Chapter 5
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Episode 1 - Stories from a circus train [5] ─────────────────────────────────
Raising my head slightly, I looked over the wooden crate. There were long tentacles there, about two meters in length.
The Anomaly, of which only its tentacles were barely visible and not its body, seemed to be searching for something or someone.
'The others might have entered here, and this Anomaly is looking for them. If that's the case, it means there are still survivors in this place.'
The survivors did not interest me in the slightest. The first thing I did was observe the Anomaly and visualize its entire body to look for an opportunity to distract it.
Bang! Bang!
Suddenly, the Anomaly moved. Using its black tentacles, it lifted several crates and threw them farther away, into the darkness where I could no longer see.
Crash!
After what felt like several long seconds, the crate it threw finally struck the wall. At the same time, the Anomaly revealed its full body.
"..."
It was like a human. It seemed to be dressed like an office worker; its body was elongated and stretched, and its legs and arms were thin but very long.
Aside from the suit, it wore a hat. Its tentacles sprouted from its back: there were a total of six. The Anomaly's height was around three meters, with a distorted and elongated face.
'What kind of Anomaly is that?'
As I thought about it, I recalled the wiki page about the only thing known regarding the third scenario.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — | Record of Mysteries Exploration | Entry No. 21: "Third scenario?" — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
The main objective of the third scenario of the Circus Train Passage is unknown.
It is not known which Anomaly rules this place; however, it has been discovered that there is a possibility of an exit.
The location is the warehouse where the train stores all circus objects, including its 'animals.' Be careful.
Mysteries solved: 1
Survival rate: ???
Note: The warehouse is extremely large. At first glance, due to the darkness, it does not seem to have an end; however, if you walk in one direction for ten minutes, you will reach a wall. Even so, be careful of the darkness.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
'Here, it is only necessary to be careful of the "darkness" and this Anomaly. However, the animals that may be caged could attack if someone gets too close to their cages. Moreover, animals in a Passage…'
Just thinking about how bizarre an animal in a passage could look sent chills through my body.
Additionally, when the wiki referred to 'darkness,' I recalled a few lines from the novel:
'Do not look at the darkness, do not touch the darkness, do not approach the darkness… The darkness does not refer to the darkness I currently see, but to an entity that exists in any passage.'
I looked around to see if the 'darkness' was nearby or visible. After confirming that it was not, I lowered my head and turned my gaze toward where Sohel and the teenage girl were, and said:
"There is only one Anomaly; it is presumably Sequence 7 or perhaps lower. Also, the darkness could be present."
I whispered as softly as possible, for fear that the Anomaly might hear me. Sohel raised his thumb, and the teenage girl nodded.
I quickly sprang into action when I felt a group of flowers growing until they reached my shoulder.
Searching the ground for something to throw, I crawled and managed to locate a shelf. I used my knees to 'stand' and get a better look at the items on it.
I found a group of porcelain cups with floral designs. I took several, then returned and handed three cups to Sohel and two to the girl.
I kept three. Everything happened without making a single sound.
'Now we need to locate the Anomaly and use the cups to make it move from its position.'
This would allow us to move and search for a wall.
'The exit is probably on one of the four walls, and it doesn't seem to be that far from one.'
I recalled that when the Anomaly threw a crate, the sound of it hitting the wall indicated that we were not far from it.
I raised my head to look for the Anomaly and soon saw its tentacles. Remembering the direction in which it had thrown the crate, I took a porcelain cup and threw it in the opposite direction.
Then I quickly made a hand gesture to Sohel and the girl, and we moved.
At the same time, the porcelain cup hit the ground, making a shrill noise that forced the Anomaly to raise its head and look in the direction of the sound.
Soon, the Anomaly began to move in a strange and silent manner; it even crouched down and concealed itself among the crates as it approached the area of the noise.
'T-that's really scary.'
Crawling, I passed by several crates until I managed to see a row of shelves against the wall, and I also noticed the debris from the crate that the Anomaly had thrown.
Then I stopped, and the two girls did the same. At the same time, I raised my head above the box where I was hiding and tried to see if the Anomaly was visible; however,
'I don't see it. I hope it has moved far enough away for me to move freely and faster.'
Or it could be intelligent enough, and the Anomaly acted as if it deliberately fell for the distraction, disguising itself as it went toward the noise only to secretly look back.
'I just hope that's not the case.'
Turning my head, I said to Sohel as we continued moving:
"I think that Anomaly was looking for something. It's possible the other group is here."
"Probably. We should find them."
I raised an eyebrow, slightly frowning.
'Find them, for what? Just the three of us is already more than enough. More people would only make it easier to make noise and for someone to scream.'
Shaking my head, I stopped looking at Sohel without her noticing that I had shaken my head.
We quickly continued crawling in search of the exit door.
Along the way, the first thing I saw were cages covered with a curtain.
Besides the faint sound of breathing, there was an extremely strange breathing that sent shivers through me.
Moreover, there were not just a few cages covered with a curtain; there were at least a dozen of them, forming a labyrinth.
As we continued, boxes of wood were suddenly heard being thrown.
'The Anomaly is close.'
Sweating nervously, just as I moved forward, someone out of nowhere shouted:
"Watch out!!"
Instantly shaken, what the Anomaly would do because of that shout surged into my mind.
Feeling a tingling sensation on my back, I rolled to the left just as a wooden box fell.
Crash!
The wooden box shattered, and from it came wooden dolls full of gears and mechanisms, with nuts and heavy things.
"Damn it, who shouted?"
Because of the panic, I shouted and looked at Sohel and the girl; they pointed toward where the animal cages were.
There, a man in a suit; behind him, two women and a young man, in addition to the one who had just shouted.
"Why did you shout?"
When the man was about to respond, the sound of things being pushed or thrown with great force was suddenly heard.
The Anomaly seemed to be running in this direction.
'Oh no, here it comes.'
I stood up and ran without warning anyone.
Sohel, realizing that the Anomaly was coming, shouted:
"Run!"
In an instant, everyone seemed to have scattered.
While running, I accidentally collided with a group of mannequins, making quite a lot of noise.
I quickly grabbed one of the cups and, moving a little away from the mannequins, threw it several meters to the left.
This would make the Anomaly, in case it was chasing me, think that I ran to the left and not forward.
However, after a few seconds, it seemed that the Anomaly was actually not chasing me.
'For now, that's good.'
Looking around quickly, I hid behind a box and observed the wall to my right.
Just at that moment, the sound of boxes being thrown where the animal cages were made some animals roar.
The sound of their roars reverberated, making my ears hurt.
'Shit, I must remember that hearing the roars of an animal inside a Passage would paralyze you.'
Covering my ears, I organized my thoughts while running forward, still not seeing the exit door.
Just as I was moving away, I suddenly stopped.
"..."
Although it was quite dark in front of me, it was not enough to prevent seeing to a certain distance; however, beyond five meters, everything was completely black.
A blackness like a veil of shadows and pure darkness that twisted and stretched.
'This is bad, the darkness is right here.'
Looking around me, I had to make the decision to abandon this area and get as far away as possible.
I knew that if I stayed near the darkness, I would definitely die.
Running in disorientation, I heard hurried footsteps, at the same time as boxes were thrown and fell near where I was.
Then, as I realized it, I looked at a woman running, and behind her followed the two men from before and the other woman, along with Sohel and the teenage girl.
Farther back, the Anomaly could be seen.
'Damn it… If it weren't for the darkness, I would already be safe.'
Feeling my body react on instinct, I quickly ran forward.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Boxes were being thrown with such great force, so close that I felt them falling behind me.
This made me even more afraid; my legs felt like they were about to stop working from terror.
'I'm a coward by nature, and out of nowhere I'm trapped inside a novel, running from a creature with supernatural powers that could easily kill me…'
Clenching my teeth, I tried to calm my mind; however, it was obvious that the Anomaly would inevitably catch up to us at this pace.
I hadn't even located the door yet.
'I have to do something…'
At that moment, I came to an abrupt stop.
Just as the woman behind me was about to pass by my side, I said:
"Hey, you would do anything to save yourself."
When I looked back, it was evident that the woman's face was filled with panic and confusion after hearing those words.
As expected, she didn't respond, but that didn't mean she hadn't given an indirect answer.
Raising my fist, I struck the woman's face just as she was about to pass by my side.
Punch! Crunch!
I felt how her nose broke with alarming ease. The woman's head tilted backward, and she lost consciousness for a few seconds.
At the same time, her nose began to bleed. The others behind her were about to stop, but at that very instant the Anomaly threw a box that fell directly on top of the woman.
Realizing this, the others understood that the Anomaly was about to catch them, so they didn't stop. Neither did I, and I continued my marathon.
Pant! Pant! Pant!
I felt my chest rise and fall in rapid succession, sweat accumulating all over my body. As I ran, my thoughts returned to the moment when I struck that woman.
'W-what I did was only to delay the Anomaly a little… It's not my fault that I want to escape… A-and besides, it was the first time I ever hit a person. Not even at school, when I was bullied, did I defend myself for fear of being hit even more…'
I couldn't help thinking that what I did wasn't right, but…
'I don't even know who she is… Besides, let it be payment for indirectly saving you in the first scenario… Yes, yes, that's it. I'm just claiming the favor she owed me for having indirectly saved her this way.'
Running hurriedly, I soon managed to see a new section. This time, it was the front wall.
Because I hadn't stopped running in a straight line since the beginning, I knew that sooner or later I would reach that point.
At the same time, as I pulled my gaze back, I realized that the others were still following me.
In addition, the boxes that the Anomaly was throwing had stopped for about ten seconds.
'It's probably eating that woman.'
Feeling relieved, but at the same time terrified at having committed a 'murder,' I clenched my teeth and finally reached the wall.
Then I turned to the right to keep moving forward and continue searching for the door.
Just then…
Boom!
'Damn it, it's chasing us again.'
Rationally, I thought about hitting someone else.
However, when I looked back, I realized that the closest person was at a considerable distance, and due to my distraction, I crashed into a box and ended up tripping onto the ground.