Chapter 345: The Third [3]

My stomach churned at the sight of the dimples. For some reason, staring at them, I didn’t feel so good. But what about my mask? I suddenly pressed my hand to touch my face, only feeling relief when I realized that it was gone.

’I don’t know exactly how this is possible, but this is good.’

I slowly lowered my head to stare at Myles. He was staring at me with a smile. One that, for some reason, caused a sense of heaviness in me.

’What is wrong with him...?’

"S-quad Leader?"

A hesitant voice reached my ears, prompting me to turn my head. It was there that I saw Mia, Joanna, and the rest of the group look at me in hesitation.

"Is that really you...?"

"What?"

My frown deepened as I stared at them in confusion. But then, a certain thought crossed my mind.

’Is it possible that they realized that I wasn’t the real one?’

The last thing I could recall was seeing the ’fake’ version of me in the mirror. Because I wasn’t able to tell them that it was fake, I quickly looked elsewhere. I didn’t expect them to figure out the fact that it wasn’t the real me.

No...

I suddenly turned my attention towards Myles. His gaze was fixed on the book in my hand, and it all suddenly became clear to me.

’Right, he should have been able to figure it out.’

Despite how he was, Myles was extremely competent. I understood this more than anyone else.

If there was anyone who could’ve figured it out, it was probably him.

At the same time, I also understood the reason why he was looking at me like that, and his gaze was fixed on the book in my hand.

This bastard...

"That’s... it looks like the Squad Leader. It should be him..."

"Yeah, but he’s not answering."

"I know..."

’No, but that’s besides the point.’

I suddenly looked around, trying to see where the others were. The moment the place crumbled, I found myself back in my regular body.

In that case—

"Squad Leader?!"

"Where are you going, Squad Leader?"

"...Follow me."

I didn’t answer. Instead, I climbed the stairs, my steps echoing softly as I re-entered the storage space before making my way back to the room I’d been in moments before. The long corridor stretched out ahead, its walls lined with paintings that seemed to watch me as my steps were swallowed by the soft carpet beneath.

My eyes followed the hallway’s length until they settled on the gaping hole in the wall at the far end.

It was dark, and it was hard to see as a result.

The flame had long died down, but from within the gap in the wall, a certain dim light appeared.

I rushed towards it, and—

"W-what’s going on?"

"...W... where am I?"

"What... is this place? I clearly remembered..."

I stopped, staring at the numerous people on the floor, their faces dazed, alongside their expressions. They were all sprawled across the floor, some still passed out, while others were slowly starting to recover.

I didn’t care about any of them before finally settling my gaze on a certain girl.

The moment I did, I felt an instant wave of relief wash over me as my chest trembled for the briefest of moments.

’So she’s fine... That’s good. It’s really good.’

"Wait, Squad Leader! Why did you suddenly leave? What’s going on with—" Eventually, the others caught up, and while they were flustered at first from my behavior, the moment they appeared by the opening and witnessed everything, they stopped.

Their faces froze, Mia’s hands shooting up as she covered her mouth.

"T-that’s...!"

"I don’t... how is this...?!"

Myles was the last one to join, his gaze flickering for a short moment as he looked at everyone within the room.

For a short moment, I felt his gaze locked onto me, his eyes narrowing with a certain something that made my heart skip a beat.

But then—

"It’s such a relief that everyone is here. I’m really glad."

He pressed his hand over his chest and looked genuinely happy. I felt like puking at the sight.

Still, I didn’t say anything and instead focused my gaze elsewhere.

Towards the silver-haired girl on the floor.

Her body twitched after a short moment, and I knew in that moment that she was about to wake up. I didn’t waste a single second and moved towards her.

Tak— Ta!

My steps echoed loudly within the room, several eyes turning in my direction.

"Who is t-that...?"

"Hey... do you know what’s going on?"

"Aren’t you..."

I ignored everyone and just approached Ariel as her eyes snapped open.

’I can’t let her wake up.’

Who knew what she’d do if that were to happen? Especially when there were so many people present in the room.

I didn’t hesitate.

WHAM!

I kicked her in the head as hard as I could, knocking her out unconscious as the surroundings fell completely silent, all gazes locked on me. I didn’t care for their looks and took out my sunglasses, scanning the surroundings to make sure there was nothing else present.

The room chilled, and my skin started to prickle.

Thankfully, I didn’t feel any presence as none of the eyes that had been present before were present now.

I sighed in relief.

’It’s as I expected. The eyes probably belonged to all of the people that had been forced into that weird world within the mirror.’

The glasses had allowed me to catch a glimpse of that world, but not fully show it to me.

’...Alright, so long as everything is okay.’

Pulling the glasses away from my face, warmth finally returned. Not only that, the surroundings started to change as I felt something appear in my hand. When I looked down, I saw that it was several fragments, and it was in that moment that it fully settled in my mind.

The scenario...

It had been cleared.

I felt a wave of relief wash over me as I slipped the glasses back into their case. But almost immediately, that relief was cut short. I could feel it... The weight of every gaze in the room. Their eyes shifted back and forth between me and the girl lying on the floor, their faces a mix of confusion and shock.

Oh...

Despite my best efforts, my expression twitched.

Trrr! Trrr—!

The twitching was only made worse by the buzzing of my phone as I turned my attention towards it.

A certain stream caught my sight a moment later.

"....."

Trrr! Trrr—!

If before I could barely hold my expression, it fully crumbled at this moment as I thought back to my actions. Specifically, the moment when I kicked Ariel in the head.

—I... didn’t see it wrong, right?

—He really kicked her...

—This guy... He’s a total psychopath, isn’t he?

—He’s also been wearing sunglasses the entire time.

—Wait, I think he’s somewhat familiar.

—Oh, right! He’s that lunatic with the sunglasses from a stream I watched a while back! Holy shit! He’s really a lunatic!

’Ah, shit.’

I was fucked, wasn’t I?

Yeah...

I really felt like puking.