—H-how is this possible…?
Niel’s voice echoed from the walkie-talkie.
I could see the confusion in his voice.
—This doesn’t make sense…! It lied once already! We should’ve been able to solve the scenario!
—But it didn’t…
Mia’s voice followed right after that.
It seemed like her walkie-talkie was working again.
—….Is the possessed one Niel?
As Sarah’s voice echoed, everyone turned quiet.
—…It would make sense. He’s been pushing to vote for Joanna since the start.
Nora said, her voice sounding somewhat agressive.
Her words were followed by a subtle sound coming from Min.
—Hm.
—No, wait… I only pushed for Joanna because it seemed like the most logical conclusion. You all agreed with me!
—But you were so firm about it. You even disagreed with the Squad Leader’s commands.
—You did too!
Chaos was starting to ensue in the communication channels.
I wanted to shake my head and speak over them, but I decided not to. This was probably necessary for them.
The team was new, and there was no synergy between them.
They all probably were elites coming from Academies, and despite not looking like they had egos, it was clear that they all had their own pride. This was a good way for them to experience ’failure’.
’More than that, I need to think about the situation more.’
Joanna was clearly not the liar.
This much was clear.
At the same time, two other people had spoken. Min and Mia. Realistically speaking, the two were now the prime suspects.
’…It should only be one of the two.’
The issue was that I now needed to understand who it was between the two.
It wouldn’t be difficult to figure this one out.
’Min is a boy and Mia is a girl. If everyone asks the same question, we’ll figure out the answer immediately.’
This sounded easy in principle. However, I was still worried.
There was no way things would actually be this simple.
I still nonetheless reached for the walkie-talkie and pressed the communication button.
“Everyone, please calm down. I think I know how to solve this problem.”
I lowered the walkie-talkie right after that.
But…
—Why are you blaming me? Aren’t you the number one suspect? You were clearly the one pushing the situation the most!
—Like I said, I was only following logic. The fact that you’re arguing against me shows me that you might be the possessed one.
—See? You’re shifting blame to me!
The channels remained a mess.
None of them seemed to have heard my words as they argued against each other in the communication channels.
I frowned and tried to speak again.
This time I raised my voice.
“Settle down!”
But the result was still the same.
“Hm?”
It was here that I understood that the situation was not as simple as it seemed.
“…Is my walkie-talkie not working?”
I flipped it to the other side and checked the batteries before speaking again. However, the result remained the same.
—You’re arguing against logic! You’re clearly stirring things up!
—Me? Meee???
—Stop. Both of you!
—Mia is right.
—No, I agree with Niel.
In fact, the chaos seemed to grow even more prominent.
It got to a point where I realized that something was wrong.
These were top recruits. Even if they disagreed with each other, they should all still be able to calm down and think things carefully. The answer was right before their eyes.
Unless…
’The possessed had unknowingly possessed a few others?’
I thought for a moment.
There were short intervals when the walkie-talkies didn’t talk. Was that a coincidence? Obviously not.
In that case…
’Could the possessed one have taken over the minds of a few members in the meantime? Is it trying to sow discord between the members to delay time?’
I looked at my walkie-talkie.
Each time the walkie-talkie stopped working, the ’possessed’ could attack. Everyone’s walkie-talkies were working.
Everyone but mine…
“….!?”
My head snapped toward the door.
It was open.
Pitch black.
The hallway beyond looked like it had been swallowed whole by something, the shadows almost pulsing at the edges. I could feel my heartbeat in my throat as I grabbed my knife and crept toward the doorway, each step heavier than the last.
I stopped just short of crossing the threshold.
The air was colder here.
I clenched the knife so tightly my fingers ached, eyes locked on the shifting dark ahead.
’You can do it. You can do it. You can do it.’
I forced myself to push past the fear and broke into a sprint, lunging through the doorway with my knife slashing to the right.
“——!”
But—
Swoosh!
I hit nothing.
I hastily looked to my left, but also found nothing.
Just the long flight of stairs stretching into the dark, and the small, empty space around me. Nothing moved. Nothing breathed. I pursed my lips, trying to steady my thoughts.
Maybe I was overthinking.
However, just as I turned back to my room, my eyes fell on the small line of salt on the floor, and my breath paused.
There, I saw the outline of a footprint. One that seemed to have stayed for quite some time before leaving.
I held onto the knife with even more force.
’The possessed one was here. Whoever it was, they tried to attack me but stopped because of the salt.’
I felt chills running down my spine just thinking about it.
The fact that I hadn’t noticed until now made the hair on my body stand as I looked back at the board.
The walkie-talkie was still going crazy with the other members blaming each other. This was clearly the work of the possessed.
’What should I do…?’
My first line of thought was to go back and try to wait for the walkie-talkie to work again.
However, that didn’t seem like the best plan.
Especially since there was no guarantee that it would work.
In that case…
I shifted my focus back to the footprints on the floor, then looked toward the stairs. In the darkness, I finally noticed them, faint salt prints trailing upward, barely visible but unmistakably there.
I bit my lips and looked back.
Towards the room that seemed to be the safest place in the entire place.
I wanted nothing more than to stay there. However, I knew that I couldn’t do that. I looked back at the footprints and took a deep breath before holding the knife in front of me.
’I shouldn’t delay things any further. If I follow the footprints, I should be able to find the possessed one.’
Without any more delay, I decided to climb the stairs.
Tap. Tap—
As I ascended the staircase, the rhythmic thud of my footsteps echoed through the spiral, each step ringing louder than the last. The walls seemed to draw closer with every turn, the space around me tightening.
The light faded as I moved away from the candle, but I pulled out a flashlight to make up for it. Its beam cut through the dark, revealing dust particles drifting silently in the air.
Beyond the pounding of my heart, I could hear the sound of my own breath, amplified in the silence.
I kept my eyes ahead, climbing step after step, up a staircase that felt like it stretched into eternity.
I continued to climb up until I eventually came to a stop before an old wooden door.
The salt traces stopped there.
Bringing my shoulder near the door, I slowly pushed the door while holding onto my knife.
Creaaaak—
A low creaking sound echoed in the silence as I held my breath.
The darkness clung to the beam from the lamp as the door fully opened, revealing a long and deserted corridor.
…It was also there that I saw it.
The faint outline of a figure standing at the very end of the corridor.
I froze for a moment.
But then—
I clenched my teeth and gave chase.