She is not an investigator.

She genuinely believed that those inexplicable disasters would eventually leave her alone.

"Only at times like these do I feel that everything familiar feels so dear."

She took a deep breath, and the stench of decay finally calmed her down.

She turned her head and looked behind her.

He looked back at the place he had come from.

The streetlights began to flicker, sometimes bright and sometimes dim, accompanied by a figure that kept flashing in the light.

She could see clearly, even in the dark.

Once again, she experienced the chaos of the world and the reality beneath the surface of peace.

Has she lost her mind? No, she can now truly feel that everything around her is real.

It is not a hallucination, not a delusion, not an auditory hallucination, and not a mental illness.

She simply saw it, saw the real world, and hesitated again and again before that door.

Perhaps she needs a key, a key that can open this door for her.

"..."

Igris pulled out the broken key, her thoughts drifting.

She seemed to understand something, and she also understood those words that she had heard before but hadn't paid much attention to.

Perhaps she has already found what she was looking for, but there is more beyond that, things that will come to her of their own accord.

creak-

The lights went out the instant she took out the key.

Instead, there stands an ancient gate erected in the void.

It was half-open, as if welcoming Igris forward, leaving her with no further options.

It all started with a rabbit.

A bizarre stage play – The Book of Secrets: Chapter Twenty-Seven, The Underworld

As the door was pulled open, a powerful force pushed Igris inside.

She knew it was the black figure she had just seen who did it, but instead of attacking, it pushed her through the door.

Blackness enveloped her vision, and then, in the next moment, as if a painting were mixed with countless paints, incredibly vibrant colors appeared before her eyes.

She found it hard to describe the scene; it was like a painter's palette being overturned, or a scientist working on a new invention.

Everything was so unfamiliar that she struggled to find similar adjectives, and didn't even know what they might represent.

Compared to other colors, they seem out of place, not on the color spectrum, and constantly changing.

Besides that, she also saw many other things.

I saw the stars, I saw the ocean.

The ocean is in the sky, the stars are at your feet, and huge spheres are distributed in the distance and near, very close, yet appearing very far.

Like the moon, countless moons.

Something always floated past her head; it could be a fish, or it could be a fish from that ocean. At least Igris couldn't describe them, neither their specific shape nor the color they represented.

The only thing we know is probably the concept of their movement, which is now referred to as "wandering".

Igris turned her gaze away and looked behind her.

Behind her was a sea of ​​stars, with rings of light surrounding even smaller rings of light. They weren't smaller, just farther away.

The vibrant colors make the scene seem somewhat unreal, almost unreal, but it is undeniably beautiful enough to inspire any artist to use all their skill and talent to recreate it.

Such beautiful scenery is always captivating, but for Igris, it seems difficult for her to understand it all.

She had no appreciation for beauty, even though her own beauty was enough to make her fit in this space. In any case, she was not someone who appreciated beauty.

The door isn't here.

The door that brought her in, and perhaps the only door that could lead her out, is not here at this moment.

Regardless of where she is or what her situation is, she needs to leave this place.

Igris lowered her head, looking at the sea of ​​stars at her feet and the occasional twinkling starlight.

The stars always twinkled, perhaps fading away, but time and again new light would emerge to replace the star that had disappeared.

Igris knew that she possessed this knowledge, and what she saw was merely the light that these stars shone before they died.

In that sense, what lies beneath her feet right now is nothing less than a prison leading to death.

Just like the place where she lives.

Igris took out her vanity mirror. She didn't intend to tidy herself up here; at least, she wasn't in the mood, nor had she ever been in the habit.

As the soft tapping of fingertips echoed in the almost silent space, Igris held her breath, waiting for a miracle to happen.

However, whether to feel disappointed or relieved, the Mirror Demon did not appear. It may not be here, or it may not be able to appear, but whatever the reason, Igris is alone once again.

Finally, she began to try taking steps.

Her feet trod on unseen ground, yet the ripples above her head spread out slowly with each step she took. As she moved forward, the ripples stretched out with each step.

Soon, she finally encountered the first familiar presence in this strange space.

A black cat.

It has two tails and yellow pupils. At this moment, it is lying in the air, or perhaps on something unseen, silently watching Igris's progress.

It is languid yet refined, like an elegant noblewoman, quietly observing the reckless and impolite explorer.

Igris walked slowly, worried that something might happen to the black cat, just like the rabbit that had brought her here.

Seemingly impatient, the black cat opened its mouth, yawned, gently licked its little paws, and scratched its chin.

It felt so relaxed, just like being at home.

Perhaps this is indeed its home.

Igris stopped when she was three steps away from it.

She wasn't going to go any further, and the cat seemed to realize this, so it straightened up and shook itself.

"Meow--"

A lazy meow rang out, coming from its mouth.

It was just a normal cat meow; it didn't contain any special language or meaning, nor was it a spell. And Igris had always been completely clueless about cat language.

"Meow?"

Well, she could still understand a little; at least she could tell that the cat's tone was somewhat confused.

Igris hesitated for a long time, weighing the pros and cons of her conscience, before finally making a tough decision that went against her own soul.

"Meow--"

She called out as well.

"There are at least three grammatical errors in your sentence, meow."

"So you can speak human language after all!"

That's right, the black cat spoke, and mercilessly mocked Igris, who was completely clueless about cat language.

"What are you doing here, meow?"

"I don't know, didn't you let me in?"

"Meow?"

The black cat raised its head and shook it in confusion.

"We don't have cats here. Humans can't come here, or they'll get eaten."

"Being eaten... Is there any danger here?"

Igris instinctively reached into her pocket, where her weapons were kept, though these old tricks might not be of much use in a place like this.

But it's better than nothing.

"Meow...you must have been tricked here by some wicked guy, meow."

The black cat jumped down from the air and landed at Igris's feet, wagging its tail.

"Come with meow, I'll take you away from here, meow."

"I didn't expect you to be such a good cat."

Although Igris was reluctant to believe a talking cat, it was indeed the only living creature here besides herself, and perhaps she really should go and see it.

"Of course I'm a good cat, but there's a bad cat here too, don't go near it, meow."

"Bad cat?"

Igris blinked, still not quite understanding what was happening, when a meow sounded behind her.

"Black cat, where are you taking my guest, meow!"

"what…"

Igris turned her head, and sure enough, a white cat was slowly walking over.

The same solid color, the same yellow pupils, the same two tails.

A bizarre stage play – The Book of Secrets: Chapter Twenty-Eight, Black and White Cat

"Here it comes, meow..."

After the white cat appeared, the black cat took the initiative to stand in front of Igris.

"White cat, how many times have I told you not to bring anyone else in, meow? You already have all those toys, meow."

"This is none of your business, meow! Give her back to me, meow! You're so stinky, meow!"

The white cat looked very angry. After scolding the black cat, it also looked at Igris, who still didn't understand what had happened.

"Meow! Come here, meow! It's a bad cat, it'll throw you into the sea, meow!"