Chapter 52

How a Regressor Conquers the Tower of Urban Legends

Chapter 52

"..."

"..."

The mascot and I stared at each other in silence.

"Are you going to kill me?"

"?"

"I asked if you're going to kill me."

"??"

"...Come inside."

The mascot tilted its head like it had no idea what I was talking about, so I let it into the house.

I'd expected some monster to be waiting outside.

Apparently not.

"Hey, don't sit there. You'll soak the whole sofa."

Why are you acting like this is your own house?

The mascot ignored me and plopped straight onto the couch.

I stared at it, then let out a long sigh.

"How did you even get here?"

According to my theory, the mascot had its own sense of self.

So I assumed it would've been sent somewhere connected to its own life rather than mine.

Apparently not.

"!!!!"

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

The mascot waved its arms and legs furiously.

I watched it for a moment, then forced the broken door back into place as best I could.

The rain was pouring down like crazy outside.

"Was there anything dangerous on your way here?"

"!"

"What about the people outside?"

"……!!!!"

Apparently, there weren't any.

"There was nobody outside?"

"!"

That was strange.

Humans weren't the kind of creatures who obeyed every warning just because someone told them not to do something.

There was a reason stories like Pandora's Box existed.

There should've been at least one idiot who went outside just to look at the rain.

"Seriously? Nobody?"

"!"

"..."

Something was off.

Even if everyone had been warned not to go outside, was it really possible for every single person to obey as if they'd made some agreement?

I looked out the window.

The rain continued without pause.

"For now..."

There wasn't much I could do.

I brought out a hair dryer and stood in front of the mascot.

"Spread your arms."

"?"

"You need to dry off."

"!"

It took me quite a while to realize just how long it took to dry a mascot that had been completely soaked through.

The rain was still falling the next morning.

"Did someone punch a hole in the sky?"

"!"

It was raining so heavily that even the company contacted us.

[Due to the torrential rain, employees are strongly encouraged to take the day off.]

[Remote work is available, but please use any remaining annual leave if possible.]

I clicked my tongue at the company's shameless attempt to burn through our vacation days even in a disaster.

SHAAAAA...

I stared at the rain while listening to the news.

<As the torrential rainfall continues, the government has declared a national emergency.>

<Citizens are advised to remain cautious, and in case of emergency, please use the National Evacua—>

"!!!"

"Thanks."

I took the coffee the mascot had made and thought.

What was I supposed to do?

I had absolutely no idea.

"Do you know where the exit is?"

"?"

"Thought so."

I knew this was the final section of Floor 10.

So the exit shouldn't be another stairway leading downward.

It should be an elevator.

"..."

But where was I supposed to go to find one?

If it wasn't the elevator at the office, then where...

RUMBLE...!

I looked toward the sky as thunder began rolling too.

"They're saying the drainage system is starting to fail."

"!"

If things were this bad here, other places were probably even worse.

"Apparently, it's raining like this all over the world."

"...!"

That was right.

It wasn't just us.

News reports were already coming in from other countries about massive rainfall.

"Especially in the West. Sounds like they're getting hit really hard."

Compared to a country that routinely dealt with temperature differences of over fifty degrees between seasons, their disaster infrastructure probably wasn't as prepared.

SHAAAAA...

"..."

As I watched the rain, the smartphone rang again.

<Residents on the first floor are advised to seek higher ground.>

<If necessary, check the National Emergency Escape App.>

"..."

<Do not go outside under any circumstances.>

<Multiple casualties are being reported. Citizens are advised to prioritize their safety and refrain from going outdoors.>

<Fish from the sea are moving inland due to the flooding.>

<If bitten by a fish, contact emergency services at 119.>

<They will provide appropriate instructions based on the situation.>

"..."

I'd seen news before about fish being swept into residential areas during floods.

But...

"This is inland."

The neighborhood I lived in was nowhere near the coast.

There was no way marine life should already be reaching this far.

Something was wrong.

I carefully looked toward the mascot.

It seemed to feel the same unease and stared back at me.

"Something feels strange, right?"

"!"

<Please use the National Emergency Escape App.>

<Proceed to the location marked within the National Emergency Escape App.>

<Now, in other news...>

<Current flood damage is estimated as follows, and this figure...>

The news itself didn't sound strange.

The announcers and reporters weren't acting like they were spouting nonsense.

But one thing kept bothering me.

I looked at the smartphone.

The National Emergency Escape App.

I'd installed it last night, but because the mascot had suddenly barged in, I'd never actually opened it.

I slowly launched the app.

Ding.

<Safe evacuation starts with the National Emergency Escape App.>

A clean but strangely outdated-looking logo briefly appeared and disappeared.

Then a map centered on my current location came up.

Several markers appeared around me.

"Looks like these are the emergency escape points."

"!"

I watched the mascot nod, then stood.

"Want to check one out?"

"?"

"We can't exactly search every elevator in the world."

This was still a floor.

A place I had to clear.

If so, there should be clues hidden in something meaningful.

At least, that was how every place I'd encountered so far worked.

And among everything around me, the thing that stood out the most was...

"This."

They called it an Emergency Escape App.

Not a shelter app.

Not an evacuation center.

Escape.

It was a strange word for the government to use.

And that wasn't the only thing.

"Before you showed up last night, I kept getting bizarre emergency alerts."

"?"

I remembered the moment the mascot had been knocking on my door.

And the emergency message that came then.

"It told me not to open the door."

"...?"

"Strange, right?"

Even stranger, the moment the mascot entered my house, the abnormal warnings stopped as though they'd never existed.

The broadcasts had gone back to normal.

"Which means I'm pretty sure something about this place is wrong."

Almost as if someone was watching me.

What a malicious place.

But realizing that made it easier to steel myself.

Good.

Then the nearest location was...

"About a thirty-minute walk from here."

Driving would be pointless in this rain.

Walking was probably best.

"Let's get ready."

I was home.

Might as well take advantage of it.

"Let's grab anything useful."

"!"

"Not coffee."

If I'd known something like this would happen, I would've bought a survival knife or something.

Not that I could've gotten a gun.

I packed several useful items into a bag and looked around my home.

A painfully familiar place.

The place that had become mine ever since I'd started living alone.

Don't waver.

This wasn't my hometown.

My hometown didn't get rain like this.

And bizarre things like this didn't happen there.

Let's go back.

I clenched my jaw and turned away.

I didn't call anyone.

I was afraid my resolve would weaken if I did.

With a large bag on my back, I opened the door.

A tremendous wall of rain filled my vision.

"Let's go."

I opened a large umbrella and stepped outside.

The mascot opened one too and followed behind me.

The moment we reached the first floor...

"...This is ridiculous."

The sheer amount of water was unbelievable.

We'd only reached the ground floor of the apartment building, yet the water was already up to my knees.

"It's raining like it's trying to swallow the whole city."

"..."

The mascot stared silently up at the sky.

I looked away.

"We should move faster."

"...!"

If the rain kept rising, we might have to swim there.

Even though it was daytime, the storm clouds and rain made the streets look like the middle of the night.

We moved as quickly as we could.

Though "quickly" mostly meant the two of us splashing our way through the water.

"!!"

"Thanks!"

I nearly slipped, but the mascot caught me.

I thanked it and looked around.

There wasn't a single person outside.

It felt like the city itself had died.

That didn't mean nobody was around.

Every floor of the apartment building behind us had its lights on.

People were simply refusing to come outside.

Occasionally, I felt eyes on me.

When I looked upward, people stood pressed against their windows, watching us like animals in a zoo.

"...Let's hurry."

"!"

The mascot and I kept pushing through the water.

By the time it felt as though we'd been walking for an eternity, the water that had reached my knees was already up to my thighs.

"...What kind of rain is this...?"

Calling it rain almost felt dishonest.

If there really was a god, this looked like the kind of downpour sent after deciding humanity needed to be wiped out.

The mascot tapped my shoulder.

I looked up.

"This is the place...?"

"!"

An old apartment building stood before us.

It looked abandoned.

Not a single floor had any lights on.

"..."

I stared at the building for a moment before entering and climbing the stairs.

"What floor was it again?"

"!!!!!"

"Fifth floor."

Dragging our soaked clothes with us, we climbed.

Only after getting high enough did we finally escape the floodwater.

Click.

I pulled a flashlight from my bag and switched it on.

Bright light cut through the darkness.

Good thing I'd brought one from home.

"Quiet."

"!"

I let the mascot take the lead while I illuminated the hallway.

SHAAAAA...

I listened to the rain outside with one ear while carefully scanning the surroundings.

"...Is this really supposed to be an evacuation site?"

"..."

"Yeah, well... I didn't exactly expect it to be a normal one."

Keeping my guard up, I climbed farther.

Around the fourth floor...

"...!"

The mascot suddenly stretched one arm out and stopped me.

"What? Is something there?"

"..."

It didn't answer.

Instead, it held out a hand, asking for the flashlight.

I gave it over.

The mascot carefully aimed the light ahead.

Click.

The corridor came into view.

Empty.

Just an old apartment hallway.

But if that were all, the mascot wouldn't have stopped me.

A thick fishy smell filled my nose.

What was that?

That horribly familiar smell...

I narrowed my eyes and stared ahead.

"..."

Then I saw them.

Countless people were lying across the floor.

Had they drowned?

Every body was grotesquely swollen from water.

And then...

"...Mermaids."

Some had fins where their feet should've been.

I carefully looked around.

On the wall, someone had written a sentence that looked like it had been scrawled in blood.

[If the rain never stops, the world becomes no different from the sea.]

"..."

SHAAAAA...

Outside, the rain continued to fall.