In a different area. BANG—! A massive wardrobe suddenly lurched from the wall, slamming into the floor with a violent, splintering crash. The dry rot in the wood shattered on impact, releasing a cloud of grey dust that slled stagnant. "Cough! Cough...!" A series of coughs echoed as a figure erged from the scattered dust, their back pressed against the shattered remains of a wardrobe. Not far from them stood another figure, his cold gaze fixed intently on them.
"Why were you following us?" His words were equally as cold as his gaze. "Looking at your uniform, you seem to belong to one of the smaller Guilds. Were you trying to spy on us?" "Cough...! That's not—" "Maybe you were looking to ambush us at the last mont and steal so of our points? If that's the case, I can't allow you to stay." The figure stepped forward, his expression growing colder. But just as he took another step, another figure appeared, grabbing him by the shoulder. "Woooow! Relax, Kyle! There's no need to go this far!" Kyle stopped, his head slowly turning in Rowan's direction. His eyes narrowed for a mont as his lips eventually parted, "He's been spying on us for quite so ti. This is a competition, and we've yet to accumulate a single point. If things go on like this, we won't be able to make it far, and furthermore... we can't take risks. On the off-chance that they do want to ambush us and take the credits, we'll only suffer. Let —" "Oy, what's wrong with you?" Rowan tugged Kyle's shoulder with more force, causing Leon's face to change. "You're acting rather weird. Why are you in such a rush? Only a day has passed, and no other team has gathered points. I get that you're anxious, but this isn't sothing that we can rush! Just take it slowly." "..." Kyle stood in silence, his expression hard to read. In all honesty, he was aware that he was acting weirdly. Could he be rushed due to the current situation? The fog, maybe? No, that wasn't it... He's been feeling weird for quite so ti. His head... It felt strangely light, and his body felt cold. There just seed to be tis when he couldn't think properly. Stopping, Kyle brought his hand to his face and pinched it. At the sa ti, he took a couple of breaths, trying his best to calm himself down. When he eventually stopped, Rowan's voice echoed once more. "You good?" "...I'm fine. Let's go." Kyle gave the 'spy' one last look before eventually turning around, eting the gaze of his squad as he walked away. 'I feel so strange. Just what is happening to ?' *** Swoosh! Swoosh—! Several figures rushed forward, their movents swift and agile as they navigated the roads with extre efficiency. They ran in tight formation, following the figure at the front without making a single sound.
'...The rescue flare should be up ahead. I don't know which team has activated it, but it's very close. Keep the formation thought.' Liora's voice echoed quietly inside the ears of everyone present as her dark hair fluttered behind her. She and her team cut through the fog, eventually slowing down before an empty road, a soft yet chilling sizzling sound echoing through the air as an empty flare sat in the middle of the road, staining the fog in blood-red. "..." Liora stood in silence, calmly observing her surroundings. Then—
BANG! A nearby tree shatters, Liora's movent so fast that nobody had any ti to react as smoke flowed out from the barrel of the gun she held. "Nothing?" Liora's dark eyes narrowed, her hand lowering as she put her gun away. Although ordinary guns were generally useless against anomalies, there were specialized firearms capable of harming them. However, those were relatively expensive and often not worth the cost. In Liora's case, though, the gun in her hand was tailored to her Decree abilities, making it a crucial part of her arsenal.
As one of her team mbers returned from analyzing the broken tree, they shook their heads. "Nothing, Squad Leader. I don't sense anything. Did you perhaps make a mistake?" "Mistake?" Liora's eyes narrowed as she looked at the broken tree. Eventually, she shook her head. "No, I don't make mistakes. Sothing was there. Be on your best guard. This place... It's a lot more fucked up than I originally thought." *** "There's a map of the layout of the building over here, Squad Leader. Although it's a little bit faded, I think I can do so cleanup to get a better idea of where we are and where we should go." Taking out his phone, Niel snapped a photo of the paper pinned to the wall. I stood beside him, watching as he scanned it, the program on his phone gradually restoring the faded portions of the text.
Eventually, Niel handed his phone. "Here, have a look. This should make our lives a lot easier." "Mhm, good work." I gave myself a pat on the back. As expected, it was good to bring Niel with . To be honest, it wasn't just Niel. Everyone else was useful. Everyone had their own skill set, and while people deed them to be not good enough for , that was far from the truth. 'Okay, let see.' Taking a look at the map, I quickly familiarized myself with everything. In essence, the research facility was far larger than I had first imagined. What I'd mistaken for a single residence block was only the outer shell of sothing much bigger. Beyond the housing area and the playground, a separate warehouse was present.
It was an industrial structure built to store equipnt, chemicals, and whatever else they were dealing with. But that wasn't all. "If I'm not wrong, squad leader, this area right here should contain a sort of underground facility. It's not quite clear, but judging from the writing that I'm making out, there appear to be three sub-levels." Pausing, Niel looked at . "Should we start with this?" I thought for a mont and looked around. Eventually, I nodded, "Let's do that. Since those from the Evening Sun Guild are staying in this building, we might as well go and explore the underground area." Honestly, this felt like the perfect recipe to get a sort of jump scare. My stomach was already churning at the thought, but holding onto the knife, I felt a lot more at ease. No, not just at ease... I felt sothing else. A tingle that I had no choice but to push down. Creak! Moving past the playground, the rhythmic creak of the swing still echoing behind us, we continued beyond the residential block. The building's outer walls were marred with dark stains, like scorch marks left behind by a large fire.
I wanted to pay more attention to it, but I decided to leave it for now, the torch in my hand wobbling as I continued up ahead. The deeper we headed, the denser the fog beca. Dark skinny tree branches pierced through the white veil enveloping us, the silence around us shattered by the soft crunch of our steps.
The air was dry, and rusted tal scraps were scattered across the area.
I angled my torch to one side, holding the beam steady as it slid over the scattered items on the ground.
My attention fell on a certain doll slumped on the ground. Its plush exterior was riddled with small, uneven holes; the stuffing inside darkened and clumped with age.
The buttons that once filled its eyes were missing, leaving behind two hollow spaces that seed deeper than they should have been, quietly catching the light as if they were trying to look back at .
'Why is a doll over here? Were the children playing in this area? It's not exactly close to the residential area. But then again, they're kids. They play everywhere.' I hovered my gaze over the doll for several seconds before looking away, moving forward until a large tal trapdoor appeared in my view. Pointing the light in its direction, I looked back. "...We're here." The research facility.
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