How a Regressor Conquers the Tower of Urban Legends
Chapter 38
Something was wrong.
I turned toward the window.
Through the gaps between the wooden boards, I could barely make out the scenery outside.
The sky was stained bright red.
Even the clouds were dyed crimson.
It wasn't sunset.
"Damn it."
I closed my eyes and opened them again.
Nothing changed.
After everything I'd been through, I wasn't going to panic over something like this.
I gritted my teeth and looked away.
"..."
I needed to think.
Things going wrong had practically become a daily occurrence by now.
Let's put things in order.
First, the most important thing was escaping this place before the plane landed.
The most likely escape route was probably through an emergency exit.
There should be a back door too, but finding any exit came first.
The problem was...
"..."
I looked at the flight attendants.
They were completely geared up.
They didn't have guns, but could I beat people wearing equipment like that?
No.
More accurately, there was no way I could beat them.
I had absolutely no combat-related abilities.
Of course, I did have one option available to me.
"?"
I tapped the mascot's arm.
It tilted its head and looked at me.
After checking that nobody was listening, I whispered.
"...Can you knock all of them out?"
"!"
"Wait, wait."
The mascot immediately nodded and started to rise.
I hurriedly stopped it and explained what I'd read in the notebook.
The only confirmed escape routes so far involved leaving the aircraft itself.
I couldn't defeat the attendants on my own.
So I needed its help.
"Got it?"
"!"
The mascot nodded vigorously.
Had it gotten a little bigger?
That thought crossed my mind, but then the mascot suddenly raised one hand and pointed ahead.
"What?"
"!!!!"
"Oh. You mean I should go inside and hide because it'll be dangerous?"
"!"
"Hmm."
Not bad advice.
But...
"I'll check out the restroom while you're doing that."
Assuming the mascot caused a disturbance inside the cabin, the restroom was currently the easiest and safest place for me to enter.
"!"
"All right. I'm counting on you."
I nodded and stood up.
The instant I did, a flight attendant approached me without losing that horrifying smile.
It held out one hand as if warning me that entering was dangerous.
Then...
CRASH!
The mascot grabbed the attendant's hand, lifted it clean off the floor, and threw it.
The attendant slammed down and went limp.
I hadn't expected it to be that easy.
Countless flight attendants immediately rushed the mascot.
I watched for a moment, then leisurely stood.
Leaving the sounds of people being thrown around behind me, I walked into the aircraft restroom as if I were simply a normal passenger using the facilities.
Thanks to the mascot drawing all the attention, no one tried to stop me.
Once inside, I locked the door and examined the room.
An ordinary airplane restroom.
Was there anything unusual?
I searched thoroughly, hoping someone had left behind some kind of note.
Outside, things kept breaking.
Apparently, the mascot was still doing an excellent job causing chaos.
It really was good at following instructions.
"..."
The restroom itself was completely normal.
Nothing more and nothing less than the kind of airplane restroom I knew.
Which only made it stranger.
Every other route had been destroyed, blocked, reinforced, or otherwise altered.
So why was the restroom untouched?
Was it because there was no escape route here?
Or because something else was hidden inside?
I should search more carefully.
I practically tore the restroom apart.
Then...
"Found something."
I reached beneath the sink.
Something damp and soft touched my hand.
A roll of toilet paper.
It looked like it had once been soaked, leaving water stains all over it.
I quickly unrolled it and started reading.
The handwriting wasn't rushed, but it was uneven, as if whoever wrote it had been trembling.
[Something is strange.]
[I definitely boarded a plane that was supposed to take me home, but it never reaches the destination.]
[Only after realizing that we'd been flying for exactly thirty hours did it occur to me that something was wrong.]
[I tried speaking to the other passengers, but communication barely works.]
[Then they all started smiling, so I ran away.]
[The laughter won't stop. I don't think these people even realize I'm here.]
[The plane has been shaking constantly for a while. An announcement is playing.]
[They're looking for me. A flight attendant is calling my name.]
[Is there any way to escape?]
[I remembered the last in-flight announcement I heard.]
[It said the cargo hold is safe, but I don't know how to get there from the passenger cabin.]
[I'm hiding, but I don't know how long I can last.]
That was where the message ended.
"..."
I had no way of knowing what happened to the person who wrote it.
But I knew they weren't here anymore.
And if they weren't here...
I stared at the note, then looked away.
The cargo hold.
Planes obviously had cargo compartments for luggage.
So was this telling me to go there?
"...Can a person even get into the cargo hold?"
As far as I knew, it wasn't easy for ordinary passengers to access.
Especially while the plane was in flight.
"..."
How was I supposed to get there?
Before I could think much longer, the sounds outside began dying down.
Then came a knock on the door.
I opened it.
Countless figures lay unconscious across the floor.
The mascot dusted off its arms, looked at me, and proudly gave me a thumbs-up.
"Good job."
"!!!"
I looked away from the mascot and toward the exit door.
I'd gained some information.
But for now, let's escape first.
"All right. Then let's hurry and open the—"
Ding!
