Chapter 42 - Live Stream [4]
'Ah... I really don't want to be here.'
My stomach growled like it had lost all sense of reason as I stared at the little girl peeking through the doorway.
Slowly removing the 'Spectral Glasses', she disappeared from my vision.
Then I put them back on.
There she was again.
'Is there really no bathroom?'
Bile rose in my throat.
The plan had been to wear the glasses from the very start. Though the main reason why I wore them was for a completely different reason.
"Haaa..."
A cloud of vapor escaped my lips. Chills ran down my spine as the world transformed around me—everything turned cold, bathed in a dark, quiet blue.
Yes, blue...
Within this world, everything around me became clear.
Within this filter, the world sharpened. Shadows lifted. The details of the museum emerged from the gloom like bones in the dark. This was the true reason I wore the glasses.
Because they allowed me to see better in the dark.
'If only I had found out about this sooner.'
No, maybe it was for the best that I had only found out about this feature recently. Something told me that whatever this dark blue vision showed me... wasn't something that I could just carelessly peer into.
"....?"
The girl peeked farther out from the door and motioned for me to follow.
She seemed to want me to go to her.
'As if...'
That was the last thing that I wanted to do.
However, staring at her, for some strange reason, I felt that she meant no harm. It was completely different from the way she was during the time I was staring at the painting.
Back then, I felt the malice very clearly.
What brought the change?
'Is this some sort of trick? She won't just act coy before suddenly turning on me, right?'
I really feared that'd be the case.
If that happened, then I was as good as done for.
But still...
I decided to move forward and follow her.
Taking into consideration how nobody had found a single thing in this entire building, going around and wandering aimlessly was only going to make me waste time.
I didn't have much time.
Just as much as she was a risk, she was also a clue for me to complete the quest.
"Hoo."
Vapour left my lips again as the cold started to seep into my body.
More vapor slipped from my mouth as the chill crept deeper into my bones. The floor cracked slightly beneath my step as I approached the doorway. The moldy scent that had lingered in the air moments prior seemed to fade with the cold, replaced by a burnt smell.
"Wait, where are you going?"
Jamie was it?
I turned to look behind me and answered.
"....Exploring."
Seeing that he couldn't see the little girl, and it was more appropriate for me to keep the information hidden, I could only say such words.
"Exploring? With those glasses...?"
"What about my glasses?"
"You..."
The next hall opened into a wide, crumbling chamber. A statue stood at the center, ringed by empty picture frames. The sculpture depicted a veiled woman with closed eyes and folded hands resting near her stomach.
The tiles on the floor appeared more weathered, cracked, and the windows in the distance, which were too tall for any of us to reach, were shattered, with glass shards spread across the floor.
Behind the statue, the little girl crouched, half-hidden, watching.
"That's the statue of Saint Mary."
Jamie spoke again, angling his selfie stick to catch the moment. His chat scrolled faster than I could read.
'Whatever, it doesn't matter.'
I turned my attention back to the statue. I already knew what it was.
"She was one of the first to awaken and a key architect of the island," Jamie murmured, his expression growing somber. "If not for her, the island wouldn't be floating... and we'd be at the mercy of whatever still stirs below. But even then, that's not enough to stop the mist."
I quietly pursed my lips while listening to Jamie's words.
Indeed, the world wasn't as I had originally imagined it to be.
According to the research I conducted, the floating islands didn't exist a century ago. It was only after a certain accident that the floating islands came to be.
They weren't naturally formed by the world's strange laws. They were manually crafted, torn from the earth and raised into the sky, all to escape what now waited below.
... The mist was what they called it.
The island I stood on was one of many that orbited the central landmass of Adora—the main continent and home to the BUA and the heart of the Vesperine Union.
"Is this what you wanted to see?"
Jamie's voice pulled me back. I turned to him, then shook my head.
"No."
I shifted my attention back onto the little girl. She was still standing behind the statue, looking at it as though it was trying to hint at something. I narrowed my eyes while staring at the statue.
At first glance, there didn't seem to be anything wrong with it. Faint cracks traced along its surface, webbing across it in different directions. It was carved from stone, with a part of her hand missing.
'Why does she want me to check the statue?'
I hesitated at first, but soon made up my mind and moved towards the statue.
"What are you doing? Don't touch that."
I ignored Jamie's words and moved closer to the statue. What difference was it going to make if I touched it or not? Stopping before the statue, I closely examined it. That was when I noticed a few subtleties I hadn't noticed before, and I focused my attention on some of the cracks.
'What sort of...'
I narrowed my eyes before slowly bringing my hand forward and touching the statue.
It felt cold to the touch.
But at the same time...
"Ah...?"
It also didn't feel like stone.
"Wha—"
"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarkh!"
It was amidst the realization that a muffled scream echoed from the distance. It came from the second floor, and my body tensed.
But only for a moment.
'A scare tactic? Is it time already?'
My first thought was that, as I recalled my current situation and how it was possible that Jamie was trying to scare me.
However, when I slowly turned my head to stare in his direction, I saw him staring at his phone, pale-faced.
He appeared to be typing something very fast.
Was it not him? Or was he acting?
"Wait, hold on."
He tried to smile, but it barely held.
Then—
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Heavy footsteps. Multiple.
Above us.
I felt chills run down my entire body. Jamie also flicked his head up, his face paler than before as he shifted his attention back to his phone, his fingers gliding across the screen at even faster speeds.
I saw that he was trying to call someone.
But—
Du. Du.
There was no response.
His gaze eventually crossed with mine. He looked genuinely rattled.
"Do..."
I frowned and opened my lips when—
THUMP. Thump. Thump!
I heard the sound of the footsteps moving away, coming onto the stairs in the first hall as they rapidly headed our way.
"Oh my god..."
Jamie's fear looked all too real now.
"...We need to go. We can't stay here any longer."
His voice was rushed, and sweat pooled down the side of his face as he grabbed my arm, yanking me back.
But there was just a problem.
"We'll be heading right to them if we go there," I said, pulling my arm back.
"...No, but if we run then—"
"That'd be pointless."
"We still have to try!"
THUMP. THUMP. Thump.
The panic on Jamie's face grew as the steps drew nearer. They were now on the first floor, moving towards us.
I searched the room, desperate for an out, but there was nothing.
Nothing...
Except—
'Wait, the statue!'
I didn't waste a single second and moved towards it.
"Hey, what are you doing!?" Jamie whispered as he tried to pull me back, but I ignored him, tracing my eyes over the statue before raising my hand and knocking on it.
To Tok!
"What are—!"
Jamie stopped the moment I knocked.
He felt it too.
The statue... it was hollow.
"But... how?"
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
The steps were just outside now.
They were numerous. Fast. And directed in our direction.
I didn't waste a second and pressed onto the statue with both hands. The statue moved, and soon enough, a trap door appeared.
"....Oh my god!"
Jamie's eyes widened at the sight, his camera pointed at it as the chat flickered at speeds that I hadn't seen before.
I didn't bother looking at it in depth and pulled the trapdoor open, revealing a long flight of stairs that seemed to lead to a certain darkness.
"Get in."
"In? But—"
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
The steps were closer than ever, and Jamie's entire body shook. Without wasting a second, he rushed into the trapdoor, and I did the same. At the same time, I summoned the Nightwalker and ordered it to move the statue back to its normal place once I was in.
And then—
Clank!
I closed the trapdoor, the darkness swallowing me.