The Responsible Researcher, Oliver Smith, was fixated on the brightly blinking screen of the communication device.
The name displayed on the screen belonged to someone he had never even thought of.
Benjamin Campbell.
The lead researcher and a high-ranking official in the Abnormal Phenomena Research Department, known for successfully studying numerous abnormal phenomena.
If it were just that, Oliver wouldn’t have reacted so suspiciously. However, he had heard the rumors that for weeks now, Benjamin had been sending dubious requests regarding Base 17 to the Management Office.
“What the hell is he thinking?”
Oliver muttered, as if chewing over his words. The residual effects of the ringing still had him stiff, but more importantly, he couldn’t fathom why Benjamin was bombarding him with communications.
In a normal situation, he would have used other means to reach out to him.
The fact that Benjamin was insisting on using the specially designed emergency communication device in such a critical situation was…
Well, it was undeniably suspicious.
“….”
But then again, curiosity killed the cat, right?
Thinking there might be something he needed to hear, he decided to answer Benjamin’s call and spoke the name of the person awaiting him on the other side of the communication device.
“…Researcher Benjamin?”
[Ah! Thank goodness, thank goodness! You finally answered, Researcher Oliver! Hearing your voice puts me at ease like you wouldn’t believe.]
A sigh of relief followed by the voice of a middle-aged man drifted through the communication device. It sounded just like it had the last time Oliver had met Benjamin.
[Listen closely. We need to completely seal off Base 17 right now. Not a single ant should be allowed to escape! Unlike the stuffy researchers and managers, you’ve always made rational and logical judgments. I trust you know what I’m talking about.]
“Of course. But we need support from the Management Office as fast as possible. Omega-Minor has infiltrated the base, and the previously lost 744th anomaly—”
Benjamin’s voice immediately launched into the emergency protocol from the Abnormal Phenomena Management Office.
Oliver had suspected that this unusual request stemmed from the recent rumors surrounding him. Still, the urgency in Benjamin’s words indicated that he was genuinely acknowledging the dire emergency at the base, and so Oliver began requesting support without hesitation.
[No. We can’t request support from the Management Office. That’s exactly why I contacted you.]
However, Benjamin’s response was far more abnormal than Oliver had expected.
Was there a severe problem he wasn’t aware of? To verify, he spoke again into the communication device.
“What do you mean? You know there’s an intruding hostile organization at our base, right?”
[So those fanatics infiltrated Base 17…? No, that’s not the important part right now. Right now, there’s something much more crucial we have to deal with.]
The conversation was becoming increasingly disjointed. Oliver sensed something immensely strange in Benjamin’s previous words. Not only was Benjamin downplaying the hostile organization’s intrusion at Base 17, but if he was unaware of it, why had he reached out to Oliver in the first place?
And what was this insistence on sealing off Base 17?
In this chaotic moment, Oliver could not wrap his head around what Benjamin was saying. He shouted into the communication device, making sure to convey just how dangerous their current situation was.
“Are you really not understanding the situation? They’re storming our base and injecting 744 into 321! And whatever they’ve done, 744 has successfully infected that indestructible pile of dolls instead of corpses!”
[No! The one who doesn’t understand the situation is you! Whether it’s fanatics or 744, none of that matters! We have to execute Protocol 31 right now!]
“What are you talking about…!”
As Oliver yelled, Benjamin shouted back with equal intensity.
The two were locked in a spiraling argument, failing to align on any common ground, each increasingly frustrated with the other’s words. But in addition to the incomprehensible statements from Benjamin, the mention of Protocol 31 sent Oliver’s stress levels skyrocketing.
He was left thinking that Benjamin must have completely lost his mind, and just as he was about to hang up in frustration, he snapped.
“Fine! I don’t know what game you’re playing, but I’ll seek support from the Management Office directly!”
[No! You don’t even realize what you’re planning to do! You have to listen to me!]
“What you don’t understand is that you’re the crazy one! How insane do you have to be to suggest blowing up an entire base?!”
[I’ll explain everything! Just give me a moment, a brief moment! If you listen for just a few seconds, you’ll understand why I’m saying all of this!]
Oliver’s hand was nearly about to cut off the communication device, but for some reason, his finger paused right before the action.
Benjamin’s voice carried an unmistakable tremor, one akin to raw fear.
‘…Is he scared?’
The distinct clattering of teeth echoed through the device.
It was evident. Researcher Benjamin was experiencing immense fear.
He had undoubtedly faced and overcome countless dangers brought about by numerous anomalous entities, yet here he was, noticeably terrified.
‘Is he being threatened…? No, he wouldn’t go this far for that alone.’
Those who belonged to the Abnormal Phenomena Management Office were known to reckon with danger to some extent. But those who had climbed to higher ranks were often fearless, their resolve hardened against death itself.
They had dedicated themselves to ensuring the peace and well-being of humanity.
And as far as Oliver knew, Benjamin was among those individuals.
So, then, what could possibly be scaring him this much?
Oliver had no way to comprehend the reason.
Should he ignore Benjamin’s plea, could something truly irreversible happen?
But even accounting for the unknown, he couldn’t just sit idly by while those immortal monsters were rampaging around his base.
Oliver decided he would grant Benjamin a brief moment to explain.
“…Two minutes.”
[What?]
“Two minutes, no more waiting than that.”
[Thank you! That should be enough. Alright, where should I begin?]
Two minutes.
It was an absurdly short amount of time to persuade someone, especially to convince him to blow up a base filled with numerous people and anomalous entities. Yet Benjamin accepted the condition.
How urgent must it be? Or was he confident in his own ability to persuade within that timeframe?
Either way, it hardly mattered. Oliver had already resolved to cut the communication once the two minutes were up.
[…About a month ago, an anomalous entity appeared due to the 163rd anomaly, didn’t it?]
Had only a few seconds passed?
It seemed Benjamin was already sorted out in his head as he began to explain. The words that came from him, however, were about the 163-19 anomalous entity, something Oliver had never seen coming.
“Did you know?”
Oliver swallowed hard.
Based on the two incidents from before, he had suspected that 163-19 held some peculiar powers, but that was information he believed he alone possessed.
Who did Benjamin—a researcher from a different base—get that information from?
[I knew. That’s exactly what I fear the most.]
“What are you talking about? Wasn’t your conclusion that the dimensional gate was deactivated based on your research?”
Surely, the 163-19 incident was critical. In fact, just earlier, hadn’t he considered informing the Management Office about that anomalous entity?
It was a given that it had infiltrated within the depths of the 1983rd anomaly and perhaps even neutralized the 871st phenomenon.
Leaving that dangerous entity to roam free could lead to severe security risks at Base 17.
But right now, the situation was far graver.
They were already facing number 744, an anomaly threatening to transform corpses into terrifying monsters, which had reached a risk grade of V, and now the seemingly indestructible and infinitely replicable anomaly 321 posed an existential crisis.
If they didn’t take immediate action… No, even if they did, what kind of casualties would be necessary to subdue this threat? He couldn’t even imagine.
By comparison, dealing with the 1983rd and 871st anomalies paled in comparison.
[Yes, I once thought that way. Each time an anomalous entity appeared from the dimensional gate, the energy it harbored diminished. With each appearance, increasingly dangerous entities emerged.]
Benjamin continued, his tone now steady, a stark contrast to earlier.
And as he began to explain about the dimensional gate, it was information Oliver already partly understood well.
After the dimensional gate near Base 17 had been discovered, dangerous independent entities had consistently begun to manifest, leading researchers to believe the gate itself was imbued with will.
This was what had been reported during the 163rd anomaly, and Oliver had also believed it to be the truth.
[But that wasn’t the case. It was simply a door. Because we didn’t know the way to use its energy, we couldn’t proceed to other dimensions, but to those who know the method, that door was merely a tool for crossing dimensions.]
But now, Benjamin’s words contradicted everything he had previously theorized.
So why hadn’t he revised his report?
Oliver pondered this question, but before he could even assemble his thoughts, Benjamin pressed on.
[The emergence of increasingly dangerous independent entities was due to the fact that only those beings could utilize the dimensional gate. If an independent entity could move toward another dimension with diminished energy, it had to be a highly risky one. That’s why when the last one showed up, 163-18 nearly brought world destruction! It was dangerous enough to cross dimensions with even a little remaining energy!]
163-18.
The last anomalous entity to have appeared in the dimension prior to 163-19, notorious for causing catastrophic damage surpassing anything else the Management Office had ever encountered.
After countless sacrifices, they barely managed to subdue it, and only by spreading wild fake news about a war between countries could they finally cover up what happened.
But what of it now? What relevance did that carry?
If it had been summoned with the last remnants of energy from the dimensional gate, there shouldn’t be any more entities as dangerous as that one.
Or, was he suggesting that 163-19 was of a similar caliber to 163-18?
[After the emergence of 163-18, the energy of the dimensional gate was almost completely expended. That catastrophic independent entity, which alone wreaked havoc, required that energy to move dimensions. Thus, ideally, a fully drained dimensional gate should be completely inactive. It should have been!]
Benjamin’s voice quivered with anxiety.
He claimed what he had researched was incorrect.
But the fact that the dimensional gate had been inactive was true, so he hadn’t found a reason to amend his report.
A dimensional gate devoid of energy was nothing more than an ordinary structure, and therefore he had ceased any further research on it.
Yet, a new anomalous entity had undeniably emerged from it.
The brown-haired girl, the 163-19 anomalous entity.
So then, what was this girl…?
[But it did emerge, didn’t it? The 19th anomalous entity! Through a fully drained dimensional gate! Do you still not understand?!]
Benjamin’s voice rose in volume, losing the calm composure he’d earlier possessed.
But Oliver could now fully comprehend his attitude.
Because if Benjamin were to be believed—
[What’s present there is a monster that tears through dimensions!!]
Something that transcended risks posed by immortal monsters,
Signifying that something far beyond the threat of 163-18 had appeared.
—
Boooom!
A deafening crash shook the hallway.
The sound reverberated was orders of magnitude greater than when the doll had barreled through the wall, blocking Sophia and Arthur.
Sophia thought it must have been the sound caused by the massive arm that was about to crush her into the ground. However, no matter how much time passed, she felt no pain and could only sense the cold ground beneath her.
“Am I… alive…?”
She opened her eyes, curious about how she had survived.
Rightfully, she feared that the grotesque doll would be face to face with her upon opening her eyes, yet curiosity outweighed her fear at that moment.
When she first lifted her head, she saw the small back of the 19th anomaly.
Just a moment ago, a horrific and bizarre doll had loomed in front of her, yet now the 19th anomaly stood, facing forward, seemingly protecting her.
In front of that girl lay the disfigured corpse of the doll, crushed and wedged against the wall as if it had been compressed into some kind of heavy object.
“Sophia.”
The 19th anomaly gently set down one of its legs, lowering it to the floor.
The girl’s voice was softer than Sophia anticipated, yet there was something disconcertingly firm about it.
“Run.”
A single, concise command containing all necessary information.
With only that phrase left behind, the girl slowly walked toward the doll she had just thrown.
