NOVEL NEXT Notice
Don’t miss the abnormal phenomena.
If you discover an abnormal phenomenon, return immediately.
If no abnormal phenomenon is found, do not turn back.
Exit through Exit 7.
—
It had been a little while since I got separated from Sophia and lost my way in some unknown place.
I realized I had found myself in quite a tricky situation.
“Notice?”
My gaze fixed on the notice positioned slightly above my height on the wall’s middle.
It was a map typical of an underground passage.
However, the contents were nothing short of bizarre.
That’s because there’s never a mention of abnormal phenomena in any underground passage guidance I’m aware of.
“Sigh…”
With a puff of exasperation, I started scratching my head nervously.
This is it, right? What I think it is?
Yeah, it looks like it says abnormal phenomenon, so I guess that must be it.
How odd. I was definitely not out for a stroll! What on earth is happening now?
It’s not like I’ve stumbled into some facility collecting all these abnormal phenomena; why am I suddenly here in the middle of a regular street?
Is some weird pheromone leaking from my body? Why on earth am I experiencing all these things consecutively since returning when I never faced anything like this in my past life?
Sniff sniff
I slightly raised my wrist to take a whiff, but of course, there wasn’t any special smell wafting through.
No matter how I walked, I kept coming back to the same spot. To escape this frustrating space, I lifted my hand to smash the wall in front of me, just like I always did in the past.
“―――.”
But then I remembered something someone once told me.
And so, I slowly released the strength from my fist.
“Yeah, well… they did say breaking anything might cause trouble.”
I actually had a few close calls doing that in the past.
Back then, I was young and selfish, brushing it off like, “Who cares? It’s not like I’ll be living here anyways.”
But now that I think about it, the thought of something like that happening in my hometown is utterly terrifying.
“For now, I guess I should follow what this notice says…”
Recalling my past mistakes, I promised myself I wouldn’t go back to living recklessly, at least not in my hometown.
With that resolution planted, I decided not to break down this place and instead took a step towards the long hallway while engraving the notice’s content in my mind.
—
About 30 minutes later…
“…Back here again.”
I had diligently followed the instructions on the notice, but I was just stuck repeating the same spot.
Because of that, my remaining patience was running dangerously low, and I kicked the wall in front of me in a fit of frustration.
――BANG!!
With a dent marking the wall, a slight vibration spread through the entire underground passage.
Forget that. I’m canceling what I said earlier. I’ll just live like I used to.
Why do I keep coming back to where I just was?
The notice said if no abnormal phenomena are visible, then just keep going straight.
But every time I moved forward, I just ended back at the spot marked “Exit 0.”
Wait. Maybe there was never an Exit 7 to begin with?
And the words on the notice were just written to mess with me.
“…Forget it. I’m an idiot for believing that notice.”
Thinking back, it made no sense for a notice in a place like this to be normal.
It didn’t even specify what an abnormal phenomenon actually was; how the hell am I supposed to see and judge anything?
Look around! Everything looks the same every time!
The same poster, the same door, the same ventilation, the same oddly shaped wall, and the same――
…
Wait a minute.
“…?”
As I nervously looked around, the feeling that I saw something strange emerged, and I directed my gaze back to where I had just been.
Suddenly, from the end of the hallway, I noticed something vaguely distorted in the space.
‘That wall… was it always like that?’
It looked suspicious at first glance.
I began to walk towards it as if entranced, and as I got closer, I realized it wasn’t the space getting warped at all; someone was camouflaged against the wall’s pattern.
“…!”
The moment I realized that, something that had disguised itself as the wall lunged towards me.
Tap tap tap — the rapid sound of footsteps came closer.
It took on a shape resembling a human, but it was too grotesque to be a person.
As it reached so close to touching my neck that I could feel its breath, I instinctively―――
――WHACK!
I reflexively kicked it away with all my might.
――THUD!!
The thing I kicked flew backward and crashed against the wall.
Being all floppy, it slowly fell down.
“Whoa, that was a surprise…!”
I collected my racing heart and belatedly expressed how I felt about what just happened.
I mean, seriously? What was that thing? Why did it suddenly charge at me? And why was it disguised as a wall in the first place?
It didn’t look human at all…
Oh, is this the abnormal phenomenon mentioned in the notice?
“…Not dead, right?”
I cautiously approached to see if it was still alive. Fortunately, it seemed to be alive, twitching and trembling on the ground.
While staring at its form, which seemed somewhat human yet entirely different, I confirmed this was indeed the abnormal phenomenon labeled in the notice.
Grabbing its legs, I started dragging it along the path I had come from.
—
As I suspected, it was indeed an abnormal phenomenon.
If you ask me how I knew, it was because I finally made it beyond Exit 0 to Exit 1.
Compared to earlier on where I kept circling the exact same spots, it was a significant improvement.
But to be honest, it didn’t feel all that hopeful.
Because at the current speed, I wasn’t sure if I could escape this place before the sun set tonight.
“….”
With a heavy heart, I turned around only to see something kneeling down over there.
It was that ‘thing’ from before, which had been camouflaging itself and lunged at me.
“So, why the sudden charge at me?”
I asked the now-seated creature. It twitched a bit as if startled.
But wait, looking closely, it was trembling quite a lot, way more than just a twitch.
What could be so terrifying that it boldly surged at me moments ago?
“Not gonna talk?”
“…!” Shake shake shake
Getting a bit irritated from its stubborn silence, I asked again in a firm tone, and it violently shook its head side to side, like it was quite certain of its opinion.
What, seriously can’t talk? No wonder I thought it didn’t have a mouth…
Ugh, this makes it impossible to ask any questions.
“Ugh…”
With one plan shot down, a sigh naturally escaped me.
I originally intended to ask it for detailed directions on getting out of here.
But now it was like I was starting from square one.
At this rate, I would just have to break my way out as I previously thought――
…
Wait.
Thinking it over, it understood my words at least, right?
“Do you know the way out of here?”
“…?” Nod nod
“Great! Then guide me to the exit, please.”
“…?????”
“Huh, you don’t want to? Fine. I was originally going to let you live, but――”
“…?!?!” Nod nod nod nod
At first, it held back from responding, but when I made my intentions clear, it immediately began nodding vigorously.
Perfect. What a flawless negotiation.
From now on, you’re my GPS. Just know if your performance sucks, you’re outta here.
“Okay, get up. I have someone waiting, so let’s move as fast as possible.”
As I approached it still kneeling, it hurriedly tried to stand.
But just before it fully got up, I paused it and leaned down to bring my mouth close to where its ears should be.
“Oh, and if you screw up even once…”
This was sort of an insurance policy.
I mean, of course. This thing had just tried to pounce on me.
Unless I was sure it wouldn’t turn around and stab me in the back, it made sense to be prepared for the unexpected.
“…I believe you understand what I mean. So let’s do our best.”
After vaguely ending my warning, I patted its back with a smile.
It stood still momentarily, but it seemed to instinctively realize that it shouldn’t remain frozen in place.
Soon after, it lifted its body and began walking ahead, seemingly guiding me.
“――――”
Somehow, its face adorned with a white tile pattern looked several shades paler than before.