For now, the exploration of the first floor had to be temporarily halted.
The reason was simple: anyone who lifted the wooden board could clearly see the pale figures standing below, their heads raised to meet one's gaze.
Those things stood silently in the kitchen downstairs; even after several hours, they had not disappeared.
Further investigation of the first floor was obviously on hold. The group had to pause their actions and deal with some discord within the team.
After all, the fact that they had fallen into such a dangerous situation, one with lingering consequences, had a great deal to do with a certain disobedient individual.
"Please... I beg you... I was just too scared then. I was wrong, I was just so scared... Don't do this..."
Green trembled all over, pleading subserviently, but Kaguya merely stared at him with a blank expression. Beside her, Sun Dajun, his face a mask of complex emotions, handed the dismantled lock from Room 209's door to Maki before leaving the room, unable to watch any longer.
Green, of course, understood perfectly what it meant to lose a door lock in this horrifying apartment.
He was also well aware of how much of a betrayal his earlier actions were to Kaguya and the others.
As a low-life hoodlum who had muddled his way to nearly thirty with nothing to show for it, Green had some street smarts, some small cleverness for survival. But just as he could never change his status at the bottom of society, his cleverness was ultimately the kind that could never hold up under real pressure. He knew he was useless, so he tried hard to latch onto those stronger than him, but he ultimately lacked the resolve to truly strive for his own survival. Thus, when the situation became truly critical, he couldn't recognize the correct course of action. The result was what happened before: at the crucial moment, he refused to turn the clock and tried to run, leading to this moment of reckoning.
It was just like when he was younger and had finally managed to get into a gang and land a low-level manager role, only to be unable to resist skimming from the protection money that was supposed to be handed over. He knew full well that if he turned it in, he would definitely get a cut, but he just couldn't help himself when he saw the cash. He ended up beaten half to death and kicked out of the gang. If an old friend hadn't taken pity and quietly pulled some strings for him, he probably would have been beaten to death right then and there.
After that, Green never managed to get into another good position, and he had thought that lesson was enough. But the reality was that at another critical moment, this time with his life on the line, he still couldn't make the right choice, and instead made an even bigger mess of things.
Now, Green's lock-picking wires had been confiscated, and the formidable-looking knife was in Kaguya's possession.
The man's pride in his strength was easily crushed by the overwhelming might of Kaguya Shinomiya, an absurdly powerful 2D muscle queen.
At this moment, he was kneeling on the floor in utter disgrace, without a shred of courage left to resist.
"I thought you were a clever person, someone with some smarts who knew what to do to survive. But it seems your cleverness is just that—small-minded cleverness. You can't tell what's important at a critical moment and act on your own foolish assumptions. Truly disappointing."
Kaguya toyed with the knife in her hand, her gaze on Green as cold as ice.
"I'm sorry, I..."
Not daring to even lift his head, Green began to speak in a trembling voice, wanting to make another excuse for himself.
"Did I say you could speak?"
But Kaguya's next words terrified him so much he could only lie prostrate on the floor, shaking uncontrollably.
Her presence is truly terrifying, this so-called Ice Kaguya Princess.
Sitting to one side, Gao Hai couldn't help but marvel inwardly.
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Gao Hai would never have believed that a seventeen-year-old girl could possess such an aura.
However, considering she was a one-in-a-million genius and came from the incredibly twisted Shinomiya Zaibatsu, it was understandable that Kaguya would be raised to have such a personality, though it was still unsettling to watch.
"Mr. Gao Hai, you may not be from Japan, but from what you've said, you reside there. So, I'm curious, are you familiar with Japanese yakuza culture? Do you know how a subordinate who fails to complete a task given by their superior is supposed to atone?"
Kaguya turned her head then to look at Gao Hai.
Why is she asking me specifically? Is it because Maki is too gentle to handle this kind of conversation?
Gao Hai, who thought he was just going to be a spectator, was taken aback for a moment. After some thought, he gave his answer.
"Put them in a barrel, fill it with cement, and dump it in Tokyo Bay?"
This answer almost scared Green to death. Believing he was about to be killed, he nearly collapsed on the floor.
"Just kidding. I remember it's cutting off a finger. The little finger, right?"
But Gao Hai's next sentence let Green breathe a small sigh of relief, which was quickly replaced by a new wave of fear as the implication sank in.
"Very good. Let's do that then. Mr. Green, you know we can't kill you. A dead person in this place will turn into a bizarre monster. But you have made an extremely serious mistake. This mistake makes it impossible for us to trust you, so you now have two choices. One, you go into your room alone, and we will destroy the lock so that even if you can pick locks, you won't be able to open the door. For the rest of the time, you either stay in your room or you destroy your own door. Of course, no one will help you repair it."
As she spoke, Kaguya stood up and walked over to Green.
"Or, you can prove to me that you won't make the same mistake again. Words won't be enough for this proof; it requires action. So, hold out your left hand and give me your little finger. If you can do it without screaming, then I'll believe you still have some courage and are still worthy of being used by me."
By the end, Kaguya's frigid voice carried a suffocating sense of danger.
Maki, knowing what was coming, frowned. Clutching the gauze on her head, she turned and left the living room, deciding like Sun Dajun that it was better not to watch.
Meanwhile, Gao Hai, who had a stronger stomach, was inwardly marveling at Kaguya's queenly demeanor and starting to wish he had some popcorn. He felt that watching a yakuza-style finger-cutting while eating a snack would be quite an experience. Of course, Gao Hai himself wasn't some pervert who enjoyed gore and violence—heck, even when he browsed online forums, he always chose the 'pure love' category. It was just that seeing this guy, whose screw-up had nearly gotten them all killed, meet with misfortune put him in a very good mood.
What happened next needs no detailed description.
Knowing there was no third option, Green held out his left hand, his face ashen.
The sharp knife swung down, cleanly and decisively severing his left little finger.
Of course, although the man tried desperately to hold back a scream, the intense pain made him open his mouth to howl.
But before he could make a sound, Kaguya kicked him in the neck with enough force to nearly crack the bone, stuffing all his screams back down his throat.
"We have bandages and iodine. Patch yourself up. The next exploration will be in one hour. This time, you will stand guard at the kitchen door. If a situation arises where the clock needs to be turned again, you had better not disappoint me."
With those parting words, Kaguya turned and also left the living room of 206.
Gao Hai, who had been watching the whole show, followed suit, put off by the smell of blood and Green's whimpering.
"So she really cut off his finger. Auntie Kaguya really would do something like that..."
Seeing Kaguya's expression as she came out, Maki already guessed what had happened inside and couldn't help but shake her head and sigh.
"Maki, are you sure your wound is okay?"
Gao Hai, who had followed her out, asked again about Maki's injury, and received the same repeated answer: "I'm fine."
Gao Hai walked over to the main door. Just then, Sun Dajun came out of the bathroom. It looked like he had just gone to relieve some stress, but the expression on his face was still troubled. The pressure nowadays was probably not so easy to relieve.
"That foreigner... did she really cut off his finger?"
Looking a little scared, Sun Dajun hesitated for a long time before finally asking Gao Hai in a low voice.
"Yeah. After pulling a stunt that stupid, it would be a huge problem if we just let him off easy."
Gao Hai was blunt. Having no moral qualms, he felt no discomfort about Green atoning by cutting off his finger; in fact, he vaguely felt that one finger wasn't enough and he should have offered up a couple more.
"Sigh, how did it come to this? We were finally all together, trying to figure out how to survive and escape..."
Sun Dajun sighed heavily, his expression complicated.
"It can't be helped. That Green guy is clearly some kind of hoodlum or gangster. Things like honor, integrity, and grand principles won't work on him. He'll only know whose orders to follow after he's truly felt the pain."
Knowing that Sun Dajun still couldn't understand, Gao Hai thought for a moment and decided to explain a little. Although the portly man couldn't run or jump and ate a lot, his skills in repairing circuits and mechanical locks, as well as his ability to do simple carpentry, were quite valuable. It wouldn't do to let a teammate like him brood alone; he had to make the stakes clear to him.
"I know, I know. Sigh, people... why do they have to make trouble for themselves when they're living perfectly fine?"
Sun Dajun said no more, just shook his head with a sigh and walked away.
An hour later, the bloodstains in the living room had been mostly cleaned up. The severed finger was returned to Green's own room for safety reasons. As for the door lock, it wouldn't be reinstalled until after the next exploration. This was also to prevent the guy from doing anything else stupid and to make him realize that if he messed up again, he would not survive.
Creeak—
The wooden board covering the hole was lifted once more.
Gao Hai looked down and saw the pale figures, one after another, looking up at him.
"They're still down there."
He turned and said to Maki, who was on guard in the kitchen.
"Hai-kun, if those things are still there, maybe we should..."
Maki was hesitant. Although they had already discussed all the details of the second exploration, now that it was time to act, she couldn't bear to see Gao Hai take the risk.
"I know, but this is the best option right now. And don't forget, our Mr. Green still needs to redeem himself. I have to give him a chance, don't I?"
Gao Hai said with a smile, even tossing a sarcastic remark toward Green, who was standing dejectedly by the kitchen door, his left hand wrapped in gauze. Then he turned around to face the hole in the floor.
Having Gao Hai go on the second exploration was indeed a reluctant choice.
According to the original plan, it should have been Maki or Kaguya's turn to go down and explore.
But because of Green's foolish move, Maki was injured and temporarily unfit for action. Kaguya couldn't trust the man, and to keep an eye on the 190cm giant, she, as the strongest combatant present, had to be there. Sun Dajun was logistics support who would just be a snack for the monsters if he went down. In the end, Gao Hai was the only one who could go downstairs again.
"Don't worry. Didn't we discuss and reason it out together? Although it's dangerous downstairs, in theory, there shouldn't be a problem if I'm just exploring. Alright, I'm off. We can't waste time, right?"
He turned to give Maki one last smile. The next moment, Gao Hai tugged the rope tied around his waist, closed his eyes, and jumped straight into the hole in the floor.
Plop—
With the clear sound of falling into water, Gao Hai didn't touch anything strange.
The densely packed figures standing in the water seemed not to exist; they were intangible phantoms.
He didn't open his eyes, just felt his way along the wall, slowly heading out of the kitchen.
Creeak—
With a distinct sound, the kitchen door he had previously closed swung open slowly.
Of course, it wasn't Gao Hai who opened it. He had just reached the door when it opened on its own.
No attack occurred.
All the way until he walked into the living room, to the open living room door, and then into the corridor, there were no attacks. It was completely quiet, with only the sound of Gao Hai's own breathing and the splashing of water.
It was just as they had theorized.
This really is... quite welcoming.
Gao Hai couldn't help but sigh with emotion in his heart.
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