Early that morning, Rain sent Nicole a series of strange blank messages. The abnormality alone was enough for her to realize that something had gone terribly wrong.
Without wasting a second, she rushed off to find Wise and Belle.
"That does seem suspicious. Fairy, can you analyze these messages?"
Wise couldn't find anything unusual about the messages, so he passed them to Fairy, who did not disappoint him.
[|Master, the analysis indicates no abnormal characteristics in the messages. That said, the sending address wasn't encrypted. The decrypted data shows the last signal came from Ballet Twins.|]
The moment Nicole heard this, her eyes widened in shock, her chest rising and falling several times as disbelief washed over her.
"Wait a second, what did you just say? Ballet Twins?!"
Seeing Nicole's sudden change in expression, Wise, who had been quietly embracing Anby, quickly let her go and asked what was going on, his face filled with confusion.
"Wise, it seems you're not very interested in urban legends and things like that."
Anby's face flushed slightly as she began to explain.
"Ballet Twins is the collective name for two twin towers. Their ghost stories have become quite popular in the city recently. It is said that—"
Before she could finish, Nicole cut her off in a rush.
"Stop! Anby, wait a second! The short version is that those two buildings were swallowed by a Hollow years ago."
"Oh? Then these messages might be from ghos—"
Belle stopped mid-sentence as Nicole let out a terrified scream.
"Ahhh!"
In her panic, she hugged Wise on instinct. Anyone could tell that Nicole was genuinely scared of things like this.
Anby frowned at the sight, her lips pouting slightly. But once she realized it was Nicole, she thought about it for a second and decided it was fine.
"Ahem, Nicole, could you let go of me first?"
Wise could understand her fear. After all, he was not fond of horror movies either, which made this something he and Nicole shared.
"Either way, something about this feels off. Nicole, we're going to track down Rain, and we might need to enter a Hollow. Can you lend us Anby and the others?"
"Of course, they're useless in court anyway."
Nicole agreed immediately. Since they were being sent out, it only made sense to prepare properly before they left.
Nicole also gave them Rain's photo, but what she did not expect was that the girl turned out to be a regular customer at the video store.
"Wait, I remember now. This girl also seems very interested in my brother. She always actively chats with him every time she comes to the store."
Belle glanced at Wise while saying this, and Nicole looked a bit surprised when she heard it.
Once the decision was made, Nicole and Anby left the video store one after the other.
Nicole headed to Public Security to set up matters related to a Hollow, while Anby went back to call Billy and Nekomata before heading to Ballet Twins to meet up.
Wise faintly recalled that this trip to Ballet Twins would be dangerous, possibly involving one or even two very dangerous Ethereal.
As for the reason this left such a deep impression on him was simple. In his previous life, the twin boss fight in the game had been accompanied by unsettling sound effects that were hard to forget.
Soon after, the prepared group arrived at the riverbank. Across from them stood Ballet Twins, already swallowed by a Hollow.
Because part of the Hollow had collapsed, one corner of the building was exposed, which was most likely how Rain had managed to send out her messages.
The moment they stepped inside, the cold air mixed with dim lighting, instantly forming a chilling, horror-movie-like atmosphere.
Wise, who was controlling the Bangboo, carefully scanned the surroundings while being held in Anby's arms.
Nekomata huddled close behind Anby, shivering slightly as a cold sensation seeped out from the eerie environment.
As for Billy, he walked a bit farther behind with slumped shoulders, looking somewhat isolated. The closeness between Wise and the others seemed to form an invisible barrier that separated him from the group.
After moving deeper inside, they eventually reached a large hall. Anby suddenly felt something off, and almost immediately, a group of Ethereal burst out toward them.
The threat was quickly dealt with. However, even after clearing them out, the lingering sense of danger in Anby's heart did not disappear.
"Wise, it seems there's something else nearby."
Anby whispered into Wise's ear as she held him in her arms. He nodded lightly in response.
Wise had a feeling that it was probably members of Victoria Housekeeping.
Billy, however, did not believe there could be anyone else inside such an eerie building. He was convinced that what Anby had sensed earlier must have been an Ethereal.
Nekomata paid no attention to their disagreement. Stretching lazily, she started grooming herself, just like a cat would.
At that moment, a red light flashed, and a pair of long-handled scissors dropped directly in front of her. If Anby had not moved in time, Nekomata's nose would have been gone.
Startled, she immediately touched her nose. After realizing she was unharmed, she sighed in relief and cautiously scanned the area.
"Who's there!?"
Anby turned toward the direction the scissors had come from. In the quiet corridor, the sharp sound of footsteps echoed, steadily drawing closer.
In an environment like this, Nekomata and Billy instinctively hid behind Anby. She really was the calmest and most dependable among the Cunning Hares.
As the footsteps came to a halt, the owner of the sound finally appeared before them.
"You're all quite skilled. No wonder you can move freely through the building… but please stop here."
"A Wolf Thiren?"
Sure enough, the other party was a Wolf Thiren with snow-white fur, just as Nekomata had said.
He seemed ready to chase them away, yet before he could say more than a couple of sentences, a chainsaw blade rolled out from behind him and slid to a stop in front of the group.
Right after that, a small figure rushed up to the Wolf Thiren and bowed apologetically, while a Shark Thiren behind him looked half-asleep.
With that, the dramatic entrance completely fell apart.
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