1,000,000 Karma: My Reward Is a Quiet Life-Chapter 48: The Exorcist’s Guide

All at once, the mayhem in the library stopped; the loose furniture in the air plummeted as the same fate awaited the axe-swinging adventurer.

"Woah–!" Noah let out, feeling himself falling through the air.

Around him, the library shifted entirely, crumbling away to give form to a new scenery entirely, though he focused more on not reuniting with the ground face-first. As he braced for impact, clenching his muscles–boing.

The harshness he expected from the ground was instead a cushion softer than any other, gently welcoming him as he bounced back to his feet. He looked around in delight, finding a bright-blue pillow fade away.

"Nice save," he said, thanking the baggy-eyed woman who stood a few feet away.

Rain tiredly gave him a thumbs-up, "You’re somethin’ real impressive yourself, guy. I get how you handled the Kidnapper now—no, seriously, what kind of monster are you!?"

"Why’re you getting more freaked out as you talk?" He asked, brushing off the reaction.

"Well, anyway," Rain composed herself with a cough. "Looks like we broke out of the Librarian’s domain."

Around them, the claustrophobic rows of shelves were gone, and in its place now, the lavish walls decorated with peculiar paintings. While it was clear the pieces of art were meant to depict "people", they were blurred and vague, only the loose shapes of humans.

"What’s this place?" He asked, looking down the corridor that housed countless doors.

"Likely the domain of a different phantasmal," Rain answered.

It was starting to feel like an endless maze with no end, like trying to solve a puzzle with a piece missing entirely.

"Are we going to keep going through these domains, until...?" Noah asked.

"There’s a way through...It’s just hidden, like a needle in a haystack," Rain explained, pacing back and forth in the grim corridor. "The main entity behind all of this, it’s using the domains of the other phantasmals to ward us off."

"That’s annoying," Noah said, starting to march down the hall.

Rain paced quickly to not be left behind, breathlessly relaying her words, "—Listen, Noah, I need to tell you something. Something that’s been in my mind..."

"Yeah?"

He asked while checking one of the countless doors, only finding a rather simple bedroom with nothing of note.

"Hollow Sanctuaries...I’ve only read about it, but ones that develop enough without intervention, they can give way to something incredibly dangerous," Rain recalled.

"I’ve already noticed that part," he said, closing the door and checking another.

Again, all he found was a room, almost set up in the exact same way except with a teddy bear placed on the curtained bed.

Rain continued with an anxious tone, "It’s something else–trust me, it’s something to keep in mind."

"Yeah? What is it?" Noah stopped for a moment, looking back.

There was clearly worry present on the pale woman’s face on the topic as she fiddled with her fingers as if wrestling with an idea she didn’t want to accept.

"Abstractions..."

"Abstractions?" He repeated.

"There’s not much known about them...Some theories are that they’re gods of the Other side, or guardian spirits of concepts. What I do know is that in the few times sightings have been reported, it was preceded by death," Rain relayed what she knew. "They’re unreasonable, inhuman–"

"I understand," Noah said.

"Good," Rain breathed a sigh of relief. "Then please follow my lead. Navigating the domain of these beings, it needs to be done with care and respect."

"Right, lead the way," Noah said, stepping aside.

As he followed behind the tireless expert of the supernatural, he could see the intent in her eyes; though they were trapped in the harrowing unknown, she looked as though it were an everyday street.

"The doors are a distraction, or more like a test," Rain said while walking. "It’s a common occurrence within the territory of phantasmals."

"So, if you pick the wrong door, you’ll end up nowhere?" Noah guessed, opting not to touch the handle he passed by.

The pale girl nodded, "Once you choose a "wrong" door, you’re reset, so to speak. That’s why this hall seems endless."

"So, how do we pick the right door?--"

As soon as he posed the question, he immediately felt a turn in his stomach. It came from down the hall, a chilling resonance–

"Noah! Help me!"

It was the panicked voice of Astrid from the other side of a door, accompanied by desperate pounds to its frame. He immediately rushed down the corridor, finding the door where the shouting came from.

"Astrid–?" He replied hastily, reaching for the handle.

"Don’t!" Rain intervened.

Just before his fingers grasped the cold brass, he stopped, staring at the handle in genuine surprise at the momentary slip of his mind. It was as if whatever was on the other side of the door sensed his own understanding, as the screams fell silent as if squelched entirely.

"That..."

"A trick," Rain confirmed, stepping beside him. "If you would’ve opened that door, you would’ve walked right into its jaws."

"I already opened some doors, though," he reasoned.

"It was to bait you into thinking it was harmless to check them," Rain advised, raising a single finger. "You didn’t feel the change in atmosphere afterwards?"

"No, not really."

"Well, you can just chalk that up to your lack of experience and the abundance I have," the pale girl said with a hint of smugness, twirling her messy, curly hair around her finger.

’Alright, she’s getting a little annoying,’ the thought crossed his mind.

"Just leave it to me and my Divination," Rain claimed confidently. "Finding the right door will be a piece of cake."

He decided to let her have her way, seeing as it was her field of expertise, after all, and a small part of him was curious to see how she’d react if it didn’t go her way. They marched down the never-ending, grim corridor, overlooked by the looping paintings, passing by the same, dark-wood stand that carried a lapis vase.

"So, has your "Divination" figured out the way yet?"

"Shh!" Rain hissed. "I need to focus."

He made a motion as if zipping his lips shut, opting just to observe the preparation made by the spiritual prodigy. With careful steps, they walked through the endless hall while the woman held out her hand, letting a chain dangle as they passed the false doors.

–Rumble.

–Slam.

–Bang.

–BANG. BANG.

All at once, the countless doors began slamming open and close, trembling with hits from the other side as if beings were throwing their entire weight into the wooden frames.

"What’s the commotion about–?" Noah asked, looking around in anticipation.

Distance screams echoed behind the accursed doors; the whaling of tortured souls and the enraged shouts of bitter spirits. It was a maddening parade that drove the human senses haywire, keeping him looking around desperately–

"It’s okay."

A soft hand befell his shoulder, seamlessly calming him from the perplexing phenomena. He found the pale woman in front of him, with a gentle, almost tranquil curve to her lips.

"The phantasmal here is just trying to throw us off now that we’re closing in," Rain assured him.

"Right, yeah, thanks...Wait, closing in?" He asked.

Of course, there it was—that smug look on the woman’s face as if that was the words she wanted to hear most, "Yes, in fact, I’ve found our door—look."

The chain that dangled from her hand was contorted, forcibly pointing itself ahead of them, slightly to the right.

"Just up there, you see," Rain pointed out.