Chapter 51: Death and Laughter, Coming Together

"Climb back up, now!"

Elias shouted as he immediately turned around and headed back towards the stairs.

The others in Team F-5 quickly followed his command, with Marcus grabbing Jonathan’s remaining belongings as they hurried upwards.

The guests who had witnessed what happened to Jonathan were also stunned, but after hearing Elias’s shout, they began to follow him as well, rushing away from the entrance.

The people in black uniforms, however, remained on the first floor, taking cover behind several pillars as they appeared to prepare themselves to deal with the enormous ceramic lady.

[Hummm....]

A soft and soothing melody could suddenly be heard, reaching the ears of everyone present on the current floor.

Its gentle notes which seemed relaxing and soothing, seemed to possess an inexplicable influence that quickly spread throughout the surrounding area.

Smiles gradually spread across everyone’s faces as they began to laugh uncontrollably, their bodies soon collapsing onto the floor one after another.

It was a peculiar kind of laughter, one that refused to cease regardless of what happened to those affected.

Even as Marcus fell to the ground and vomited, the laughter continued to escape his mouth without interruption.

He desperately clutched his stomach, his body trembling from the pain, yet he seemed utterly incapable of suppressing the laughter that continued to pour out of him.

Everyone was affected.

Everyone except me, who was currently in my doll-form.

The government team did not appear to be as severely affected either.

Although they remained standing, smiles had spread across their faces, making them look as though they were enjoying the melody themselves.

It seemed that their resistance to [Euphoria]’s powers only prevented certain effects from taking hold, leaving them vulnerable to the others.

One of them suddenly pulled out a nail and a hammer as he bashed his own hand with the nail and smashed it with the hammer.

He groaned out in pain, but so did the ceramic lady called [Euphoria].

It let out a screech as it ran towards the government member who had used the nail and hammer.

It ran as it crawled on the ground like an animal that only knew how to crawl, its enormous ceramic body moving in a way that was both strange and unsettling.

Seeing this, the government members ran towards the side as one of them pulled out a box-like contraption and threw it towards the oncoming supernatural being.

Sclhhp!

A strange metallic, wire-like sound rang through the air as strings of silver-goldish metal released from the box, spreading out and attempting to entangle the giant ceramic lady.

However, the being known as [Euphoria] only laughed.

It laughed continuously.

It laughed so hard that one of the government personnel dressed in uniform began repeatedly smashing his own head against a nearby pillar, continuing until the impact finally claimed his life.

It laughed so hard that the individual who had been holding a nail and hammer suddenly turned toward the person standing beside him and began violently bashing their skull, as though he had completely lost control of his own actions.

It laughed so hard that the woman who had thrown the metallic box could no longer bear the sound of her own laughter.

Her expression twisted in agony as she desperately clawed at her throat, eventually tearing it apart in a futile attempt to silence herself.

[Euphoria] continued to laugh as its melody spread throughout the floor, reaching everyone who remained within its presence.

[This... laughter that fills the world, the joy that cleanses all sorrow. Such is the blessing of Euphoria. The only escape from sadness, the only comfort before the end. Let all who are destined for death first be embraced by its happiness.]

The hotel workers, however, were not embraced by this happiness.

Instead, they clutched their knees and collapsed onto the ground in fear, their bodies trembling as they watched the ceramic being.

Even those who had previously been chasing after the guests seemed to have lost all will to move, remaining where they had fallen with their heads bowed low.

Seeing that even the government-deployed team was unable to handle the being known as [Euphoria], Marcus and the others seemed to have lost whatever hope they had left.

Honestly, I wasn’t particularly surprised by this outcome.

Although the government team possessed some relatively good items... they appeared to be nothing more than a scout team dispatched to explore an F-ranked Supernatural Space.

Their equipment was certainly impressive, but it was clear that they had not been prepared to deal with something of this magnitude.

Had the government known the true nature of this Supernatural Space, they surely would’ve sent a more capable team.

Still, even as a scout team, they certainly seemed a lot more equipped than the Response Unit I had been assigned to...

I, too, wanted to vomit at the gruesome sight unfolding around me.

Fortunately, I was currently in my doll-form, so I didn’t have to worry about my body reacting to what I was witnessing.

That didn’t mean I was entirely comfortable watching it happen, though...

"Hahaha! We’re going to die! And there’s nothing we can do about it!"

Marcus laughed. This time, however, his laughter seemed to contain a hint of genuine amusement, as though he were mocking the absurdity of his own situation.

Even as he spoke, the smile plastered across his face remained unchanged, creating a rather unsettling contrast with the despair conveyed by his words.

I didn’t make any moves just yet...

Instead, I continued watching as the gathered workers prostrated themselves before the ceramic being, whose laughter showed no signs of stopping.

Their bodies remained bent low against the ground, and none of them seemed willing to raise their heads.

The laughter of [Euphoria] continued to fill the entire floor, while the remaining people either struggled desperately against its influence or lay motionless where they had fallen.

This situation... seemed hopeless.

Or at least, that’s what I wanted to say.

I had already prepared a plan in advance, so I wasn’t actually feeling all that hopeless about our current predicament.

Despite the seemingly overwhelming power of [Euphoria], the entity appeared to be considerably weakened.

After all, it had forcefully made its way into the hotel despite the conditions for its arrival not being properly fulfilled.

In the novel [As Above, So Below], the document that King Zhang had read recorded that this being had immediately killed hundreds of people around it the moment it was summoned and emerged from the hotel.

Yet, in our current situation, it could barely deal with a handful of ordinary people.

On top of that, it seemed to have expended a considerable amount of its strength dealing with a weak scout team of the government.

The difference between the two situations was quite obvious.

Although [Euphoria] remained dangerous, its current condition was clearly far from what it should have been.

And through this, I already knew that the final stage of my plan was about to commence.

Tap. Tap.

The strange butler suddenly emerged from somewhere.

Its footsteps were almost inaudible as it approached Marcus, who was still laughing helplessly on the ground.

Without saying a word, it bent down and picked me up.