It had been quite a few days since I arrived in this world.
I hadn’t accomplished anything particularly impressive during that time. All I’d done was save the numerous people trapped within the Neverending Staircase.
Still, through my interactions with them, I’d gradually learned more about the situation inside this place and how these people had ended up here in the first place.
There was one thing I could confirm with reasonable certainty.
Everyone I’d encountered had entered the staircase through another supernatural space.
In other words, there appeared to be two conditions for entering this place: first, a person had to have a companion, and second, they had to discover a staircase within a supernatural space.
"Thank you... Thank you so much... Oh, Mr. Moon... No, Lord Moon! I shall never forget your kindness!"
I waved at the sobbing woman on the other side of the door before slowly closing it.
’Phew... This is starting to take a mental toll on me. I wonder if the staircase will get angry at me for freeing all these people.’
I’d already lost count of how many people I’d helped escape, and I was beginning to worry about the possible consequences of my actions.
There were two major problems I could think of.
First, the staircase itself might retaliate against me.
Second, A.E.G.I.S. might send a Response Unit to capture me.
After all, a large number of missing people suddenly returning to the outside world would undoubtedly attract attention.
If enough of them recounted their experiences and described meeting the same strange entity inside the staircase, it wouldn’t take long for A.E.G.I.S. to reach a definite conclusion about my existence and influence within this place.
Of course, considering that I wanted to be recognized as a "Friendly Supernatural Entity" by A.E.G.I.S., this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Having more people confirm my existence might even work in my favor.
However, I couldn’t afford to free too many people at once.
I had no idea how the Neverending Staircase would react if I continued interfering with whatever it was doing.
For all I knew, it might eventually decide that I was becoming too much of a nuisance and take action against me.
’Sigh... It leaves a bad taste in my mouth to just abandon everyone else here, though.’
I couldn’t help wondering whether there was some way to free everyone trapped within this place at once.
For the past several days, I’d been racking my brains for a solution, but I hadn’t come up with anything particularly useful.
Fortunately, I didn’t seem to need food or sleep while inside the staircase, so I hadn’t grown physically exhausted despite spending so much time here.
’The ranking of this supernatural space must be pretty high...’
Being able to trap so many people for an unknown amount of time without attracting a proper investigation from A.E.G.I.S. was already strange enough.
What made it even more suspicious was that I couldn’t recall reading about this particular supernatural space in [Arcana].
Of course, I’d encountered information about similar supernatural spaces involving infinity, endless repetition, and seemingly inescapable scenarios. This chapter was taken from NovelPing without permission.
The concept itself wasn’t particularly surprising to me.
The problem was that I had never heard of a place quite like this one.
’Oh, right. There’s something else I’ve learned.’
As far as I could tell, time flowed normally for me inside the staircase.
One minute here corresponded to one minute outside, meaning that the passage of time between the two worlds appeared to follow a one-to-one ratio.
However, that didn’t seem to apply to the other people trapped here.
’This is probably because I’m an anomaly...’
Considering this strange time difference, I couldn’t help wondering if the people trapped here had only been missing for a day, or perhaps even a few hours, in the real world despite having spent countless years inside this place.
So far, I hadn’t encountered anyone who claimed to have spent millions of years here, let alone anything beyond that.
However, given the sheer number of people trapped within this staircase and the uncertainty surrounding its nature, I couldn’t rule out the possibility that such individuals existed somewhere deeper inside.
When I recalled the writing on the wall that I’d first encountered alongside the Response Unit, I couldn’t help shivering.
The thought of spending quadrillions of years in this place was horrifying enough to make me want to turn around and leave immediately.
’...Have I simply not explored far enough?’
Perhaps the deeper I ventured into the staircase, the more likely I would be to encounter people who had spent millions, billions, or even trillions of years trapped here.
And if that were the case, then I really couldn’t afford to waste too much time.
’I can’t stay here forever. Who knows what might happen if I do?’
Since I still hadn’t found a reliable way to free everyone trapped within the Neverending Staircase, I decided it was time to stop relying on my current method and look for something more efficient.
Even so, I couldn’t completely shake the guilt of knowing that there were still countless people suffering here while I could only help them one at a time.
How strange.
I’d never considered myself the kind of person who possessed a savior complex, I wasn’t particularly interested in playing the hero, either...
I could sympathize with their circumstances, certainly, but I wasn’t someone who would normally shoulder the suffering of countless people simply because I happened to encounter them.
So why was I finding it a bit difficult to leave them behind?
Was it because I’d spent too much time listening to their stories? Had their desperation gradually worn down my indifference?
Or...
’Are these feelings even mine?’
I’d already come up with my next course of action, and there was no point in dwelling on things I couldn’t understand yet.
"42 Rue des Asters, Geneva, Switzerland."
I recited the address aloud as I climbed another staircase, before long, a door materialized at the top.
This was the address Harley Mitchell had given me, the first person I’d rescued from the Neverending Staircase apart from Response Unit F-5.
I reached for the handle and opened the door.
The familiar living room greeted me. It was the same place I’d seen when I’d first helped Harley escape, with its ordinary furniture and warm lighting.
However, something was different today.
Right in front of the doorway, someone had arranged an assortment of offerings.
There were bouquets of fresh flowers, plates of carefully prepared food, baskets of fruit, and several lit candles.
A few incense sticks burned in ceramic holders, filling the room with a faint, fragrant smoke.
At the very center of these offerings sat a small altar, with a framed drawing of me placed prominently upon it.
...Huh?
Hold on. Was that supposed to be me?
Before I could properly process the sight, I noticed three people kneeling in front of the arrangement.
The first was Harley Mitchell.
The other two appeared to be ordinary adults, a man and a woman whose identities I couldn’t immediately determine.
All three had their foreheads pressed against the floor, their hands clasped together as they repeatedly bowed toward the open doorway.
More specifically, they were bowing toward me.
"Oh, Lord Moon, Master of the Neverending Staircase..."
Harley chanted with an almost frightening level of devotion.
"We praise you for your excellence, your boundless generosity, and your immeasurable mercy. May your benevolence continue to guide us, and may we forever remain grateful for the salvation you have bestowed upon us..."
"May Lord Moon’s glory endure!" the other two said out loud.
"May his kindness reach all those who remain trapped within the staircase!"
"May his name be remembered by all who have suffered!"
I stood motionless in the doorway.
...What the actual fuck was this?