Green, who was clearly a professional when it came to lockpicking, easily opened the door to Room 205.
Knowing full well what the first problem was, Gao Hai and the others didn't hesitate, immediately deciding to step inside. Kaguya walked at the very front, with Maki and Gao Hai behind her. After a moment's thought, Gao Hai gestured for Green to drag Sun Dajun along and bring the man in with them.
The door to 205 seemed to be intact and could be used as a temporary shelter. That mysterious Lao Guo probably had some skills to protect himself, but if Sun Dajun died outside and turned into a monster that came knocking, it could very well be a repeat of the previous situation. He had no desire to experience the sensation of his entire body collapsing and disintegrating again.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
"Cut the crap. Get over here if you don't want to suffer."
Sun Dajun, all bark and no bite, tried to resist, but in front of the 1.9-meter-tall, muscle-bound Green, he could only mumble a few words before reluctantly following him into Room 205.
"Are you coming with us?"
Gao Hai, walking last, looked at Lao Guo and asked him alone. The young Black man scratched his head and, after some hesitation, stood beside Lao Guo. It seemed he was more willing to trust Lao Guo than Gao Hai's group, which was led by high school students.
"I'm going to investigate the left staircase. You all have some skills, so be careful. The difficulty of this game is highly abnormal. Collect as much information left by the survivors as you can. Also, be careful of corpses, and don't go into 210. This is a word of advice. I hope you can survive."
Unlike last time, this Lao Guo was clearly aware of Gao Hai's suspicions about his identity, so he didn't bother to hide it.
His words, impossible to discern as either sincere or deceptive, faded. Lao Guo signaled for the young Black man to follow, and the two of them walked straight to the other end of the corridor, avoiding the right staircase where some unknown damn thing had come down from before, and headed towards the left staircase.
It was certain now: this man was definitely a veteran player. And unlike Green, who seemed to be just scraping by, this one was a genuine, experienced veteran who might even have something like the [Obsession Item] Green had mentioned.
Speaking of which, although he still had no idea what that "Obsession Item" thing was, looking back, that pause Lao Guo took at the door of Room 210 might have been him using that item to confirm some kind of threat. After all, the name "Obsession Item" sounded like a tool with supernatural power. Maybe if you got a super-powerful one, you could slay gods and buddhas alike, crushing these so-called horror stories as easily as squashing a chick.
But this was just Gao Hai's wild speculation and daydreaming. Besides, when he thought about how the man had tried to gather survivors at the beginning, and how he was now leaving without hesitation after tricking that Black guy into joining him, he felt that this man was probably not the type for happy, fruitful cooperation. Parting ways and going their separate paths might actually be the better choice.
It was just that young Black man who chose Lao Guo as his partner... Gao Hai had an instinct that his fate would likely not be a good one. But without knowing Lao Guo's true nature, he couldn't possibly force the man to stay based on some vague suspicions.
Click—
Although doing so felt like cutting off their own escape route, those knocking things in the hallway before were simply too terrifying. Even if it meant facing whatever potential threat lay within Room 205, Gao Hai had to close the door. This time, no one could be left in the hallway; everyone had to stay in the living room or the kitchen area.
Back when the knocking started, just by hearing the sound, those things had established a dialogue based on the thoughts in his mind. But with the living room walls in between, he could barely hear the sounds from outside. Could it be that the apartment's extremely bizarre layout was specifically designed to guard against this knocking horror story?
To the right of the main door was the bathroom; to the left was the hallway.
The general layout was no different from Room 204 or 208. You walk to the end, make a right-angle turn, and walk down that corridor to the end, where you would face a wall clock... ah, this room's wall clock was gone. Looked like Kaguya or Maki had taken it. Anyway, from here, another right turn led to the living room door. Hmm, calling it a living room wasn't entirely accurate, since the room actually served the dual purpose of a living room and a bedroom.
"Aaaah-ooh-ooh-eee—"
A scream suddenly erupted. Or rather, it had just begun to erupt before being mercilessly suppressed.
Gao Hai walked through the dim hallway and stepped into the equally dim living room. Noticing the poor light in 205, with its two windows almost completely boarded up, he first scanned the room's general layout. The living room in 205 didn't have a coffee table or a round table; instead, a small desk and a bookcase were placed against the wall by the door.
The kitchen door was completely nailed shut with planks of various sizes. A foul odor could be faintly smelled from within, as if something had rotted behind the door.
Scattered on the floor were some torn scraps of paper. They appeared to have nothing written on them, or perhaps just some chaotic lines. At first, Gao Hai thought they might contain clues, but after picking up a couple, he found they were just meaningless scribbles and tossed them away in disappointment.
A trembling Sun Dajun was cowering on one side of the room, too scared to move under the threat of Green's massive muscles. Green himself stood cautiously nearby, and upon seeing Gao Hai enter, he flashed a somewhat sycophantic smile. To be honest, seeing a grown man make such an expression was genuinely disgusting to Gao Hai, but since the man was willing to be obedient for now, he decided to ignore him.
Maki Shijo had found a tattered little backpack somewhere and had put the wall clock from Room 208, as well as the one from 205, inside it. She was standing by the door and seemed to quietly let out a sigh of relief only after Gao Hai came in. It appeared she had been keeping an eye on Green and Sun Dajun, guarding against any unforeseen incidents.
As for Kaguya, she was currently clamping the blonde woman's mouth shut with one hand. With a grip like an iron vise, she dragged the woman off the bed, remaining completely unmoved despite her frantic struggles.
"Be quiet. I don't want to say it a second time."
Kaguya Shinomiya's voice was as cold as ice, causing the struggling woman to tremble uncontrollably. With tear-filled eyes, she raised her hands to signal her surrender.
Why do I suddenly feel like I've joined the villains?
With this thought, Gao Hai walked to the side of the bed, crouched down, and lifted the dirty bedsheet that hung down to the floor.
A stiff female corpse appeared before his eyes.
"What the fu—"
Sun Dajun was about to scream, but Kaguya instantly turned her head, and a bone-chilling "Be quiet," coupled with a glare from Green, forced the man to behave. He squatted on the ground, his face a mask of misery.
Although Green was still trying his best to be a good lackey, he couldn't help but tremble a little upon seeing the corpse. But he quickly noticed that Kaguya was completely unfazed by the body under the bed. Gao Hai also lifted the sheet with a blank expression, fearlessly crouching down to examine the corpse. Even Maki, standing a little farther away, showed no reaction. None of the three looked a day over twenty, yet they were the calmest people here.
As expected. All three of them had experienced at least one horror story game; they were highly experienced veterans.
As long as he followed them, did everything he could to be useful, and kept these big shots happy, he would definitely survive this game.
That's right. As long as I can survive this damn game, I wouldn't care even if they told me to go lick a bedpan in the toilet. Not to mention, these three big shots seem pretty reasonable. As long as I don't get in their way and can be of some small help, I, Green, will definitely make it through this ordeal!
Putting the self-satisfied fellow aside for a moment, Gao Hai's attention was now completely focused on the corpse before him.
The woman's hysterical screaming, which had previously attracted a plot-kill level boss, was probably because she had seen this corpse.
Unlike the man frozen solid in the refrigerator in Room 208, this female corpse looked like she had died recently. Her eyes were closed, her lips were a faint purple, and her face seemed slightly swollen. She was wearing gray pajamas with a wide collar that covered her neck. The fingers extending from her sleeves were also a bruised, purplish color. A distinct dark yellow stain was visible on her pajama bottoms, accompanied by a faint, almost dissipated odor.
Gao Hai already had a vague idea of the possible cause of death, but he needed to investigate a few details, such as whether there were strangulation marks on the corpse's neck, any peeling skin, or scratch marks.
[Be careful of corpses]
But he couldn't help but recall Lao Guo's advice before he left.
Did this person die in this room?
What could have killed her? And where was the thing that killed her now?
Gao Hai turned his head and scanned the general structure of the room. In the dim light, the scene was slightly blurry, but it didn't stop him from seeing the layout clearly and confirming there was no space for anything to hide—assuming, of course, that this "thing" was a physical entity.
Then, he turned back and looked at the double bed placed against the wall, noting its width.
Finally, he lowered his head again, staring intently at the silent female corpse lying under the bed.
And at the face lying behind the female corpse, staring motionlessly at him: the face of a man with glasses, half of which was a jumbled mess like smashed building blocks, covered in dark-red, filthy blood.
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