40: First Philosophical Question

As usual, Mir and Murray ended up at the back of the line while entering the final tunnel leading to Philosophy Corridor. That made it convenient for them to exchange their observations and more.

Apart from them, almost no one was entering the sacred ground for the first time. Those ahead of them shuffled on in a confident gait, and Mir watched them disappear inside the dark bottom of the hole as if a shadowy curtain was wrapping around them.

For the first time, Mir noticed an oddity that he should have realized sooner. There was no source of light in the cavern behind them, despite being so well-lit that one could mistake it for being an open hall under the daylight.

Was it because of hallucinogens in the air? Or perhaps the power of the sacred zone to influence their minds? Was that why he had not noticed the abnormality, or thought of the question until now? Mir couldn't help but cast a relieved look at Murray, more specifically, the area above Murray's heart where the diary had been hidden just a minute ago.

He had used a couple of commands on himself to ensure that his ordinary body and mind didn't get overwhelmed too easily. The hallucinogen's effect was the biggest obstacle inside Philosophy Corridor, aside from the mutant creatures they'd be facing. To be able to keep a steady mind inside the sacred ground was more important than anything here.

His body had a large reserve of unsaturated virus, and the hour he had spent inside the taboo zone must have also contributed greatly to the infection rate. Mir didn't know how long the diary's command could fuel his sharper-than-before mental clarity, but seeing that there was no big spike in his psychological state, Mir guessed that he had enough time to get a proper taste of the sacred ground.

One by one, the line got smaller, and the two brothers approached the border of the sacred ground inside the down-slanted tunnel. From this distance, gradually, Mir noticed a pattern arising among the people disappearing in front of them.

Those who were walking closer to the right side of the tunnel walls disappeared earlier than those sticking to the left side. It wasn't a huge difference, just a couple of steps, but it was noticeable to anyone observing them.

Mir nudged Murray silently, pointing it out. It took him about ten seconds to notice, and his eyes widened. Without uttering a word, they came to the conclusion that they had to stick to either one side. Mir stepped behind him like a shadow and began to step right where he was stepping.

Eventually, the last guy ahead of them disappeared in the shadows, barely six feet away from them. It was time for them to take their last bit of preparation. Murray took out a finger-sized vial from his spatial pocket and handed it to him.

"You remember what that's for, right?"

"Yeah," Mir said. "Chemical repellants for the common mutant creatures of Philosophy Corridor. That's just the defense. Give me something for offence, too, just in case it doesn't work."

Murray's eyebrows rose up on his forehead, his gaze turning skeptical.

"Mir... Don't try to take unnecessary risks. I promise I'll bring back something decent. I'm only letting you in to let you get familiarized with typical sacred grounds for the future."

"Relax, you know I'm not the sort to take unnecessary risks," Mir said emphatically. "I'm asking for a weapon BECAUSE of that."

Realizing that arguing with him over the issue was futile, Murray sighed and pulled out a fat syringe. "Father Vincent gave me only 5 of these, but since my spatial pocket can't hold more than four alongside the diary, this is 25% of my 'armory'. I hope you never have to use it."

"It's acid, right?" Mir took the capped syringe gladly, tucking it in his underwear. Murray nodded and started advancing again at a snail's pace.

One step. Two step. At three–

Mir was left alone inside the tunnel. He waved a hand through the air in front of him, sure that Murray had been there a second ago. Gritting his teeth, he took the leap of faith as well, and felt his world spin suddenly.

Disoriented to the extreme, Mir could barely think. He was inside a massive vortex of colors, shapes, and sounds, spinning like a clock-hand. Amidst the chaos, he heard a distinct voice in his ears.

"Would you ever kill to exact vengeance?"

Mir was flabbergasted. If the information he had gathered on the Philosophy Corridor was correct, this was likely to be his first question. His answer would determine what he would face ahead, and where he'd be placed inside the corridor. But...that was a philosophical question?! How?

Instead of blurting out an answer, he considered what outcome he wanted from it. He obviously would prefer to end up wherever Murray did. The explorers inside the Philosophy Corridor got filtered by their answers, those with similar mindsets being placed in groups. As the competition for the mutant creatures would be fiercer in the larger groups, Murray would want to be placed in the smaller ones, which demanded an answer few explorers would come up with.

But the problem was, they weren't the only ones with knowledge of how things worked inside Philosophy Corridor. Their competitors, especially the confident, experienced ones would come up with wild answers to reduce competition around them as well.

So, to be placed among the weakest bunch of their batch, a generic answer was needed. Not only would these weak competitors give such answers hoping to be placed in bigger groups, they'd also find out that they were a minority, unfortunately. And Murray might want to take advantage of this phenomenon.

But then again, Mir wasn't sure if he had managed to grasp how Murray would think in an extreme situation like this. And there was also the fact that if an average guy like Mir could think so far, so could all the experienced fellows in their batch.

Feeling like this whole scenario was actually now up to one's luck, Mir thought for a long time under the heavy mental duress, enduring the mass of colors trying to invade his eyes, increasingly chaotic sounds drumming against his ears, and a sense of alien panic trying to rile up his heart.

Finally, when it became so unbearable that even thinking became difficult, Mir managed to verify one of his primary doubts about the sacred ground's laws– what would happen if an explorer refused to answer the questions?

He had his answer now. He would be forced to give an answer, based on his instincts that were virtually screaming for him to do so. Thanking the diary for the augmented mental clarity it had given him, Mir spoke.

"Killing is a big sin! I probably won't do it."