Chapter 41: Being Haunted

"Yes, we’ll take it from here. Thank you."

Elias thanked the employee before accepting the suitcase and the set of instructions explaining how to use their temporarily assigned Supernatural companion.

After checking that he had everything, he returned to the car, where the rest of F-5 were waiting.

"We got a companion!"

Elias announced with a bright smile as he placed the suitcase down.

"Ah, it’s only temporary for now, but if we perform well during this assignment, perhaps they’ll let us keep it permanently!"

Clara immediately clapped her hands in excitement.

"Hehe! Let’s work hard, Team F-5! This time no more screwing up, and soon enough we’ll be up and above on our promotions!"

"Easier said than done... We’re heading straight into a Supernatural Space, and we don’t even know what kind of companion they’ve given us."

Jonathan muttered from beside her with a dark face.

"That’s exactly why we should stay positive!"

Clara retorted.

"Anytime soon and we’re definitely going to die with the way the company handles things..."

"Jonathan, ruin the mood one more time and someone will definitely die today."

While the two bickered, Jonathan took the instruction sheet from Elias and began reading through it carefully.

"Anyway, where’s the sealing item? Is the suitcase itself supposed to seal the companion inside?"

He turned the document over, checking whether there were any additional instructions printed on the back.

"Ah, wait. It says we don’t need to use a sealing method for now. We’re only supposed to put it back in the suitcase when we’re done using it."

"Oh, that’s good, isn’t it?"

Elias remarked from the driver’s seat.

"At least we don’t have to worry about accidentally breaking the seal."

"Well... assuming the thing inside doesn’t decide to break out by itself, then perhaps so..."

Jonathan replied.

"You’re really determined to make this sound as ominous as possible, aren’t you?"

Before Jonathan could respond, Marcus leaned over and snatched the instruction sheet from his hands.

"Oh, hey! Look at this!"

He pointed at a section of the document, his eyes lighting up with interest.

"It says our new companion can tell our fortunes! Bwahaha! Now that’s what I’m talking about!"

"A fortune-telling companion?"

Clara leaned closer from the front seat to get a better look.

Marcus laughed.

"With this, we could avoid all the dangerous situations and finish the assignment without a single problem!"

"I don’t think that’s how fortune telling works..."

Jonathan pointed out.

Marcus didn’t seem particularly interested in discussing the limitations of supernatural predictions. Instead, he immediately grabbed the suitcase and began fiddling with its locks.

"Hey! What are you doing!"

Clara exclaimed.

"I’m opening it..."

"Don’t open it yet! We’re not even using the companion right now! Do you seriously want to cause trouble again?"

Clara reached over to snatch the suitcase away from him, but Marcus was quick enough to raise it out of her reach.

"What’s the harm in asking it a few questions?"

"What’s the harm? What’s the harm?! Do I need to remind you what happened the last time you decided to mess around with something supernatural without asking anyone first?"

"Don’t fret too much, this document is so poorly made that even if we get into trouble, we could probably exploit its loopholes to avoid any charges or punishment. Hehe, I guess they haven’t quite figured out how to handle this fellow of ours yet, so they didn’t put much thought into it..."

Marcus proudly waved the document in her face.

Clara put on a stunned expression as though he made a very good point. She then turned toward Elias.

"Elias, can you please tell him to stop?"

Elias glanced at them through the rearview mirror, then sighed.

"Marcus, please don’t do anything unnecessary. We don’t know enough about this companion yet, so let’s just follow the instructions and avoid taking any unnecessary risks."

"Eh? But I am following the instructions!"

Marcus replied cheerfully.

"The document says we can use it to tell our fortunes, doesn’t it? If we can let it tell our fortunes first before we enter the supernatural space, then perhaps we’d be able to avoid death!"

He grinned as he finally managed to undo the locks.

This time no one stopped him due to how good of an argument he made just now.

"Hehe, besides, I have a feeling we’re going to get along really well with our new companion..."

Marcus opened the suitcase... before immediately shutting his mouth.

His grin gradually disappeared as he stared down at the doll sitting neatly inside.

A doll dressed in a dark blue suit....

A scar around its right eye....

And a peculiar white pupil that made its appearance look extremely unsettling.

"..."

Marcus froze in fright.

Beside him, Jonathan took one look inside the suitcase and immediately flinched away, nearly bumping his head against the car window.

Clara, who had been busy trying to retrieve the suitcase, frowned at their reactions.

"What? What’s wrong with you two?"

She leaned forward from the front passenger seat to take a peek.

The moment she saw the doll, her eyes widened. She immediately covered her mouth with both hands, as though she were afraid that even making a sound might attract its attention.

"What’s going on back there?"

Elias glanced at them through the rearview mirror, growing increasingly confused.

Marcus slowly turned the suitcase around, holding it up so Elias could see what was inside.

The moment the doll’s face appeared in the rearview mirror, Elias’s expression changed.

Screeeeech!

The car came to an abrupt stop.

Everyone lurched forward from the sudden braking, and Jonathan grabbed the nearest handle to steady himself.

"T-This..."

This doll looked exactly the same as the entity they had encountered on the Neverending Staircase!

And if that wasn’t bad enough, they had also almost encountered it during the incident at the convenience store!

Why was it here?! Why was it in their suitcase?!

And, most importantly, why was it their new supernatural companion?!

Jonathan was the first to nervously speak up about a certain harsh truth that everyone was thinking about at the moment.

"A-Are we being haunted by a Supernatural Entity...?"