"Just tell me if you want to go up or not. Give me a straight answer!"
"Of course I do! Who wants to stay in this wretched place?!"
If someone had ever seen the light, he would never be able to endure the darkness again.
Neither humans nor the anomalous wanted to stay in a place where they couldn't see the light.
"Alright, I understand, but I need your cooperation."
Bai Yuze approached the anomaly step by step, holding the iron chain.
"What are you doing?"
The anomaly was a bit timid, but it had no retreat. It couldn't beat Bai Yuze in a direct fight, and it couldn't outrun this dog if it tried to escape. What's more, it was currently being held by the dog!
"Don't be scared, just wait a moment."
Bai Yuze picked up the iron chain and fiddled with it on the anomaly's body a few times, then the chain was firmly fastened to the anomaly.
"You're going to treat me like a pet?"
The anomaly looked at the chain around its neck and suddenly remembered that this dog had also been chained up before. That meant… this human in front of it was going to keep it as a pet?! Its face fell.
"Yes and no."
Bai Yuze smiled mysteriously. The anomaly scratched its scalp, then looked at the dog behind it… Suddenly! It realized!
"Uh… you're not going to make me a pet for this stupid dog, are you…"
"So smart!"
Bai Yuze's smile grew brighter, and the anomaly's face fell even further.
"No, no, absolutely not, even if you kill me!"
"What's the big deal! Being a pet for anyone is still being a pet, isn't it? This is discrimination against Bruce!"
Bai Yuze was soothing the anomaly's emotions, while Yukino understood Bai Yuze's intentions.
She had experienced several loops and had also interacted with the Front Desk. She knew that he was a neutral party, so she also began to suspect the "Yang Peng" hiding behind the scenes, and Bai Yuze's actions confirmed her guess.
The rules clearly stated that humans cannot keep pets, but because this dog was an anomaly… the rules did not apply to it. The reason the Front Desk allowed Bai Yuze to bring his dog up was because that dog was not Bai Yuze's pet, so Bai Yuze did not violate the rules.
And the Front Desk would come down in a moment, so Bai Yuze could take the dog up, and let the Front Desk take the anomaly up. After all, "my pet's pet is not my pet," so neither party violated the rules, and they both brought their pets up. It was simply the best of both worlds!
As for why Bai Yuze didn't keep a pet, it was because the rules mentioned, "If anyone is found keeping a pet, please inform the Front Desk immediately." Bai Yuze was afraid that the Front Desk would be forcibly possessed by the rules and punish him, so to be safe, he chose to let the dog keep the pet.
Yukino saw through everything!
It took Bai Yuze a great deal of effort to persuade the anomaly, so Bai Yuze began his next move.
"Since you're Bruce's pet now, we need to give you a name."
"Let me state first, no ugly names, especially not Zhang San Li Si, or Ergou Erdan and the like. None of those, and no numbers or livestock words! Your surname is up to you, preferably something elegant."
"Quite a lot of demands… How about Xiao Chunnan? If that doesn't work, Xiao Chu Sheng is fine too."
"Pfft!"
Bai Yuze and the anomaly both turned to look at Yukino, who was currently covering her mouth, secretly laughing. Seeing one human and one anomaly staring at her, she lightly coughed twice.
"Excuse me, I choked on my saliva."
After a short interlude, the anomaly chose Xiao Chu Sheng. This name better suited its temperament, and Chu Sheng even meant triumphant victory!
Bai Yuze also felt that this name was particularly suitable for the anomaly… oh no! For Xiao Chu Sheng's temperament, after all, he had done a lot of triumphant things!
Meanwhile, Yukino secretly chuckled a few more times when no one was paying attention.
"So when do we act? I can't wait!"
Xiao Chu Sheng excitedly stomped his foot. He was already looking forward to the air and light upstairs!
"No rush, it's not midnight yet."
"How do you know the time? Isn't your phone off?"
The phone Bai Yuze got from Tuanzi had turned off after making a call, so Bai Yuze couldn't get the time from his phone now, and the time in the residence was different from outside. The clock wasn't with them, which put them at a bit of a disadvantage.
"No need for that. Just listen carefully."
After saying this, Bai Yuze slowly closed his eyes. Yukino also understood that Bai Yuze meant to listen for the sound of flushing toilets, so she also sat on the ground, resting with her eyes closed.
The anomaly didn't need to rest. Bruce and Xiao Chu Sheng were staring at each other. Perhaps their male competitiveness was aroused, and the two guys implicitly staged a game of 'who blinks first loses'…
——————
Whoosh!
The sound of a toilet flushing reached everyone present. At this moment, Bai Yuze and Yukino opened their eyes, while Xiao Chu Sheng and Bruce were staring with tears in their eyes. No one knew how long they had lasted…
"Let's go! Time to depart!"
Bai Yuze, holding a kitchen knife and with Bruce's dog leash wrapped around him, walked at the very front. Yukino, holding a scalpel in one hand and a flashlight in the other, followed closely behind Bai Yuze.
Bruce was not to be outdone. He bit the iron chain with his teeth, pulling Xiao Chu Sheng like walking a dog, following behind the two humans.
Xiao Chu Sheng: …
Soon, the two humans and two anomalies arrived in front of the rusty iron door. At this moment, a keyhole had inexplicably appeared on the iron door. Bai Yuze took out the key given by the Front Desk from his pocket and pushed it into the keyhole.
Bai Yuze was afraid that he might accidentally break the key, so he was very careful throughout the process.
The key completely sank into the keyhole, and after a short while, the door began to shake, then with a clang! The door opened.
Looking at the stairs that appeared behind the door, Bai Yuze knew that this time the door was the correct one.
"Let's go."
Just as Yukino was about to step in, a voice came from behind them.
"Wait!"
It was the Front Desk's voice!
The two turned their heads, and the Front Desk's figure slowly approached them.
"What's wrong?"
Yukino was a little confused. The exit was right in front of them. Was there some anomaly ahead?
"You cannot leave from here. You must leave from the single-person escape door."
The Front Desk answered Yukino's question.
It turned out that the conditions for entering the stairs were also the conditions for exiting.
The maximum capacity swallowed by the stairs was two lives, and these two lives were bound from this moment on, regardless of order. The only way for both lives to escape completely was to take the main entrance, which was the door that had just opened in front of them.
However, Yukino and Yui Yuigahama had only found the single-person passage door. This was actually a punishment from the basement for outsiders. If one person left through that door, the other person would be forever unable to leave through the main entrance and would be trapped here for life.
Until two new lives were swallowed by the stairs and arrived here, only then would the single-person passage door refresh new exit slots.
Bai Yuze had come here by being swallowed by the stairs, so he was in the bound slot. The Front Desk had also come here by this method, so Bai Yuze and the Front Desk were bound. Yukino could only leave through the single-person passage door.
Yukino: …
This is ridiculous!!!