The Collapsing Corridor

“I can’t believe we actually made it in,” I murmured.

“Indeed, I’m quite surprised myself,” Leidi replied.

We both brushed off our clothes and stood facing each other.

“Hey, why are your eyes so red? You didn’t cry, did you?!” I gently caressed Leidi’s face, a pang of tenderness in my chest. ‘She cares about me far too much,’ I thought.

“Yes, I cried, I cried so sadly. I kept thinking, ‘What if I never see you again?!’” Before she could finish, Leidi threw her arms around me, her voice thick with unshed tears as she buried her face into my chest.

‘A touching reunion, then? This separation was certainly brief…’

“There, there, I’m perfectly fine, aren’t I? Lift your head now.” ‘Regardless, I should comfort her by stroking her head first.’

“Just a little longer…” Leidi’s voice was muffled against my chest.

“Don’t be such a child, how old are you now?”

“I don’t care! Just a little longer! Please, just one more hug!” Persisting in her stubbornness, Leidi buried her face even deeper.

‘…’

‘Leidi has transformed from a caring older sister into a spoiled younger sister… The contrast is immense…’

‘Well, for now, I suppose I’ll indulge her…’

****

“I say, this is our ‘Corridor,’ you know. Aren’t you going to take a look around?”

Leidi was still clinging to me, her face nestled against my chest. ‘She still hasn’t had enough of hugging, it seems…’

“Phew~ That’s enough~ I’m recharged!” Leidi finally lifted her face, a satisfied smile gracing her lips.

“Am I some kind of human battery to you…?” I chuckled helplessly, gently pushing her away.

She looked around with an inquisitive gaze.

“Huh? It’s really not very pretty… And my eyes feel a bit strained looking at it…”

“Well, who told you to keep staring at the ground…?”

It seemed Leidi wasn’t particularly impressed with this place either.

“Let’s walk around and see, I want to find out how big my ‘Corridor’ is right now.” With that, Leidi took my hand and started walking forward.

“Doesn’t this place look infinitely vast…?”

I turned left and right, trying to confirm. ‘Where could the end possibly be…?’

“It’s not infinite at all. Do you remember when Brother Mingdao came from Hainan? He said he came through a ‘Corridor,’ right? The ‘Corridor’ he created back then was a gigantic circular corridor with a radius of over three thousand kilometers. Mine should be—” Leidi began, but didn’t get to finish.

“THUMP~~~~~~~!”

With an incredibly loud thud, Leidi, having crashed into something, instantly tumbled towards me! I quickly steadied her.

“…W-w-we reached the end?!” Large tears welled in the corners of Leidi’s eyes as she awkwardly clutched her forehead where she’d collided, which now seemed to be reddening…

‘We had only walked… for less than five seconds, it seemed…’

“Is your head alright? And, does this mean… this current ‘Corridor’ is incredibly small?” I asked, blowing gently on her forehead, a hint of confusion in my tone.

‘No, in truth, I was feigning seriousness, barely suppressing my laughter. I desperately wanted to laugh! Hahahahaha~ In my mind, I was laughing hysterically.’

“If you want to laugh, just laugh! What’s with all the trembling from holding it in?!” Leidi grumbled, giving my chest a disgruntled punch.

“Oh? Was I that obvious? Hahahaha~” Now I could finally let loose, roaring with laughter.

“Hey, you still have those slips of paper that came in earlier, right?” Leidi asked, pushing a strand of hair from her forehead as she extended her hand to me.

“Of course I do. Besides, where would I even throw them? There’s no trash can here…” I replied, retrieving the slips of paper I had just tucked into my skirt pocket.

Taking the papers, Leidi cautiously reached out, feeling for the invisible wall ahead (a wall, presumably?). Once she confirmed contact, she placed a slip of paper on the corresponding spot on the ground.

“You should take some slips too, I don’t think it’ll be very big.” With that, Leidi handed roughly half of the papers to me.

“Got it. You take the left, I’ll take the right, then? And don’t be so wasteful; tear them into smaller pieces,” I reminded her, knowing we didn’t have many slips to begin with.

“Okay, I understand.”

With the slips in hand, Leidi and I began to move, much like blind people feeling an elephant. Our objective, naturally, was to measure the size of the ‘Corridor.’

And then—

Having split up, we met again…

In less than a minute…

“I mean… this is ridiculously small…”

“It really is… Our bed might actually be bigger than this…”

“So you were thinking the same thing…”

Leaning against the invisible wall, Leidi and I stood with our arms crossed, arriving at this utterly speechless conclusion.

The circular space, now outlined by our paper slips, could hardly be called large. It was probably big enough for only four or five small cars at most. Compared to Brother Mingdao’s three-thousand-kilometer ‘Corridor’…

‘There was no comparison at all!’

“Tell me, what are your thoughts on this?” I nudged Leidi with my elbow, asking with a hint of teasing.

“Hey, this is my first time, you know. Cut me some slack,” she retorted, nudging me back with her elbow.

“Right, your first time… Uh?” A sudden, unsettling thought struck me, and I froze instantly.

“What’s wrong?” Leidi looked at me.

“I… I mean… do you have a way for us to get out?” I gripped Leidi’s shoulders mechanically, my face slick with cold sweat as I asked.

“…I was just so happy to see you earlier… I completely forgot,” Leidi mumbled, trying to laugh it off as she averted her gaze, unable to meet my eyes directly.

“So, there isn’t one?!!!” My face crumpled in despair, and I vigorously shook Leidi’s shoulders.

“C-c-calm down! There has to be a way!”

“Then think of one!”

“Then stop shaking me!”

The confined space… descended into chaos for a moment…

****

‘Grrr… grrr…’

Both Leidi’s stomach and mine rumbled with a sound that instantly evoked hunger.

‘How much time… had passed? Oh? Leidi’s hair had already turned a light chestnut…’

‘So hungry… And… I really need to pee…’

“I just don’t get it… If you think about it in reverse, isn’t it just the thought of ‘wanting to take you somewhere’? Why isn’t it working…?” Leidi groaned, sounding utterly distressed, as she leaned listlessly against my shoulder.

To conserve energy, we had been sitting down for quite some time now.

“If you don’t know, how could I possibly know…?” I echoed, leaning back just as weakly.

‘I feel… like I’m about to die…’

“Xiaobai, I want to sleep…”

“Me too…”

‘Ah~ That soft, plush bed… I long to lie on it…’

“Xiaobai, I’m so hungry, I want to eat…”

“Me too…”

‘Ah~ The delicious meals prepared by those maids… I yearn to taste them…’

“Xiaobai, I want to…”

“Hold on… Can you please stop thinking about it…?”

‘If she keeps thinking, something bad’s going to happen…’

“I want to pick a flower…”

“There are no flowers here…”

“I meant I need to use the restroom…”

‘…’

‘…’

A brief silence fell between us…

“I swear, can you please stop bringing up things that are already bothering us…? My body is even less tolerant than yours, okay? Now that you’ve said it, I’m practically trembling…”

‘No, I was already trembling, actually…’

‘Hm? Was it really me trembling?’

“Leidi, I think the floor is moving, isn’t it?!” Sensing something was amiss, I quickly shook Leidi awake.

“It really is… Huh?!!!”

“CRACK—!”

“Eek—!” both Leidi and I shrieked, clutching each other tightly in fright.

The floor! The ‘Corridor’s’ floor was cracking!

“CRACK—! CRACK—! CRACK—!”

Like a shattering sheet of ice, fissures glowing with an ominous white light relentlessly spread towards us!

But Leidi and I could do nothing but cling even tighter, because—we had absolutely nowhere to retreat!

“CRASH!”

“Whoa!” both of us cried out.

Like shattered glass, the entire cracked floor crumbled away! We plummeted downwards!

“Thump—”

With a muffled thud, Leidi and I landed on something incredibly soft. Yet, we kept our eyes tightly shut, hesitant to open them.

“[JPN] Ping-chan! Leidi-chan!”

“[JPN] Ruka sister?!” both of us exclaimed.

Hearing familiar voices, Leidi and I startled, lifting our heads to find ourselves lying in a bedroom bed! Ruka sister rushed forward, embracing us anxiously!

‘We’re out?!!!’