Thump! Thump—!
Kyle jolted awake as his body hit the floor, his face slamming into the cold ground. A groan rose in his throat, but he bit it back, swallowing the pain.
A constant ringing filled his ears, drowning out the world, while muffled screams bled through the noise like distant background noises.
’They’re here!’
’…They came out!’
’How many are there?’
’There are only three! Quickly provide them with some aid.’
Kyle’s mind was sluggish, a thick fog settling over his thoughts as he struggled to properly make out the situation. Where was he? What was going on? What was hap—
“Ah—!”
But he was quick to snap out of it when his eyes flared open.
“Seth!”
He sat up immediately, looking around before settling his gaze towards the distant Team Leader.
His voice immediately rose.
“Team Leader! You need to quickly send a rescue squad! Seth is still there! He—”
“Stop.”
The Team Leader’s rough voice cut through Kyle’s words as he crossed his hands together, subtly nudging his head towards a group not far from where he was. Kyle recognized a few figures.
“What do you think we’ve been trying to do for the past several minutes since we lost contact with all of you?”
He sighed while turning his attention towards the crack on the floor.
“We’ve been trying to send several agents into the crack, but the moment someone goes down, they immediately go back up. We’ve been trying to find a way to crack the situation, but it looks a lot harder than anticipated. I’ve even personally tried doing something, but the situation is a lot more complicated than expected.”
“But…!”
“I understand where you’re coming from, Kyle, but we are trying our best. I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to figure something out in the next few minutes.”
’But we don’t have that much time!’
Kyle bit his lip, staring at his hand as it shook. His connection with Seth was still present, his node working overtime to keep Seth’s body frozen in time.
His skill had yet to break, meaning that he was fine.
This was good.
’I’ll keep it like this so that—’
“You should release him.”
Kyle’s thoughts were broken by Zoey, who stood not far from him, her hair a little disheveled.
“Eh…?”
Kyle’s lips opened, but then soon closed, his brows furrowing tightly. Seeing the clear anger on Kyle’s face, Zoey remained calm and explained the situation to him.
“From what I know, they’ve been trying to get into that weird place since we all entered. The fact that they still weren’t able to enter despite the Team Leader’s help tells you all you need to know about the situation. It’s… going to take quite a while before the rescue squad can be sent. Do you think you can keep up for that long?”
“No, I…”
Kyle didn’t have any words to reply to her. It didn’t take a genius to know that she was right.
The Team Leader had probably said all that he had said in order to keep him appeased and calm, but did he really think that way?
No, probably not.
Then…
“The only way to get out is through the same way that we did. The device is still loaded to the ground. So long as he reached the second floor, he should be able to get out.”
Zoey’s tone grew a little softer as she looked at Kyle.
“I may not like the guy, but if there’s one thing that he’s shown me several times already, is that he’s competent. In… strange yet effective ways. When he said he could handle it, he probably meant his words.”
She looked at Kyle’s hand as it trembled slightly.
“…Release your node and trust him.”
After a pause, Zoey continued.
“This is the best thing that you can do in order to ensure his survival.”
“I…”
Kyle opened his mouth, trying to say something, but in the end, he merely lowered his head and nodded.
“Alright.”
He mumbled, his tone low.
“…I’ll trust him.”
In that moment, he released the node while clenching his hand tightly.
’You better fucking make it back here.’
***
“…”
I didn’t know how long I had been incapacitated for, but the moment I opened my eyes, I was met with a strange darkness. A stifling darkness that would fade every once in a while with the flicker of the moonlight.
’So it looks like they weren’t able to bring me back with them.’
I closed my eyes, not entirely disappointed.
I more or less foresaw that thing would turn out this way.
This anomaly was no simple one.
“…..”
The one thing that kept bothering me was the pain in my shoulder. I wasn’t sure what had happened, but the moment I turned my head to check, I flinched.
Just what in the world had happened while I was passed out!?
The pain almost felt unbearable, and for a moment, I almost found myself groaning.
’Thank god I wasn’t awake, otherwise I really would’ve screamed.’
Silently clenching my teeth, I tried my best to keep myself composed while taking deep breaths. But…
Creaaak!
That became nearly impossible when I heard the faint creak of wood nearby, a sound so quiet yet chilling it sent shivers down my spine.
The Twisted Man…
He was close to me.
Creaaaaak!
It almost felt like the wood next to me sunk in slightly, a foot appearing not far from where I was. With another step, a long, distorted shadow formed right above me, stretching over my body.
’Don’t make a sound. Keep composed. It thinks you’re dead…’
Though the pain made it hard for me to keep myself from making any noise, I knew that I had no other choice but to remain quiet. Right now… It was just me and the Twisted Man. Kyle was no longer here, and the silence around me felt deafening.
Taking a few deep breaths to calm myself down, I looked around.
I needed to properly assess my current situation.
I was now alone on the first floor of the house.
The only way out of this place was to go to the second floor. I was already aware of the leaving procedures, having been taught by the Guild and Kyle before entering the crack.
All I needed to do was go upstairs.
The only problem was getting past the Twisted Man.
The moment I made a sound was also the same moment that it would become aware of my presence, and the game… which had finally ended, would resume again.
’I feel like there will be no coming back for me if that happens. I need to quickly think of a way to get to the second floor.’
My thoughts didn’t linger for too long on the problem.
I had several means to take care of this situation. Looking down at my arm, I could see two.
’I can just do it like the last time. I don’t think it’ll be a problem.’
There was a certain risk to it, but I felt that this was the best way to get out.
Or was that truly the case…?
I held my breath. For some reason, I started to second-guess myself.
The Twisted Man had shown me time and time again that it was no simple anomaly. It was smart.
Would it really fall for the same trick again?
’But what other choice do I have? This is my only viable option. What else can I—’
It was in that moment that my eyes fell on the distant poem, and my thoughts paused.
That was when a thought occurred to me, and my heart nearly skipped a beat.
Wait…
Was this really my only option?