I suddenly grew curious.
What lay deeper inside the facilities of Sector 469?
Back when I was human, I could say I had seen information on just about every sector. Yet information
on this place in particular had been hard to come by, and impossible to find.
Of course, that must be why the Wandering Swordsman could be here.
Unless it was an emergency like a mass breakout of Unknowns, Sector 469 practically never
sent requests for support.
Which meant I could obtain information on this place that had been shrouded in secrecy.
Except for the fact that I was still locked in a containment room, that is.
There were limits to leaving everything to Chongchongi.
During the Second Gate, I had been lucky enough to stumble upon an experiment in progress. Normally,
I would have only been able to obtain information related to the Gate.
Then, one method came to mind.
The husk-shedding I had newly discovered when I fought the Swordsman.
In truth, it was more like an advanced version of astral projection, but whenever I used the ability,
a husk was always left in my place. And fortunately, the facility staff still didn’t know about this fact.
I could ask Hugmon to touch the husk from time to time.
After all, it looked far too much like I was dead.
“Have you finally decided to leave this place?”
The Swordsman, who had been reading a newspaper beside me, was looking this way.
Somehow, it seemed like he was subtly hoping I would escape.
But it would be difficult to live up to that expectation.
“I just want to take a look around inside the facility for a bit.”
“What a shame. I thought you’d finally had a change of heart.”
“Keep dreaming. At least not for a while.”
As if he had lost interest, the Swordsman turned his eyes back to the newspaper.
That was a relief. It would have been troublesome if he had suggested coming with me.
Ah, I nearly forgot again.
When I opened my mouth wide, something crawled out from inside.
Chongchongi, who had not seen the light for quite some time, appeared.
“It’s been a while. It must have been so stuffy, right?”
Chongchongchong.
“Got it. I’ll let you out often from now on.”
Chongchongchong.
“I’m going to wander around the facility for a bit. Play with your new friend.”
When Hugmon saw Chongchongi, the look in its eyes changed.
Ah, of course, should I say life appeared in its eyes?
Hugmon reached out an arm and placed Chongchongi on its shoulder.
“What’s its name? It’s super cute!”
“It’s Chongchongi. Say hello.”
“Hi, nice to meet you! I’m Hugmon!”
Chongchongchong.
“It likes me, right? Right?”
“Yeah, it says it likes you.”
It was the sight of a cute being finding another cute little guy cute.
Wow, if I had a cell phone, I would have taken a picture of this moment and kept it.
It was a shame, but I’d have to be satisfied with the fact that I could touch and pat both of them whenever I wanted.
“Shall I get going?”
Standing in front of the containment room, I shed my husk.
As expected, I was able to slip out of the containment room without any issue.
Hugmon spread out my husk so it looked as though I were lying on the floor.
Good. With this, unless someone deliberately came into the containment room and poked at it, it should
pass without trouble.
Now, I was free!
Only for a little while, though.
I waved to Hugmon and Chongchongi, then clung to the facility ceiling and slowly moved.
+++
‘Ugh, I didn’t account for the people on patrol.’
I had seen the personnel patrolling at night, so I thought it would be easier during the day. But even during the day,
three or four of them were patrolling the main routes.
The facility ceiling was fairly high, so I wouldn’t be spotted right away, but that didn’t mean
the environment was completely safe. If only my body color were a little paler, I would attract less attention.
The one fortunate thing was that, perhaps because it was daytime, the lighting was dim.
As long as I didn’t do something like blatantly make noise on the ceiling, I probably wouldn’t be discovered right away.
Or so I had thought.
‘What the hell, why is that guy only looking at the ceiling?’
One operative was staring so intently at the ceiling that I wondered if they had some kind of job here called ceiling maintenance.
Since I couldn’t advance any farther, I hid myself nearby and watched the situation.
Naturally, there was no way around, so I absolutely had to pass across this ceiling.
How ridiculous was that crazy bastard? He had not taken his eyes off the ceiling for thirty minutes.
“Hmm.”
“What are you staring at like that? Is there something there?”
“No, it’s not like there’s anything.”
“Then why are you looking at the ceiling?”
“I just felt like looking.”
What a psycho bastard.
Looking at the ceiling? Sure, that could happen. It could.
But who the hell stares at a ceiling for thirty minutes?
And without looking away even once, making this whole damn fuss.
If I followed my heart, I would have stabbed those rotten eyeballs, but I had to hold back.
All the favorability grinding I’d worked so hard on would go up in smoke.
No, it wasn’t even something I’d meant to do in the first place, so should I just throw it away?
Watching what that guy was doing pissed me off so much I felt like I’d die first.
“Hey, hey. It’s time for shift change. Let’s go.”
“Uh, yeah.”
“Damn it, we’ll get yelled at again if we’re late for the changeover!”
“Aaagh!”
In the end, unable to watch any longer, another operative smacked him on the head.
Soon, the guy began rubbing his head and taking his eyes off the ceiling.
‘Serves him right.’
Phew, I almost really killed him.
That’s me, all right.
If it had been anyone else, they would have lost patience long ago and cracked his skull open.
Forward. Forward it is!
+++
“So, you’re saying you were staring at the ceiling and were late for shift change?”
“I’m sorry. I’ll make sure this never happens again.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Hey, well, that can happen. There are days when you suddenly wonder if something’s stuck to the ceiling, right?”
“Ahaha, that’s right.”
“I don’t have those days, though.”
“We were wrong, Adjutant.”
“I’ll make sure he understands. I’m sorry.”
The adjutant began waving his hands sharply.
“No, no. It can happen. I understand. I’m a pretty lenient person, you know.”
But contrary to his words, the adjutant was rolling up both sleeves.
“But I wonder if these guys are lenient too?!”
“A-Adjutant! Wait a moment!”
“W-we were wrong! Please forgive us just this once!”
“No, no, hurry up and run. I’ll let you off if you escape. But if I catch you, you’re dead.”
The two operatives ran off with cries that were practically screams.
And the adjutant chased after them looking truly delighted.
The sight of them throwing their bodies on the line to relieve the adjutant’s stress.
Wasn’t it beautiful?
+++
“Hey, do you know where Hugmon went?”
“No idea. Isn’t it in the scrap-metal doll’s containment room again?”
“Tsk. I can’t let him steal such a cutie.”
“What, where are you going?”
“I will defeat him without fail and bring Hugmon back.”
“You crazy bastard.”
“Why? If I actually bring it back, you’ll be happy too.”
“That’s true.”
“I’ll be back.”
I wanted to go along, but someone had to guard the control room, so I decided to accompany him through the security cameras.
Before long, he arrived right in front of the scrap-metal doll’s containment room.
“Hugmon, come here.”
When Hugmon heard someone calling it, its ears perked up and it awoke from its nap.
Hugmon stretched and began letting out a lively cry.
Of course, its body stretched accordingly as well.
“Now, come here. Play with me.”
Hugmon looked back and forth between the scrap-metal doll and the operative, seeming to fall into thought.
As though drawn by the operative clapping his hands and beckoning it over, it approached.
“That’s it! What a good kid.”
For now, he had succeeded in getting Hugmon into his hands.
Except for the fact that an ominous feeling had begun to creep in.
“Ugh.”
Had it felt unpleasant because Hugmon was taken away?
Though the scrap-metal doll did not move at all, the atmosphere felt as though it might spring out at any moment, and he began trembling
while holding Hugmon in his arms.
“T-this isn’t my fault—”
Just as he was about to turn around as if fleeing, perhaps he sensed something strange.
The operative tilted his head and began examining the inside of the containment room.
The scrap-metal doll was far too unresponsive today, so he tried to approach and observe it more closely.
‘Th-this is bad. Even so, if he looks from that close, he’ll notice right away.’
They needed some kind of countermeasure.
Something that could draw his gaze somewhere else right away. Something that couldn’t be too extreme, but also
couldn’t be too bland.
Suddenly, Hugmon thought.
‘Isn’t that… me?’
Since he had not examined the scrap-metal doll’s condition in detail, he was only suspicious at most. There was no better time
to divert his attention, so Hugmon slipped out of the operative’s arms.
“Huh?”
As expected, once it got out of his arms, it succeeded in drawing the operative’s gaze away.
Now the important thing was what kind of sight to show the operative.
Depending on its actions, there was a risk his gaze would be stolen back by the scrap-metal doll, so it was important to show
something drastic and captivate him.
Thus, the conclusion Hugmon reached was this.
“Huuug.”
Hugmon stretched its body until it was roughly the same height as the operative, then began approaching with its arms spread wide.
Naturally, after it had become close with the scrap-metal doll, most of the operatives had not received Hugmon’s hugs,
so this was more than enough to firmly seize his attention.
“You’ll never know how long I’ve waited for this moment.”
The operative embraced Hugmon and felt its soft texture.
“Wow. I’m really glad I stayed alive.”
Afterward, he took the shrunken Hugmon back to the control room.
The Wandering Swordsman, who had been watching the situation, shook his head.
“It seems he somehow managed not to get caught. Should I say he was lucky?”
The Swordsman looked at the scrap-metal doll’s husk for a moment, then began focusing on his training again.
Vowing that the next time they clashed, he would seize victory for certain.