Chapter 8

**Warning: This contains graphic descriptions.**

I belong to the Alpha Squad of the Barrier Monitoring Unit within the national army, and I am known as Alpha 3 within the squad.

The mission of the Barrier Monitoring Unit is to monitor the mysterious sphere, the "Barrier," which suddenly appeared a year ago, and to investigate and destroy it if possible.

However, since the Barrier is impervious even to nuclear weapons, our actual duties are close to being a desk job. For me, there was nothing to do except to train every day.

But today, I haven't felt well since morning. I've been plagued by an itchy sensation somewhere in my head.

Then, it appeared from within the Barrier.

The eerie wall, made of a combination of trees and concrete, remained unscathed even by the latest explosives. The fog rising from it was so thick that not even a single ray of light could pass through. Moreover, the ground near it was quite muddy.

They named this "X-J2," and naturally, they ordered our Barrier Monitoring Unit to investigate this eerie thing.

Looking back, I should have tried to avoid being part of the investigation team by any means. That's what I thought as I entered the maze.

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"What are you spacing out for, Alpha 3? Don't let your guard down."

"No, I was just thinking we ended up in a terrible place."

"Well, I can understand how you feel..."

The first thing we saw after entering the maze was a thick fog that made it impossible to see more than 2 meters ahead. We could barely see our feet, but if we let our guard down, we would lose sight of our teammates immediately.

"The ground... seems to be made of the same material as the outer wall."

Following Alpha 6's words, I looked at my feet, and indeed, it seemed to be the same material. However, there were slight irregularities, so if we panicked, we might trip.

"Alpha 1, it seems that all communication devices and GPS are ineffective inside this maze."

"There shouldn't be a ceiling... What kind of technology is this?"

Alpha 2 reported to the squad leader, and I checked the GPS in my hand, which indeed showed an error.

"Moreover, I can hear strange voices from around us."

"Yes, it sounds like... a child's voice and a dog's bark? Although it's hard to imagine ordinary children being here."

After receiving reports from Alpha 5 and Alpha 4, I listened carefully and indeed heard occasional laughter from a child, "Hahaha!" and a distant bark, "Awooo!"

"And the only way forward is through the swamp."

The squad leader squatted at a distance where we could just see each other and observed something. It seemed that the only solid ground was around the entrance, and the rest was just swamp.

"This maze might be more like something from a game..."

The squad leader muttered. Honestly, looking at the entrance's capacity and the conditions inside, I couldn't think of anything else.

"Anyway, we need to move forward while maintaining maximum vigilance. We have to be at least 1 km away from the entrance to get out of here."

We nodded at each other and stepped into the swamp in a tight formation.

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It must have been about 30 minutes.

Moving through the swamp in the fog while maintaining vigilance was unexpectedly exhausting both physically and mentally.

The swamp occasionally became suddenly deep without warning, and if we let our guard down, we could fall in and drown.

Moreover, in this environment where even a compass doesn't work properly, we should have easily covered about 1 km by now, but we probably haven't even gone half that distance.

And what is troubling me the most right now...

"Are you okay, Alpha 3?"

"I'm fine, Alpha 2. Just a bit of a headache."

The itchy sensation in my head, which intensified after entering the maze, felt like a reaction to something lurking within it.

"Sorry, Alpha 3. You should see a doctor as soon as we get out."

"Right..."

The moment I responded to the squad leader, the itchy sensation in my head turned into a sudden, intense discomfort, and the sound of something slicing through the air was followed by the squad leader's head flying in front of me.

"Huh...?"

"What...?""Eh...?""Ah...?""!?"

A moment of shock swept through all the squad members.

Then, as the squad leader's head fell into the swamp and his body collapsed with a loud splash, a moment of silence followed, and the next instant, screams echoed throughout the area.

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04/08: Revised the first character of each paragraph.

04/26: Corrected repetitive expressions.