Darkness.
The entire Cryogenic Area was shrouded in complete darkness.
This should not have been the case. The research base had not lost power at present, so in theory, such a situation should not have occurred. Unless the one staying in the power sector had deliberately shut down the power supply to this area, turning it into a region of darkness.
"Mr. Vernon, do you really think that by hiding here, you can evade all difficulties and problems?"
Maki stood at the entrance of the Cryogenic Area and slowly spoke toward the darkness ahead.
There was no response.
The entire Cryogenic Area sank into absolute darkness. Not a single sound arose, as if this place had already become a land of death.
However, such a situation was not entirely incomprehensible. After all, the man named Vernon truly was already dead.
Maki knew this very clearly. She could be certain that the Vernon currently located within the Cryogenic Area was, in a physiological sense, an absolute corpse.
As for why that was the case, the answer was something only Takumi, who was in General Gallagher's office, could provide.
...
[Cave Research Base Life Signal Tracking Records]
[ID a001: Wilson Gallagher]
[Signal interruption location: Living Area, Office No. 1]
[This signal was interrupted 13,552 days ago. The specific interruption time was…]
[ID a002: Vernon Cavendish]
[Signal interruption location: Experimental Area, Research Area]
[This signal was interrupted 13,552 days ago…]
[ID c2-184: Susan Garcia]
[Signal interruption location: Unknown; beyond signal detection range]
[This signal was interrupted 14,004 days ago…]
[ID c4-028: Rex Hanks]
[Signal interruption location: Unknown; beyond signal detection range]
[This signal was interrupted 13,793 days ago…]
[ID c1-005: Howard Smith]
[Signal interruption location: Cell Block, Cell D2]
[Signal interruption time reading error; error type 443…]
[ID c1-003: Wilbur Brown]
[Signal interruption location: Red Nut Grey Cave, Large Slide Entrance]
[This signal was interrupted 15,003 days ago…]
…
Through the computer located in Gallagher's office, Takumi was able to clearly determine the place of death of every individual within the base.
Among them, Wilbur's signal interruption time was very early; it should have been the result of using an exploration mission to enter deep into the Red Nut Grey Cave, thereby severing the signal connection with the base. The interruption times of Gallagher's signal and Vernon's signal were separated by no more than about two minutes. Susan's and Rex's signal interruption times fell between those of Wilbur and Gallagher, and it appeared that they had been released during some period when the research base was operating normally. Worth noting was that Howard's own signal interruption had no time record, which was indeed quite strange.
However, regardless of anything else, the ending of Vernon—as a human—was, in fact, already foreseeable.
The person who longed to become a god had, in fact, not truly reached the Cryogenic Area before being killed by Hedda, who had pursued him there.
Yet he still managed to survive. Relying on his Obsession—relying on that powerful Obsession—Vernon's will nevertheless reached the Cryogenic Area and occupied this place, becoming an Obsession that existed here. And it was precisely because of this that Hedda's Obsession could not be completed, because the person known as Vernon had indeed not been completely eradicated. No matter how everything within this base replayed and reenacted itself, Vernon still could not be completely eliminated. This is what formed the current dead loop of this Instance.
In a certain sense, he did succeed. He obtained the power of the god he envisioned. But he also failed completely, because he had been entirely locked to this place. Like the countless Obsessions within other game Instances, he would forever be unable to leave here.
This man fell at the final step of the beautiful dream he held in his heart—of becoming the god of a new world—and would never again be able to take even half a step forward.
For a scholar who had poured everything into this pursuit, there was probably no outcome more cruel than this.
However, for Vernon, who had already become an Obsession, whether he could even recognize this fact was itself a question worth considering.
"You are already dead. You can no longer become the god you envision. Even if you hide here, it is of no use."
"Or do you think that even though you are already dead, already turned into a part of this place, you can still turn the tables with your cleverness and intelligence?"
"If you truly think so, then you really are laughable. After becoming an Obsession, the only thing he has left is his own Obsession, and the one thing he is absolutely incapable of doing is fulfilling that Obsession. Such a simple truth—could you really not understand it? Then your intelligence is nothing special after all. You really are a fool beyond redemption."
Maki spoke without the slightest mercy, her tone filled with biting sarcasm.
Kaguya, standing to the side, could not help but raise an eyebrow. To be honest, she herself was quite adept at this kind of sarcastic mockery, but what she had not expected was that Maki was practically cut from the same mold as her—the expressions and tone were almost identical.
The Cryogenic Area, shrouded in darkness, remained exactly the same as before, with no changes whatsoever.
But in the very next moment, Kaguya suddenly realized something was wrong. She sharply turned her head, only to discover that the large door through which the two of them had entered had disappeared, leaving behind nothing but a solid wall.
"It seems he has already been enraged by you, Maki. At this point, he probably has no intention of letting us leave alive."
As she said this, Kaguya tightened her grip on the scalpel, already fully prepared for a fight to the death.
At present, this place was Vernon's own home ground. Even after becoming an Obsession, this man was, in essence, still constrained by that Obsession and could not freely use the extraordinary power he possessed. However, without any way of understanding Vernon's own rules, how to resolve the situation at hand was still a troublesome matter.
The surrounding temperature was growing increasingly cold.
Although the other party still had not revealed himself, it was certain that his power was being exerted upon this place with ever-greater intensity.
"Oh, right—Mr. Vernon, you should know this, shouldn't you? The outside world is already in the twenty-first century now. Since you can obtain information about the outside from Mr. Rex, I assume he must have told you quite a few things, right?"
Maki suddenly spoke again at this moment, her tone taking on a hint of mystery.
"The Sacrifice Game casts us players into these Instances, forcing us to experience worlds overrun by anomalies. Speaking of which, in the era we live in, information about anomalies has already become something ordinary people cannot comprehend—something that carries an information-obscuring effect. In the era you lived in, Vernon, anomalies could be recognized by everyone and studied freely. The gap between these two is really quite enormous. I am actually very curious about why this happened, and what the source of this change was—but the reason I bring this up now is not because of that."
As she spoke, Maki lightly pressed a hand to her lips, a smile appearing on her face that looked as though she were gazing at trash.
"I'm telling you this now to make one thing clear: even if you truly leave this hell and successfully escape from here, you still will not be able to become the god you envision. Because no one will remember you. No one will care about you. Even if you were to completely destroy the entire world, people would not even be able to know who did all of this. You, you will already be forever incapable of realizing your wish. Do you understand what I mean, you pitiful wretch?"
The mocking voice drifted into the darkness.
In the very next instant, an intense, frigid aura enveloped the entire Cryogenic Area, sweeping in like a tsunami in the blink of an eye.
"Mm…"
Even while wearing the Rescue Team uniform, Maki still felt pain throughout her body, as though all her joints were about to be frozen solid.
Kaguya, standing beside Maki, let out a pained cry as well, almost losing her strength and collapsing to the ground.
But in the next instant, the Cryogenic Area—already plunged into darkness—suddenly became brightly lit, the power supply reconnecting all at once.
Rows upon rows of frozen human experimental specimens.
All kinds of experimental instruments stained with mottled traces of blood.
And at this very moment, standing at the center of the Cryogenic Area, was Vernon—the man in a white lab coat, his entire body appearing as though it had been completely crushed and then crudely reassembled and glued back together, his appearance so ugly and ferocious that it was nauseating.
[Why?]
At this moment, the man stared with his eyes wide open, unable to understand why the Cryogenic Area—whose power supply should have been cut—had been energized once again.
All of this was originally supposed to be part of the plan. Kill Gallagher, cut off the power supply to the entire base, let that ghostly thing that had always wanted to force its way into the base have a proper "playtime" with the people inside, and then slip into the Cryogenic Area himself.
Because the sealed door had safety mechanisms in place, it could continue to function for a short time even after the power was cut, so there was no need to worry about being locked out in the corridor and unable to get inside. As for that device—one that he was, in fact, still not certain could truly realize his wish—it had now become the final step taken out of sheer necessity. He could no longer worry about anything else. In any case, he had secretly installed an energy storage device; even if the power was cut, he could still use that device to fulfill his wish.
That was how it was supposed to be. But why…
"If you're asking why, shouldn't you think about it yourself?"
Not far away, Maki let out a sigh—perhaps feeling a certain helplessness toward Vernon's intelligence.
The facilities in the power sector had already been destroyed and could not be repaired; that much was certain. However, the power supply system of the entire cavern base was extremely complex, far beyond what Vernon—who did not specialize in this field—could fully deal with. All he could do was damage the main circuit and sever the backup circuits so that power could not be supplied. To truly destroy the entire circuit system, given the basic premise of "reproducing the events that occurred at the research base", Vernon was simply incapable of doing so.
After all, there were quite a few people around him who monitored and observed him. When it came to modifying devices—something only Vernon himself could properly control—there was little others could do. But power supply equipment was another matter entirely. If Vernon tried to make any advance moves there, it would inevitably be discovered. Therefore, in an emergency situation, there was only so much he could possibly accomplish.
Therefore, the power switch Wilbur left behind in the Land of Regret—the device capable of controlling the research base's power supply—was still usable at this moment. It was just that its function had shifted from cutting off the base's power to restoring it.
"I didn't expect this place could still be put to use through this kind of reverse thinking. Should I say, as expected of Takumi?"
Watching Takumi reinstall the removed handle onto the tripped switch and then pull it up directly, Chika, standing to the side, could not help but say with a smile.
Huh, Takumi?
Maki, who heard this through the doll's sense of hearing, froze for a moment. But the immediate danger forced her to refocus her attention, leaving her no spare capacity to consider whether there was any deeper meaning behind Chika's choice of address just now.
Vernon's appearance was rapidly changing—from the shattered state he had been left in after being executed by Hedda to a normal form resembling that of a human.
It seemed that only within the Cryogenic Area after the power had been cut could Vernon use anomalous power with human will. Once the Cryogenic Area's power was restored, he became more human-like in terms of rules. Anomalies were always bound by rules, and even Vernon, who yearned to become a god, could not escape this limitation.
Boom—
A dull, thunderous sound came from somewhere within the base.
The terrifying female anomaly known as Hedda had entered the research base. And the researchers and soldiers who, under Takumi's orders, had been forced to go and hold it back were now, just as they had experienced before, being crushed one after another—just as Takumi had been when he was dragged into the Great Rift—reduced to a heap of mangled flesh.
For these anomalies, this could not really be considered death. It was much like the Rescue Team members summoned by the badge: after being torn apart by this female anomaly, they could be summoned again after some time. However, because these anomalies had been killed by Hedda back when they were still human, once Hedda carried out their execution, they would truly lose their anomalous nature for the time being and become nothing more than pure corpses. Only when this round of past reenactment ended and the next cycle began could they be reborn—able to once again relive, for them, the final fifteen days of their lives.
The Quarantine Zone had already completely lost power, turning into the state of darkness that only appeared at the endpoint of the fifteen-day cycle.
Power in the Observation Zone was also being rapidly cut off. Through the private surveillance cameras in the offices of Vernon and Gallagher in the Residential Zone, a pallid white figure could be seen stepping through corridors filled with filthy water, moving step by step toward the Experimental Zone.
It was going to kill the final remaining target within the research base—the one it hated to the very marrow, the one who had become the key to its Obsession: Vernon. And if there were no external forces to intervene, the outcome this time would be the same as in countless past cycles. It would shatter Vernon's body, yet be unable to eradicate his will, leaving the two of them to continue existing together in this endless hell.
Thud!
Within that dull sound, Takumi stepped into the path of the rapidly approaching female anomaly in the white dress.
Cradling a wooden door in one hand, Takumi stood openly in the corridor of the Observation Zone, looking toward the figure that was gradually drawing closer.
"Hey, beautiful—how about a fantastic encounter?"
In the very next moment, Takumi—spouting such offhand words—extended his free hand toward the anomaly ahead, raised his thumb, and openly displayed the silver ring he was wearing.
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