Heavy footstep sounds echo from inside the Emergency Exit.
Three figures are seen descending the Stairs.
They are currently trapped, continuously descending stairs that seem to go on forever.
Avoiding the distorted face chasing after them, they continue their descent.
“How is your body now?”
“Yeah, I’m feeling a bit better.”
As Elijah asks about her condition, Eleanor nods slightly in response.
Earlier, due to the huge noise and shock, she was unable to walk properly.
Fortunately, she hadn’t sustained any major injuries, and now, with some time passed, she shows significant improvement.
“Damn, how long do they plan to keep chasing us…”
Cooper turns back with a dazed expression.
Thud, thud, the heavy footstep sounds echo ominously.
They had been running from it for quite some time, but in this peculiar space, there was no way to completely escape from the creature.
All they could do was keep a reasonable distance while endlessly going down the stairs.
“How many shots do I have left…? Should I give it a try?”
“No, save them for now. Just a few shots won’t take it down. More importantly…”
As she slightly raises her weapon, he shakes his head to stop her.
Based on its reaction a moment ago, physical responses seemed effective, but seeing that it continued chasing them without showing signs of pain, it didn’t seem like a few more bullets would make a difference.
“Anyway, right now, finding a way out is our priority.”
Besides, even if they could take it down, the fundamental issue of needing to escape this space remained unsolved.
If they provoke it unnecessarily, it could lead to a situation far more dangerous than now.
He wanted to say something but stumbled over his words, conveying that for now, they should just keep running away from it.
“I agree with that opinion, but does that ‘way out’ even exist right now?”
“I know, I know. Still, it’s not as serious as earlier, right?”
In his mind, the pale face chasing after them resurfaces.
Every moment was a life-or-death crisis, a situation that was terrible to even recall.
Of course, back then, there was a clear solution of ‘just reach the exit,’ but now the situation, where they could maintain some distance from it while descending the stairs at a moderate pace, actually felt much more soothing.
“If we have no other choice, we might have to resort to our last resort, but at least until it suddenly lunges at us—?!”
Suddenly, his figure tilts as he’s descending the stairs.
Wobble, he begins to fall.
While he was carelessly going down the stairs, he tripped.
Losing balance, he starts to tumble down the stairs.
Gack—
Feeling someone swiftly grab the back of his neck,
Due to the impact on his neck, he unintentionally lets out a choking sound.
“Be careful. You still don’t seem fully recovered.”
As Elijah pulls Cooper back up, his tilted body is able to stand straight again.
Cough cough, dry coughs escape his lips.
Once he regains his balance, he rubs his neck with a somewhat uncertain expression,
Then turns to the man who had saved him.
“…Thanks for your concern, but I just tripped.”
“That looked like quite a dramatic fall, though?”
“Can you save the teasing for later? Let’s not forget we’re being chased by some mysterious monster right now.”
A small grumble escapes from his lips.
And it was understandable. When he looked back at how he had just acted, it indeed must have seemed kind of funny.
Of course, this was no moment to be picking apart feelings in the first place.
Despite that, it didn’t erase the embarrassment he felt,
So, naturally, he glared at the place he had tripped over.
“…Huh?”
As if he had seen something unusual,
He stops walking and stares intently at that spot.
“…?”
The other two, who had been descending the stairs, suddenly stopped and turned back.
They realized that Cooper’s steps had come to a halt.
“Cooper, we really need to keep moving now. It’s getting dangerous.”
Eleanor waved her hand encouragingly toward him.
However, Cooper continued to fixate intently on something on the floor.
“No, it’s not that… I think I found something.”
“…Found something? What do you mean?”
As the heavy footsteps began to get closer,
With her patience wearing thin, she prepared to urge him again but—
“A way out of here.”
At those words, she forgot her original intention, simply standing still, listening intently to what he had to say.
Inside the dimly lit Emergency Exit,
A vague shadow was walking toward the bottom of the stairs.
Thud, thud, thud
The slow but threatening footstep sounds resonate.
Normally, being slow is a critical disadvantage for a pursuer but,
As long as they were trapped in this space, there was no way to escape from this sluggish pursuer.
Perhaps knowing that time is ultimately on its side,
It just leisurely pursued its prey.
How much time had passed?
When it rounded the corner of the stairs, two figures emerged from below.
“——”
It gazes fearfully at the two.
Their defenseless state resembled when they had first been ambushed.
Even after having faced a life-or-death threat once, they had let their guard down against the pursuer.
Soon enough, the pursuer realized that they were oblivious to its presence.
“…”
The pursuer’s movement momentarily halts.
However, they still had not even glanced at it on the stairs.
Finally, just as it was about to move,
Without doing anything, they continued standing by the door—
“Run!”
When it lunged at them,
As if they had been waiting for it, they jumped down the stairs in a hurry.
BAM!
Once again, the same enormous noise erupted.
Like a huge explosion, a thunderous sound erupted.
But unlike before, they were already distanced from the point of impact,
Thanks to having protected their ears, even that giant noise couldn’t harm them.
Having jumped down the stairs, they quickly rose with the help of one person waiting below.
This time, without rolling on the ground, they swiftly maneuvered downward.
“I’m going to ask again, but is this method really going to work?!”
From behind Cooper, Eleanor’s voice sounded skeptical.
Since he mentioned a way out of this place, she was following his lead without question, but
Creating a death trap like just moments ago wasn’t exactly good for their mental health.
“Yeah! This is the only way to get out!”
Cooper shouted. There was a certain conviction etched on his face.
He wasn’t the type to enjoy thrills either, so he felt just as displeased by what had just happened.
But he thought that if it was the method he had come up with, it should surely help them escape the place.
“When I looked around earlier, there weren’t any scratches on the floor! But now there’s a sudden scratch on the floor!”
When he examined the place where he had tripped over something,
He noticed a small scratch on the floor.
However, it didn’t seem right at all.
Earlier, while surveying the place to find their way out, he hadn’t seen any significant scratches on the floor.
“The scratches appeared after that thing began chasing us! And that spot was where we were first ambushed!
This means that thing can actually damage this space――”
He races toward the bottom of the stairs, nearly frantic to confirm something.
After running for a while,
A familiar door appears in front of them as they continue descending.
Finally reaching the door, Cooper catches his breath while inspecting it closely.
“Look, see! The door is dented!”
Pointing out the dent with his hand,
He began playfully tapping the door as if to say “look here.”
“…It really is. There’s definitely some damage on the door.”
Elijah, while inspecting the door, concedes that the dent had indeed just appeared.
He hadn’t seen such a dent while banging on the door earlier,
But after the unknown shape crashed into it, he could confirm the clear mark left on it.
“If that’s the case, does that mean we need to keep luring its attacks toward this door?”
“Probably? Just like in the Launch Control Room, we could walk normally after the door broke!”
Cooper recalls the time shortly after meeting the girl.
Despite the efforts of many, the door leading to the Launch Control Room remained firmly shut.
Yet, after it broke, it simply became an ordinary passage.
Looking back at their experiences, it didn’t seem like damaging that door would bring any significant repercussions.
‘…Come to think of it, is a dent all that remains from such a tremendous impact?’
Suddenly, something crosses his mind.
A massive shock that could daze anyone even from just the noise.
Despite having experienced such a shock, the door only bore a small scratch.
What had it truly kicked down the door to the Launch Control Room instantaneously?
“Uh, I’m sorry to interrupt your conversation for a moment…”
While he was lost in thought,
His attention was drawn back to reality when he felt someone poke his shoulder.
“It seems like that thing is getting faster and faster chasing us…?”
Eleanor’s finger points upward.
From above, heavy footsteps echo down.
Thud, thud, thud, while they listen closely, Cooper suddenly feels the intervals of the footsteps closing in compared to earlier.
With a sinking feeling, he looks up the stairs and sees—
“Oh no…!”
Despite descending stairs much faster than usual,
What appeared much sooner than expected was the distorted face.
BAM!
“Yeaahhh?!”
Once more, a monumental sound rumbles as if the world itself is shaking.
The three hit the ground heavily.
Thanks to moving as soon as they saw it, they managed to avoid getting seriously hurt, but
Since a perfect landing wasn’t achievable, they felt a sharp pain in their knees while scrambling to move away.
“F-For sure! It’s gotten faster! Something’s definitely happening concerning what we’re trying to do!”
Feeling slightly dizzy, Eleanor hurriedly rushed down the stairs.
Each step she took no longer contained the previous ease she had felt.
“Maybe we actually found the answer! If we didn’t, it wouldn’t suddenly start moving like that!”
Thud, thud, thud, the sound of heavy footsteps grew even faster as it pursued them.
That distorted face chasing them conjured a bizarre sense of déjà vu intertwined with the pale face from earlier.
“What do we do?! Now it feels like even just fleeing will be impossible!”
“Is there another way? If it’s like this, it seems like the whole exit will become a target!”
Without a second to look back, loud crashing noises boom behind them.
The sounds of destruction keep coming.
At this rate, they feared the Emergency Exit would crumble away.
Cooper, seeming deep in thought, lets out a frustrated noise, finally declaring—
“W-Who cares! If we break everything to pieces, the door has to give way eventually!”
Then, without further contemplation, he shouted this recklessly clear answer and began sprinting down with all his strength.
Only the loud bang bang bang filled the Emergency Exit, booming enough to fill the entire space.
