novelraw Chapter 133
Chapter 133
Chapter 133
SCCL-4-0841JP "Experience Bird"
A white bird with great potential. Total length 14cm, weight 6.5g. Its feathers are soft and puffed up, and its long tail makes it appear slightly larger than it actually is. Its black beak is small, and the culmen is curved. Its neck is short and barely visible from the outside. It's a small bird with a round body and tail feathers. Its entire body is snow-white. It closely resembles the Shimaenaga, a subspecies of the Enaga found in Hokkaido, and its flying form looks like a flying bean pastry.
Refer to the containment manual separately.
————
Akane Shimajou was full of energy.
Because today was the start of her new job.
The pay was excellent, and despite that, it didn't require much education—exactly the kind of job Akane liked.
Akane had never been good at studying, and sitting at a desk for long periods didn't suit her nature.
So from middle school through high school, she devoted herself to volleyball. She shone as the ace who led her school to the Kanto tournament.
However, after entering the working world, she found society to be unreasonable—apparently, your value was determined by how you spent your student years.
It was as if adults were telling her that all the time she spent sweating and getting yelled at by her coach was meaningless, and she experienced a sense of emptiness and a vision of a dark shadow over her future that she had never felt before.
But Akane considered herself lucky.
Because now, she had found an incredibly good job.
Starting salary: 800,000 yen. Twice-yearly bonuses. Complete two-day weekends. Absolutely stellar conditions.
Of course, even Akane thought, "This seems a little shady," but her worries vanished when she learned the employer was the internationally renowned foundation, the Dungeon Foundation.
Above all, Akane needed money. An outrageous amount of money.
First day of work.
Akane was picked up at the nearest station by a black-painted Dungeon Foundation bus and taken a long distance. The bus windows were covered with black light-blocking curtains, so she had no idea where she was going.
"We are collecting smartphones and other electronic devices."
When the bus stopped, it was in the middle of a deep green forest.
A massive futuristic facility stood in the forest, and Akane nearly collapsed from the sheer impact of it.
She wondered, "Where in Japan could such an insane secret facility exist?"
"Are you Akane Torijou?"
"Yes! It's a pleasure to be here today! I'll do my best!"
"Okay, welcome. Still only 18? ...You're energetic. That's important. Very important."
The worn-out seniors seemed to be tasked with training the newcomers today.
The newcomers were split into groups of four, each assigned to a senior who would explain the tasks while guiding them through the facility.
The inside of the facility was inorganic, rugged, and completely devoid of charm.
White embedded lights were installed at regular intervals in the floor and ceiling, and sturdy, windowless doors were also placed at equal intervals along the walls.
Occasionally, arrows would appear on the floor or walls, labeled "Dogma 2."
"What's that?"
"Ah, that means the passage to Dogma 2 is ahead. You all are not permitted to enter Dogma 2, so make sure you don't accidentally go there."
As they toured the facility and learned about the work, a vague sense of unease within Akane began to take shape.
"——Your work as Level E staff will be limited to very gentle tasks. Don't worry."
A senior spoke to the newcomers from behind a magic mirror, with a desiccated corpse seated in a chair behind him.
Akane's job.
It was the containment and management of the bizarre and terrifying SCCL Anomalous Substances.
The senior was about to lead everyone out of the magic mirror room.
Just then, an alarm began to sound.
It was a fear-inducing noise that stirred anxiety.
Akane and the other newcomers froze, wondering what was going on.
The senior drew a pistol from inside his coat and stared down the corridor with sunken eyes.
He blinked. And then, a slender figure, at least 3 meters tall, suddenly appeared in their field of vision.
Its limbs and torso were thin, its face featureless—no eye sockets or nostrils.
The moment they saw it, all four newcomers were consumed by an indescribable and overwhelming dread. Their legs shook, and they couldn't stand. Their molars chattered noisily. Driven by a primal fear from deep within, they were on the verge of panic.
"Don't look away. If it jumps, you'll die."
The senior muttered calmly and opened fire.
He fired about thirteen controlled shots, silencing the target, which fell to its knees and collapsed.
Soon, the sound of multiple footsteps approached.
Staff in black suits swarmed in, grabbed the silenced monster with their bare hands, and dragged it off as if nothing had happened.
"Uh, um... what was that...?"
"You were lucky. You survived another day."
The senior said with a faint smile on his worn-out face.
The next day.
Akane was assigned her anomalous substance.
She was filled with anxiety.
"B-but I have to do my best...!"
She psyched herself up and headed to her assigned room.
She had already read the manual thoroughly.
As long as she followed it properly, she wouldn't get hurt.
She arrived at the room.
A standard containment cage equipped with a magic mirror.
Inside was a single small bird.
"'Experience Bird'... So cute."
Akane thought she was lucky.
Who would've thought she'd just get to watch this adorable bird?
"Chi-chi-chi (Translation: Please, chi, I want you to let me out of here, chi!)"
"Huh, did it just talk...?"
That ability wasn't recorded in the Experience Bird's file.
Akane hurried to begin an observation log.
"The bird... talked... Can you speak more?"
"Chi-chi-chi (Translation: Of course, chi. I have intelligence superior to that of humans, chi.)"
"It ends its sentences with 'chi'... So cute. This little one is absurdly cute."
Thus began the days of Akane and the Experience Bird.
The Experience Bird was a talking bird that resembled the Shimaenaga, a subspecies of the Enaga found in Hokkaido.
Other than the fact that it could talk, it showed no particular abnormal traits.
Day two.
"Experience Bird looks lonely... Why do you look so sad, little bird?"
"Chi-chi-chi (Translation: I don't know either, chi... But just being here like this makes me so sad, chi... Hideo abandoned me, chi... It's not like I want to go back, chi. I don't care about Hideo anymore, chi...)"
The Experience Bird spoke as if trying to convince itself.
Hideo. Perhaps the name of its former owner, Akane noted.
She figured it had probably become an anomalous substance out of the sorrow of being abandoned.
Day three.
"Chi-chi-chi (Translation: There's nothing more important than experience points, chi... Humans abandoned me, chi, and that's fine, chi... But why do I feel this way... Was I wrong, chi?)"
"Experience Bird is starting to question something... logging that."
Akane made a note and set down her pencil.
In the past few days, Akane and the Experience Bird had grown close.
The Experience Bird acted aloof, but still did its best to talk whenever Akane initiated conversation.
"Chi-chi-chi (Translation: You sure work hard in such a boring place, chi.)"
"Haha, well, it's not so boring with you around, little bird."
"Chi-chi-chi (Translation: If Akane is here, maybe spending my whole life here wouldn't be so bad, chi.)"
Day four.
"The Experience Bird has grown to the size of a volleyball... logging that."
"Chi-chi (Translation: I've puffed up on a whim, chi. You're welcome, chi.)"
"Thank you, little bird... Whoa!"
During their usual peaceful time, an alarm began to blare, followed quickly by the sound of gunfire.
Akane froze, her heart pounding wildly.
Even after a while, the gunfire didn't stop.
Akane fled into the Experience Bird's containment cage.
It was obvious that a dangerous biological-type anomalous substance had escaped.
"What on earth is happening......waaahhh!!?"
It came out of nowhere.
It was the super-tall man in black Akane had met on the first day.
He had suddenly teleported inside the cage.
It happened in the blink of an eye.
"Th-this is......! Don't look away......don't look away from Slender Man......!"
Akane's teeth chattered like mad as she drew her pistol with trembling hands, never breaking eye contact.
It was the compact gun she had been taught to use the other day. It used reduced-power rounds, making it easier to handle for beginners despite its low suppression power.
She fired. But the bullets didn't hit the monster just 5 meters away.
Due to the severe mental damage she had taken, she couldn't aim properly at all.
Akane lost all sense of what was happening as a hallucination warped her vision into a twisted mess.
And yet, she reached out toward the Experience Bird.
"Chi?"
"Birdie, run...!"
Akane made a jumping serve with the Experience Bird, now turned into a white volleyball, and smacked it out of the cage.
"That should do it......"
She squeezed out the last of her strength.
As her consciousness faded, Akane caught one final sight.
"Chi-chi-chi (Translation: I'll take care of this bad guy, chi. I don't care about humans, chi. I've decided to abandon you, chi, so don't get the wrong idea, chi. It's not like I'm saving you or anything, chi.)"
The Experience Bird puffed up rapidly.
It grew so large its head touched the ceiling, then chomped the slender monster down in a single bite.
A stylish black tie appeared around the Experience Bird's neck.
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Shimaenaga-san
Level 140
HP 1,443,500/1,443,500
MP 1,421,700/1,421,700
Skills
'Blasphemous Morning Star Lv4'
'Blasphemous Pact'
'Blasphemous Gaze'
'Blasphemous Regeneration'
'Blasphemous Counterattack'
'Blasphemous Sword Dance'
'Blasphemous Flash Lv2'
'Blasphemous Change of Heart Lv3'
'Slender Monster's Step'
Equipment
'Calamity Beast'
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'Slender Monster's Step'
Movement speed -1000% within human line of sight
Movement speed +1000% outside human line of sight
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The Experience Bird puffed up just a little bit more.