Episode 20 – In any city, if there are rich people, naturally, there will also be the poor. The rich and the poor have been an unending rule of life and a symbol of the survival of the fittest since humanity began civilization.
Sundayk Street was a representative slum. It was a place where poor people who earned less than 30 pounds a month lived. The security of the street was the worst, and it was filled with stench. In such places, crimes inevitably occurred.
Many things in the world lose their value. Humans were the same. Things without value were inevitably discarded once they outlived their usefulness.
A few mafia organizations exerted influence across the entire Sundayk Street, and sometimes that influence even extended to the neighboring middle-class street, Mondayk Street.
With Detective Louis’s help, Charles was allowed to carry a revolver. The revolver Charles had been carrying around all this time was actually an illegally purchased gun.
The armament of Sergeant Rudolph and other officers was similar, but one officer even carried a rifle.
“Ugh, it’s always stinky here no matter when we come.”
“Just finish the work and let’s go.”
The police felt only unpleasantness as they entered Sundayk Street, but Charles felt that something more than that existed here.
‘It feels like something invisible has taken a malicious form.’
But that was all he could sense. When they arrived at house number 27, an elderly hunchback with a crooked back appeared. The man, with liver spots on his skin, looked like he could die at any moment, but he claimed to be the landlord of number 27.
“Who…?”
Sergeant Rudolph spoke with a rough expression, seemingly quite displeased.
“We came here after receiving a tip-off about a dead body.”
“Well, um, I’m not sure.”
“Open the door right now!”
“Yes, yes, I understand.”
The hunchback said as he opened the door. As he followed Sergeant Rudolph, he smiled forcibly like a dog submitting to a stronger force, which only made him look more sinister.
“I, I’ll help you.”
“We know a guy named Vince lived here. Take us to where he stayed.”
“Morning Vince or Evening Vince?”
“What? What do you mean?”
“There were two Vinces in number 27. One came in the morning to sleep, and the other used the bed in the evening.”
Two people sharing one bed? It would be an unthinkable concept nowadays, but during pre-modern times, human rights were considerably low.
In a destitute slum, living like that wasn’t an unusual thing. Having a bed at all was considered a success among them.
“Evening Vince.”
Steel factories finished work late at night. Charles thought it was quite a coincidence for there to be two people with the same name staying at the same place, but Rudolph thought differently.
Rudolph replied while looking back.
“We’ve already investigated him. They only have the same name and residence, but he has an alibi. There are many witnesses too.”
“Is it possible they were accomplices?”
“We thought it was likely, but he was out of Metro during the period when the murder took place.”
“……”
An odd thought about the different Vince crossed Charles’s mind but was set aside. They needed to search for the dead body first. They thoroughly searched number 27, but there was no place that seemed like it could hide a body.
“Damn, it’s not here.”
One of the policemen grumbled. Despite searching for a long time, they found nothing. Charles noticed a groove in the floor while looking around.
A small groove that could fit two fingers. He took a stick he had kept for the search and placed it into the groove. It fit perfectly.
“Rudolph.”
When he called out the name, Rudolph turned to him. Charles pulled the groove to open it, revealing a secret passage leading underground.
Rudolph frowned and questioned the landlord.
“Hey, what’s this?”
“I, I didn’t know about this either.”
The landlord’s trembling eyes suggested he truly had no idea. So, Charles dismissed it from his mind.
There were stairs under the secret door. An officer holding a gas-filled lantern descended first. Though frightened, he bravely went down.
“Let’s go.”
Charles and other officers followed. The path down the stairs was dark even with lanterns, inducing fear akin to entering the maw of a creature from the abyss.
Though the police were terrified, their steps remained steady as they descended. If anyone were to suddenly shout, they might have been scared stiff and fallen.
“What a crazy person.”
Charles’s remark seemed to calm down the officers’ thoughts, providing the illusion that the air cleared.
“Indeed.”
“Who would create such a secret space?”
Each officer had something to say, using jokes to relieve tension, but soon reverting to nervous anticipation.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, distinguishing reality from a dream became impossible.
“What is this?”
“Light bearer…”
Before the lanterns could illuminate the place, a nauseating sulfuric stench hit them.
What lay below defied reality. Though it was very dark, there was a light source. Thick, snot-like substance clung to the ceiling, dense like stalactites.
Numerous fungal spores covered the ground. They were colored as though someone had splattered various pastels, creating bizarre patterns unseen in reality.
“What is this snot-like stuff?”
“Snottite. Bacterial mass thriving on sulfur.”
“Ba-bacteria? What’s that?”
“It means this bacteria is supporting the underground ecosystem. Other organisms likely thrive by consuming the snottite.”
Though one officer expressed curiosity at Charles’s words, other officers remained silent.
Typically, there was an underlying disdain among the police for those who would flaunt their scholarly knowledge, but in this tense situation, no one dared to challenge Charles.
“I don’t know if this is a naturally formed cave, but considering it’s connected to the building above, it’s likely artificial.”
“Y-yes, that must be right.”
Rudolph chimed in in agreement. It was difficult for them to comprehend the current situation, so they merely accepted Charles’s explanation. Other officers seemed to think the same.
However, Charles’s true thoughts differed.
‘Halfway transformed into an alien plane. Even though this isn’t Metro, why?’
150 meters below Metro was a vast network. It was at least halfway transformed into another plane.
But seeing this transformation happening 10-20 meters underground was a first for Charles.
‘Someone interfered with this place.’
Charles prepared a spell in tension, ready to use light or spear at any moment, and took a deep breath.
“Everyone, draw your weapons. We must be prepared for any danger.”
Rudolph naturally drew his revolver from his waist. Though he was the leader, all police officers had begun to follow Charles’s orders by then. The officer holding the lantern spoke.
“I can see something faintly inside.”
A place with a blue light source was there. As they moved closer, it became evident that it was fireflies. The light emitting from their tails was a vibrant blue, unlike the usual green.
“What… What is this?”
A massive altar covered in fireflies appeared. Something was standing on the altar made of animal bones. Precisely, it was the lower half of a corpse standing upright.
There was no visible support, and despite being a long-dead naked body, it stood vividly, with a fresh appearance as though still alive.
Sinister, black darkness swirled around it like an aura.
“Light bearer, save us and protect us from this evil summons. With your light, incinerate these wicked foes.”
Someone, likely a pious believer of the Church of Light, began reciting a prayer. However, while it maintained his mental stability, it didn’t change reality.
The lower half of the corpse took a step forward from the altar. The officers were terrified. Rudolph, in particular, felt his heart racing to the point of madness.
“It’s moving!”
“It’s moving!”
Having previously seen a moving finger, the sight of a walking lower torso filled Rudolph with tremendous fear. Driven by instinct, he shouted.
“Shoot it!”
The officers, revolvers in hand, pulled the triggers wildly. Gunfire erupted, and lead bullets flew, but none hit their target.
It wasn’t that the bullets were ineffective; none found their mark. In a superstitious organization like the police, frightened men couldn’t exhibit even a tenth of their usual shooting skill.
After the chaotic shooting ceased, silence fell. Some were reloading, while others waited to see if the target was dead or alive.
At that moment, a strange noise came from around the corpse. Though it seemed like whispers, it sounded like an indiscernible crowd’s murmurs.
Charles stepped forward quickly before someone’s rising panic led to a catastrophic mistake.
Raising his hand to the sky, a bright light akin to a white sun exploded from the darkness, illuminating the entire dim space.
Kaaaaaah!
A wicked sound, as if scraping at the heart, resonated. Then the black upper half of the shadowy figure appeared above the lower corpse. It was an otherworldly being hiding and parasitizing in the dark.
“Born in darkness, parasitic on the lost! Return to your world!”
Kaaaaaaaah!
The black silhouette, as though drawn with a pen, tried to smother the light with its hands but failed. Charles’s divine chants struck next.
“I call upon your name! Targos!”
Kaaaaaah!
“Targos! Targos! Targos!”
With each utterance of its true name, the shadowy upper body disintegrated, eventually retreating as it couldn’t withstand the repeated calls.
Light from Charles’s fingertips dimmed, the storm of light subsiding. The corpse, having lost its previous strength, collapsed and ceased movement.
The body, now in full surrender to time, rapidly decayed, absorbing all the elapsed time’s flow at once.
‘If I hadn’t known Targos’s name, it would’ve been tough.’
Charles felt his hand trembling. Although he couldn’t completely escape the terror, his traits made him better off than the others.
His fear-stricken heart quickly cooled, giving him rationality to handle the situation.
Targos was an entity from the other world, typically attaching to dismembered bodies and imitating the rest. However, it couldn’t perfectly mimic them.
From previous attempts in the game, Charles knew that just calling its name could debunk it. The light spell he had used was somewhat effective but mainly served for dramatic effect.
The overwhelming feat Charles had accomplished left the police officers in awe. They could no longer see him as merely human.
One officer, who had been chanting “Light bearer,” appeared too stunned even to attempt uttering prayers.
“What is this?”
“Who are you?”
“Shouldn’t we first take care of the body?”
Charles’s words caused the police to nod and wrap the corpse, which they had prepared for ahead of time. Though fearful, they encountered no issues upon confirming that the body indeed didn’t move anymore. Rudolph approached and asked.
“How could the body move?”
