Chapter 9: The Sealed Floor
Location: Taiwan Time: 9:03 AM
After eating dinner, being already tired in fact, I almost fell asleep as soon as I entered the room, and simply didn"t notice whether the others did anything else.
When I woke up the next morning, there was already no one else in the bed, leaving only me.
As soon as I got up, I saw a tray on the table. After washing up, I opened the tray and was amazed to find that it was a very beautiful breakfast sandwich, even attached with a note saying that there was milk in the fridge.
Roughly after using them all, I looked around, and the room"s key card was left on the table. Taking the key card and my wallet, I walked out of the room. There were a few people from the other rooms coming and going outside, some dressed formally and some dressed casually. I could somewhat tell that their destinations seem to be different.
I remember that our floor seem to either have a restaurant or a recreation room. The guidebook had too many things written on it; I got mixed up just from looking. Right when I was about to look for my Mom and them, a certain very familiar, extremely familiar, familiar-enough-to-make-me-want-to-act-as-if-I-didn"t-hear-it sound suddenly came from nearby–
“Chirp.”
Chirp your head!
As soon as I turned my line of sight, sure enough, I saw that the ballfish that was supposed to have been thrown out already was rolling around not far from here…Wait a minute, if I remember correctly, the ballfish in my memory should be blue and round, right? But the one appearing in front of me now was…white?
There are white ballfishes?
Right now Senior and the five-colored rooster head aren"t around. There was no one who can help me answer this question at all.
Once I grabbed that white ballfish on the ground, I looked left and right. It was obvious to see that the color of this ballfish"s mung-bean eyes was also different from the one yesterday. Ballfishes are all trying to reach the cabin nowadays, huh?
“What are you doing here?”
“Waah!”
Just when I wanted to return to the room and throw the ballfish out, someone abruptly smacked my shoulder. My hands suddenly loosened and that ballfish immediately rolled out, going straight down the stairs. Turning my head at once, I saw that mister, whom I probably don"t know but he seems to know me, standing behind, “You, you scared me.”
I barely managed to relax in the human world and I even got scared by a human. I really am pathetic.
But how come I didn"t sense anyone approaching me just now?
“I"m sorry, I thought you saw.” That person smiled a little.
For some reason, even though this person was very polite, the feeling he gave me was cold and frightening. It seems as if I"d once encountered this sort of person somewhere, but I suddenly couldn"t a.s.sociate him with anyone I know.
“Do you have any plans right now?” Still smiling, the other person asked: “Are you interested in going to the restaurant for some coffee?”
Coff, coffee?
“Uh…I do have plans, and I don"t seem to be that familiar with you.” I couldn"t understand it no matter what. Why does this person keep acting as if I should know him?
“That"s fine, it"s enough that I know you.” That person shrugged, using a very matter-of-course tone to say: “But it is quite troublesome this way. Alright, you can call me Ashis.”
A foreigner"s name?
Then that means that this person might also be…
“Aih, excuse me.” I lowered my voice, afraid that the nearby guests would hear, “Are you someone from that world too?”
Slightly stunned, the unfamiliar mister curved into a smile: “I suppose so.”
Sure enough, he also has a connection to that side. Then I can probably understand why he would speak in a tone that seemed like he knew me. Because for some reason, the people or things from the sealed world all seem to get familiar with others very easily, or pretend to be familiar.
“Here, want to go drink something? My treat.” Ashis, whose name I just found out, sent out a second invite.
“I have something to do.” I really didn"t want to go out with a weird stranger, especially since the other person gave me a creepy feeling, so I once again refused him.
“You want to go pick up that ballfish from just now?” Glancing in the direction of the stairs, Ashis said: “While we were chatting, it already rolled down the stairs.”
Eh!?
I immediately turned my head. Sure enough, that white ballfish had disappeared.
“Then, then I"ll be leaving first. See you next time.” Oh no, I wonder if it"d get stepped on. Based on Senior"s words yesterday, it seems like the ballfish will die if it"s completely stepped dry. I better hurry and pick it up to set it free.
Not blocking me from leaving, Ashis didn"t say a word and just stood in the same spot.
After running two steps, I looked back, and that person had already disappeared in the corridor.
What a strange person.
But right now I still need to chase after an even stranger fish.
Exactly as if the events of yesterday were being repeated, the fish had already rolled to who knows where, only leaving a water mark on every step of the stairs down. And it seems like it really was stepped on midway with even a water footprint.
The blue sponge had completely changed into a white sponge. What"s with it right now? Even a sponge that hasn"t absorbed water and changed color can come to mess with me, huh!?
Don"t just run to a deadly place if you have nothing to do!
After quickly going downstairs, I arrived one floor above that floor with the problem from yesterday. This time I was a lot more cautious. I looked up and sure enough, I saw a “no entry” sign next to the stairs.
Well, that"s just great. Do I still need to go down to pick up that sponge?
I honestly don"t feel like going through mortal danger for a sponge…I"ll just let fate have its way with it.
Just when I was about to turn my head to leave, several “chirp chirp chirp” sounds suddenly came from below the stairs, the sort of continuous sound as if a kid was playing with a water-spraying rubber toy.
…Have mercy on me, please.
Just when I got on the first step, a huge crashing sound came from downstairs.
“What"s that noise?”
It was obviously not just me this time. Even other people heard it. One by one, some of them came over to the stairs on this side and curiously craned their heads trying to see how that sound was coming here.
“Uh, excuse me, it"s being renovated downstairs. You can"t go there.” I hurriedly stopped the guests who wanted to go down, very perfunctorily saying this. But I"m not the person in charge so why do I have to say it!?
A few people hung back and looked on near the stairs again.
After being sure they probably wouldn"t go down, I bit the bullet and went downstairs. Then turning away to a place where no one was watching, I knocked on the Old Man on my hand: “Old Man, can I trouble you for a moment?” If possible. I really didn"t want to trouble him.
Once I said this, that black wooden club slid out from my hand and fell on the ground.
“Is it possible to make a barrier to keep people from coming?” I was worried those people upstairs might actually run down.
Moving a few times, a somewhat transparent blue layer of mist suddenly appeared behind the Old Man.
“Thank you.” After letting the wooden club return to my bracelet, I took a few more steps down again. Glancing around, sure enough, I saw that white ballfish lying at the bottom of the stairs below.
For some reason, the s.p.a.ce below made me feel very uneasy. The entire air was even more depressing and frightening than what I"d felt yesterday. Gazing out, the whole corridor was quite dark. Even the turned-on fluorescent lights above only had a faint ray of light as if the electricity was reduced.
Picking up that white ballfish, I was a bit scared as I took two steps back up the stairs.
And just when I wanted to throw all caution to the wind and turn around to rush up, a huge shattering sound came from a certain room again. This time it wasn"t as simple as throwing something. It was the kind of tremendous sound as if someone had smashed a large French window. There were fragments falling nonstop before they fell on the ground ping-ping-pang-panging.
Then something terrifying appeared.
I heard someone stepping on those fragments and beginning to head toward the entrance.
What am I supposed to do if it"s a zombie or monster?
Holding that white ballfish, I continuously retreated up.
Wait a minute, there are still the other guests upstairs. If there really is a monster coming out and I rashly run up, it"d probably go disastrously.
As soon as I thought of this, I bit the bullet and turned my head back, prepared to immediately summon Minas if something rushes out to let that thing go straight to heaven.
The clanking noises continuously approached the door, getting louder and louder bit by bit, before stopping. Soundlessly, the electronic door was slowly pushed open from the inside, just like the famous scene that would appear in every horror movie–
I saw a dark-green, dark-green thing emerge from behind the door.
[The one who signed a contract with me…]
“Chu! Come down here!”
Just when I was about to take out Minas and directly attack, a certain oddly familiar shout came from the floor below.
Listening to those words is at least better than being directly killed by an unknown creature. I grabbed that white ballfish and gave up on seeking Minas in a second, very cowardly holding my head as I fled to the lower floor.
That dark green thing stayed in the same spot, without moving at all.
Once I turned down the stairs, sure enough, I saw Senior standing below, going straight to scolding at the very start: “Can"t you read!? Didn"t I say this place is no entry? Why did you come down for!?”
I"m innocent!
Who knew that there would be ballfish falling downstairs for two days in a row!?
“Ballfish?” Following my line of sight down, Senior stared at that white ballfish and narrowed his eyes, “Why is the ballfish white?”
I should be the one asking you this…
“I saw it fall downstairs above, so I followed to pick it up.” Which is to say that this white one is probably a mutant?
“Ballfish should all be blue. This is the first time I"ve seen a white ballfish.” While saying that, Senior, who was clearly busy with something, turned around and didn"t continue discussing the question of whether or not that ballfish was a mutant.
It was only after taking a closer look that I noticed the s.p.a.ce downstairs was also a bit dark. In front was a s.p.a.ce that was very similar to a guest room, but at the same time not. There were a few places that should obviously be warehouses or storage rooms, and a bit in the back was a large completely sealed s.p.a.ce.
For some reason, this floor also gave me a very strange feeling.
There seemed to be many things hidden in the air, yet I couldn"t make out what was there.
“What you feel is probably the power of the different incantations.” Senior walked for a distance before opening a room"s door. After turning on the lights, it was then that I realized it was an empty room inside: “It"s all clutter below too. I only removed a few just now.” Saying that, he glanced around, then bent down to grab something under the bed and bring it in front of me.
It was a small purple box.
“An incantation?” In the box?
“Nn, I mentioned it yesterday. This ship had many people who tried to alleviate it, so it"s filled with the power of various clans.” Letting out a sigh, Senior watched the box that had suddenly caught fire in the air until the box was completely burned to ash, “To actually alleviate the problem, we must first clear away these pointless things.”
Which means you"ve been here destroying other people"s talismans from the start?
Following Senior out of the room, oddly enough, I felt like the air wasn"t that heavy now: “Um…Just what is this ship"s problem?”
I thought of the throwing sound from the floor above and that dark-green dark-green thing, and I once again felt like the hair on my skin were about to stand up.
“Oh, they used materials that shouldn"t have been used.” Senior turned around and told me: “The information sent by the patrol division yesterday wrote that one of the places in the ship used spirit-hosting materials, so the spirits being hosted in them started to toy with this ship out of anger.” Walking into the next room, this time he found a cross.
“Is, is this bad?” I had a cold-sweat feeling.
Senior turned his head and glanced at me, “To make an a.n.a.logy, if someone inexplicably demolished your house for no rhyme or reason, and melted it down to build a large building, wouldn"t you want to make trouble?”
Such a clear and easy to understand a.n.a.logy…
“After the ship began to have problems, the Guild seems to have found no less than a hundred people with powers to come help, to the point where there were incantation talismans everywhere. Maybe they were useful at first, but the spirits clearly weren"t weak either. After a long time, the number of incantations that had no effect on them increased. Never mind not being able to get rid of the spirits, but what"s troublesome now is that all the various clans" incantations are mixed together. Not only did they cover the original spirits" real location and aura, they may bring about even more strange things.” Explaining in a very troublesome tone, Senior frowned, “The d.a.m.n ship company; they tricked me! They dared to tell me that it was just a small problem.”
Uh…I guess they probably didn"t know how serious this was either.
But if it"s serious, why didn"t they look for the Guild for help? They could probably pa.s.s through some whatchamacallit weird channel.
“Too expensive.” Throwing these two words, Senior coldly snorted, “The previous generation of directors of this Guild was disliked for being too expensive, so they tried to find some cheap subst.i.tutes.”
Oh, then I understand.
“I just sent a message back to the Guild. They"ve already reached an agreement with this director, which is why I"m taking action.”
…Which means that if they didn"t reach an agreement, you wouldn"t bother with this ship, right.
“Yes.” Senior glanced at me, saying, “At most, I would help him suppress it as payment for the room, but as time pa.s.ses, there will likewise be problems.”
“Oh…”
“Chu.” Turning around, Senior suddenly spoke in a tone that made my scalp numb: “Since you"re here, now should be the time to test the results of what you"ve learned in the first half of the semester.”
I immediately took two steps back.
“Senior, believe me, I didn"t have any results at all!” What are trying to do!? What are you trying to do to an ordinary human!?
“You"ve done the opening of the eye already. This little thing shouldn"t be a problem for you.” Revealing a frightening smile, Senior walked over and patted my shoulder, “I know the real spirits should be one floor above. As long as you don"t go up, nothing will happen.”
I shook my head desperately.
Don"t be like this Senior, I"m still scared even if I don"t go up!
“Help me clear away all the incantations on this floor.”
I heard h.e.l.l"s bells ringing.
A step back.
Another step back. Taking more steps back like this, I guess I can instantly back out, bow and leave the stage.
“Chu, do you think that"s possible?” Senior revealed very chilly words.
Wu…
“Don"t worry, finding incantations is easy. Look for them with your instincts and you"ll be able to find them.” Giving me a glance, he said: “Besides, you"ve already opened your eyes. You can easily find incantations. It just depends on whether or not you want to find them.”
Then can I choose not to find them…
“No.”
I once again heard the sound of h.e.l.l, “B, but Senior, even if I find them, I don"t know how to destroy them…” Maybe firing a shot to finish them off?
“That works too, but I suggest using explosive charms to make them easier to deal with.” Senior handed over a black talisman paper.
Looking at the talisman paper that I would never be able to properly use in front of me, I stiffly accepted it.
“It"d be probably be like this.” Glancing at the watch on my hand, Senior patted my shoulder twice, using a completely irresponsible tone to say: “Before twelve o"clock in the afternoon, we need to get rid of the talismans on the floors above and below. The floor below will be yours and I"ll go upstairs. Do your best.”
Saying that, he hurriedly left for upstairs.
Standing in the same spot, I suddenly felt the sinisterness in people"s hearts and how chilly today"s weather was. I clearly came here to vacation…
Looking at the talisman in my hand, since it"s already too late for me to escape, I"ll just have to bite the bullet. At any rate, I"ve partic.i.p.ated in the death-causing sports compet.i.tion. Finding some incantations shouldn"t be as hard as that, right?
Speaking of which, if I do find them, what should I use to destroy them more easily?
In the movies in my memories, if they used an incantation talisman, they always seemed to light it on fire first, so using a lighter and whatnot should make it easier to light it on fire…
Just when I was thinking like this, a certain thing replaced the explosive charm and fell into my hand.
A cold wind blew over.
“Chirp.” The white ballfish let out a call.
It was now that I suddenly felt, it was really great for Senior to go up early, so great that I felt touched enough to want to cry. Otherwise, if he saw the thing currently in my hand, I bet I"d definitely be flattened into a pig head.
Why is it that Senior, none of your explosive charms want to listen to people and wait for me to finish thinking before changing!? Is being first that good!?
“Chirp.” Disregarding my deep sorrow, the white ballfish suddenly moved around in my hand, constantly calling out to the door nearby.
Door?
Following the ballfish"s line of sight over, I then noticed that there was something weird about the nearby door. It felt as if there was something behind the door…Is this what Senior meant when he said I"ll be able to find them very easily?
Uh, then what I should do now is break the door, get in, then find the object and burn it?
Thus, just when I decided, for the first time in my life, to very, very coolly kick open the door, go in, grab the weird thing outside and burn it, very soon, reality immediately broke my extravagant hopes and ideals.
The entire electronically locked door told me that the door couldn"t be opened with just a kick, this cruel reality.
Senior, I don"t have the electronic lock"s card; you tell me, how am I supposed get in…You think I learned thieving skills like you guys?
In that second, I suddenly felt like crying.
The ballfish moved again, “Chirp~”
“Stop calling, I can"t do anything about it. The door won"t open.” Grabbing that fish currently leaping about, I moved back a little. At a time like this, I can only take out extreme measures.
People who say “forcing a dog to jump over a wall” must be describing my current situation.
[T/N: It means that even a dog will jump over a wall if backed into a dead end]
[The one who signed a contract with me, please allow the hidden one to witness your swiftness and fierceness.] Summoning Minas, and putting the ballfish on the stairs along the way, I fired a shot at the ground, “Bring all the talisman things on this floor in front of me.”
Then I saw a spray of water scattering on the ground. The several dozen tiny water beads didn"t fall down, charging abruptly toward the surroundings. Not even a little trace remained.
Probably less than a few seconds later, I heard many clutter coming from the surroundings. All around me was that “kou dong dong”* sound, followed by a bunch of miscellanies like scriptures, talismans, unknown jars and strange decorations etc., that were directly swept into a pile in front of me by a lot of water-blue lights.
[T/N: Falling/knocking onomatopoeia]
It feels like a one-for-fifty.
Looking at the pile before me, I was in the middle of considering whether or not my next move should be to squat down, light them up with the lighter, and then let them fend for themselves. Looking at the black lighter in my hand, I had a feeling of infinite desolation.
What"s the difference between my action right now and an arsonist!?
Looking at the pile of incantation appliances on the ground, I randomly picked one up and lit it on fire. The moment the flame touched the paper, the entire paper suddenly disappeared with a bang. Not even the ash was left.
Isn"t this too G.o.dly!?
But this made me realize that it"s best to be careful not to burn my own finger when using this lighter.
It didn"t take long before the clutter on the ground immediately disappeared without a trace under the burning of the black lighter. I offhandedly tossed the lighter into my pocket and looked around. Now the whole feeling and atmosphere below seems a lot better, not as bad as before. It looks just like a normal cabin.
Then that means my job is already done?
I never expected it to even be a lot easier than I"d imagined.
I suddenly felt very moved, having such a sense of accomplishment…Sure enough, this world is beautiful. People really do need to take action and try in order to know that things actually aren"t as hard as they think.
I misunderstood you, Senior. Thank you for letting me handle the things below.
Grabbing the white ballfish, my whole mood became very pheasant and even relaxed. Since downstairs is finished, then that means it"s more or less time for me to go upstairs and report to Senior. He should be just about done too.
Glancing at my watch, there"s still more than one hour of free time remaining from twelve o"clock.
Humming a song as I went up the stairs, I"d just taken two steps when I immediately noticed that there was something wrong with the atmosphere upstairs.
The whole strange and deceitful aura pressed down on the stairs.
And at the top, that dark-green, dark-green thing stood at the stairs waiting for me.
“Chu! Get out of the way!”
A voice instantly came from the top, and I hastily backed down the stairs. In the same moment, that dark-green, dark-green thing seemed to have been ruthlessly attacked from the back. The whole clump went flying and crashed into the wall behind the stairs, then scattered and finally vanished like disintegrating sand.
Senior"s face appeared at the top of the stairs: “Did you finish handling it below?” I saw that his hand seemed to be twisting something in resistance. I should be able to see it clearly if I look a bit closer, but I completely didn"t want to go confirm what that was.
“There shouldn"t be any more.” I really believe in Minas" high-level probing ability.
“Nn, I still need a while longer up here. Wait a moment.” Saying that, Senior immediately threw his head back and left. Two seconds later, I heard a huge boom from above.
Could it be that it"s more dangerous above?
Carrying the white ballfish, I ran up right away. After I ran to the top of the stairs, I just happened to see Senior with his back toward me holding a black knife and in the middle of chopping an unknown red, very humanlike thing into two.
“It"s a bit more troublesome above, because of the spirits" influence, so many of the incantations have already taken on a form.” With a swing of his hand, that black knife came out of Senior"s hand, ruthlessly and accurately nailing a certain ball that had just opened the door and was about to go out right onto the wall.
“Is, is that so?” I suddenly felt that handling downstairs was really too light and easy.
“Nn.” Walking to the first room, Senior opened the legendary door that was supposed to be locked by an electronic lock. A slightly transparent white fox immediately pounced out from inside, “Their influence below is relatively light, so most of them wouldn"t be running around like this.” Saying that, he grabbed the fox"s mouth and his other hand abruptly pierced through its slightly transparent white head to pull out a talisman.
At the same time, the white fox also disappeared.
Right after the fox disappeared, I don"t know if it was my misconception, but the surrounding air seemed to have become icy-cold too, so sharp that it made one feel a stinging pain.
“This is the last one.”
Senior crushed the talisman in his hand and said.