Episode 62 – Magic Space Experience (2)

Magic Space Experience (1)

“Ah… This is relaxing.”

On the 30th floor of the hotel, in the Presidential Suite, one of only ten such rooms even on the suite floor.

Kain and his trio were sprawled out on the spacious sofa, resting.

“This is nice. But we’ve booked the rest of our time here, right?”

Kain asked again. Asher sighed. He’s been acting like a dog that needs to poop, looking out the window nervously, not letting us enter the bedroom or study. Only the living room is safe, he says.

“Yeah. You need to fix your anxiety.”

“What anxiety? You’re crazy.”

Only then did Kain stretch out like a pile of laundry, seemingly relieved.

Seriously, why is a guy his size scared of a phantom? He looks like he could take on a grizzly bear.

“Ah… I want to drink wine. There are a few in the vending machine.”

Kain mumbled absentmindedly. There’s wine in the vending machine on the 30th floor. It’s a common brand, but right now, even that seems luxurious… His eyes were sparkling at the wine.

“What’s with the wine during a mission? Kain, you’ve become a senior and you’ve lost it.”

Mel sat in a massage chair. While receiving a mechanical massage, he asked,

“Hey, how are Elise and the others doing these days?”

“Elise is the same as always. She’s in the same academy as you.”

Asher answered. Mel murmured while entrusting his body to the massage chair.

“Elise, she just won’t fall for me, she won’t. Ah, this feels good.”

“What?”

Kain and Asher’s expressions hardened. Mel hastily waved his hands.

“No, no. Not anymore. I was like that in middle school, but now I actually dislike her. She’s too different. But, doesn’t she have something with Gerkhen Kal Doon? I heard a rumor that he’s being sponsored by Petra, that commoner.”

“I don’t know, man.”

Asher cut her off when suddenly,

Knock, knock-

There was a knock at the door.

“Damn, what the hell is that all of a sudden?”

Kain flinched as if he’d been electrocuted.

“…Yeah, why is there a knock?”

Knock, knock-

Someone in the hallway knocked again. Asher slowly got up and approached the door.

“Hey, don’t go! Why are you going, you idiot!”

“Hey, it’s fun.”

Kain also joined in to tease. Asher grinned and swung the door open.

“Who… Oh, what?”

Outside was an unexpected figure. Even Kain, who was nearly hyperventilating, looked at him and immediately calmed down.

“Shion? Why are you here?”

Shion Ascal. Did he come to get revenge for being swindled-

“I also booked a suite on the opposite side.”

Shion grinned and pointed to another suite on the opposite side of the hallway.

Well, we only took half of his money. He must have enough left to book a suite by himself.

Asher wore a wary expression.

“…Really? But why?”

“Ah~ I realized I should thank you. You guys protected me while I gamble, right?”

“That’s… right?”

In truth, it was a lie. Even if they hadn’t protected him, everyone would have fled due to the phantom and the aura emanating from the casino.

“So, a gift.”

Shion extended a wine bag. Asher glanced at it and asked,

“Wine? Where did you get it?”

“They sell it in the vending machine on the 30th floor.”

Asher was suspicious. Why was this guy, who had been so uptight until now, suddenly acting like this? Was he trying to curry favor again? Wasn’t it too late?

He had many thoughts, but he accepted it anyway. Could there possibly be poison in the wine?

“Hmm… Do you want a drink too? Opportunities to drink with someone from our social stratum aren’t common, right?”

At that, Shion waved his hand with a smile.

“No. I can’t drink.”

“What? Wow~ This loser… Anyway, that’s enough. Go.”

“Uh.”

His last response was just like his loser days. Of course, he’s still a loser now.

Asher closed the door with a sneer.

“Uh is bullshit. That guy is funny.”

“What’s that? Wine? Bring it here.”

Kain’s eyes were fixed on the wine bag. Asher shook the wine bag and said,

“It’s a gift from Shion~”

“Why would he?”

“He said he’s grateful for protecting him while he was gambling?”

“…Just give it to me.”

Kain took the wine bag. He quickly pulled out the contents.

“Ah~ This is what I saw on my way here.”

It was the wine he had noticed in the vending machine on the 30th floor.

“Hey, hey. Don’t drink it. I can’t trust that guy, Shion. He might have put something strange in it.”

“I know, you bastard. Do you think I would drink it? Do you think I’m that clueless?”

Kain put down the wine. His face was craving it, his lips licked a few times, but he soon sank into the sofa with a sigh.

But then.

“….”

His face, which had been looking straight ahead, suddenly stiffened.

Gulp-!

His Adam’s apple trembled as if it were shaking. Cold sweat filled his pores. The trembling of his body transferred to the sofa, vibrating like a massage chair.

“What. Is there another problem?”

When Asher asked, Kain, trembling, raised his finger.

“…Wha, wha, what is that.”

“What? Where?”

Mel and Asher looked in that direction, but there was nothing.

“There’s nothing there?”

“What do you mean, there’s nothing, fuck! That monster-like… you, you, how did you get in here.”

Kain’s eyes were fixed on thin air. It was as if he was seeing some furry Grim Reaper. Mel and Asher also concentrated their psychic energy to see that ‘something’.

“…No. There’s nothing.”

“You, you, don’t, don’t come, don’t, sleep! Aaaaaaaaaaah——!”

Suddenly, Kain screamed.

“Aaaaaaaaaah———”

Clang-! The high-pitched scream shattered the wine glass, and Asher and Mel covered their ears.

“Ah, shit! Hey Asher, why is that crazy guy screaming?!”

“I don’t know, fuck”

“You do something about it!”

“Aaaaaaaaaah——!

Kain had even summoned his Magic Body and was waving his arms left and right. The air waves that arose – whoosh- bombarded the room.

“Uh, ugh! Bastard! Madman! Get out, get out, get out——!”

“No, hey, stop it- ugh!”

Thwack—! Asher, who was trying to calm Kain, took a punch to the solar plexus, and was considered fatally injured and was sent back early.

“Kuh, kuhahahahaha———!”

Still, Kain didn’t stop. He flailed his arms and legs like a beast. His limbs, swollen with muscles and magic power, were weapons in themselves. Every time he thrashed about, the ceiling lights flickered, and the floor shook as if there was an earthquake.

“Crazy bastard. He’s definitely a 5-star prospect.”

Mel turned around with a disgusted look. If he stayed here, he would be swept up by that possessed-infested grizzly bear. Just like Asher just now.

He should run away for now.

He opened the door to the suite and stepped out into the hallway-

——Thud!

His head shook.

“……?”

Suddenly, his focus blurred, and the world turned upside down. He closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them, his body was stuck to the floor.

“Uh…….”

Mel was puzzled. Did he get hit in the head? Or did he trip over something?

More importantly, where is he now? What time is it?

Stagger-

While he was fumbling with his temporarily broken cognitive abilities, someone’s footsteps landed in front of him. Thanks to that, Mel barely came to his senses.

Who is it? Who dares to touch me, the son of a Senator-

To find out, he had to move. He had to see the culprit.

Mel desperately raised his head. In his upwardly tilted view, there was someone smiling brightly.

“Hello, Mel.”

This blond guy… what was his name? Gianfranco? Ferragamo Toronto?

Is it because he’s so insignificant, or because he got hit in the head, he can’t remember his name.

Whooosh──

The guy raised something. The red light in the hallway flickered.

It was an axe. The rusty blade triggered Mel’s survival instinct. His back shivered with fear.

“Ah, save me…….”

Bang—!

The guy swung down the axe.

My head was split.

No, not my head. If my head was split, I wouldn’t be able to think.

It was the smartwatch on my wrist. The axe blade was stuck in it, and fragments splattered near my eyes.

“Garcia you…….”

Mel mumbled in a daze and was sent back early.

______________________________________________________________________

Swoosh—

I gently stepped on the debris of the suite.

It was a mess. The sofa was disassembled into some particle unit, and the floor and ceiling of the room were so full of holes that they seemed about to collapse at any moment.

“He’s definitely a 5-star.”

Surely Kain is a 5-star prospect. Especially his combat abilities are comparable to a 6-star, a true physical fighter. A monster that a guy like me could never beat in a head-on fight.

Kain’s mental state probably wasn’t as bad as a complete wreck. He just lacked a bit of immunity to these phantom types.

That powerful Kain went on a rampage and committed suicide.

Not actual suicide, but he smashed his smartwatch.

“Good job.”

I flicked a casino chip into the air. The male phantom reached out to catch it.

It was a man whose face was split in half.

It might sound a bit cute when described in words, but if you look closely, you can see bone fragments, blood vessels, teeth, and the tongue all clearly exposed through the split face, which is quite disgusting.

“This works.”

I picked up a wine bottle rolling on the floor.

At first glance, it looks like an ordinary wine, but this is also a utilization of the 「Notepad」. It’s a transformation by infusing an existing object with only the Memory of its ‘form’.

So this wine bottle is…

I disassembled the Memory. The mouth of the wine bottle rolled inward, and the bottom shrank, contracting thin and small.

It’s a casino chip.

The chip itself is a mana stone, so there was no need for a separate ‘medium’ to maintain the Memory. It’s not for nothing that phantoms can handle chips.

“Hmm.”

I looked at the watch on my wrist.

[20 : 30 : 00]

9 hours and 30 minutes have passed.

Based on this place, it’s been 4 days and 4 hours.

There’s still plenty of time left, but I need to move diligently to complete the plan.

Rumble———!

“Ah, surprise.”

Suddenly, a loud noise rang out from behind. Turning around, the door to the suite was closed on its own.

Why did it suddenly do that?

I pushed the doorknob. Surprisingly, it opened without resistance.

“……Where is this?”

But the hallway was strange.

It was bright red all around, and rooms were lined up without gaps on both sides.

[Room 444]

[Room 444]

[Room 444]

[Room 444]

[Room 444]

[Room 444]

[Room 444]

[Room 444]

[Room 444]

[Room 444]

They were all room 444.

“This is…… a bit creepy.”

I let out a hollow laugh.