First Entry into the Apocalypse 3

In the dark world, gray mist emerged from all directions around me.

To say "around me" is a stretch, as I cannot currently locate my own body. In this realm filled with gray mist, I have become like a "spectator ghost" after death in a first-person shooter game; I cannot feel my limbs, cannot speak or move, cannot breathe or blink, and can smell nothing and hear nothing.

Perhaps because I cannot perceive the existence of a physical body, I do not even have any emotional fluctuations right now. I should have been extremely shocked and terrified, but at some point, I accepted all of this, facing this mysterious space with an unforeseen sense of equanimity.

After a brief pause, I began to try to control the rotation and forward movement of my perspective.

Due to the lack of reference points, I do not know if I am actually moving; I simply focused all my attention in my mind on the thought of "moving." Perhaps I am moving forward; I can only choose to believe that for now.

I do not know how much time passed before something new appeared in front of me.

About a few dozen meters away, I saw eight chairs carved from white stone. Of course, "a few dozen meters away" is also a term lacking reference points, but that is how it felt. Of those eight stone chairs, seven were a size larger than ordinary armchairs and were arranged in a row; another one was twice as large again, placed alone at a distance, facing the other seven.

On that largest stone chair sat a figure of abnormal size, like a god. Because of the mist, I could not see the specific appearance or clothing clearly, only a black shadow seen through a veil.

After getting closer, I discovered that there were also figures on the other stone chairs, but only two; the other five seats were empty. Those two people were sitting in the two seats on the left. The one sitting in the leftmost seat was a tall, thin shadow; in the seat right next to it was another shadow, as petite as a child.

Compared to that god-like figure, these two shadows were at least the size of normal humans.

Slowly, a feeling of curiosity sprouted within me—who are they? Why are they sitting here?

Even though I shouldn't have any emotional activity right now, I could not suppress my curiosity.

Suddenly, I felt as if I were about to wake up. It seemed this was merely a dreamscape, and regaining normal cognitive ability meant I could no longer continue to dream.

Just then, the tall, thin shadow on the far left seemed to notice my presence.

He turned his head abruptly and emitted a low, hoarse voice: "Who is it?"

"Hmm?" The petite shadow, who looked like a child, also turned back.

As for the god-like giant figure, it remained as motionless as a statue.

I was just about to respond, but the moment the words reached my lips, I realized I shouldn't be able to feel a mouth, and all the chairs, along with the mist, vanished from before my eyes.

It turned out I had awakened.

I opened my eyes. The surroundings were no longer a space filled with mist. I was still standing in front of the basement wall, holding that piece of black jade in my hand.

-

Only then did I belatedly break out in goosebumps.

What just happened? Did I actually dream while standing up?

No, rather than a dream, it was more like I had been pulled into some world of hallucinations...

Was this the work of the black jade?

I immediately placed the black jade on the ground, then quickly retreated several steps, cautiously observing this mysterious object. However, the black jade did not display any mysterious power this time, lying on the ground like an ordinary stone.

No abnormalities? But just a moment ago, this thing clearly dominated my consciousness... No, to call it domination, it didn't actually bring me any danger; it just inexplicably made me experience a bizarre hallucination.

What was the meaning of that hallucination? A realm filled with gray mist, eight stone chairs, three strange figures... Are they human? Or are they incredible creatures that inhabit that hallucination?

There are too few clues, and I cannot analyze anything, so I can only go and pick up the black jade first.

I know this black jade might still contain other unfathomable dangers, but since I am already here, I cannot just throw it away. If it were a clearly harmful substance, that would be a different matter. But since I cannot figure out its nature for the time being, I must take it back and study it carefully.

If I were afraid of danger and stayed away from strange objects, I would never have come to this basement in the first place.

I still intended to continue investigating this basement for a while. Although I estimated that my gains for tonight were about as much as they would get—this basement is truly empty, with everything clear at a glance, and the Firefly units I set up everywhere have observed it in minute detail—it is, at the very least, a "space that does not exist in reality," and its existence alone is enough to fascinate me.

Suddenly, I noticed something wrong. This basement seemed to have changed in some way compared to when I first entered. There was something very crucial—

I whipped my head around.

The stairs I had come down on had actually vanished, and the ceiling was completely flat; there was no entrance or exit at all!

In that instant, a feeling of horror rose from my heart, as if several ice-cold cockroaches were crowding together, crawling from my tailbone up my spine to the back of my head.

The exit disappeared? Why?

I had clearly been monitoring whether the stairs and exit were showing any abnormalities through the surrounding Firefly units; when did they disappear?

Was it while I was trapped in the hallucination just now?

I immediately went to the spot where the stairs had been to check, but no matter how I checked, I could not see that there should have been stairs there. The ceiling, too—even the fine texture of the concrete seemed to be saying that it had always been like this.

It is truly absurd; if there was no entrance or exit from the beginning, how did I get down here?

I must stay calm and think carefully about what to do next.

The appearance and disappearance of the cave should follow some established pattern; as long as I find this pattern, I should be able to reopen the exit.

However, "everything has a pattern" is a common principle summarized by humans from nature, and what I am currently facing is a bizarre event that exceeds the scope of common sense. So, perhaps there is no pattern at all from the start, and all my thinking is in vain.

Admittedly, the cave appeared within the ritual array, and the ritual array is man-made. But Agent Kong also mentioned that the ritual array itself does not have the function of opening a cave. This might be an unknown phenomenon beyond the thinking of a Fallen Demon Hunter, detached from the human realm.

And when tomorrow morning comes, the female demon hunter will arrive at the Fifteenth Floor room; whether she intends to eliminate the ritual array or break through the floor of the Fifteenth Floor room, she will eventually end the cave's bizarre event in her own way.

In this way, I will never wait for the day the cave opens again and will only be trapped to death in this space that does not exist in reality.

What a desperate situation!

However, these are all bitter fruits I brought upon myself.

I will absolutely not say cowardly words like "If I had known...", at least not now. I must think in a positive direction. This might be a trial; sometimes people have to put themselves in a desperate situation to understand themselves. Haven't I always wanted to know how I would perform when facing a desperate, dangerous situation? Now is that critical moment.

Let's start by analyzing the pattern of the cave's appearance; what did I do just now that caused the cave to disappear?

No, that's not right. I should shift my perspective... could it be that "the cave disappeared because I didn't do something"?

When I fell into the illusion, I temporarily lost the ability to monitor the cave and the stairs, and it was during this period that they vanished... so... could the answer be that "the cave disappears when it is not being observed"?

This hypothesis seems quite reasonable.

During the day, Agent Kong knocked on the door, and Chang'an temporarily covered the cave with a rug. When he lifted the rug again, the cave was gone. There is no doubt that during that time, neither I nor Chang'an were observing the cave.

And when Chang'an first encountered the strange cave incident, he had temporarily left the Fifteenth Floor room to confirm whether the cave led to the room below. In that state, he must have also lost sight of the cave. Then he called the police, and after the police arrived, the cave disappeared... but did he go back to the Fifteenth Floor room to check on the cave before calling the police? He doesn't seem to have mentioned that to me.

Even if my hypothesis is correct, I have only discovered the reason for the cave's disappearance, whereas what I need is to make it reappear.

This is the only thing I truly have no leads on.

If the conditions for the cave's appearance cannot be met within the basement, but must be met from outside the cave, then I am truly helpless. Am I supposed to count on someone else entering the Fifteenth Floor room and coincidentally triggering the conditions for the cave to appear? The problem is that no one will come to the Fifteenth Floor room now—except for the Demon Hunter woman who plans to eliminate the strange cave incident.

Perhaps I need to shift my analytical perspective again and broaden my horizons.

Why must I follow those baseless patterns to solve my current predicament? I am not an ordinary person without special abilities; I am an esper. I should look for "outside-the-box" methods and try to force a breakthrough.

But... unfortunately, my ability doesn't seem suited for this situation at all.

My ability is top-tier when it comes to killing and destruction, but for solving puzzles, it's like trying to perform delicate surgery with a chainsaw; I'm afraid I'd only make a mess of things.

Right, speaking of forcing a breakthrough, there is a question I don't think I've ever considered before.

This basement is a "space that does not exist in reality," so what lies outside the basement? By "outside," I don't mean the Fifteenth Floor room that can only be reached through the cave exit, but rather "outside the walls."

I don't believe that breaking through the walls would lead to the real world, but I am at a complete dead end right now, and any new discovery could become a clue to breaking the deadlock.

More importantly, I am curious.

Thinking of this, I walked up to the wall and raised my right hand.

I activated my ability.