Chapter 28: Hehehehe, Got You, Hehehehe (First death)
"Cough... ugh..."
Pain spread throughout the body.
Takahashi Takakai lowered his head, looking at a sharp stalactite fragment that had pierced his abdomen.
Gravity reversed in an instant. Completely unprepared, Takakai fell onto the field of sharp spikes below.
The distance was only about two or three meters, but in a fall like this, adjusting his body to find a safe landing spot was absolutely impossible. Moreover, there was no safe place to land—only countless razor-sharp stalactites.
In the end, thanks to his reflexes and physical strength that far exceeded human limits, Takakai barely managed to twist his body, using his hands to brace against the gaps between the spikes. Even so, his abdomen was still pierced by a stalactite fragment. No, not just his abdomen—his leg was also stabbed twice, though not too deeply.
"Cough..."
A mouthful of filthy blood spilled from the corner of Takakai's lips.
At this moment, his head felt like it was about to explode.
The doll that Shijo Maki carried with her had lost its vision, preventing Takakai from sensing the situation on that side anymore.
After the fleeting glimpse of a white dress disappeared, Takakai was immediately cut off from that Obsession. The backlash at that moment nearly destroyed his nervous system, but after taking a deep breath, he gritted his teeth and endured it—neither going insane nor suffering brain death on the spot.
Severing a connection with an Obsession that had already established sensory links without preparation... caused such severe backlash?
Another lesson learned.
"Puah—"
Takakai exerted slight force, pushed himself up, and pulled out the stalactite fragment lodged in his stomach.
Lying prone on these sharp rocks was far from a pleasant experience, but at this moment, Takakai realized that the situation had already deteriorated beyond salvation, so he had no mental capacity to care about the pain. He had to struggle, had to find a way to gather more information before dying. Even if it meant risking something that could accelerate his death, he had to attempt collecting information that would normally be impossible to obtain.
He did not look toward Fujiwara Chika, who had fallen onto the spikes with him.
There was no sound of her breathing—she had probably died instantly. That was good, at least she didn't have to suffer.
Maki... and Kaguya too, they were both...
In the end, the problem this time lay with himself.
After the ground of the timeline of security guard station was "observed," Takakai could no longer step into the research base area. The entity that had been watching him—its true form resided inside Nutty Putty Cave within this research base timeline. He wasn't entirely sure of its exact location in the cave, but it seemed to have certain restrictions preventing it from directly entering the research base. Meanwhile, his identity as an "exploration team member" had unintentionally become a medium, helping it break free from those restrictions.
The monsters in the command room could only recognize two exploration team members—perhaps because he had been "observed," his existence had become an interference point to those creatures.
Staggering, Takakai moved toward the "plain" among the stalactites, which ranged in length from several dozen centimeters to over a meter. He carefully stepped on the gaps between the spikes, advancing step by step.
The rescue team badge was already strapped to him, yet for some reason, he couldn't summon a complete rescue suit this time, nor could he call upon his rescue teammates—he could only use the badge's energy to heal his wounds.
The effects of Obsession had been suppressed.
If it were another Obsession, it would likely lose control immediately upon being used. It was only because this badge had been modified with blessing power that the loss-of-control rate had been reduced to the lowest possible level, allowing it to remain in a suppressed state instead.
So, something capable of suppressing an Obsession's effects, pushing it toward loss of control... the entity watching him—it must be the core Obsession of the dungeon.
The badge he possessed, while slightly different from a true core Obsession, had been strengthened by blessing power to the point where it could be considered the core Obsession of a Dusk-level dungeon. Suppressing the effects of such an Obsession would require either a Red Moon-level Obsession or the core Obsession of a Dark Night-level dungeon.
No matter what, a Dusk-level dungeon could never leap to Red Moon-level.
So the worst-case scenario he was facing... was a core Obsession of a Dark Knight-level dungeon.
All of this was knowledge compiled by players, and this was also the only possibility Takakai could think of. But... perhaps it wasn't just that.
The information Takakai had gathered when he was still an explorer, when he was still a member of the rescue team, had absolutely nothing to do with this research base. Moreover, based on the rules he had collected, it seemed that something had happened between the Big Slide and the Great Space—there had to be a core Obsession present here.
The information from both sides was too difficult to piece together. If there was only a single core Obsession, then this distribution was far too bizarre.
In other words...
"Dual-core Obsession, Dark Night-level dungeon."
Takakai slowly spoke. By this point, he had understood his own situation, realizing just how insanely the so-called "Dusk-level dungeon that could be completed in two hours" had been upgraded after being fixed.
And vaguely, he also understood why the ground in the security personnel's timeline, despite being an exit, could not be used to leave.
"A core Obsession related to escaping means that as long as one reaches the ground of a timeline where 'no anomaly has occurred' or where 'the anomaly has not yet been discovered,' they can fulfill the dungeon completion condition."
"But the other core Obsession aims to kill all living beings, meaning every escapee becomes a target. Regardless of their role, as long as they set foot in an area where the dungeon can be completed, they will be recognized and killed by that Obsession. No matter what methods are used to avoid triggering the death condition, they will be relentlessly pursued until they are dead."
"That means... this dungeon fundamentally has no way to be cleared?"
At this thought, Takakai froze, standing still on the spot.
To escape from Nutty Putty Cave, he had to reach the 'real' surface.
But the moment he set foot on the 'real' surface, he would immediately be killed by another monster.
To avoid being killed by that monster, he had to stay inside Nutty Putty Cave.
How could there exist a core Obsession that completely sealed off all chances of survival? Why would such an Obsession exist? What in the world had this research base done to create such an world-shattering situation?
Suddenly, Takakai recalled the dungeon information he had previously gathered. One of the four hints from the unfixed Nutty Putty Cave dungeon was: "The actor has yet to take the stage." And now, this hint had been replaced by a new one.
Perhaps there was a specific target for revenge? Could it be that he needed to find someone connected to this research base and have them die at the hands of the core Obsession in order to break the deadlock?
Wait a minute. If he thought about it that way... the new hint, "The memories of the lost guide an unquenchable flame of wrath," could very well be related to this core Obsession.
Because Takakai could feel it very clearly—this abnormality was entirely different from the core Obsession of Shirakawa Apartment. It was almost manically releasing an overwhelming desire to kill. This Obsession was undoubtedly tied to emotions like 'Wrath.'
If that were the case...
Takakai looked toward the scattered tourist clothes, which were falling due to the reversed gravity.
"The Lost" mentioned in the hint... could it be referring to these tourists?
He had nearly reached the entrance to the Big Slide. Initially, Takakai had planned to choose between the Big Slide and the gentle slope, but now, he paused, considering whether he should try putting on one of the tourists' outfits. Perhaps he could use this identity to gather new clues.
However, before he could act—
That icy gaze had already locked onto him from behind.
"..."
There was no way to react.
In that bone-chilling instant, Takakai lost control over his body.
Then, something seemed to grip his ankle.
His body was immediately lifted into the air and forcefully dragged toward the gentle slope.
In the face of imminent danger, Takakai could only use his hands to shield his face and the back of his head. The next second, his body slammed hard against a rock wall, the impact breaking one of his ribs. Then, he continued to be dragged deeper into the slope, his entire body scraped by stalactites, wounds covering him from head to toe, blood soaking him completely.
Cliff.
This was a narrow fissure located in the middle of the slope, said to be hundreds of meters deep. However, because the crack was so narrow, even if someone fell in, they wouldn't plummet too far down—they would just get stuck in between.
At this moment, Takakai was being pulled up by an irresistible force, forcefully dragged into the narrow fissure above. His body was scraped and dragged deeper into the crack.
The stench.
An incredibly strong stench.
Takakai turned his head—he saw the corpses wedged within the fissure.
White lab coats.
Black military uniforms.
White-and-yellow striped explorer suits.
There were no tourists, no explorers, no one else at all—every single body belonged to personnel from the research base. One by one, they were all trapped in this narrow fissure.
The corpses were either completely rotted away or reduced to bare bones. Thick. Dense. An overwhelming number of bodies, enough to send chills down one's spine.
More than 90% of them were the remains of exploration personnel wearing white-and-yellow striped suits.
Realizing something from this number, Takakai relied on the power of the rescue badge, trying to regain some control over his body. But the very next moment, an even stronger force dragged him deeper. The cliff walls pressed tightly against him from both sides, squeezing him so hard that even breathing became nearly impossible.
"Ugh... ugh..."
Still being dragged, Takakai opened his mouth, trying to press his hands against the rock wall, struggling and resisting.
But the force pulling him only continued to grow stronger, inch by inch dragging him deeper.
His fingernails tore backward, fresh blood dripping down.
His elbows were scraped raw, torn open.
His clothes were shredded by the rock walls.
Then his flesh was torn apart.
His chest, his back—everything turned into a mass of mangled flesh and blood.
The next second, Takakai's foot pressed against a crack.
This was one of the narrowest points of the cliff, with a gap of barely five centimeters. With Takakai's build, there was no way he could squeeze through.
"Haa... haa..."
Takakai panted heavily, struggling to crawl out of the fissure, but whatever was gripping him refused to let go, keeping him completely immobilized.
His flashlight had long been destroyed in the struggle.
Darkness. Pitch-black darkness. Nothing was visible.
Takakai could only feel the indescribable pressure crushing down from both the front and back, the suffocating difficulty of each breath, and...
[Hehehehe—]
Along with it, an eerie laugh echoed from below.
A laugh?
[Got you, got you hehehe, got you hehehehehe—]
His nerves tensed.
It sounded like someone talking.
Yet at the same time, it also sounded like someone mumbling to themselves.
That thing was right behind his feet.
Deeper within this crack.
Takakai could feel the cold gaze locking onto him, feel the overwhelming malice rising from it, sense the presence of something absolutely non-human.
So, he slowly, inch by inch, tilted his head to one side.
With great difficulty, he directed his gaze toward the stare that pierced through him.
In the endless darkness, he should not have been able to see anything.
But in the moment he "looked," he actually saw it.
He saw it grinning at him.
He saw it opening its mouth, grinning "hehehe."
He saw the ghastly pale face, the filthy white dress stained with dark red smudges, and the hand reaching out, gripping his ankle.
[Got you, got you heheheheheehehehehehehehehe—]
Crack!
Takakai's foot was dragged into the narrow crack, barely 5 cm wide.
He couldn't scream.
Because as his body continued to be dragged, the rock pressing on his chest completely blocked his breath, leaving him unable to make any sound at all.
Crack!!
Takakai's lower body was completely pulled into the crack.
The sound of bones breaking echoed repeatedly.
The flesh and blood splattered out, pooling around.
His ribs had completely shattered, and the broken fragments pierced his internal organs, filling his mouth with blood.
Crack!!!
His upper body began to be forced through the narrow gap.
From his abdomen to his chest.
Bit by bit, it was squeezed tighter into the 5 cm space.
"Ugh—"
Takakai vomited.
He couldn't control it.
From his mouth, chunks of torn flesh, broken organs, and smashed bones were all forced out.
Like a dumpling being crushed, every lump of it was expelled, splattering around.
Like squeezing toothpaste, bit by bit, he was squeezed through the narrow crack.
Until his entire abdomen was pushed through.
Until his chest was fully forced into the crack.
Then, his neck, and finally his head.
With a final explosive sound, Takakai's consciousness completely vanished.
And in the last moment before sinking into nothingness, what he saw was countless broken bodies, those who had been crushed by the crack no more than 5 cm thick.
Along with that thing—
That thing still staring at him, still laughing its eerie "hehehe."
Everything sank into stillness in the dark.
And amidst the pile of crushed flesh, for some unknown reason, a black wristwatch remained intact.
The hands of the watch slowly moved.
Tick—
After that faint sound, the hour hand moved from position 2—
And once again, stopped at position 3.
(note: The deaths in this fanfic are so good)