Carefully flipping the pages with his claws, Geno finally understood a corner of this world.
This world was suffering from a disaster known as "Hollows"—anomalous spherical spaces that appeared out of thin air, devouring everything. Inside, the spacetime environment became disordered due to unknown effects, and dangerous alien creatures known as "Ethereals" were produced.
Consequently, the living space for humanity was being constantly compressed by the Hollows.
"In other words, my current state is what's called an 'Ethereal'?"
Comparing himself to the Ethereal illustrations in the Hollow Investigator Manual, he looked very similar to them, yet he couldn't find a specific type that matched him exactly.
Could he be a brand-new type of Ethereal?
Geno didn't understand, but at least he understood one thing.
That was, as an Ethereal, he could not leave this place. He could not leave this prison named "Hollow."
Because creatures like Ethereals required a certain concentration of Ether to survive. And this substance named Ether only reached the necessary concentration inside a Hollow.
If an Ethereal were to leave the Hollow, they would dissipate directly due to the insufficient Ether concentration in the air.
"There's absolutely no solution."
If he wanted to live, he couldn't escape this prison named Hollow. Moreover, according to this book, the lifespan of an Ethereal was far, far longer than that of an ordinary human.
That meant, looking at it now, if Geno wanted to live freely in this world, he either had to let the Hollow devour the entire world, or find a way to revert to being a human.
However, from the looks of it, there seemed to be no precedent of anyone recovering from an Ethereal state back to a human one.
"Hmm... this is really going to be difficult. I don't want to stay in this desolate Hollow for my whole life. There isn't even an internet connection here!"
As a young man, he could accept becoming a monster, and he could accept never leaving the Hollow.
But living days without the internet was impossible! Absolutely unacceptable!
Inside the Hollow, no signals could penetrate. Wouldn't he be bored to death?!
Thinking of this terrifying future, Geno shivered, and then made up his mind.
"I definitely have to get out of this Hollow!! Definitely!!!"
But before that, he first needed to obtain a human appearance.
Looking at his finger that had poked a hole through the book page, Geno felt somewhat helpless. Even if he went out looking like this, he would certainly cause social panic, right?
He'd probably be caught and used as a lab rat. That would be too tragic.
"The book says there is a type of Ethereal called a 'Plasma Doppelganger' that can mimic human forms. Can I learn that?"
"Grrr..."
While Geno was squatting there letting his thoughts wander, a group of Ethereals suddenly popped out from somewhere, slowly approaching this strange "kin" of theirs.
"...Better run for now. If they realize something is wrong with me, I'm done for."
Closing the book, he prepared to bolt, but just as he took a step, he stopped again.
After hesitating for a moment, Geno decided to take the corpse of the deceased Hollow Investigator with him.
The dead deserve respect; he should find a place to lay him to rest...
The corpse of an adult male was undoubtedly a burden, but fortunately, Geno was an Ethereal, so he had at least that much strength.
In just a few moments, Geno had run a good distance away with the corpse, dug a pit in the ground, and buried him for peace.
As for the other belongings on the body, Geno unceremoniously accepted them.
A large backpack, a rope, a flashlight, and a few bars of chocolate and energy bars.
Actually, there was also an instrument of unknown purpose, but it seemed to have been broken during the pursuit, so Geno didn't take it with him.
He planned to find a safe place to use as a base next. After all, judging by the current situation, he would be staying in this Hollow for a long time, so he had to find a place to live.
-----------------
"Those people should have headed this way, no mistake."
Geno moved his heavy steps, tracking bit by bit the footprints of the squad of girls he had seen during the day—who obviously belonged to the military.
Don't misunderstand; he wasn't some kind of pervert. Putting aside the fact that he was currently in a monster's body and couldn't do anything, even in a human body, he wasn't that kind of weirdo.
He just thought that if he followed this squad, he should be able to find the way out.
It was definitely not because he had wandered around the Hollow all afternoon, going in circles and ending up back where he started, completely unable to find the way!
Definitely not!
According to the manual, the space inside a Hollow is disordered. Without data, wanting to get out of a Hollow was as hard as ascending to heaven.
It was perfectly normal for a poor little Ethereal like him to lose his sense of direction, right?
Fortunately, as an Ethereal, he could see things ordinary humans couldn't.
He was currently tracking that squad of girls by relying on his special "vision"; he could see the residual Ether fluctuations on other living creatures.
The fluctuations of those few girls were very unique; he had noticed them immediately.
"It seems I'm getting closer and closer to their position. I should slow down now."
Thinking that his current strength was absolutely no match for those girls who looked soft and beautiful as flowers, Geno decided it was better to be cautious.
Suddenly, a dense wave of Ether fluctuations burst into his perception. He subconsciously hid himself under a pile of ruins, feeling that wave getting closer and closer to him.
Dadadadada~
The sound was rapid, like someone running violently. Through a crack, he saw the owner of the sound. It was precisely that powerful girl he had seen during the day.
At this moment, she lacked the composure she had a few hours ago. Her face was stained with blood, her entire body was covered in countless wounds large and small, and her originally exquisite clothes were torn. She had obviously been through a fierce battle.
She ran very fast, disappearing from Geno's line of sight in the blink of an eye.
Crawling out from the ruins, Geno looked toward the departing girl with some confusion.
'What happened? Where are her companions?'
Suddenly, an explosion rang out from behind Geno—from the direction that girl had come from.
In his perception, several originally clear and visible Ether fluctuations faded or even vanished directly.
"..."
He... seemed to know where her companions went.
"Now, if I follow that guy who ran away, I should be able to find the exit."
Of course. As long as she survived, she would definitely run to a safe place.
"But, what if there are still people alive back there..."
A trace of memory surged within Geno's small core.
The reason he was sent flying by the Hundred-Ton King seemed to be because he was saving a child.
Seriously, whose kid was so disobedient, running around in the middle of the road?
It ended up costing him his life.
"Hmph, what do other people's lives have to do with me."
Geno let out a feigned cold snort and walked away without looking back. His steps became faster and faster, faster and faster, carrying a sense of urgency.
Striding with large steps.
Charging toward the ruins that were still burning.
"How could I possibly ignore it! My humanity is burning!"
He could feel it. There were still people alive in those ruins. Their Ether fluctuations hadn't dissipated yet.
They could still be saved!
When Geno arrived, the sky had slowly begun to rain, but this great fire that sought to devour everything would not be extinguished so easily.
"Here's one, here's another one."
For the first time, Geno was so grateful for his monster body. This unique vision gave him a unique advantage in search and rescue.
"One, two... five... nine... where is the last one?"
He dug out nine identical dolls from various strange corners, but when it came down to the last one, he couldn't find her no matter what.
"The Ether fluctuations are getting more and more chaotic... is it because of this rain?"
The rain grew heavier along with Geno's rescue efforts. The rainwater in the Hollow also contained trace amounts of Ether elements. As the rainfall increased, his perception became worse and worse.
"Where is it, where is it!"
Even Geno himself didn't notice that as his emotions continued to rise, his tone and strength were constantly increasing.
The heavy rain continued, and the fire that had burned everything finally extinguished, unable to bear the load. Only Geno remained, constantly searching everywhere in the ruins with his claws.
The rain stopped, and the clouds dispersed, revealing the pure white face of Lady Moon, but Geno's search still yielded nothing.
He had almost overturned this entire patch of ground. His massive claws composed of Ether had chipped in several places, and one of his nails was even on the verge of breaking.
"Why am I trying so hard?"
The fleeting rise of his humanity seemed to fall silent along with the extinguishing of the flames, but looking at the nine white-haired girls arranged neatly not far away, he couldn't accept stopping just like this.
"I've already started, so I'll see it through to the end. I need to see the person if alive, or the corpse if dead."
Even relying on rationality, Geno, whose humanity had burned out, continued to search for the trail of this last person.
The moon slowly sank to the west, and the night was about to pass. Geno, relying on his tireless Ethereal body, continued his work without stopping.
At the same time, he kept muttering in his heart: Why? Why can't I find this last remaining one for the life of me?
He could be very certain that there were eleven people in the squad at that time. Subtracting the one who ran away, there should be ten people.
It couldn't be that she was teleported away by the Hollow, right?
Hollow...
The movement of his hands suddenly paused. Then, as if realizing something, he slowly stood up and stood motionless, sensing the surrounding Ether fluctuations.
Because it had just rained heavily, the Ether fluctuations here had become very messy. Yet, he still held onto a shred of hope. If a Hollow Fissure had existed, then the Ether there should be different from other places.
"Found it."
Pushing aside a fallen wall, something like a black hole particle, difficult to detect even within normal human vision, was simply floating there in the air, lively as can be.
If one looked closely, the space around it seemed to have a certain degree of distortion.
"Is the last one behind this?"
Although he didn't know how this thing was formed, since he had a clue, Geno wouldn't remain indifferent.
Stepping forward, just as he was about to enter the fissure, he suddenly stopped.
After thinking for a moment, he turned around and pulled that rope out of his bag. He tied the nine girls and himself together, checked the firmness of the rope, and then nodded with satisfaction.
"If I can't come back, wouldn't all this work be for nothing?"
Adhering to the idea of never working in vain, Geno dragged the girls and walked into this small Hollow Fissure.
What? How did you guys know I got a double gold in a single ten-pull on the weapon banner? (Doge)
____
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