My Childhood Friend Turned Yandere in the Apocalypse

Chapter 277: Ch 277: Mrs Audit’s Base

Every member of the group froze.

The words had barely faded when a series of loud metallic clicks echoed from somewhere inside the mountain.

One after another, ancient locking mechanisms disengaged before the enormous blast door slowly slid open with a deafening groan.

A wave of cold air drifted out from the darkness beyond the entrance, carrying with it the scent of dust and machinery that had remained untouched for countless years.

Kyle narrowed his eyes.

"This feels like a trap. But if someone wanted us dead, they could have simply kept the door closed."

Shelly nodded without taking her eyes off the darkness ahead.

Rin slowly nodded as well.

"We’ve come too far to turn back now."

The group cautiously stepped inside.

The blast door rumbled shut behind them almost immediately, sealing the entrance once again.

Unlike the ruined exterior, the inside of the facility remained surprisingly well preserved.

Emergency lights embedded within the ceiling still emitted a faint crimson glow, illuminating long corridors lined with laboratories filled with overturned equipment and shattered glass.

Thick layers of dust covered almost every surface, making it obvious that no human had walked these halls for many years.

Yet despite that...

There wasn’t a single monster anywhere inside.

The deeper they walked, the stranger that fact became.

Fresh claw marks covered several walls, proving that monsters had entered this facility recently, yet not one of them remained.

It was almost as though something had forced them to leave.

Eventually, the corridor opened into a large circular chamber.

Unlike every room they had passed before, this one was completely empty. Smooth metallic walls surrounded them from every direction, and after the last member stepped inside, the entrance behind them slammed shut with a heavy metallic clang.

Before anyone could react, dozens of monitors built into the walls flickered to life one after another.

The screens filled with static for several seconds before a single image slowly appeared.

An elderly woman sat quietly in front of the camera.

"Welcome. I have been waiting a very long time for someone to finally find this place."

She spoke calmly, but no one made a sudden move. They all waited for the woman to do something else.

Seeing their hesitation, the old lady on the screen sighed and decided that she needed to provide these people with proof that she was not their enemy.

"Don’t worry. I am not going to trap you in here and kill you slowly. In fact, you are free to leave whenever you want. But if you want to find out more about this world and the system, I would advise you to stay."

It was a tempting offer with only one possible answer. And it was time for them to get some answers as well.

"Very well. Since you are offering, we would like to hear more."

Rin stepped forward and accepted the fact that they were trapped here for the time being.

The old lady on the screen chuckled softly before a fond expression appeared on her face. She looked at their group the way a grandmother would before wiping that expression from her face.

"Very well. I already know that you found Karina’s lab, so I won’t bore you with the basics. Instead, let me bring you up to date on what is currently happening, and I will start by introducing myself. My name is Mrs. Audit, and I am one of the people in charge of this ’system’ project."

Rin felt like that name sounded familiar. He was sure he had heard it before, so he was more inclined to believe Mrs. Audit now.

She coughed to clear her throat before continuing.

"Soon, the project will enter phase two. With Karina dead, there will be no one left who can keep the system under control, nor do they want anyone to. And the second phase of the project will begin soon...I would like all of you to participate."

Mrs. Audit sounded hopeful, and Rin realized that she was also concerned about the future.

If even one of the founders was concerned, then it might truly be too much for humanity to handle.

"What does the second phase of the project entail?"

Kyle asked in a low voice. He wanted to know the answer, yet at the same time, he feared hearing it.

Mrs. Audit sighed before replying.

"We still don’t know what the system truly wants. At this point, we can no longer control it. The only thing I can tell you is that the system is planning to obtain a physical form. And once it does, it will no longer need humanity."

Rin suddenly felt a sharp ache spread through his head.

Something inside him was telling him to turn off this recording and forget everything he had just heard.

But that only made him more certain that something was wrong with him.

"Mrs. Audit, please let me ask this frankly. Is the system planning to have a host to anchor itself to?"

Rin asked, and Mrs. Audit paused, her eyes narrowing.

For nearly a full minute, it seemed as though she was not going to answer.

Then she decided to do so anyway.

"It is one possibility we are considering. Why? Does that possibility ring a bell?"

Rin’s suspicions seemed to be paying off.

He suddenly understood why he had been suffering from memory lapses, and the pieces were finally starting to come together in his mind.

Him being Subject #00, his ability to connect to the system, and even the ’special treatment’ he had been receiving from it...it was all beginning to make sense.

But Rin could not bring himself to say those words aloud.

He did not want to admit to himself that he might become the system’s next host.

"Anyway, what has already happened is not important. What matters is what we are going to do next. For that, I was thinking—"

A sudden disturbance rippled through the signal.

The next thing everyone knew, Mrs. Audit had been impaled by a glowing branch that resembled part of a tree.

The light faded from her eyes, and everyone stared at the screen in shock.

"W-What is that?"

Teressa whispered, but no one had an answer.

Mrs. Audit died before their eyes, and the system screen immediately distorted as an ERROR message flashed across it.