Volume 3 Chapter 26 Back-to-back Is A Sign Of Trust
Led by Annabelle, the 6 of them walked through the old school building, and ahead of them was a hallway glowing red from the setting sun.
"Wow, this is amazing. It has such a strong vibe."
Randy thought the hallway looked so creepy that it seemed like it was soaked in blood instead of just being sunset. He was excited to find out what the 7 mysteries were.
"I've never seen this before, but it's even more than the rumors said."
Annabelle swallowed hard. Even though she was part of the occult research club, she had never seen anything like this. Anyone else would probably be scared just by looking at it.
Suddenly, Randy looked back at the path they had taken.
Behind them was the dimly lit hallway they had walked through. It felt heavy and cold, yet oddly warm. It wasn't a nice atmosphere, but now it seemed better than the creepy red hallway in front of them.
And sure enough...
"Wow. Looks like we hit the jackpot."
Ellie whispered happily next to Randy.
"Jackpot?"
Randy frowned, and Ellie just said, "Well, it's uncertain if anything will actually happen." He didn't quite get it, but it seemed like this mystery was different from the others and was a real supernatural event.
"We can't just stand around here. Let's get moving!"
Randy took a deep breath and stepped forward, but nothing really changed. The red light around them was definitely strange, but the atmosphere felt the same.
"...Nothing's changing, right?"
"Of course not. You think weird stuff just happens out of nowhere?"
Ellie quietly replied, sighing, "Well, there have been incidents before."
"There must be some kind of trigger."
Following Ellie's lead, Randy looked around carefully. But all he saw were his friends walking down the red hallway or opening classroom doors.
"Is this a bust...?"
Annabelle, who didn't hear Ellie, looked disappointed. They had been in the hallway for about ten minutes now, and it was getting darker as the sun set.
"I don't really know, but we should head back soon."
Luke sighed and turned to Cecilia, urging her to go back the way they came. Hearing Luke, everyone reluctantly started to leave the red hallway for the dark one.
"It had such a cool vibe, though..."
Randy grumbled, and Luke turned back to him.
"What are you doing? I'm leaving you behind!"
Just as Luke shouted that, the whole place turned bright red.
The ceiling.
The floor.
The walls.
Everything was soaked in a color too red to be just sunset, and at the same time, Randy felt a strange presence surrounding him.
"W-What's happening?"
"I don't know. Anna, don't wander off!"
While the two of them panicked, Ellie frowned and said, "I see. It's a word spirit..." This meant they were all trapped in the 7 mysteries. The hallway was now filled with an eerie presence that was way stronger than before.
"This is... more than I expected."
Luke was smiling wryly as he felt the overwhelming presence, just like Randy. When Luke looked back, the dim hallway they had seen earlier was gone.
"Since we're here, should we try going back?"
Randy suggested, and everyone nodded, heading back the way they came... but no matter how far they went, the scenery didn't change. It was just an endless red corridor.
"It really is all red no matter where we go."
"This is seriously one of the 7 mysteries."
Randy seemed a bit happy, but unlike him, Cecilia and Cori looked around nervously. Meanwhile, Annabelle had calmed down and was investigating the phenomenon with Ellie.
She was touching the walls.
Peeking out the windows.
Annabelle was focused on doing physical investigations.
Ellie crossed her arms and looked around, saying, "I see. The coordinates are... no, the whole brain is off." She was trying to figure out the strange situation they were in.
Randy didn't understand the complicated stuff, but like Annabelle, he peeked out the window and was surprised to see the usual scenery outside.
The school building is painted in the colors of dusk.
Sports clubs are still active.
Students are probably heading back to the dorms.
Looking out the window at the everyday scene, Randy feels a strange sense of urgency, almost like anxiety.
"Feels like I'm stuck in a world all alone."
Randy mutters this, and everyone silently nods in agreement. It seems like everyone else is also looking out the window and feeling the same way.
"The window... of course, it won't open."
Next to Luke, who has a wry smile, Randy pulls out a greatsword from his magic bag.
"Everyone, step back──."
At Randy's words, everyone clears a path, and he swings the greatsword down from above.
With a whoosh, Randy's strike cuts through the air.
But... it suddenly stops right in front of the window glass, as if something is blocking it.
Randy lets out a cheerful "Wow" at the trembling tip of the sword.
Even though he swung down with all his strength for the first time in a while, that strike was stopped.
In the past 2 years, he had been deflected, but never stopped like this.
"Stop it. This place is, even if it's just a simulation, a different dimension."
Ellie, who is no longer trying to hide her seriousness, makes Cory and Annabelle look stunned, but now is not the time for that.
"A different dimension──."
Randy tilts his head and points outside with his thumb while still facing backward. It's a gesture that asks what will happen to the everyday life out there, but Ellie shakes her head.
"Brain World. The parallel worlds overlap and exist together. Like the dimension we're in and the outside world."
"So this is a parallel world?"
Randy furrows his brow, and Ellie shakes her head.
"Strictly speaking, it's different. This place is a world that progresses simultaneously... a 'parallel world.' It seems the master here can create a new brain-like space."
"Parallel? Isn't that the same?"
Randy doesn't understand the difference, even if the kanji is different. But now is not the time to worry about that, so Ellie sighs and knocks on the wall in front of the window.
"Even if it's fake, the walls of dimensions can't be broken easily."
Ellie turns to Randy, looking more serious than usual.
"If you want to break this space, you have to defeat the master here."
As Ellie rallies everyone, someone swallows hard.
"I'm so sorry... I dragged you all into this."
Annabelle looks like she's about to cry, and Cori comforts her, saying, "I didn't stop you either." Next to them, Cecilia looks out the window and lets out a small sigh.
"It's so close, yet so far."
Hearing that, Annabelle bows her head again and starts to cry.
"That's not what I meant──."
Cecilia, who is also panicking, joins the 3 in a state of confusion, but Randy simply says, "Oh, so we can get out," and easily puts the greatsword back in his bag. In games, you usually can't leave a stage until you defeat the boss, no matter how strong your character is.
You can't use escape items either; that's just how it works.
It seems this strange phenomenon is related to complicated theories like different dimensions or parallel worlds. Randy doesn't get it, but in the end, the simple task is to find the boss and beat them up.
He doesn't mean to say it's just a game. Knowing this is reality, he thinks, "If there's a way out, then there's no need to worry."
"Then let's hurry up and smash it!"
Randy punches his palm, and Luke laughs, saying, "I hope it has bones."
The two of them, not feeling the crisis at all, make Annabelle stop crying with a blank look, and Cecilia grips the hem of Luke's shirt with slightly trembling hands, saying, "I'm counting on you."
"Leave it to me. I'll knock down even if it's the Demon King."
"I'll protect you, no matter what happens, my lady."
Even now, the smiles from the two of them lighten everyone's hearts.
"Lady Annabelle, do you have any hints on how to reach the boss?"
"I'm so sorry... The content of the 7 mysteries only says, 'You can't go back'..."
Cory gently encouraged Annabelle, who was feeling down again. "Don't worry. I think there's a clue in the Seven Wonders."
"The Seven Wonders mentioned 'the hallway on the west side of the third floor where she and her boyfriend spent time'."
"So, they must be somewhere in this hallway?"
Luke tilted his head, and Cori nodded with a thoughtful look.
"Is there something bothering you?"
"Yeah. If we're talking about the hallway from the Seven Wonders, usually couples hang out in classrooms chatting during sunset, not in the hallway."
Everyone nodded in agreement with Cori. It felt more natural to sit in a classroom and talk than to stand in a hallway.
"So, to be exact, the Seven Wonders probably means 'the classroom on the west side of the third floor where she and her boyfriend spent time'."
As Randy said this, he opened the door to a nearby classroom, revealing a strange space filled with bright red.
"Bingo... Let's open them one by one."
Luke nodded at Randy's words and started opening the classroom doors one by one. When Randy reached for one of the doors, he suddenly stopped.
"Is everyone ready?"
That statement said it all. The source of their troubles was likely right here. As Randy slowly opened the door, they saw a girl standing with her back to them in the center of the bright red classroom.
She looked like an ordinary person, but the aura around her was nothing like a regular human.
"Hey, can you let us out?"
Randy spoke without sugarcoating his words, following his instincts. He felt that negotiating with this presence in front of him was impossible. Still, he tried to talk because she looked like a student.
Even knowing she was a beast, no one could just attack a girl out of nowhere.
"Come on, please──."
'No way...'
Randy felt as if the whole space was speaking to him.
'Hey, it's okay. Let's stay together forever.'
The girl turned around and smiled, looking just like any normal person. Yet, everyone felt a chill run down their spines.
"Sorry, but we have someone waiting for us... and there are others who need to go home. So, I can't listen to you."
As Randy pulled out his greatsword, the girl whispered, 'Oh...' In an instant, her eyes turned into dark voids. Those empty eyes seemed to hold a madness that could drive anyone crazy just by looking at them.
'You're going to leave me behind and go alone!'
The girl's hair spread out dramatically, and at the same time, she floated into the air.
A strange sound echoed in the space, and the desks and chairs around them also lifted off the ground.
"This is a serious opponent."
Randy chuckled nervously and turned to Annabelle. "What's stronger than a wraith?"
"Umm... maybe a specter, or even a spectral wraith──."
"No, it's a Void Walker."
Ellie declared, surprising Annabelle.
"A Void Walker? Isn't that a servant of the King of the Undead?"
Ellie nodded at Annabelle's surprised voice.
"They can control the void and even twist space... Now, kid, you said you would accept me. Prove it here."
With a serious look on her face, Ellie said so, and , Randy said jokingly, "OK, milady," and got ready.
'...Everyone, let's stay together!'
Behind the Void Walker, several voids appeared. From them, countless shadowy hands emerged.
Randy swung his greatsword, and Luke swung his straight sword at the attacking shadowy hands.
The shadowy hands scattered before they could hit the two, but the onslaught didn't stop.
Randy swung his greatsword. As he cut through the shadowy hands, he stepped forward and spun around.
His left roundhouse kick sent a floating chair flying.
The chair aimed at the Void Walker but was blocked right in front of her.
The chair, just before hitting the ground, suddenly stopped.
It flew just above the ground, heading straight for Randy.
Randy sliced through the flying chair along with the shadowy hands.
"Ugh, this is going nowhere."
Randy shouted without turning around.
"Luke! Protect everyone!"
"You think I can do this alone──."
"Please. You're the only one I can count on."
As Randy laughed, Luke sliced through a shadowy hand and urged everyone to leave the classroom, slowly backing away.
It seemed like there was no danger outside the classroom, but in the hallway, which was stained red, countless specters and their stronger version, the spectral wraiths, appeared.
"Luke, Sir Randolph can win, right?"
"He will... I can't imagine him losing."
Even as he said this, Luke looked back at Ellie with a serious expression. Ellie noticed the meaning behind his gaze and sighed, "Well then."
"Randy can only use physical attacks, right? The Void Walker controls nothingness and bends space. So, physical attacks won't work on him... We need to cut through the dimension they controls, at least."
While saying this, Luke returned a confident smile to Ellie, who was anxiously watching the classroom.
"Then, he just needs to cut through the dimension, and it's over."
Out of the corner of his eye, Luke saw Randy diving into a mass of shadowy hands as he attacked the specters.
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