Chapter 7: Two Pros Carry a Noob (The Noob is Me)
Even now, with the three of them tentatively allied, the hallway outside remained deathly silent.
The loudmouthed Sun Dajun, the Black guy, the terrified blonde girl—their voices had vanished after Kaguya closed the door, never to be heard again.
What lay beyond that door was anyone's guess.
But for now, at least, the trio inside had other concerns.
"In short, rules-horror is all about surviving by following guidelines that indirectly hint at some terrifying entity. But the rules we have now—I think they're outdated. At the very least, they don't account for what's happening here."
Seated around the coffee table, Kaito studied the two identical printed rule sheets from Rooms 204 and 208 as he spoke.
"Let's set aside the rule about daytime being safe for now, since we haven't confirmed the situation in the hallway yet. But one thing is already quite telling—the rules specify that people inexplicably brought into Shirakawa Apartments are all over 20 years old, yet none of us three here are even 20 yet. This inconsistency alone suggests that the anomalies in this apartment have undergone a massive change, rendering the rules left by previous survivors inaccurate and unable to help us avoid all dangers."
"After all, from the time we arrived here until now, although we haven't explored much, we haven't found any recent signs of life, whether inside the rooms or in the hallway, right? The people who had the ability to leave these rules wouldn't have just left a list and done nothing else. If they were still around, we should have found traces of them. But that's not the case at all. So, I think we should find a way to verify these rules and determine which ones are still valid and which can still protect us."
"Of course, this is just my personal opinion. What do you think?"
As he spoke, Kaito sat obediently on the stool, his expression as innocent as a well-behaved elementary school student.
Though he appeared humble, there was still a hint of pride in Kaito's heart.
After all, I'm a transmigrator, someone who's struggled in society and endured hardships. My knowledge and thinking must be far superior to these high school girls who don't even know what a "rules-based horror" is.
In that case, I'll rely on my wisdom and the help of these two to overcome the challenges ahead!
"If you're talking about traces of those people's lives, I've already found some. But Kaito is right—they must have disappeared a long time ago."
After listening carefully to Kaito, Maki nodded slightly and chimed in. She then walked to the bed on one side of the room, crouched down, and pulled out a small box from under the bed.
"Hmm..."
The box was clearly quite heavy. Maki struggled slightly as she lifted it but managed to carry it slowly to the table, frowning all the while. She placed it on the table, unzipped the small suitcase-like box, and opened it.
In the next moment, Kaito and Kaguya saw a chaotic assortment of items inside the box.
Compressed biscuits, instant noodles in bags, bottled water, toilet paper, alcohol, iodine, fever reducers...
All sorts of supplies were jumbled together, clearly prepared intentionally for the occupants of the room.
"The production dates are all around two years ago, with the most recent being two years and three months. Most of these items are either already expired or close to expiring. The text on everything is in Chinese, so it seems we've been brought to some small town in China. Also, there's this in the box..."
Maki spoke while opening one side of the box and pulling out a white sheet of paper.
Just like the rule sheets previously found in the rooms, this paper also had writing on it.
[To the Survivors]
[No matter who you are, when you wake up in this house, you become one of us]
[As fellow victims of the curse, unable to escape this terrifying apartment, we can only survive better by cooperating with each other]
[This box contains some food and water, as well as disinfectant alcohol, gauze, basic medicines, and tools. These supplies are replaced annually, so don't worry about them being unusable. Take what you need]
[However, if it's nighttime, please try not to make noise when using these items. If you've read the rule sheets we left in the rooms, you'll understand what I mean. If you haven't read them yet, do so immediately. This is no place to retire peacefully—everyone here is constantly exposed to danger. To survive, you must know the rules]
[Inventory of supplies in the box:]
[1. Chocolate bars x3; 2. Canned compressed biscuits x1 box; 3. Vitamin supplements x1 box; 4. Instant noodles x3 bags; 5. Bottled mineral water x5 (600ml each); 6. Lighter x1; 7. Toilet paper x1 pack (180 sheets); 8. Disinfectant alcohol x1 bottle; 9. Iodine solution x1 bottle; 10. Medical bandage x1 roll; 11. Basic medicines x1 box; 12. Sanitary pads x1 box; 13. Clear tape x1 roll; 14. Earplugs x1 pair; 15. Homemade noise-canceling mask x1 (If you snore, wear this at night no matter how uncomfortable it is—never remove it)]
[—Xu Sheng]
Unlike the densely packed rule sheets spanning over two thousand characters, the contents of this note were much simpler and more straightforward.
Just seeing these items gave Kaito an indescribable feeling.
From the survival guidelines placed in every room, to the emergency cabinets deliberately built in the corridors, and now these discovered supplies provided for survivors—it was clear that the group of survivors who once lived here had united with all their might, doing everything possible to improve everyone's chances of survival.
But now, they had vanished without a trace, leaving only these remnants behind.
What exactly had happened during this process?
The text on this note made it abundantly clear that the survivors of the past had the capability to distribute these emergency supplies to every room. This meant that the people who once lived here had thoroughly investigated the rules of this place, to the point where they could live relatively normally and even had ample capacity to help others.
So what had happened to make these survivors disappear without a trace?
"If this 'annual replacement' isn't just empty words, then the organized survivor group that once existed here has been gone for at least a year."
Kaguya, who had maintained an indifferent expression all along, slowly spoke while staring at the scattered items in the small box, lost in thought.
"Exactly. I asked others in the hallway earlier, and they didn't seem to notice whether there were such boxes in the rooms. I suspect every room should have these supply boxes. If we really have to stay here for a while, collecting these supplies is essential. Even if the food is close to expiring, it can at least fill our stomachs. Facing this eerie apartment while starving would be a terrible idea. Right, Great-Aunt?"
As she spoke, Maki sat on the sofa on one side of the room, lightly swinging her legs.
"The items in this supply box are enough to sustain us for about a day. Although we could ration them, doing so would lower our stamina, making it harder to react promptly to danger. In other words, even with a conservative approach, we can only hold out in this room for a day at most. By tomorrow, we'll have to take action and leave."
Kaguya frowned. She didn't like Maki addressing her as "Great-Aunt." While it was technically accurate in terms of family hierarchy, being called something so elderly by a girl her own age irritated Kaguya immensely—so much so that she wanted to start an argument right then and there.
No, she couldn't do that.
As a member of the Shinomiya family, squabbling in private was one thing, but with an outsider present, she had to maintain decorum.
Suppressing her annoyance, Kaguya exhaled softly and kept her expression calm as she continued analyzing the situation:
"While action is necessary, the information we have right now is far too limited, so acting recklessly isn't wise. As Mr. Kaito here pointed out, the rule sheet we have is likely outdated. Even if some parts still hold value, other rules that seem protective might now be deadly traps."
"Therefore, it's crucial for us to sort through this rule sheet carefully."
With a pale finger, she lightly tapped the rule sheet laid out on the table, her tone growing even more serious.
"Let's start with the first rule: from 8 a.m. to 5:50 p.m. This is clearly problematic right now. Despite the light outside suggesting it's daytime, the hallway exhibits anomalies that defy logic. Either the light itself is misleading, and we're actually in nighttime, or this rule is no longer effective, meaning the apartment is dangerous even during the day."
Maki immediately spoke up, having clearly been pondering this issue already.
"I'm certain it's daytime right now—no doubt about it. So the only possibility is that this rule is no longer accurate and can't protect us."
Kaguya responded without hesitation, her tone firm.
"Biological clock?"
Maki paused briefly at this answer, then quickly understood what Kaguya meant.
"That's right. The Shinomiya family has very strict sleep schedules. If it's past 11 PM, my body instinctively grows drowsy. The clock earlier showed around 1 o'clock. If that were 1 AM, I wouldn't have been completely unaffected."
Kaguya gave a slight nod, her tone unconsciously carrying a hint of arrogance.
"What a pitifully strict lifestyle, Auntie. But have you considered time differences? If we've been taken to another time zone, your biological clock wouldn't necessarily align with the local time. And if we want to get really extreme, what if we're in another world?"
Maki snorted and retorted without hesitation, hands on her hips.
"I've considered that too. But everything about this place—the buildings, furniture, even the writing—clearly shows Chinese characteristics. Unless the builders were bored enough to recreate everything to scale in somewhere like America, the time difference can't be significant. Remember, all of China uses the same time zone as Shanghai, which has minimal difference from Japan. As for another world, we don't need to consider that possibility yet. If we go down that rabbit hole, we'll be trapped in this room forever. That line of thinking leads nowhere, and our goal is to escape, not to obsess over dead ends."
Kaguya fired back rapidly, and Maki soon fell into thought before nodding slightly in agreement.
"I think—"
Kaito, who had been struggling to get a word in while watching the two girls volley their rapid-fire dialogue, finally raised his hand to speak.
"Alright, then the next rule is that after 9 PM, this apartment seems to undergo some abnormal changes—"
But Kaguya had already swiftly moved on to the next topic. Even though Maki had paused to hear Kaito out, she was quickly swept up in Kaguya's pace, forced to continue discussing the next issue.
"An absolutely accurate clock... That line wasn't written randomly. There must be some deeper meaning. We should try adjusting the clock later to see what happens."
"According to this rule, after 9 PM, we must stay inside our rooms—preferably the one we woke up in—and maintain absolute silence, ignoring any knocking from 'children'... This 'children' might be symbolic, representing some kind of threat in this apartment. There must be some way the entity monitors the entire building, which is why we can't openly discuss or explain certain things even if we figure them out."
"I checked the wiring in my room as soon as I woke up. It's broken—and has been for a long time. So the third rule about not turning on the lights is meaningless. That might also be evidence of the survivors' disappearance. Back when they were still active, the apartment's electrical system must have been maintained and functional. No, we can't just think about our own rooms. The hallway lights are working. What if those also fall under the 'must be turned off after 9 PM' rule?"
"Is there anything left on the high cabinets? We'll need to check them later. The rules clearly state that the threats resemble young children in size, so they're short enough to evade by climbing onto high cabinets. But since they've disappeared now, it's hard to say if this method still works. However, those cabinets should have some traces left behind, which might help our further investigation."
"The fact that Room 304 is specifically mentioned like this suggests it's a major problem. Meanwhile, the rule-maker claims to live in Room 309, meaning the third floor itself is safe—except for Room 304? Regardless, investigating the third floor is absolutely necessary. By the way, earlier when we were outside, I asked those people about their room numbers. They all live on the second floor. So far, no one has claimed to be from Room 304."
"According to these rules, entering and exiting the apartment isn't restricted—you just have to use the main entrance. But our mission is to escape Shirakawa Apartments within seven days. If it were that easy, there'd be no reason for us to be given this task. The first floor might be extremely dangerous, so we must be as cautious as possible if we investigate."
"Leaving that aside, the hallway has been completely silent until now, which is troubling. Even if you heard footsteps moving away, Auntie, does that really mean it's safe outside? Just deciding whether to open the door and explore is already a problem."
...
Kaito remained motionless.
Silent amidst the rapid exchange between the two young women.
He tried several times to speak up but never found an opening.
Every time he thought of something to say, either Kaguya or Maki would voice it first and swiftly steer the conversation elsewhere. Their pace was so fast that Kaito couldn't keep up, leaving him no room to contribute. Before long, he could only sit there and listen attentively to their analysis, completely abandoning any attempt to join the discussion.
Indeed, there are clear differences between people.
At this moment, Kaito felt like their trio consisted of two geniuses and one useless tagalong. And of course, he was the useless one.
"Anyway, the main question now is whether we should open the door and investigate outside. Auntie, you think we should test the waters, but I still believe we should observe a bit longer—at least wait and see if the other two people who hid in their rooms take any action. We shouldn't be the first to act. By the way, Kaito, what do you think? Any ideas?"
As the discussion neared its end and shifted to immediate action, Maki suddenly turned to the quiet Kaito and asked for his opinion.
"I'll be the one shouting '666,'" Kaito raised his right hand with a deadpan expression, answering very seriously.
"Huh?"
Maki frowned, not understanding the phrase. While she could comprehend Chinese, grasping internet slang was still a stretch for her.
"I'm saying, big boss, please carry me. I'm a newbie, ying ying ying."
Kaito continued with a deadpan expression.
"What kind of bizarre forced cuteness is this? I'm seriously asking for your opinion here!"
Still completely unable to understand what Kaito was talking about, Maki stomped her foot in frustration, her sharp canine teeth slightly exposed.