Chapter 222

◇◆◇ (Third-person perspective)

“Hah, hah, hah—-“

The woman is running, almost out of breath.

Without slowing down, she looks over her shoulder to see “it” still chasing her.

“Hee!”

The woman’s face strained with fear as she increased her running speed.

From the back of the narrow passageway, a straw doll was chasing after her *tat* *tat* *tat*

A golden straw doll, holding a long nail runs after her with a skillful stride.

She had been chased by this mysterious straw doll a few minutes ago.

The situation resembles something from a comedy movie, but it wasn’t funny at all. The red blood dripping from the tip of the nail was her blood. Every time she kicked the floor, the stinging pain from the punctured wound told her that this situation was not a dream, but very real.

This is an underground tunnel at Fort 88.

It was a dimly lit path. The spray paint on the walls was peeling, and exposed pipes dominated the ceiling. This passageway was a narrow maintenance tunnel that was not commonly used, the air was damp and stagnant.

The woman’s name is Natalya, and she is supposed to be in charge of the operation in the Supply Control Room of the Procurement Bureau’s Distribution Division.

Her hair was dyed a dark purple and she wore heavy makeup. She has a lot of piercings on her ears. Her long nails and flashy manicure made her look a little out of place here. She usually likes to wear high-heeled shoes, but now she was barefoot. Her stockings were also ripped because she ran as fast as she could, stumbling over several times.historical

The creepy straw doll kept following her no matter how fast she ran or how slowly she walked, it always pursued her and kept at a certain distance.

If she was calmer, she might realize that she was being herded. But now Natalya was one step away from panic and she could not afford to think to that extent.

–She just witnessed her colleague get “raped” by a terrifying monster, and she barely escaped with her life from the scene. It was impossible to remain calm.

She wanted to get somewhere where there were people and call the authorities, and if possible, the military. With these thoughts in her mind, she kept moving her legs forward.

“Haa.... haa.....haa.... oh! There it is!”

Natalya finally found the door.

It was an emergency escape door. The light at the top was the proof. It must connect this passage to the underground ring road.

Natalya rushed in and reached for the doorknob.

–There are pedestrians outside and she can use a terminal to call for help. It’s a little risky, but she can jump out into the street and cause a commotion. She needs to get others to help her anyway and much better than being alone.

“I’m Saved!”

The image of her survival flashed through her mind.

Naturally, she breaks into a smile of relief.

But the next moment, as if to mock that image, a figure stood in front of the door.

The figure was small and has about the height of a child.

Reflexively, she tries to stop.

But her knees were already on the verge of giving out, and she couldn’t kill the momentum of her run, so she tripped over and fell.

Natalya, hands awkwardly thrust out, tumbled into the figure’s feet.

Slowly, she looks up.

Gradually, she sees thin legs. A skirt with an unusual design, a dress with a touch of classic Japanese. And-.

“Ha.... ha!?”

A girl “probably”, is standing there, seemingly unperturbed.

The reason why “probably” is that her face was covered by a fox mask.

Her expression couldn’t be seen, her animal ears poked out from the top of her head and a bushy animal tail swayed behind her hip.

“y-you .........”

As Natalya was about to say something, *poof*, and flames floated around the girl.

Instantly, Natalya’s heart jumped.

Instinctively, she realized.

this girl is not a human.

A ghost, a spirit, or .....

Either way, that certainty that she would never be able to identify with whatever is in front of her sent a command to her exhausted body to stand up and run away.

As Natalya tried to stand, she suddenly saw the girl in front of her pick up her terminal. She had apparently dropped it when she bumped into it.

Then, She heard a crunching sound and the fragments of the terminal fell to the floor.

Like crushing a wafer, the girl in the fox mask crushed the terminal to pieces.

“Kuhuhuhu–“

A cute, yet somewhat wicked laugh escapes from under the fox’s mask.

“Hee.”

The next thing she knew, Natalya was running into the side passage.

That she didn’t just sit there like that was a remarkable feat, she pushed herself and ran.

The old fluorescent lights flicker along the path.

This is an old tunnel, now an unused transit passage. No surveillance cameras, no signal. Anyhow, she needed to get out of this underground passage.

There must be another exit, and there might even be an emergency exit leading to some building’s underground facilities. She would definitely be able to escape–if she didn’t give up.

Natalya’s feet suddenly kicked in the air as she kept thinking of a way to survive.

“–W-what ....?”

She panicked and turned her head to look around.

She then realized that she was entangled in the white strings that spread throughout the passage.

Then she saw an insect looking down at her.

A tarantula with a diamond-shaped mark on its back was lying near the ceiling.

She was entangled in a large spider web.

“Hic! you gotta be kidding.. ugh!”

She swung her limbs around helplessly.

“w-!! what is that!!!?”

Natalya stopped moving and stared ahead.

She heard a strange sound in the darkness.

It sounds like a cane tapping on the ground followed by shang.. shang sound, like a tambourine shaking.

Soon the figure appeared.

The figure approached slowly with a cane, seemingly somber, and it look like, to put it simply, like an old-fashioned monk walking towards her with a staff.

Her face was hidden by her long flaxen hair, so one could not see her expression. However, the gold and silver eyes that shone behind them glared at Natalya resentfully with a strange gleam.

“Ogera o-ge! Ogera ho-ho!”

The figure blocking Natalya’s path waved her wand violently from side to side and began chanting an unintelligible curse-like phrase.

Natalya was stuck.

Facing a crazy person resembling a monk, the situation was beyond her comprehension.

“It hurts!!”

Shortly after, there is a sparkle of lights in Natalya’s eyeballs.

She felt a pain in her calf, like something incredibly hot has pressed against it, and her neck felt numb.

Horrified, she turned around and there was a straw doll with a long nail stuck into her leg and covered in blood.

“No, don’t!!”

Natalya kicked the air in a panic, trying to shake off the straw doll hugging her calf.

The kick was probably effective, the spider’s threads untangled and her body regained its freedom.

“—- Oh.”

She lost her balance and threw herself forward, trying to reach the wall.

She reached her hand out but found a staircase leading down.

“—-!? kyaaaaaaaaaa!!!”

She fell down the staircase.

However, she has received the minimum mandatory training. Taking a position to protect her head, she gnashed her teeth and endured the impact that hit her body.

“—-“

Natalya looked up as she fell down the stairs.

“What...What the hell is all this shit!!”

She swore, but then, driven by a survival instinct, she stood up again.

Her hair was shriveled, her forehead drenched with blood, and intense pain coursing through her entire body.

There was a door in front of Natalya.

Behind it, the sound of metal clanging and scraping repeated in a steady rhythm. It might be a machine room.

Turning back simply wasn’t an option. Mysterious monsters still chasing after her.

With trembling hands, she pushed the door open and let her body slide in.

“–Ugh!!”

White stream escapes her nose, the chilling air enveloping her. Reflexively, she clenched her teeth, holding her body with both hands.

But there was no time to think. Natalya closed the door and pushed it shut with her back, fumbling for the lock with her hand and pressing the button.

click .... and then came the sound of the door locking.

Natalya slumped down on the spot.

“–Ugh .....”

The next moment, an indescribable shiver ran down her spine.

The room is cold and dark.

A spotlight shone down on the far end of it.

In the center of the light, one could see the identity that made a metallic sound.

It was the sound of a giant blade being sharpened.

A huge man wearing an apron and a paper bag is holding a kitchen knife, a knife so huge that it is taller than an average person against a steel rail, and sparks of it were flying everywhere.

Gaaan, gaaan .... gaaan, gaaan .....

As her eyes became accustomed to the darkness, Natalya realized where she was. From the ceiling hung many chunks of meat covered in a thick layer of frost.

This is a meat processing plant.

And that monster...

That is the monster that raped her colleague.

The monster still hadn’t shown any sign of noticing Natalya. She definitely does not want to be noticed. She got down on all fours and moved slowly around the corner of the room.

Past the monster, she spotted another door. If only she could sneak around and get to it..

With that lumpy, bloated figure, it can’t follow her into the narrow passage. She might be able to outrun it.

With such a plan in mind, she proceeded onward, holding her breath.

“–?”

Something bumped her hand.

It was a dirty bag that sat on the edge of the room.

It was about the size of a large garbage bag and looked worn out, but the material itself was glossy and luxurious. It was a strange bag.

Natalya tries to climb over it, and just then–.

thud......

Right under her, the bag jumped.

“!?”

Natalya’s body stopped moving.

*flap flap flap* This triggered the bag to begin moving violently.

*flap flap flap* *shake shake shake*

“〆＃、□▲◎＆□〒＃＆! 〆○＃◎▽▼◎!”

“aaahh!?”

The bag jumped violently like a fish washed up on land.

Surprised by the angry voice coming out of it, Natalya screams out loud.

She bites her lip and holds her mouth shut.

With trepidation, she turns around.

The monster that had been sharpening the giant blade had disappeared from the spotlight.

“–W-Where-!”

Then Natalya’s body gets lifted into the air.