Ch.96Memory Hunter (3)

The wind brushes past my ear.

It feels like I might scream at any moment, but I clench my teeth.

A fall from which there’s no return.

I only have one chance.

Without hesitation, I throw myself out of the elevator.

BOOM!

In mid-fall.

Before gaining acceleration, I grab onto a protruding section between floors with all my strength.

My right hand, the one I use most often, reaches out first.

Crack-

With the sound of breaking bones, my falling body becomes firmly fixed in midair.

Simultaneously, my arm screams in pain as it struggles to bear my weight.

My right arm, having fulfilled its duty, now hangs limply.

I must now endure with only my left arm.

With this body, I probably can’t hold on for more than a few seconds, so I need to hurry to achieve my goal.

While hanging, I survey my surroundings.

The cool air makes me grimace.

My limp right arm throbs occasionally, but I can’t feel anything else.

The moss-covered concrete wall is slippery with constantly flowing water.

I can only hold on for a few more seconds at most.

Where is that thing?

I instinctively tried to look down.

“…huh.”

For a moment, I couldn’t breathe.

Though it was just for an instant, what I felt was clearly regret.

And resentment.

Toward my past reckless self who left the comfort of the elevator and stepped into the abyss.

It wasn’t in the corner.

It wasn’t clinging to the wall, nor was it perched on the elevator ceiling.

It floats in the air, as if swimming.

Rather than a being with form, it was more like a concept.

Death materializes as the cessation of breath, the final exhalation, the agony of one’s last moments.

The essence of oblivion and fear wandered through the darkness like smoke.

The moment I recognized it, I instinctively couldn’t breathe.

Just one breath.

That’s all it takes. Inhaling that thing.

With just that, a person completely forgets reason, and everything remains unknown to them.

I had tried to evade it.

I planned to be the bait, to lure the thing clinging to the elevator far away.

Wasn’t it arrogance to think I could do anything?

Even now, my mind is deeply immersed in haziness.

I was so determined just moments ago.

Now I can’t think of what to do at all.

My grip is gradually weakening.

Maybe I should just give up.

No matter how I think about it, I can’t find a reason.

Because I’ve already lost it.

Why was I out here in the first place?

I couldn’t understand why I should endure pain and face fear.

Instead, an overwhelming panic covered my vision.

Like a swarm of insects.

My vision turns pitch black.

My chest feels like it’s about to burst, and my whitened mind continuously empties of thoughts.

Just.

Just let go.

Everything.

At that moment.

A vibration started somewhere.

It was the smartphone I had put in my pocket.

Why would it be in my pocket?

Before falling, I should have kept it deep in my bag.

There must have been a specific reason.

What was it?

“Because I need to hear the alarm.”

I was so startled I almost let go.

My voice answered my own question.

“I recorded my voice on the phone. It will play as an alarm in a few seconds.”

I see.

So that’s why.

“First, never give up. Don’t let go, and keep checking where it is.”

Why?

Why should I do that?

As if anticipating all my questions, the voice in the alarm answers.

“Don’t think about anything.”

“Just do what needs to be done, and that’s it.”

The creature is still above my head.

It hasn’t been long since it noticed the easiest prey is right here.

It was just beginning to move toward me.

“Time it right.”

“Watch it coming, and then,”

With a crackling sound, the recording briefly cut off.

And then? And then what?

“What am I supposed to do!!!”

My heart feels like it’s sinking.

That ‘oblivion’ floating in the darkness doesn’t just affect people.

The enemy of all existence.

The most lethal cloud has approached almost right in front of me.

An unnamed god distilled the river of oblivion and mixed graphite powder into its vapor.

For the humility of all rational beings.

…

This time, instead of the alarm, I answered myself.

“Take out the Word Key.”

[Implementing ‘Word Key’ with Librarian authority.]

The metal symbolizing the power of the Infinite Library Librarian appears in my hand.

A brilliant light spreads like flowing water.

Records of eternity that will never disappear.

A symbol that becomes a lamp.

Something most lethal to a being whose essence is oblivion.

Whoosh-

Hot air tickles my cheek.

Through my wildly fluttering hair, I can see it hesitating.

The cloud of oblivion now floats right in front of me.

Where the Word Key’s light touches, smoke continuously billows out.

Just a little longer and complete annihilation would be possible.

The problem is, I’ve already gone far beyond my limit.

Thud.

My fingers completely lose their strength.

“Ugh.”

With a small scream, I fell downward.

This is from a really old movie.

There’s a movie called “The Host.”

Set against the Han River, it’s about searching through the underside of the Han River bridge for a daughter kidnapped by a monster.

A place like this appeared in that movie too.

I never thought I’d be exploring such a place myself.

“Urgh.”

My whole body is damp. I’m even shivering.

My surroundings consist of concrete, moss, and several puddles of water.

Since I’m like this as soon as I open my eyes, it means I’m not dead.

Rustle.

First, I decided to take out a few items from my bag to prepare for the upcoming situation.

First, a long-sleeved outer garment.

Learning from my previous experience, I brought something warm this time.

Not a thin cardigan, but a mountaineering windbreaker that can block even the cutting winds of high altitudes.

Next, light.

Although my eyes seem to have adjusted to the darkness while I was unconscious, nothing beats shining a direct light.

I took out my smartphone and clicked on the flashlight icon.

Flash.

Wriggle wriggle wriggle wriggle wriggle wriggle

Something is gathered on the wall.

From a distance, they just look like shadows, but upon closer inspection, they’re swarms of insect-like things densely clustered together.

Is there something here again?

Seeing so many strange things gathered, I must have been unconscious for quite some time.

The recoil from using the ‘Word Key’ means I can’t move properly.

Neither my arms nor legs move as I want them to.

It seems too late to just pass by, so I decided to examine it thoroughly.

Wriggle wriggle wriggle wriggle wriggle wriggle

Wriggle wriggle wriggle wriggle wriggle wriggle

Wriggle wriggle wriggle wriggle wriggle wriggle

Wriggle wriggle wriggle wriggle wriggle wriggle

Numerous hands are attached to the wall.

More precisely, they were shadows of hands.

There’s no substance, just shadows attached to the wall.

Like shadow play, each finger moves and creates a wriggling form.

There doesn’t seem to be any particular hostility.

Can I just pass by?

Stay calm.

Stay calm…

“Mmph!!!”

Something blocks my airway and invades my mouth.

When I shine the light, a form hastily retreats.

It was a shadow that had crawled up using the darkness on the floor as a passage.

Of course they wouldn’t just let me go.

I tried to quickly leave that place, but my ankles were already firmly grabbed.

Pat- Pat- Pat-

Shadows climbing the wall.

Each time they move across corners, the wriggling arm forms bend at right angles.

It was too fast.

Before I could react, fingers penetrate every hole in my face.

My breath was completely blocked, and I couldn’t help but panic momentarily.

“Mmph! Mmmmph!!!”

Only my eyeballs remain.

Squeezing my eyes shut wasn’t enough. I covered each eye with my hands and struggled frantically.

I absolutely must not collapse on the floor.

The shadow hands extend from the floor.

Like a swamp, I’ll be dragged into the darkness.

Is the smartphone light not enough?

Should I get another flashlight from my bag?

I managed to take out a flashlight while shaking off the shadows, but I dropped it before I could turn it on.

Before the flashlight could even touch the ground.

The black hands snatched the flashlight and disappeared into the floor.

The flashlight remained only as a shadow on the plane.

It had been completely dragged in.

What should I do?

Should I use the Librarian’s authority again?

Using the Word Key would allow me to escape most crises, but the physical burden is severe.

I was unconscious for quite a while just from the last use, so this time I might not wake up for days.

I can’t guarantee what state I’ll be in when I wake up.

That’s how much of a last resort it is.

After struggling for a while with my damaged body, I just relaxed my muscles.

I’m not giving up.

I was just lucky.

I relaxed my body and surrendered to the shadows.

And the next moment.

An intense light quickly swept through the corridor.

It was another elevator, gliding through a different time frame.

Screech-!

With a violently rising smoke, the shadows writhe in white flames.

It didn’t take long at all for them to completely disappear.

“Huff. Huh. Huff…”

I really almost died.

Catching my breath, I looked around again.

I shone the light around, but there was no sign of the monster.

Those tiresome things like oblivion and fear.

I had completely escaped its influence.

Throwing myself out of the elevator was truly terrifying, but I managed well.

As I sit with my back against the wall, I gradually remember things I had forgotten.

First, the identity of the creature.

Its name is [Memory Hunter]. It’s a being that hunts by stimulating the fear of its prey.

I had researched various things through AI after that day.

But when the situation actually arose, it was of no use at all.

Anyway.

The greatest fear is probably the fear of the unknown.

That’s why it utilizes oblivion.

This terrible being, nicknamed the [Memory Hunter], gradually erases the memories of its prey, turning everything into the unknown.

So that the poor being targeted by it feels the greatest fear.

In other words, its main abilities are twofold:

– Fear amplification

– Memory loss induction

That’s also why it mainly settles in dark places.

If the prey is already scared, it becomes easier to amplify that fear.

But I never expected it to settle in a place like this.

I didn’t properly eliminate it earlier.

As long as it continues to nest here, it will remain a threat.

Since I’ll have to take the elevator to move, I need to completely eliminate it as soon as I regain my strength.

I lifted my head to look up.

In the darkness above my head, the only thing clearly visible was a single point of light shining like a star.

It was the light from the elevator I had been riding.

Just as I was about to get up and move, I let out a sharp scream without realizing it.

“Argh!”

My right arm is completely useless.

Not that my left arm is in good shape either. My fingers are still numb, making fine control difficult.

What should I do next…

I already know what to do.

I need to completely kill the Memory Hunter and return to where my companions are waiting.

But the method is unclear.

Should I just die?

“…”

No matter what, it seems there’s no law saying I should die.

Not long after having that thought, I came up with a new method.

[Searching for information with Librarian authority.]

[Would you like to display the requested information?]

[You have selected “Yes.”]

…

[Display error!]

[Due to observational limitations, the exact time cannot be displayed.]

[Would you like to adopt a probability distribution display?]

I nodded to indicate my agreement.