Return (1)

An arm flew through the air.

While the thing took a step back to open the distance, I straightened up and raised my sword.

Only ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠then did I get a proper look at it. It was a grotesque thing that could hardly be called human now, but could hardly be called a bug either.

Overall, it had the shape of an insect, with four pairs of legs.

But instead of the hard exoskeleton of an arthropod, it had a hideous body stitched together with smooth, humanlike skin.

Worse, its face had stretched into something unnaturally long, and its jaw had split into three, letting loose shrieks that scraped the air.

"Keh-heek! Kyaaaah!"

"You’re way more disgusting because you’re only half a spider, huh."

I already hated spiders to begin with.

Every time the spider-woman convulsed in pain, the warehouse floor and ceiling caved in and shattered.

This was the same warehouse that had shrugged off blows from a hammer, and now it was going insane.

But even the spider-woman, showing off that monstrous strength, got carved up in front of this weapon.

Behold this radiant status window.

It was a notification well worth the life-or-death swings of my hammer.

And the weapon itself? The blade, somewhere between a single-edged Chinese saber and a Japanese katana, curved with a sleek elegance, and its edge looked like it could rip through anything it touched.

On top of that, the forging process had blackened it into something beautiful.

"Kyaaaah!"

"Shut the hell up!"

The spider-woman, having ruined my appreciation time, clambered up the ceiling and started spewing webs from her mouth again.

This time I sidestepped the web flying straight for my face, then swung Black Moon.

Shaaaak-

With the sound of silk tearing, the web split apart.

The severed strands burst into larvae and rained down in a wet little shower.

And on Black Moon, there was only the faintest trace of larvae left behind.

They were gnawing at it with all their might, but the blade of Black Moon, having grown even sturdier, remained completely intact.

Satisfied, I gave Black Moon a light twirl and stepped toward the spider-woman.

"So now your webs are useless, and that body you went to all that trouble to transform is useless too. What should I do with you now?"

"Grr-ugh! Kheh!"

"Ugh, stop barfing, you crazy bitch."

I hacked away the webs flying at me in a stream and ran forward.

It was time to give her a proper lesson for all the hell she’d put me through.

The spider-woman hurriedly tried to block me with a spread of webbing, but Black Moon sliced straight through the whole curtain without slowing down.

"Geh-hek- keh-rurk......"

"You’re still being a pain to the very end. Fine, fine, just hand over the material."

The spider-woman flailed madly, then reached out toward me as if trying to look pitiful. What, was she going to start sob-storying me at the last second?

From the top of her skull all the way down her back, a wound had split open, and she looked like she was about to die any second now. Still, I decided to send her off cleanly.

Let’s not drag this out, okay?

Her head dropped onto the black moon I had drawn through the air.

At last, she stopped moving and went limp.

At the same time, the hand pressed against her chest slackened, and a bundle of thread dropped out with a soft plop.

And in the middle of it was the core of thought.

"A spider, so it’s like a spool of thread?"

A red jewel was embedded there, like ornamentation on the bundle.

What the hell was this?

I could sort of understand Marionette, but Arachne?

All I knew was that it was the name of the woman from myth who angered a goddess and was turned into a spider.

So what, was this some sort of web-spitting ability?

That sounded pretty damn annoying...

Ah, whatever. I’d try slotting it in later.

For now, that wasn’t the important part. Right now, I wanted out of here.

"Search."

Lucky.

So I could go back after all!

There was another path besides the shopping mall, but I had no intention of gambling with my life right now.

Facing another one of these Backrooms was too much work.

With that meaning in mind, I set off for the shopping mall. Right now.

As I confirmed the target of my search, the lantern light moved.

Jack O' Lantern shone on the handle of a closed steel door.

Was there still spiderwebbing left in Warehouse 5?

Just in case, I tightened my grip on Black Moon and opened the door.

What waited in front of me was a dark stairwell.

The warehouse I had come through was gone, and the stairs had appeared in its place.

'If I go up these, will they lead to the shopping mall?'

I trusted the lantern’s guidance, so I climbed the stairs immediately.

One, two, three, four.

The moment I stepped on the fourth stair, the yellow glow of the shopping mall spread out before my eyes.

No-clipping still never got any easier.

"Ah, I feel my homesickness healing."

The smell of a shopping mall, so much like home, was a welcome thing.

The mannequins were still gone, but that wasn’t the point.

I rushed straight over and turned on the checkout terminal.

These bastards were holding a memorial again.

Before I logged in to report that I was alive, I clicked on the post I was curious about.

Et cetera. With those legendary posts, Kim Daejang had thoroughly polluted our peace of mind. Maybe he was the real monster here.

Congratulations on reaching where you were meant to go.

Huh. Was it that bad?

In a sealed infinite-loop space, that kind of thing was practically a joke.

And the mannequins had good figures, too, fitting their role nicely.

There was a gallery, sure, but being lonely was just something you had to live with.

So the time I’d spent holed up after getting hit by those larvae webs was longer than I thought. And after that, I’d had a few mental-break episodes here and there, which had slowed me down too.

But anyway, I’m back, right?

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Yes. I’d been waiting for that question.

I laid it all out in excruciating detail, packing every letter with thorough, meticulous description.

I needed to spread the misery I’d been forced to endure.

The viewers who’d been exposed to it all complained of pain in their own ways.

Ah, this felt rewarding.

By the time my description reached the point where I’d run into the warehouse’s sixth-floor boss, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the casual lurker and Hotelier both screamed and vanished.

After hearing the traits of the abandoned warehouse and analyzing them in their own way, the gallery members all shook their heads, saying it was impossible.

Thinking about it again now, it really had been a crazy Backroom.

Larvae webs that blocked intrusion kept multiplying the deeper I went.

And the boss bitch even had a phase two.

The material was too much even for me to handle.

Bits of human shape were still left here and there, and more than anything else, the skin texture was far too human.

On top of that, the inside of its body had nothing resembling organs or bones, just pure larvae packed together.

It was garbage, yeah.

After answering Jemmin’s question, I went ahead and pulled out the core.

All right, buddy.

Let’s find out what kind of guy you are from here on out.

Touching the core of thought embedded in the thread bundle, I drew out my hammer.