"The entire NPA? Please elaborate further, what’s happening there?"
The operator had no idea what was going on or whether this was a prank call.
Meanwhile, Haruki stood frozen in fear, unable to move a muscle. His eyes were wide open, locked onto the tarantula as if it were some ancient artifact. The tarantula stared back with glowing red eyes, and Haruki was ready to collapse at any moment.
Finally, the enormous tarantula moved its limbs. Haruki felt the vibrations from its sheer size, and that was when his fight-or-flight response kicked in.
He stepped backward as if an invisible force had kicked him in front. In reality, he'd stepped back so far that his legs performed a split, and he tumbled onto his back.
"Just send any kind of help! C'mon!"
Scrambling back to his feet, Haruki sprinted, running with speeds that could rival Usain Bolt. He didn’t dare to look back, why would he?
“I understand.” the operator said. “However, I still don’t know what’s happening or what the issue is. So please, if you could kindly inform me-”
“Bro, can you stop yapping?! Just send someone! Anyone! Ask questions later! Stop being useless!”
"I'm begging you!"
Haruki cried out, his voice was so loud it echoed through the hallway. The sound antagonized the tarantula, prompting it to chase him. The ground shook under the weight of its terrifying limbs with every step.
"I see, it must be urgent then. Are there any armed individuals? What’s your location?"
The operator's voice remained calm, as if he was in a podcast acting as the host. He waited patiently for a response, only to be taken aback by Haruki’s response.
"This is it—"
"Where— my life ends."
Haruki mumbled underneath his breath, picked up by the phone still held firmly in his hand, its built-in flashlight continuing to emit it’s light through the dark hallway. His sweat was dripping profusely, and his breath came in short, rugged gasps. As if he'll pass out anytime soon.
"Is everything alright?! The authorities are on the way! Please— say something!"
The arachnid is just inches away from grabbing him. Then, Haruki shoved himself through a door to his right, slipping into an adjacent room. He landed face-first on the rough, wooden floor, his phone thrown a few feet away.
"Please, say something! What’s happening there?!"
The operator’s tone had became more alarmed, fueled by the unexpected commotions, though he still had no idea what was happening.
Haruki, still laying on the floor, suddenly felt a strange tingling feeling on his leg. Slowly, he faced himself upwards and saw a nasty sight.
"Holy—!"
Thousands of micro-sized spiders had crawled onto his leg, they hadn’t bitten him yet, but the sight alone sent a wave of panic through his entire body. Adrenaline surged through his veins, and he let out an ear-piercing scream.
"Arghhhhh...!! Gross!"
He squirms uncontrollably, trying to wobble them off, but they cling onto him tighter. Even more emerged from cracks in the walls and holes in the floor, which didn’t make it better.
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"Get off me!!"
Haruki yelled, using all his body’s strength to shake the tiny spiders off.
At the same time, the large tarantula from before peaks inside. It could see Haruki rolling around the ground frantically. This caused him to jump involuntarily, and he kicked the golf ball sized eyes of the giant, with a leg covered in spiders.
The creature had to retreat back for a split second, allowing the boy to sprint out the room. He then entered a neighboring room, which was still part of the same hallway. However, there was no floor upon entering and he fell straight down.
“Hahhh..?!"
"This is gonna hurt..!!”
He closes his eyes, and braces for impact. The fall was much longer than he anticipated.
Surprisingly, he lands on water, instead of the concrete floor he was expecting. At the bottom of the room he just fell from, exists a wide, and deep pit. Filled entirely with liquid. He was completely submerged in it.
The pool wasn’t technically clean, it looked colorful, with even some trash and plastic floating around. There was a foul stench spread all across the cramped room. At least, the dirty fluid washed away all the spiders attached to him.
So when he finally emerged from his indoor swimming pool, he very much did not like any second of that. Nobody would.
“I ain’t ever had an experience as bad as this one... Now, how the hell am I supposed to get back up... This day can’t get worse can it?“
He thinks to himself, not having the courage to open his mouth, or his eyes. The boy's entire body from head to toe was covered in the slimy, sticky substance of whatever fluid he just nosedived into.
He took off his polo T-shirt and attempted to rub his head using it. However, it proved to be futile since even the cloth was dirty.
"Dammit." He uttered to himself, his voice was a mix of emotions. The miserable boy was overwhelmed with the current station.
Still coated in the gross contents of the pool, he spun around and analyzed his surroundings. He couldn't find anything useful.
The area looked like a dungeon, with random tunnels branching out in all directions. Stones and concrete make up most of the walls, with glowing fluorescent rocks illuminating the dark. There were random cavities with more fluid leaking out.
"Are you lost, mister? You look scared."
A squeaky, childish voice behind him spoke. This startled him since it was complete silence.
"Eehh..?"
He turned around and had to look down, he saw a relatively petite, short girl. She was offering him a clean white towel and he was grateful.
"Obviously I’m lost. What are you doing here? Where are your parents and why do you look so relaxed?“
He replied back, curious about her whereabouts. At the same time, he gently reaches for the white towel from her hand, and wipes his face with it. She smiles at him contently.
"I can ask you the same thing too, mister."
"Why are you asking me that anyway? Are you underestimating me or something? hmpff.“ She adds.
She crosses her arms and pouts at him annoyingly. But it came off as more adorable than menacing to Haruki.
“No, I’m not underestimating you. You’re a child that’s why I’m asking for your parents, never mind.” He sighs, will he have to babysit a kid while trying to escape this mess?
"Long story, but I got chased by a big ass spider!...I’m not lying, it was probably bigger than a car.”
He exclaimed, remembering the horror he faced while narrowly avoiding death.
She raised an eyebrow and tilted her head slightly, staring up at him with a face that said, 'Are you serious?'
"Um... Well obviously, what were you expecting, mister?"
"What the hell do you mean by 'obviously’ you wouldn't see shit like that on a normal basis!"
He replied back in disbelief, raising his voice at her.
"..Please calm down, mister...” She brought her hands together, palms facing inward, just below eye level, as if she was trying to block a punch from him.
He suddenly felt a weird feeling, he felt bad for getting mad at a kid. He looked at the sweet, innocent girl and concluded that she wouldn't hurt a soul.
Haruki controlled his temper and relaxed his body. He then muttered a 'sorry' to her.
“It’s okay.” She slowly lowered her hands.
“If I were to actually hit you, your hands wouldn’t stop anything.” He joked.
“Eep..” This promptly caused her to raise her hands upward again, this time she even hid her face.
“I’m joking, calm down. Let’s get out of this shitty place.” He patted her delicate, soft, and dark hair, while looking at her reassuringly.
“Mhm!” She look’s up at him and nods repeatedly.
“Wait... Did you...Noticed it’s eyes we’re red..?”
The girl asked, as if she made a revelation.
"The spider? Yeah, it's eyes were glowing bright red, is something up with that?”
He answered truthfully, but he didn’t like to think about that spider too much.
"Ooh!" Something clicks inside the girl's head, causing her eyes to brighten up.
"I think it was one of Katsumi's minions, she's the only Jorōgumo here.“
"A what now..?!—"
He exclaimed.
"I see her sometimes so I could probably talk to her, she doesn't usually attack people... Did you make her mad?"
She continues talking, meanwhile. Haruki tries his best to process this information.
"—Hahh..?! Who the hell is Katsumi?! And what do you mean a Jorōgumo?!“
He was suspicious that this child was just messing with him, while another side of him genuinely trusted her. When he finished shouting, the girl stared at him with a concerned look. Then, she showed a face of seriousness.
"You're... Just a human aren't you? Cuz if that's the case..."
She says slowly.
"What do you mean by that? You’re not making any sense right now, you’re messing with me aren’t you? You know what, never mind.”
He turns around and enters a tunnel at random, ready to explore every inch of the dungeon and get out of there. Not wanting to wait for the girls response, it was probably nothing vital.
"Wait, mister..!"
"Please come back, you want an exit? I can lead you to one." She clasps her hands together, as if she was praying when she said this.
He immediately turns back around, like he was ordered around by a high ranking officer.
"Alright, show me. I'll just follow you. But you better not be lying."
The girl is thrilled and hops around the chamber playfully.
"Yay! Oh, by the way my names Aya!"
"Yeah, yeah. Just show me the way, you knew an exit this entire time and didn’t tell me?”
She pulls down one of her lower eyelids and sticks her tongue out teasingly. “That’s ’cuz you never asked!” she mocked him, spreading her arms like a bird flapping its wings. Then, she leaves the area and runs toward the tunnel. Haruki is forced to catch up, or he risks losing her.
He had some doubts, but if he doesn’t follow along, who knows what will happen to the girl.
"Can you slow down? I want to get out of here quickly, but I also want to save some energy just in case we get ambushe—"
When he took a turn in the tunnel, he saw Aya on the other side, in front of her was a different spider. It was huge.