Anomaly: Deep Warehouse #4
"Eeeeng...?"
When she came to, she was standing in the middle of dimly lit stairs. The warm library lights that had illuminated her moments ago were gone, replaced by a railing-less staircase descending into the unknown. Below, miscellaneous tools and balls rolled about in what appeared to be some incomprehensible warehouse.
What is this?
She had definitely opened the door at the library entrance after hearing that knocking sound. Yet somehow, she was now inside this strange space.
"......"
Still, she wasn't oblivious. She realized it immediately. This place was akin to the Shinbi Library—another kind of mystical space.
But unlike the Shinbi Library, which had always been so kind and warm to her... this place felt utterly dry, stuffy, and pitch-black. It was the sort of space where someone dropping dead in a prankish manner wouldn't seem out of place at all.
She schooled her expression.
Squeeze...
The only things she held, having slipped away from the library, were her ancient tome and pen. Was this her power? The abilities Grandmother had directly bestowed upon her could only manifest within the Shinbi Library. In any other space, the library's rules wouldn't apply.
So it wouldn't be strange if anything in this place attacked her.
"Hmng."
Clack. Clack.
With the low sound of her flat shoes, she slowly descended.
Being in such a dim, murky place stirred old memories. The back alley where Grandmother had saved her, as she lay dying—it had a similar vibe. Maybe all dangerous places carried this kind of atmosphere.
A warehouse...? But everything here is gym equipment.
Reaching the bottom, she scanned her surroundings with an impassive gaze.
The fear this space evoked wasn't a big issue for her, really. Her old body might have trembled and fled, but having brushed death once before, she felt nothing now.
Instead, she wanted answers. The source of that knocking sound that had lured her here. And another thing... the faint scent of a book emanating from somewhere in this space.
It was subtle, but unmistakable. A book radiating an aura similar to those in the Shinbi Library's stacks was hidden somewhere in this vast warehouse.
"......Grandmother did mention that new books occasionally come in."
Like any ordinary library, the Shinbi Library sometimes welcomed new family members. Books of unknown authorship, taking all sorts of forms and auras, would slip into the stacks now and then, Grandmother had said.
So... had the book in this warehouse invited her?
That might be too much of a leap, even if it was a book trying to enter the library. For now, she opened her ancient tome.
Scratch. Scratch.
She dragged the quill's nib across the pages, beginning to write.
She wasn't great at the novels she dreamed of writing, but there was one area where the books praised her: essays. More precisely, she excelled at writing "fact-based content." It felt vivid, believable, they said.
On the other hand, "creative fiction" like novels was agonizing to read, apparently. Hm... She herself struggled to immerse in such creativity, so maybe readers felt the same.
And right now, her description of this "Deep Warehouse," Northeast Sector 24A, right beneath the entrance stairs linked to "---," was a factual record.
From the perspective of humanity precariously clinging to life in the current dimension, modern Earth: 20XX, XX Month, XX Day. The time differential between this "Deep Warehouse" and the outside reality was negligible.
Thud. Rumble...
She felt the nearby balls trembling. Becoming self-aware of their shaking, they began colliding with each other, as if losing their minds. Despite once being mere objects, they went berserk like the Warring States period, frantically smashing and tearing at one another.
Had they become aware of reality? Or did they simply refuse to believe the reality she described?
Crack.
One bowling ball that had held out finally burst with a pop.
She had little interest in these ball creatures mimicking humans. More precisely, "mimicking past humans," but her focus was solely on the book she sensed in the distance.
What would the book's title be?
Ah. [Elementary Physical Education Textbook - Grades 1~6]
It seemed the mandatory PE textbook distributed in elementary school had transformed.
"I need to look into this properly."
She'd have to ask the Elementary Physical Education Textbook directly. Whether it had truly dragged her into this space.
Truth be told, her harsh stance toward it wasn't just for her own safety—it was for the other books. They could be mischievous and playful, but they were ultimately kind helpers. Especially Swamp Zone, Earth Religion Studies 1, and Universe Door Darkness.
She had to return before they noticed. Before their war games ended.
Clack. Clack.
Stepping over the fragments of burst balls, she slowly made her way toward the book.
* * *
As Section Chief Lee passed through various sectors, searching for the exit and his other team members, he gradually realized that this "Deep Warehouse" was no ordinary anomaly space.
"Could this be a newborn?"
For an anomaly space that had only persisted three days... the density was far too high.
Of course, expecting normalcy from a space that defied physical laws was absurd. But regardless, this "Deep Warehouse" was complex and vast in scope.
An anomaly's influence correlates with its information density. The longer and wider the impact, the more information accumulates. Religious anomalies often fell into this category. A local folk faith in some rural area mutating into an anomaly could warrant a high-risk rating, thanks to centuries or millennia of human belief concentrated in one spot.
But for a single elementary school's gym storage to wield such influence? The space's origin was just a small iron door under the stage. Passing through that unleashed the full "Deep Warehouse" effect.
So perhaps it had exerted influence over a long time...
Then, gunfire echoed from afar. Someone from Field Response Division 3 Team had fired.
"Shit has hit the fan."
Section Chief Lee shook off the balls' assault and headed there.
Agent Lee Kyung-seong and the rookie were fleeing while getting pelted by balls.
"Agent Kyung-seong!!"
"......!! Section Chief!"
Bang!
Section Chief Lee shot a ball aiming for Lee Kyung-seong's head, then led them into a nearby equipment rack.
"Huff... huff... This place..."
"It's a bit safer here. Catch your breath."
"Thank you, sir."
"What's up with Intern Choi Il-du?"
"A ball hit his waist. Golf ball. Speed close to 400 km/h."
"That's why you were supporting him. Where are the others?"
"No idea."
After catching their breath, Lee Kyung-seong and Section Chief Lee exchanged info.
"Ball humans—anomalous entities. They seem to mimic dead people. Copied Q from Emergency Support Team 4."
"Intern Choi said he saw a silhouette from afar. Probably one of those ball humans."
"Likely. No, it's basically confirmed. The previous two teams are all dead. Oh, found two elementary kids."
"Where?"
"Knocked 'em out in a nearby rack. The last kid obsessed us, started mental contamination."
"......So that remaining one is..."
"Yeah. Anomalous entity."
Whew. Section Chief Lee let out a long sigh and spoke.
"This space is too big for three days old. Don't you think?"
"......You mean it's a 'complex anomaly'?"
"Huh? No, not that bad. We'd know if it were. More like, the anomalous entity's domain extends beyond the 'Deep Warehouse.'"
"I see."
Mulling Section Chief Lee's words, Lee Kyung-seong offered an answer.
"......The whole elementary school, then?"
"Probably. But since those two kids were relatively normal, the school itself isn't the anomaly space. More precisely... an 'anomalous phenomenon.'"
"Like school ghost stories."
"Yeah. Statue of King Sejong moves, class rank two kills rank one, that sort. That anomalous entity might stem from a 'good kid listens to adults' ghost story."
"We should pass that to the follow-up team. But if you're right, Section Chief, aren't we already in the influence zone?"
"Exactly. Not sure if contact will get through once we exit the Deep Warehouse."
Section Chief Lee imagined the worst: the entire school as an anomaly space, grotesquely twisted kids and teachers hunting them as they tried to escape class.
"If it's ghost story-style, there should be a resolution method."
Not management or processing—resolution. The most straightforward way: eliminate the anomaly from this world or escape. Management involved loopholes, processing brute force.
"Idiot, if I knew that, would I be sitting here? It's been over 40 years since I graduated elementary."
"......Sorry, sir."
"Don't take it seriously; what does that make me?"
To lighten the mood, Section Chief Lee bantered lightly as he stood.
"Alright, let's find the exit first..."
But in that instant, an inexplicable chill enveloped him. Like the sensation from that library, where his existence was erased only to be restored from the universe's edge.
His body trembled in traumatic response.
"What the..."
Instinctively, Section Chief Lee realized it. Some presence had entered the "Deep Warehouse."