[C1, report the situation.]
[We have entered the entrance area of the Red Nut Grey Cave. The situation here is no different from yesterday.]
After the C1 leader originally played by Kaguya changed identity and disappeared, the exploration personnel played by the anomaly became the new C1, becoming the leader of this exploration team.
There was no C2. There were only two C3s—Takumi and Fujiwara Chika—and, incidentally, there was no C4 designation, which Takumi felt was rather regrettable.
From the voice coming through the communicator from the command room, Takumi knew that the current team was being judged as two people. This situation was an abnormal one that did not conform to the code, but under the command room's orders and the threat of machine guns, Takumi could only step into the cave.
He did not know whether Kaguya had tried to do anything on her side.
In this instance, wanting to exchange intelligence, wanting to clarify each other's situations—it was really quite troublesome.
If only there were such an item that would allow him and Maki and Kaguya to communicate and exchange information no matter how far apart they were, and to know each other's situations.
This unrealistic wish flashed through Takumi's mind, then was quickly set aside.
Now was not the time to think about such things.
How to deal with the things he was facing at this moment was the top priority.
Sounds of laughter rang out around them.
Tourists walked past one after another, chatting and laughing.
A pair of parents led a small boy past Takumi, the child still licking an ice cream.
A couple was taking photos in front of a rock formation with a peculiar shape.
An elderly man and a young person chatted endlessly as they walked, talking about the characteristics of this cave; from the content, it seemed they were comparing it with caves they had visited before.
Everything looked completely normal.
Except for the fact that this so-called normality should not have appeared at this time.
The exploration personnel played by the anomaly had already moved forward in silence, heading in the direction of the Stone Forest Path.
Takumi advanced without saying a word, while also paying attention to Fujiwara Chika's reactions beside him. He discovered that although the girl was very tense, she was still cautiously proceeding with the exploration.
Her behavior did not look like that of someone who was seeing those tourists around them.
After a day of cooperation, Takumi had gained a fair understanding of Chika's personality. She was not particularly brave, and her reactions to frightening things were jumpy; at most, she could barely hold her expression together and forcibly keep herself silent.
Chika like this, upon seeing those tourists around them, would inevitably have corresponding emotional reactions.
But now she had no reaction at all. Judging from her behavior, it was clearly the same reaction she had when she and Takumi had previously explored that chaotic cave together. In other words, in her eyes, what she should be seeing now was a dark, empty cave with no one in it—completely different from what he was seeing.
And in the end, what exactly were these things that he was seeing supposed to be?
Within his field of vision, everyone looked perfectly normal.
But his own sensory blessing was unable to capture anything at all, as if these people were nothing more than one illusion after another, not truly existing in this place.
Takumi no longer had the spare capacity to pay much attention to Maki's side. He had to advance with extreme caution, and while moving he also had to avoid those tourists, so as to prevent any physical contact with them. Although Takumi suspected that these people might be some kind of past phantoms, if contact could be avoided, it was best to avoid it. If some kind of abnormality were to occur after contact, he had no confidence that he would definitely be able to resolve it.
Moreover, he began to feel that gaze again.
An eerie gaze of unknown origin that sent a chill through his entire body.
That gaze still seemed to be separated from Takumi by some kind of obstruction, but… the obstruction here was shallow. Compared to before, Takumi now felt the existence of that gaze with unprecedented clarity.
As if it were… right there?
Instinctively, he raised his head and looked in the direction from which the gaze was coming.
Takumi saw several tourists chatting and laughing.
It seemed that something vanished in the brief moment he blinked.
Takumi remained silent, turned his head, and looked toward the road ahead—toward the C1 who was continuing forward under the bright lights, and toward a tourist who was walking toward C1.
Thud—
At that moment, their shoulders collided. Both C1 and that tourist staggered slightly.
Physical contact occurred?!
These tourists could be touched? They had physical substance?
Realizing this, Takumi immediately became alert, but the tourist merely cast C1 a sideways glance, muttered a curse under his breath, and then walked away.
And that C1, who would periodically report the situation back to the command room, remained silent this time, not saying a single word—continuing to walk forward as if the collision had never existed.
That gaze grew intense again.
Takumi felt as if it were right beside him, as if it had just passed by his side.
But this time he did not look, merely continuing forward in silence.
[This place is really quite nice]
A tourist who passed by Takumi said excitedly.
[Indeed. This stone cave is really quite large, and the paths are easy to walk. It's not like the stone cave attractions we went to before, all uneven inside and troublesome to walk through]
The tourist's companion nodded along.
[Really? I actually think this place has too many artificial traces. Natural caves are more interesting to look at]
[Interesting my ass. Do you think you're an Explorer? If you want to see natural caves, then go get yourself an exploration license and head over to the Big Slide. It seems two teams went in there today. I heard the Explorer Alliance has designated it as a beginner training site]
[Ahaha, I'll pass on that. I just want to see the sights—trekking through mountains and rivers isn't really my strong suit]
[So yeah, I've never really understood those people who go cave exploring. If they're scientific researchers, that's one thing, but doing it just to seek thrills—crawling into holes that you can only squeeze through while lying flat—aren't they afraid of getting themselves stuck inside? Just thinking about it makes me uncomfortable.]
As the two Tourists talked, they gradually walked up beside Takumi, almost moving forward in parallel with him.
At that moment, a child holding a toy robot ran past, giggling. In the corner of Takumi's eye, he noticed that the toy robot in the child's hand was Bumblebee.
The prying gaze suddenly grew intense again. This time, the gaze came from the front. Before he could avert his eyes, Takumi saw a white shadow flash past, passing in front of a rather heavyset Tourist who was walking ahead.
White… like some kind of light, thin gauze… a skirt?
Instinctively making a brief judgment about what he had seen, Takumi then no longer sensed that gaze, as if the other party had temporarily shifted their attention and stopped focusing on Takumi's existence.
At this point, the three of them had already passed through the Stone Forest Path and arrived at the Plains.
[C1 reporting: we have arrived at the Plains. A 'booth' has been discovered. The 'booth' is in a closed state with no lights. A breach has been found in the wall sealing off the Big Slide. Please advise.]
The lead Explorer reported to the command room in a dull voice.
Fujiwara Chika looked in the direction of the security booth and slightly furrowed her brows.
Takumi, who had also stopped walking, twitched the corner of his mouth slightly.
He did not see any booth.
At this very moment, within Takumi's own field of vision, there was no booth at all. Under the bright lights, the place where the booth should have been was completely empty.
Not only that—he also did not see the wall sealing off the Big Slide. Instead, he saw only a tall railing blocking the area, with a passageway deliberately left open. A person wearing a light blue striped uniform, seemingly a staff member, was standing there, leaning against the railing in a distracted manner, wearing a thoroughly bored expression.
Which period of the Red Nut Grey Cave was he seeing right now, exactly?
As he was thinking this, new instructions had already come through from the command room.
[Exploration team, all members enter the Big Slide area. Explore at least as far as the 'Great Cliff' area.]
This instruction…
Entering the Big Slide was absolutely not a wise choice.
Along the way, having gathered so much intelligence and so many clues, Takumi knew very well that the Big Slide was not a place one could enter or leave casually. Given the bizarre situation within his current field of vision, once he stepped into the Big Slide, who knew what kind of strange things might happen.
It was about time to take action.
Takumi decided to find a way to create an accident and damage the communication device he was carrying, thereby freeing himself from the restrictions placed upon him.
That intense gaze was transmitted once again.
This time, Takumi felt that the gaze seemed to be right behind him.
A faint smell of blood entered his nostrils.
Meanwhile, C1 ahead had already taken a step, moving one step in the direction of the Big Slide.
Takumi likewise took a step, then staggered and fell to the ground, just happening to turn his body to the side. The headset he had not been wearing securely fell off, was forcefully pressed down by Takumi's arm, and was crushed on the spot.
At that moment, C1 stopped walking and turned to look at Takumi. In its deathly pale eyes, there was no emotion to be seen.
Chika, who did not know what had happened, also stopped. Although she was unclear why Takumi had suddenly fallen, the girl still immediately walked over and helped Takumi up.
"I'm very sorry. My headset is damaged."
Takumi said this to C1 with an apologetic expression.
[…]
C1 did not speak. It seemed somewhat unable to understand the situation at hand and was unable to make a decision.
However, at the moment Takumi made a sound, he noticed that all the Tourists visiting the cave stopped at that instant. Then, in the blink of an eye, the Tourists all disappeared, leaving only clothes scattered across the ground.
What was going on? Could my voice trigger some kind of effect on these things?
Realizing that his actions might bring about some unpredictable consequences, Takumi grew somewhat tense.
And at that very moment, he noticed that within the field of view of the doll he was controlling, Maki had already rummaged through Professor Vernon's desk and taken out a notebook that seemed to be quite old and somewhat damaged.
Written on the cover of the notebook was the name "Aston."
And upon opening the first page of the notebook, the title written at the very beginning was:
[Preliminary Investigation of the Red Nut Grey Cave and Research on the Primitive Beliefs of the Ancient Native American Tribe of Kitchala.]
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