Chapter 30

How a Regressor Conquers the Tower of Urban Legends

Chapter 30

The serial disappearance cases.

Even someone like me, who rarely paid much attention to society outside of work, knew about them.

And as one of the people directly involved, I could say one thing with confidence.

"It's connected to the elevators."

"!"

The deeper I dug, the more questions appeared.

What exactly was this building?

Was the place I'd arrived at even part of reality?

No.

First...

"You remember the tickets, right?"

"!"

The two tickets I'd received from the elevator.

One had strengthened the mascot.

The other had allowed me to enter Floor 0.5.

[9. If you know what this ticket is, take it. You'll need it.]

"..."

I adjusted the headset and briefly closed my eyes.

The people who had created these instructions might not know everything, but they definitely knew the elevators existed.

And they knew people like us needed those tickets.

How they knew about us was another question entirely.

Still...

"Nobody else would've taken it."

There hadn't been any notebook entry from someone claiming to have found a ticket in the Ultrasound Room.

I kept the headset on and slowly moved deeper inside.

The mascot walked beside me, just as tense as I was.

Occasionally, a nurse would briefly show their face.

But whenever I ignored them, they simply turned and left.

No matter how much I searched the notebook, there weren't any detailed records about what happened inside the Ultrasound Room.

[77. My head hurt like hell. I had no choice but to stagger around and rely on luck to get out.]

[77. The guide mentioned some kind of ticket, but I couldn't find it. Maybe it's one of those tickets I already know about?]

[77. If someone can find it, please take it.]

[90. Screw that ticket. I lost one of my ring fingers getting out of there. How am I supposed to face my fiancée when I get back?]

[98. I read about the ticket too, but I didn't even know what kind of ticket it was, and I definitely didn't have the mental capacity to search for it. Kind of regret that now. Would've been nice to get something.]

It seemed like nobody had managed to search this place while still thinking clearly.

In that case...

I adjusted the headset again and started searching the Ultrasound Room from top to bottom.

Let's see...

"??"

"We should find the ticket before we leave."

"!"

Wasn't this a rare opportunity?

The mascot tilted its head at my words, then clapped its hands as though it finally understood.

"If you get it, then help me look."

"!"

The mascot rolled up sleeves that didn't exist and nodded enthusiastically.

We searched the Ultrasound Room together for quite a while.

Then...

"Found it."

"!!"

A dusty ticket came into my hand.

"..."

It must have been lying on the floor for a long time.

Even some of the lettering had worn away, making it difficult to read.

"Companion... Enhancement Ticket..."

"?!"

The mascot literally jumped.

"Should I use it right n—"

"?!!?!?!?!?!"

"Why not?"

Why was it so violently opposed?

The mascot frantically waved both hands, looking like it was about to have a seizure.

I had no choice but to stop.

"!?!!?!?!?!"

"Wait. I have no idea what you're trying to say."

"!!!?!"

"...You don't want me to use it now?"

"!"

Then who was I supposed to use it on?

I stared at the mascot with that question written all over my face.

"...!!!"

It shook its head emphatically.

Whatever the reason, apparently the answer was still no.

"...Can you see the future or something?"

Was I going to get another companion later?

"?"

"Then why are you telling me not to use it?"

"!?!?!?!!?!?"

"So basically, just don't use it?"

"!"

"..."

Well...

If it hated the idea that much, there wasn't much I could do.

The reason could wait.

What if repeated enhancements eventually turned it into an actual bear?

"..."

"...?"

The thought suddenly made me nervous.

I could tolerate getting a bear hug from someone in a bear mascot costume.

I wasn't particularly interested in getting a bear hug from an actual bear.

Anyway...

"Fine. We'll save this for later."

"!"

There would probably be a time when I needed it.

I shoved the ticket into my pocket and turned around.

"?"

"I'm going back through the Ultrasound Room."

"??"

The mascot stared at me in confusion.

I'd explained it pretty clearly, but apparently it still didn't understand.

"????"

"Oh. You're asking why I'm going back?"

"!"

Wasn't it obvious?

I could walk through there without any problems.

"I'm going to draw a map."

I still had work to do.

Even after I returned from making the map, the mascot continued staring at me as though I had lost my mind.

[150. For some reason, the Examination Room is closed. I went through the Ultrasound Room instead, so I'll leave a map.]

[150. (Map drawing)]

Good.

The map was finished.

"This should be understandable enough, right?"

"..."

The mascot looked at me as though it strongly disagreed.

I snapped the notebook shut and looked around.

Let's see.

I'd already mapped and memorized the route through the Ultrasound Room.

Even if I died, I should be able to clear it again.

Then...

I unfolded the guide once more.

[Jeina Tree Hospital — Isolation Building, Isolation Ward]

[1. Once you have entered the Isolation Building, your escape route must pass through the Isolation Ward.]

[2. No one who escaped by any route other than the Isolation Ward has ever been confirmed alive after their escape record.]

[3. Continue forward. Medical staff will be waiting for you.]

[4. The rooms you must be assigned are Room 203, Room 107, or Room 303.]

[5. If you are assigned any other room, politely request a room change. They will change it.]

[6. If the medical staff still refuse to change your room, use the enclosed item.]

[7. Take care not to confuse the rooms. There have been cases of room numbers being deliberately changed to lure people into the wrong room.]

"..."

This place was openly malicious.

Still...

Wouldn't I be fine with the mascot beside me?

It had always been a huge help.

Thinking that, I raised my head.

"...?"

Two members of the medical staff were standing before us.

One in front of me.

One in front of the mascot.

If they hadn't been wearing uniforms, I probably would've screamed.

Neither had a face.

They looked like smooth-faced ghosts.

But why were there two?

The answer quickly became obvious.

One of them stepped beside the mascot.

"..."

"..."

The mascot and I exchanged looks.

It counts as a patient too?

Then the staff member grabbed the mascot's arm and pulled.

"..."

"......!"

The mascot didn't move an inch.

It stood there as though it had grown roots into the floor, staring directly at me.

I appreciated the sentiment.

And I knew it was worried.

But...

"Go."

I waved my hand.

The mascot shook its head.

"...!?"

"Standing there and resisting probably isn't going to end well."

If this were a place where strength solved everything, we'd already have brute-forced the entire building long ago.

"..."

I quickly looked away from the medical staff.

Then I silently mouthed the words toward the mascot.

Let's meet at the exit.

"......"

The medical staff had no eyes or mouths.

Hopefully that meant they could hear us but couldn't read lips.

"..."

After a brief silence, the mascot nodded.

Once it stopped resisting, the staff member led it down the corridor.

The mascot kept looking back at me repeatedly.

I simply watched it go without saying anything.

For a moment, I wondered whether I should've given it the guide.

But the mascot was physically and mentally much tougher than I was.

It would probably be fine.

The mascot disappeared from sight.

At the same moment, the remaining staff member grabbed my arm.

"I won't resist. Let's go."

I obediently let it lead me away.

Unlike the mascot, I was a weak human who could probably be torn in half with enough force.

I walked beside the staff member and examined my surroundings.

I couldn't see outside at all.

There were windows, but every single one had been boarded shut.

And...

BANG!

"Aaaagh!"

Occasionally, screams and violent pounding came from behind the doors we passed.

I did my best to close my eyes and ignore them.

Even those screams didn't quite sound human.

More like...

"...Howling?"

Yeah.

Howling was probably more accurate.

After being led down the corridor for some time, we finally stopped in front of a room.

I immediately checked the number.

Room 203.

The guide had said the safe rooms were 203, 107, and 303.

Good.

At least I hadn't been assigned the wrong one.

The staff member pointed toward the room, telling me to enter.

"Yes, yes. I'm going."

I slowly stepped inside.

The door slid shut behind me.

"..."

I looked around.

The room was bleak.

There was a calendar.

A bed with an extremely thin mattress.

A desk.

And one dreary-looking window.

Even that window had been completely boarded over, making it impossible to see outside.

Click.

The door locked.

I immediately opened both the guide and the notebook.

Let's see what I had to do next.

[Jeina Tree Hospital — Isolation Building, Inside the Isolation Room]

[1. If you have successfully entered one of the designated safe isolation rooms, the room should contain only a desk, a bed, a window that does not show the outside, and a calendar.]

[2. If anything else is present, this is not one of the designated rooms.]

[3. Once you have confirmed that you are in a safe room, the first thing you must do is remove the boards covering the window.]

[4. Make as little noise as possible during this process. The beings trapped in the other rooms will not appreciate your attempt to escape and will likely call the medical staff or attempt to harm you.]

Understood.

Remove the boards.

How had the others handled this?

[27. I somehow made it here alive. They tried to assign me to Room 206 at first, so I had to practically beg them to switch my room...]

[27. Be careful when removing the boards. The nails were hammered in much more tightly than I expected, and pulling them out made a lot of noise.]

[77. They took me straight to Room 203. Lucky me.]

[77. The nails on mine weren't that tight. They were actually pretty loose.]

[90. Shit, I dropped one of the boards.]

[90. What do I do? Something over there is pounding on the door like crazy. What the hell do I do?]

[90. I can hear a door breaking. That's not a person. That's seriously not a person.]

[90. no d]

"..."

Good.

I needed to be extremely careful about making noise.

I took a deep breath and started removing the nails.

"...Damn it..."

How the hell had No. 77 gotten loose nails?

Mine were driven in like someone had wanted them to stay there forever.

I spent a long time struggling with them.

By the time I'd finally removed the last board, my fingers were swollen red.

"Ow..."

I rubbed my aching fingers.

Then I immediately looked out the window.

Darkness.

Not normal nighttime darkness.

Just pure, pitch-black nothingness.

"Hmm..."

I pushed the question aside and quickly unfolded the guide again.

What was next?

[Jeina Tree Hospital — Isolation Building, Inside the Isolation Room]

[5. Once all boards have been removed, open the window and jump.]

[6. Survival rate: 30%.]

"..."

Is this really the correct method?