"This notebook is..."
Maki Shijo slowly opened the book, her gaze falling upon the contents recorded within.
The Chichajala Tribe.
This was the name of an ancient Indian tribe, recorded by the notebook's author, an explorer named Auston.
As one of the indigenous tribes that once existed on the lands of the Amelian nation, the fate of this tribe was not so different from the others.
They made contact with outside pioneers, offered them help, then conflict erupted. They died one by one under gunfire, their scalps then collected for bounties. However, unlike the more fortunate tribes that managed to survive to the modern era on reservations, the Chichajala Tribe ultimately vanished from history, leaving behind only sparse documents to prove their existence.
If that were all, then there would be nothing particularly special about this tribe.
But this explorer named Auston discovered in the records of some cowboys and scholars that the Chichajala Tribe seemed to have possessed a very unique belief system.
According to his research, the young men of this tribe who had just come of age would enter a natural cavern alone. They would endure a long climb to reach the deepest part of the cave, viewing it as their rite of passage. The tribe gave names to the different areas of that cavern, such as "Skin," "Blood Vessels," "Great Blood Vessel," and "Limbs," while the deepest part was named the "Heart." From the tribe's perspective, only those who could reach the Heart alone and successfully emerge could be called warriors of the tribe.
Judging from all aspects of his investigation, it seemed the tribe believed the cavern they entered was the body of a deity. The process of delving deep into the cavern and then coming back out was a devout pilgrimage, and those who emerged alive were strong ones blessed by the deity. Auston wasn't particularly interested in this kind of myth, but the cavern mentioned within intrigued him greatly. He instinctively realized that the cavern used by this tribe as a trial for their coming-of-age ceremony was no ordinary place; it was sure to become a fantastic site for exploration. Furthermore, according to the laws of the Amelian nation at the time, if he was the first to discover and survey the cavern, he would gain priority development rights. The potential profit was enough to move any man's heart.
The next dozen or so pages detailed the explorer Auston's journey through the uninhabited wilderness, painstakingly searching for that cavern. The changing dates showed that the search lasted a full three months and was fraught with danger. Auston was attacked by bears and wolf packs more than once. Even with a hunting rifle, he was bitten several times and nearly had a leg torn off; it was a grueling ordeal.
He thought about giving up more than once, constantly lamenting his hardships and cursing his own recklessness in his diary, yet he couldn't bring himself to abandon the quest.
And in the end, relying on this perseverance, he successfully found what he was looking for.
[Auston's Notes:]
[I have decided to name this cavern the "Red Nut Gray Hole."]
[This place is truly wonderful, with all sorts of stalagmite and stalactite formations, and various stone pillars scattered about. It will definitely make a fortune as a scenic area.]
[However, the latter half of this area is simply too treacherous. Perhaps I could try developing it in stages? I wonder if my budget is sufficient.]
[In any case, this is my territory now.]
[Thank you, Chichajala Tribe. Although you are gone, without you, I don't think I ever would have found this amazing place. Ha, may God bless you. This is my heartfelt blessing.]
[It's a shame that more detailed records left by the tribe can no longer be found. Hmm, for now, I only know of "Blood Vessels," "Heart," and "Dead End." It seems I'll have to come up with new names for the other places myself, which is not something I'm good at.]
[Alright, now, let's see what we can turn this place into.]
The handwriting in the notebook, brimming with joy, was even messy from excessive excitement.
The origin of the Red Nut Gray Hole was clarified at this moment.
Through the perspective of the doll on Maki's shoulder, Gao Hai saw the words on the pages with perfect clarity. And as he read these words, the faint illusions assaulted him once again. This time, Gao Hai clearly saw the aged figure—the first park director of the Red Nut Gray Hole, who had to walk with a cane in his old age due to latent injuries from his youthful explorations. At this moment, the image emerged distinctly in Gao Hai's memory.
In those days, the Red Nut Gray Hole had no abnormalities whatsoever.
Although various legends and fragmented, bizarre records existed, the fact was that from the moment Auston discovered the cavern until it was established as a state-renowned scenic spot, not a single supernatural event occurred. Everything was perfectly normal.
Therefore, the problem arose during the tenure of the second park director.
That man named Pedi—after he took over the park, after he developed it into a famous scenic area, something happened.
After that incident, the Great Slide was sealed off, a guard post was built inside the cavern, and the park was kept under continuous 24-hour surveillance to prevent anyone from entering the Great Slide. But even so, abnormal incidents continued to occur, with security guards and staff being trapped or even going missing as a result.
What happened?
What exactly caused this change?
Was it an accident? A sudden disaster? Or some other problem? Regardless, someone must have died in this cavern; that was the only thing he could be certain of. According to the consensus reached by countless players over two years of exploration, all supernatural events in instances were caused by the dead. The obsessions of the deceased formed the foundation of the horror story. Therefore, some accident must have occurred, leading to someone losing their life inside the Red Nut Gray Hole.
A tourist? An explorer? Or someone else?
But if that's the case, what's the deal with this research base?
If the key obsession lies with a deceased person inside the cavern, why does this research base exist? What role did this base play in the process of the Red Nut Gray Hole transforming into a place of horror?
Maki turned to the next page of the notebook.
But there was no record on this page—or rather, the record on this page no longer existed. A large number of pages had been violently torn out, leaving only a few blank sheets behind. And on the very page Maki had turned to, a single sentence was left, written in a completely different hand from Auston's.
[Does God truly exist?]
Out of nowhere, a baffling question.
A statement that made Maki fall into contemplation and from which Gao Hai found it difficult to tear his attention away.
However, Gao Hai had no way to ponder the contents of the notebook at this moment.
Because the team leader, the exploration personnel member designated c1 played by the anomaly, had already turned around and was heading toward the Great Slide... No, its direction had shifted slightly. The direction this thing was heading in now was toward the [Gentle Slope].
"The Command Room's new directive is to proceed to the Gentle Slope."
Chika Fujiwara froze for a second, perplexed by the nonsensical order.
But Gao Hai had already reached out without hesitation, plucked the headset from the girl's ear, threw it on the ground, and crushed it under his foot. Then he dropped the equipment he was carrying to lighten his load.
"Go, back the way we came. We can't stay here any longer."
Saying this, Gao Hai pulled Chika along and started running quickly toward the Stone Forest Path.
He felt a gaze more intense than any before.
A deeply unsettling gaze, carrying a bone-chilling cold, as if to say, "Got you."
The doll had already begun to alert Maki, using their pre-arranged code to let her know that something had gone terribly wrong and she needed to get to the first floor immediately.
There was no way to contact Kaguya in the Command Room. There was extremely strong signal jamming there; even if the three of them had brought communication headsets or walkie-talkies in their backpacks, they wouldn't be able to transmit any information. In fact, in this bizarre instance split into different worlds, none of the communication methods they had anticipated worked. Only Obsession Items like the Blood-colored Cloth Doll and the Rescue Team Badge could still be used.
Gao Hai had a very bad feeling.
Today's exploration mission had felt wrong from the very beginning. First, there was the error in the personnel headcount during mobilization, then the "hallucinations" that had surrounded Gao Hai since entering the cave, and now the increasingly bizarre orders from the Command Room.
"Gao-kun, I... I can still hear the Command Room's orders."
Chika Fujiwara, her hand held by Gao Hai, spoke up hesitantly.
"The Command Room is saying... to hurry to the area below the Great Slide, to participate in the rescue operation in the Blood Vessels."
"Ugh, no, that's not right. The Command Room's order is... to go to the Gentle Slope, for me to go inside the Gentle Slope."
Chika's brows furrowed, her expression filled with confusion.
She couldn't understand why she could still hear the Command Room's orders after throwing away her headset.
Nor could she understand why her first instinct upon hearing the orders was to figure out how to execute them, to think about how she could possibly complete the two commands issued by the Command Room.
Gao Hai's forward momentum suddenly stopped.
It wasn't because something had appeared ahead in the cavern.
It was because he suddenly could no longer feel that strange gaze fixed upon him.
Had it shifted its attention again?
That was Gao Hai's initial thought.
But immediately after, through the perspective of the doll on Maki, Gao Hai ran with the girl to the first floor. They passed through a silent research area where no section seemed to be in use, then went through the isolation door into the observation area's corridor. There, they saw something like a white dress flash past at the end of the hall.
That gaze also flashed by for an instant.
It flickered past in the doll's senses.
"So it was my fault?"
Gao Hai could no longer move forward.
He already knew the source of the problem he was now facing.
That gaze, the thing that was watching him, had established some kind of connection with him.
Then, the moment he stepped into the research base, its attention moved into the base, and it began to focus on this facility. At that time, it seemed to be under some kind of restriction, so no major problems occurred.
Until he entered the quarantine zone as an exploration personnel and began to enter this timeline's Red Nut Gray Hole.
At that moment, Gao Hai discovered that the barrier between him and the thing watching him was weakening, that the buffer between them seemed to have all but vanished.
But in his perception, the source of the gaze still maintained a certain distance from him.
And the reason that distance existed was because... that thing had used its connection with him to enter the research base.
At some point he hadn't realized, an extremely dangerous anomaly, something not on the research base's rule sheet, had already infiltrated the facility.
"The bloodstained dress... its source is in the research base's timeline, and its obsession is directed towards..."
Gao Hai didn't have time to finish his sentence.
Because gravity had inverted in an instant.
Completely unprepared, he was flung violently upward, slamming into the cavern ceiling.
Thud!
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