How a Regressor Conquers the Tower of Urban Legends
Chapter 19
I looked outside.
A familiar scene stretched before me, accompanied by classical music.
Mannequins stood in rows along an ivory-colored corridor.
The ceiling was so high that I couldn't see the sky.
Panic immediately began rising inside me.
But...
"!!!"
The mascot started massaging my shoulders.
The familiar touch quickly brought me back to my senses.
"Ah. Thank you."
"!"
The mascot nodded slowly.
Was it just my imagination, or did it seem rather nervous too?
No.
Enough of that.
Worrying wouldn't change anything.
First, I needed to check the notebook.
I quickly opened it and examined the contents.
[9. Kill yourself.]
[33. Where is this?]
[33. Looks like an art museum? Why is nobody who came before me here?]
[33. Ah.]
"..."
I closed the notebook again.
Cold sweat ran down my back.
There's practically no information!
"...Do you know anything about this place?"
"..."
The mascot stopped for a moment.
Then...
"...!"
It nodded very slowly.
"Can you guide me?"
"..."
It put a hand against its chin, seemingly deep in thought.
Then...
"!!?!!?!"
It began gesturing frantically.
I narrowed my eyes and studied its movements before reaching a conclusion.
"You can't guide me perfectly, but you can still help somehow?"
"!"
The mascot nodded.
"..."
What exactly is this mascot?
It had come to me as a special reward for achieving the highest performance on the first floor.
But even now, I still didn't know what it really was.
All I knew was that it was friendly toward me and didn't seem to know much about the building itself.
Yet it knew something about Floor N.
"..."
The mascot slowly stepped outside the elevator.
I followed it.
Its soft footsteps blended with the classical music.
I looked around.
It was an enormous art museum.
At least, that was what the design suggested.
The ivory marble floor and elegant wooden decorations certainly resembled an art museum.
The only difference was...
"..."
Mannequins stood in long rows.
There was nothing particularly special about their poses.
They weren't arranged to express some artistic idea.
They simply stood there like the mannequins displayed in the fashion department of a shopping mall.
But it was difficult to dismiss them as ordinary mannequins.
"...Those are human heads, aren't they?"
"..."
Some of the mannequins had human heads attached where their own heads should have been.
Some faces were frozen in terror.
Others looked as though they were sleeping peacefully.
The mascot didn't answer.
It simply turned its head away.
"..."
Were these people who had previously been trapped here?
If so, how had they ended up in this place?
And wasn't I the 150th person to be brought into the building?
Why did there seem to be so many people here?
Countless questions rushed through my mind.
I closed my eyes.
There was far too much I wanted to know.
Why had I been brought here in the first place?
What exactly was the notebook?
How had all these people ended up here?
But right now, I needed to survive.
Satisfying my curiosity wasn't the priority.
I exhaled deeply and opened the notebook.
[150. Some of the mannequins have human heads attached. Looking at them does not appear to produce any unusual effects.]
I continued walking down the long corridor with the mascot.
Before long, we reached a fork.
I slowly examined the signs.
[← Hall of Art]
[→ Hall of Philosophy]
"..."
Art and philosophy?
I looked between the two directions.
The mascot stared at the signs for a moment.
Then it looked at me.
"...Didn't you say you could guide me?"
"..."
The mascot awkwardly scratched its cheek.
If you don't know where to go, why are you leading the way?
I sighed inwardly and looked at the two paths.
Art and philosophy.
If I chose art, wouldn't I probably end up somewhere filled with strange modern artwork?
From what little I knew of contemporary art, much of it would probably be difficult for me to understand.
I wasn't particularly knowledgeable about art in the first place.
In that case...
[Hall of Philosophy]
"Let's go to the Hall of Philosophy."
I spoke calmly.
The mascot nodded and started walking toward the Hall of Philosophy.
It didn't seem to know the route anyway, so I doubted that letting it lead would make much difference.
Still, it was probably doing its best to look after me.
I quietly followed.
I kept checking the notebook, wondering whether it would update like it had on the fifth floor.
But nothing significant changed.
The moment we entered the Hall of Philosophy, our surroundings became darker.
I briefly considered retreating.
Then...
"...!"
The mascot, which had been staring ahead, suddenly hurried somewhere.
It picked something up from the floor and brought it to me.
A sheet of paper.
Paper?
"What's this?"
"!!"
The mascot held it out insistently, gesturing for me to read it first.
What was it trying to tell me?
I accepted the paper and began reading.
[To everyone who has arrived here, we would first like to offer our deepest condolences.]
[You have entered the Hall of Philosophy.]
[First, do not turn back. No attempt to return has ever succeeded.]
[This manual contains advice left by those who came before you to help you overcome this situation a little more easily.]
[Whether you believe it is entirely your choice. However, even if you follow this manual, your chances of surviving are low.]
"...What is this?"
The mascot scratched its cheek before pointing at the paper again.
"You want me to keep reading?"
"!"
"And it's trustworthy?"
"!"
The mascot nodded with such confidence that I figured it must have a reason.
I looked at the next section.
[Hall of Philosophy]
[1. The Hall of Philosophy consists of three exhibition halls.]
[2. They are Exhibition Hall 1, Exhibition Hall 2, and Exhibition Hall 3. You can reach the exit only after passing through Exhibition Hall 3.]
[3. The form of the exit depends on the method by which you arrived here.]
[4. Continue straight ahead. Do not turn back.]
[5. If you turn back, you will certainly die.]
The exit depends on how I arrived?
"..."
Then would my exit be an elevator?
I pressed my fingers against my temples.
The mascot tapped my shoulder again.
When I turned, it was pointing ahead.
"Fine. I understand. We just have to keep going."
"!"
It wouldn't even give me time to think.
I swallowed hard.
Instinctively, I raised the sharpened stake and held its tip against my throat as I began walking.
The slight sting at my neck kept me alert.
Even death might not allow me to escape this place.
All I could do was move forward.
I bit my lip and continued.
Still, there was a little hope.
Who knew?
Maybe if I died here, I'd wake up at the entrance to the sixth floor.
I kept walking.
Before long, another long corridor appeared before me.
Once again, mannequins stood in rows.
Unlike the earlier ones, however, none of these had human heads.
Instead, they were all striking different poses.
One held a hand against its head, as though thinking deeply.
Another pressed its temples while frowning.
When I examined them more carefully, I noticed something.
Although their poses differed, they shared one thing in common.
"...Thinking?"
They were all posed as though they were thinking.
Whether their arms were crossed or their legs were folded, every expression was connected to thought.
I lowered my gaze and resumed reading the paper.
[Hall of Philosophy — Exhibition Hall 1]
[1. Upon arriving at Exhibition Hall 1, first examine your surroundings. You will see mannequins.]
[2. Follow the instructions below according to the expressions on the mannequins.]
[3. The mannequins may display anguish, sadness, or laughter.]
[3-1. If they display anguish, write down a concern that reflects the same anguish. It must be a genuinely serious concern.]
[3-2. If they display sadness, write down the saddest experience of your life.]
[3-3. If they display laughter, turn around and leave.]
Mine were displaying anguish.
I glanced around.
A sheet of yellowed paper had appeared nearby, along with an elegant quill pen.
Neither had been there before.
"I hate this kind of thing."
It felt like something straight out of a horror movie.
The mascot, meanwhile, was bouncing happily beside the paper without a care in the world.
"I'm coming. I'm coming."
When I approached, the mascot handed me the paper and quill.
I touched the sheet.
It didn't really feel like paper.
It felt more like stiff leather.
Is this parchment?
Parchment was traditionally made by washing and stretching animal skin before treating it so people could write on it.
I held the quill and thought for a moment.
A serious concern.
That wasn't difficult.
Without even needing to think, I wrote:
[Being dragged into this place.]
Even if I survived and eventually returned home, would there ever be a more painful moment in my life than this?
I certainly hoped not.
After finishing, I looked down at the instructions again.
[4. Once you have finished writing, hold the paper and continue forward.]
[5. You will eventually find a container. Place the paper inside.]
[6. If a path appears ahead, you have successfully reached Exhibition Hall 2.]
[7. If no path appears, your anguish was insufficient. Turn around.]
Fine.
Let's follow the instructions for now.
Holding the parchment, I continued forward.
Soon, I found the container.
I placed the parchment inside.
Rustle.
The paper slipped into it.
"..."
I stared ahead nervously.
Then...
Fssss...
With a sound like crumbling dust, a path appeared before me.
"...This is more manageable than I expected."
I tried to conceal the trembling in my voice.
The mascot slapped my back and gave me a thumbs-up.
I met its gaze briefly, then looked down at the next section of the paper.
[Hall of Philosophy — Exhibition Hall 2]
[1. Beginning with Exhibition Hall 2, you will encounter writings related to philosophy, as is appropriate for an exhibition devoted to philosophy.]
[2. From Exhibition Hall 2 onward, there will be others besides you. Although they may appear human, there has never been a confirmed case of two humans entering the same museum simultaneously. Ignore all of them.]
[3. Never read the writings. Even if you are a Nobel Prize-winning scholar, you will not be able to understand them. Furthermore, if you continue reading, you will begin to sympathize with the philosophy they express.]
[4. However, if you do not read the writings, the others will become suspicious of you. Pretend to examine them just enough to deceive the other visitors.]
[5. If the others discover that you are not reading, they will turn their attention toward you and force you to read. If this happens, turn around.]
[6. The number of visitors in Exhibition Hall 2 is entirely random. The more visitors there are, the harder it will be to clear. The fewer there are, the easier it will be.]
"..."
Good.
I understood.
I just had to avoid actually reading the philosophical writings.
Thinking that, I looked ahead.
"..."
Countless figures were wandering around Exhibition Hall 2.
Shadows.
People.
And things that only vaguely resembled humans.
There were so many that I couldn't even begin to count them.
