Chapter 18: "A Light Crueler Than Darkness"
"Wow… look‚ look‚ Rin-chan!
This place is just like the underground storage of a candy castle!"
My voice bounced off the damp concrete walls‚ returning layered and echoing.
I was hugging the so-called “Bear Recorder That Stopped Crying” tightly in one arm.
I wanted to put it in my backpack‚ but somehow… putting it away felt like “really the end‚” and I just couldn’t do it.
(Rin-chan must have definitely noticed…
But she’s not saying anything…
Is it kindness‚ or resignation… which is it…?)
This place was once called the “Sunshine Underground Mall.”
But now‚ there’s no trace of sunshine—
Heavy water up to my knees.
The smell of mold and rust stinging my nose.
The sound of dripping water from the ceiling echoed like the “heartbeat of an underground labyrinth.”
(100% humidity pudding… no‚ pudding is sweeter…
This is “despair-flavored pudding”… zero calories…)
“…Stay quiet. With the echoes‚ it’s hard to judge the ground’s looseness.”
Rin-chan‚ with her unsmiling profile‚ kept glaring alternately at her device and the darkness.
According to her “safety standards‚” the adventure difficulty of this place was—
Way beyond my excitement index‚ already in the red zone.
(Rin-chan’s red zone = high chance of dying
My red zone = high excitement zone
…how do our values even match…?)
“It’s fine… ah‚ I said it.
My 'life HP' actually auto-recovers in dark places like this!”
“…Nonsense. We’ll end exploration of this floor in five minutes.”
Rin-chan elegantly ignored my humor and pointed her high-performance waterproof exploration lamp forward.
Only the areas the light reached were allowed to “exist” in this world.
Outside the light lay “the void‚” waiting to swallow us.
(That blackness… definitely the world’s stomach…
If swallowed‚ we’d be digested… as protein…)
I pointed at a boutique mannequin half-submerged in the water.
“Hey‚ that mannequin… doesn’t it look like it’s laughing at us?”
“…It’s just plastic. The paint is peeling; it’s only creepy.”
Rin-chan instantly converted my emotional observation into “physical fact.”
But that coldness—
In this dark water‚ it was the only reliable guide.
(Rin-chan’s voice‚ in the dark‚ sounds like “light”…
No‚ colder than light… but still comforting…)
Then‚ it came—suddenly.
—Tsk.
A dreadful sound echoed as if a tongue were reaching up from the depths of darkness.
The exploration lamp that supported our world flickered painfully—
Snap.
It went out.
“…Ah.”
My vision was instantly painted “nothing.”
Front‚ back‚ up‚ down—all the same “black.”
My brain seemed to have thrown away all the coordinates of the world.
Only the sound of water splashing by our ears‚ chap… chap…‚
told us we were still submerged.
(Wow… the whole world is black pudding…
No‚ pudding is sweeter… this is “dark-flavored pudding”… zero calories…)
“…The exploration lamp’s dead. Shorted by water.”
From the darkness came Rin-chan’s overly calm voice.
Only her voice barely held the “shape” of the world together.
“Rin-chan‚ my eyes hurt.
The darkness is trying to seep into our pupils…”
Holding the recorder in one hand‚ I raised the other in front of my eyes.
But my brain even refused to recognize that my fingers were there.
This isn’t “dark.”
Color and shape have been confiscated from the world.
“…(silence)”
Rin-chan said nothing.
At times like this‚ she doesn’t encourage me‚ nor give irresponsible “it’ll be fine” lines.
She just—
Clink‚ clink…
The metallic sound echoed regularly in the darkness.
Rin-chan was taking repair tools out of her bag.
(Ah… this sound…
Much louder than Rin-chan’s “voice of the heart”…
But somehow comforting… why…?)
“Hey‚ Rin-chan. Is this darkness trying to eat us?
Or have we become part of it?”
I joked‚ trying to cling to my existence.
But all that answered me was the cold sound of water and Rin-chan’s work.
(Rin-chan… say something…
Otherwise my thoughts will melt into “dark-flavored pudding”…)
“…Nagisa. Are there any plastic bottles lying around?”
“Bottle?
Uh‚ according to my ‘foot sole sensor’… ah‚ got it. I caught it just now!”
I plunged my hand into the muddy water‚
grasping the cool cylindrical shape.
(Got it… bottle secured…!
Even in darkness‚ my “sensor” is alive…!
Rin-chan‚ praise me… no‚ she probably won’t…)
“Rin-chan‚ bottle. Here‚ take it.”
Holding the recorder in one arm‚ I pushed the bottle gently into Rin-chan’s cold fingertips with the other.
“…Circuit board connected. Waterproofing will be improvised with this bottle.”
In the darkness‚ Rin-chan’s work felt like “silent magic.”
Her fingers didn’t hesitate even without light.
As if she remembered all the “correct positions” in the world.
(Rin-chan’s fingers… why so precise…
I can’t even find my own nose in the dark…)
“I’ll help too!
If I stick the aluminum foil I picked up to the bottom of this bottle…
Look‚ it becomes a ‘mirror room’ reflecting light!”
Holding the recorder to my chest‚ I pressed the foil into the bottle bottom with my fingertips.
I wasn’t trying to fix “memories” like with that bear recorder.
I just hated this darkness—
I only wanted to make a “cage” to capture light.
We didn’t say “scared” even once.
Rin-chan held the cut wire in her mouth‚
kneading waterproof sealing material with both hands.
I placed the reflective panel in the bottle by fingertip feel alone.
(Ah… this work… somehow…
Feels like the night before a cultural festival…
No‚ more life-threatening though…)
“…Boost output.”
Rin-chan’s short declaration.
—Shun.
A sound as if electrons were waking up.
In the next moment‚ a sharp beam of light burst from the bottle.
“…Ah.”
“…Illuminance is sufficient.”
Rin-chan’s voice reflected in the light‚ slightly higher in tone.
The bottle’s light collector concentrated the light into a single point‚
becoming an “exploration lamp” piercing the depths of darkness.
(Amazing…
Did we… just win against the darkness…?
No‚ not win… but we pushed back for a moment…!)
“Look‚ Rin-chan!
Water droplets… are bouncing!
They’re surprised by the light we made‚ trying to escape!”
I pointed at the water surface lit by the light.
The droplets were bouncing small in the beam.
(Cute… water fairies…?
No‚ just water… but cute…)
But our joyful voices didn’t last long.
Beyond the light—
What we didn’t want to see slowly began to reveal itself.
Having light wasn’t necessarily “salvation.”
The underwater exploration lamp we made illuminated not a beautiful underwater garden but—
Rusty‚ crumbling restaurant signs.
A single child’s shoe‚ dirtied and decaying‚ never to be picked up.
Wall-clinging‚ sludge-like remnants of seaweed.
And—
The water at our feet slowly “being sucked in.”
(Huh… what is this…
The water… is breathing downward…?)
From the gaps in the floor tiles lit by the light‚
black shadows swirled outward.
At first‚ I thought it was just murk.
But it wasn’t.
The water was “pulling” at our feet.
—Goooo…
Low water sounds shook the entire underground mall.
“…My eyes hurt.”
I squinted involuntarily.
The stronger light revealed things we didn’t need to see.
(Light… was it always this cruel…?
Darkness was kinder…
It had the kindness of “not showing”…)
This place would never again be somewhere people could laugh together.
Such “unchangeable reality” took form vividly in the light.
And now—
The very place we were standing was slowly sinking.
“…Battery‚ three hours left. No overpursuit.”
Rin-chan treated the despairing view illuminated by the light
as mere “terrain data.”
But her gaze flicked briefly toward the whirlpool at our feet.
“…Flow speed rising. This won’t hold long.”
(Rin-chan… the way you said that… scary…
But correct…)
“Hey‚ Rin-chan… the darkness ran away‚ huh.”
“…We only drove it off. It’ll be back soon.”
Rin-chan’s answers were always cold and correct.
Our light wasn’t meant to save the world.
It was a ruthless illumination to confirm where we might die.
The whirlpool lit by the light
looked like a giant mouth opening‚
“tasting” our feet.
(No… no…
This whirlpool is definitely trying to eat us…
And we’re the appetizer…)
I held the recorder in one arm‚
gripping the underwater exploration lamp tightly with the other.
“…Let’s go. If we can see the path‚ there’s no reason to stop.”
I tried to smile‚ but my cheek muscles wouldn’t move properly.
Light exposes reality‚
Turning our “play” into mere “struggling.”
And the whirlpool at our feet—
was about to swallow even that “struggling.”
Relying on the sharp light of the exploration lamp‚ we moved deeper into the underground mall.
The water was colder than before.
According to my “ankle meter‚” the water level was slowly rising‚ almost above my knees.
(No… this cold…
More merciless than the ice cream tasting corner…)
“…Stop.”
Suddenly‚ Rin-chan’s short warning rang out.
Her voice was like the only “unwavering line” in the darkness‚ sharp.
She aimed the exploration lamp at our feet.
The powerful beam pierced the murky water‚ illuminating the “abnormality” below.
“…Eh?”
Just a few meters in front of me—
the water surface was greatly‚ slowly distorting.
—Goooo…
A low water sound resonated in my stomach.
Where the light shone‚ a huge “hole” had opened.
The underground mall floor had collapsed‚
water cascading down to the lower level like a waterfall.
The scene illuminated by the light looked like the throat of a gigantic monster opening its mouth to swallow us.
(No… we’ll definitely be eaten…
And as appetizers…)
“…Whirlpool. Ground exceeded its limit.”
Rin-chan’s voice trembled just slightly.
The tremor only highlighted the seriousness of the situation.
The light exposed not an exit‚ but a huge “pitfall” at our feet.
The water current accelerated.
Our bodies began to be pulled toward the center of the whirlpool by an irresistible force.
(This is bad… so bad…
I’m holding the recorder‚ one hand’s occupied…!
This is definitely a death flag…!)
“…Rin-chan!
Don’t let go!”
My screams were swallowed by the roaring whirlpool.
Light exposed reality‚
Darkness fled‚
Water bared its fangs—
And we were dragged
into its center.
|