*
"Ugh..."
When did I fall asleep?
With that question in mind, I opened my eyes, and what entered my vision was an unreal-looking woman with a silver bob that shimmered mysteriously despite the complete absence of light.
That hair color definitely shouldn't exist in Korea, but... why does she look familiar?
Just as that strange sense of déjà vu was about to pull some memory loose, a voice came from in front of me.
"Thirteenth prisoner, Saramago. We've been waiting for you."
Prisoner...? Saramago?
What is she talking about?
Where the hell am I... ugh, my head...
As if answering my confusion, information about some game pierced straight into my mind.
...Prisoners. Right, that was definitely the term used for the protagonists of [Limbus Company].
"Saramago"... who's that supposed to be? Don't tell me that's me?
Before I could even sort out my thoughts, the stranger continued speaking.
"Saramago, if you join [Limbus Company], we'll restore your—your blinded eye. And..."
Restore my blinded eye—
The moment I heard that, my body stopped obeying me.
It wasn't so much that I couldn't move as that someone else was forcibly moving me.
That someone borrowed my vocal cords and opened my mouth.
"My eye... you'll really restore my eye?"
...That wasn't my voice. The instant I realized that, a bad feeling crawled up my spine.
Possession...? No way.
And if the original owner's consciousness was still there, that would be the worst-case scenario.
If two consciousnesses were crammed into one body, who knew what would happen.
"Faust does not lie. If you join our company, Faust guarantees that you will be able to find your eye."
The unfamiliar woman said that and held something out to me. Seen through someone else's eyes, it was a sheet of paper labeled "Employment Contract."
There were dense clauses written beneath it, but whoever had taken control of the body ignored them and immediately began signing the contract.
Hey. I don't know who's moving right now, but shouldn't we at least read the contract...
"Welcome to [Limbus Company], Prisoner No. 14, Saramago. Then take this and board the bus in front."
At those words, someone hung the object the mysterious woman had given me around my neck, boarded the bus, and sat down in an appropriate seat.
Watching that, I was overcome by a dizzying haze that wrapped around my mind, and lost consciousness.
*
...How much time had passed?
I got up feeling horribly filthy and nauseated.
The sensation of my body no longer moving according to my own will was not a pleasant one.
I never want to feel that again.
And what greeted me after waking was not my home... but the interior of some strange bus.
Only then did I realize my ominous premonition had become reality.
So that dream wasn't a dream. It really was possession.
...Fine. Possession could be okay. Sure, sure.
At least there isn't some other consciousness in here like before, right?
Of course, that tiny scrap of optimism shattered almost immediately at what I realized next.
The person who had introduced herself as "Faust."
Right. I desperately, desperately want to deny it, but I'm sure I've heard the name Faust before.
It was definitely the name of one of the protagonists in the game [Limbus Company], which I had been about to play just moments ago...
Even if I generously assumed it was just the same name, the problem was that she looked exactly the same too.
...And if this was true, then I had been possessed into the world of [Limbus Company].
The world of [Limbus Company] is not a good place to be possessed into.
If I had to summarize the information I'd gotten before playing the game in one line...
Right. A place where human lives are worth less than flies would be about right.
Realizing that made the back of my neck tighten. Suddenly getting possessed into a place like that—did that even make sense?
The only fortunate thing was that I had apparently been hired by [Limbus Company], the company at the center of the game.
...No, that's not fortunate. Come to think of it, hadn't I been turned into some idiot who got hired without even reading the contract?
Thinking about my bleak future naturally made my face twist. Damn it...
By the way, was the person who moved my body the original owner of this body?
There's too much I don't know.
"Ugh..."
Maybe I'd been turning over my newly awakened head for too long.
My head started to ache.
While I was clutching my throbbing skull, a deep voice came from the front of the bus.
"Hm. It seems you've come to, Prisoner No. 14, Saramago. I am the guide, Vergilius. If you understand, then... I would appreciate it if you did not cause a disturbance."
At that threatening tone, heavy with irritation and annoyance, I hurriedly opened my eyes.
Then I looked into those ominous eyes, burning with a deep red glow, and instinctively nodded before averting my gaze.
...What was that just now? Can human eyes even emit light like that?
But something felt off. Prisoner No. 14—[Limbus Company] should only have prisoners numbered up to 13.
Come to think of it, Faust had also called me Prisoner No. 14.
Who am I, no—who is this body...?
Did I possess someone who didn't even exist as a protagonist in the game?
I pushed aside the question that didn't seem like it would ever yield an answer and turned my thoughts toward something I could figure out.
Vergilius, the guide. A middle-aged man with gray hair and deep red eyes.
One of [Limbus Company]'s supporting characters.
For now, he was only the one who made it even clearer that I'd been thrown into this world.
As if he had been waiting for me to wake, he spoke to the person farther ahead than himself.
"Then let us depart again, Charon."
"Vroom vroom. Charon will drive."
"..."
Charon. I knew that name too. Light gray hair, slightly dark gray skin, and the bus driver who used a weapon larger than her own body.
The fact that I was riding on a bus like this meant I really was inside [Limbus Company]'s protagonists...
I couldn't even deny reality anymore.
"Hey, buddy, you awake?"
Suddenly, the familiar-looking middle-aged man sitting next to me spoke up.
Wait a second, his arm... a bug's arm?
"...Eek—huh? Yes, but who are you?"
Jeez, is it okay for a person to have insect arms?
I managed to swallow the yelp, but that was close. I almost ruined my first impression with someone I'd just met.
And my own voice was unfamiliar too.
It was probably the same as the original owner's voice. It's a pretty high voice, isn't it?
There were still too many things I couldn't understand, but somehow the conversation continued.
"Ah, I'm late introducing myself. I'm Gregor. We're in the same boat, so let's get along from here on out. And you are?"
Name... probably "Saramago," right? Everyone who looked at me called me that, so my guess was probably correct.
Just in case, I dug through my memories again and noticed something strange.
There was no problem with the memory of my name. I'd already realized quickly that the others were calling me Saramago.
What felt strange was the bizarre sensation that someone else's memories were scattered all over mine.
It felt like the memories of two people's lives were crammed into one body.
But I couldn't spend long on that memory.
I had to answer the man who had introduced himself as Gregor, sitting there with only his head turned toward me.
"My name is Saramago. Should I call you Mr. Gregor?"
...Was I trying to say that? That strange memory from before feels like it's even changing my behavior.
"Ah, y-yeah. You probably just woke up, so get some rest."
Gregor said that, then suddenly fell silent. What's with him?
When I looked toward the window, I immediately understood why.
...A rather handsome young man with a very pale face and a simple, honest look came into view.
If a person's face is that pale, I guess that can happen.
Just as I was about to end the conversation and rest because he seemed unwell, another voice suddenly came from behind me.
"Are you the new one who joined this time? What's your job? And your name?"
A tall woman who looked to be at least two meters tall had suddenly spoken to me.
Startled by the barrage of questions, I panicked, but thankfully the answers came out properly.
"...My name is Saramago. May I ask what your name is?"
"I do have a long name, but just call me Rodion! Since your name is Saramago, I'll just call you Saramago too! What were you doing before you came here?"
"Before I came here..."
To answer that question, I hurriedly started rummaging through the unfamiliar memories. And the conclusion I reached was...
"I used to work as a doctor."
"I think I made quite a lot of money. I lived well enough that I couldn't complain."
The woman who introduced herself as Rodion looked surprised and said, "A doctor? If you lived well enough that you couldn't complain, were you from a Nest? Then you must have had way more money than I thought... heh heh..."
...Something about that felt ominous, but I decided to ignore it. Then Rodion, now wearing a more mercenary expression than before, said to me, "Let's get along well from now on, honey~"
What had I done to deserve being called honey already? Rodion seemed like more of a mercenary than I'd expected.
Still, even if she was mercenary, getting along with a fellow prisoner wasn't a bad idea.
"Yes, then should I call you Ms. Rodion?"
"Of course~ If you want, you can call me even more casually!"
I nodded at that. And then Ms. Rodion, who had been smiling brightly, looked forward and suddenly went quiet.
I followed her gaze, and what I saw was the guide's cold red glare.
...Looks like that meant to keep quiet. Rodion must have felt it too, because she looked at me silently, gave a little eye smile, and returned to her seat. Incredible social skills.
After the conversation ended, I scanned the inside of the bus, but everyone in it seemed uninterested in me. Feeling awkward after looking around inside, I turned my head outside instead.
What appeared beyond the bus was a dark forest.
...Why is the bus driving through a forest?
After confirming that the scenery outside kept repeating the same thing, I decided to go over the fragments of unnatural memory that had been bothering me since earlier.
I should also figure out why my body felt slightly out of sync with my own will.
What I could tell from the memories was information about the City, plus the original owner's hometown, occupation, and name.
And why my body felt subtly unlike my own... I had no idea.
Compared with the memories I'd skimmed, there was nothing unusual except that my manner of speech was similar to the body's original owner.
Maybe it was some trace left behind by the previous owner of this body.
Other than that, I couldn't find anything strange—no, let me correct that. One thing, except for one.
That strange point was a gap in the fragments of memory. Normally, the memories I saw were lined up continuously with gaps of a month or two, but oddly enough, there were no memories from two years ago until I met the mysterious woman earlier.
...No, "there were no memories" isn't quite right. I knew they were there, but I simply couldn't bring them to mind.
Even when I tried to recall them, all that passed through my head was a dull ache, not memory.
After several attempts, the only thing I learned was that I couldn't see even the tiniest shred of those memories.
Rather than keep trying to dredge them up and suffer a pointless headache, it would probably be better to organize the information I had about the world inside this game—the "City" I was in.
THUD——
Just as my thoughts reached that point, a sound like something slamming hard against the front of the bus rang out.
And the bus guide, Vergilius, began to speak.
"Then... everyone, disembark."
The prisoners, myself included, all had questions at that, but everyone started getting off the bus anyway.
■■ side
Inside the black forest, the sound of one person fleeing in a frenzy could be heard.
And one of the pursuers chasing after that fleeing person, a wolf, opened its mouth.
"Do you get it now? No matter how much you run, you're just a flea?"
""
Before his words could even finish, another pursuer, a lion, said, "Ah~ Strictly speaking, what Master is trying to do isn't a taboo of the City."
"Would you call it something no one even thought to attempt...?"
"Huh? But this guy..."
Then the third pursuer, a leopard, who had discovered something, began to speak.
"You swapped out your head in the meantime. Are people like you always this thorough with preparation?"
""
"Ha. Looks like that head of yours doesn't even have a mouth."
"Yeah, I can only hear ticking. Is he screaming on the inside or something?"
As the wolf and lion said, his head was not a human head at all, but a clock.
"
"Hmm. The ticking's getting faster, so I guess it does hurt."
"Damn it... why... am I..."
"...Why am I being attacked?"
"Tch... is memory erasure already happening...? I rushed the ■■■ too much..."
"What, it's quiet now. Then let's finish this."
"Wolf, no one comes here and no one can see this place. What are you in such a hurry for?"
"We have to follow the teaching. We can't waste time."
"But... ha, when in our lives would we ever get to kill a thing like this?"
Listening to the wolf and lion, the leopard began to restrain the lion, as if they could no longer afford to drag this out.
"Lion, you get too emotional when you work. It would be best if you separated business from personal matters."
"Tch..."
At the leopard's restraint, the lion clicked its tongue and relented.
Then the leopard, having stopped the lion, continued.
"I wanted to see your face, but what a shame. You won't tell me where your star is, will you?"
""
"<...>"
"Damn it, where was ■■■ supposed to be again? The memory's eroding too fast..."
After hearing ■■'s words, the leopard said, as if realizing something, "...I see. You don't have a mouth."
"Then naturally... there's no way to learn that from him either."
Hearing the leopard, the wolf said, "Then can we finish him now?"
"Yes... hm?"
Then, all of a sudden, a heavy engine sound began to rumble.
Startled by the sudden noise, the lion said to the leopard, "What is that sound? Leopard... don't tell me you brought pursuers with you?"
"No, there was no one following us. What are the odds it's a beast?"
The wolf, having roughly identified the source of the sound, said, "It's not a beast's sound. This is..."
"A bus...?"
"How did something like that roll all the way out here?"
After confirming that what had arrived was a bus, the lion sneered, "Looks like a bus that got stranded."
"Heh, the penalty for taking the wrong road is heavier than you'd think..."
And the bus that had come racing in slammed straight into the lion.
THUD——