NOVEL NEXT WORLD “Here is Member-1. Member-5, respond.”
From the dark hallway, a voice echoed.
The owner of the voice was none other than Member-1.
Realizing he was trapped in Basement 4, he desperately attempted to communicate their situation to the outside.
“Headquarters. This is Echo-5. An unknown anomaly related to Abnormal Phenomenon No. 4891 is currently occurring.”
When he couldn’t connect with the other members, he tried to contact Headquarters.
But all he heard from the communication device was silence.
Only his hollow cries echoed throughout the place.
“I repeat. This is Echo-5. An unknown anomaly related to Abnormal Phenomenon No. 4891 is currently occurring. We require assistance!”
Despite receiving no response, he continued to attempt communication multiple times.
“…It’s dead.”
Finally realizing that his actions were futile, he quietly sighed and set down the communication device in his hand.
“What should we do now?”
A panicked voice came through. It was Member-4.
“First, we wait here until communication is restored.”
“W-wait here?”
“Yes. Moving recklessly could expose us to an ambush.”
“But what if communication never comes back?”
“Then the members on the upper floors will go outside and ask Headquarters for assistance. For now, we have no choice but to trust them and wait.”
Member-1 spoke to reassure Member-4.
In reality, the other members on the upper floors were very close to the exit.
Regardless of what had happened, there should at least be one member left to retreat and inform Headquarters of their current situation.
However, he couldn’t help but wonder why Member-9, who was closest to the exit, hadn’t responded to his communication…
But in such a desperate situation, he wasn’t the type to bring it up, as he could show understanding.
“In the meantime, we’ll prepare our formation and watch the surroundings――”
He was about to order the members to be vigilant against possible ambushes when he spotted Member-3 staring blankly into the darkness.
Realizing something was off with Member-3’s demeanor, he carefully approached him.
“…Member-3?”
“….”
“Member-3. What’s wrong?”
Despite being called several times, Member-3 still didn’t respond.
Like a dazed person, he maintained his position in silence.
“I think I just heard Marcus’s voice.”
Finally, he muttered in a low voice, as if talking to himself.
“…I didn’t hear anything.”
“I didn’t hear anything either…”
The other two members looked at him strangely and spoke.
Seeing his appearance as if he had been mentally contaminated, Member-1 was worried he might cause a commotion at any moment.
“…I must have misheard.”
Fortunately, he seemed to still have the mental clarity to accept their words, acknowledging that what he heard was incorrect and turning back to them.
“――――”
No.
To be precise, he was about to do that.
“Senpai?”
“N-no….”
Member-4 called out to Member-3.
In response, Member-3 mumbled something, but it didn’t seem to be an answer to being called.
“It’s definitely his voice. It sounds very close.”
“…Member-3, calm down.”
His voice began to quicken.
However, the voice he spoke of continued to be unheard by Member-1.
His actions were undeniably seeming strange at this point.
“Can no one else hear it? It’s coming from right over there!”
“I’ll say it again, we can’t hear anything. What you’re hearing is most likely a hallucination. You need to conduct a self-diagnosis for mental contamination right now.”
“We don’t have time for that! Captain, we need to go now! He’s screaming! If we don’t save him, he will die!”
“Member-3, that’s an order! Do not leave your position!”
He glanced around, seemingly trying to discern where the ‘voice’ was coming from.
Member-1 ordered him, but he seemed oblivious to the command as if blood had rushed to his head.
“Marcus? Are you there? Marcus!”
Soon, he fixed his gaze on something and rushed towards a room beside the hallway.
“Stop! Lucas, don’t do anything stupid!”
Member-1 shouted after him, pursuing.
With a thud, Member-3 pushed the door open with his body and entered.
He reached the door he had just gone through seconds later, but the member who had entered was already gone without a trace.
“Lucas? Lucas! Damn it!”
He shouted, shining the flashlight attached to his weapon around the room.
It was a small room with just a single door.
There was no space for someone to hide, and if they did, they would be found out quickly. Yet,
Member-1 could not find any sign of Member-3.
“How…? He definitely just came in here…”
A thud sound echoed.
When Member-1 turned towards the sound, he saw Member-4, who had slumped down to the ground, seemingly weakened.
“I-I don’t know. Captain, how could this happen? Am I dreaming?”
She asked in a trembling voice.
With the unbelievable scene unfolding before her eyes, she was in a state of confusion.
Having just lost the comrade who was supposed to be behind her and being trapped in an endless hallway was far too harsh for a rookie to handle.
“Yes, it has to be a dream. There’s no way this could be real. I don’t want to die like this, Captain. Not like this…”
“…Eleanor.”
She trembled, holding her hands with her head lowered.
Seeing her like this, Member-1 wanted to somehow breathe hope into her, but the fact that their situation was desperate made it impossible for comforting words to leave his lips.
―Zzzzt
At that moment, the communication device suddenly began to crackle.
[…!……!………]
The device, emitting a sharp sound like a broken radio, gradually transformed into the voice of someone he knew.
[…! If you can hear me, respond, Captain!]
It became a complete voice, urgently calling for Member-1.
“Member-5? Is that you?!”
[Ah, you’re alive! Thank goodness. I thought something might have happened since we couldn’t connect!]
As he responded, Member-5 expressed his joyous emotions over the communication device.
He was one of the members who had been scheduled to search the western corridor earlier, and he had kept trying to reach out to the members whose communication had been cut off until just now, finally managing to connect with Member-1.
“Something did happen. The communication with you was probably cut off because of that.”
[What happened?]
“I’ll explain later, but right now, we’re in a hurry. Member-5, report on the current situation.”
Member-1 felt relieved but quickly ordered Member-5 to report the situation to combat the ongoing crisis.
Even though they finally managed to connect, there was no guarantee that this communication wouldn’t get cut off again.
If they didn’t use the current situation wisely, they would be cutting their own lifeline.
[To be honest, it’s not looking good. We ran to the place where we were supposed to regroup earlier, but all the members there have vanished without a trace. The communication is still cut off.]
“Is it possible they retreated outside?”
[We tried to check that, but all the entrances we had come through earlier were blocked off. We tried to blow the doors open with adhesive explosives, but even with the explosion, the doors didn’t budge.]
“Have you attempted to connect with Headquarters?”
[…No, we couldn’t connect.]
“So we’re completely trapped. Damn it, it’s a mountain over a mountain…”
However, despite the communication being established, there seemed nowhere for things to go from here.
The connection with Headquarters was still blocked, and to make matters worse, it appeared that the corridors on the first floor were also forcibly blocked by some power.
Just as he was trapped in Basement 4, it was presumed that an anomaly was occurring on the first floor as well.
He still couldn’t find a way to resolve this situation, and all he could do was let out a weak groan, quietly holding his head.
[First, we’ll regroup. We’re currently on Basement 4 where you were, Captain. What’s your current location?]
“We’ve been going in circles. It looks like we’re… trapped in this space.”
[What do you mean? Are you lost?]
“No, I think it’s some kind of anomaly. No matter how many times we try to move forward, we keep ending up in front of Warehouse No. 5.”
[Damn it, it’s completely tangled. This is exactly why we should’ve brought an anomaly specialist with us.]
Member-5 clicked his tongue, but there was nothing to be done.
Anomaly specialists were few in number.
They were already busy with other abnormal phenomena cases.
It was likely that Headquarters wouldn’t approve of sending them out with the forward team due to the high risks involved.
[We’ll head to Warehouse No. 5. Captain, please stay there and wait for us.]
“Okay, I’ll wait. And if you don’t see me there…”
Member-1 was about to say ‘Get out of here without me’, but he stopped mid-sentence.
Behind him was still the trembling rookie in a panic.
He had already accepted his possible death but didn’t want to drop a bombshell on a subordinate who was already in a state of hopelessness.
“…No, it’s nothing. I’ll talk about it later.”
Thus, he refrained from uttering those words.
Even if the members came here, they would likely not find him, but…
He didn’t want to rob the remaining sliver of hope that his despondent subordinate held.
Time passed, and after a brief silence during which they had not communicated,
Member-5 called out to Member-1 over the communication device.
[Captain, did you happen to be attacked along the way?]
“…Why do you ask? Did you encounter the enemy?”
He asked, attempting to calm his rattled nerves.
It was true that they had been attacked, but it had been a very stealthy and mental attack.
There wouldn’t have been any traces of battle left behind.
The only way they could realize they had been attacked would be if someone’s belongings, presumed to belong to one of the members, were found, or if a member’s body was discovered.
[No, that’s not it… I just found an ID tag that was lying on the floor, and it seems to belong to one of the members who went after you.]
An ID tag.
That meant it likely belonged to the first one of them who fell victim, Member-2.
And an ID tag wouldn’t ordinarily come off someone unless forcibly removed. The fact that it was found on the ground meant that Member-2 almost certainly met his demise.
“…That’s right. We’ve lost two members.”
[Just as I feared. I wish it wasn’t true…]
When Member-1 responded, Member-5 said it with a bitter tone.
He was also one of the Echo-5 members and had established camaraderie with the others.
Losing a comrade was always something that one could never get used to, no matter how many times they experienced it.
“….”
Member-1, too, felt deep sadness at losing his subordinate and remained silent in place.
As he was about to speak words of comfort for his fallen comrades…
[I’m clumsy, but he shouldn’t have been someone who died here.]
At that moment, Member-1’s body froze completely at what he heard from the communication device.
“…Member-5.”
Member-1 knew the members well.
He had to. He had spent a significant amount of time engaging with them and had undertaken dangerous missions together.
It was only natural that he understood their personalities, how they appeared to others, and what nicknames they went by.
And from what he knew, neither Member-2 nor Member-3 could ever be called clumsy. He understood quite well that Member-5 wouldn’t refer to them that way either.
[What’s wrong?]
“Who was the ID tag you found… belonging to?”
In fact, there was not a single member from Echo-5 who could be labeled as clumsy.
They were a highly experienced operational unit, and most of the members had faced life-threatening situations before.
There was no way someone inexperienced would still be part of their team.
[It belongs to Eleanor, Eleanor Green.]
There was only one.
Aside from the rookie currently with him.
“――――”
His nerves were on edge.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, his senses hyper-focused behind him.
Member-4 sat on the ground, head lowered.
No, rather, it seemed to be facing an unidentified existence.
“….”
Of course, it wasn’t impossible that she simply dropped her ID tag.
Even if it was unlikely, it wasn’t entirely out of the realm of possibility.
After all, she had a habit of losing things quite often, given her clumsy nature.
But if that were the case…
Why hadn’t she disputed the words that had just been uttered?
Why was she now silent?
Why had ‘that’ stopped crying just now?
As the atmosphere froze over, a chill suddenly began to spread.
He couldn’t tell if the temperature had truly dropped, or if it was just him sensing it, but there wasn’t a moment to clarify for Member-1.
In this tense and impending situation,
He carefully placed his finger on the trigger of his firearm――
――Bang!
Not long after,
The sound of a gunshot resounded through the corridor.
[We just heard a gunshot! Did you fire, Captain?]
A voice came from the communication device lying on the ground.
But there was no sign of anyone around the device.
[Captain? Respond! Captain!]
The voice that sought a reply grew louder, echoing through the empty corridor.
It was repeated several times and continued shouting.
Yet the communication device remained abandoned on the dark hallway floor.
[Wait, what is―――]
A moment later.
The voice that had been coming through the communication device abruptly ceased.
The area fell into complete silence,
As if there had never been anyone here, as if this place had always been devoid of life.
Only the empty corridor and darkness lingered behind.