Chapter 600
The eyes meet.
I lock eyes with my reflection in the mirror.
The glossy surface of the glass.
Water droplets from washing my face cascade down, and my reflection slowly begins to move.
Is that moving figure an echo of my being, or a simple illusion born of fear and stress?
My mouth gradually starts to move. The corners of my lips begin to rise, stretching longer and longer until it twists and contorts in a bizarre way, almost like a joke gone wrong in an editing program, reaching all the way to my ears.
Ah, how grotesque it is that the corner of my mouth could stretch beyond my ears.
Can this truly be the sight one sees in a flat mirror?
It’s reminiscent of the warped reflections in the funhouse mirrors from childhood amusement parks, conjuring up those strange illusions.
“Hey, look here, friend.”
I can hear whispers coming from it.
It smiles a tearful grin as it says this.
Slowly, it moves its hands, bringing them towards its neck, as if attempting to choke itself.
And then—
“Gurk!”
It tightens its grip.
Choking its own neck with all its might.
That thing in the mirror choked its neck fiercely while bursting into a grotesque laughter, and with that action, I felt a tightening sensation in my own throat. It felt like someone was choking me, as if someone were about to strangle me for real!
I can’t breathe!
Gasping for air, I tried to take a breath, but it felt impossible.
With the lack of oxygen, my body felt sensations fading away, and I could feel my strength slipping as I struggled.
My vision blurred, and it felt like blood was rushing to my head.
I can’t breathe!
The agent thrashed in pain.
Or maybe I didn’t thrash at all.
I was so starved for breath.
So focused on gasping for air, that I couldn’t feel anything else in my body.
“Gurk, huff! Huff, cough, hack!”
I can’t breathe…
* * *
With a clank, the bathroom door swung open.
The agent emerged from the bathroom, looking no different than before.
Or rather, there was one difference.
His face looked damp, as if he had washed up.
“Come on, hurry up.”
He nodded lightly at the urging of his fellow agents and took a seat.
Then he checked the camera, just like before.
“…”
Inside the camera was Skinwalker K-B.
It looked as if it was sitting on the sofa, watching TV, but strangely, its position and pose had changed from earlier, yet its face remained unseen, as if it never had one to begin with.
It evoked a sense of horror akin to seeing a ghost, instilling a fear that originated from the distortions of daily life.
Perhaps that’s why the agents were urging the one who went to the bathroom to sit down quickly.
They needed someone to share this horror with—someone to relieve the pressure of witnessing this twisted sense of normalcy.
A companion is valuable for sharing pain and fear, and at that moment, they were situated in the midst of a mundane scene that could remind them their world was still normal.
Thus, only now, as they gathered, could they watch this footage without showing signs of terror.
However, even with one more agent added, it didn’t mean they could perfectly bear this bizarre situation.
No matter how brave one might be, how many hardships they’ve faced, how many could stare down a ghost straight in the face for hours, as if in a horror movie?
Just like the agents present now.
There weren’t any issues when their comrade first returned, but as they continued to watch the footage of “Skinwalker K-B,” fatigue began to hit them fast.
It wasn’t a video of someone dying, nor one depicting horrific torture.
Just a video of a person whose face remained unseen…
Strangely enough, merely watching it started to mentally exhaust them.
More rapidly than in any other operation.
This was undoubtedly strange.
“…Something feels off.”
Can they get this tired so quickly?
The agents looked at each other with silent glances, confirming that this odd feeling wasn’t theirs alone, and once they saw all nodded, they began to show signs of worry.
This mental fatigue was alarmingly abnormal.
And to find that everyone felt the same!
The agents began to suspect they had fallen under some sort of spell.
They busily checked the equipment that had been set up around the room.
“No abnormalities with the detectors.”
“My talisman is intact, too.”
“…What’s going on?”
But there were no signs of irregularities in the equipment.
Strangely so.
It was all so confusing.
How was this operation unfolding?
They had anticipated it might be dangerous watching a shaman, but…
“Hah, I don’t get it. I don’t think everyone felt burdened just because we were keeping an eye on a shaman…”
“…Maybe. Isn’t this kind of like a collective collapse or something?”
Nothing made sense.
Watching the footage of the shaman didn’t seem to give away their position, but…
What on earth was this weariness?
“Phew…”
One of the agents sighed quietly, feeling a creeping sense of unease wash over him, then stood up. When he noticed the gazes of his comrades on him, he pointed to his groin with a grin.
A light-hearted gesture meant to ease the tension.
Clank.
The agent stepped into the bathroom, just as his comrade had done before him.
…
…
…
Clank.
The bathroom door opened.
The agent who had entered with a playful demeanor returned to his seat.
…
…
…
Clank.
Another agent entered the bathroom.
As they typically trained not to use the bathroom too often, it was odd that he absolutely couldn’t hold it in for this mission.
Could it be this peculiar fatigue shared among the agents?
Or perhaps this strange fear or ominous feeling from watching the video was making him feel he had to pee like when watching a horror movie?
…
…
…
Clank.
An agent emerged from the bathroom.
…
…
…
Clank.
Another agent entered the bathroom.
…
…
…
Finally.
Except for one person, everyone had been to the bathroom.
“I feel like I’ve been awake for three days straight. This is exhausting…”
“….”
“….”
“….”
“Yet it feels like sticky tar is clinging to my body. It’s just a video, isn’t it? I might have felt this way when I first heard the rumors about a website that kills you if you watch it—like that, or a video that guarantees death a week after watching it.”
“….”
“….”
“….”
The only agent who hadn’t gone to the bathroom muttered while staring at the camera.
His words hinted at his dissatisfaction with the mission, but they also seemed to express a need for empathy.
Or perhaps…
Perhaps it was his desperate attempt to shake off the unease.
“….”
Unease.
A level of discomfort that was simply dreadful.
The feeling of being dropped naked into a forest swarming with predators.
When the feeling of being watched by those predators made your body tremble.
“….”
I can feel their gazes.
I can feel the gazes of my comrades.
The eyes of the comrades who once made me feel safe and dependable until we entered the hotel.
But now, those gazes feel horrifying, cold, and sharp.
Is it just my imagination?
Am I developing paranoia from watching this video?
Am I so mentally fatigued, so exhausted that I’m falling into absurd delusions?
“….”
I hope not.
I hope it’s just his misunderstanding.
But contrary to his reasoning, his instincts screamed that the ‘things’ beside him were dangerous. That he should get up and run away immediately, ringing alarm bells in his mind like crazy.
“…Hey guys. We set three codes before starting this operation, right? Don’t forget them?”
But reason speaks.
He says it’s just fatigue.
It’s a trick of instinct.
And to confirm that it’s just an illusion, suggesting that checking once wouldn’t hurt.
So slowly, he opened his mouth and directed his question at one comrade watching him.
A question that was guaranteed to be answered correctly if that person was genuinely his ally.
The comrade, upon receiving the query, looked at him as if to say what kind of question is that.
Then nodded.
He nodded from top to bottom.
“Hey, you didn’t forget either? …If your memory is fading, say so. The three codes.”
Seeing the nod, he spoke to another comrade casually.
The comrade chuckled lightly, nodding as if to confirm he remembered.
“You too?”
Nod.
“You too?”
Nod.
Everyone.
Everyone nodded to his question.
All his comrades saying they remembered the three codes.
He felt relieved that everyone remembered the codes, smiling slightly, and turned his gaze back to the camera.
‘…The codes are…’
But despite his calm demeanor, his back was drenched in cold sweat.
‘…The codes are…’
The codes he memorized before entering the hotel.
…There were none.
