Krafft's Notes on Anomalies

"Is this the end?" William slapped the rock in front of him that was swelling and blocking the passage, full of disbelief and a sense of collapse.

Reach out and touch the rock mass that is bulging in the form of lumps and folds. They protrude from the cave wall and converge in the middle, like the traces of a valve scraping on ice cream. The track of the digger ends here, but it is obviously not here. Blockage caused by collapse.

"You don't have to be so surprised." If you are used to all kinds of abnormal experiences in the deep layers, an uninterrupted passage will be less unexpected. Kraft found that he was quite adaptable, and accidents no longer surprised him. .

"Whether you believe it or not, you can always find some unreasonable things here."

"Is there room up here?"

"No, it's a solid piece." Kraft tried for a while, but the corresponding position in the current world was still a intact mountain.

With a look of collapse, William sat down on the nearest stone fold and touched his waist. There was only an empty scabbard left, and the knife inside probably wasn't picked up after he got rid of it.

It was definitely impossible to go back and use force now. He hugged his head and pressed it against the cold rock to let his hot forehead cool down and provide him with some ideas, "You just said that this place is like the layer of paper underneath? "

"Yes, that's right."

As a person who often needs to deal with various emergencies, Captain William is not a rigid and stupid person. Under his rough appearance, he actually hides a quite flexible thinking, which has helped him survive to this day.

While his body rested, his mind started to help him understand the current situation. Rather than someone capable of fighting the thing, he was more inclined to stay away.

"Actually, we don't have to go back to the top piece of paper for the time being. If we don't want to have a direct conflict with those things, we just need to leave here. Since there are two pieces of paper. Can there be a 'third' piece of paper below us?"

Kraft did not deny it and was silent in response. He retracted his hand and held the object in his sleeve. William realized that this idea was correct.

He shut up and waited quietly for the results.

"You're right, there's a hole down there." Kraft gave the answer after a moment. People tend to get into blind spots when it comes to things they are accustomed to, and are obsessed with the relationship between the first level and the real world, thereby neglecting the parts they are unwilling to contact.

But what does this mean?

"William, I need to confirm, because you have felt the arrival of that thing once more than me."

"What?"

Kraft called up his memory, recalling the moment he felt the cave-builder's approach at the beginning of the horn-filled experience.

"That kind of vibration didn't come from scratch... but it was quite strong from the beginning, isn't it? Suddenly I felt a source of vibration appearing in the distance."

Before William could answer, the answer had actually been drawn. Yes, it is true. For people with keen senses, it is like an approaching sound suddenly appearing on the third floor of an empty building, without the process of entering from the first floor and climbing up the stairs step by step.

It just appeared at a certain point in the mountain, not gradually approaching from a place where it could not be felt underground.

Of course, it is impossible for the digger to disappear into thin air and leave behind this dead tunnel in front of him. In his perception, as long as he dives slightly, he can find that the tunnel still continues - in the next layer. The "pen tip" pierces this layer of paper and extends the "handwriting" to another piece of paper.

"This thing doesn't live on a fixed level at all! It can go to another level. This chaotic tunnel is the transitional section."

Even with William's ability to accept it, it would take him a while to sort out this fact, "Does that mean it's a big one, a 'wizard' like you?"

"I solemnly remind you, just call me a wizard, don't compare me with the deeper things." Kraft walked towards him, and you could notice that his expression was not good-looking, but it didn't seem to be because of the words he used. improper.

Even the orange-red firelight couldn't conceal the paleness, and his forehead twitched, as if he was enduring some kind of special discomfort.

"Do you want to take a rest? You don't look right." This state is far from normal. Unlike the physical exertion, using "spells" seems to be quite costly, but because it is not easy to pry into other people's privacy, It’s hard to ask why. God knows what will happen if we lose control midway.

"No, I can hold on while I can."

There was no chance to refuse. All of William's words were swallowed up by the overflowing sensory confusion, and strange smells filled his mouth and ears. His whole body was dragged into a long and unsettling reverse downward feeling.

This time the scenery was no longer static, and the rocks that were originally shaped like intestinal folds had really undergone indescribable changes.

It's like cutting open the belly of a fish and walking away to do some chores. After a while, when you come back, the oily internal organs that have lost their restraints begin to slide around, squirming slightly and becoming an amorphous disgusting substance.

When this change occurs on a hard material that should not show such characteristics, the misalignment of cognition and facts constantly hammers and solidifies common sense, and the existing impression of the rock appears slightly disorganized along with the half-melted scene.

As the melting reaches its peak, this shift in the perception of something is also increasing, thus reflecting on the whole, questioning the correctness of the entire worldview. Like softening a brick on a city wall, it has a small but real impact on stability.

The eyelids are depressed, blocking out counterintuitive vision. William put away his curiosity, maybe he would regret giving up this rare opportunity in the future, but as we all know, only living people can tell stories in the tavern, and there is no benefit in reading any more.

Kraft controlled the oscillation direction of the prism and dived deeper. The last time he came, he was dragged into this level by accident, and he has not explored the second level since then.

The "faded" scenery in the first layer becomes further dull in the spiritual senses, like squeezing out all the water from a sponge and discovering that it can be dried by light and heat, always losing more of its "color". Showing a drier state.

He thought about this problem freely. After the alienated spirit replaced the normal senses, confusion could no longer disturb the operation of thinking. It was only when Kraft arrived that he realized that he had formed a habit.

Whether it is extra senses, endless fading, or changes in levels manifested as falling, it is as unnecessary to think about as which step to take when walking. It has almost become a part of common sense, and the boundaries are increasingly integrated.

My consciousness traced the origin of this inertia, but I couldn't figure it out. At one time, I thought it started from the first time I fell into the tide, and at another time, I thought it came from the decision to take the initiative to dive.

It has been so long that memory has not troubled this person who is used to treating himself as an archive. It has been so long that he can hardly remember what it feels like to forget.

Habits, habits again, Kraft couldn't think of when he had so many habits. He patted and touched his body, trying to find the non-existent foreign objects embedded in it, as if those habitual behaviors had entities.

The transmitted touch was accurately compared with memory, and the body had not changed at all. Kraft was still the same Kraft, but it seemed that his habit had adapted to the deeper layers.

"Craft?"

William opened his eyes when he found that the falling sensation had stopped. The torch was extinguished during the transfer, and they were immersed in darkness. During this dangerous period just after landing, Kraft was actually distracted.

"I thought about something of my own." He let go of William's thick shoulder with his palm, took out the kindling and relit the torch. In the light coil, it could be seen that the rock folds were twisted in reverse, and the way forward became gradually narrower, while the original dead end opened up. extend.

"How can I help?"

"It's just something that has nothing to do with the current situation, just keep walking."

The cave continued its upward trend, and when Kraft's aftereffects subsided, a small heterochromatic spot on the rock wall attracted attention.

It was a small speck of dusty yellow that could not be rubbed away, an invigorating discovery that temporarily made people forget about the fact that they were in the deep world, and improved their mood as similar yellow patches increased.

They were indeed approaching the surface, moving toward the yellow layer. William was so excited to touch those dusty yellows that he didn't even show frustration when he hit a dead end again.

"I have good news and bad news." Kraft added a new torch. "The bad news is that we don't have many torches left."

"What about the good news?"

"The continuation of this section is on the upper level. We are going up, in every sense of the word." He gave a tired smile, and the situation had a slight turn for the better. Maybe if we go all the way up, we can float upward at the same time. Return to the present world.