First Entry into the Apocalypse 2

The hole has appeared again!

I still haven't grasped the pattern behind the hole's appearance and disappearance, so it is no surprise that it could manifest or vanish at any moment. I had already braced myself for the worst, planning to spend a great deal of time investigating how to make it reappear, so how could I not feel pleasantly surprised now that it has shown up on its own?

If Chang'an and Maza were here, they might view the hole as an extremely ominous sign. But in my eyes, this can only be called a lucky start.

I lifted the wooden cover, and the dark, deep entrance presented itself before me once again.

Unlike last time, I am observing this hole alone in the dead of night, and my state of mind is worlds apart. Chang'an once worried about whether "dirty things" might crawl out from beneath the hole; at the time, I couldn't empathize with that at all. To me, during the daylight hours, this space when shared with Chang'an seemed filled with the atmosphere of mundane life; ghosts would certainly never come here.

But now, I only feel that this space has transformed into a magical realm incompatible with reality. The clamor of the distant city has faded completely from my consciousness, and whatever happens here is a "Ghost Story" that belongs solely to me. There are no other eyewitnesses, and no matter how I recount it to the public, no one would believe me. In other words, this has become a domain where demons and monsters can run wild.

And this time, there is no Chang'an by my side to stop me, nor is there Agent Kong suddenly knocking on the door to interfere.

If I were to go to the room downstairs now and punch a hole in the ceiling directly beneath the hole's location, what would happen? I imagined it with great interest. But it would be bad if doing so caused the hole to stop appearing, and besides, there are tenants in the room downstairs. I don't want to destroy this sense of mystery that only exists when I am alone, for fear that if I disturb outsiders, the hole might get spooked and hide away again.

I dropped my backpack on the floor and took out a wired camera and a selfie stick. I connected the wired camera to my phone, secured it to the selfie stick, and extended it down into the hole. Then, I looked at my phone.

Contrary to my previous assumption, the phone did not display any image.

It seems the wired camera doesn't work either; the signal-blocking mechanism inside and outside the hole has nothing to do with whether the connection is wired or wireless. If that's the case, why isn't the human body blocked from electronic signals? Is it truly because the human body holds a special status within supernatural events?

If I were a scientist, I might pursue more rigorous conclusions, but I am perfectly happy to accept such mystical findings. Next, I retracted the wired camera and selfie stick, switched my phone to video mode, turned on the flashlight, and sent it down into the hole again.

After filming for about a minute, I pulled the phone back and lowered my head to check the footage.

Actually, I had already prepared for the expectation that "electronic devices cannot function properly in supernatural spaces," as many horror stories claim. But this time, it exceeded my expectations; the phone successfully captured the scene beneath the hole.

This scene matches the first impression Chang'an and I had of the hole: it is indeed a basement.

And it is a rather spacious basement; at a rough glance, it is about two-thirds the size of a classroom. Naturally, there are no doors or windows installed on the walls. The interior hasn't undergone any renovation either; the floor and walls are bare concrete, and the place is filled with lonely gray shelves, much like a bankrupt convenience store.

Most of the shelves are empty and covered in dust, and the few that have items only hold some open, yellow cardboard boxes. There is basically nowhere to hide, and I cannot see any traces of monsters, ghosts, or other supernatural entities.

Then again, it's hard to say—what if electronic devices simply can't capture ghosts? Or what if there are monsters as small as insects or rodents? One cannot judge the supernatural by common sense.

Suddenly, I noticed something strange in the video footage.

At the base of the wall at the far end of the basement, something seemed to be reflecting light.

I pressed my eyes tightly against the screen, wanting to see clearly what it was. But I couldn't make it out. It wasn't an issue with the camera angle; it was just that the object was too small, and it was quite far from the recording position, making it impossible to confirm its true identity from here.

I could barely discern that it probably wasn't a glass shard or anything of the sort, and there were no other glass products or reflective items in this basement.

That object was very abrupt in this basement.

It was fine when I hadn't discovered it, but once I did, I felt that this unknown object possessed an indescribable sense of presence. Although it was merely "something I couldn't identify" placed in a "dim basement," it felt like a pitch-black ink blot dropped onto a sheet of white paper. Before I knew it, my entire attention was captured by it.

What is that?

I chewed over this incredible feeling repeatedly and put my phone away.

So, I've seen what there is to see, time to go home, right? That is impossible.

This level of discovery is merely an appetizer, enough only to whet my appetite. To think I'd leave after it made me drool—don't even think about it.

Next, I am going to venture deep into this hole.

I have considered the dangers I might encounter later.

For me, the least threatening situation is physical danger.

To put it hyperbolically, even if ten Godzilla were to suddenly spawn in this basement, I possess my "Second Form" as a finishing move, making me inherently invincible.

But if a Vengeful Ghost with unfathomable power were to appear, that would be a different story. If the opponent were capable of launching mental or cursed attacks against me, I couldn't guarantee whether I could withstand them. After all, I have never been subjected to that kind of metaphysical attack.

And the most threatening situation is undoubtedly if the entrance were to suddenly vanish after I went down, never to open again, trapping me inside to die.

Perhaps there are other, more clever and intelligent ways to investigate the details inside without needing to risk my own life. But does there really exist a way to experience this hole better than by venturing into it with my own flesh and blood? Text, pictures, videos... I don't want to perceive another mysterious space through such boring mediums. I want to measure the space beneath the hole with my own two feet and breathe the air of this non-realistic space with my own lungs. That is exactly why I came here.

To put it bluntly, I am well aware that my sanity is being significantly reduced at this very moment. In the eyes of someone like me who pursues "adventures that transcend reality," this hole has an irresistible allure; I cannot resist it with logic. No matter what, I must get to the bottom of this.

I stared at the stairs beneath the hole, then stepped forward, my right foot landing on the first step.

It felt as if I had stepped into a deep, murky swamp. My foot had already entered a space-time that does not exist in reality, and I felt my whole body go numb. I took a deep breath, then lifted my other foot and continued downward.

Step, step, step... I slowly descended along the stairs, while the surrounding floor gradually rose until it passed over my head.

I couldn't help but look up; the real space had now become a square opening above my head. I struggled to control myself, withdrew my gaze, and extended my right hand to summon the "Firefly."

Orange-red dots of light emerged in the air, emitting a bright glow. As expected, the "Firefly" wasn't impossible to summon beneath the hole; it just couldn't exist there while I was outside of it.

"Fireflies" appeared one after another, their numbers quickly increasing to twenty or thirty. Under my command, they dispersed to every corner of the basement and emitted an even more dazzling light, illuminating the place as if it were broad daylight.

My feet landed on the basement floor, and I observed my surroundings. No monsters, no ghosts, and for the time being, no other supernatural phenomena. This space was now entirely under the shroud of my perception; not to mention tangible dangers, I didn't even find a single insect. It was truly a place devoid of life.

After a brief pause, I moved straight toward the end of the basement.

Soon, I saw clearly what the unknown object that had reflected light in the video was.

The thing lying at the base of the wall was a hard substance with an irregular shape, pitch-black all over, and about the size of a ping-pong ball. Although the color was black, the material was like jade, which is why it reflected light slightly when the beams hit it.

I picked it up and examined it repeatedly in my hand. This piece of black jade didn't just look like jade; it also had the warm, smooth texture of jade to the touch, though the edges were a bit sharp—if I wasn't careful, I might even cut my hand.

In my judgment, this piece of black jade didn't look like a complete object; it was more likely a fragment broken off from a larger jade ornament.

So, I observed the surroundings again, but I couldn't find any object that looked like the main body, nor could I find a second fragment.

I refocused my attention on the black jade. Even though the ground felt icy to the touch, this piece of black jade did not transmit a single trace of cold, nor did it feel warm; it was as if the very concept of temperature had never existed for it in the first place.

What on earth was this thing?

I observed it with increasing scrutiny.

And right at that moment, something incredible happened.

The instant I concentrated all my attention on the black jade, I felt as if the darkness of the stone had "snared" my gaze, much like a black hole capturing light.

By the time I realized something was wrong, I was already unable to look away; I couldn't even move my eyeballs a fraction. The black jade began to grow larger in my field of vision, though I couldn't tell if it was actually expanding or if my face was being drawn toward it against my will.

In the blink of an eye, the black jade filled my entire vision, and my consciousness felt as if it were plummeting, crashing headlong into the depths of the stone.

Then, amidst the pitch-black darkness where I couldn't even see my own hand, gray mist began to emerge.