Chapter 15
[151. Wow. I seriously thought I was going to die.]
[152. I listened to No. 150 and ran like my life depended on it... That thing is seriously fast...]
[153. I ran blindly and wrecked one ankle.]
[154. Is No. 150 a god? Is No. 150 a god? Is No. 150 a god?]
"Still, it looks like nobody got seriously hurt. That's a relief..."
With a grunt, I tapped the floor.
Tap.
The clear sound reached my ears.
"...Amazing."
The first thing I did after returning was collapse onto the bed and pass out.
My whole body had hurt too much.
I'd climbed far too many stairs.
And before that, I'd built a raft.
For an ordinary office worker whose usual exercise consisted of taking walks in the park on nice days...
It was way too much physical activity.
My eardrums had been destroyed too.
And the bed really worked.
Perfectly.
I rotated my arms.
No strange sound.
No muscle pain.
It really healed this much?
My body felt completely normal.
As though it had simply returned to its original state.
I took a bite from a double cheeseburger covered in ketchup and searched my pocket.
The pyramid-shaped ornaments I'd also found on the bed.
Two of them.
"...Hehe."
I couldn't help smiling.
Now I could finally buy the item I wanted.
The shop door still hadn't opened, so I couldn't enter yet.
I looked at the closed door, stretched, then continued eating.
"By the way, aren't you eating?"
"?"
The mascot tilted its head.
"Food."
I held out the cheeseburger.
The mascot looked at it.
Then made a gesture as if saying, Ah, before shaking its head.
It began flapping its arms and gesturing wildly.
By now, I was starting to understand most of what it meant.
"You can handle your own meals?"
"!"
"I won't ask how."
It probably wouldn't tell me even if I asked.
I continued chewing and walked around the room.
Anyway...
"Let's look around."
The moment we'd arrived, I'd barely managed to crawl into bed with the mascot supporting me.
I hadn't properly explored this place again.
"Let's see. Shower room."
Steam rose from the bath.
I smiled in satisfaction and looked elsewhere.
"Sofa."
I dropped onto it and stretched my legs.
"Food."
I pulled a piping-hot double cheeseburger from the refrigerator, reclined on the sofa, and took another bite.
I decided not to think about how a cheeseburger pulled from a refrigerator was hot.
This was a place where opening an elevator could reveal an ocean.
"Closed shop."
The door remained firmly shut.
Apparently, it had no intention of opening yet.
Once it did...
I'd finally be able to buy the phone.
The phone that gave useful calls in dangerous situations.
With that, things should become at least a little easier.
I could wait for that.
"And..."
Lastly, I looked at the one part of the room that had changed.
I noticed it after waking up.
The room itself had changed.
More specifically...
A new door had appeared where there hadn't been one before.
It was like going to sleep in a studio apartment with a bathroom...
Then waking up to find another entire room attached.
"Have you gone inside yet?"
"!!!"
The mascot violently shook its head.
"You could've checked first."
"!!"
It puffed out its chest as if saying, Absolutely not.
The mascot was strangely loyal about things like this.
No.
Not strangely.
It was simply loyal.
It had literally saved my life on the fourth floor.
The problem was that I couldn't think of many things I could do for it in return.
"?"
"...Nothing. I'll ask you later."
"!"
The mascot nodded.
I stood and followed it to the door.
Then opened it.
For a moment...
I had no words.
It wasn't a large room.
Maybe about the size of an attic.
Soft orange lighting filled the space.
And inside...
"...What the hell is this?"
A huge map covered one wall.
A map of the building?
"..."
I narrowed my eyes and studied the floor plans.
"It's a map."
"..."
It really was.
More specifically...
A collection of maps roughly corresponding to the places I'd passed through so far.
They covered the walls.
Every floor above the fourth had been completely blacked out, almost playfully.
But what really caught my attention...
Were the short notes written on the map.
[Current highest floor reached: Floor 10.]
"...Floor 10?"
Did that mean someone was currently attempting the tenth floor?
Then my eyes moved to the notes below.
[Fastest Clear: No. 11]
[Least Injured: No. 77]
[Most Trial and Error: No. 24]
Other people's numbers.
"...No. 11, No. 77, No. 24..."
I'd seen all of them in the notebook at least once.
Everyone was still doing their best.
I lowered my gaze.
Then...
"...?"
I froze after reading something completely unexpected.
Because written there was...
[Current Most Back Doors Found: No. 150]
[Current Highest Score: No. 150]
My number.
"...Me?"
I muttered in confusion.
I looked again.
That really was my number.
Unless there was some other No. 150...
It was me.
And beneath that were notes that looked as though other participants had written them.
[11. Floor 8.5. Doing well. Let's keep going like this.]
[24. Hello. I am an employee of the Management Bureau. I am currently on Floor 6.5. I was fortunate enough to make it this far, but more importantly, seeing so many of you doing so well is enough to make even me feel deeply relieved. Please remain careful and never lose hope. In particular, I would like to separately thank No. 150 for]
[77. Looks like there's a character limit. It gets harder the higher you climb. Don't drink anything on Floor 5. Everyone, I'm watching your progress. I'll keep doing my best too.]
The notes were written in crooked handwriting.
Come to think of it...
"..."
