Voice after voice rang out to Takumi's left and right.
Even though the surroundings were still shrouded in darkness, and he still could not see a thing, Takumi felt as though he could see one rescuer after another standing in the surging filthy water, shouting as they moved into action.
No—he could truly see them…
A sudden sting ca from his left wrist, where he wore his watch.
anwhile, the badge pinned to his chest seed to grow warm, releasing a faint current of warmth.
Then ca visions—illusory at first—flickering into view, gradually shifting from blurred to clear.
Takumi saw faces.
Every one of them was young—hot-blooded youths in their twenties.
[The flood peak ca early! The Shirakawa Apartnts haven't been fully evacuated yet! We're the nearest rescue team—anyone still able to move, co with !]
[Roger that, Captain! Let's go! Teams 1, 2, and 3, move out! Follow the plan by floors 1, 2, and 3! Quick!]
[Copy that! Everyone, check your equipnt once more! Move fast! We must complete the Shirakawa Apartnts evacuation before the flood surge arrives!]
One after another, figures waded through the murky current, rushing into an old apartnt building.
Door after door was knocked open; person after person was escorted to safety.
Takumi realized he had sohow beco one of those rescuers—or rather, that he was seeing everything through the eyes of the person to whom this badge had once belonged, witnessing sothing that had happened who knew how many years ago.
[Co on, old sir, I'll carry you—careful now, we're almost out!]
[Little one, don't be scared—we're here. There's a rescue boat waiting outside. You'll be fine.]
[Move, move, move! Put on your life jackets! Don't be afraid—we're right behind you!]
The water pouring in from the main entrance kept surging, nearly sweeping people off their feet.
Yet those figures kept darting through the flood, ferrying the residents who hadn't evacuated in ti out of the building.
And at that mont, Takumi saw the figure standing at the very front of the team, reaching a hand toward an old man with limited mobility.
[Here, give your hand.]
[I'll take you out.]
As that figure spoke, he hoisted the old man onto his back and turned around to move—allowing Takumi to see his face clearly.
The man's voice, too, was now distinct enough to recognize.
Kyosei?!
Even though the voice had changed sowhat—sounding younger, livelier—and the one he'd heard in the clock illusion had been slightly distorted, Takumi still recognized it instantly. The young man's voice was exactly the sa as Kyosei's.
How could that be? Could it be that Kyosei was the captain of the rescue team that had once handled the Shirakawa Apartnts' evacuation? Could it be that this man was a witness—a witness to the critical mont when the Shirakawa Apartnts turned into an anomaly?
[Thud!]
Takumi's thoughts were forcibly cut off the next instant.
Because the door to Room 109 suddenly burst open with a loud bang.
Then, a force pushed him hard from behind, catching him completely off guard and shoving him forward—sending his whole body stumbling into the corridor inside Room 109.
[Click——]
In the crisp sound of the lock snapping shut the next mont, the door to 109 had already closed automatically.
Only Takumi climbed up from the floor, standing under the light of the incandescent lamp above his head and looking at the dry, dilapidated corridor before him.
This place seed no longer the sa as the damp, waterlogged first floor from just now.
Takumi's cautious gaze slowly swept across the corridor ahead.
He noticed that the floor here had no puddles at all—there wasn't even much dust. It looked as if it had been cleaned regularly.
Although cracks could be seen on the walls, there were likewise no cobwebs or plaster dust.
He raised his head and looked at the hanging lamp illuminating the corridor.
The bright, pale-yellow light brought a faint warmth, and the new bulb bore no trace of any stain.
He took a step forward, passed through the corner of the corridor, and then saw an album placed on the cabinet in the corner.
Opening the album, he found one photograph after another of a child—blond hair, blue eyes, as adorable as a doll, and appearing very lively.
A tall, blond man often appeared in the photos. Sotis he held the child up high and laughed heartily, sotis he walked beside the child, watching her with gentle eyes. And at the very end of the album was a photo of a sleeping baby, beside which was an English inscription that read, "You are my whole world."
Sanchez and his child?
He had been trapped here back when this apartnt could still interact with the outside world—when those drawn in as residents could still go out. If the exit of this apartnt was located within Japan, didn't that an he would have to take a plane just to et his daughter? No, even just settling the entry and exit docunts would already be a massive hassle. In such a case, how could he possibly give a reasonable explanation to the local authorities about his sudden reappearance?
In other words, it was almost impossible for him to ever see his daughter again, wasn't it?
Realizing this, Takumi could sowhat understand why he had risked everything to test Room 304, as well as why there had been those who supported Sanchez and helped him carry out those prohibited acts.
But discussing things that had already happened was aningless now.
Anyway, it would be best to keep going forward and see what secret Room 109 was hiding.
With that thought, Takumi subconsciously reached toward his waist—but felt nothing. Then, suddenly realizing the problem, he looked down and found that the rope that had been tied around his waist was gone.
The rope broke?! No—it had completely vanished.
If the rope had only snapped, the section tied around his waist should still have been there. Yet the reality was that there wasn't even the slightest trace of anything having been tied to him. Not only that—his shoes and pants, which should have been completely soaked, were now perfectly dry. Only the chest badge still hung on his body, still existing upon him, and the black watch on his left wrist remained there as well. Aside from those, everything on him was exactly the sa as when he had first woken up inside the apartnt.
Takumi realized sothing.
He took a step forward, passed through the corridor, and arrived before the living room door.
Beside the living room door—at the very end of the corridor—there was a wall clock placed there, identical in style to the one on the second floor. The difference was that this clock's hands did not move, completely frozen in place, as if ti itself had co to a halt.
Takumi leaned in close to the wall clock.
He had no intention of moving its hands.
He rely stared at his own reflection in the slightly polished tallic surface of the clock.
That shattered face—the one crushed through the middle by the truck.
After entering this room, had his identity changed from that of a living person to a corpse?
In other words, just like in that dreamlike scene he had seen before, was this ti as well a remnant shadow from so mont in the past?
After confirming this, Takumi turned around without a hint of hesitation, twisted open the living room door, and stepped straight inside.
The next mont, what entered his sight were nurous photographs hanging midair, all strung together by a single rope, along with clipped newspaper fragnts and slips of paper bearing various writings.
The walls were densely covered with pasted docunts of all kinds; thick books and files were stacked on the table, and torn sheets of paper lay scattered across the floor. On one side of the room stood an old desktop computer, while the sll of ink had gathered throughout the space—still vivid and unmistakable even now.
Takumi reached out and took a small paper clipping from one of the books.
[The Number One of Japan's Ten Greatest Horror Stories—The Mysteriously Vanished Old Apartnt!]
[The forever unfindable mysterious apartnt—its residents said to be haunted by a curse, unable to escape even through death.]
It seed like the kind of rumor collected from supernatural story anthologies.
Without hesitation, Takumi took another clipped newspaper fragnt.
[Disappearing Apartnt? Rescue Team's Strange Vanishing—What Is the Truth?]
[All questioned individuals claim to rember nothing about the incident—just a case of mass hysteria?]
Looking at these slips of paper one after another, he walked up to the wall, then fixed his gaze upon the many docunts hanging there, carefully taking in every piece of information and morizing them.
So of these materials were various official docunts, while others were handwritten notes of thoughts and investigative records.
Without a doubt, all of this had been done by that man nad Sanchez. During his ti staying in Room 109, the man had been exhausting every possible ans to gather information about Shirakawa Apartnts from all available channels, preparing for his final action.
[Reporter investigating street house numbers discovers a mysteriously missing unnad building. The official in charge claims it was rely a data error.]
[Inquiries made to the residents of Clear Spring Apartnts yielded nothing. They rember experiencing the great flood disaster but completely fail to recall any place called Shirakawa Apartnts across from them. No one rembers that place anymore.]
[New comrcial street completed—our city's new district soon to welco large-scale business settlent!]
[The once suburban outskirts have long beco a bustling urban area, yet the vacant lot of Shirakawa Apartnts' forr site remains undeveloped. Even though the surroundings have all turned into a lively shopping district, it stays the sa. Why does everyone instinctively avoid developing that piece of land?]
[City Rescue Team reorganization nearly complete—we will spare no effort to protect the safety of all citizens.]
[Infiltrated the Rescue Team archives—found no records of the team assigned to Shirakawa Apartnts. Were their files erased? Or did they all die, and thus everything about them was devoured by the apartnt, leaving them beyond the mory of anyone alive?]
[Residents trapped inside the apartnt, while still alive, can temporarily leave to et those they know. But apart from intimate family and very close friends, other acquaintances—ordinary friends, superiors, and colleagues—will grow indifferent toward them and gradually forget everything related to them.]
[But as long as this person is still alive, traces of his existence can still be found in the real world, and things related to him can be looked up.]
[Kyosei… if you truly are still alive, why can no information related to you be found? Why would you be hiding a Rescue Team uniform in the wardrobe? Just how much are you keeping from us? Are you really acting for everyone's good—are you helping us?]
[Shirakawa Apartnts' numbering is still there; this apartnt's information has not been completely erased. There should still be sothing to find—perhaps I should change my approach.]
[Infiltrated the City Police Departnt and found the check-in registry for Shirakawa Apartnts from back then. The occupant information for Room 304 has been damaged and cannot be restored; only the check-in date can be found.]
[The follow-up investigation of all residents who checked in at Shirakawa Apartnts has been completed. No surviving residents were found. All residents who checked in during the sa period as the Room 304 occupant or later have all died, and all died within 1 year after the flood disaster. The relevant family mbers possess no valuable information.]
[Perhaps this line of thought is wrong. If the Police Departnt was able to preserve so docunts, might there be other things to find?]
[Investigated the Police Departnt's old archives and found a record of a diation of a dispute between the residents of 304 and 309. The original diation docunt has been lost; only inferences can be made from the report information—suspected family conflict—but no further useful information can be found.]
[Why would it be 309?]
[Discovered that the resident information of 309 had changed once—there was a relocation not recorded in the archives. The information of the original resident could not be found.]
[Further investigation of the diation record produced a new result: an audio recording of the diation at the ti was preserved, stored on a cassette tape. I obtained the tape. Now I need to get a tape player—this thing has long been out of production; I don't know where I can buy one.]
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