Chapter 56: Paths and Sound

As Reign turned the vault wheel slowly, it generated a loud creak. Judging from the sound, he could tell it was old and rusty.

The wheel had rusted so much that it became extremely heavy, well beyond what an average person could turn. This neglect suggested a lack of maintenance for along time, making it stiff .

CREAK!

CREAK!

The sound of the vault door's gears turning reverberated through the space behind it, akin to the interior of a cave.

CLICK!

After finally unlocking the vault door, he grasped the handle firmly. With a steady pull, he gradually swung it open wider until it was fully open, revealing another corridor .

The scent of death immediately filled his nostrils, and through his undead vision, he could see a black-red aura emanating from the inside.

It was condensed, a sight that would normally signal danger.

However, for some inexplicable reason, he felt drawn to this aura. It defied logic, but his instinct urged him forward.

'What is this thing?' Raising his hands, he felt the red dark aura enveloping him, akin to a rejuvenating breeze.

While it might look dangerous, for a creature like him, it seemed to have a positive influence.

If just this amount of energy could elicit such a response, whatever was generating it promised to be extremely advantageous for him.

"I know that this aura is be good for me, but..." He glanced at the dark corridor, and the feeling of danger intensified. It wasn't enough to make him flee, but it did cast doubt in his mind.

The walls and floor of this place were different from outside. They were made of pure cement, and as he knocked on them, he could tell they were very thick. He had a feeling that whatever was inside this place was not meant to leave its confines.

'Am I an idiot or something? Why would I walk inside this place?' he asked himself. Sometimes, he felt being a monster made him either too brave or an idiot.

'This isn't worth it,' he sighed, turning away. He came to the realization that entering an unfamiliar place was a dumb idea.

[Ding]

[System detected condensed negative energy. If absorbed, the host would gain massive EXP and skill points.]

'No gain, no pain, right?'he chuckled wryly after reading the word "Massive" . The temptation was just too strong to ignore.

He pressed on walking further, the negative aura growing stronger with each step.

Suddenly, a strange feeling welled up from within him.

However, he did not react. He just stood there quietly, and prepare himself.

As he stands there in the darkness, the faint echoes of footsteps draw nearer.

He raised his hands and unleashed his ability, "Claw Bullet"

SWOOOSH

SWOOOSH

George squinted his eyes, trying to decipher what the dog wanted.

"Do you need to pee?" he asked.

"WOOOF WOOOF WOOOF!" Wick answered.

Hearing this, George opened the door of the truck. But before it was fully open, Wick jumped out and bolted away.

"Get back here!" George yelled, attempting to catch Wick, but the dog was faster than any normal canine. In just a matter of minutes, it had vanished into the distance.

"Reign will kill me," George sighed, feeling weak in the knees.

***

Back to the Looping Corridor.

Reign continued to backtrack his way, but no matter which direction he tried, he ended up in the same place. Next, he attempted walking to the left, but it proved just as futile.

'Don't tell me I'll be trapped here forever,' Reign sighed, sitting on the floor. He had no ability or skill that could help him solve his current issue.

It would have been better if the thing playing tricks on him showed itself, but right now, even the sound of footsteps had vanished.

"WOOOF WOOOF WOOOF!" Out of nowhere, Reign heard a familiar sound. He recognized it to be Wick's barking, and it was coming from his right.

"WICK!" Reign screamed and dashed towards the source of the sound.

As he followed Wick's bark, he noticed that the corridor didn't send him back in a loop.

Instead, it continued as a straight line. Encouraged by this unexpected turn of events, he pressed on, his hope renewed.

With Wick leading the way, he felt confident that he would eventually find his way out of the mysterious labyrinth.

Finally, he emerged into a small clearing, where he found Wick standing proudly, wagging his tail happily .

Relief flooded through Reign as he knelt down and embraced his faithful friend.

"You little troublemaker," Reign chuckled, ruffling Wick's fur . "You just saved me!"

But as he looked around, he realized that this wasn't just any ordinary clearing. Strange symbols and text adorned the walls, etched into the stone like some kind of doodle .

He leaned in closer, squinting to make out the texts of scratches that formed what appeared to be words.

"This Hospital is hell"

"The doctors are killing the patient"

"We are not crazy"

"Please help us"

"They take out our brains"

Reign read the text aloud.