See You in a Week, Beyond the Seal on the 3rd Floor
Thud. Rumble rumble thud—tatatata—tap, tap, tap. It sounded just like a horde of people madly sprinting down a narrow hallway.
“……”
“……”
Yaruru and I froze solid, unable to utter a word or make a move for what felt like ages.
We could hear it. Clear as day.
The noise seemed to rush right up to our noses, like it knew we were there. It paced wildly back and forth for a while—right in front of the magic circle, just a few steps above us.
Thump.
Something collided with a jolt. In that instant, the chains rattled faintly.
Clink—
Tiny compared to the pounding footsteps, but it hit like thunder.
Yaruru grabbed my sleeve frantically with her trembling hands.
“Ch-Chase…”
Her voice shook as badly as her hands.
“This… this is really dangerous, you know!”
“…Yeah.”
I swallowed dryly, my own voice quivering.
Thump thump—
We'd come for research on horror games, but real danger wasn't exactly welcome.
People can enjoy horror precisely because it's safe!!!
Of course, Yaruru and I had come this far because we trusted our skills. But right now, we didn't even know if our pursuer was a monster or a ghost.
No intel, no need to push our luck.
The magic circle and chains. The horde of footsteps from above. The unidentified presence. That was more than enough.
“Let's get out. Now.”
No way were we sticking around.
If it's a monster, maybe we could fight. A ghost… well, would magic work?
With some unknown thing right in our faces, I wasn't about to draw aggro.
I made a hush gesture to wide-eyed Yaruru and backed away carefully.
“Good idea, you know… We gotta get out right now, you know…!”
We crept down the hall as quietly as possible, slipping out the opposite way.
Even then, the presence followed us. Tap. Thud. Thud. Rattle— like it was stalking us.
Sounds like doors creaking or something dragging across the floor persisted until we hit the stairs to the first floor.
The moment we burst outside into sunlight, Yaruru and I collapsed onto the ground, staring blankly at the sky.
“Haa, heek…”
“Yaruru, you okay?”
“Not okay at all, you know…”
She clutched her chest tightly.
“My heart's still pounding like crazy, you know.”
“Tell me about it…”
“'Tell me about it' isn't gonna cut it, you know!”
After catching her breath, Yaruru whipped her head around.
“You looked scared out of your mind too, you know.”
“…A little.”
“A little? You were sweating bullets, you know.”
“…”
I wiped my forehead at her words—and sure enough, my fingers came away soaked.
“Ughhh. I really thought we were goners, you know…”
Yaruru shuddered, then muttered lowly.
“But it's weird, you know.”
“…What is?”
“We didn't even see whatever was on the third floor, you know.”
Her words left me stunned.
Well—
“It could've been anything—a cat, a dog, who knows, you know.”
“…Y-Yeah, sure.”
“But we still bolted in terror. Kinda strange now that I think about it. Wonder why, you know.”
In that brief moment, Yaruru had grasped the essence of horror.
“If we'd known what it was, it wouldn't have been so scary, you know. But since we couldn't see it, our imaginations ran wild and made it way scarier, you know…”
I stared at her, not hiding my surprise, and pulled out my memo pad from my waist.
“What're you doing all of a sudden, you know.”
“That last bit? Perfect for the game.”
Scribble-scribble.
Fear amplified by the unseen. No need to reveal the entity—how to spur the imagination?
I finished jotting and flopped onto the ground.
“I still don't get what's so 'good' about any of this, you know…”
Her disgusted face made me chuckle.
“Our goal's gathering material for a horror game.”
“Saying it like that makes it a tiny bit less scary, you know.”
“Glad to hear it.”
The research building wasn't the end of our hunt. We strolled leisurely toward the academy center.
Luckily, one snack bar was open for the remaining staff. Yaruru grabbed a thick sandwich and milk without hesitation; I picked hot tea to calm my still-racing heart.
The second we sat on the bench out front, Yaruru chomped into her sandwich.
“Nom nom… Phew, now I feel alive, you know…”
“…Won't you choke?”
“Don't worry, you know. I'm starving right now…”
After all that tension inside, hunger made sense. I sipped my tea and let out a deep sigh.
Under the warm sun, the hot liquid easing into me—it loosened my stiff shoulders a bit.
Now that my brain was working again, I flipped open my memo pad.
Flickering lights. Unsettling noises. Suggestive phrases. Half-open doors.
…
Got a rough plan shaping up. Exploration over combat for horror—definitely suits me.
This much was clear. I'd seen horror with all sorts of elements, but it didn't fit my newbie skills yet.
Save the complex stuff for after I introduce this world to horror's fun.
By then, my skills would be ripe.
Yaruru munched her sandwich and deftly tore a page from her Infinite Memo Pad.
“…No idea what I wrote from the midpoint on, you know.”
“Hold up. What?”
I snapped a photo of the torn page in her hand with my mana panel.
“Whoa! Goldmine!”
“…You're in bad shape, you know.”
I ignored her head-shake and added another line.
Elements to amp up desperate tension!
Nice.
…In game terms, we'd just cleared Chapter 1.
Back at the inn in Academy City that evening, I dove into my mental space as promised with Adel.
She must've been waiting—our eyes met, and she rushed over.
“You're here!”
“Yeah. Promised, didn't I?”
“So—what'd you see? Scary? Fun? You didn't spot anything really weird, right? Wait, if you did, you probably couldn't be here…”
“Whoa, too many questions.”
“That's how curious I am!”
I caught my breath and recounted the day step by step.
The eerily quiet academy, nothing like usual. The abandoned research building in a remote spot. The sealed third floor, the footsteps from above—everything.
I lowered my voice dramatically mid-tale, added sound effects, even mimicked the mystery presence. Adel hung on every word without interrupting.
Then, at the climax—
“We turned quietly and bolted from the magic circle…”
Gulp—
“Tap—thud. Tatatatata!!!”
“Kyaa!”
“Ahahaha!!”
“Seriously! Too much!”
I wiped tears from my eyes as she glared daggers.
“If that's your reaction already, what about my game? It's gonna be way scarier.”
“…For real?”
I nodded.
“Eeeek… Wanna try it, but too scared…”
Grinning, I recreated the research building in my mental space from memory and photos.
“What do you think? Like this.”
“…So the second floor looked like this?”
Perked up already, Adel stood, poked the fire suit, tugged at a lab door.
“Nah, you slide these doors sideways.”
“…”
Following her as she poked around the second-floor hall, the magic circle soon loomed ahead.
“Yaruru spotted something off with this right away?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah.”
“Heh—”
Adel pondered deeply. I tilted my head.
“You know this magic too?”
“Huh? Oh—what'd you say?”
Snapping to, she raised a brow.
“Next time you see something sketchy, ask me first!”
“Aw, worried about me?”
“Duh! If you get hurt, I get endangered in here too!”
I chuckled and said sure.
Or her frown would've lasted forever.
“…So I kept my promise?”
“Hmph. Now you've got two.”
She huffed, but sneaked a glance my way.
…Geez.
“'Course I remember. Don't sweat it.”
“Good.”
She beamed instantly.
“Next time, tell me about scarier stuff—or fun stuff?”
“Not up to me.”
“Still excited.”
With her send-off, I returned to reality and fired up my mana panel.
After a brief hesitation, I shot Luchel a quick message.
“What the—psycho?”
Good atmosphere only? We'd only reached the second floor. The 'real' deal was third—so yeah, technically just vibes.
But Luchel's tone…
“Sounds possessed. Total horror cliché.”
Luring new victims to its lair…
“Nah, no way.”
Maybe all the scary thoughts were getting to me. I'd never sleep.
I tapped out more.
Gulp.
I swallowed involuntarily at those words.
Not even comparable to the research building?
…Research is research, but this much?
Sighing, I knocked on the next room's door.
Knock knock.
“Who's there, you know?”
Pajama-clad Yaruru peeked out.
“Chase? Why the serious face, you know.”
I stepped in and silently handed her the mana panel.
She read our chat slowly, eyes landing on the last line. Stared at me.
“…”
“…”
“Why so quiet.”
“Chase, can we just go home now, you know.”
“Pfft—you suggested it, you said you'd come.”
“That was assistant duty… couldn't help it, you know…”
She glanced between me and the panel, then steeled herself and stood.
“Let's do it once, you know! More people means less scary, you know!”
…Dunno about that.
Future looked chaotic, but we were locked in.
After the research building, backing out felt wasteful. Plus, curiosity about this 'incomparable' spot.
How scary could it be?
With Yaruru on board, I replied to Luchel.
She hugged her blanket, muttering as she watched.
“This wasn't my plan, you know…”
I turned off her light and left…
“Leave the light on, you know!”
“Got it!”
I flicked it back on and stepped out.
“A week, huh… Can't wait.”
If the research building was the opener, the real show's just beginning.