Chapter 6 - Ugomeki: Squirm

1

Hiroshi approached most things with unshakeable confidence. When he’d first encountered the Jailhouse monster, he wasn’t struck by fear or confusion, but rather the rush of being the first person to discover a new species. But now, the thrill was gone.

Pressing a hand to his chest, he could feel his heart racing. His breathing was ragged. Cold sweat was dripping down his back. Hiroshi now finally understood that these were signs of fear. But he had no idea what was happening right in front of him.

Shun had suddenly started moaning in pain when the door behind him opened and he seemed to be sucked inside. Hiroshi had tried to give chase, but the door heartlessly slammed shut before him. The last thing he saw of Shun was the look of abject despair on his face. Try as Hiroshi might to pull on the knob or tackle the door, it wouldn’t budge.

He had no other choice. He’d either need to find the key to the room or a tool to help him break down the door. Those were the only ways to save Shun. As for what was happening to Shun, he couldn’t even begin to say. If this was Naoki’s doing, however, he doubted Shun was in any immediate danger.

Naoki’s goal is most likely to kill me.

As such, Shun—who had more knowledge about the game than anyone else in the world—was an obstacle. That must have been why Naoki separated them. Considering the contents of the email, Hiroshi thought it was relatively safe to assume that Shun would be spared from Naoki’s vengeance. He may have been forcibly abducted, but that would probably be the worst of it.

His mind racing, Hiroshi desperately tried to suppress his panic. If he lost his cool, he wouldn’t be able to make clear-headed decisions. That was especially important now that he was alone.

“Shun, I’ll be right back,” he said, stepping away from the door.

From there, Hiroshi headed to the third floor and found his way to the study. The door was open, and no one seemed to be hiding inside, though there was a slightly sweet smell lingering in the air. Hiroshi closed his eyes and focused entirely on his olfactory senses. The scent reminded him of silver birches in spring—just like the pleasant smell always wafting from Anna’s hair. She must have just left the room.

Hiroshi approached the bookcase and removed a single volume from the densely packed shelves. Inserting his hand into the open space and pushing, the bookcase slowly began sliding to the left. Behind it was a hidden passage. The staircase leading to the attic.

“It appears the setup of this room is the same as in my previous visits,” Hiroshi muttered as he carefully began ascending the stairs.

In the attic should be a door that led outside the mansion. But with more than a ten-meter drop to the ground, jumping from it would be a death sentence. If he could anchor himself with some rope, however, he might be able to safely escape. But first things first, he’d have to make sure the setup of the attic was the same, as well.

Upon reaching the top of the stairway, he tried the door there. It wasn’t locked, and the knob turned easily. Opening it a crack, he peered inside.

A naked lightbulb hung from the ceiling, casting an orange light over the room. It was a small space with only a single bed. And just beyond that was a small door. Nothing appeared to be any different from the last time he was here.

Hiroshi then quickly cut across the room, eyes locked on the small door to the outside world. He gripped the knob, and it too twisted without a hint of resistance. Now if he could just find some rope, escape should be at hand.

His rising hopes were an unfortunate distraction, however. Otherwise, he might have noticed the presence behind him. But his reaction was just a little too delayed.

He finally turned around when he heard a creepy buzzing sound. The entire floor was now blue. A blue that, upon closer inspection, was rustling and scuttling about.

2

A horde of cockroaches carpeted the floor, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. No, they weren’t cockroaches. Their indigo bodies were similar to that of Eucorydia yasumatsui, but the rest of their anatomy was quite clearly distinct from that of a normal roach. Each one of them had two long feelers, a shrimp-like tail, and a eerie pattern on their back that resembled a human eye. There were so many that those eyes almost seemed to be staring at him.

Hiroshi’s heart fluttered for a moment at the discovery of a new species of insect never before recorded in any field guide, but the white smoke rising from the floor gave him pause. An acrid smell filled the room.

Not good. That’s hydrochloric acid.

Hiroshi covered his mouth with his right hand. The cockroach-like creatures seemed to be excreting acid. If he didn’t get out soon, the hydrogen chloride gas in the air would cause his respiratory system to fail. He needed to move, and fast.

Hiroshi retrieved the flashlight from his jacket and threw it at the cockroaches. But instead of scattering, they unleashed a torrent of acid from their backs and melted the flashlight in an instant.

“Fascinating...”

Hiroshi knew he was in mortal danger, but he couldn’t help his awe in witnessing the great destructive force this new species was capable of. He wanted to collect some samples for further research, but combated back such urges. This wasn’t the time for that.

Now, what do I do?

In order to escape the room, Hiroshi would need to make his way through the scuttling mass of cockroaches on the floor. However, his now melted flashlight was proof enough that the shoes he was wearing wouldn’t last a second in the acid. And after they went, his flesh would be next. That much was clear.

But even so, he couldn’t just stay here and wait to die. The white smoke was growing thicker with every passing second. It was only a matter of time before his respiratory system began failing.

Keeping his calm, he surveyed the whole room. All there really was was the dirty-looking bed nearby. He had no choice; he’d have to escape through the small door where he was. Of course, jumping from this height would be suicide.

But the bed... What if he used the sheet as a rope? He could tear it up and tie the pieces together to form a stretch of fabric about seven or eight meters long. He could tie one end to the bed and use the rest to climb out of the door. It would have to do. He didn’t have time to hesitate.

Hiroshi crouched low, set his eyes on his target, and sprung for the bed. It was softer than he’d expected. He almost lost his balance when he landed, but managed to keep from tumbling to the floor. The hundreds of eyes on the cockroaches’ backs all shifted to face him. It was disturbing, almost as if they were observing him.

Hiroshi quickly ripped the sheet from the bed and began tearing it lengthwise. Then he started tying the strips together. He had no idea what kind of tensile strength this material had. He assumed it would support his body weight, but it was still fabric. The instant the cockroach acid touched it, he was finished.

Still, he couldn’t hesitate. This was his only shot at survival. Even if the odds were against him, this was an all-or-nothing bet he had to take.

Once he was done knotting the sheet together, he secured one end of it tightly to the bed. Now he just had to get the door open and jump. And he couldn’t afford to hesitate. If he took too long, the cockroaches would disintegrate his lifeline. Hiroshi stood up on the bed and ran through the plan in his head.

Jump from the bed. Open the door. Throw the sheet out. Leap into the void. It’ll be fine.

In just a few seconds, he would be safely on the ground below. That was all he had to get through. Steeling himself, he tensed to jump when the bed lurched to one side.

Shoot!

Hiroshi cursed himself when he realized his blunder. He’d been trying to keep his wits about him, but it hadn’t totally worked. While he’d been focused on knotting the sheet together, the cockroaches had crept closer and melted one of the legs of the bed.

Standing on it as it lurched, Hiroshi was thrown totally off balance. If he fell now, he’d plunge right into the sea of cockroaches. He flung out an arm, hoping to grab on to something. But the bed was the only piece of furniture in the room. His fingers vainly grasped at nothing.

Shun... I’m sorry.

Hiroshi said his prayers.

This is as far as I go.

He shut his eyes tight...

Suddenly, the door to the attic burst open, and a figure came flying into the room. It hurdled toward Hiroshi with inhuman speed, quickly grabbed him, and then kicked the toppled bed back toward the exit. It all happened so fast that Hiroshi couldn’t parse what had just happened.

The mysterious figure set him down at the top of the stairs.

“That was close, huh?” it said with a smirk that flashed pearly white teeth.

“...Yes.”

Hiroshi tried to speak, but that was all that came out. For there, standing before him, was Takuro.

3

Hiroshi had always assumed that he lacked the key emotions others took for granted. He was born dispassionate. He believed that he would never share in someone else’s joy or sadness. But the moment he saw Takuro’s smile, something hot welled up in his chest. His eyes burned, and his vision became blurry.

“Takuro... you’re okay!”

He pretended to push up his glasses frames to disguise the gesture of wiping away tears. He didn’t want anyone to see him behaving so strangely.

“I’m not sure you could call this ‘okay,’ man,” Takuro said jokingly.

Hiroshi then became aware of the ominous sound of flapping wings behind them. Turning to look, he saw the horde of cockroaches rising into the air.

“Whoa, there.”

Takuro kicked the door with expert skill, slamming it right in the face of the cockroach onslaught. The closed door rattled violently in its frame. Were the cockroaches tackling it? They had a surprising amount of strength for insects.

“They’re basically brainless, so I can’t communicate with them. They’ll melt the door down and come flying out soon enough, though, so let’s get out of here.”

Takuro then turned and leaped down the flight of stairs in a single bound, sticking a perfect landing at the bottom. Hiroshi was completely taken aback. Takuro was moving like an elite Olympic gymnast. He’d always been athletic, certainly, but this demonstration of agility reached new heights.

Hiroshi hurried down the stairs after him and returned the bookshelf to its original position, sealing the passageway.

“Don’t worry. We should be fine here,” Takuro sat down on the desk and said. “Those things mercilessly attack anyone that invades their territory, but as soon as you leave, they turn docile.”

“You’re quite well informed.”

“It’s not me, really. It’s just stuff the monster that ate me already knew,” Takuro snorted in self-derision with a small shrug.

Simply talking to him, Hiroshi thought he seemed just like Takuro. Ignoring the enlarged, empty pupils, that is.

“But in truth... you are the monster that ate Takuro, correct?”

Takuro chuckled at his slip of the tongue.

“You always were a straight-shooter. I still have feelings, you know.”

“Oh... I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. You could say I’ve gotten used to my new situation.”

Takuro made it sound like it was no big deal, but it couldn’t be that easy. Despite his smile, there was a permanent crease in his brow.

“What happened to you guys after I escaped the Jailhouse?” Hiroshi asked.

“The roof collapsed, and we were surrounded by a sea of fire. If we were regular humans, we certainly would have died right then and there. But these monsters have unbelievable power. We managed to get out of that room with the altar, and we fled toward the main mansion from there. We’re surprisingly fast when we’re in human form.”

Indeed, he’d just displayed the same superhuman speed while rescuing Hiroshi.

“We made it into the underground path and hid in the electrical room. We must have gotten lucky. There was a huge explosion, but we were safe there... Heh, maybe I shouldn’t call it luck. Maybe it would have been easier just to die then.”

Takuro’s expression clouded for a moment, which Hiroshi didn’t fail to notice.

“After the rumbling from the explosion died down, we tried to leave immediately, but the path had collapsed both ways, blocking us off from the mansion and the annex. We were trapped underground. I thought we were surely done for then.” He turned to face Hiroshi and asked, “How many days has it been?”

“That was about three days ago.”

“That’s all? It felt like at least ten.”

“What did you do for sustenance?” Hiroshi asked.

“There was some water seeping in from above ground, so we managed.”

“And food?”

“Don’t worry. I haven’t eaten anyone yet,” Takuro said jokingly. “Mika had some chocolate in her pocket, so we shared that and made do.”

The monsters reproduced everything about the victims they consumed. That had been their saving grace.

“When we ran out, I really thought we were done for. But then... suddenly a door to the Jailhouse appeared.”

The once closed-off space must have reopened when the alpha version of the game was installed on the tablet, changing the Jailhouse.

“We poked around the mansion and found the kitchen right away. There’s a huge fridge just packed with food. We were in the middle of gobbling it down when we heard something from the attic. I came to check it out, thinking someone might be here, and that’s when I saw you getting attacked by the cockroaches. And now here we are.”

“The kitchen is on the first floor, isn’t it? You could hear me from down there?”

“Yeah. I know it sounds crazy when I say it out loud. I wonder... It was a faint sound, but I knew exactly where it was coming from.”

Hiroshi mused to himself that that must be another of the monster’s unique abilities.

“Is Mika in the kitchen now?” he asked.

“Yeah, she’s all excited about making a delicious soup for me.”

“She’s all right, then?”

Takuro nodded.

“She’s taking this a lot better than I am. She was actually happy, saying it was like a dream that we could spend time like this, just the two of us. We were on death’s door not an hour ago...”

His eyes half shut in a fond smile. Hiroshi had never seen such a gentle expression on Takuro’s face before.

“She... wants to live here. I’m thinking that’s not a bad idea.”

“Why? You should escape with me.”

“No can do.” Takuro shook his head. “It’d be one thing if I could stay in this form forever, but that’s not how it works, right? There’s no telling when I’ll revert to my true form. And when that happens, I won’t be able to control myself. You want me to kill people?”

“Is there no way for us to coexist?”

“’Fraid not. The monsters hate humans. I can feel the rage pulsing inside me even now. It’s trying desperately to break out and eat you.”

“But you’re suppressing it with your own strength, aren’t you? If you could keep doing that—”

“All it takes is the slightest hint of anger for the monster to latch on to and take over. And how am I supposed to live without getting angry? I’m already short-tempered as it is. I’m a walking time bomb. I can’t ever go outside like this.”

“But—”

“No matter what logic you throw at me to try and convince me, it ain’t gonna work. You’re not gonna change my mind,” Takuro said, cutting him off. “So be careful. You never know when I might change. If I can’t suppress the monster, run away as fast as you can. If you don’t, you’ll be eaten—”

Suddenly, Takuro staggered.

“Who’s there?!” he spun and shouted.

“What’s the matter?” Hiroshi asked.

“Huh... It felt like someone shoved me...” Takuro answered, bewildered.

Could... Naoki be here?

Hiroshi got the feeling something bad was about to happen. Unease filled his heart.

Then the sound of something scratching against the wall reached his ears. He looked for the source of it and spotted a blue magic marker floating in the air. It moved this way and that, scrawling words across the white wall.

What, you don’t want to hurt anyone? So you’ll sacrifice yourself and stay here? Don’t make me laugh, murderer.

The color ran from Takuro’s face.

You know that’s not true. You’re just too ashamed to be seen in your monster form. Don’t try to act cool.

“Who are you?” Takuro asked, his voice trembling with rage.

“Don’t, Takuro,” Hiroshi tried to warn him. “This is a trap. He wants to anger you and draw out the monster. Be strong—”

But it was too late. Blue liquid was dripping from Takuro’s skin. A bestial howl shook the room.