Passing through the pitch-black cavern.
Carefully advancing toward the direction the light was coming from.
Gao Hai stooped down, carefully passing through a tunnel section only about 1.3 to 1.4 meters high. He avoided the protruding rocks, hanging stalactites, and stalagmites rising from the ground before arriving in another, larger cavern.
Amidst the flickering light, Chika Fujiwara cautiously followed behind Gao Hai, similarly stooped over and advancing with care.
Before long, the two of them saw what was at the source of the light.
It appeared to be a guard post.
This type of structure was very common at schools and government institutions—a small building set up at the main gate, typically for security guards to monitor and control the flow of people. Some better-quality posts were permanent structures made of brick and concrete, with luxurious ones even having air conditioning. Poorer ones were prefab huts, or even just a few glass panels hastily thrown together. As for the interior, some guard posts were completely empty, while others were fully equipped with desks, chairs, and beds, requiring the guard to stay overnight.
The guard post that now appeared before Gao Hai and Chika was a simple prefab hut. It looked like it had been abandoned for a very long time—a period measured in years.
Most of the glass in the post's windows was shattered, and the colored steel panels used to construct it were covered in rust spots. A portion had even collapsed.
Behind the collapsed door, they could see a small table inside. The table itself must have been wooden, as it had rotted beyond recognition in the damp, underground environment; white mushrooms grew on its surface. On the other side was a single bed, with moss growing on the bedding. Other than that, the small hut seemed empty.
Strangely, despite being so dilapidated, the guard post's light was still on, emitting a dim, warm yellow glow, guiding anyone who arrived here.
"How can something like this exist in a cave?"
Chika was very confused. Although she had already accepted in her heart that she was in some kind of [horror game governed by supernatural forces], seeing a situation that so blatantly defied common sense made her subconsciously try to process it with her own logic.
"Spatial distortion. It's a very common phenomenon in horror stories. Time, space, consciousness... all common sense can be altered in rules-based horror stories. What we have to do is leave this place before we're changed to the point of no return."
Gao Hai was already numb to this kind of illogical, bizarre situation. He simply explained things to Chika while looking around, observing the area.
He didn't see any corpses staring at him from shadowy corners.
No ghostly dolls giggling as they ran up, using mental corruption to make him think they were cute little girls.
No sudden footsteps or anything else out of place.
For now, at least, everything seemed fine.
"You're pretty observant. Keep an eye on our surroundings for me; I'm going to check this place out."
After a moment's hesitation, Gao Hai gave the girl her instructions.
"Alright, mission accepted."
The girl nodded with a serious expression, then her eyes widened as she frantically scanned the area, as if she'd turned into a human surveillance camera.
Back in that large area, Chika had been able to notice that one person's voice had suddenly disappeared from Gao Hai's conversation. This was possibly because she was inside the cavern and couldn't hear their voices clearly from a distance, thus avoiding contamination by the anomalous power. Even so, the fact that she could quickly sense that [this situation might be problematic] and rush over to warn him—that level of observation, reaction, and initiative was very satisfying to Gao Hai, which was why he gave her this task.
Speaking of which, this was only his second instance, yet his mindset was completely different.
Recalling his three loops in the Shirakawa Apartments and looking at his current state, Gao Hai couldn't help but marvel inwardly at how much a person could grow and change. Then, he felt a twinge of worry for Maki and Kaguya before forcing himself to calm down again and focus on the exploration at hand.
A nauseating stench emanated from the collapsed guard post.
Gao Hai stepped inside, waving a hand in front of his nose. He tried to pull open the table's drawer, only to rip half of it clean off.
Inside was just a pile of rotten, unrecognizable trash.
He then walked over to the bed, reached out, and flipped over the filthy sheet.
A human-shaped stain was left on the bed, looking like dried sweat mixed with something else.
Hidden under the blanket was a dirty-looking black security guard's uniform.
Gao Hai hadn't intended to pay any mind to the uniform, but thinking of the rules connecting the attire and identity of an "Explorer," he pulled it out, dusted it off, folded it, and put it in his backpack.
He didn't find any new list of rules or readable documents.
That was to be expected. In a place like this, abandoned for who knows how long and situated in a damp environment, paper couldn't possibly have survived.
However, just as he was about to leave, Gao Hai scanned the room one more time and noticed something in the corner, under a collapsed steel panel.
Creeaak—
He lifted the rusty, dilapidated panel.
Gao Hai reached in, dragged the object out, and stood it upright.
It was a map.
A framed map, likely once hung on the wall, labeled "Red Nut Gray Hole Tourist Map."
Gao Hai did not look at the map immediately.
He remembered clearly from the intel he'd gotten from the man named Itsuki Ogawa that the areas beyond the "Great Slide" attraction were high-danger zones that absolutely must not be explored, or even known about. Any player who had mistakenly entered those areas could no longer enter the Red Nut Gray Hole instance, because the information they possessed would bind them to those secret zones, causing them to be thrown into the most dangerous place right from the start.
This map looked very old.
Perhaps it was a complete map, one that showed the entire interior of the Red Nut Gray Hole.
Once he saw its contents, it could bring him immense trouble.
He put the map down, shoving it back where he'd found it.
Gao Hai stood up, turned his head, and looked toward the still-diligent Chika scouting nearby. And at the silent figure in a black firefighter's uniform with yellow stripes, head bowed, that was slowly walking past her.
"..."
Gao Hai didn't react, acting as if he couldn't see the figure at all, and walked over to Chika's side in a completely normal manner.
"Hey, hey, Gao-kun, did you find any useful clues?"
The girl blinked. Seeing he had finished his search so quickly, she asked with curiosity.
She hadn't seen anything appear.
And Gao Hai hadn't sensed any goodwill or malice from the silent firefighter; he couldn't confirm if it was human or not.
Did the blessing have no effect because it was just a non-existent phantom?
"Time to move on. We need to find a way ou... a way to the Heart."
With that, Gao Hai chose the opposite direction from the firefighter and stepped into another cavern.
Based on his deductions from that long list of 19 rules, which seemed deliberately convoluted to make them hard to remember, he and Chika, acting as "Explorers," had to successfully reach the deepest part of the Red Nut Gray Hole, the "Heart," before they could return to the surface.
But figuring out how to find a way out of these intricate caverns—a bizarre terrain that was clearly not what the Red Nut Gray Hole should be—was a massive headache.
Gao Hai passed through several caverns, walking for about ten minutes, but still saw no path that looked like it would lead out of this area.
On the contrary, more and more disturbing traces began to appear.
Like dark red bloodstains on the cavern walls, splatters of blood, slash marks that looked like they were made by sharp claws, and bloody handprints, both faint and deep.
Or fragments of clothing torn by stalagmites and the rock walls, mostly blood-soaked, scattered in various corners of the caves.
It seemed that as they ventured deeper, the caverns began to reveal their unsettling side bit by bit.
"Gao-kun... this place..."
Even the most thick-skinned person would get nervous in a situation like this.
Chika, who had been following behind Gao Hai, shrank back in fear and subconsciously moved closer to him.
He could smell the fragrance of her shampoo, a distinctly different brand from what Maki and Kaguya used.
Unfortunately, he had no energy to appreciate it right now, because he had started seeing twisted, dark red writing, like the last words left by people trapped here.
[I want to leave, I want to get out]
[Don't leave me here]
[What have we done?]
[None of this should have happened]
[Even if you can no longer hear me, I love you]
...
The coagulated bloodstains had turned pitch black.
Much of the writing was distorted beyond recognition, and spelling mistakes were rampant, as if attesting to the writers' despair and agony in their final moments.
Chika, who could clearly read the words, grew even quieter, while Gao Hai's brow furrowed deeper.
He had a faint feeling that he was heading into a place he shouldn't be.
But no matter which direction he walked, the bloodstains, the scraps of clothing, and the twisted messages continued to increase, showing no signs of diminishing.
And when he turned around and walked back the way he came, Gao Hai discovered that the path ahead looked slightly different from how it had been before.
Was the terrain of this entire chaotic cavern constantly changing?
Lost in thought, Gao Hai passed through another section of the cave and arrived in a place he hadn't been to before.
He said he hadn't been there, but it was really just another cavern, a tunnel almost indistinguishable from the others.
The only difference was a pale yellow safety rope.
A safety rope of unknown length, secured by a series of anchors nailed into the wall, stretched out parallel to the ground, extending to who knows where.
In the darkness, Gao Hai looked along the safety rope in both directions, but could only see it extending infinitely into the sides of the cavern, its ends completely out of sight.
________________________________________
Get rewarded for helping with our community goals!
🚀 Tier Reward: Help us reach 10 members for +5 chapters on all stories!
👻 Join the crew by searching Ms. Medusa on (P). You know the spot! 😉