NOVEL NEXT While walking through the underground passage guided by the White One.
Suddenly, I felt a sensation from behind as if someone was pulling me.
“…?”
My neck naturally turned to look back.
There was the White One, who had just guided me moments ago.
It was holding my arm, as if to say this wasn’t the right path.
“Why? There’s nothing here. Shouldn’t we just keep going straight?”
However, I had no idea why it had stopped me.
Because in my surroundings, there was nothing that could be deemed as an anomaly.
It was all just the same scenery as before.
I distinctly remembered that the guide said not to go back if there was no anomaly in sight.
“….” thunk thunk
Then, the White One shook its head for a moment.
It knocked on a poster stuck to a nearby wall.
There it was, a poster that looked slightly different from the one I had seen earlier.
It was a rather large poster, to say the least.
…Yeah, I see. The poster is definitely bigger than the last one.
But why does that matter?
“This? It’s just a bigger poster, isn’t it?”
“…??”
“If the poster got bigger, that’s supposed to be an anomaly? What kind of anomaly is that?”
“…!!!”
“Fine… I got it. I’ll listen to you. That’s enough, right?”
I couldn’t fathom why a bigger poster should be treated as an anomaly.
But since the White One was vehemently insisting, I had no choice but to accept its opinion.
For now, I decided to follow its lead and returned in the direction it was tugging me.
In conclusion, the White One was indeed right.
If I considered the sign for Exit 2 right in front of me, it meant that the creature guiding me was not leading me astray.
Well, at this point, it seemed like this creature wouldn’t suddenly betray me and run away, so maybe I could start believing it a bit more.
“…????”
Thinking that, while moving ahead again, I once again felt someone pull me from behind.
Turning back, there it was again.
The White One was holding onto me to prevent me from moving.
“Now what? This time, there’s really nothing to see.”
“…!”
As I voiced my dissatisfaction, it pointed toward somewhere with its finger.
My gaze followed where it pointed.
At the end of it, there was an old ventilation duct on the ceiling.
From it, a very sticky-looking black liquid was dripping down, which, of course, made me react with disbelief.
No way! Normally, you’d see wastewater flowing out of a ventilation duct that’s been neglected for a long time!
Of course, it’s as bad for health as it looks and leaves behind stains that are horrifically hard to clean.
But come on, calling that an anomaly? Isn’t that just a lack of facility management?
We’d call this just poor facility management, you know?
“…That? Isn’t that just because it hasn’t been maintained for a long time?”
“…?!!!??!!!!”
“Whoa… why are you so uptight? Who cares about every little thing like this?”
“…!!!!!!!”
Alright, alright, I get it. I’ll go with what you want.
Really, what kind of anomaly is this? It’s just playing Where’s Waldo.
At this rate, am I going to have to memorize the position of every speck of dust?
“Seriously, what a free-spirited place…”
Despite my grumbling over the bizarre choice of words, it was correct in its conclusion, so I had no choice but to keep following along.
Eventually, it occurred to me that quite a bit of time had passed since we started looking for the exit.
And I encountered a number of anomalies—at least, as the White One claimed—much more than a few.
Let’s casually recall a few examples of these so-called anomalies I encountered…
―――Whoosh!
“Why is there a little water flowing in? Let’s just go.”
“…!@#$$%!!#” gurgle
Just as I heard a crashing wave from the other side.
A decent amount of red water surged in all at once.
“What are those kids up ahead?”
“…!” bang bang bang bang
“Hey? Do you know them? Good! We can bring them along—”
――Tap tap tap tap tap!
“What’s going on…? They’re running away?”
“….”
I encountered two figures in strange suits who suddenly darted away as soon as they spotted me.
“Ah, stairs! Is that the exit?”
“…!” nod nod
“No? But it looks just like an exit from any angle I see it.”
“…!!” nod nod nod
“Are you trying to trick me?”
“…!!!” nod nod nod nod
“Well, honestly, you wouldn’t trick me like that after coming all this way. Alright, I’ll believe you.”
“….” sigh
“But let’s at least check it out. You never know.”
“…?!?!!!!!” drag drag drag
So, I spotted some stairs going up and dashed up them, only to find it was a fake exit, returning to Exit 0.
Anyway, those minor incidents happened along the way, but thankfully, we didn’t take long to return to where we had been.
Now, standing before the sign labeled Exit 6, we were walking toward the nearing exit.
“―――” stumble—
Following the swaying White One, I went past the sign for Exit 6.
Turning the corner, a familiar sight came into view.
However, there was something slightly different from the scenes I had seen before.
Having learned from previous experiences to call this an anomaly, I hurried to turn around to go back.
“…?”
Then, I felt that familiar grip pulling me from behind.
Sighing, I turned to see what could possibly be wrong this time.
“….” push push
It pointed with its finger.
It was pointing to a regular door on the wall.
That door, which had always been firmly closed, was now slightly ajar for some reason.
Ideally, the White One should also see that as an anomaly and urge me to turn back…
Yet, for some reason, it appeared to be suggesting I go in rather than turning back this time.
“Are you telling me to go in there?”
“….” nod nod
“Really? It doesn’t look much like an exit…”
The glimpsed space beyond the slightly open door was filled with utter darkness, void of any light.
I asked whether that really was an exit, but it simply kept nodding decidedly.
As I had thought thus far, I felt I should trust it once again.
So, without hesitation, I approached the open door.
“Can’t see anything…”
Carefully I peered through the door.
However, all I saw was darkness.
At least to know where I should walk upon entering, I turned to it to ask something.
“Hey, do I just walk straight a—?!”
Before I could finish, a black hand sprang from behind me.
Without any chance to resist, I was pulled into the darkness beyond the door.
―――Thud!
Immediately after the girl was drawn through the door.
The slamming sound echoed throughout the underground passage like a rolling thunder.
“…”
Even though it was a sudden occurrence, there was no sign of surprise in its movements.
Of course. The thing that brought the girl here was that entity.
Like most monsters, its purpose was to harm people.
This time too, it had lured the girl into darkness from which she could never escape, aiming to harm her.
— — — — — — — — — —
From beyond the door came horrifying sounds.
From the tightly shut door came noises that sounded like something was being smashed and crushed.
When that sound eventually faded away, realizing that everything was settling, it turned its body.
Just as it had done before, it intended to strike down the next unfortunate soul approaching.
It took a step forward to return to whence it came, but—
―――BAM!!
With a deafening roar incomparable to the previous sound of the door slamming shut.
The door that seemed unlikely to ever open again was forcibly ripped off its hinges and flew back, crashing into the wall.
“―――?!”
“What… I expected this to a degree.”
From beyond the ripped-off door, the girl emerged, shaking off her clothes.
Chunk after chunk of unknown debris fell to the ground.
They unmistakably resembled the black hands that had pulled the girl through the door moments ago.
But now they were torn to shreds, lying helplessly on the floor.
“―――.” quiver quiver quiver
With slow steps, the girl approached the remains.
Her face showed no emotion, yet instinctively I felt a sense of fear from her.
“Well, at least you were prepared for this, right?”
Finally, when the girl was close enough to touch it, she raised her hand lightly as if to swat a bug.
―Crunch!
With the sound of her palm meeting the wall, something burst forth, sending echoes throughout the underground passage.
After finishing things up lightly.
I dusted off my hands, gazing at the chaotic scene that unfolded before me.
“….”
What remained, now just a rough mark on the wall.
I stared at the remnants for a moment before eventually turning away, leaving it behind.
I began to move my feet, searching for an exit.
“So, where was I…”
Of course, I was heading in the direction I had previously come from.
It was obvious that door I just entered was an anomaly.
Moreover, since the next waypoint was Exit 7, I didn’t need to follow its guidance anymore.
“Yup. Looks like I arrived correctly.”
After a short walk, a sign indicating Exit 7 appeared in front of me.
Great! Now just around this corner should be the exit, right?
I had no idea how much time had passed. Sophia is probably getting worried.
――Knock!
Just as I was about to step out, thinking about the outside again.
From around the corner, unexpectedly came a light tapping sound.
“…?”
A clear sound, as if tapping a thin wooden board.
I quickly realized it was the sound of a wooden mallet.
That ringing, which could only be heard near the temple, made me wonder how it was echoing here.
Unable to suppress my curiosity, I peeked around the corner.
――Tap, tap, tap!
There stood a monk.
Dressed in robes draped across from shoulder to armpit, holding a wooden mallet, clad in worn gray monk’s garb.
Anyone could see he was a perfect image of a monk.
However, due to the oversized hood that covered his entire face.
I couldn’t even tell the monk’s gender, let alone whether it had a human face.
――Thud, thud!
The monk slowly approached me.
One step, two steps.
Finally, it stood right in front of me and, after putting the mallet inside its robe, peered at me from beneath the shadow of its hood and asked—
“Do you perhaps know the way?”
This was followed by a phrase that felt entirely out of place with the monk’s attire.
Not even Buddhism, but rather something cult-like that street preachers say.
“…”
Wait.
What’s this monk doing around here?