Mash-up Anime World: Creating the SCP Foundation to Contain Anomalies-Chapter 340 - 333: The Anomaly of “Where The Dragons Went”

After dinner, Izumi was settled into a vacant room. Bedding, toiletries—everything was already fully prepared here.

Just as Haruto was about to turn and leave after settling the girl in...

Izumi suddenly tugged at the corner of his shirt from behind. This made Haruto pause for a moment in surprise.

Until now, Izumi had always been cautious and careful.

So mature it was heartbreaking.

This seemed to be the first time she reached out of her own accord. Haruto stopped in his tracks, turned around, and looked at her. At this moment, Izumi's eyes were still a bit red.

After all, she had just had a silent, cathartic cry.

That kind of redness doesn't go away so quickly. But this only made the girl even more pitifully lovable.

Izumi didn't ask why Haruto was being so kind to her.

She simply, after a moment of hesitation, threw herself forward and hugged him tightly.

Haruto could feel how hard she was holding on.

As if she didn't want him to escape.

He gently returned the embrace.

The girl's body, due to long-term malnutrition, was a bit too slender. It made one instinctively worry: don't hug too tightly, or you might hurt her.

Her fluffy green hair also felt dry to the touch.

But considering everything, the fact she was alive was already a miracle. And it wouldn't be long before this girl would be nourished into a plump and healthy form. Thinking of this, Haruto felt a deep joy akin to raising something precious.

Who knew how much time had passed.

The girl's embrace slightly lost its strength.

Steady breathing began.

Haruto could feel a damp patch on his chest where his clothes lay.

She had probably cried again while falling asleep.

He gently picked up Izumi and placed her on the bed. Even in her sleep, she clung tightly to Haruto's sleeve.

As if terrified he'd leave.

Though she didn't say a word...

This kind of subconscious dependence made her feelings perfectly clear.

After thinking for a moment, Haruto decided not to leave. He lay down beside Izumi, still holding her.

Come to think of it, Izumi possessed the power of a coordinate.

The target world was, unsurprisingly, the world of Tokyo Ghoul.

It was strange—why hadn't Rize carried a coordinate before?

But regardless...

Haruto really didn't have much interest in that terrible world.

Leaving aside the fact that ghouls and their tech had already been thoroughly researched by the Foundation...

Even if they connected to the Tokyo Ghoul world, there wouldn't be any new breakthroughs—pure reality.

That world had cruelly placed so much expectation on a young girl's shoulders. Treating suffering as a form of training.

Haruto felt... the world itself was at fault.

Might as well just dump a load of Black Death virus in there sometime! (Just kidding.)

While thinking this, Haruto gradually drifted off to sleep.

The night passed uneventfully.

The next morning.

Haruto felt a tickling sensation on his arm.

Like a kitten licking him.

When he opened his eyes...

He saw a girl lying beside his arm.

Beneath her cascading green hair...

The girl's small, pink tongue was gently licking Haruto's arm. Clearly, Izumi hadn't woken up yet.

Haruto didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Was she... drooling over him in her sleep? (Physically, quite literally.)

Whether it was due to his movement or some unconscious response...

Izumi slowly woke up.

She instinctively pushed herself up.

Her dark green hair flowed down like a waterfall.

Thanks to the RC cell solution, her hair after a night's rest looked like the finest satin. Bathed in sunlight through the window, her figure silhouetted in backlight was mesmerizingly lazy and beautiful.

Then, Izumi opened her eyes.

Still half-asleep, with a bit of confusion, she locked eyes with Haruto.

A long moment passed before she recalled what had happened.

This was the best sleep she'd had in her life. Her very first experience of true deep sleep. In the past, every night she had to endure the cold wind, staying alert to every subtle sound.

There was no safety to be found—she had to remain vigilant even in sleep.

Only now did she realize: sleep could be such a lazy, enjoyable thing—not just a biological necessity for survival.

Her gaze wandered, then suddenly caught sight of Haruto's arm.

There was a crystalline sheen to it.

She stared blankly for a moment, then her cheeks instantly turned bright red. She didn't need anyone to explain—she knew it was her doing.

She must've dreamed about the dinner from the night before.

Even after waking up, she still felt a faint sweetness in her mouth. At first, she thought it was her imagination.

But clearly...

Haruto looked at her blushing cheeks, as if someone had brushed rouge on her skin, and smiled faintly.

Cute, want to...

Ah, no, no.

What truly pleased him was that Izumi now showed the bashfulness of a normal girl.

It made Haruto genuinely happy.

The previous Izumi had been mature to a fault—stoic and emotionless.

While impressive in a way...

It wasn't healthy for a girl her age to be that grown-up.

Meanwhile, at the Foundation site...

New information had arrived.

"Where The Dragons Went" (SCP-1762) had shown new activity.

Not long ago, the box of "Where The Dragons Went" had entered its active release state.

Alongside the usual origami dragons (SCP-1762-2), three crumpled black paper objects emerged.

These balls of paper shook violently for about five seconds before going still. The origami dragons picked them up and returned them to the box.

These appeared to be projections of some kind of organism.

It seemed the dragons had engaged in conflict with them.

A fierce conflict, in fact—one that extended even to the area in the fantasy realm where the dragon resided.

According to exploration data, the cave area of "Where The Dragons Went" in the fantasy realm had become significantly deeper.

The Foundation attempted to contact the dragon inside SCP-1762.

After multiple messages, a reply finally came.

"Our friend... something has happened. The giants were foolish. They placed them into the fantasy realm."

"They are dangerous. Your room is not yet ready to receive them. After all, your room also has problems."

"We are fewer in number. We must remain in the fantasy realm for a while. Other forces are growing... they are stirring."

"We wish to maintain peace, but please—for our mutual happiness—try to repair your room."

"We too have been working hard. But it's difficult. You are more imaginative than we are, perhaps you can succeed."

"We are sorry, friend. We hope we can meet again, but our time to preserve happiness is running out."

This message was delivered over several transmissions from Where The Dragons Went.

Its contents were deeply unsettling.

Something had gone wrong in the fantasy realm.

The Foundation immediately dispatched personnel to enter the realm via SCP-1762.

But only one-third of those dispatched returned.

According to the survivors...

They reached the fantasy world.

There, in addition to dragons and other fantastical creatures...

They encountered a new, hostile, and unique entity.

A kind of pitch-black creature with the ability to traverse space.

These monsters had no fixed form but were primarily composed of black or deep purple skeletal or carapace-like structures.

Most were about 3 meters in length, capable of floating, and resembled canine-like beasts.

They had vicious claws.

The dragons were fighting these things.

In fact, if it hadn't been for the dragons' assistance, the Foundation's expedition would've likely been wiped out.

Those who entered via projection into SCP-1762, like Haruto, became light-formed beings. freewebnøvel.coɱ

They couldn't bring material items into the realm via projection.

So during the battle against those monsters, the Foundation personnel were nearly useless to the dragons.

After recording this intel, the survivors quickly returned to the main world via the cave and uploaded the information to the Foundation site.

Haruto had just read this report.

And at this very moment, he personally arrived at SCP-1762's containment chamber.