Takumi cautiously took a step forward, little by little drawing closer to those two blurred figures.
Sunlight streamed in through the window, illuminating the two figures and making their tall-and-short silhouettes stand out clearly.
Takumi heard voices coming from that direction. What had begun as indistinct, fragmented sounds gradually became clearer, until he could slowly make out their content.
They were the voices of an elderly man and a young man, interweaving as they spoke.
The elderly man said: "From today onward, the development and protection of the Red Nut Grey Cave will be entrusted to you, Patrick Reed. You must guard this park well."
The young man replied with vigorous confidence: "Of course, Mr. Aston. I will do it. I will develop this area into a well-known attraction within the state, obtain national certification, and turn it into a destination renowned across the world, one that can prosper for a hundred years. This is my promise."
At that moment, Takumi's gaze passed beyond the two figures and turned toward the view outside the window.
He saw the park under construction outside.
The old, crude signboard was being taken down, and a new one was being erected.
The once uneven, pitted cave entrance was being carefully tidied up, with plans in place to build a staircase.
A surrounding wall was constructed, and the flowers that had been planted were gradually forming buds.
Finally, a very tall monument was lifted by machinery, moved into position, and slowly lowered into place.
"Work hard."
Among the two blurred figures beside him, the elderly man reached out in the end and gently patted the young man on the shoulder. Leaning on his cane, he limped away slowly and disappeared down the corridor.
"I will. I promise."
The slightly shorter young man nodded solemnly in response, then turned and left as well, disappearing just like that.
Takumi, who had already walked up to the window, lowered his head to look at the monument. Relying on his vision far beyond that of ordinary people, he clearly made out the statue and the inscription beneath it.
[Aston v. Brown]
[The first person to successfully explore the Red Nut Grey Cave, complete the entire cave survey, and successfully develop and utilize this cave]
[Founder and first president of the Red Nut Grey Cave Tourism Development Company]
That was…
Once again, the surrounding scenery changed.
Takumi saw paper scraps fluttering all across the sky—Red Nut Grey Cave admission tickets, banknotes of various colors, and other documents of all sizes.
He watched as this place transformed step by step, from a completely natural cave to the gradual installation of various facilities; a park built outside the cave; then expansion and safety construction inside the cave; the establishment of all kinds of basic infrastructure—one step after another, the place underwent earth-shaking changes.
The number of visiting tourists was steadily increasing.
The dangerous area behind the Big Slide, which was specially opened to Explorers, charged high fees, yet still attracted many people who loved exploration.
A wave of cave-tourism enthusiasm was being stirred up across the United States.
And Patrick Reed, who had taken over this cave from Aston, successfully seized this momentum and made the cave attraction increasingly perfect.
Takumi reached out and caught a document that was completely intact, unlike the other paper scraps that were torn to pieces.
It was a letter.
A letter with an extremely plain cover, an ordinary document without any decorative markings.
[To Wilbur:]
[Hi. It has already been five years since we last parted. After graduating from university, you wanted to engage in safety management work, while I came to the Red Nut Grey Cave Tourism Development Company. We once agreed that no matter who made a name for themselves, they should not forget the other, so now I've come to find you.]
[I am now already the president of this company—a thirty-two-year-old president. Impressive, right? You can freely admire me, hahahahaha.]
[In any case, you understand what I mean. I need your experience. I need you to help me further improve the safety measures of this scenic area. For example, that crack on the gentle slope—ha, it's already the seventh time someone has gotten stuck in it. I truly can't understand what those tourists are thinking; the fence is clearly there, yet they insist on climbing over it. If that crack weren't narrow enough—ha—falling straight down a 300-meter-deep great fissure in one go, I don't even dare imagine what that would be like. There's also the great cliff; it's simply too high. Even professional explorers can easily get into trouble there. We need to set up a simple pulley elevator there, and this is something only you are best at.]
[That's right, I need you. Laugh if you want—I'm certain that when you read this, you bastard are laughing heartily.]
[Don't think I can't guess your expression, you bastard. We've been fighting with the kids from the next street over since we were five years old; the moment you lift your ass, I know whether you're about to take a dump or let out a fart. Get your ass over here—your plane ticket is already enclosed in the letter.]
[—Patrick Reed]
Aston, who initially developed the Red Nut Grey Cave, Patrick Reed, who later took over this cave attraction, and Wilbur, who assisted him with safety work.
The information this fragment of memory revealed to Takumi made him pay close attention.
He stepped forward, wanting to go deeper into this place.
What exactly had happened in this cave?
Why did a nationally renowned scenic spot ultimately become such a chaotic and twisted Horror Story land?
Where, exactly, did the key lie?
Hidden within this pitch-black cave, where did the origin that led to all these disasters begin?
Too many questions tangled endlessly in his mind, unable to find answers.
Although he did not know why he was able to perceive the things within these memory fragments, Takumi did not intend to stop here. Instead, he decided to go further in, attempting to obtain more clues, attempting to find the truth he sought from these shattered phantasms.
But at this very moment, Takumi suddenly realized that the building he was in was growing dim.
As if light itself could no longer continue to exist, it was rapidly fading, sinking into an environment without light.
Something was approaching in the darkness.
Creak—creak—
Like the sound of some metal object being dragged across the ground.
He began to realize that he had to start running.
The originally clean and orderly corridor became dilapidated.
Drops of muddy water began to fall from the ceiling.
Outside the windows was no longer the sunlit surface park area of the Red Nut Grey Cave; in its place were the cold, eerie depths of the cave, along with lights within it that flickered constantly, looking as though they could go out at any moment.
It had arrived.
His blessing still had no way to capture the other party—he could not sense the slightest goodwill or malice, nor could he distinguish what it actually was.
But Takumi's instincts were already issuing a warning, telling him that he had to flee with all his strength now, that he absolutely could not let this darkness catch up to him.
Creak—creak—
The dragging sound seemed incomparably slow, yet it was rapidly closing in.
That thing had already discovered him.
Even though he was not inside a real, ruined cave, but rather within someone's memories, that thing still discovered Takumi. It was rapidly closing in on him, intending to end his life right here.
He had to get out of this place.
The more Takumi moved forward, the more he ran, the more he found himself unable to continue moving.
The walls on both sides were steadily closing in.
The originally high ceiling was continuously pressing downward.
At some point, this place had turned into a low, pitch-black cave.
Within the crying sounds, it faintly seemed as though he heard someone shouting words like "Hold on."
Then, Takumi opened his eyes.
He looked at Fujiwara Chika, who was lying in his arms, tightly held by him.
Mm—he could feel the other party's emotions. It was her herself, not some ghostly thing in disguise.
It was just that her face was a bit red. She did not seem to be asleep—or rather, had she already woken up quite some time ago? In any case, although Chika herself was now lying obediently in Takumi's embrace, her head resting on his slightly numb arm, from the way her body occasionally trembled slightly, and from the increasingly obvious flush on her cheeks, it was not hard to tell that she was currently awake—she was simply pretending to be asleep.
In the dream, she had been the one who took the initiative to hold me while sleeping, but after waking up, the situation was completely reversed?
No matter what, at least Maki did not see this scene. Good, good.
While Takumi was thinking this, he suddenly heard the sound of a door opening from beside him—the "click" of a door lock.
In the next moment, the heavy metal door was pushed open, and Shijō Maki, wearing black soldier attire, had already appeared outside the door with a completely expressionless face. Her purple eyes stared straight at Takumi, who was holding Chika as she slept on the single bed.
"Uh, well… what a coincidence…"
Faced with this overly dramatic scene and not knowing how to react, Takumi twitched the corner of his mouth. In the end, he raised the hand that was not pinned down by Chika and lightly waved it toward Maki.
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