BCST 28

chapter 28

The first thing that caught my eye was the bloodstains and knife marks splattered across the once-white lobby.

And compared to when I first entered this place, the number of people had noticeably decreased.

Yet, even in a lobby soaked with blood, people still sat in lounge chairs or at tables with their BD goggles on, enjoying their simulations as if nothing was wrong.

It was a bizarre sight—people carrying on with their daily routines in the middle of a completely abnormal situation.

As if the scene around them didn’t exist, they acted calmly, and that indifference struck me as grotesque.

The young man who had been lying in the hallway earlier, happily watching a nature documentary, was still lying in the exact same spot.

But unlike before, he wasn’t moving at all.

Bzzzt—Bzzzt—Bzzzt.

Only the pitiful hum of a machine working in vain filled the silence.

And no wonder—his chest and stomach, where there should have been life, were split wide open and shredded to pieces.

Where his heart and organs should have been, there was nothing but crushed flesh.

Was this a gunshot wound?

I walked closer to examine him. Judging by the explosive spray pattern of the blood, the bullet holes nearby, and the spent shells scattered around, it was clearly a shotgun.

But the only people here armed with shotguns had been the security guards.

Which meant one of the guards, who should have been protecting this place, had shot a customer instead…

When I remembered the people I’d seen earlier in the elevator, moving like they were under some kind of spell, the possibility felt all too real.

No harm in preparing for the worst.

With that thought, I tore my eyes away from the corpse and noticed once more the people around me, sitting calmly.

Even those seated near the body, with fragments of blood and flesh splattered on their faces and clothes, sat unfazed, still immersed in their BD experiences.

“……”

It was getting harder and harder to trust anything I saw here.

Still, I needed to confirm a few things before heading straight down to the basement. That was why I had stopped by the first floor in the first place.

Step, step.

As I strode forward, the people who had been so immersed in their simulations began to shift slightly.

Eyes turned toward me, following my movements.

And through the translucent glow of their goggles, I could see pupils slowly tracking me.

“…Interesting.”

With those stares trailing after me, I made my way toward the entrance counter—the same place where I had received a badge from a staff member who looked identical to the one upstairs on the third floor.

I had come down to clear up that suspicion, but…

“…Already dead.”

The staff member behind the counter had bled out, his lifeless body abandoned in place.

The cause of death? A clean blade cut.

It was the work of someone skilled, cutting exactly as much of the neck as necessary and nothing more.

And at this timing…

The knife marks and bloodstains I had seen earlier came to mind.

I couldn’t help but think of one name—someone I had yet to encounter but was certain was here.

“Faynuf.”

The one who had entered before me, searching for artifacts.

This had his handiwork written all over it.

I had assumed he had already left when I hadn’t seen him on the third floor, but I was wrong.

Shhh.

I turned away from the meaningless corpse, and as I did, all the heads staring at me turned away in unison.

Hah.

Not even trying to hide it anymore, are they?

But why now?

They’d been fairly passive until this point.

Could it be that he stirred something up already?

If he had been in the basement this whole time since earlier today, then by now he might have made some progress.

Whatever it was, that meant it might actually become easier for me to track down the U.M.O.

But if I stayed still, there was the risk he might claim it before I could.

And if that happened, I’d have no choice but to resort to robbery.

If I wanted this intrusion and theft to stay clean and quiet, I had to move fast.

Crossing the floor again, I felt the stares trailing me, pretending not to.

They were merely enthralled by the U.M.O., but if they attacked me, I wouldn’t hesitate to respond in kind.

Thankfully, they hadn’t crossed that line yet.

So I chose to ignore them.

“…But what’s this?”

As I made my way toward the stairs, more bloodstains and blade marks caught my eye.

I could guess who had wielded the blade.

But this much blood?

It was far too much to have come from just the one corpse on the floor.

And yet, there were no bodies left behind—none of the combatants remained.

With traces this heavy, there should at least have been corpses or remnants of whoever had fought against that sword.

Strange. Very strange.

But I figured I’d know more once I went below.

Leaving behind the stares I had grown accustomed to, I began descending to the basement.

Vrrr—

Vrrr—

The hum of fans filled the air—maybe from the server room, maybe the HVAC system.

Either way, some kind of mechanical noise pulsed steadily underground.

The lighting was dimmer than above, and several lamps were shattered, leaving the basement shrouded in uneasy darkness.

“They fought big down here too.”

The traces of battle were everywhere.

Blood painted the walls so thickly, the original surface was barely visible.

The blood pooled on the floor was still fresh enough to splash at my every step.

Squelch.

Squelch.

It was my first time down here, but there was no way to get lost.

The blood and slash marks all converged in one direction, as though pointing the way.

The farther I walked, the denser the traces became.

And finally, I arrived at a massive steel door.

[Loss Record Archive]

The sign above the door read.

I stared at it for a moment, then reached for the handle.

Clack.

And at that exact instant—

Shhhk!

A blinding slash of white came flying at me.

But I had already sensed the presence beyond the door before entering.

That’s what [Mana Detection] was for.

[Shield]

Scrrch!

“…You blocked it?”

It pierced the first shield—thankfully the second held.

But the sharpness of that strike sent a wave of tension through me.

Because I could tell—it was nothing more than a greeting from the opponent.

…This one was strong.

Drawing in more mana, I took in the sight before me.

Rows upon rows of shelves like a library, filled with BD cartridges—small, medium, and large.

And standing before them, a man with curly hair so long it covered his eyes.

“Are you ‘Faynuf’?” I asked.

At my words, the man grimaced in annoyance.

“…So you read what was on the third floor? I don’t care for male stalkers, you know.”

Strange, leaving your real name out in the open like that when you’re sneaking around.

But there was no need to voice that thought.

As I stayed silent, Faynuf twirled his blade lazily and continued:

“Well, I’m not curious about who you are either. You’re just another scavenger after the same thing.”

He gestured behind him.

Floating in the air was a small cartridge.

U.M.O.-3007.

If I was right, that one was known as “The Artist Behind.”

An item from the manifestation-type series, infamous in games for how troublesome it was to handle—capable of twisting the unconscious images of its host and projecting them into reality.

So he had found it first.

At least that saved me some work.

“Leave the item quietly, and I’ll let you live,” I said.

“…Oh?”

It was a villain’s line, but it was mine all the same.

There was no need for pointless rhetoric—we both knew exactly what the other wanted.

And true players only needed a glance to know each other’s intent.

Still, as we spoke, we were both sizing up not only each other but also the U.M.O. hovering between us.

One reckless attack could set it off into a rampage, which would make everything far more troublesome.

But hesitation could only last so long.

At the same moment, our decisions aligned.

[Arcane Blast]

Boom!

A crimson blast of arcane energy shot straight toward him.

Clang!

[Reversal Slash]

He batted it aside without surprise. A spell-sword—one who tempered both body and mana.

“This all you’ve got…?”

But it wasn’t over yet.

[Arcane Blast]
[Rapid Fire]

Bang!

This time, the arcane blast fired in a laser-like straight line, its speed doubled.

He was wary of me as an unknown magician, his guard raised to its peak.

If I had opened with Rapid Fire, he’d likely have blocked it.

So instead I used a normal blast first—to set his expectations of its speed. Then followed with one that surpassed it.

The Rapid Fire Arcane Blast was practically a different spell entirely.

“Kh…!”

As expected, his eyes widened in shock.

The crimson beam struck him square in the chest.

Thud.

It didn’t pierce him, but his grimace showed the impact had been real.

“What kind of power is this…?”

It was the first spell I had used properly since reaching the third tier.

Naturally, its power couldn’t compare to before.

Even Toulon Goxel’s “True Armor” spell could probably be shattered now.

Which meant the surprising thing wasn’t my power—but his defense.

To block that barehanded, even with enhancement magic…

It had to be augmentation woven into his body itself.

His skill was impressive.

Just that glimpse was enough to make me unsure of victory.

My eyes flicked to the BD case floating behind him.

Haa…

Could I really afford a cautious fight against someone like this?

Things were getting troublesome.

But no one feels it more than the one who’s just taken a hit.

Sure enough, a dangerous glint sparked in Faynuf’s eyes.

“One more strike. We end it there. Do you agree?”

“Agreed.”

We both knew dragging this out would only increase the danger.

So we reached a silent accord—put everything into the next blow.

As both of us drew up our energy—

Vrrrmmmm—!

“What?!”

A sudden tremor came from the U.M.O., “The Artist Behind.”

I turned my gaze—and froze.

Space itself was warping, visibly, around the floating BD case.

Like raindrops breaking the surface of a still pond, countless ripples spread through the air in terrifying waves.

Faynuf’s face twisted, his composure rattled.

“…Impossible. What kind of artifact could produce this kind of power?”

Well, that was obvious. This wasn’t just any artifact.

[Arcane Blast]
[Rapid Fire]

I didn’t waste the opening.

Boom!

“You coward!”

But the blast never reached him.

It froze midair, stopped cold.

Between us, the spatial distortion had spread, blocking the attack.

“…A pity.”

It had been a perfect opening.

“……! ……. ……!”

Through the warped space, he seemed to shout something—but no sound reached me.

A separation of space?

Then it was about to begin.

The “dungeonization” phenomenon—what happens when a manifestation-type U.M.O. runs out of control.

And it was happening now, here in Neuroteca 58.

Vrrrrmmm—!

The space around me grew so warped, I could barely recognize it.

The distortion pressed toward some kind of breaking point.

And just as a new landscape began to form within the warped air—

Flash!

In the next instant, I was pulled into a completely different world.