Chapter 330: External force [1]
"What’s happening?"
A surprised voice echoed within the monitoring area.
With the Trials in full swing, it was only natural that the Guild set up a designated monitoring team that checked on all of the members. In case one of the members sounded the alarm, they were ready to alert the agents that were stationed inside.
But—
"The agent’s signal! I can’t detect it at all. It’s gone!"
A short woman stood up, looking all flustered. She was the manager in charge of operating the monitoring room, and the moment she noticed something wrong, she immediately stood up from her seat and dialed a few numbers.
"Hello? Hello...?"
The first person she called was the Section Chief.
He was on standby in another room, handling several sponsors for the event.
The moment he received the call, he picked up.
—What’s going on?
"Sir!"
The woman’s voice rose, her tone sounding extremely flustered as she looked at the monitors in front of her.
Where there should’ve been multiple red dots, each indicating an agent that was stationed to support the members, there were empty markings.
"I’ve... I’ve lost contact with the members in charge of monitoring the situation!"
—What?
The Section Chief’s voice lowered, a rare solemnness filling his tone.
—What did you just say?
"I’ve lost all contact with the stationed members."
—Hold on.
Du. Du.
The Section Chief hung up the call. As he did, the manager’s attention fell on the monitors. Each floor was different, but the members were scattered across each room, and as her gaze fell on a particular room, her face couldn’t help but pale.
Especially when she witnessed the hammer fall and blood spurted. The sight made her flinch.
"Oh... no."
Clank!
The door opened, and the Section Chief entered not long after. He wore a pristine suit with his hair neatly combed. He looked completely different than his usual self, and as he entered the room, the first thing he did was look at the monitors.
"...Shit."
A curse slipped out from his mouth as he moved to the monitors, pressing a couple of keys and trying to establish communication with any of them.
Click! Click! Click!
"Can anyone hear me? Hello?"
And yet...
Despite his best efforts, he wasn’t able to receive a single answer. It was as if all communication had been cut off.
But was that truly the case?
Looking at the stream and seeing the chats, it was clear that the communication was still working.
"What the hell is going on?"
This situation made absolutely no sense to him.
Click! Click!
He continued to press a couple of keys, trying his best to sort the situation, but it became extremely clear to him moments later that it wasn’t possible. He had to go and take care of the operation by himself.
’I should’ve known that something was wrong the moment the gate turned differently than it was supposed to.’
No, he was already aware.
He had specifically sent a message to the agents and the Team Leaders to be stationed and prepared for anything while he handled the sponsors. That had clearly been a massive mistake.
"Stay here, I’m going to check the situation from up close."
He spared the monitor a glance, caught sight of the situation within the gate, and rushed out of the room, dashing out of the area he was in. Thankfully, the monitoring room was set up in a large camper that had been parked right outside the gate.
It didn’t take him more than a couple of minutes to reach the hotel, and as he did, the first thing that he noticed was the flustered expressions on some of the Team Leaders as they looked at him.
"Section Chief!" Team Leader Michaels, a short yet bulky man, shouted the moment he caught sight of the Section Chief, his expression extremely concerned as he pointed at the gate.
"I’ve been trying to reach you, but your line was busy."
"Busy?"
The Section Chief looked at his phone. Even if the line was busy, he should’ve been able to see the message. For him not to see it...
"Something happened to the gate, I can’t—"
"I know."
The Section Chief replied, moving closer to the entrance of the hotel and putting his phone away. The reporters and fans were still lingering outside, taking in the scene as the clicks of the shutters echoed loudly, with some reporters trying to shove their way close to them.
"Has something happened?"
"What’s going on with the stream? This is completely different from usual. Did something go wrong?"
"Can you spare me a moment of your time?"
They were like hounds, trying to get any little information about the situation. The Section Chief promptly ignored them, stopping right before the gates of the hotel. As he did, he stopped for a moment to stare at the doors of the hotel.
His eyes narrowed until he eventually reached forward and pressed his hand against the doors.
"....!?"
The moment he did, his expression changed drastically. The very hair on his body rose, and his entire back started to tingle.
"Quick! Give me a measuring device!" His head flickered towards the nearest Team Leader, who presented to him a small device that the Section Chief quickly powered to measure the energy of the gate.
The meter immediately shot up the moment it was activated, slowing down until finally stopping at... [C].
"Huh...?"
The result looked unexpected, leaving the Section Chief at a sudden loss. He could’ve sworn he had felt some sort of extremely sinister energy inside. Something that made even his own heart palpitate.
And yet...
The gate energy meter was the same? How did that make sense?
How did that...
"...Ah."
Something clicked in the Section Chief’s mind as he looked towards the hotel, images of the broadcast replaying in his mind as his face paled considerably.
"Shit!"
He rushed through the door, trying his best to break it, but—
BANG!
A large barrier appeared shortly after, blocking his entrance and forcing him back. Stumbling back, the Section Chief looked ahead with a horrified look.
"I should’ve known better..." he hoarsely said, his expression twisting. "The gate has been taken over by an external force."
His teeth clenched tightly, taking out his phone and making a call.
The line went through moments later.
"Guild Master..."
***
Ta! Ta! Ta! Ta!
The dance continued, the soft sound and melody of the violin echoing loudly within the air as I kept up with the dance, trying my best to ignore the blood that stained the floor, alongside the body.
I continued to dance with the group, feeling my movements growing more and more in sync with the music.
The more I danced, the more I felt the previous sensation starting to return. The hazy sensation felt akin to brainwashing.
At the same time, my mind flashed with images of the two dessicated heads. They clung to my thoughts, making it harder and harder for me to concentrate.
’Damn it! What the hell is this scenario...!?’
By now, it was obvious that the scenario was wrong. I had already been aware of that fact from the notification that I had received. And yet, for some reason, there was something else that was leaving me flustered. It was the fact that the changes that were occurring to the gate were too extreme.
Almost as if there was another force at play in all of this.
No, more like...
It was as if I were being targeted.
’It’s either that, or I’m special.’
How was it that I was the only one who could see the strange creature above?
’No, now is not the time to think about that. I need to figure out a way to snap everyone out of this current haze.’
Ta! Ta! Ta! Ta!
"Keep dancing! Keep dancing!"
A new voice led the group.
The group moved clockwise around the corpse of the old man, the sound of the strings growing thinner and thinner by the second, adding a certain sense of dread that made every hair on my body stand.
Ziiii~
I took in my surroundings, trying to understand how it was possible for any of us to turn out this way.
None of us had eaten the food.
How had they managed to brainwash most of the people present with just a simple dinner? Was there something hidden within the room that had caused this, or was there more to it than I knew?
I sneakily looked around the room, trying my best to see if there was anything that could potentially help me gain a clue.
’We didn’t eat the food, so it can’t be the food that caused all of this. I also didn’t notice any strange movement and symbolism with the hands. I don’t think they managed to hypnotize us with that. In that case...’
My gaze eventually drifted towards the table — at first to the food, but then... towards the candles.
Seeing them flicker faintly in the air, their glow dim under the bright lights of the place, and giving out a strong citrus fragrance, I felt something within me stir. The moment I inhaled the smell, I felt a strange tingling at the back of my nose, my vision growing hazy in the process.
Wait—!
A realization suddenly struck me as I stared at the candles.
’Could it be...!?’