The human known as Vernon finally died at this moment.
Although the aberration that was Vernon would not perish from such an attack, the part of him that was human—his own destiny—had already reached its end here. There would be no possibility of it continuing any further.
Hedda, dressed in a blood-red long dress, slowly sat down on the ground. Her expression grew vacant, then her body began to turn illusory, and in the end, she vanished.
At the moment she completely dissipated, Maki felt as though she saw many, many figures—old and young, men and women alike. Every face bore expressions of resentment and madness, yet at this moment they all returned to calm, closed their eyes, and finally fell into peaceful sleep.
It was over.
Maki truly felt this fact at this very moment.
The two core obsessions of the Red Nut Grey Cave both attained rest at this moment.
Andres, who longed to return to his beloved's side, fulfilled his long-cherished wish. Hedda, who had fused with countless tragic deaths, achieved perfect revenge. Now, they had finally found rest—and the true culprit behind all these sins, Vernon, had at last received the punishment he deserved.
Come to think of it—why did Hedda switch targets and chase after them before Takumi-kun had even issued any orders?
Wait… could it be that Fujiwara-san, who stayed behind over there, did something?!
Realizing something was wrong, Maki immediately turned and ran back. At the same time, the instance—already collapsing due to the loss of Andres's core Obsession—began to emit an increasingly violent rumble. It was obvious that after its core Obsession had completely disintegrated, the instance was finally about to meet total destruction. The building fragments that had previously shown faint signs of slowly reassembling now began to split apart again, with more and more cracks spreading outward.
After running for a while, Maki returned to the starting point and immediately saw Chika lying on the ground, wearing only shorts and a chest wrap.
The girl's face was deathly pale, her body covered in blood-soaked wounds. She looked to be in extremely bad condition.
At that moment, Takumi and Kaguya also rushed back from the other side. Seeing Chika like this, Takumi didn't hesitate at all—he hurried to her side and helped her up, moving even faster than Maki, who had run back from the opposite direction.
"Hehe… Takumi, I think I might've overdone it a bit."
Looking exhausted, Chika opened her eyes and gave Takumi a weak smile.
"How could she be injured this badly? Takumi, hurry and use the badge on her!"
Although Kaguya usually treated Chika with a lukewarm attitude, seeing her closest friend injured so severely made her immediately reveal an anxious expression. She reached out, grabbed Takumi's clothes, and shouted hurriedly.
"I know, I know—right away, okay?"
Takumi had already removed the Rescue Team Badge from his body and was about to put it on Chika when the girl grabbed his wrist.
"Um… actually, there's no need for that. I just… well, I'm having a bit of trouble breathing."
Chika's expression was somewhat awkward. Although she had many wounds on her body, they were all superficial and not serious. The biggest problem was the breathing obstruction caused by the erosion of aberrant power, and with the chest wrap added on top of that, it made breathing even more difficult. That was why she had collapsed from lack of oxygen and couldn't get back up.
"Are you really okay? You're covered in injuries."
Maki, who had been momentarily stunned by Takumi and Kaguya's actions, finally caught up at this point and spoke to Chika as well.
Then, in the very next instant, Maki's pupils constricted.
Snip!
After hearing Chika say that she was having trouble breathing, Takumi immediately understood what she meant. Without the slightest hesitation, he took out the Blood Scissors and—with a single snip—cut Chika's chest wrap clean through on the spot.
The grayish-white bandages snapped apart, scattering in all directions.
Although Takumi himself quickly turned his head away and did not look at the girl at that moment of youthful brilliance, it had to be admitted that he did, in fact, glimpse a trace of an enchanting scene.
'This physics engine is amazing!'
Takumi praised it from the bottom of his heart.
Maki, who witnessed this scene from the side, was completely petrified at this very moment.
What was this?
That heavy human heart was still trembling, still cheering for the arrival of freedom.
Yet Maki's violet pupils were entirely overwhelmed by that dense, boundless magnitude, almost crushed on the spot.
What was this?
What in the world was this?
Such astonishing—such indecent—such terrifying scale.
She had never seen a figure like this before, and yet earlier it had been completely impossible to tell. Ah, right—it was the chest wrap. She had been ignoring that all along, even thinking that this girl wasn't much of a threat, that there was nothing to worry about at all.
But now—what was this supposed to be?
Maki turned her head to look at Takumi and found that he had already turned away, no longer staring at Chika.
Takumi… he probably wouldn't be interested in this type, right?
At that moment, Maki's thoughts were in utter chaos.
"Alright, time to go—move fast!"
Takumi pulled off his T-shirt and tossed it to Chika. Looking at the surrounding chunks of buildings and cave remnants that were trembling and breaking apart more and more violently, he knew that they had truly reached the final moment.
If they didn't leave now, it really would be too late.
"Yeah, it's time to go. Fujiwara-san, put the badge on. From here on out we have to move at full speed—whatever you do, don't fall behind."
After Chika put on the T-shirt, Kaguya pinned the badge onto her. The power of the Rescue Team Badge rapidly healed Chika's injuries and granted her physical capabilities far beyond what humans could normally achieve, ensuring that she would not lack the stamina to keep up while Takumi and the others were fleeing.
Rumble—!
Another platform collapsed at this moment, breaking apart into chunks of rubble that fell into the dark abyss below.
Takumi suddenly leapt forward a full ten meters, landed in a roll, and then continued running ahead without pause.
The three girls followed closely behind. The four of them climbed and leapt upward together, while the remaining aberrations around them began to gather, one after another moving along with Takumi and the others, trying to seize them and keep them here to be buried together.
"Move! Faster—pick up the pace!"
Takumi shouted from the very front.
With even a slight glance back, one could see an almost endless mass—at least several thousand, perhaps even tens of thousands—of "people" following behind.
Tourists, explorers, security guards, staff members, rescue teams, soldiers, researchers, exploration personnel…
All those who had died within this cave and transformed into aberrations entered the final frenzy before annihilation at this very moment, crazily chasing the last few living people remaining in the instance, determined to keep them here forever.
Takumi leapt forward once more, landing on a new platform ahead.
A tourist lunged violently from the front, only to be cut straight down the middle by Kaguya, who rushed up from Takumi's side and split it in two with a single vertical strike.
The attack range of that scalpel expanded even further—almost to the point where it could be used like a lightsaber. But with its continued use, the scalpel became increasingly stained with blood, and the uncontrollable irritability on Kaguya's face gradually began to surface.
"Stop using that Obsession Item. This thing is about to lose control."
Reaching out, Takumi grabbed the scalpel and forcibly took it from Kaguya's hand. The moment he did, he felt an overwhelmingly intense urge to kill surge through him. If his willpower were not strong enough, Takumi suspected that the instant he got hold of the blade, he would start slashing wildly at everything around him.
The resentment carried by this scalpel Obsession Item was extremely powerful. Just what kind of instance did this thing come from?
More aberrations were rushing in from all directions.
Takumi even saw Wilbur—saw that blood-and-flesh remnant that had ultimately been torn apart after attempting to explore the Gentle Slope. However, somewhat unexpectedly, this aberration did not attack Takumi and the others. Instead, it grabbed hold of a man wearing a suit—someone who looked no different from the other aberrations around—and the two aberrations fell together into the abyss, plunging into the endless darkness below.
Rumble—!
Even more platforms continued to collapse. This place would soon cease to exist.
Takumi and the others struggled forward, leaping across several more platforms and accelerating their movement amid the collapsing, shattered ruins.
And it was precisely at this moment that Takumi saw, not far ahead, a fairly thick safety rope suddenly drop down from above.
Raising his head, he saw Howard standing at the exit platform at the very top.
"Grab the rope—now."
Reaching out, he grabbed hold of the thick safety rope.
The three girls who arrived right after him followed suit and grabbed the rope as well.
Above them, Howard gave the rope a violent tug. With strength no human could possibly possess, he forcibly hauled up the safety rope bearing the weight of four people, pulling them up at extreme speed.
Only then did Takumi have the time to properly notice the rope and realize that it was actually made by binding several safety ropes together in an interwoven bundle. That was why it could support the weight of all four of them. Above, Howard had tied the other end of the rope to a stone pillar at the exit of the Red Nut Grey Cave, using the pillar itself to create a structure akin to a human-powered pulley. Relying on his half-human, half-aberration nature, he forcibly pulled the four of them up dozens of meters in height in a short span of time, hauling them onto the ladder at the Red Nut Grey Cave's exit.
[Hurry and go. This place is about to be completely destroyed.]
Howard said seriously to Takumi and the other three as they came up.
His condition was not good. Having been imprisoned in the jail zone for so long seemed to have formed a kind of seal on him. Now that he had broken free, the aberration side of him was rapidly expanding, on the verge of completely swallowing his own consciousness.
"What about you?"
After sprinting nonstop through the collapsing instance, Takumi took a breath and then asked.
[Those who are already dead, naturally, cannot live on again. You should leave now. I have already rescued everyone else—you are the last group that needed rescuing, and also the final mission I must complete.]
Howard smiled at Takumi, his expression calm and composed.
He knew that there was no longer any way for him to continue living. As such, he had already made his preparations for the fate of disappearance that awaited him.
"You go first."
Takumi spoke to Kaguya and the others.
"Why, Takumi-kun, we—mmph?"
"Be good. I have something to say. You go first."
Maki was startled by Takumi's sudden behavior, thinking that he was about to do something foolish. Then Takumi reached out and rubbed her head, causing her to let out an instinctive, rather adorable sound.
Takumi glanced once more at Kaguya. She gave a slight nod, reached out to grab Maki, and turned to leave without hesitation.
"Takumi, then I'll also—"
"Mm. Go on. Once I finish handling the final cleanup here, I'll be done."
"Alright then, I'll wait for you up there~"
After reaching out and removing the Rescue Team Badge that Chika was wearing, Takumi watched her smile at him before turning and leaving. Only then did he turn back to look at Howard beside him.
[Why are you still staying here?]
Howard could not understand Takumi's actions at this moment.
"To give you a chance to continue living. Of course, in truth, I'm only trying—I'm not even sure whether it will succeed."
Takumi waved his hand as he spoke, then put the Rescue Team Badge on himself.
A soaked rescue uniform rapidly formed over Takumi's body.
"The fact that you've survived until now—endured until now—means you still have an obsession. You don't want to die yet. You still have things you want to accomplish, don't you?"
"This Obsession Item came from a noble person. He gave me tremendous help during my previous mission, and this is what he left behind for me."
"Like you, he was a member of the rescue team—a firefighter. So try it. Place your obsession into this badge and leave here with me. Someone like you shouldn't be forgotten in the darkness like this."
Takumi looked straight at the man before him and spoke with absolute seriousness.
[…]
For a brief moment, Howard fell silent. The expression on his face was extremely complicated, as though he were lost in thought.
[I do have regrets—wishes I want to fulfill, but cannot]
He spoke slowly to Takumi.
[Why do so-called aberrations and Horror Stories appear in this world at all?]
[They are precisely what has caused countless deaths and led to tragedy after tragedy]
[It's just that, in the end, I've already been bound to this hell. I no longer have any way to leave this place. However, Mr. Takumi, I can indeed leave something within this badge—something I hope will be of help to you]
Reaching out, the man tapped the badge that Takumi was wearing.
It seemed as though some kind of power flowed into the badge. Takumi paused slightly in surprise, then realized that from this moment on, the number of rescue team members his badge could summon had increased—from one to two.
However, this newly added rescue team member was, in essence, still nothing more than an existence without emotions or feelings, driven purely by the obsession of [rescue]. Fundamentally, there was no difference between it and the rescue team member formed from Tanaka.
In the end, this man still could not leave this place. Even in his final moments—when he continued to fulfill his duty as a firefighter and saved all the players who were still alive within this instance—it did not change the fate that he could only remain here and die.
"…"
Takumi could not help but fall silent. He did not know what else he could possibly say at this point.
[Put an end to these tragedies, Mr. Takumi. If you can do it, I beg you—bring these tragedies to a close, make those who created them pay the price they deserve, and… if one day you are able to meet the mastermind behind all of this, please—for me, for everyone who lost their lives in these Horror Stories—give that bastard a solid punch]
Reaching out, he gently patted Takumi on the shoulder.
Howard took a step forward and, just like that, fell into the endless darkness.
At this very moment, the figures of the aberrations—crying, laughing, clamoring—swarmed forward, surging up to stand before Takumi.
Takumi himself took a deep breath, then slowly raised the hand wearing the black watch.
"Come on—"
Once again, he felt that intense sense of discomfort.
It was as if, at this very moment, his body was no longer entirely under his own control, but had been temporarily taken over by some strange and terrifying existence, driven by it instead.
[The guilty shall be burned by raging flames. The innocent shall rest. The remnants—those belong to me.]
Everything changed in that instant.
It was as though a massive vortex had formed on the watch. All that remained within the shattered ruins was drawn into Takumi's watch, becoming nourishment and sustenance for it.
Stepping backward—toward the staircase leading out of the Red Nut Grey Cave—
Takumi advanced in reverse, one step at a time, raising his hand and allowing the lingering obsessions and aberrations to fall into the watch one after another.
Click—
With a crisp sound, the markings on the watch returned to the level marked 5.
Click—click—
The sheer number of aberrations—far exceeding those of the Shirakawa Apartments—provided extraordinary nourishment, causing the position of the watch's hand to shift repeatedly, jumping straight to the level marked 3.
[Aaaahhh—!]
Piercing, agonized screams rang out among the aberrations.
Takumi saw Vernon. He saw those researchers who had lost all humanity, as well as Senator Anthony Tovan and the others—the very people who had driven the Red Nut Grey Cave into becoming a living hell.
These people struggled and wailed, yet were utterly unable to resist. Just like that, they were drawn into the watch, forever unable to leave.
Takumi's steps had already reached the exit. Only one step remained before he could completely leave this place.
In the end, the black watch's hand returned directly to the mark at 1, recovering a full five marks in total.
This alone clearly showed how many lives this land of sin had devoured, and how many twisted obsessions and hatreds it had given birth to.
It was time to go.
Takumi's steps slowly moved backward. At this moment, only the final remaining segment of the staircase was left in this instance—there was nothing else remaining.
Nothing left at all…
Takumi looked forward and saw Susan, floating within the darkness.
She was applauding him, smiling in his direction.
"Why are you—"
[Shh~]
It was as if he could hear her saying that.
Susan… no, that was absolutely not Susan, but something that was using Susan's body while gazing at him.
It raised a finger to its lips, gesturing for silence toward Takumi. Then, it seemed to say something—words that rang beside Takumi's ear, utterly devoid of any human emotion.
[Once the actor has finished the curtain call, it is time to leave the closed stage. Be good—go now~]
The next moment, darkness swallowed Takumi's vision. Immediately after, endless light spread forth. The scene from just moments ago dissipated like smoke, as though it had never existed at all.
In a world bathed in gentle light, Takumi saw those who had broken free from the Instance and attained their rest.
Andrés and Hedda held hands, smiled at Takumi, then turned and departed. Their child walked at their side, and just like that, the family moved forward together.
The firefighters left shoulder to shoulder, chatting and laughing, yet Howard's figure was nowhere among them.
The Tourists and Explorers walked out of the cave. The staff and the security personnel also turned and left together, and Wilbur was among them. With a complicated expression, he turned back for one last look at the phantom of the Red Nut Grey Cave that was about to dissipate. Then he looked ahead and no longer glanced back at that place which had brought him endless pain.
Patrick was not among those who left. That park director had likewise been drawn into the wristwatch.
Do the innocent find rest?
Takumi lowered his head, looking at the only patch of darkness within this light—looking at the wristwatch he wore on his hand.
It was simply like a cold yet selfless judge of hell, pronouncing the fate of every person who had sunk into the world of Horror Stories.
Two points of light descended upon Takumi, granting him new blessings at this very moment.
And the light-covered world then dispersed. Pitch-black darkness once again flooded his vision, and that eerie voice—heard every time the game began—resounded beside his ear once more.
[Congratulations on successfully clearing the Dusk-level Instance: Red Nut Grey Cave]
[Congratulations on dismantling the Dusk-level Instance: Red Nut Grey Cave. You have already drawn close to the path of truth. May you ultimately reach that path]
[Player: Takumi]
[Proceeding with the summary evaluation of the player's individual performance]
[Your evaluation for this run is: S]
[Congratulations on obtaining the highest-grade evaluation for a Dusk-level Instance. You have completed two Dusk-level Instances with an Excellent or higher evaluation. From this moment onward, the gate to Dark Night will open for you]
[Wishing you… bzz… bzzzt…]
Why did this thing fail to finish its sentence again?
Takumi, who very much wanted to complain, in the next moment once again saw illusory scenes—saw something that had occurred at a certain moment in the past.
That was inside the prison of the research base. Vernon was looking at the tortured prisoner, his head lowered and his brows furrowed as he pondered something.
He paced back and forth slowly, his expression growing increasingly restless and agitated.
At this moment, a figure whose identity could not be made out—wearing a white lab coat—walked up behind Vernon.
[Sir, perhaps we could try a different line of thinking?]
That figure spoke. The voice was filled with noise, as if interfered with by something, making it impossible for Takumi to tell whether the speaker was male or female, or even what kind of person it was.
[A line of thinking? What line of thinking do you have?]
Vernon turned around and said irritably.
[The situation of the Great Rift is so special. Perhaps… we could try offering sacrifices to the rift? I do not mean sacrificing animals, but sacrificing people. What if that could produce some effect?]
The small researcher whose appearance could not be clearly seen shrank back slightly, continuing to speak in a somewhat shy and restrained manner.
[Sacrificing people? What kind of line of thinking is that… wait—this line of thinking, perhaps… all right, that is somewhat interesting. Your idea does have some merit. Then, what is your name? You look like you are new here. I thought newcomers usually needed some time to adapt to this place.]
Vernon initially wore a dismissive expression, but midway through his words he realized something. He abruptly turned to look at the researcher, an involuntary smile appearing at the corner of his mouth, and then asked with some curiosity.
[Ahahaha, sir, you flatter me. I am merely an insignificant person.]
[However, I am indeed new here, and I quite like the atmosphere of this place. To me, a place like this is simply wonderful. I really like it here.]
[As for my name, sir, just call me KP. That is my name.]
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