By Zephyria 
Well, if they looked that much alike, there was a high probability they were related. Why did Aska’s family suddenly appear in my illusion? Considering the situation where the world seemed to be collapsing, it didn’t seem like they appeared to ask me to take care of their son.
“They sometimes appear in my dreams too.”
“Is it your mother?”
“I don’t know. But the era seems a bit… very old.”
So, is it not family but an ancestor? I’ve often heard absurd stories about ancestors who died before ominous events appearing to warn of danger. But no matter how I thought about it, it didn’t seem like that.
“Have you had such dreams recently?”
“Often since leaving Actan? Not frequently, but just occasionally appearing and seeming to try to show me something.”
“Show you what? Doesn’t it talk to you?”
“It doesn’t. It just felt like watching a video… doing war, fighting, laughing, chatting, eating, and sleeping.”
I know this Ruins is related to Magical creatures, and Aska is an unidentified Magical creature, so it’s possible. I need to investigate further to find out why, but it might not be a particularly strange thing.
But the problem was me. I am a human with a clear origin, so why am I seeing such scenes?
“Is it because of the book?”
Once again, I flipped through the book, staring at the blank pages, but nothing happened. I put the book back on the shelf and brought the parchment this time.
It had a slightly stiff and rough texture. Then Aska, who was examining my body here and there, suddenly said.
“That’s made of human skin.”
“What?”
“And it smells strongly of blood in here.”
At that, I asked, just in case.
“Did you see a strange stone table outside? There are a lot of black marks around it, is that all blood?”
Aska nodded at my question. Even now, and even if I try to smell it up close, I don’t particularly smell blood, so Aska must be different.
“Are you not going out right away and looking around more?”
Of course, I can’t see the letters, but there are so many things to read around here, isn’t he curious? Besides, it was a Ruins that hadn’t been discovered by anyone. It didn’t seem dangerous either. Do we really have to leave right away?
“Do you know how to get out?”
“I don’t know. If it doesn’t work, I’ll just break through the ceiling.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at that.
“Then let’s look around a little more. Let’s also find a way to get out without breaking the ceiling.”
Saying that, I was about to look at the books more, but Aska didn’t leave my side. He just stood right behind me, quietly watching the book I was opening.
“Why is nothing written? I saw some kind of hallucination when I flipped through the bookshelf earlier, but I don’t know how I did it. Can’t you see it either?”
“No.”
“Touch this. Can’t you see anything?”
Aska touched and flipped the pages with his fingertips, then stopped. Could it be that he’s seeing something like I did? But looking at his moving gaze and changing expression, it didn’t seem like it.
Aska tilted his head and tapped the pages here and there, and a faint blue light emanated from the palm of his hand. Then, as if water was soaking in, letters began to appear on the paper.
“What is it?”
“I reconnected the broken circuit.”
“What circuit? The Mana circuit or something?”
“This whole Ruins is like this. Something is missing, broken, or cut off… Did they make it like this on purpose?”
I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m glad something appeared anyway. The shape of the letters that appeared was clearly different from what I usually used, but for some reason, I could read them.
Heart, brain failure. Liver, lungs, spleen, small intestine, etc., 20% of various organs. Legs 40%. Arms 50%. Noticeable necrosis progressing from the second day. Then maybe it’s possible if we proceed quickly on the first day? The success rate of arms and legs is higher than that of organs, but the risk of mental seizures in the subject also increases.
The tone was disorganized and the content was not organized, like someone’s journal. Is it like an experiment log?
Elves generally have a high success rate, but persuasion is not easy. Only successful heart transplant. No change in appearance. It is the most ideal at this point, but continuous failure even under the same conditions. Reason unknown.
80 trained personnel with strong life force and endurance were selected, but only 2 survived. One of them constantly coughed up blood and died of suffocation the next day, and the rest showed signs of mental confusion during the stabilization process and committed suicide. From then on, restraints must be prepared.
17th failure. 18th attempt scheduled after a 2-hour break. Eighteen.
“……”
The brain was judged to have no chance of success and was completely discarded.
Instead of transplanting the entire arm and leg, change the method to collect and combine only muscle and nerve tissue. Increased success rate. Finally, a clue is visible. Can I see my daughter now? It’s been 2 years since I couldn’t go home. Let’s try a little harder.
Cells are constantly proliferating, but I can’t figure out why.
Everything melts like jelly. Hardens like stone. Pours out like water. Collapses like mud. Reason unknown.
Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Shit. Another failure. Failed. I failed. Again.
Is there any point in counting the number of times? I’m going to keep failing anyway. Anyway, the 331st failure. Now there are no volunteers or suitable subjects. There is no blood left. There is no way to catch the poison. There is nothing. There is no bread and water to eat. Kekekeke
Let’s just all die, that would be better? This world is already ruined anyway
Let’s die, let’s die, let’s die
Caroline, I’m sorry.
While reading the sentences filled with despair and fear, I suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu. Have I read something similar to this before? Something seemed to come to mind, and a light flickered in my head.
R-109, failure. All data destroyed and permanently closed.
I read all the sentences written at the very end and raised my head. Aska was not interested in the book and was looking back and forth at the empty walls and floor.
For some reason, I felt a little uncomfortable, so I frowned and said.
“It seems like this place wasn’t a Ruins, but a place where human experiments were conducted.”
“So that’s why it smelled like blood.”
I couldn’t figure out the situation with just this, so I was about to look at other books, but I asked.
“What are you looking at?”
At my question, Aska went to the flat floor a little away and lightly stomped his foot. Then, a lightning-like blue ray spread in all directions and disappeared. At the same time, light came in from the sphere that I thought was a decoration at the end of the ceiling, illuminating the room.
That wasn’t the end. He touched the wall a little further away and lightly punched it with his fist, and this time the bookshelf began to move with a rumbling sound.
Each time it moved, changing its structure, more hidden books were revealed.
“If we look around a little more, we might find a way out?”
Aska said, taking out a book from nearby and opening it. When you think about it, all of these things are ancient Relics, but Aska’s touch was not careful. He didn’t put the roughly scanned book back on the shelf and just threw it back.
“The circuits of everything else are intentionally twisted, but this one is different. It seems to have been broken by some kind of impact.”
That was the broken glass I had found when I first came in. Aska squatted down and carefully looked at the broken glass, then reached out and groped for the surrounding objects. And then he stood up again and gestured to me.
“Let’s go out.”
“Already?”
“There were a lot of doors outside, let’s go in there.”
Can’t I just read books here? But when I thought about it, there was no way to make the letters appear without Aska. I didn’t want to, but I put down the book and approached Aska.
Aska took my hand and went outside.
I didn’t know it before, but now that I know everything, the stone bed standing alone was eerie.
“This one seems to be completely locked.”
Aska said with a serious expression, examining the door right next to him.
“I wonder if there’s a key or something nearby?”
He muttered to himself, but Aska suddenly broke the door. It happened so quickly. The stone door shattered into pieces, creating a cloud of dust.
“Let’s go in.”
“Is it okay to break this like this?”
“There’s no owner, so what does it matter? Just don’t do it in someone else’s house.”
You did that in someone else’s house…
I waved my hand to blow away the dust, remembering the incident where Aska almost destroyed the mansion with one punch.
“The air is not good, so don’t take a deep breath.”
“Cough.”
You should have said that sooner.
My eyes were stinging and I tasted blood in my throat. My lungs also seemed to hurt, so I was wondering if it was serious, but the symptoms quickly subsided.
I frowned at the musty and damp smell and covered my mouth and nose with my sleeve.
Avoiding the debris that was a door until just now and going inside, the first thing I saw was a pure white skeleton huddled in the corner.