ch21-ch40 · 028-ch28

Chapter 28: Inside the Hole

The world inside the Clock was a space like an underground cavern with reddish-black rock walls.

The ceiling was so high it faded into haze, and the whole space was dim. The temperature was low, the air was dry, yet a lukewarm wind flowed from deeper within.

A pungent smell, similar to sulfur, hung in the air.

"First, secure the perimeter and set up light sources."

The moment they passed through the door, the survey team members intuitively knew — this was not Earth. There were many aspects that couldn't be explained except by saying the concentration of magic power drifting in the air was dense, but to put it simply, they felt a "bad atmosphere."

"(Something is here...)"

The female Hunter serving as captain looked around while resting her chin on her hand.

There was air. Gravity felt the same.

For now, no enemies were visible.

But she could feel a clinging gaze.

"(I can't tell where we're being watched from.)"

Which meant the opponent was quite formidable. She judged that the survey team couldn't handle it and concluded they shouldn't go too deep.

"Everyone, gather up! Um, what was it again. Team name — Sacrifice?"

"Please don't, that's not the name."

One of them immediately protested.

A team of five selected from the Hunting Dogs as the survey unit. Captain Kasugai, A-Rank Hunter. Takeda, B-Rank Hunter with strong tracking ability and combat power. Yashiki, C-Rank Hunter who can mentally photograph what she sees. And two other exploration-specialized Hunters.

"Let's accomplish our objective quickly and get out. This place has a bad feeling about it."

Kasugai stated her honest impression.

The other members exchanged glances.

"There's nothing on my radar."

"I see. Then whatever it is might be pretty far away."

Something existing outside Takeda's detection range was unilaterally aware of them. This fact further raised Kasugai's vigilance.

The Association gave two orders.

One was the rescue of the media personnel. Since the Hunter Association's operational philosophy is putting citizens' safety first, even those who ignored Association orders have an equal right to be rescued. However — though classified — it was conveyed that the other objective took priority and life rescue was not the top priority.

The other was the suppression and security confirmation of the gate area, environmental confirmation, and ecosystem investigation.

"The survey team has been granted 30 minutes of stay time. Two of you set up base. Takeda-kun, conduct surrounding detection and soil sampling. Yashiki-san, accompany me for perimeter confirmation and mentally photograph everything as we go."

"Understood!"

Everyone moved quickly at Kasugai's orders.

It had already been confirmed that Hunters with flight skills could go back and forth through the door. Once Kasugai's team finishes their survey, multiple guilds on standby are scheduled to begin their own investigations.

Kasugai took Yashiki and began the perimeter survey.

As they progressed further, they began to see artificial structures within the rock face.

"Photograph all of this too."

"Yes!"

A road that had seen much traffic, strange characters carved into the walls, and stone structures clearly built by someone's hands.

She could feel traces of something having been there, yet the place was wrapped in an eerie silence.

"(This should be within Takeda-kun's detection range. If there's no reaction, it's possible this was the dwelling place of the goblins expelled from the World Clock...)"

If so, it would make sense for it to be empty — since all of them had been defeated by the Hunters during the World Clock event.

Without particularly commenting on that, Kasugai headed toward the "most notable location."

A massive vertical pit, its mouth wide open.

She estimated it to be about a hundred meters in diameter.

"What is... this hole..."

"I don't know, but it's ominous..."

The enormous hole carved into the ground silently stared back up at them. Peering into it, the darkness continued deep down, and at the bottom, she could see the target.

— A wrecked helicopter.

Parts of the airframe were scattered everywhere, the tail fin was broken and tangled in the rocks. The paint was peeled off, and the cabin was severely damaged.

"(It fell to the bottom of the hole unfortunately. Where did the media personnel go?)"

According to the initial drone survey, their survival had been confirmed. Which meant the impact of the fall wasn't as severe as it looked.

There should have been four people on board — the pilot, cameraperson, announcer, and the expert — but no matter how hard she looked, their figures couldn't be confirmed.

"Maybe they got eaten?"

"Kasugai-san, let's search properly..."

"Even if you say that..."

They didn't have the equipment, personnel, or sufficient survey to dive into the giant hole and pull civilians out. Kasugai quickly decided to "prioritize it for later," conducted the surrounding survey, and then pulled back.

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"—That concludes the survey report document."

At the Hunter Association headquarters strategy room.

After reviewing the images from the other side displayed on the massive screen and the results of the soil analysis, small sighs leaked through the room.

"We have to deal with this within 48 hours? There's not enough time..."

"First the second World Clock appearing at Aoba Town, now this — unprecedented events keep happening..."

Amid the frustrated murmurs of the executives, Vice President Mineyama spoke based on the data.

"No anomalies were found within detectable range, but we've confirmed the presence of hostile entities and that the space is large enough for medium-scale operations. Therefore, we are considering dispatching three teams with separate objectives for the next survey."

The breakdown of the three teams was as follows:

① Survey Team — Detailed data collection on environment, structures, ecosystem, magic power concentration, and terrain.

② Rescue Team — Rope or skill-based rescue and transport.

③ Combat Team — Rapid response unit prepared for the emergence of hostile forces.

"The combat team is planned to include several S-Rank Hunters from the Hunting Dogs Guild and other Association-affiliated guilds. They will provide escort for the rescue team, and after recovery, swiftly deploy and suppress. If hostile forces beyond expectations are confirmed, immediate withdrawal, reorganization, and reinforcement requests will be made."

None of the other executives raised any objections to Vice President Mineyama's plan — they simply nodded in silence.

However, since there wasn't necessarily a clear goal or objective like "defeat all monsters" as with the World Clock, they decided to set the investigation time to 3 hours and send them in.

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"Whoa~ so this is the other side of the Clock."

Narashima, the S-Rank Hunter, said while looking around. The young man with chestnut-colored hair — Akisame, also an S-Rank Hunter — landed on the scene and looked around with a frightened expression.

"This place is weird..."

"Well of course it's weird. We came here to investigate how it's weird."

Narashima was the captain of Combat Team A, and Akisame was its vice-captain. The combat team consisted of 3 groups of 8 members each, and Alpha Team was entirely made up of Hunting Dogs Guild members.

"No traps, magic anomalies, or unnatural flows detected."

"Same here."

Based on the skill results from two A-Rank trap specialists, the group immediately began their mission.

"Do you know where we're being watched from?"

"Hmm, no idea."

Kasugai asked, and Narashima shrugged in response. Kasugai, who had led the advance survey team, was also assigned to Alpha Team.

"Flame — release."

Kido, the S-Rank Hunter and Captain of C Team, created several small flames. They fell into the hole like snow, stopping at regular intervals. They became light sources illuminating the inside of the pit.

The surface of the hole was a smooth cylinder — aside from its scale, there was nothing particularly remarkable about it.

"We'll investigate the bottom of the hole first. Rescue team, come down once we find the missing persons."

Oba, the A-Rank Hunter and Captain of B Team, signaled to his subordinates. A subordinate using psychokinetic skills lifted the Bravo Team and descended into the hole.

"Looks like there's nothing besides the helicopter wreckage."

"Yeah, looks that way —"

While agreeing with Kido's words, Narashima noticed something wedged in the shadows of a distant rock.

"Narashima-san?"

Ignoring Akisame's worried voice, he approached it.

It was a piece of the helicopter.

Why would a fragment from a helicopter that should have fallen into a hole so deep its bottom was hazy be in a place like this — there was only one answer.

Narashima's face changed color as he shouted.

"Everyone get back up!! It's a trap!!"

His words vanished hollowly into the underground space.

What happened next was a gust of wind — luring them into the hole.

The base camp they set up, the equipment they brought, the survey team and rescue team in the middle of their work — all of it fell into the hole.

The combat team was no exception. Every single one of them was dragged into the pit.

"(We were being tricked... from the very beginning...)"

As she fell into free fall, Kasugai cursed her own lack of foresight.

The wind that pulled them in was no ordinary wind — even psychokinesis and other skills couldn't resist it.

At the moment they were all about to hit the ground — their bodies floated mere millimeters from impact, and they were guided unharmed to the bottom of the hole.

All the light sources were blown out, and pitch-black darkness spread.

With their backs to the helicopter, everyone formed formation and stood in a line.

"…Sun — release."

Kido Hunter launched flames into the center of the hole.

The fire shot up like a firework and spread, illuminating the entire pit.

"This is the worst..."

Sweat dripped from Narashima's chin.

What was illuminated were a staggering number of horizontal shafts carved into the sides of the hole, and the aberrations surging out of them.

They looked like thin, emaciated humanoid dogs with red skin.

Among them were some with the faces of news anchors and others wearing clothes that belonged to the expert — the Hunters immediately understood the full picture.

"Looks like they're a rank above Ogres."

"And they're intelligent enough to deceive us from the other side..."

Akisame muttered fearfully.

The survey team, including non-combatants, found themselves isolated in the middle of the enemy's home ground.

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