I deactivated the Hollow Eyes.

The lines disappeared and colors returned.

The world returned to normal.

The pain faded.

"Let's go," I said, stepping through the portal.

Mira followed.

"Calliope," I called.

She turned toward me.

Her eyes widened.

"Y-You're here! Thank god… I was really worried about everyone."

I gave a short nod. "I'll open another portal to the next teammate. You should stand and get ready. We don't know what we'll find on the other side."

Calliope nodded, though her legs were shaking.

She stood with effort, pale and unsteady.

I created the next portal.

I had already memorized the coordinates of all Space Stones, so it didn't take long.

The new portal opened into a dark room lit by a broken ceiling light that flickered weakly.

"Lars—" I started, and stopped.

"Hey! You're here!" He waved, grinning.

He looked far too cheerful.

We weren't smiling back.

Because his lower legs were gone.

In their place were animal legs, covered in fur, ending in claws.

Mira frowned. "Maybe we're turning into monsters. And those who already changed might start attacking us, and capture us. The announcement did say we, the subjects, were going to be captured."

"You might be right," I said, stepping through the portal with them. "Lars, how's your mind? Any strange thoughts lately?"

"Nope! I'm fine! I feel great, actually."

That meant he either wasn't being corrupted, or he was too far gone to notice.

"T-That," Calliope said, pointing at his chest. "Look at his badge."

It read: [Subject: 50].

Her voice trembled as she spoke, "The announcement said experimental subjects escaped.

"I think it safe to say it was t-talking about us.

"All of us are experimental s-subjects who have been assigned numbers.

"The smaller the number, the earlier the experiments m-must have started.

"Those with lower numbers probably have more inhuman bodies as t-they have been experimented on for longer," she deduced.

"I think she's right. Selene was Subject 56, and her whole arm was like a bird's wing," Mira said.

I looked at Calliope. "You're Subject 51. Why are you still normal?"

"A-Actually," Calliope said.

She was trembling still, but clearly trying to help her deduce narrative of this place. "I think I gained a mental ability.

"Maybe my mind was b-being experiments upon unlike others who had their bodies experiments upon."

"You have a new ability?" Mira asked.

"A-An incomplete one," Calliope said. "I can show it to you. Please, g-give me your hand."

Mira nodded and placed her palm in Calliope's.

Calliope closed her eyes.

After a few seconds, Mira's eyes widened.

"I can feel something… like our minds are linked. Is this telepathy?"

"N-No, this is it. The link can't do anything," Calliope said, lowering her hand.

"Oh. So that's why you said it's useless," Mira muttered, disappointed.

Lars tilted his head, confused.

I quickly translated what they were talking about, then looked back at Calliope.

"It's not useless. It lets us know if someone's alive or dead even when we're separated. That's important."

Calliope gave a small nod.

Mira agreed. "Yeah, that's a good way to use it. Let's connect everyone before we move on."

Calliope linked us all with her ability.

It felt strange at first—a faint pressure in my head—but it worked. Through it, I could sense everyone's life signature.

"This is the last Space Stone I can sense," I said after a moment. "Let's go."

I created another portal.

Through it, I saw Ellyn.

She was holding the hands of two children, staying close to the wall as if avoiding something in the center of the corridor.

Her lower body was… different.

It was that of a snail.

I glanced at her badge: [Subject: 44].

"The children! They must be the two who entered the domain with us!" Mira exclaimed.

Ellyn noticed us and called out, "Can you come here? I can't cross this corridor horizontally because of what I'm seeing. I don't know what will happen if I touch it, but it's better to be safe than sorry"

"…?" Mira tilted her head.

"We three arrived her together, and we found out the world each of us seeing are different. So we have been avoiding going into places that cannot be seen by others," Ellyn said.

"I get it," I said, and created a portal right in front of her.

Ellyn stepped through with the children.

Mira knelt beside them, checking their badges: [Subject: 95] and [Subject: 96].

A sign of relief left her lips.

"Thank the moon you two are not contaminated."

Ellyn looked at Lars's legs and sighed. "So you got contaminated too."

His legs were thick and clawed, covered in short fur.

It was a heavy change for someone like him.

His strength as a martial artist came from precise footwork, and now that was gone.

But Lars didn't seem too bothered. In fact, he was happy, saying this increased his speed.

Ellyn, on the other hand, had it worse.

Her entire lower half had turned into a slug's body.

It was smooth, heavy, and slimy.

She wasn't panicking, but the disgust on her face said enough.

"This must be the effect of the Cursed Spirit's domain.

"The lower the subject number we are, the more experiments have been done on our body," I said, looking at her. "The question is whether these mutations will stay after we leave."

"First, we need to find a way out," Ellyn said.

Her tone was calm, but her eyes showed how uncomfortable she was.

The good news was that Ellyn had managed to find two human children trapped nearby.

With them and our team, we now had ten subjects in total.

"D-Do you know where Zephan is?" Calliope asked, after using her ability on the newcomers.

"I don't. I can't sense the space stones of Zephan, Denny, or Selene. Either they entered an area that only they can perceive, or their stones were destroyed before they could activate them," I said.

Mira bit her lip and asked, "You said you knew what's happening. Can you explain that?"

"I will. But before I explain, everyone needs to tell me what your surroundings look like."

"I'm in a city. The sun's out, there are shops everywhere… but the streets are empty. There is not a single person around." Lars spoke first.

I had been using Danish since the beginning, and he understood my words.

Mira looked around herself. "I'm inside a huge library. It's endless. The shelves stretch into the horizon."

I nodded. "I'm in an underground facility. Metal walls, humming lights. It looks abandoned."

Ellyn's voice came through next.

"I'm in a sewer. The smell's horrible. I have to walk along the edge because there's sewage flowing through the middle. It's dark, and there is barely any light."

Calliope took a deep breath. "I'm in a forest, and the c-canopy is hiding the sky… but everything is wrong. The trees are made of glass. The ground moves when I step on it."

"I— I am in my school," James, the little boy said.

"Toy store," said Ava, the little girl, while sniffing.

Everyone went silent for a moment.

Then I said, "We're in different dimensions. Let's call what each of us sees a 'personal world.'"

"Personal world?" Lars asked.

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