Chapter 182 - More Than One

In the end, I was left alone with the skeletal dragon above me. It took a look at me and while it couldn't really make an expression with only bones, it seemed annoyed at me.

I simply scratched the back of my head.

"Uh... sorry."

Then, I took off my glasses.

I immediately took off my glasses and saw that the world reverted back to normal. I was back in the familiar forest and the three objects were next to me. The pale grey light seemed to be as good as new. However, the necklace clearly suffered some cracks, though the person in question didn't seem to mind.

As for the piece of paper, the bottom half was missing. It seemed rather distressed.

"My... My body!"

The necklace was also concerned.

"Oh dear, are you ok honey?"

I scratched the back of my head.

"Um, he still seems fine, right? There's still half of him left."

The necklace gasped.

"How could that be fine?"

I raised my hands up as though to surrender.

"My bad."

As I was about to respond, a black figure flashed by in the corner of my eye. I turned to look with my blindspot and saw a blurry misty figure. It was quite familiar since they were the things trying to escape whatever layer I was in while I had the glasses on.

However, their treatment of me seemed a little different now.

After all, it was charging straight towards me while reaching out with two grabby hands. I sidestepped it. However, I could see two other monsters chasing me from my other blindspot. With a quick scan, I realized I was nearly being surrounded on all ends by these things.

Yet, whenever they came near the three objects, they just walked around like it wasn't their business. I sighed.

"It appears that these things won't leave me alone. I will be leaving until this whole thing blows over."

Without waiting to hear their response, I put on the glasses, sending me back to the place with fog. The moment I appeared, there were a few dragons that instantly snapped their gaze towards me. However, they lost interest right after.

I rubbed my chin, more or less understanding how these glasses worked.

It seemed like they let me travel down a layer more than I was supposed to. That would be quite convenient in escaping a situation in one layer, like what just happened. It would also give me a sneak peek at what's to come.

After thinking about this for a while, I eventually found that the black dragons were beginning to leave.

Well, to be more accurate, they were forced to leave as they seemed to be sucked in by the air.

I let out a soft sigh and took this as the sign that the whole layer destabilization was over. And that was right to think, as I found the black misty figures appear back along with the objects floating in the air.

After taking off the glasses, I found myself back in the forest along with the others.

"Well, at least we know how we can deal with that kind of situation."

The piece of paper trembled.

"I... don't think I ever want to experience that again."

I blinked a few times.

"Was it that painful?"

The piece of paper shook.

"It's not really painful. More like... like I lost part of who I am."

My eyes widened.

"You lost part of your personality?"

The necklace gasped.

"Honey? Are you still fine?"

The red glowing piece of paper took a deep breath.

"I- I should be fine. But it just feels like part of me is missing."

The corner of my eyelid twitched.

"What part exactly?"

The red piece of paper crumpled up slightly.

"I... I don't know. The only thing I can tell is that I've lost something."

I rubbed my chin with my thumb and forefinger.

"Honestly, the more I think about it, the more scary it feels. Just knowing that you've lost parts of yourself, yet can't tell what you lost."

The red piece of paper chuckled.

"Well, I don't feel afraid. But maybe that's because that fear hasn't settled in yet."

I cleared my throat.

"Anyway, do you want to explore the layers some more? Considering those fruits of light let me transfer over, eating more of that or some other food should also help."

The red piece of paper let out a soft hum.

"Well... not really."

I blinked a few times.

"Really?"

The piece of paper scoffed.

"I mean come on, I literally lost half of my body already. If anything, I just want to leave!"

I fell silent for a moment. Giving up exploring this strange place didn't feel right to me just yet. It still seemed like there were many secrets to find. However, I also wanted to stay with these things.

"...How about we stay for just a little bit more. Say like, a few hours. The phenomenon from before shouldn't happen until then, right?"

The piece of paper grumbled.

"Well, it is unlikely..."

The necklace trembled.

"Honey, if you really don't like this place, then we can go!"

Hearing this, the corner of my eyelid twitched. It really seemed like they were going to leave, so I tried to think of any idea. As they flew by, I ended up blurting some random thing that seemed to make sense.

"The things in the layer we just saw look like souls to a certain extent, kind of like you guys. I think there might be a way to repair your body somewhere in this place as it appears closely related to the soul body."

I had no idea what I was talking about.

The piece of paper let out a soft hum.

"They were indeed souls... This place is definitely closely linked to souls. Ah, maybe you are right. There may even be some things we learn about increasing the longevity of the soul."

I smiled.

"Haha, of course, of course!"

Huh. Were they really related to souls? That would be cool.

I cleared my throat.

"Anyways, it appears that these glasses let me skip through a layer. That means if I find a way to transition to a lower layer, it should let me see what's underneath. That way, I can scout."

The necklace hummed.

"That seems about right."

I nodded.

"Alright, my best guess is that eating more of the stuff here should let me transition faster. I still vaguely remember where all those creatures died. If I eat those berries, I imagine they will help."

The piece of paper hummed.

"But didn't we conclude they were very likely parasites?"

I waved my hand dismissively.

"I can always figure out a way to deal with them later. They shouldn't be immediately fatal."

That was terrible logic, but since I was the one taking the risk, it seemed that the piece of paper was willing to agree.

"Ok..."

Albeit reluctantly.

As I said, I sort of remembered where the berries were. Considering I had the ability to start things over, I've always been creating a map in my head of the places I have been.

It did not take long for me to come across all the corpses with bushes growing out of them.

I noticed that there were a few black birds eating the fruit, but they left before I got close.

Upon reaching there, I was half expecting it to be empty, but many fruits were still there. As such, I began popping them in my mouth without much hesitation. The struggling feeling was uncomfortable at first, but I got used to it after the first few.

Almost immediately, I began to feel a change.

These things appeared to be much more effective than the fruits of light as I began to see shadows around me.

As I continued to eat more, things began to flash in an out of my sight.

I was expecting to see that misty place with the souls... but that wasn't it.

Instead, I saw... really really big spiders form.

Eventually, after eating about thirty or so of these berries, my sight of these spiders gradually cleared up. They appeared to be doing the actions of spinning a web, but I couldn't see any.

The piece of paper noticed I stopped eating.

"Have you finished transitioning through the layers?"

I furrowed my brows.

"Um, I think so? But I see a spider, not any of the souls."

The piece of paper exclaimed.

"Eh? So you haven't yet. Why aren't you eating them anymore?"

I blinked a few times.

"Wait."

The necklace looked at me.

"Um, what?"

I reached for the glasses and slowly put them on my face.

I was immediately greeted by a pitch black world.

Within, several black dragons were flying high up in the sky. As for the trees, I could see several, but they were huge and spaced far apart. The only reason I saw multiple is because my vision extended quite far in this place.

It was then I realized that these glasses seem to transport me through more than just one layer.