Chapter 22: Womb

The next location was a massive palace.

As always, we opened the door at the end of the hallway, and a grand structure resembling a magnificent palace appeared before us.

The entire structure was adorned with golden decorations and marble pillars.

The ceiling stretched so high it seemed to reach the sky, with intricate patterns engraved above.

Above the entrance of the palace, large metal letters were prominently embedded.

[Womb]

I read the inscription and tilted my head in confusion.

“W-Womb? What does that mean?”

“Hah…”

Sia sighed and pressed her forehead.

“This place keeps getting weirder. Why does everything here have such bizarre naming sense?”

“Hana?”

“…Not that ‘Hana.’”

“Pfft, don’t look so grim. I was just joking.”

“You are the joke.”

“W-What?!”

I turned to Sia in surprise.

She glanced at me, shook her head, and let out a small chuckle.

“Don’t get too worked up, it was just a joke. You might actually get a fever at this rate.”

I sighed in frustration and pursed my lips.

After that brief exchange, we approached the massive golden doors of the palace.

“But… how do we open this door?”

I muttered while looking up at it.

For some reason, where a handle should have been, there was instead a peculiar carving embedded in its place.

It was a small statue of a humanoid figure with tiny horns on its forehead.

“Well, it is a handle…”

Sia murmured while examining the door.

At that moment, the horned statue suddenly moved, tilting its head slightly.

In a small voice, it muttered,

“My horns… hurt.”

I flinched and instinctively took a step back.

“Did you hear that?! It… it spoke!”

“Huh…? A door handle that talks?”

Sia looked at the statue in disbelief.

It had stopped moving, but its expression still seemed pained.

I exchanged glances with Sia, my face full of uncertainty.

She crossed her arms and examined the statue closely.

“It said its horns hurt, right? Does that mean we need to do something with the horns to open the door?”

She tilted her head, still unsure.

“Maybe… we need to cut them off? Or press something?”

I examined the statue again after hearing her words.

However, the horns were made of metal, making it impossible to cut them off, and they didn’t seem to have any buttons or switches to press.

“No matter how I look at it, they just seem decorative.”

I scratched my head and spoke.

Sia sighed and looked at the statue again.

“There must be a clue. It said its horns hurt, so we probably need to do something about them.”

We spent a long time fumbling around, trying to figure it out.

Suddenly, Sia’s eyes lit up.

“Ah! I think I got it!”

She suddenly called me over.

“Come here.”

I tilted my head in confusion and approached her.

“What is it? You’re not thinking of doing something weird again, are you?”

Instead of answering, Sia grabbed my hand.

Then, out of nowhere, she started scratching my palm.

A tingling sensation rapidly spread through my entire body from the unexpected movement.

“Hey! What the hell are you doing?!”

I flinched and tried to pull my hand away, but Sia remained firm, continuing to scratch my palm with a determined expression.

It was a strange feeling.

My whole body tensed up as a peculiar, ticklish, yet oddly unsatisfying sensation washed over me.

As I trembled, overwhelmed by the sensation, something unexpected happened.

Creeeeak—

“What the—?!”

The massive door slowly began to open.

The statue lifted its head slightly, its once pained expression easing into relief as it muttered,

“My horns hurt.”

Despite its words, its face looked completely at peace.

The door fully opened, revealing a new space beyond.

Sia turned to me with a satisfied smile.

“See? I got it right.”

“…But why did you suddenly scratch my hand? You scared me!”

I glared at her, demanding an explanation, but she responded nonchalantly.

“Well… I just thought about it. If its horns hurt, maybe it needed something itchy to be scratched.”

“Then why didn’t you try it on your own hand?!”

“I had a feeling it wouldn’t work if I did it alone. I don’t know, it just seemed that way.”

I stared at her in disbelief before letting out a deep sigh and shaking my head.

“You always have the weirdest ideas…”

Sia chuckled playfully.

“Weird, but they always work. Now, let’s go.”

We stepped through the open door into the next space.

As we entered, a massive great hall unfolded before us.

The space was divided into two corridors.

The left and right corridors extended into the darkness, their ends nowhere in sight.

Both corridors had golden decorations engraved on the walls, but the atmosphere felt eerie.

In the center of the great hall stood a massive chair.

The chair was decorated like a grand throne, adorned with red cushions and golden embellishments, giving it an imposing presence.

In the middle of the room, there was a sign that read [Orgy Hall Leader], but I chose to ignore it, unwilling to read further.

“That chair… why is it just sitting there?”

I muttered as I pointed toward it.

Sia folded her arms and tilted her head as she examined the chair.

“Hmm… It definitely seems important. I doubt it’s just for decoration.”

We cautiously approached the chair.

Up close, it appeared even more massive, with strange patterns carved into its sides.

“Well, since we don’t know how to use it, we should probably check the surroundings first.”

“You mean explore the two corridors?”

“Yeah. This time, why don’t we split up and take one each? It’ll save time and be more efficient. But if you’re scared, we can stick together.”

Sia grinned playfully, watching my reaction.

I shook my head and replied.

“Scared? No way. I think splitting up is the better plan too. Alright, I’ll take the right corridor.”

“Great. I’ll check out the left one. If something weird happens, just scream.”

“Got it. But you better come right back if things get dangerous, okay?”

Sia gave a small nod and headed toward the left corridor.

I slowly made my way down the right corridor.

The passage stretched into the darkness, with strange symbols carved into the walls.

They looked like unfamiliar hieroglyphs, though some resembled human figures.

I walked cautiously along the wall, shining my flashlight around.

“There’s got to be some kind of clue…”

Halfway down, I felt something strange.

The floor seemed slightly slippery, and the air grew colder and more humid.

Then, I suddenly heard Sia’s voice in the distance.

Far ahead, at the end of the corridor, Sia emerged.

“It’s me, Sia.”

I tilted my head in confusion.

She had gone down the left corridor—so why was she appearing from the right?

“Why are you here? Weren’t you supposed to be checking the left corridor?”

I asked, my expression puzzled.

But Sia didn’t answer.

She just smiled at me.

It was an unnatural smile.

Her smile wasn’t the playful one she often made—it was stiff, almost as if she were imitating an expression.

A Day in the Womb.

Today, I stepped into a grand palace.

At the entrance, the strange word “Womb” was engraved, and the entire place was decorated with golden ornaments and marble, creating an eerie atmosphere.

After passing by the horned door handle without much thought, I entered and found a massive throne-like chair and two diverging hallways.

Since we had no idea what the throne was for, we decided to split up and investigate the hallways.

I took the right corridor.

While exploring, I noticed a faint chill in the air.

At that moment, Sia, who had gone down the left corridor, suddenly appeared at the far end of the right one.

But something was off.

Her behavior and expression were different from usual, and even her way of speaking felt unnatural.

What’s going on?

Did something happen to Sia?

Monster File: [My Horn Hurts]

Form:
A metallic sculpture in the shape of a human face.

A sharp horn protrudes from its forehead, and its size is roughly as large as a human head.

Its mouth and eyes can move slightly, allowing it to express emotions.

The entire sculpture has a golden sheen and is embedded into the womb’s door like a handle.

Characteristics:
“My Horn Hurts” is a simple puzzle-type creature.

It poses no direct threat, but unless the solution is found, progress is impossible.

This sculpture guards the palace entrance and only allows passage to visitors who can relieve its pain.

It always wears a pained expression and repeatedly mutters, “My horn hurts.”

Threat Level:
It doesn’t exhibit any aggressive behavior.

However, failing to figure out how to ease its pain will waste time and energy.

Attempting to remove or destroy the horn physically might be possible, but the consequences are unknown.

Weakness:
Once its pain is relieved, the door opens after a short period, and the sculpture returns to its original state.

The exact conditions remain unclear.

The door opened after Sia scratched my hand.

Why did that work?