It was Lao Guo.
The moment he heard the explosion, Gao Hai realized what had happened.
That veteran player who accelerated the first day in the last loop, forcing everyone into a critical state. The one who was killed by the anomaly that replaced Kaguya Shinomiya on the third floor, setting off a huge explosion before he died. He actually survived until the second night in this loop? And what's more, with explosions and gunfire again? Is he planning to lure all the anomalies in the building to the second floor?
Crack—crack crack—
The sound of the wall shattering came at that moment.
Gao Hai turned his head and saw cracks spreading across the living room wall, the one on the same side as the main entrance.
Outside, he heard Maki's cry of alarm and Green's bloodcurdling scream.
The main door was blown in?!
Gao Hai could already hear footsteps in the hallway rapidly approaching the living room door—one set after another, sounding like at least seven or eight people.
Thud!
A dull thud, accompanied by a tremor in the ground, echoed from all directions, one after another.
The corpses in every room were now in violent conflict with something.
Without a doubt, the commotion from countless active monsters that Gao Hai had heard on the third floor during the first night of the previous loop had now moved to the second floor.
If that's the case, this door won't hold.
"Kaguya!"
In those fleeting seconds, Gao Hai shouted to the girl in the room without the slightest hesitation.
No more words were needed.
With just that one word, Kaguya immediately understood what Gao Hai meant.
She reached out.
Grabbed the hands of the wall clock.
Without the slightest hesitation, Kaguya turned the clock's hands.
Click!
With a crisp sound, Gao Hai opened his eyes. The light outside the window had nearly vanished, and his surroundings had fallen into darkness to a certain extent.
Time was rewound to around 6:00 PM.
A pale-faced Kaguya now shied away from the wall clock on the floor, as if it had become a terrifying object in her eyes.
Gao Hai didn't have time to worry about that. He quickly opened the living room door, rushed through the corridor, and opened the main door to look out into the hallway.
Then he saw Lao Guo, his expression grim, slowly walking down the hall. When Lao Guo saw him come out, he merely shot him a cold glance, not even bothering to say a word, and continued to the end of the corridor, heading down the stairs.
"..."
Gao Hai stood in place without a word, just watching the man's back disappear.
A moment ago, as he was about to say something, he had seen something peeking out of Lao Guo's coat pocket, something that looked like a doll.
The instant he felt the doll's gaze, Gao Hai realized that if he had spoken—if he had said anything that displeased Lao Guo—he might have died on the spot in that hallway.
So that's it. His actions of throwing a bomb and firing a gun were to drag us into it, forcing us to turn the clock and rewind time so he could escape from danger ahead of schedule.
His exploration of the third floor must have ended in failure, just like in the last loop. But this time, since Kaguya hadn't been turned into an anomaly, he probably wasn't in mortal danger, just in a bad spot with his plans thwarted.
So this bastard tells me to stay out of his way, but the moment he runs into trouble, he turns around and screws over the other players?
A thousand curses were about to erupt from Gao Hai's throat, but he had no powerful Obsession Item, no supernatural tool, nor any weapons like guns or bombs. With time growing late and the light fading, all he could do was take a deep breath as he watched Lao Guo disappear, then close the door and return to the living room.
He would have to get revenge for this.
If before Gao Hai had merely found Lao Guo troublesome, thinking him an overconfident idiot trying to act tough in a rules-based horror story instance, now Lao Guo had escalated into the single greatest danger in this whole place. He had no doubt the man would pull more stunts to mess with the survivors. For every day that man stayed alive in here, the danger to everyone else would rise by a level.
"We were used, weren't we?"
Seeing Gao Hai return, Kaguya asked softly from the living room.
"Yeah..."
Since Kaguya had already figured it out, Gao Hai could only give a wry smile, lean against the wall, and continue resting.
Green, who was useless in a crisis; Sun Dajun, who could only do logistical work; the completely useless Miwa Maeda; the young Black man who ran off with Lao Guo after a bit of coaxing; and this so-called veteran player, Lao Guo, the least human of them all, who did nothing but cause trouble...
When he thought about it, besides the two anime beauties Kaguya and Maki, every single one of his teammates in this supposed game was problematic. And except for Sun Dajun, who was at least an honest man you could communicate with and who could provide help, everyone else was either dead weight or a shit-stirrer.
Come on, it's already hard enough trying to find clues and deduce information in this deadly rules-based horror story. Could you please stop making it harder for us?
Gao Hai desperately wanted to scream this, but in the end, he just sighed silently, closing his eyes to rest as night fell.
That night, Gao Hai did not role-play as someone from the past in his dreams, nor did he experience any past events.
Because in his dream, a little girl was standing outside the living room door, crying softly.
Her cries were muffled, as if her mouth was covered, and only a stifled sobbing could be heard.
Gao Hai stood before the living room door... no, was this the living room door? It seemed to be an unfamiliar door, one he had never seen before. And she was just outside, as if she were waiting for him to open it, waiting for him to unseal this door and let her in.
Why would I dream of something like that?
When Gao Hai opened his eyes, the sky was already bright.
The group gathered once more, meeting in Sun Dajun's Room 206 just like yesterday. This time, it was also Sun Dajun's turn to cook noodles.
The group in the living room had a brief discussion, or more accurately, Gao Hai, Kaguya, and Maki discussed their thoughts on the situation and then began preparing for the upcoming exploration of the third floor.
"This time, Maki and I will go explore the third floor. Mr. Gao Hai, you stay on the second floor."
Kaguya decided on the strategy for this operation.
"I think I can still handle the exploration. After all, I already went twice yesterday, and I've been to the third floor, so I have some experience."
Gao Hai was still a little hesitant, feeling he should be the one to investigate.
"It's precisely because you investigated twice that you need to rest today. Besides, we need you here to keep an eye on things."
Kaguya shook her head, directly refuting Gao Hai's words as her gaze fell on Miwa Maeda, who was sitting on one side of the room, reeking.
The mentally unstable woman had been brought out again. The reason was simple: to have her turn the clock. Sun Dajun and Green had already used their turns, and Gao Hai claimed he had used a rewind once, so he was counted among them. That left only Miwa Maeda as a potential clock-turner. After some consideration, the group had Green open the door and bring her out.
Perhaps being locked in her room for two days had addled her brain, but Miwa Maeda was much quieter this time. She wasn't shouting randomly anymore and was even a bit more lucid, able to communicate to some extent. Seeing Kaguya staring at her, she stood up unsteadily, muttering, "I'm not useless, I'm useful, I'm useful," while neurotically waving her arms and hopping twice before laughing again.
"To be honest, I still think there are a lot of problems with letting this woman out."
Gao Hai shook his head as he looked at the completely unhinged woman.
Only Room 205 had two corpses in it, and behind its sealed kitchen door, who knew what might be inside. Because they sensed that Room 205 was different, Gao Hai and the others had never investigated it, and Gao Hai had always been suspicious of Miwa Maeda, the woman who came from that room.
What was the point of throwing a purely useless person like her into an instance like this? Is the Sacrificial Game really not picky at all?
"I know there are problems, of course, but this is all we can do for now. If we don't count her, we only have Maki left who can perform a rewind. So even if she's highly suspicious, we have to use her. We need her to turn the clock at least once, to get whatever use we can out of her."
Kaguya was clearly aware of the problem Gao Hai was referring to, and she sounded helpless about it, unable to hide the worry in her expression.
If Lao Guo hadn't shown up last night, with both Kaguya and Maki able to use the rewind, they could have delayed using Miwa Maeda.
But now, only Maki could perform a rewind. Considering Maki's own excellent abilities, it wouldn't be appropriate to have her stay behind on the second floor just to turn the clock. Therefore, they had to use Miwa Maeda this round and make her serve her purpose.
"I'm useful, I'm useful! Really, really, if you don't believe me, come and try, hehehe, I'm amazing."
Miwa Maeda shuffled over at that moment, walking up to Gao Hai and Kaguya before promptly lifting her shirt.
Faced with such a scene, Gao Hai took a step back without hesitation, distancing himself from the crazed woman. He gestured for Green to come and take her away while reaching into his pocket, pulling out the key to 304, and holding it out to Kaguya.
"No matter what, be extremely careful. You're the backbone of this team."
To prevent the atmosphere from becoming too tense before they set out, Gao Hai told a small joke to Kaguya.
"Hmph, that kind of little flattery won't work on this grandaunt, you know."
Not far away, Maki, who was stretching in preparation to leave, glanced over and huffed at Gao Hai.
Green grabbed the shoulder of Miwa Maeda, who was still trying to press forward. His eyes unconsciously drifted to the skin under her raised shirt, and he swallowed, a lecherous look appearing in his eyes.
"Don't worry. As the eldest daughter of the Shinomiya family, I won't fall in a place like this."
Kaguya Shinomiya ignored the restrained Miwa Maeda, who was still yelling, "I really am useful!" next to them. Facing Gao Hai, a faint smile touched the corner of her lips. She spoke in a somewhat arrogant tone as she raised her hand to take the key he was offering.
But what she caught in the end was not the key in Gao Hai's hand.
It was Gao Hai's falling hand.
Pfft—
A spray of fresh blood erupted from the severed wrist.
Miwa Maeda spun the sharp knife in her hand, slit the throat of Green who had walked up beside her, and then directly severed Gao Hai's right hand.
The woman lunged forward with astonishing speed. The instant she cut off Gao Hai's hand, her left hand was already gripping a second slender knife, stabbing straight for Kaguya's face.
In that split second of danger, Kaguya's eyes widened in a reflex action. She threw a hand in front of her face, only for it to be pierced through. The blade then sliced open her cheek, leaving a bloody gash.
Thud!
A heavy kick slammed into Kaguya's stomach the next moment.
Gao Hai had already reacted by then, ramming forward through the intense pain of his severed hand, but the woman dodged with a snake-like movement, snatched his severed hand, and grabbed the key it was holding.
The next instant, Kaguya swung a kick sideways, striking the woman squarely in the back. The heavy blow was one she couldn't completely evade. She tumbled to the ground but immediately rolled and leaped back up, about to retreat to one side of the room.
Her retreat was not immediately successful.
Because Maki, having reacted, rushed forward and grabbed the thin cord attached to the key, pulling on it and halting the woman's movement for a moment.
Ignoring her injured hand, Kaguya charged forward again to attack.
"My, what an impressive group of newcomers. And this isn't even a mission a newcomer should be able to survive."
With a teasing voice, the woman swung her knife to cut the cord. Her whole body moved again, dodging Kaguya's attack with an agility almost impossible for a normal person. She darted towards the living room door and simultaneously threw a small knife, which embedded itself in the wall clock on the other side of the room, severing its hands.
At this moment, Miwa Maeda's entire appearance and demeanor had undergone a heaven-and-earth change.
"You're like Lao Guo... a veteran player who broke the rules to get in? You're not Miwa Maeda at all..."
Sun Dajun was so terrified he nearly collapsed. Gao Hai, clutching his bleeding stump and kneeling on the floor, stared at the woman's appearance, understanding everything in that instant.
The two corpses in 205. The fresh one, who died of asphyxiation, was the original player of Room 205. This woman, like Lao Guo, had used some method to force her way into an instance she wasn't qualified for, killed the newcomer in the room, and then used some means—perhaps the power of an Obsession Item—to take their place. The reason the corpse from 205 left the room during the day was probably because this woman's actions had caused a problem with the rules of Room 205, leading to this anomaly!
"So, like I said, you really are an impressive bunch of newcomers. If you were given time to grow and progress through normal instances, you might have become top-tier Red Moon players. It's a shame you most likely won't get that chance anymore."
The woman grinned, her tone dripping with malice.
Kaguya had already charged forward to attack again, but her fist passed straight through the woman's body, hitting nothing.
Before the eyes of everyone in the room, the body of Miwa Maeda, who had been a crazy, useless person for the past three days, began to dissolve like mud, melting away on the floor.
"Me, I don't have any particularly amazing skills. I was just lucky enough to get two Obsession Items that are pretty good for staying alive. So, I love to reap where I haven't sown. The first floor of the Shirakawa Apartments has always been difficult to explore after its deterioration. Thanks to you all this time, I'm very grateful. As a reward, I'll tell you the original way to clear this instance. It was to find a way to get the 'Debt Collector' clothes. As long as you put on the 'Debt Collector' outfit and walked out the first-floor main door before your thoughts were assimilated, you could leave this instance."
"That's the truth, I'm not lying. Of course, that was the old method. Now the 'Debt Collector' has lost its physical form and become something invisible. This instance is being 'solidified.' Maybe because it has devoured enough lives, or maybe it was stimulated by something, but the original clear strategy is completely invalid. In exchange, however, the core Obsession Item, which was once untouchable, is now within reach."
"It's a pity you ran into this situation. With the instance's mutation plus the forced intervention of two non-newcomer players, this apartment has become more dangerous than ever before. But even so, you still managed to get the key to 304 for me. Thank you, thank you so very much. Hehehe, I hope you survive, newcomers~"
Although the woman's figure had almost completely disintegrated into a puddle of slime, her voice continued to echo in the room.
Her words, filled with wicked glee, seemed to deliberately provoke everyone's nerves, wanting to see them lose their composure so she could laugh at them even louder.
"All these days, you were just acting..."
Kaguya's voice was ice-cold, her expression as dark as it could be, but she clenched her fists, unsure of what to do, which only made the other party laugh more wildly.
Maki rushed over to wrap Gao Hai's wound with a bandage. On the other side, Sun Dajun, perhaps due to his poor health, fainted dead away at the sight of all the blood and Green twitching on the ground after having his throat slit.
I can't just let her get away.
I can't let this 'second veteran player' who launched a surprise attack just walk away with the prize I risked my life for.
Her current state... is she using some kind of teleporting Obsession Item?
Where would it teleport to? It couldn't be a place she hasn't been to.
Gao Hai immediately thought of the sealed kitchen door in 205.
No, it's too late to chase her now. Since she chose this moment to strike, she's definitely made sure she can't be caught.
I have to do something here, in this spot, to stop this bastard.
Turning his head, Gao Hai first used his left hand to make a gesture for Kaguya and Maki to cover their ears. Then, in the next instant, he looked directly at the small, blurry figure in the room.
"Li Youcai, Xu Jiazhen..."
He recited the two names in a low voice.
The puddle of mud on the floor was about to disappear completely, and the woman's voice was fading.
But Gao Hai was certain she could still hear what was being said here. She could still hear the single sentence he was about to speak.
No thought was necessary.
After reciting the first two names, the third name naturally spilled from Gao Hai's lips. It was as if it wasn't him saying the name, but some power borrowing his vocal functions, driven by his own desperate wish, to express the third name that should never have been spoken.
"■■■!"
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