NOVEL ONLINE FREE A space located deep beneath the facility, far beyond the underground.
Once, it was a place bustling with people and neatly arranged items in every hallway, but now what remains here is merely dust and worn-out belongings.
Having transformed into a place untouched by life, devoid of even cobwebs, it has become an eerie silence that has reigned here for a very long time.
“――――BAM!
However, signs of change were slowly appearing in this space.
In the hall that had once been completely silent, suddenly a loud voice began to echo, as if someone was screaming out of nowhere.
The items that had been left to rot began to add vibrancy to the once-quiet space, as they drifted through the air.
Indeed, commotion had finally come to this place as well.
“HYAAAHHHHHHH?!”
The scream of a small child fills the hallway.
Flitting across the hallway with incredible speed, the child is flying through the air.
She looks as if she is completely terrified, running away from something.
“―――――KABOOM!
Next, a tremendous racket begins to erupt from behind the child.
Not far behind, a section of the wall in the hallway, although aging, is still made of thick concrete.
That once solid wall now lies in ruins as if it had collided with a train.
“…”
From the shattered space, something bursts forth.
A small girl, covered in a cloud of dust.
The 19th entity, emerging from the wall, quickly brushes off the debris stuck to her body and looks around.
Soon, she spots the child darting across the hallway.
She stops shaking off the remnants and swiftly begins to chase after the child.
“It’s weird, weird, WEIRD! How can you be okay?! Are you a monster?!”
The child’s voice oozes confusion and panic.
She has no idea what is going on right now.
Originally, humans feel fear from the unknown, don’t they?
Like great beings lurking in the afterlife, the deep sea, or the boogeyman hiding under the bed.
Unfathomable entities have always been fearsome to humans.
Now, the girl chasing after the child has become one of those incomprehensible beings and is seen as a source of fear.
“Excuse me. I’m a human.”
Her flat tone belies her actions as she charges forth, smashing through everything in her path, creating an illusion that she is less of a person and more like an oncoming train.
“You can’t move like that!”
“I can. Just remember that from now on.”
“You know you’re being ridiculous, right?!”
As the childish argument continues, the child dives toward a corridor.
A dead end where there seems to be nowhere to escape.
It seems like she’s cornering herself, but she doesn’t appear to have any intention of slowing down.
Gradually getting closer to the wall, it’s as if she vanishes into it like a ghost.
“W-What do I do?! Can I escape?!”
After slipping through the wall, the child desperately twists her path, passing through several walls to distance herself from the girl.
A labyrinth tangled up in complexity.
Normally, it would be lucky just to not get lost rather than being chased.
Strangely enough, however, the girl’s pursuit shows no signs of slowing, and thus, the child has no choice but to recall any knowledge she has of this place.
“Right! Come to think of it, the sister can’t hurt me anyway! I don’t have to run away!”
In that moment, a lightning bolt of realization struck the child’s mind.
She recalled that she was no longer a body bound by adults.
She didn’t have to fear pain anymore nor the hardships of life.
Now that she thought about it, the girl wouldn’t be able to harm her either.
There was no reason for her to run away in panic.
“Okay, okay. Let’s not be scared. Let’s not be scared…”
Stopping her flight, the child turns around.
Thump, thump, thump.
A vibrating sound echoes from afar.
Despite it being chilling, the child murmurs, as if to reassure herself.
Finally, when that sound starts to emerge from behind the wall, she seemed to have made a decision, taking a deep breath――
“…I really don’t think this is going to work!”
Without looking back.
Turning her head again toward the direction she had been fleeing from, she begins to fly forward once more.
“―――KABLAAM!!
“H-HIIEEEEEEEK?!”
However, just then.
A loud bang resonates from right in front of the flying child, just like before.
And there, blocking her path, stood the girl who had emerged from the shattered wall, shattered debris scattered around her.
“W-Wait, is the sister angry? I’m sorry! But I couldn’t help it!”
“I’m not angry.”
“Anyone could tell you’re angry?!”
“That’s just how my face looks.”
“Liar! You’re a liar!”
Once again, the thrilling chase begins.
The scene of the child scattering items as she runs away, and the girl chasing her by smashing through them surpasses even surreal levels, creating a comic-like atmosphere rather than a serious situation.
“Don’t run away. I don’t have much time.”
“NO! If I get caught, you’re definitely going to hurt me!”
“It will only sting a little. Just like what you were going to do to me earlier.”
“See, you ARE angry?! I’m really sorry, sister!”
This frantic chase continues, the same situation repeating as they pull away from each other.
The distance between the girl and the child is slowly closing in.
At this rate, it’s obvious that the child will be caught soon.
“If I can just make it that far…!”
However, the child hadn’t been purely running away.
In the center of the facility, not far from a space where no one could enter.
Believing that once she reaches there, she could surely shake the girl off, the child begins to squeeze every bit of strength from her body to reach maximum speed.
The girl’s hand reaches out toward the flying child’s foot.
A dangerously close distance, as if she could just reach out and touch her.
Before long, just as the outstretched fingers were about to graze the girl’s Achilles heel――
“—Swoosh”
The child’s body vanishes into a wall that doesn’t look like a normal one at all, appearing to be made of some peculiar material.
“…!”
The child who slipped into the thick wall continues forward.
An unending stretch, one that is too thick to describe as simply thick.
It feels slow and suffocating, as if she is sunk in mud or swamp.
Soon, fear creeps into her mind, worrying if she would be forever buried beneath the ground for losing her sense of direction.
“Phew――!”
Finally able to poke her head out of the wall, the child looks around cautiously to see if anyone is nearby, before she struggles to pull her hands and feet back out.
“Well, at least I can’t be chased here…”
She glances back at the wall she had just emerged from, feeling a hint of hope.
This is the area fortified with the facility’s thickest and strongest wall.
It was a space only she could barely enter only after transforming into this form.
However, recalling the face of the girl who had aggressively pursued her, she couldn’t help but feel that this place isn’t completely safe either.
“―――THUD!”
“Wha—?!”
Just as she anticipated.
A powerful shake starts to ripple from the wall.
“――――THUD, THUD, THUD, THUD, THUD!!”
“Awa, awa awa awa…!”
A sound of something crashing.
Although it echoed from a distance, unlike before, the wall itself didn’t seem to break, and the child thought to herself that this thick and sturdy wall would not be broken.
Still, that violent sound full of rage filled her with a growing sense of dread.
And, after a while, when the vibrations and loud noises ceased.
Thinking that perhaps the girl had given up, the child cautiously stands up, slowly approaching the wall.
“Di-Did she leave…?”
Not long ago, there had been such a ruckus.
Now, it was as if nothing had happened, and the entire underground felt eerily quiet once more.
As if the place had returned to the silence before the girl came.
“….”
The child’s expression muddles with complex emotions.
It’s a relief that the girl is no longer chasing her.
Surely if she had been caught, she wouldn’t have escaped unscathed.
Yet it was true that she had felt joy upon meeting the girl.
In this dim underground, where she had been alone for so long, the girl was the only one she could talk to during that long time.
“…I didn’t even get to apologize properly.”
At that moment, unease creeps into the child’s heart.
She doesn’t want to experience pain. Surely the girl feels the same way.
So, it’s likely that the girl has lost interest in her now.
Perhaps, she’ll never come back here again.
What happens then? Would she have to live here alone for the rest of her life?
Alone for so long again?
The child’s heart sinks.
Originally, she could endure it. She had always been alone and had lived this way.
But feeling the joy of conversing with someone after a long time made her realization hit hard.
Now, going back to living alone like before felt terrifyingly daunting and undesirable.
The child edges closer to the wall.
Could she catch up if she goes now? What should she say then? Will a simple apology be enough for her to accept?
Mixed feelings whirl around in her mind, filling her thoughts.
Finally, just as her finger is about to touch the wall――
“――――CRACKLE!
A sound like metal being ripped apart.
Suddenly, a small hand shoots out from the wall.
“KYAAAAAAAHHHHH?!”
A high-pitched scream escapes the child’s throat.
It’s a surprise attack that comes at an unexpected moment.
To the child, who had just relaxed, this sight is far too stimulating and frightening.
“Found you.”
The protruding hand pulls back into the wall.
Suddenly, she feels someone’s gaze from the other side.
A small hole in the wall.
Through it, she can see the girl peering in, eyes fixed on her.
“HI-HIIIEEEE…”
Before long, the hole in the wall begins to widen.
With a rumbling sound, the metal wall crumbles.
That thick and strong wall could not stop the girl.
The place where the child had thought to make her final escape now becomes her prison.
“Sorry…! I was wrong, sister. I won’t do it again! So please—”
The child sees the girl slowly walking towards her, and her mind flashes back to the similar scene from the past.
It had been like this then too.
Caught with nowhere to run, she had always had to beg for forgiveness.
Even now, she thought she had been liberated from everything, but she was still just a helpless child.
The girl draws nearer.
The child, still on the ground, tries desperately to flee, but there’s nothing left behind but the wall.
Even attempting to cross the thick wall again would only lead to being captured in the process.
With no other choice, she watches as the girl approaches—
“Uwah?!”
Finally, the girl reaches her, lifting her effortlessly and forcing her to lie on her knee, causing the child to let out a startled squeak.
“J-Ju-Just a moment, sister! What are you doing?! That’s—”
Confused by what she hadn’t expected, the child wrestles to escape.
But there’s no escaping the grip of the girl’s hand.
Soon, the girl’s palm rises high.
“—SWAT!”
Bringing it down sharply toward the child’s bottom.
“HYAAAH?!”
A mixture of pain and humiliation bursts from the child’s lips.
What she had prepared for in terms of violence was vastly different.
Yet even though it was nowhere near as painful as she had expected, the punishment was still embarrassingly beyond her imagination.
“SWAT! SWAT! SWAT!”
The girl’s palm rises once again, and the sound of flesh against skin echoes in the room.
The unending punishment continues.
And along with it, a symphony of mortification escapes the child’s mouth.
“IT HURTS, IT HURTS, IT HURTS――!”
The echo of the child’s screams resounds down the dim hallway.
Strangely enough, it seems like it might never come to an end.