The First Death

"... What exactly happened?"

Seeing that the surrounding scenery had finally returned to normal, VerdantRipple breathed a sigh of relief and turned to ask the Traveler beside her.

"It's simple. We unknowingly wandered into a Ghost Wall illusion."

Slightly weary, he leaned against the wall and slowly slumped to the ground. He took off his Glasses, wiped them with his clothes, Traveler a wry smile.

"This illusion of Ghost Wall isn't the conventional kind; it blurs our Perception of space. So, even though we ran through the corridor for ten minutes, to others in the Real World, it just looked like we were standing still."

"So, the Self-Destructing Robot you controlled didn't actually hit the enemy at all?"

VerdantRipple frowned slightly, as if she understood something.

"That's right. Since that Black Shadow could make a corridor less than twenty meters long appear as an endless Corridor in our eyes, the meaning behind it is quite clear. Space was actually distorted in our eyes long ago. I thought I was maneuvering that Self-Destructing Robot to its side, but in reality, the Self-Destructing Robot was just circling around me. That's the fundamental reason why I ended up blowing myself up."

The Traveler sighed.

"Later, the reason why your attacks couldn't hit the opponent at all was also because we had a distorted Perception of space under the influence of that Black Shadow. You thought you were almost able to hit the opponent, but in reality, you were still several meters away from the opponent."

"... Have you ever seen Ghost Wall like this?"

After hearing the Traveler's explanation, VerdantRipple's face immediately darkened.

"I won't even comment on the literal meaning of 'Ghost Wall.' The real meaning of 'Ghost Wall' refers to being unable to distinguish directions while walking at night or in the countryside, having a blurred Perception of self and not knowing where to go, so you keep going in circles... Are you sure this is really what you call Ghost Wall?"

Pointing to a small, chaotic Explosion site about three meters in front of them, VerdantRipple's voice was chillingly cold.

"Anomaly can't be understood with common sense, but I can offer you a brief explanation."

After thinking for a moment, the Traveler began to speak.

"The so-called 'Ghost Wall' is essentially a human's distorted Perception of space, causing them to go around in circles... But do you think children can understand these profound concepts?"

"Child?"

VerdantRipple frowned slightly.

"This is just my personal speculation... but the evidence is insufficient at the moment. I'll tell you when I find enough evidence later."

The Traveler sighed.

"In short, that's all the kids will think. Hmm... 'Ghost Wall' means a ghost is constantly hitting a wall. Since Ghost Wall can cause humans to have a distorted Perception of space, then this ghost should have the ability to manipulate people's spatial Perception. Kids just think that way, and that's how these Anomaly are set up... Do you understand what I mean?"

"You mean, the children in the Orphanage are the cause of these Anomaly that permeate the entire Orphanage?"

VerdantRipple's voice sounded slightly cold.

"I already said it's just speculation... If I had realized the meaning of 'Ghost Wall maze' from their actions of hitting the wall earlier, we wouldn't have been stuck for so long."

The Traveler glanced at the Walkie-Talkie his hand, shook his head slightly, and with a hint of frustration, put it back into his jacket pocket.

"To deduce all this from just a few words... I have a feeling that the lowest -Level one among us might actually be the most powerful."

"Black&White...?"

With a slight frown, VerdantRipple turned her head and glanced at the Traveler.

"Indeed, he's much better than you; you're very self-aware."

Traveler: "..."

"Alright, it's time for us to go on our own exploration."

With a wry smile, the Traveler stood up and walked towards the other side.

"This Black Shadow figure is quite powerful. If it weren't for Black&White, we might have really been worn down here today. But its defense seems rather weak; a single Self-Destructing Robot took care of it. I was originally planning to bring a few more..."

Before she could finish her sentence, the Traveler suddenly froze in place. From VerdantRipple's perspective, she could even see that the other person's body was trembling slightly.

"What's wrong?"

While tending to her own wounds, VerdantRipple asked the Traveler some rather curious questions.

"Or did you kill the Black Shadow, and that's why it dropped its Equipment or Skill Card?"

"... The one I just killed was one of our Teammate."

The Traveler, who turned back around, was terribly pale, as if he had expended considerable effort to utter each word with extraordinary difficulty.

"!!!"

Upon hearing this, disregarding her own unbandaged wounds, VerdantRipple quickly got up and went to the Traveler's side.

Behind the door frame that had been blasted apart by the Self-Destructing Robot, a horribly mutilated corpse lay there... the kind of corpse that would Nightmare just from seeing it.

Both legs were severed at the root, making his body appear incredibly small. His hands were tightly bound by wires that were almost embedded in his bones, rendering him completely immobile. A dozen thick wires protruded from his shoulders and hung from the beam above his head... The wires and other related gadgets formed a simple trap, forcing him to repeatedly slam his arms against the wall.

What was most terrifying was the other person's face, which was filled with fear and despair.

The eyes and mouth were all meticulously sewn together with blood-red threads, while the threads on the ears were deeply embedded in the scalp—the threads could be white or black, but whatever color they were, they had long been stained dark red with blood.

Of course, these are not the main points. The main point is that both VerdantRipple and the Traveler recognize the tormented corpse lying on the ground.

Among the seven Player participated in this mission, there was one who seemed to have just started high school... the Player "I’m Arrogant, So What??"