Dragon Raja; Chapter 92: Little Brother

Dragon Raja

1. Infiltrate

Number 13 crouched low, walking down a pitch-black passageway, holding up his lit phone to see by its light.

This enormous passageway system felt like a labyrinth, with only the hum of exhaust fans echoing in the dark, repeating at a steady frequency.

He was conceited that he was an expert in the bounty hunting business. He had taken on all kinds of weird cases and had done a good job. He had never felt as strange as today. Since entering this campus, he always had auditory hallucinations. Every time he walked in a quiet environment and listened to his own footsteps, he would mistakenly think that someone was talking in front of him. At first, he ignored it, until he left the crystal-clear shadow girl and the beer-drinking man, he realized that this was quite strange. Because after he entered the corridor leading to the “ice cellar”, the strange voices became clear, and he was underground. Except for the ventilation system, there was no gap for the sound to penetrate.

No. 13 stood up slowly, and instead of turning on his phone to illuminate the room, he turned it off, stuck close to the wall of the corridor, and moved forward with his back bent.

“Brother…” This time the voice came from behind, as if someone was sighing softly not far away.

No. 13 pulled out the sawed-off shotgun, turned around and pointed it backwards. According to his heroic or rough personality, he should have just fired at it, no matter if it was a human or a ghost, he would have smashed it first. But he was a little timid this time, and no one knew why. He felt that the sound was very familiar.

He couldn’t remember where he had heard this voice. The voice floated up faintly from the depths of his mind like a bubble. It was very familiar, so familiar that it had a dreamy, dark sweetness that made him a little sleepy.

“Who?” he asked.

No one answered, the hum of the exhaust fan continued.

No. 13 scratched the back of his head, regretting taking this job. The one who hired him was an old customer who had taken care of his business many times over the years. No. 13 trusted those people very much, so he agreed without thinking. In the past, he had taken jobs to explore ancient tombs in the desert or shipwrecks in the icy sea. Each place sounded more mysterious than Cassell Academy, but this time things became more and more strange, starting with him losing contact with others for no reason, and then a series of strange encounters. Although he was quite sane, if he still believed at this moment that this academy was just a gathering place for a group of tabletop game enthusiasts who loved life and fantasy, then it would be a underestimate of his intelligence. When he walked into this place, it was like walking into a maze.

In fact, he originally couldn’t have entered this deep maze, but today his luck was so good that every time he reached a dead end, there was a door in the corner that didn’t exist that could be pushed open.

Coincidence? Too much of a coincidence, isn’t it? No. 13 felt that the employer, who he only contacted by phone, was hiding something from him.

He recalled the gaze of that transparent, crystal-like girl, the look she gave him at the last moment.

It was like she was saying goodbye to a dead man.

“Riiing, riiing, riiing…”

The ringtone startled him in this dark, enclosed place. The vibration nearly made his heart stop. What phone provider had service this deep underground?

There was no caller ID, just a pale blue screen.

And the phone wasn’t even in call mode!

Number 13 took a few deep breaths and pressed the answer button without saying anything.

“This is a recording, not a call. Everything is part of our plan. Of course, if you are unfortunately already dead, press the power button—what follows would be meaningless to you.” The voice on the phone was calm, the same woman who had given him mission instructions.

“How could the dead press the power button?” Number 13 muttered.

“I just told a joke. I hope you understand I want you to feel a little more relaxed at this moment.” The woman continued, but her cold tone only made people want to flip a table.

“Please refer to the map. Based on your current location, dial and press the ‘#’ key to end.” The woman said.

“Are you an AT&T customer service rep?” Number 13 muttered.

No one answered him, but a complete map of Cassell College was displayed on the screen, with every entrance and every road clearly marked, and every important location marked with a number. “Although it is indeed a great map,” No. 13 scratched his head, “but I’m underground now.”

“You have not dialed for 15 seconds. If you don’t hear clearly, please press ‘1’ to replay. If you need a map of the underground floors, please press the ‘#’ key directly.”

“Okay, okay, great service.” No. 13 pressed the “#” key.

“This time we’re on the right track,” said No. 13.

The newly displayed map was like a gorgeous spider web. The underground building of Cassell College was composed of three large sections. The line in the middle was the passage connecting the three sections. Even the ventilation ducts were marked one by one, like countless silk threads sprayed by three giant spiders. The name of this layer was marked on the corner, “Three Goddesses”.

“The three goddesses of fate?” No. 13 thought.

He had read some Norse mythology and knew that there were three such goddesses in Norse mythology. Among the three, Urdur spun the lifeline, Beldandi pulled the lifeline, and Skordi cut the lifeline. This was the fate of all things in the world and could not be changed. At the end of the Ragnarok, poisonous wolves, black dragons and giants approached the temple. The main god Odin walked out of his palace, walked to the well and looked down. He saw that the three goddesses had stopped working, their faces full of sorrow, the looms were covered with dust, and all the silk threads were broken. So he knew that everything was over. Seeing that the situation was irreversible, he took his once invincible spear and, along with a hundred thousand heroic spirits, embarked on a road of no return to the decisive battle.

He found his location. He was in a long, narrow passage without any branches, marked as “Passage 13.” A mischievous thought crossed his mind—he considered dialing another number to see what instructions it would give. But he thought better of it. If this important recording only worked once, he’d be in serious trouble.

He obediently pressed “13.”

“Congratulations, you have reached the designated location as planned. Now, let me unveil the Three Goddesses for you.”

A thin white line swept from the top to the bottom of the screen. Some of the passageways were filtered out, turning gray, while others remained bright white. The names of all the buildings were changed as well. The three main building complexes were indeed named after the Three Goddesses of Fate. Number 13 suddenly noticed something chilling: all the bright white passageways started at the building marked “Urdur” passed through “Beldandi,” and ultimately led to “Skordi,” the goddess who ruled over the future… where there were no exits.

This filtered map carried an intense sense of fatalism. Life’s flow was one-way, from the past to the future, and the future… had no way out.

Did the designers of this college not believe in the future?

Number 13 felt a sense of dread.

“Wait, am I heading… towards the future?” No. 13 said in a lost voice. He realized a problem. The position of No. 13 where he was was exactly the thread from “Beldandi” to “Shikodi”. It had been pulled out and the length was measured, waiting for “Shikodi” to cut it.

“It leads to ‘Shikodi’ and also to the ultimate secret.” The woman said, “Your commission for this mission has been increased to 5 million US dollars.”

Number 13 felt his spirits lift. Five million dollars was a massive sum—five times the original amount! After this job, he could retire. He wasn’t doing this for justice or to explore the world’s mysteries. It was all for money. He was the kind of guy who believed in relying on himself, had no other skills, and couldn’t stand living off social welfare.

“Did you hear a mysterious voice calling you when you were passing through the passage? If it was, please press ‘1#’, not ‘2#’.”

“Brother? Is this a ‘mysterious’ voice?” No. 13 thought about it and pressed “1#”.

“Is there a smell of rusty metal in the air? If yes, please press ‘1#’. If no, please press ‘2#’.”

No. 13 was stunned for a moment, then he flared his nostrils and took a deep breath. Indeed, there was a strong smell of rust in the air, which he had just ignored. It was not strange to smell a little rust when walking in a metal-walled passage.

Series Navigation

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