Shinomiya Kaguya heard coughing sounds coming from next door.
The other person's physical condition seemed extremely poor, coughing nonstop. That person's voice was always filled with confusion, as if many memories had been forgotten, as though the mind had already suffered extremely severe damage, nearly losing even the most basic sense of self and humanity.
[Hehe…]
She heard that person start laughing again.
[Hehe... they stole it, they stole her away from her side…]
[Must be found… it has to be found…]
[If it isn't found… everyone will die… hehehe… you too…]
The voice, neurotic, kept repeating itself nonstop, muttering incessantly without pause.
A shrill scraping sound rang out.
It was the sound of fingernails scraping against a heavy metal door.
Then, all of a sudden, the other party let out a low cry of surprise, as if having discovered something.
[Who's there?]
[Are you also someone who was locked in here?]
[Those bastards… they've kept me locked up in here this whole time. I… my name is Howard. What's your name?]
[Ha… it's fine if you don't speak. I've been locked up here for a long time. I've just been locked up here for a very long time…]
[No, no, no, no, no. Is there really someone there? No, no, no, no…]
The voice behind the wall tried once again to speak to Kaguya.
And just like before, Kaguya maintained her silence and did not respond. Before long, the person's voice turned back into self-directed muttering, and in the midst of nervous, rambling murmurs, it faded away and returned to silence.
After another several dozen minutes, or perhaps an hour or two, that voice would begin to sound again, once more starting to mutter to itself.
Kaguya knew this routine very well, because this was already the seventh time it had happened.
Before lights-out yesterday, this voice had already sounded many times. Today was the same—appearing intermittently, then disappearing again.
She never responded to that voice.
Part of it stemmed from cautious restraint due to uncertainty about the other party's identity.
Another reason, on the other hand, was related to the notice she had seen when she was escorted in.
[Quarantine Zone Prison Management Regulations]
[1. No guards are to be left within the prison area. All personnel entering or exiting must not remain here continuously for more than 1 hour, and the cumulative duration of stay within a 24-hour period must not exceed 3 hours. The number of times the same guard enters or exits this area within 3 days must be fewer than 6 times.]
[2. Do not speak with the detainees in the prison area. Do not respond to any words spoken by the detainees. The detainees are quiet; they will not speak.]
[3. Do not access the prison area surveillance without authorization from a superior, especially the surveillance inside the cells. Do not disturb those who are detained.]
[4. Before entering, confirm that the prison area is a concrete structure, an independent area secretly constructed within the fill zone. If, after opening the isolation door, you see a scene that should not exist in this area, do not step inside. Close the door and do not enter the prison area again that day.]
[5. Use the mechanical structure built into the cell door to deliver the daily food into the cell. Do not look into the cell when the mechanism is activated, and do not attempt to listen for whether any sound exists inside the cell at that time.]
[6. Use the life-detection system inside the cell to verify whether anyone has survived. When the life-detection indicators within a cell disappear, do not deliver food to that cell on that day.]
[7. Only cells in which no life signs have been detected for three consecutive days may receive new detainees. If, when detaining new personnel, you discover that the designated cell has displayed a life-sign detection indicator within the past three days—that is, a red indicator light—immediately cease execution of your task and request that a superior assign another cell for detention. Do not make unilateral decisions to place detainees in other cell areas. This constitutes an extremely serious violation.]
[8. All cells will have lights turned off punctually at 22:00 each day and turned on at 7:00 the following day. During lights-out periods, entry into the prison area is strictly prohibited. If, during the lighting period, the lights in any room fail to restore, do not tamper with it, and do not open the cell door or use lighting equipment to observe the interior. Report the situation to a superior and allow them to arrange personnel to handle it.]
[9. The central confinement chamber of this area has been abandoned. The main door has been completely welded shut, and entry into the confinement chamber is no longer possible. If, after entering this area, you hear distinct voices coming from the direction of the confinement chamber, you must immediately leave the area. You will not be assigned to work in this area again in the future.]
[These management regulations do not establish any punishment or disciplinary standards. Please be sure to comply with the above contents.]
Line by line, the text was simple enough, yet by the end, that note stating "no punishment or disciplinary standards are established" was particularly attention-grabbing.
Kaguya did not know how to describe that line. The feeling it left her with was that "even if punitive measures were established, they would be meaningless."
In short, this prison was absolutely abnormal. Within this extremely eerie area, there was very likely something truly terrifying hidden away, and therefore she had to be extremely cautious.
It was precisely because of this that Kaguya had never communicated with the voice behind the wall, instead remaining silently seated in place, waiting without moving.
How were the others doing now?
Kaguya could not help but wonder.
The doll had not responded to Kaguya for quite some time, and she did not know why. She could only make guesses and pray silently in her heart, hoping that Maki and Chika were merely busy with something for the moment, hoping that both of them would ultimately remain safe and sound, with nothing bad happening to either of them.
Bzzz—
Amid a dull sound, the central section of the cell's fully sealed door opened. A small tray was delivered in from the corridor outside, with several bowls and dishes placed on it. It looked like this was meant to be her food for the day.
Kaguya stood up and took the food down, placing it on the ground to one side, but she had no intention of trying to eat it.
She merely watched in silence as that movable panel closed again, listening to the footsteps of the soldier distributing food passing by one cell after another outside.
Including her own cell, the food-delivery mechanism stopped a total of three times.
That meant that, aside from herself, there should be two other detainees here—at least, she hoped they were "people." Judging from the distance suggested by the sounds, they should be in two adjacent neighboring cells. They might be D3 and D4, though the possibility of rooms D2 and D3 also could not be ruled out.
The footsteps did not stop at the cell next to hers.
The person walked straight past the neighboring cell without any intention of stopping to distribute food.
In other words, was there no one inside the adjacent cell?
Upon realizing this, Kaguya's mood immediately grew heavy.
What she did not hear was that after the soldier responsible for delivering the meals left the prison area, went up the stairs, and opened and closed the gate leading into this place, the door that had been shut quietly opened again a few minutes after the soldier departed.
With a wary expression, Maki put away the Blood Key and cautiously stepped into this gloomy, oppressive place.
Behind her, Chika—now dressed in a soldier's uniform—reopened the door after it had closed, then proceeded toward the Quarantine Zone.
At this very moment, the invisible doll controlled by Maki had already taken advantage of the instant when the food-delivery panel opened to slip out, immediately following Chika and acting together with her.
As for Maki herself, she was heading off to search for Kaguya and get her out of that cell, to prevent her from remaining trapped in that sealed, eerie place.
There was still a great deal to do next.
After confirming that a prototype of the [Black Blood Bullet] existed in the research area, there were far too many questions that needed to be considered.
The matter of the Red Nut Grey Cave was already an old affair from the last century, yet the [Black Blood Bullet] developed here later became equipment used by United States players when the Horror Story game appeared years afterward. The chain of causes and effects behind this was a question well worth deep reflection.
In addition, what exactly was the [Lost One]—for which the game prompts had provided no clues so far? Whether this entity could be found in the prison area was also one of the important reasons why Maki had to come here to investigate. The voice behind the wall that Kaguya had heard was something she herself could also hear clearly through the doll, and this issue would definitely have to be investigated thoroughly later.
As for Chika, what she needed to investigate was another matter—or rather, another person.
A person called [Gallagher].
The Cave Research Base had two leaders: one was Professor Vernon, representing the researchers, and the other was General Gallagher, who was responsible for managing the soldiers.
Many of the rules of this eerie place mentioned these two figures side by side. According to certain pieces of information, General Gallagher's authority even surpassed Vernon's; in theory, General Gallagher should have been the one truly in control of this place. Yet across three playthroughs so far, no one in Kaguya's group had ever seen this general. It was as if he had vanished without a trace—aside from his name, he had left behind no signs at all. This point was extremely suspicious.
Therefore, what Chika needed to do next was to attempt to enter General Gallagher's office under the guise of a soldier, using force directly if necessary.
And because she had the doll accompany Chika in her actions, Maki could obtain information about Chika's situation at any time and launch support using the Blood Key whenever needed—after all, there were many doors within the research base.
As for the last remaining person besides them—the only one who could not enter the research base area, otherwise it would result in a total party wipe—Takumi. He was no longer staying in the small hut that could be used as a safe house shelter. In fact, Takumi had already torn down Wilbur's note, then directly removed the lever of the power switch and hid it in his own backpack.
That backpack was now on Maki's back. Takumi, meanwhile, had taken two homemade explosives from the pack. As for the reason he took those items, Takumi had not yet given any explanation.
Splash—
As he moved forward, the murky flow of water was parted beneath his feet.
Amid the continuous sound of dripping water, Takumi had already arrived at the upper area of the Red Nut Grey Cave, standing in the location known as the [Plains].
Earlier, he had already gone to the guard post, where he saw Shelby and Ed resting there. He also learned that Rex had returned briefly earlier, then left again without anyone knowing where he had gone to investigate. Susan had stayed with them in the guard post for only a short while before leaving as well.
Takumi did not linger there for long. He soon departed, and then, at the junction between the [Stone Forest Path] and the [Plains], he saw a player who was shivering slightly and trudging with difficulty toward this direction. It was a newbie player he had encountered before, already middle-aged, named Sato Takao. As for his specialty, it was demolition—he had previously worked blasting mines.
This specialty led Takumi to decide to find him and guide him to the guard post to rest for a while. As for himself, after confirming that over the course of a single day the Rescue Team players had already been almost completely wiped out, he instead made his way to the entrance area of the [Gentle Slope].
Takumi remembered very clearly that the [Gentle Slope] was a dangerous area that even firefighters were not permitted to enter, especially the vicinity of the Great Rift.
According to the contents of the rescue personnel regulations, the reason for not entering the Gentle Slope was that "the Gentle Slope has no one who requires rescue"—a statement that was truly quite unsettling.
Although doing this would very likely bring considerable danger, it was worth a try!
"Then it's decided—it's you, Rescue Team. Go in and check it out."
Thus, having made up his mind, Takumi directly issued an order to the rescue team member he had already summoned before arriving at the guard post, commanding them to step through the murky water and enter the [Gentle Slope]. Takumi himself, as if watching a show, retreated some distance, then decisively found a large rock that was not completely submerged and sat down.
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