Chapter 18 First Steps into the Apocalypse 3

In the dark world, gray mist appeared all around me.

It says "around me," but I can't actually find my own body anywhere. In this realm filled with gray fog, I've become like a ghost in a video game after death—unable to feel my hands and feet, unable to speak or move, unable to breathe or blink, unable to smell anything, unable to hear anything.

I don't even know if it's because I can't perceive the existence of my physical body, but right now I don't even feel any emotional fluctuations. I should have been very surprised and terrified, but somehow, I've accepted it all and am facing this mysterious space with an unexpected optimism.

After a brief pause, I began to try to control my perspective as I rotated and moved forward.

Lacking any point of reference, I'm unsure if I'm actually moving; I'm just focusing all my attention on the thought of "getting moving." Perhaps I am moving forward, but that's the only belief I can hold for now.

I don't know how much time passed, but something new appeared in front of me.

About several dozen meters away, I saw eight chairs carved from white rock. Of course, "several dozen meters away" is a way of saying it without a reference point, but that's how it felt. Seven of the eight rock chairs were a size larger than ordinary sofas, arranged in a row; while the third was twice the size and placed alone at a distance, facing the other seven.

On the largest rock seat sat an unusually large, godlike figure. Because of the mist, its features and clothing were not clearly visible; only a black shadow could be seen through the fog.

As I got closer, I noticed two figures on the other rock seats, the other five seats were empty. The two people were sitting in the two seats on the left. The one in the far left seat was a tall, thin figure; the one right next to him was a small figure, as petite as a child.

Compared to that godlike figure, the two shadows were at least the size of normal people.

Gradually, I became curious—who were they? Why were they sitting here?

I shouldn't be having any emotional involvement right now, but I can't suppress my curiosity.

Suddenly, I felt myself waking up. It seemed like this was just a dream world, and regaining normal thinking meant I couldn't continue dreaming.

Just then, the tall, thin shadow on the far left seemed to notice my presence.

He turned his head sharply and asked in a low, hoarse voice, "Who goes there?"

"Hmm?" The petite figure next to her, who looked like a child, also turned around.

The enormous, god-like figure remained motionless, like a sculpture.

I was about to respond to him, but as soon as the words were on the tip of my tongue, I realized that I shouldn't be able to feel my mouth, and all the seats, along with the fog, disappeared from my sight.

I had already woken up.

I opened my eyes. The space around me was no longer filled with mist. I was still standing in front of the basement wall, holding the black jade stone in my hand.

-

It wasn't until then that I belatedly realized I was getting goosebumps.

What just happened? I was dreaming while standing up?

No, it was less like a dream and more like being pulled into some kind of illusionary world...

Was this black jade stone the culprit?

I immediately placed the black jade on the ground, then quickly took several steps back, cautiously observing this mysterious object. However, this time the black jade did not display any mysterious power, lying on the ground like an ordinary stone.

Nothing unusual? But this thing clearly controlled my consciousness just now... No, to say it controlled it didn't actually bring me any danger; it just made me experience a strange illusion for no reason.

What was the meaning of that illusion just now? The area filled with gray mist, the eight rock chairs, the three strange figures... Were they all human? Or were they incredible creatures inhabiting that illusion?

There are too few clues, I can't analyze anything, so I can only pick up the black jade first.

I know this black jade might contain other mysterious and unpredictable dangers, but since I'm already here, I can't just throw it away. If it were a clearly harmful substance, that would be a different story. But since I don't know its true nature yet, I have to take it back and study it carefully.

If you're afraid of danger, stay away from strange things. I would never have come to this basement in the first place.

I plan to continue my investigation in this basement for a while longer. Although I estimate that this is about all I've gained tonight—the basement is utterly empty, everything is clearly visible, and the "fireflies" I've placed throughout have observed it down to the smallest detail—it's still a "space that doesn't exist in reality," and its very existence is enough to fascinate me.

Suddenly, I sensed something was wrong. This basement seemed different from when I first entered. Something crucial—

I turned around abruptly.

The steps I used to come down had disappeared, and the ceiling was completely flat, with no entrance or exit at all!

In that instant, a chill ran down my spine, as if several ice cockroaches were crowding around and crawling up my spine from my tailbone to the back of my head.

The exports have disappeared? Why?

I was clearly watching the stairs and exit for any unusual activity by observing the "fireflies" around me, and wondering when they disappeared.

Was it when I was just trapped in a hallucination?

I immediately went to the original location of the stairs to check, but no matter how I looked, I couldn't see that there should have been stairs there. The same went for the ceiling; even the subtle texture of the concrete seemed to say that this was how it was originally designed.

This is utterly absurd. If there was no entrance or exit in the first place, how did I get down here?

First, I need to calm down and think carefully about what to do next.

The appearance and disappearance of caves must follow some established pattern. Once I find this pattern, I should be able to reopen the exit.

However, the idea that "everything in the universe follows certain laws" is a common sense principle that humans have summarized and analyzed about nature. What I am currently facing is a bizarre event that goes beyond the realm of common sense. So perhaps there was no law at all from the beginning, and all my thinking is futile.

Admittedly, the cave appears within a ritual array, which is man-made. However, Agent Kong also mentioned that the ritual array itself does not possess the ability to open the cave. This might be an unknown phenomenon beyond the Fallen Witcher's comprehension, existing outside the realm of human intervention.

The witcher woman will come to the fifteenth-floor room early tomorrow morning. Whether she intends to remove the ritual magic circle or break through the floor of the fifteenth-floor room, she will ultimately end the cave strange events in her own way.

In that case, I will never live to see the cave reopen, and I will be trapped and die in this space that does not exist in reality.

This is truly a desperate situation!

However, this is all the bitter fruit of my own making.

I would never say something like "If only I had known..."—a cowardly statement, at least not now. I need to think positively. This might be a trial; sometimes you have to put yourself in dire straits to truly understand yourself. Haven't I always wondered how I would react to desperate and perilous situations? Now is that crucial moment.

Let's analyze the pattern of the cave's appearance first. What did I do that caused the cave to disappear?

No, I should change my perspective... Is it because "the cave disappeared because I didn't do anything"?

While I was trapped in the illusion, I temporarily lost my ability to monitor the cave and the staircase, and it was during this time that they disappeared. ...So...could the answer be, "The cave disappears when no one is watching"?

This assumption seems reasonable.

During the day, Detective Kong knocked on the door, and Chang'an temporarily covered the cave with a carpet. When the carpet was uncovered again, the cave had vanished. And without a doubt, during this time, both Chang'an and I lost sight of the cave.

When Chang'an first encountered the strange cave incident, he temporarily left his room on the fifteenth floor to confirm whether the cave led to the room below. In that state, he must have lost sight of the cave. Then he called the police, and after they arrived, the cave disappeared… But did he go back to his room on the fifteenth floor to observe the cave before calling the police? He doesn't seem to have told me.

Even if my hypothesis is correct, I only know the reason why the cave disappeared, and what I need is to make the cave reappear.

This is the only one I really have no idea how to do.

If the conditions for the cave to appear cannot be met in the basement, but can only be met outside the cave, then I'm truly helpless. Am I supposed to hope that someone else will enter the fifteenth-floor room and, by chance, meet the conditions for the cave to appear? The problem is that no one will be coming to the fifteenth-floor room now—except for the witcher woman who plans to eliminate the cave's strange occurrences.

Perhaps I need to change my analytical perspective again and broaden my horizons.

Why should I follow some clueless pattern to solve my current predicament? I'm not an ordinary person without special abilities; I'm a superhuman. Perhaps I should look for unconventional methods, try a more forceful approach to break the deadlock.

But... unfortunately, my superpowers don't seem to be really suitable for this situation.

My superpowers are top-notch for killing and causing destruction, but using them to solve mysteries is like using a chainsaw for precision surgery—it would probably only result in a mess.

By the way, speaking of breaking the deadlock through brute force, I don't think I've ever thought about this question before.

This basement is a "space that does not exist in reality," so what is outside the basement? The "outside" here does not refer to the fifteenth-floor room that can only be reached through the cave exit, but rather to "the outside of the walls."

I don't believe that breaking through the wall leads to the real world, but at this moment, when we are at our wits' end, any new discovery could be a clue to breaking the deadlock.

More importantly, I'm very curious.

With that thought in mind, I walked to the wall and raised my right hand.

I activated my superpowers.

(End of this chapter)