"Ah, haha, now isn't the time to argue. Let's share clues first."
Youbihama quickly smoothed things over. Although Yamauchi Haruki's gaze also made her uncomfortable, Tuanzi, wanting to stabilize the team, generously didn't care.
"Have you found anything?"
Bai Yuze asked Yukino, who then handed Yuze a can of food.
The can looked quite old, and the production date and expiration date confirmed it was an expired can.
"An expired can?"
"There are also some nearly expired food cans, placed in the room. Is this the room the note mentioned?"
"It should be, but the rules I found remind us to be careful to distinguish whether food is normal."
"Does that mean expired food can't be eaten? Or does it mean we can only eat expired food?"
Yukino offered her guess, but Bai Yuze didn't respond. Instead, he asked Tuanzi,
"Tuanzi, what day of the week is it now?"
"Huh? Let me see. It's Tuesday!"
"As expected..."
Bai Yuze's expression became solemn. He had been wondering why Yamauchi Haruki came to this instance. Now, everything made sense.
"You two, come with me for a moment. I have something to tell you."
Bai Yuze walked out of 106 and called to the two girls.
Though a bit puzzled, the two girls followed Bai Yuze's lead.
Yamauchi Haruki saw this and also wanted to follow, but Bai Yuze spoke up.
"Yamauchi-san, you don't need to come. You still need to familiarize yourself with the rules here, or you'll be in danger."
After Bai Yuze finished speaking, he handed the note to Yamauchi Haruki. Yamauchi Haruki took the note and sat on the bed, beginning to read it.
After all, he could only carry out his plans if he stayed alive. He didn't want his venture to collapse halfway through.
After getting rid of Yamauchi Haruki's entanglement, Bai Yuze led the two girls back to 102. After confirming Yamauchi Haruki hadn't followed, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Yukino saw Bai Yuze's strange behavior and couldn't help but ask,
"Is something wrong? You seem very nervous."
"Yeah, Xiao Ze, this is the first time I've seen you so flustered."
Tuanzi's eyes were wide, and she had a big question in her head.
"I'm just afraid he'll do something crazy if he knows what we're talking about."
Yamauchi Haruki's combat ability wasn't great, but he was afraid of the other party fighting desperately, even if it meant his own death. Even if he could protect himself, Yukino and Tuanzi's situation would be terrible.
In the current situation, anyone getting injured would make things more troublesome, which is why he specifically called the two girls over to speak privately.
"Tuanzi, stand by the door for a moment to prevent him from coming. I'll try to keep my voice at a level where both of you can hear me."
"Remember, don't be surprised, because here, there's nothing to be surprised about! Nod if you understand."
Seeing both girls nod in understanding, Bai Yuze began to speak.
After Bai Yuze finished, both girls' expressions were somewhat solemn.
"Are you saying... that estrus-ridden ape came to this instance as 'food'?"
"Exactly. Supplies are refreshed daily, but human flesh also counts as a supply... especially living humans, which precisely confirms the freshness of the food and corresponds to the near-expiry and expired nature of canned goods."
"Ugh!"
Tuanzi felt a bit nauseous and couldn't help but retch. She couldn't accept, and refused to accept, the idea of using people as food!
"Shouldn't he have come to this instance as a new player? Just like the three of us."
Yukino raised a question, but Bai Yuze quickly refuted her.
"New players only arrive on a new week, but today is Tuesday, so it's impossible for new players to appear."
"Then what will his fate be?"
Tuanzi couldn't help but ask, and Bai Yuze shook his head.
"I don't know. Perhaps he'll survive, or perhaps he'll be recycled... Wait! Where did you find these cans? Are there cans in every room?"
Bai Yuze suddenly thought of something terrifying and urgently asked.
"Um, these cans were found in 103 and 104. We specifically checked 101 and 102, and we even went to 107 and 105. Of course, for 105 and 107, we only slightly opened the door a crack, but no cans were found in those rooms."
Hearing Tuanzi's answer, Bai Yuze's face turned a little pale.
"What's wrong? Are these cans dangerous?"
Yukino looked puzzled. Could a few cans really be life-threatening?
"These cans aren't dangerous. The danger is the 'people' behind them!"
"People? What do you mean?"
Yukino's confusion grew. What did cans have to do with people?
"Think about what's in the rooms where cans appeared and where they didn't."
"What's in the places where no cans appeared... Are you talking about 'people'? More precisely, 'people' who need to eat?!"
Yukino quickly understood what Bai Yuze was trying to convey. If the rooms without provided cans didn't contain 'people' who needed to eat, then where did the 'people' who needed to eat in rooms 103 and 106 go?
"What? What are you talking about? Didn't 102 also not have food cans?"
Tuanzi looked bewildered. If the food in 106 was Yamauchi Haruki, and he wasn't considered a person who needed to eat, Tuanzi could understand. But 102 was her residence, yet she hadn't seen any trace of food!
"No, Tuanzi, your food has actually always been there... It's just that the residence determined you hadn't eaten it, so it didn't issue you new supplies..."
Bai Yuze said, then pointed to the male corpse lying on the broken bed. Perhaps calling him the feast of 102 would be more appropriate...
At this moment, no matter how slow Tuanzi was, she realized what Bai Yuze was trying to convey. She covered her throat, dry-heaving repeatedly. She was incredibly grateful that her stomach was empty, otherwise, she would have been in terrible trouble.
"So, our current situation is not only to keep secrets from the ape-man but also to be wary of the true owners of 103 and 106?"
"Exactly. Before understanding them, we can't arbitrarily consider them friendly beings. It's not even certain if they are human."
"Then what should we do with this corpse? Are we supposed to eat it?"
After Yukino said this, both of them looked at Tuanzi in unison.
"Huh? Why are you looking at me? Eating people is absolutely out of the question!"
"Uh, it's just a corpse. Strictly speaking, it's not a person anymore."
Bai Yuze analyzed with a serious expression.
"This isn't about whether a corpse counts as human or not! Don't put on such a serious face analyzing the problem in this situation, hey!"
Tuanzi was fuming. Bai Yuze's behavior was undoubtedly schadenfreude and a mischievous prank, and the reality was exactly as Tuanzi had guessed.
"Alright, I won't tease you anymore. This corpse is useful. Even if you wanted to eat it, I wouldn't let you!"
"Hmph! Who wants to eat it?! I wouldn't eat it even if you made me!"
Tuanzi angrily turned her head away, her cheeks puffed out, looking exactly like an angry pufferfish.
"You said it's still useful?"
Compared to Tuanzi's anger, Yukino focused on the usefulness Bai Yuze mentioned.
"That's right. The creature knocking on the door last night was very afraid of this corpse, or perhaps afraid of this scalpel. Therefore, as long as this corpse and scalpel are here, we won't be in danger for a short time."
Bai Yuze could only guarantee that they would be safe for a short time. After all, no one could predict what would happen in the future. Now they were like holding small lanterns, groping their way forward step by step. As for when they would reach the end...
Man proposes.