Chapter 274: The Eldritch Scourge
The Eldritch Realm.
The fluorescent lights in the classroom emitted a sharp, erratic buzzing, their
rhythmic flickering the only sound in the suffocating silence.
Sora stared at her notebook, her vision swimming across the rows of handwritten
survival protocols she had meticulously logged over the years.
[Rule 1: Never trust the reflection of your own Od in the mirror.] [Rule 2: If
an entity calls your full name, ignore the vocal vibration.] [Rule 3: The
number 4 is a structural taboo; bypass it or utilize '3+1' as a substitute.]
At the lectern, Master Vahn's voice was a flat, clinical drone, yet his words
tumbled out with frantic velocity. He was forty-three years old and had spent
two decades instructing the "Anomaly Counter-Measure" curriculum.
In twenty years, he had taught 3,721 students. Only thirty were still breathing.
"Remember," Vahn said, striking the blackboard so hard the wood groaned and
chalk dust hissed into the air. "The most lethal element of a Rule-Based
Scenario isn't the Anomaly itself."
"It is the erosion of self. You will forget the logic of your own existence."
"In the darkness, you will subconsciously begin to process yourself as part of
the Anomaly."
"Therefore!" He spun around, his bloodshot eyes performing a predatory sweep of
every young face in the room. "Maintain a state of hyper-lucidity! Never lose
sight of the target's energy signature!"
Ping! Ping! Ping!
A shrill, digital shriek erupted from a desk. In the third row, a girl named Rin
slowly lowered her gaze to her phone screen.
[CONGRATULATIONS. YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED FOR THE SPOOKY GAME: THE ABANDONED
MAGITECH PLANT.] [TRANSIT COMMENCING IN: 3 SECONDS.]
"Master! I—"
"STAY ANCHORED!" Vahn's roar incinerated her whimper. "Maintain your logic!
Identify the enemy!"
Before the second finished, Rin's silhouette began to warp. Her form blurred
like a smudge of ink in water. She reached out, her fingers clawing at the air
as if trying to seize a thread of reality, but she caught nothing. She vanished
from the plane.
Every student in the room stared at the vacant stool.
Thirty seconds passed.
Plop.
A single finger manifested on Rin's desk with a sickening, wet sound. It was
slender, the nail still coated in her favorite shade of pale pink polish.
Sora clamped a hand over her mouth, her stomach performing a violent revolution.
She fought the physical impulse to retch. Around her, she heard the sounds of
others sobbing or sprinting for the exit to vomit, but most simply turned the
pages of their notebooks. The scratching of pens was the only soundtrack to the
horror.
There was no time for mourning. No bandwidth for fear. Because the next variable
could be them.
Master Vahn walked to the desk with a face of cold stone. He used a pair of
alchemical tweezers to lift the finger, dropping it into a transparent specimen
jar.
"The lesson continues," he stated, his voice even faster now, as if racing
against an invisible clock.
"[Rule 4: If you perceive a lullaby, seal your auditory receptors and count to
one hundred in your mind.]" "[Rule 5: Do not open your eyes to observe the
'Singer,' regardless of the vocal manipulation utilized.]" "[Rule 6—]"
Ping! Ping!
Another notification. This time, it was a boy in the back row. He didn't even
bother to stand. He simply stared at the countdown on his screen with a hollow,
resigned gaze. Three seconds later, he was gone.
Vahn didn't even look at the empty seat.
"[Rule 6: If an entity touches your head and claims you are 'A Good Child,' do
not resist. Do not respond. Maintain stillness until the presence departs.]"
Squelch.
The boy lasted five minutes. All that returned was a single eyeball, still
twitching in its socket.
Sora's hands were shaking so violently she had to grip the edges of her desk.
She tried to etch every rule into her brain, but she knew it was a losing
battle. The "Rules" were the most lethal trap of all.
Some were paths to survival. Others were lures. Some worked in one scenario only
to become a death sentence in the next. You never knew if the logic you trusted
was the one that would lead you to the Void.
Ping! Ping! Ping!
Three phones shrieked in unison. Three students vanished. The room was emptying.
What started as a class of fifty was now down to thirty-two.
Vahn's voice reached a fever pitch. "[Rule 8: Do not trust the voice behind the
door. Rule 9: If your reflection smiles while you remain stoic, close your eyes
instantly. Rule 10—]"
Sora felt like her skull was going to explode. The rules were clashing in her
mind. Rule 1 said never trust the reflection, but Rule 9 said use the reflection
as a status-indicator. Which logic was the absolute?!
Ping!
Another bell. This time, it was Vivi, Sora's only friend. Vivi turned her head,
a smile that looked more like a grimace of agony stretching across her pale
face.
"Sora... if I don't make it back..."
Sora seized Vivi's hand, her grip desperate. "You will. Vivi, you have to!"
Vivi shook her head, staring at the glowing screen.
[TRANSIT IN: 3 SECONDS]
"If you survive... look after my mother," Vivi whispered. "She has joint pain
from the Mana-drought. Remind her to take the herbs."
2.
"And the diary under my bed... burn it. Don't read it."
1.
Vivi vanished. Sora's hand closed on empty air.
One minute later.
Thump.
A raw, still-beating heart manifested on Vivi's desk. Sora stared at the organ
as it pulsed with a frantic, dying rhythm.
Thud-thud. Thud-thud.
Sora broke. She bolted from the room, leaning over a trash bin in the corridor
and retching until only bile remained.
Today was their eighteenth birthday. According to the laws of this cursed realm,
everyone was summoned once during their eighteenth year. The survival rate was a
statistical anomaly: 1%.
Sora wiped the sour moisture from her chin and walked back into the room. There
were twenty-three left.
Master Vahn was still speaking. His voice was a raspy, shredded ghost of itself,
yet he refused to stop.
"[Rule 11: If you see two mothers, do not ask which is real. Choose the one on
the right. Rule 12—]"
Ping! Ping!
Two more vanished.
Sora closed her eyes, unable to witness the tally. But in the dark of her
eyelids, the images were sharper. Rin's finger. The boy's eye. Vivi's heart.
They weren't just "parts"; they were her classmates. Yesterday, they were
laughing about the new Talking Manga. Today, they were scrap.
"Sora."
Vahn's voice called her name. Sora snapped her eyes open, only to realize she
was the last one in the room.
"Remember," Vahn whispered, his gaze intense. "No matter the distortion...
always identify the enemy."
The silence that followed was absolute.
And then, Sora's phone began to scream.
☆☆☆
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