Chapter 31
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Let's Play Hide and Seek!
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The Hidden World.
In one corner of it, a recently formed cult group was gathered.
And standing at the center of that group was none other than me.
"I've mapped out the area around here!"
The believers approached one by one, kneeling before me to give their reports.
"Hmm. Not cake material. Grab a red bean bun from over there."
"Thank you!"
The reward for their devotion was sweet desserts.
But not everyone got the same treat. If all the rewards were identical, where's the motivation?
So the bottom tier got red bean buns. Above that, dacquoise. Then macarons. And the top prize was delicious cake.
"Next time, I'll work harder and bring better intel!"
"Yeah, yeah. Keep at it."
I waved them off and listened to the next report.
Unfortunately, there wasn't much truly useful info. Most of it barely scraped red bean bun level.
A few dacquoise-worthy ones mixed in was about it.
As I stopped hiding my bored expression, the believers hesitated, glancing at me nervously instead of stepping up.
But then.
Someone cautiously stepped forward and spoke.
"Recently, I spotted Utopia operatives near the red door."
"Really?"
That was the most intriguing thing I'd heard all day.
"Yes. Don't Utopia members all wear matching uniforms? It was definitely their style."
"Give me more details."
"Yes. There were about twenty of them, all fully armed."
I listened to the full report, then nodded.
"Good! I'll check it out myself."
No one dared object to my words.
They weren't permitted to, after all.
"For you, specially—a macaron!"
"Th-thank you!"
He trembled with emotion, the first believer to receive a macaron, bowing repeatedly.
The sight made me chuckle involuntarily.
These people gathered here were the dregs of humanity—murderers, thugs, robbers, guilty of every depraved crime without remorse.
How could I not find joy in watching scum like them quiver in delight over a tasty dessert?
"Hehe. Alright, dismissed!"
I laughed as I spun on my heel.
They stayed bowed until I vanished from sight, not moving a muscle.
A good while later.
I'd arrived near another entrance.
My usual doorway had nothing special about it, aside from being in some ruins.
But this other one stood out.
It was bright red.
I'd even tested going outside once, and it was the same there.
For reference, this entrance was on the third basement level of some building in the real world.
"Hmm."
I scanned the surroundings.
No sign of Utopia's armed operatives right away. They'd probably moved on.
But tracking them wasn't hard.
Even though they'd tried to cover their tracks, they stood out clear as day to me.
"This way...?"
Judging by the direction, they were heading toward the ghost village.
I started strolling that way slowly.
No need to rush.
This world was like a minefield battlefield in every direction.
Even well-trained adult men couldn't move all that fast.
So I took my time, walking like it was a casual stroll.
Swooooosh—.
Before long, a dark crimson fog began to roll in.
A sight that would terrify any normal person, but it was all too familiar to me.
With each step, the fog parted slowly, then rejoined behind me.
Watching it as I walked brought back memories of my first time lost in this place.
Those recollections were now vague at best.
All that remained sharp were the emotions.
Terror. Fear. Loneliness. Sorrow. Resentment. Agony. Helplessness.
Every moment brought the dread of death, and even brief sleep meant relentless nightmares.
I'd thought more than once that giving up might be easier.
But I hadn't given in.
Because I believed I'd make it home someday.
"Hm, hm."
I hummed a little tune.
I couldn't recall where I'd heard the melody.
Only that back when I was still human, I'd summon it whenever things got tough.
It must have meant something precious back then.
Now, I'd forgotten why, clinging only to the shell of it.
"Oh."
After walking a ways, I spotted something.
Traces on the ground.
I crouched down and saw chalk marks.
Not ordinary chalk. Probably some kind of ritual tool.
Looked like an improvised alarm device.
Tap.
A light nudge with my toe, and the chalk mark crumbled away.
It had served its purpose, leaving only remnants.
Meaning something worth guarding had triggered the alarm.
But no signs of combat yet.
So I kept walking straight ahead.
Soon, the outskirts of the ghost village came into view.
At a glance, it looked like an ordinary village.
A row of old single-family homes stretching out.
The only oddity was the thick fog blanketing everything.
But amid that seemingly normal scenery, something didn't belong.
Someone leaning against a wall.
It was one of Utopia's armed operatives, the kind the believer had spotted.
"Why are you here?"
No reply came.
I hadn't expected one anyway.
The body was alive, but the mind was shattered. A walking corpse, essentially.
Stroke.
I placed a hand lightly on their head, then pulled away.
The mind was a total mess.
No extracting info from this state.
"What took root here while I was away?"
There had always been things lurking here.
But nothing that could shatter minds this thoroughly.
"Who could it be?"
I resumed walking.
I'd planned a quick look-around, but this piqued my interest even more.
Still, I kept hidden in the fog.
Barreling in from the start would spoil the fun.
About five minutes after pushing through the mist.
"Move, move!"
"Keep shifting! We can't stay in one spot!"
Two people appeared ahead.
They shouted urgently, darting this way and that.
By voice alone, it sounded dire.
"What's this now?"
Up close, their behavior didn't match the panic.
"Incoming! Danger!"
"Everyone, fall back!"
They yelled frantically.
As if battling some visible foe.
But nothing was around them.
Just spinning in circles, shouting endlessly.
And they weren't even acknowledging each other.
The fog was thick, but that wasn't it.
These two were broken-minded too.
Reliving some frozen moment from memory, maybe?
Better off than the first one, but not by much.
So I passed them by.
"Ahh... Ah..."
"Ugh..."
Soon after, I saw people staggering around, moaning incoherently.
Zero focus in their eyes.
I ignored them too.
The same scenes repeated several more times.
Broken people.
An unseen culprit.
After nearly circling the whole village.
"Looks like it's just us two left."
"Fucking nightmare."
I finally found some who seemed intact.
Well, not entirely. Both were covered in self-inflicted wounds.
But those cuts had a purpose, it seemed.
"Hoo, time's up. Do it."
"Right."
They drew knives and lightly sliced their arms.
"How long can this hold?"
"We'll probably pass out from anemia first."
"Better than losing our minds."
They were doing it to preserve their sanity, by the looks of it.
"Hmm."
I watched them with interest.
Two questions.
How were they still sane?
And what was the goal of the presence lurking behind them?
"We gotta get out of this godforsaken village somehow."
"Feels like we're just going in circles."
Right behind these two, deep in serious conversation.
Stood a girl with a gloomy face.
That's right.
They hadn't noticed her at all.
The moment I saw her, I knew.
She was behind everything I'd seen so far.
And self-harm wouldn't block her power.
So why were these two still okay?
"Just watching them like this is fun, right?"
"Exactly."
"Why torment them?"
"They broke their promise."
The girl answered my question calmly.
I asked her.
"Promise?"
The girl nodded slowly and explained.
"Someone stole several of my carefully crafted works. The aquarium. The kids' cafe. Even the little hill. This is their punishment."
"Is it? For revenge, aren't you targeting the wrong people?"
I said with a smile.
"The culprit's right in front of you!"
"Yeah. Didn't expect you'd show up so easily."
The girl slowly raised her head and beckoned with a finger.
At that instant.
Vwooooooom!
The landscape warped around us.
Like someone had slathered rough paint over the real world with a coarse brush.
Before I knew it.
The girl and I were in a gigantic wonderland.
Like Alice in a bizarre country.
"You like playing games, don't you? So I prepared this. Hide and seek."
"I just have to find you?"
"Yeah. If you do, I won't take back what I stole. I'll even give you this place."
"And?"
"So greedy."
The girl paused a moment before speaking.
"I'll give you one of my favorites. From my teddy bear collection."
She pulled out a pink teddy bear doll.
It was... insanely cute!
"Deal!"
I answered and lunged to grab her.
But as my shadow reached out, she vanished without a trace.
"Hehe."
If I'd caught her right away, it would've been no fun.
Now things were getting exciting.
This was gonna be a blast.