Chika's tearful pout, Takakai mused, was something he'd never tire of seeing.
Under normal circumstances, he'd tease her mercilessly. Now, he simply hauled her free, noting how her explorer pants had torn across the hips from getting stuck.
"Curse these proportions..." she mumbled, cheeks burning.
After standard identity confirmations ("I'm explorer Takakai, a player escaping this dungeon"), they checked their suits. Thankfully, the fabric showed no signs of melding here in the outer tunnels.
"S-so... the cliff next?" Chika asked, knees drawn to her chest.
Takakai nodded, studying the park flyer:
[Grand Opening - Nutty Putty Cave National Park's New Zone]
The guest list meant nothing except one name: Antoniotwan Bush.
So they held the ceremony outside the actual caves? Takakai pondered. Smart—until the anomaly consumed them anyway.
His headache spiked suddenly.
That gap in his memories...
Why couldn't he remember—
Chika's fidgeting interrupted his thoughts. She kept stealing glances at him, fingers tightening around her knees.
This man who'd saved her from horrors beyond imagining...
...was already dating Shinomiya Maki.
The realization left her heart tangled in bittersweet knots.
Takakai's breath hitched momentarily.
The slight upward tilt of his head he'd been maintaining was now impossible.
The cave had narrowed further, the ceiling pressing lower.
To continue, Takakai had to press his face completely against the ground, worming deeper into the suffocating space.
"Hah... hah..."
The new posture made breathing even more labored.
But with no alternative, he kept struggling forward inch by inch through the darkness.
Then realization struck - even with his face flattened against stone, he couldn't advance.
Gritting his teeth, Takakai turned his head sideways, one ear grinding against the floor, the other scraping the ceiling as he continued his agonizing crawl.
Initially, the position threatened to snap his neck.
But as the ceiling lowered further, his upper ear began fraying against rock until flesh tore away. Strangely, the neck pain faded - the shredded ear hurt far worse.
Screech— screech—
His explorer suit scraped against stone with sickening resonance.
Blood trickled down his cheek, mixing with grit to leave a coppery tang on his lips.
Wedged completely in the stone vise, Takakai clenched his jaw and forced himself forward.
A jagged protrusion snagged his ear—
—and tore it clean off as he pushed.
Half remained embedded in the cave wall. The other half dangled from his head, pumping blood directly into his ear canal.
The pain defied description.
Yet as his blessing activated, Takakai realized the agony was... diminishing? A half-torn ear suddenly seemed manageable.
Can't stop. Keep moving.
He reached forward to grip the walls—
—and his right hand met empty air.
What?
This section had widened slightly.
Though the ceiling still forced his sideways posture, his right arm now had marginal movement.
Drip—
Another water droplet fell ahead.
Fighting hypoxia-induced dizziness, Takakai inched forward—
—then froze.
The right-side gap wasn't just widened rock.
It was a branching path.
A fork in the [Blood Vessels].
Takakai immediately tried retreating—
—when a hand shot from darkness to seize his wrist.
[Please...]
The whisper slithered into his skull.
[Save me...]
An irresistible yank—
—his remaining ear tore completely free against stone—
—a cacophony flooded his mind:
Sobbing.
Gasping pleas.
The grinding of unseen mechanisms.
"Ugh..."
Takakai opened his eyes.
He sat up in a dim cavern, fingers probing the ragged remains of his ear. After disinfecting and bandaging the injury, memories surfaced:
I made it through the [Blood Vessels].
Yet... he couldn't recall escaping. Had he passed out from exhaustion?
A strange dissociation lingered as he massaged his temples.
What exactly had—
"Oww... finally... out..."
Chika's pained whimper snapped him back. Emerging from the tunnel, her face bore fresh scratches. His blessing confirmed her identity, and he moved to help as she whimpered:
"Ta-Takakai-san... stuck again..."
Her headlamp's beam stretched their shadows across the walls—
—except Takakai cast no shadow.