was cracked, a thin fracture running across the surface, but it was merely in the corner. Beneath it, the photograph remained mostly intact. The colors were faded, but the figures were still recognizable.

"Looking at how they're wearing labcoats, they seem to be people from this place. But, uhmm... I can't really make out their faces."

Nora brushed her finger across the cracked glass, trying to clear away the dust and grime for a better look.

It made no difference.

No matter how she adjusted the angle or how carefully she cleaned the surface, the faces in the photograph remained blurred.

"Agh, damn it."

After a moment of frustration, she flipped the frame over. With careful movements, she slid the backing loose and gently retrieved the picture from inside, holding it up directly beneath the light.

"Let's see if this does something."

Nora raised the flashlight closer, angling the beam carefully over the surface of the photograph. She tilted it slightly, then shifted the light again, hoping the glare would reveal something hidden beneath the fading.

I stepped closer as well, curiosity pulling me in despite myself. Together, we examined it in silence.

But the image was simply too old.

No matter how closely we looked, no matter how we adjusted the light, the faces remained blurred.

"...Damn it."

Nora sighed, shaking her head as she brought the flashlight away.

"There's no helping it, I guess. We should let—"

"Wait."

Mia suddenly reached for the photograph, her fingers trembling slightly as she took it from Nora. She lifted her own torch, the beam steady despite the faint shake in her hand, and angled it toward the surface.

"——!"

My expression shifted the moment she turned the image, several words appearing at once.

Words that Niel quietly read: "It's a game. It's just one big game."

Ba... Thump! Ba... Thump!

My heart pounded loudly in my ears as I stared at the words scrawled across the back of the photograph.

The handwriting was rushed and uneven, the ink pressed deep in some places and faint in others, as if whoever had written it had not had steady hands.

I could almost feel the urgency and sense of desperation in the words.

But what could they mean?

A game?

What game?

Don't tell me...

CLANK!

My thoughts shattered at the thunderous slam of the door.

The sound exploded through the room, making my heart jolt violently in my chest. I spun toward it at once, dread pooling heavily in my stomach as I stared at the now closed entrance.

My heart sank.

But before any of us could react, it happened.

Flick. Flick.

One by one, the torches in our hands sputtered and died. The light blinked out in quick succession, each small click sounding far louder than it should have.

Then there was nothing.

The four of us were swallowed whole by darkness.

But within the darkness, I heard it.

"Haa... Haa..."

The sound of the extra breath in the room.

-x-X-x-

"Don't move! Philantra!"

There was no time to hesitate.

The moment everything turned dark, I knew that there was no time for me to hesitate as I reached my hand forward, and a pair of sunglasses appeared in my grasp.

I slid them on.

The darkness peeled away instantly. The world shifted into shades of deep blue, outlines sharpening as hidden details surfaced.

After which, I reached for the knife in my pocket as I looked around, my breath colder as my entire body started to shiver.

'Where were you? Where the hell are you...!?'

I scanned the room hastily, hoping to find whatever had been responsible for all of this, but regardless of how much I looked, there didn't seem to be anything around.

My heart sank.

'I can't feel anything. What the hell is this thing?!'

Regardless of where I looked, I couldn't see it all.

And yet...

I could still feel its breath lurking within the room. Watching.

Staring.

'No, I can't stay here any longer. I'd be playing under its rules.'

I tore my attention away from the room and fixed it on the door.

There was no room for hesitation.

I activated [Trait Transfer], and a dark film crept over my arm, spreading from my wrist to my shoulder rapidly. It clung tightly to my skin, pulsing faintly as strength gathered beneath it.

I tightened my grip around the knife, feeling the subtle shift in weight and balance as the ability settled into place.

Then—

CLANK!

I drove the blade straight into the hinges of the worn-out door.

"What's going on!?"

"Hey, what's happening!"

"It's me! I'm... smashing the door open! Philantra!"

Metal shrieked against metal as I forced it in deeper, twisting hard. The old fittings cracked under the pressure, the metal groaning even harder.

CLANK! CLANK!

I struck again without pause, the reinforced strength in my arm creating deeper and deeper dents into the door.

Then, with a final wrenching smash, the hinges gave out completely.

BANG!

The door tore free and collapsed inward, crashing to the floor.

"Follow me, Philantra!"

I tried the torch again, pressing the switch with more force this time.

Still nothing.

I exhaled slowly and relied on my voice instead, calling out directions as I moved. The others followed the sound without hesitation, their footsteps splashing against the water beneath.

Thankfully, the darkness did not hinder them. They moved smoothly, trusting my commands without question. But I wasn't surprised. This wasn't the first time we had encountered a scenario like this during the time that we had tried together.

'Philantra' was also the code that we used to let each other know that we weren't impersonating anyone.

And of course...

"We're close to the stairs. Ready to go up. Be as fast as possible. Siphim!"

Every three codes, there'd be a new one.

This was to prevent the anomaly from copying our words and tricking the team.

Clank—!

I smashed through the door at the base of the stairs and began climbing the twisting steps two at a time. The metal rang beneath my boots as I ascended, one hand trailing along the railing while I listened carefully for the others behind me.

Surprisingly, nothing followed us as we moved.

Even as I looked behind, there didn't seem to be anything abnormal, but it was such normalness that made my heart feel heavy.

'What is it trying to do? Why is it not acting? Is it possible that it can't act? No, if that was the case, it wouldn't try to keep us in the room like that.'

There was little to no information.

Still, since it wasn't doing anything, I took full advantage of it, pushing the door to the upper floor and rushing out, entering a familiar corridor.

"Everything is clear. Keep following me. Eilzy."

The collective sound of our boots striking the water beneath us echoed down the corridor, each step sending shallow splashes outward. The noise overlapped and bounced off the walls, turning into a steady rhythm that followed us as we passed door after door.

The hallway ahead seemed endless, stretching into dimness no matter how far we advanced. My eyes moved constantly, scanning every doorway, every corner, every single thing that could give away to anything.

But despite this...

Nothing.

The entire place was silent.

Not a single flicker of anything appeared in our view as we continued to move up ahead towards where the trapdoor was located.

'...The Realmwalker is waiting right outside the trapdoor. I can open it at any given moment. I'm not worried about leaving this place, but for some reason, I can't get rid of the sense of danger that lurks around.'

The sensation was hard to describe.

But it felt as though I was swimming through the darkest part of the ocean, far below where any light could reach.

And somewhere behind me, just out of sight, an open maw lingered in the abyss. Silent. Teeth bared in the dark, waiting for the exact moment I slowed down.

Waiting to devour me at any given second.

I didn't like this. I really didn't like this feeling...

"Let's go. Let's—"

It came.

What I dreaded came.

"Hueek!"

CLANK!

Abruptly, a shriek echoed from behind me as one of the doors burst open, and Niel's expression changed drastically, his entire body slamming towards the open door.

'Shit!'

I hastily stopped, extending my hand as I used [Trait Transfer], and a dark wire extended from my hand, latching onto Niel's body and yanking him back.

"Hukh!"

Thankfully, I reacted just in time and was able to pull him away.

But it wasn't over.

CLANK! CLANK!

The doors around us burst open one by one.

The crashes overlapped and ricocheted through the darkened hall, heavy metal slamming against walls as the noise scattered in every direction. My expression tightened immediately, every instinct bracing for something to rush out.

But nothing came.

The open doorways revealed only darkness.

A darkness so deep that it felt unnatural.

"Quick! Quick! Quick!"

Dread pooled inside me the instant I caught sight of the darkness beyond those doorframes.

Every hair on my body stood on end, a sharp chill racing along my spine. The air seemed to drop several degrees in an instant, turning thin and frigid as it brushed against my skin.

"Quickly get out!!"

I didn't even wait for the others to reply or do anything.

There was no time!

There was no time at all!!

I thrust my hand outward.

At once, several dark threads shot from my palm, thin and fluid like strands of living shadow. They whipped through the air and latched onto the others, wrapping tightly around their waists before they could even process what was happening.

There was no time to explain.

The same dark coating spread over my legs, sealing around muscle and bone. Power surged through me, compressing and then releasing in a violent burst.

"Huek!"

"W-what?!"

"Hieeek!"

I moved.

The corridor blurred as my speed multiplied several times over, dragging them with me as the threads pulled tight and we tore forward through the darkness. The distance between where we were and the trapdoor wasn't very far. I knew that I'd be able to cover the distance in just a few minutes.

But—

BANG!

"Huek!"

It became painfully clear the moment something yanked me sideways that things wouldn't be so easy.

One second, I was moving forward, the next, an overwhelming force tore me off balance.

My body slammed violently into the nearby wall, the impact knocking the air from my lungs and sending cracks spidering across the concrete.

"S-shit."

My body screamed with pain.

I wasn't even able to react before I was suddenly thrown to the side of the wall. The impact left my shoulder aching, and for a moment, I lost concentration, resulting in the others similarly falling.

"Ukh... What the hell is happening?"

"...W-what grabbed onto me?"

I could understand their confusion. With the surroundings being dark, they couldn't see a single thing. They were also not aware of my powers and, as such, were thrown off by how I had grabbed them and made them rush ahead.

To make matters worse, nobody knew exactly what we were dealing with.

"I... don't know either, but we... have to get out of this place as fast as possible. Indigo."

I forced myself up, palms scraping against the damp floor as I pushed through the ache in my shoulder.

I reached out again, shadows gathering at my fingertips, ready to latch onto the others so we could keep moving.

But I was too late.

Nora's body jerked upward without warning, as if seized by something. She was ripped off the ground and hurled into the air, slamming hard against the ceiling above. The impact echoed brutally through the corridor before she dropped back down.

BANG!

"Akh!"

Her scream tore through the surroundings as Mia hurriedly rushed in her direction.

"Nora!"

She lunged forward without hesitation, water splashing wildly beneath her boots as she rushed toward her.

But she barely made it halfway.

Something caught onto her mid-stride.

".....!"

Her body snapped backward as if hooked by something invisible. At the same time, another door along the corridor burst open with a brutal crash.

CLANK!

The darkness inside surged outward.

"Hiik! N-no!"

Mia was dragged toward it, boots scraping helplessly against the flooded floor as whatever held her tried to force her into the gaping black.

The situation was dire.

The moment I saw Mia being dragged, I reacted without thinking.

I lunged toward her, arm outstretched, shadows already gathering at my fingertips.

But just as I was about to reach her, something clamped down on my shoulder.

"——!"

The grip was incredibly strong as it yanked me backward. My body jerked violently as I was pulled away from her, boots scraping uselessly across the waterlogged floor as Mia's body got dragged into the door.

No!

But just as Mia's body was about to disappear into the doorway, Nora reacted.

With a desperate burst of strength, she twisted mid drag and drove her shoulder hard against the door. The impact echoed sharply through the corridor. The door slammed shut with a violent bang, cutting off the darkness that had been pulling Mia inside.

BANG!

The force holding Mia vanished instantly.

Thud!

Her body dropped to the flooded floor, water splashing outward as she hit.

She lay there for a second, breathing hard, chest rising and falling rapidly as she struggled to steady herself.

"T-The doors..."

Nora muttered, her voice hoarse as she looked around the darkness, struggling to see properly.

"We... need to close the doors."

CLANK! CLANK—!

Not even a second after she spoke, the muffled sound of doors bursting open echoed from the distance as an invisible pressure seemed to rush towards us.

'Oh, fuck!'

There was no time for me to think.

My body reacted before my thoughts could catch up.

My node churned violently within me as I adjusted my glasses with a quick motion, forcing my focus to sharpen. My gaze locked onto every open doorway lining the corridor.

Then I moved.

Dark wires burst from my hands, snapping outward like living tendrils. They streaked through the air in multiple directions at once, racing toward each door with precision, slicing through the darkness as they shot forward.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

I did not know if the force in each wire would be enough to slam the doors shut.

I did not know if they would even hold.

And I did not care.

There was no time to calculate, no room for doubt. I poured everything I could into them and shouted urgently, my voice cutting through the chaos as my feet started to move.

"Let's go! The trapdoor is closed! We should be fine once we reach the exit!"

I had already ordered the Realmwalker to open the trapdoor. The only thing that we needed to do was leave this place. As long as we left, I was certain that we'd be safe.

Therefore...

"Run!"

I shouted, my legs moving as I looked behind me, making sure everyone was following my voice.

"Run!"

I shouted again, my voice echoing harshly through the corridor.

Water splashed wildly beneath my boots as I braced myself. My node churned violently as I felt something pull at the wires.

It was overwhelming.

Enough to make my mind go blank for just a moment, only to be brought back by the pain.

The dark threads quivered and strained, pulled tight as a brutal force slammed against them from the other side. I felt the backlash directly, like something massive was trying to tear my control apart piece by piece.

The wires trembled violently, on the verge of snapping, as I forced more power into them and held my ground.

'Not yet. Almost there! Almost there! Almost there!'

Through the blue hue of my vision, the darkness wasn't a problem as I saw everything clearly. I moved without hesitation, sidestepping debris and the loose metal wires.

Then I saw it.

Metal rungs embedded into the wall, climbing straight toward a trapdoor above.

My eyes lit up instantly.

"We're here! Hurry! Hurr—Ukeh!"

A sickly sweet sensation rose at the back of my throat the instant the wires snapped.

The recoil hit me violently. But above all, I also heard it. The faint but unmistakable cracking from deep within my node.

'S-shit!'

Pain flared sharply through my chest as I stumbled forward, barely catching myself before falling.

Then the temperature dropped.

The air turned frigid in a heartbeat, and an overwhelming pressure surged from behind us. It barreled down the corridor at terrifying speed, crushing the space in its path as it rushed toward us.

"Squad Leader!"

"...Squad Leader, are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

By now, light poured down from above. The trapdoor had been forced open by the Realmwalker, and pale illumination spilled into the corridor, cutting through the darkness at last.

The others could see clearly now.

"Go!"

I barked, waving them past me.

They did not hesitate. Although their faces were hesitant, they knew me well by now. They understood not to question my orders and just follow. One by one, they rushed toward the ladder as I turned back to face the oncoming pressure.

I forced my node to keep functioning despite the cracks I could feel within it. The strain intensified immediately. A black film spiraled around my arm, thickening as it rotated faster and faster before surging outward.

It expanded in front of us, spreading wide and solidifying into a massive black wall just as the rushing force closed in.

"Quickly go—Ukh!"

BANG!

The wall shook, nearly sending me back as I glanced over my shoulder.

The others were already on the ladder, hands gripping the metal rungs as they climbed quickly toward the open trapdoor above. Light from the surface framed their silhouettes, casting long shadows down the wall.

Thankfully, all three of them moved with no issues, reaching the top rather quickly as they climbed up.

At the same time, they extended a rope down for me to grab.

"Squad Leader!"

"...Okay!"

BANG!

The wall trembled violently.

Then it shattered.

The impact tore through me at the same time. A metallic taste flooded my mouth, and for a split second, I thought I was going to vomit blood. My vision wavered as the backlash rippled through my already fractured node.

But I did not stop.

I forced my legs to move and sprinted forward, reaching for the rope hanging from above.

Behind me, the pressure roared closer, tearing through the corridor with unstoppable momentum. The air screamed in my ears as every hair on my body stood up.

It was right behind me.

My head dashed forward, reaching for the rope.

But just as I was about to grab it, something grabbed onto my shoulder.

"——!"

A voice followed.

"On second thought, I think you should stay here. Don't blame me. I think it'll be really interesting."

The force pulled me back as the darkness closed in on me, grabbing me from all directions.

"Squad Leader!"

"Squad Leader...!"

As the muffled screams of my team echoed, the last thing I managed to see was the twisted smile on the Conductor's face as it waved at me.

This motherfuc—!!!