LIGHTNOVELONLINE Announcement
All personnel currently stationed at Base 17 are notified.
On September 18th, 1983, anomalous behavior was detected from Abnormal Phenomenon #1983.
According to existing containment procedures, Phenomenon #1983 must remain open at all times; however, as of that date, footage captured the phenomenon closing on its own, and simultaneously, Agent Henry Russell, who was working at Base 17, went missing.
Currently, investigations and research on the anomalous behavior exhibited by Phenomenon #1983 are ongoing. Until the containment procedures for this abnormal phenomenon are revised, all personnel at Base 17 are requested to adhere to the newly assigned temporary protocols.
[Temporary Procedures]
All attempts to reopen the self-closed Abnormal Phenomenon #1983 have failed. The closed phenomenon will automatically reopen after a duration of approximately 5 minutes to 2 hours. Therefore, in the event of an emergency alarm, all personnel on duty must cease movement and remain in their designated areas.
—
Late at night.
In a sparsely populated office, the sound of typing echoed.
The person typing was Senior Researcher Sophia. For days, she had been putting in extra hours for the anomalous entity she was assigned to.
And finally, the long task that seemed never-ending came to an end. With a tap, the sound of typing ceased.
Sophia’s report, written after referencing numerous research documents and logs, was finally complete.
“Haah….”
With a long sigh, she succumbed to fatigue and slouched back in her chair. As she leaned back until the chair’s limit, she stretched her arms above her head to relieve her stiff body but felt a lingering discomfort from her stubborn fatigue. Closing her eyes for a moment, she savored the rest she was granted.
‘That took a while.’
She murmured under her breath. Whether it was a lament about the long hours or a sense of accomplishment for finishing the task, even she couldn’t distinguish it. However, one fact was undeniable: it had indeed taken a long time.
Numerous research logs and reports, along with past cases, had taken quite a bit of time to sift through. Not to mention, consolidating her report with the necessary references was also quite exhausting.
Especially since it dealt with an anomalous entity that had not even been around for a month, many researchers at the base would likely scoff at her efforts.
‘Well, that’s not my problem, I suppose.’
However, that wasn’t particularly crucial for Sophia. She was the type of person who didn’t care much about others’ opinions, and the report was already complete, proving its existence before her eyes, wasn’t it? What had already happened and the time spent on it was no longer something for her to worry about, even if the report ended up being tossed in the trash after submission.
“….”
Sophia scratched her head. After all, there was no time to fuss over such things right now. After a few days of piled-up work and writing the report, her focus had been entirely consumed by it. But now that the work was finished and her mind felt a bit freer, other thoughts began to creep into her head.
‘Was it #1983 that caused this issue?’
Abnormal Phenomenon #1983. Mentioned when her junior recounted the recent disappearance incident. Back then, due to unclear information and overwhelming workloads, she had her doubts. Yet soon after, as he had said, an announcement was sent to everyone at Base 17 regarding that phenomenon.
The contents of the announcement were straightforward. Behave as normal, but if an emergency alarm sounds, stop moving and remain in place, especially avoiding any contact with the “gate.”
Simply put, even a ten-year-old could follow these instructions, but still, no one at Base 17 felt at ease.
After all, a “gateway to a multidimensional maze” couldn’t just be deemed safe by merely not stepping inside. Otherwise, why would the containment procedures require a massive amount of firepower and at least five armed personnel at all times?
Of course, due to the many censorship marks on the documents, most at Base 17, including Sophia, had no clue what precisely resided within, but seeing records of something trying multiple times to escape the enclosure, it was clear that at least a dangerous entity existed.
‘Really, incidents just keep happening these days…’
Feeling a wave of physical and mental fatigue, Sophia sighed. The escape incident concerning Phenomenon #871 and the sudden changes of Phenomenon #1983. Base 17 was notoriously known for being a hazardous place, but having two near containment failures within a month was too hard to overlook. Particularly considering the levels of danger they possessed.
‘Come to think of it, 19 appeared around the time of the escape incident.’
Suddenly, Sophia recalled something.
Phenomenon #871, the girl who appeared just before the swallowing shadow escaped. Thinking about how incidents had gone unusually rampant since the anomaly she was in charge of appeared sent an ominous feeling creeping over her.
“….”
The 19th entity was merely an anomalous entity from another dimension and, despite thorough examination, hadn’t shown any particular oddities. Ordinary behavior and gestures, well-mannered and submissive.
Truly, she was a simple girl with no signs of danger whatsoever.
But what if… If by some chance, there was a trick involved? If the girl had casually pulled out other abnormal phenomena from the sealed isolation room and caused spontaneous incidents, perhaps she was doing something incredibly irresponsible right now.
‘When I think about it, there were strange signs…’
The isolation room, where all recording devices had failed during the escape incident. Despite coming from another dimension, she perfectly resembled a human.
Realistically speaking, there were certainly oddities present; she had merely been enamored by #19’s cuteness.
Sophia raised her head to look at her monitor.
The report she had pushed her mind and body to complete over the last few days. Theoretically and logically flawless, perhaps forwarding it wouldn’t mean it was impossible to release #19.
But was that really the right choice? She might be standing at a very dangerous crossroads right now—acting to unshackle an unknown entity from beyond dimensions.
And no one could predict how an entity released from its shackles would act.
‘I…’
The mouse cursor hovered over the report. With just two clicks, she could permanently erase this report.
Of course, #19 would be exceedingly disappointed. Perhaps she would completely refuse to communicate with her. That could dredge up memories of past incidents she had experienced.
But still… if what she feared held any truth…
Click
The sound of a button being pressed rang out.
The source of the sound came from the mouse Sophia was holding. Moments later, a notification window appeared on her monitor.
The text in that window indicated that the transmission had been completed.
“I must really be very tired, huh? To have such pointless thoughts.”
She chuckled at her own earlier thoughts, perhaps dismissing them as absurd. After all, the attempts at escape involving Phenomenon #871 had been increasing since before, and this escape incident had shown no signs of other involvement.
After all, she was supposed to have died back then yet somehow survived.
If anything, #19 could be called the lucky girl, and doubting her now was foolish.
—
Dusk arrived.
Sophia succumbed to fatigue in her chair, yielding to the sleep that began to take over her.
—
The next afternoon, Responsible Researcher Oliver Smith discovered the report delivered to him. Moments later, he wore a look of disbelief before tossing the report he’d just seen straight into the trash.