A few seconds after I reached her, slightly out of breath, Mia’s dry, flaky lips parted as if she wanted to speak but couldn’t quite force the words out. Her grip on the handle trembled.
But eventually—
"What... are you saying, Squad Leader?"
She looked at me in confusion.
"You’re the one who told me to open the door."
The words that left her mouth made my expression falter slightly as a cold knot tightened in my stomach. My pulse spiked, pounding hard enough that I could hear it in my ears.
"You were standing by the other door when you noticed the flakes on the floor," she said, her voice rather small. "After Niel pointed them out, you changed your mind. You said we shouldn’t touch it and told us to keep going."
Her grip around the handle loosened.
"We walked farther down the corridor until we reached this door. And then..." Her eyes locked onto mine. "You told me to open it."
I drew a deep breath, trying my best to keep my expression as calm as possible. Looking at Mia’s expression and the confusion on her face, I knew that she wasn’t lying. This had most likely been the truth.
I thought back to the situation with Joanna not long ago and came up with a conclusion.
’It must be another illusion of some sort.’
"Do you think it’s related to the thing that happened to Joanna not long ago? An illusion?"
Even Niel seemed to think the same as he spoke to Mia. But instead of agreeing, Mia slowly shook her head. Her fingers once again tightened around the handle, knuckles paling.
"No, that’s not possible."
She appeared rather adamant, her face turning abnormally pale.
"Because the Squad Leader touched me," she whispered, her voice barely audible over the distant hum of the corridor. Her hand slowly slipped from the handle as if the memory itself unsettled her.
"On my back."
She swallowed, her hand touching her back.
"He... he told me to open the door."
The silence that followed her words felt unsettling, our gazes all turning in the direction of the door.
Maybe it was just the atmosphere, or maybe it was the weight of Mia’s words settling in, but the air suddenly felt colder against my skin. My eyes fixed on the narrow gap she’d forced open, barely wide enough to peer through, but at the same time, not large enough to let anything move in.
Standing by the door, I felt strange.
My hand prickled as I slowly reached for the handle, the cold metal biting against my skin. For a brief moment, I hesitated, unsure of whether I should pull it shut or force it open the rest of the way and see what was inside.
No one around me said a word. I could feel their eyes on me, waiting, the silence stretching until it felt deafening, pressing in on my ears. Even the faint drip of water somewhere down the corridor seemed to have stopped.
’What should I do? Should I send the Realmwalker to check the situation inside? The knife doesn’t detect anything. There shouldn’t be anything inside, but I can’t be certain. But there might be some important clues. Why was Mia being led here?’
I was just about to make up my mind, my fingers tightening slightly around the handle, when a sudden sound tore through the stillness.
"——!"
It was deafening yet strangely muffled, as if it had traveled a long distance through layers of concrete and steel before reaching us. The walls trembled faintly with the echo, and our heads similarly snapped backwards.
Clank—!
Something about the air seemed to change.
A second later, my expression hardened.
’Shit!!’
I rushed forward, breaking into a sprint, the beam of my flashlight jerking wildly up and down as it struggled to keep steady in my shaking grip. Shadows leapt along the walls as I ran, boots splashing against the damp floor. Behind me, I could hear the others following just as fast, their footsteps echoing frantically through the tunnel.
Although the beam of the torch wobbled violently, making it nearly impossible to see more than a few feet ahead, I didn’t need the light to guide me.
I already knew where I was going.
Gradually, my sprint slowed to a hurried walk, then to careful steps. The beam steadied as I came to a stop before the metal rungs bolted into the wall.
Slowly, I tilted the torch upward.
My heart dropped the instant the light caught the underside of the trapdoor.
It was sealed completely shut.
"Well, shit."
***
At the same time, in a different area.
"...Let’s stop here for a moment. Let me map this area."
Joanna stopped while taking out her phone to scan the surroundings. Once she was finally done, she looked back at the others. The moment she did, she smiled bitterly while scratching the side of her face.
’The Squad Leader really assigned the most talkative people in the group to himself, didn’t he?’
Her team was composed of Ariel, Min, and Sarah.
Mutes...
Unless they absolutely needed to, neither of them was going to say a word. Joanna sighed while putting her phone away.
’At least, it’s a good team.’
The composition was perfect for their task. Especially Ariel. With her abilities, Joanna didn’t have to worry about the others getting lost or any potential ambush. In fact, Ariel was also good at detecting anomalies, albeit not as well as those from the ’Hunter’ Decree.
Sarah was a good scout, and Min was the perfect person to deal with any ambushes.
The team was absolutely perfect in every way.
’I can’t let the Squad Leader down.’
Thinking about her old team, Joanna bit her lips. Taking a deep breath, she quickly dismissed all thoughts about them.
’I’m glad they’re doing fine, but so am I.’
Looking back at the others, Joanna continued up ahead.
The fog was relatively thick, clinging low to the ground and weaving between the trees that stretched out in every direction. Somewhere beyond them, there were supposed to be more houses scattered in the distance.
But from where they stood, visibility was poor at best.
Whatever the situation truly was, one thing was clear: they couldn’t stay put. They needed to find the other teams, or at the very least, any clues that might lead them to rescue the teams they were supposed to find.
Joanna moved forward with the others, their silhouettes fading in and out of the mist as they walked. The beams of their flashlights stretched ahead in pale columns, slicing through the fog but revealing only fragments of the path at a time.
She glanced down at the map in her hand, adjusting her direction to follow the marked route. Just as she was about to step onto the indicated path, Ariel’s voice suddenly echoed from behind her.
"What’s that?"
"Hm?"
Joanna looked in the direction that Ariel pointed and paused.
"What?"
In the middle of a small clearing, a two-story house emerged from the mist. The mist drifted lazily around it, thinning just enough to reveal its worn exterior. Broken fences circled the property in uneven lines; some panels collapsed entirely, while others leaned at awkward angles.
The front door stood slightly ajar, revealing just a little bit of the interior.
"Should we check it out? There might be something inside. I also don’t seem to sense anything.
Ariel suddenly proposed.
Joanna hesitated, looking towards Min and Sarah.
"What do you two think?"
"...Sure."
"Okay."
The two didn’t have any objections.
Seeing the others agree, Joanna gave a short nod and started toward the house. Sarah moved ahead of her without a word, lowering her presence as she slipped quietly through the open doorway to check the interior first.
Min followed a few steps behind while Ariel stayed back just enough to maintain her connection with them, eyes scanning the perimeter.
When they finally reached the front of the house, Joanna lifted her flashlight and aimed it at the windows.
The glass was worn and cracked, thin fractures spreading across the panes like spiderwebs. A thick layer of dust clung to the surface, dulling the reflection of the beam and making the inside impossible to see clearly.
"Found anything, Sarah?"
"...No. Nothing."
Sarah’s voice echoed half a second later from inside the house as Joanna entered.
Creaaak!
The moment Joanna stepped past the doorway, the wooden floor creaked faintly beneath her boots.
She raised her flashlight, and the beam swept across a spacious living room. A large television stood against the far wall, its dark screen coated in dust. Opposite it sat a wide sofa, the cushions slightly sunken and dulled with age.
Between them rested a small tea table, its surface cluttered with old magazines and a thin layer of grime that glittered under the light. Resting on top of it was an old land phone.
"Huh... It’s been a while since I’ve seen one of those."
Joanna commented while turning her flashlight around.
But as she did...
"Huh?"
She suddenly realized something.
"Where is everyone?"
She was alone.
"Sarah? Min? Ariel?"
Joanna called out for the three of them, her voice carrying through the empty house.
No response came back.
Her expression tightened instantly, the muscles in her jaw setting as unease crept in. She opened her mouth to call out again, but before she could, the door behind her slammed shut with a loud bang .
The sharp sound cracked through the room, echoing off the walls and making her flinch as her heart lurched violently in her chest.
And then—
Drrring! Drrrrinnnng!
A shrill ring suddenly pierced the silence.
The sound was sharp and bounced off every wall of the small house, growing louder with each chime.
Drrrrring—!