Beep! Beep—!
Alarms constantly rang.
Red flashed.
"We’ve received a casualty! I’m trying to get in contact with the personnel. No response!"
Beep!
Red flashed once more.
"Another casualty! The numbers are going up!"
The monitoring room was in full panic mode.
Sothing had clearly gone wrong with the Trials, the mbers in the monitoring room registering the entire situation while recording everything that was happening and sending it over to the agents that were stationed outside of the hotel.
Mainly, the Section Chief.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
This resulted in the continuous chi that rang from the Section Chief’s phone. Every second, he’d receive a new notification, prompting his expression to fall further and further as he looked at the distant hotel.
As he did, he issued a quick order.
"Evacuate all of the reporters and the crowd that is currently outside."
He could feel that they were growing restless. While he hadn’t been keeping up with the stream, he could tell that the situation was turning more and more serious.
"Understood. I’ll get to it."
One of the Team Leaders left the position, turning back to handle the reporters and restless crowd.
In the anti, the Section Chief’s expression turned even darker.
’It has to be them.’
He was almost certain of it.
A certain cult had been terrorizing the island for so ti. He had been pursuing them relentlessly, uncovering his most recent clue during the art museum incident. Despite his efforts to gather more leads, he always returned empty-handed.
The only thing he knew was that the top personnel were extrely wealthy individuals, wielding considerable influence.
Their motives were also unclear to him.
However, if he had to speculate about their true motives, he could make a guess.
"How troubleso."
Moving back towards the hotel, the Section Chief pressed his hand against the door. His node churned as he tried to push his way in, but no matter how hard he pushed, the door wouldn’t budge.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
"Damn it!" He cursed, feeling his phone ringing continuously. The more it rang, the more his heart sank.
Unable to withstand it any longer, he took out his phone to look at the stream.
The mont he did, his expression changed.
"Huh...?"
A certain group caught his attention.
***
A strong sll of burnt lingered in the air.
It was enough to choke .
Corpses littered the floor, arms outstretched, as if they had desperately tried to reach the elevator, only to fail at the very last mont.
My stomach churned at the sight.
But it seed I was the only one feeling this way. When I turned to glance at my team, they were staring into the distance, silently observing the surroundings, seemingly unbothered by what lay before them.
Psychopaths...
"What do you think happened here?"
Mia asked, her eyes scanning from left to right. The place was different from where we had been before. Though everything was charred, I could make out the remnants of what had once been a grand ballroom.
Had they also been dancing?
My eyes narrowed, thinking back to what had happened to us monts prior.
’Still, even if they danced, I don’t rember anyone catching fire before. What exactly happened here?’
I took a step forward, the sound of my step echoing loudly within the charred space.
The others followed closely, stepping out of the elevator as the doors slid shut, their eyes sweeping the room for any sign of what had happened.
The overhead lights were dim, and the heavy scent of smoke and char hung in the air. Faint wisps of smoke rose from the bodies scattered across the floor, but none of it truly unsettled as much as the cold that lingered in the room.
For a place that had just been burnt, how was it possible for it to be cold?
’There must be so sort of clue sowhere. I know things aren’t as simple as the gate increasing in rank.’
I could feel that sothing within the gate had fundantally shifted, though I couldn’t pinpoint what it was. In a bout of desperation, I finally drew out the pair of sunglasses I had been reluctant to use.
’...This might not be a good idea, but it might be the only thing that I can do at the mont.’
I looked at the compass in my hand. It was currently spinning in all sorts of directions, unable to settle on a certain direction.
My heart sank at the sight.
This wasn’t the first ti this had happened. Understanding that the compass was probably unusable for the ti being, I threw all hesitation away and donned the glasses.
"Haaa..."
The chill in the room deepened, sinking into my skin. The world around seed to shift into shades of blue. I shivered and tried to look around.
But when I lifted my head, my breath stopped.
Eyes. Everywhere. On the floor, the ceiling, the charred bodies. All different sizes. They looked drawn by hand, like doodles, moving slightly. I wasn’t sure if they were growing or shrinking. I couldn’t tell if they were real or if I was imagining them.
They felt like they were aware of , watching even when I didn’t look directly.
Voices then began to whisper in my head.
They were soft and made no sense at all. Was it even English? What language was it? High pitch, low pitch. Child? Or adult...?
The eyes grew large, shifting in size while looking at .
’...I see you. I sewhahihjf... see...’
’Over here... skhka... here.’
’Go... here... tshkadjda!’
"H-ha. H-haa." I felt my breathing growing heavier and heavier, a deep sense of dread sinking into my mind as I stared at the eyes surrounding . The all too familiar eyes that I had seen before.
And then—
Ding!
A chi rang from behind , prompting to turn my head and stare at the elevator that slowly opened.
But—
Nothing.
There was absolutely nothing within the elevator.
"What’s going on? Did soone call for the elevator?"
"Why did the elevator open...?"
"Squad Leader?"
Flick! Flick!
With the elevator lights flickering above, my gaze fell on the mirror at the far end. A figure stared back, making my heart pound violently in my chest and sending a slow, creeping freeze through my body.
’hwa... look. Look.’
’hiahasn... he’s looking. Why don’t you look more... hwahaihjf.’
’Keep looking... No, look away... hakhas.’
The voices around continued to whisper, the eyes around growing larger and smaller.
I ignored the voices, keeping my gaze fixed on the reflection.
A fire roared behind the figure within the reflection. It consud the entire surroundings, blurring the shape of the figure within. Other figures appeared behind it, reaching desperately for the figure, their flesh blackening and smoking as it burned.
And yet, the figure remained still.
Staring at .
My breathing quickened, my skin prickling as if the fire were searing alive. The pain was constant, digging straight into my mind.
I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t.
The eyes around enlarged further, fading in and out of my vision as they continued to whisper.
And then—
The outline of the figure beca clear.
My breathing stopped completely.
I understood then.
That figure...
It was .
The figures behind it were my team.
We were the next targets.
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