Kira rubbed her eyes, blinking once then twice.
"Hoshimi?"
"We're under attack."
She pushed herself up slightly, the weighted blanket slipping from her shoulders. The fan above continued its slow rotation, blades slicing the air with a dull rhythmic hum. The fluorescent light buzzed faintly overhead.
Her eyes were pitch black, unnaturally so, as if he was staring into an abyss.
Hoshimi stared at her with a blank look on his face, the same expression as always. His hand slipped into his pockets, reaching for something.
Kira tilted her head slightly.
"Hmm."
The sound was wrong. Too hollow. As if it echoed from somewhere behind her mouth.
Bang.
The muzzle flash illuminated everything in a brief violent orange, the white walls were stained, the fan spun, the shadow of her small body jerked backwards.
Then red bloomed.
A thin line first.
Then a widening flower.
Blood sprayed against the pale headboard in an uneven arc. The pillow absorbed most of it with a dark, spreading stain. Her body dropped sideways, limbs folding awkwardly as she hit the mattress and rolled partially onto the floor.
The weighted blanket slipped down after her.
The fan continued spinning.
The hum did not change.
A gaping hole was placed on her forehead. A faint metallic scent filled the air, it was sharp and immediate. Hoshimi lowered the gun and sighed. Hoshimi stepped forward, crouched slightly, and pressed two fingers against her neck. Her black eyes stared upward, unblinking, empty, now reflecting the fluorescent light above like dull glass.
The sunlight coming through the gothic window had shifted slightly, casting long striped shadows across the marble floor. One beam of light cut directly across her body, illuminating the red in painful clarity.
The fan clicked softly as it rotated.
He turned and walked toward the door, wiping the blood off his shirt.
Each step left faint impressions in the thin film of blood that had crept across the polished floor. His shoes made soft, deliberate sounds against the marble, not hurried, not dragging.
Hoshimi opened the door.
Fluorescent lights hummed overhead. The chrome doors gleamed, reflecting him in fragmented slivers. The corridor stretched infinitely, the same old man walked past him again.
Behind him, the door to Room 305 remained slightly ajar.
The door swung shut with a quiet click.
The hum of the lights deepened.
Somewhere far down the corridor, a soft thump echoed.
Then—
Tick.
He looked up.
'2'
The number glowed faintly on the ceiling panel before flickering out.
"This must be because I killed that anomaly, is this how I'm supposed to get out of this Zenith? What number do I need to get it to? What happens if I fail?"
The hallway stretched.
He began walking.
His footsteps echoed, too loud for an empty corridor.
Halfway down, he passed the portrait again. The same unnamed historical figure stared forward, expression frozen. The scuff mark near the baseboard remained identical.
"I'm guessing I have to look for things that seem off."
As he walked past, the painted eyes in the portrait shifted.
Just slightly.
Following him.
He did not look back.
The air grew colder.
The fluorescent lights flickered once, twice, then stabilized.
At the far end of the corridor, a faint childish lullaby resumed.
The ceiling above ticked once more.
'1'
[The counter resetted, I didn't even see anything wrong in the last one, so I just walked through.]
The fluorescent lights flickered erratically now, buzzing like angry wasps. The white walls began to subtly shift, a faint, sickly green pulsating beneath the paint.
"I guess I have to be more thorough this time."
This time, the doors were all slightly ajar, revealing glimpses into identical, empty dorm rooms. The air was colder, thick with a subtle, cloying scent, like old rust and damp concrete. A distant, distorted wail, like a child crying, echoed down the impossible hall.
Then, from the door of what should have been Neila's room, a thin, spidery arm, impossibly long and pale, stretched out. Its fingers, tipped with black, needle-sharp claws, twitched as if searching for something in the oppressive air. The arm retracted, and the door clicked shut.
"Or not."
Hoshimi pulled out his pistol. He walked towards the door, his steps muffled by mana, towards Kira's room, 305. He pushed it open slowly
It was a classroom. Desks were overturned, chairs scattered, and the whiteboard was covered in frantic, looping script: "GET OUT. YOU DON'T BELONG HERE."
"Is this another anomaly? I didn't know it could happen to rooms, so how am I supposed to get rid of this one?"
[Probably another entity, I guess they managed to escape]
The room was dark. The ceiling fan, instead of still, was spinning violently, blades blurring into a dangerous disc, humming with an almost malevolent intensity.
Kira was huddled in the corner, a trembling, almost invisible ball of terror.
"I-I don't know what's h-happening, help me."
Her mana was flaring wildly, an uncontrolled burst of heat and cold washing over the room. The air around her shimmered with a dangerous, toxic haze.
[She isn't breathing out any gas, with how volatile she is right now, I don't know how this is happening]
He reached out towards her, but an invisible wall had seemed to block him.
[Telekinesis? But it usually has a range, this is more of a barrier than anything. There must be some kind of condition I need to fulfill.]
"Don't worry, I'll come get you, but it seems like." He placed his hand against the barrier, the surface seemed to ripple. "It seems like there's a condition I need to fulfill to get to you. Just stay there."
[The creature here must be a summon with its own technique, even if I don't want to say it]
"I'm sorry, I know I'm a liability, but I don't want to die either!"
The door behind Hoshimi creaked open.
A shiver went down his spine, every single one of his hairs rose, as the grip on his gun tightened.
Slowly.
Kira's heartbeat started to quicken, her back was pressed up against the cold wall. Sweat dripped down her face, her breathing started to quicken, it felt as if her heart was about to pump outside of her.
Pressure
It emerged.
A distorted caricature of a hand, a long spindly black arm, segments twisting against each other like a broken marionette, its fingertips sharpened like knives. The arm was disjointed, twisting at impossible angles, and from, it reached out towards him, trying to grab him by his waist.
Hoshimi spun, quickly aimed the barrel of his gun towards the black hand.
Bang.
The bullet stopped midair.
Hung.
Trembled.
The bullet shot back into the barrel, with the same amount of force it had been fired.
The steel barrel exploded outwards, shrapnel tore through his hand, making him recoil backwards, throwing him against the invisible wall in front of Kira.
[What the hell is this thing's ability!? Reflection? Rewind? My head hurts, I can't think properly.]
The anomaly screeched, a sound that bypassed the ears and vibrated directly in the skull, assaulting Hoshimi's senses as if its fingers dragged across his brain. The hand lunged and gripped onto his chest, its fingers dug into his skin, the sheer strength pressed down onto his ribs, bending his ribs inward with a sickening pressure, squeezing his internal organs as if someone was wriging him dry.
"FUck."
His vision darkned at the edges. The claw dug deeper.
"Hoshimi!!"
She bit down, drawing blood from her bottom lip, her chest expanded, drawing out as much from her lungs as she possibly could.
The skin at the base of her neck opened like a flesh wound.
Light spilled out from the window.
White.
Blinding.
Gas leaked out from her mouth.
The muscles on the monster's arm clenched, and spasmed, its joints bent backwards, letting go of Hoshimi, letting go of Hoshimi as he dropped to the floor with a thud.
Hoshimi landed on his chest, barely supporting his body with his arms. He threw up his morning breakfast, his throat burned.
"Bleugh."
The hand recoiled into the hallway.
[I thought this was a barrier technique, but this is still an intangible technique. There's only one creature in here, the barrier around Kira and the reason why my attack got returned must apply to a single technique. My attack got returned yet it attacked me. Does that mean that the rules don't apply to the creature or is there something I don't know about?]
His breathing became heavy, his head ached with a stinging pain, he gripped onto his chest, forcing his own body to breathe.
[Kira's technique worked on the creature but we were in the same room, I was closer to her but I didn't feel the carbon monoxide, is this a space manipulation technique? What the hell is this stupid technique!?]
"Thank god Hoshimi, I'm so glad that you're okay."
The classroom lights flickered, the whiteboard began to rattle as the letters began to move on its own.
'GET OUT, YOU'RE NOT THEM'
The fan above them shrieked louder.
Hoshimi forced himself onto one knee, his chest hurt, breathing hurt.
[I can't just leave Kira, I need her for later but can I really figure out this creature's technique before it kills me or her?]