"…"
His body reacted before his mind did, moving on instinct.
In almost an instant, Takumi grabbed Maki's shoulders, lifted her up, and threw her toward a cabinet at the side of the corridor.
Coming to her senses, Maki forcibly resisted the strange voices echoing in her mind, trembling as she climbed up onto the cabinet and hid at the very top.
Then Takumi gave a hard jump, flipped himself up after her, landed on the top of the cabinet, and panted heavily, forcing himself to shift his focus away from the he-he-ha-ha sounds below.
[Hahaha—]
[Everyone's a good child—]
[Hehe—good children should play together—]
[Don't play with bad children—]
[Haha—]
[Hehehe—]
Those laughs clearly sounded like ordinary children's voices, yet at this moment they were filled with an intense eeriness, as though they were about to crush Takumi's thoughts completely.
He turned his head, looking toward the inner side of the cabinet top against the wall.
He saw a sheet of printed paper stuck to the wall, saw the contents written on it, saw the sawed-off section beneath the cabinet's top, and the few scattered items inside that small enclosed space.
[1. Do not look down. Do not make eye contact. That's the only way you can survive.]
[2. You are safe here. You will not be harmed. So don't panic—stay calm.]
[3. One side of the cabinet usually contains supplies. There is food, water, disinfectant alcohol, and gauze. If you are injured or thirsty, you may take them.]
[4. If it is nighttime in the corridor, be sure to stay here until it is completely bright outside.]
[—Kyosei]
It's this person again… truly thoughtful, as always.
Takumi lay motionless atop the cabinet, while on the other side Maki remained just as silent.
The children's laughter gradually faded away.
One after another, they quickly disappeared to the other end of the corridor.
But Takumi had no intention of going down.
He simply continued lying quietly atop the cabinet, motionless, keeping completely still.
[Tch, so boring.]
[So boring, so boring!]
[The bad child doesn't dare come.]
[The bad child doesn't dare come again.]
[The bad child just keeps hiding from everyone.]
[Because she's not a good child, hehehe—]
[Hehehe—we won't play with her—]
[Hehehe—then we won't play with her—]
[Hehehe—good children don't play with bad children—]
[Hehehe—hahaha—]
And then, once again, the children's voices began to recede, accompanied by skipping footsteps and cheerful laughter.
It was only after the voices of those children completely vanished—after the sounds fully disappeared at the end of the corridor—that Maki, lying on top of the opposite cabinet, closed her eyes and listened carefully for a long while before finally exhaling, her expression showing lingering fear.
She had noticed earlier that the laughter of the children when they came and when they left didn't perfectly overlap—there were discrepancies—meaning some of them had likely remained silent in place. That was why, while lying on the cabinet, she had signaled Takumi to stay still, and the two of them hadn't moved, waiting for a while instead.
"What the hell is that… that kind of thing…"
After confirming that those things had indeed left, Takumi and Maki jumped down from the cabinet. Maki let out a heavy sigh and said in a low voice, still a bit shaken.
"This is one of the things we'll have to face next."
Before jumping down, Takumi had casually pulled a chocolate bar from the hidden compartment left behind by Kyosei's group on top of the cabinet. As he spoke, he ate it, his expression gradually turning grim.
He had to admit, he might have gotten a bit carried away.
After smoothly taking down those two troublemaking veteran players and, together with Maki, resolving the biggest problem at the start of the instance through perfect teamwork, his mood had become a little too relaxed. He had even started to feel that there was no longer any problem that could trouble him.
But the reality before him was that he was still trapped inside this apartment. None of them had yet managed to leave this place.
"It's still far from the time to relax…"
With a sigh, Takumi finally said this, then gestured for Maki to follow him back into the room, leaving that narrow and gloomy corridor behind.
...
"Then, for the first round of exploration on the third floor, Shinomiya-san and I will be the ones to carry it out."
In the living room of Room 206, Takumi, sitting at the table, lightly tapped the tabletop with his hand and calmly stated the result of the group's discussion.
"That's right, let's decide it like that. How about setting the action time for ten minutes from now?"
Sitting on the other side, Kaguya lightly nodded and spoke in an even tone.
"Then it's settled. I'll stay here as backup, in case of an emergency. You two be careful—it's not a pleasant place."
Resting her head on one hand, Maki also spoke up, her eyes filled with serious intent.
The final exploration of the Shirakawa Apartments' uppermost area—the third floor—was thus basically arranged. It was, for now, their most important mission.
Although Takumi personally preferred to act together with Maki, since the two of them understood each other best, Maki had voiced her opposition. She had subtly reminded him that Kaguya was feeling uneasy and anxious about the current situation, and that it would be best for him to accompany her once, ensuring that Kaguya could gain some understanding of him during this cycle. Considering Takumi's own description of the third floor's complex structure, Kaguya's sharper reflexes and physical responsiveness would indeed be a valuable help.
Takumi actually suspected that Maki, because of the conversation in the corridor earlier, might be somewhat hesitant to be alone with him for the time being. However, what she said did make sense, so Takumi accepted her proposal. As for Kaguya, she did not refuse either. After all, at the start of the round, during Takumi and Maki's coordinated attack where they killed two people in succession, to be honest, this proud and arrogant genius girl had already been left somewhat disoriented. Now, having a chance to take action personally could at least help ease the unease in her heart.
Yamamoto Hiroshi, just like in the previous loop, was still in charge of repairing the two doors of Room 204. However, this time, he had Green and Jamal—the black-and-white duo—guarding him, so they would be able to respond better in case of any dangerous situation. Green aside, Mamel turned out to be even more useful as a teammate than Takumi had expected. Basically, he would happily do whatever the group asked of him, never quarreling with anyone, and even showing a bit of adventurous spirit by volunteering to take on exploration tasks. Moreover, his willpower was fairly strong—after putting on the badge, he could maintain about one minute of self-control and remove the badge of his own will within that time.
If Takumi weren't worried about leaving Yamamoto Hiroshi under only Green's protection, he probably would have considered taking this Black guy along.
He really seemed like a cheerful young man. It was a pity that in the previous two loops, such a guy had ended up as a sacrifice to someone like Tanaka.
Maki and Maeda Miwa stayed together in one room. The first person to turn the clock was Maeda Miwa, while Takumi, Kaguya, and Maki agreed on a return time of 3 hours. If neither of them could return to the second floor within those 3 hours, then Maki would have to order Maeda Miwa to turn the clock.
As for how to ensure a safe return from the third floor, that brought up another Obsession Item in Tanaka's possession—a blood-colored key capable of unlocking almost any door.
This Obsession Item had not been obtained by Takumi and the others at first, because it had fallen inside Room 210. When Tanaka was being beaten by the headless male corpse in that room, the key dropped to the floor and thus was never picked up by Takumi's group.
However, since Takumi had experienced the previous loop, he knew that Tanaka had this item in his possession. Therefore, after taking stock of their gains, he spent quite some time searching and eventually entered Room 210. There, after trapping the headless male corpse with the Blood Puppet, he obtained the key.
A door opened with this key had a certain possibility of leading to the place the user wished to go—or of luring something dangerous to the person who opened it. It was a double-edged sword that had to be used with caution. At the same time, for Takumi and Kaguya, who were about to explore the third floor, this was also their only chance to return safely. After all, the structure of the entire third floor was extremely complex, and finding a path back to the second floor would be exceedingly difficult.
"Don't die up there, Takumi-kun, and you too, Oba-san."
Before departure, Maki waved her hand at the two, speaking in a tone that was slightly less than courteous.
"Don't worry. I value my own life quite a lot."
Takumi gave Maki a thumbs-up.
"You'd better mean that."
Maki did not meet Takumi's gaze and only responded with a small huff.
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