落とし穴７２堀：夏の夜の納涼 究明編 (Part1)
This has become a bigger deal than I expected.
That's my honest impression.
After all, a simple dare to test one's courage usually ends with a misunderstanding, with no actual spirits appearing.
But these people were serious. They had set up cameras everywhere, just like in those paranormal investigation shows, to capture spirits.
Well, that's fine.
Considering Yuki-san and Taizo-san's personalities, I expected them to do something like this, and I'd always wanted to try it myself, so I gladly cooperated.
However, I never imagined we'd actually encounter a real spirit.
I mean, this is another world, right?
It's a created environment.
Who would expect to run into something real here?
Furthermore, according to the surveillance footage and calls, it wasn't a living creature or a monster.
Literally, something we don't know about is lurking.
It was the right decision to send Airi home first.
Otherwise, I don't think I would have been able to participate in the upcoming on-site investigation.
Yes, what we're about to do is an on-site investigation.
It's like those summer specials on TV where celebrities go into haunted places or the demon world for a report.
I never thought I'd be the one doing something like this.
And as we prepared, I felt scared.
Even though I'm a hero and a king now, I'm still afraid of the unknown.
After all, on Earth, ghosts can be terrifying. Some are so bad that just looking them in the eye is fatal, others chase you relentlessly, and there are even white cats and housewives crawling on all fours. And the worst part is, encountering any of them pretty much guarantees death.
They're far worse than the monsters in this world.
I mean, there are monsters like basilisks that can petrify you, but this is different.
The nature of the threat is different, it's on another level.
"Alright, preparations are complete. Taiki-kun and I will go in to check things out."
"Understood. I'll handle the support from here. But if you feel any danger, return immediately, okay?"
"I understand."
"I don't want to die yet."
I really don't want to die, so if anything happens, I'll use my hero power to return at full force.
Seriously, at full power.
"Um, Yuki-san. Why do we have to wait here?"
"...Hmph. Dissatisfied. Samantha, take over."
While I was contemplating my escape plan, Lia-san and Cleena, who were supposed to be waiting with Taizo-san, voiced their complaints.
"Well, you two...
"You two would likely panic. Lia was clinging to Jessica earlier, and Cleena looked like she was about to unleash a barrage of magic, so it's not safe."
That's right.
The worst thing you can do in a haunted location is to panic and act alone.
A common trope in paranormal phenomena is hallucinations, and it's not uncommon to find yourself falling off a cliff.
This happens because panic impairs your ability to observe your surroundings calmly and make sound judgments.
Even in non-paranormal situations, accidents caused by panic are quite common on Earth, so it's best to exclude those who are prone to it.
"Mmm..."
"Dissatisfied."
But that's a perspective from Earth, and for the two of them who don't understand that, it's not much different from being left behind.
"It's not good to have Taizo-san alone. We need multiple people for monitor surveillance. I thought Lia and Cleena were better suited for this than Jessica or Samantha."
"Ah, Jessica is terrible with machines, isn't she?"
"Excuse me!"
"Understood. Samantha isn't used to machines."
"Please don't compare me to Cleena, who has an extraordinary level of comprehension."
Is that how you come to an understanding?
But it's strange. Airi and the others also can't handle machines beyond a certain level.
I wonder why?
On Earth, there are plenty of people who are bad with machines, so it's truly mysterious.
Could there be gremlins nearby?
Gremlins. They are yokai or demons that cause malfunctions and errors in machines.
Thinking about it, perhaps the scary stories involving videos and mobile phones originate from these gremlins.
Still, the malice of some of those video-related entities is truly the worst.
"Well, it's almost two o'clock. Let's get going."
"““Yes!””"
And so, we headed back to the abandoned inn.
The exact time was 1:37:40 AM.
The path through the forest was uneventful and quiet.
"By the way, Yuki-san. How did you set up the wind in this dungeon? If there's wind, couldn't it cause other things to fall and transmit vibrations...?"
"I considered that possibility. Today, I've made it completely windless."
"...I see."
The more I hear, the more likely it seems that the previous encounter was with something real.
Honestly, I have no idea if that's good or bad.
Don't you have cameras that can capture ghosts and damage them?
With combo damage bonuses or different film types that increase damage, you know?
It's scary! Give me some countermeasures!
There's definitely something real here, right?!
"Calm down, Taiki-kun. You're speaking your thoughts aloud."
"Sorry."
"Well, don't worry, we won't be waiting alone in a room like in those paranormal TV specials."
"If you asked me to do that, I'd run away, so I'm fine."
"And then you'd run away alone and get attacked, that's the usual pattern."
"Please don't say such unpleasant things."
It's a common trope, isn't it? Someone says, "I can't stand being here anymore!" and runs out, only to return as a corpse.
"At worst, we could level this entire place and illuminate it. Even if there's a real spirit, it wouldn't know what to do."
"...That's true. I can see that Yuki-san is as ruthless as ever."
"How rude. I merely suggested an effective countermeasure."
Indeed, I can't think of a better countermeasure.
Ghosts are said to appear from blind spots.
Of course, they typically use things like the shadows behind pillars as their blind spots, but if all of that were gone, what would happen to the hypothetical ghosts?
A grand strategy that no one has ever tried before: leveling the surroundings the moment a ghost appears, leaving it with nowhere to go.
It's a ghost-frustrating strategy. It's heartless.
"Yuki. I see the abandoned inn."
"...For now. I don't sense any monsters or anything else."
While we were chatting idly, we had arrived at the abandoned inn.
The entrance, dimly illuminated by the light, looked quite terrifying.
It's like the opening of a horror movie.