Chapter 44: ?????

Descending the endless ladder, I thought.

‘This is the complete opposite of the dream.’

In the dream, I was going up.

Now, I was going down.

I wondered how far down this would go.

Just as I had that vague thought, I reached the bottom.

Only after my feet touched the ground did I raise my lantern and look around.

A space filled with darkness.

Not a single sound could be heard.

As I examined the open area surrounded by solid, bunker-like walls, I finally found a path.

And after a short walk, I reached the end.

A massive door blocked my way.

The door was covered in various magic circles and countless characters I couldn’t understand.

Perhaps in the past, various magic spells intertwined and interacted with each other.

But now, after so many years, no distinct magical energy could be felt.

‘How do I open this…?’

I looked around the massive door, easily three times my height.

While magical devices might have opened this door in the past, it was unlikely they still functioned correctly.

As I wandered around for a while.

“…What’s that?”

I spotted something suspicious on the opposite side of the door.

Approaching it, I groped around with my hand.

Brushing away the accumulated dust revealed a hidden metal plate.

I lifted it.

Click

A small hole in the wall beneath the metal plate.

It clearly looked like a keyhole.

It seemed like a keyhole for emergencies, in case the magical devices malfunctioned.

But of course, I didn’t have a matching key.

If I knew the shape of the key, I could have created one with the Orb of Dreams.

But I couldn’t create a key I’d never seen.

However.

“It’s not like there’s no way….”

The dream fragments I obtained while wandering through people’s dreams to fix the Orb of Dreams a while ago.

And as I fixed the orb using them, a new ability was added.

The ability to enter a scene from a past memory.

I could now enter a specific moment in the past connected to a particular place or object.

It was a kind of psychometry.

Although not a combat-related ability, it was certainly useful if used well.

But there was one problem.

I hadn’t properly used this ability yet, so I felt a bit uneasy.

“…Let’s try it.”

It felt wrong to turn back now that I’d come this far.

Determined to use the ability, I immediately began channeling mana into the Orb of Dreams.

Unlike before, when it emitted a bright light, this time the Orb of Dreams emitted a murky light.

My body was enveloped in the light, and.

I was sucked into somewhere.

When I opened my eyes, I saw.

A familiar hallway I’d seen before.

After quickly surveying my surroundings, I realized I had successfully entered a memory.

Everything before me was identical to the long hallway I’d seen when I came to find the dream fragments.

But unlike then, the hallway was bustling with people in white coats.

And in the middle of the hallway.

I scanned the busy scene.

This was a memory of the past.

So unlike in dreams, they wouldn’t be able to perceive me.

Of course, I couldn’t talk to them or manipulate objects.

It felt like I was in a virtual reality game, observing from a dimension behind, from an observer’s perspective.

I committed everything I saw to memory, taking the opportunity to familiarize myself with the internal structure.

As I searched for the key while wandering around the laboratory.

I paused, listening to an interesting conversation that reached my ears.

“What’s the status of ‘Epsilon’?”

“It’s currently entered a stable state.”

“Has it shown any abnormal symptoms?”

“No, aside from a slight fever, no other symptoms have been observed.”

“Still, keep a close watch on it just in case.”

“Understood.”

Epsilon…?

It sounded familiar.

A middle-aged man and a woman with glasses were having a serious conversation while looking at documents.

Both were wearing white coats, discussing something seriously.

It was probably related to the Chimera experiments.

Perhaps Epsilon was the name of a test subject used in the experiment.

I wanted to glean more information from their conversation, but I gave up as they continued to use technical terms I couldn’t understand.

I wouldn’t be able to understand or remember it anyway.

The reason I entered this memory.

It was to find the key to open the door.

I moved on, focusing on places where the key might be.

After searching for a while.

“Found it.”

I found a key hanging in a room that appeared to be an office.

Judging by its size, it was definitely the key to open the door.

I carefully observed the shape of the key, memorizing every tiny detail.

Let’s try this first.

If it didn’t work, I could always enter the memory again.

Just as I was about to return to reality, recalling the shape of the key.

“!”

Sensing a killing intent from somewhere, I quickly turned my head.

And what I saw was.

Black eyes staring at me from the deep darkness.

Only the eyes were visible in the complete darkness.

‘It’s looking at me…?’

That couldn’t be.

This wasn’t a dream.

This was a memory of the past.

Then what was that?

How could it see me…?

A terrifyingly dark energy began to creep towards me.

For some reason, goosebumps rose all over my body.

Every sense in my body screamed.

Don’t touch that black energy.

As the black energy approached, now right in front of me.

I immediately cut off the mana flow.

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“Gasp…!”

Back in reality, I caught my breath, calming my racing heart.

What was that just now?

The black eyes staring at me from the abyss.

And the terrifyingly dark energy that followed.

It was as if it was approaching like a snake, ready to constrict and devour me.

I’d never felt anything like that before.

A feeling I hadn’t experienced even when facing stronger opponents.

It was a feeling difficult to define.

But if I had to find a similar emotion.

Yes, it was.

‘Fear.’

Something akin to an incomprehensible power, beyond human comprehension.

The fear of being overwhelmed by it.

And the sense of helplessness and despair as I felt infinitely small before it.

Suppressing the rising negative emotions as much as possible.

I looked down at the key I’d created with the Orb of Dreams, now resting in my hand.

Was it the right choice to go inside?

What if there was an entity I couldn’t handle, like the one I just saw, slumbering inside?

“That’s…not it.”

The black eyes that stared at me.

It was an existence that resided in a deeper abyss than this world.

So I had a strong, inexplicable conviction that it wasn’t related to this matter.

Moreover, after obtaining the Orb of Dreams.

As I went back and forth between dreams and reality, I felt my senses sharpening.

My now-keener senses were telling me.

That what I just saw wasn’t related to this place.

If it were before, I would have been dragged into the darkness without knowing why.

But thanks to detecting the killing intent in that instant, I was able to return to reality safely.

My highly capable senses were telling me.

That the unidentified eyes from just now had nothing to do with this place.

Rather, it was more likely related to the Orb of Dreams.

Dreams, illusions, fantasies.

I had been using this power casually, but perhaps it was a power too much for a mere human to wield.

‘Let’s refrain from anything dream-related for a while.’

I’d been entering dreams too frequently lately.

And there was no telling when a dangerous entity like the one I just encountered might appear again.

Calming my still-racing heart, I approached the wall.

And I inserted the key into the hole.

Click

The key fit perfectly.

The massive door began to move with a loud noise.

Thud

Rumble

The door, tightly shut for ages, was once again revealed to the world.

Even after more than a hundred years.

The possibility that a Chimera might still be alive inside couldn’t be ruled out.

I held up Cain’s Tears, which I’d retrieved from the subspace.

With this, I could deal a significant blow to even a Chimera with dangerous abilities.

Looking at the now wide-open door.

I carefully stepped inside.