More than ten minutes later, inside the small room.
Gao Hai closed his eyes, contemplated for a moment, then slowly opened them again.
"Alright, I think I have a decent grasp of the situation now."
In the Japan region, or at least in the Tokyo area, the number of currently active players was around fifty. The vast majority of them were unaffiliated, solo players. The only three player organizations all had fewer than ten members.
For example, the organization called the 'Woman-Face Gang' had five members, all of them female. By using a special flesh-type Obsession Item obtained from a Dim Night-level hospital instance, they could replace and seize the existence of others, and even use that seized existence to die in their place in moments of danger. It was an extremely powerful Obsession Item.
This piece of information completely solved the puzzle of the female spy's methods for Gao Hai. It now seemed that the spy must have killed Miwa Maeda and used the Obsession Item to seize her existence, then masqueraded as her the entire time. In the first and second loops, the so-called 'Miwa Maeda who died and became a door-knocking horror story' was actually the spy releasing the existence she had seized, letting it be attacked and killed by the horror story in her stead as a means of misdirection.
In a sense, if Gao Hai hadn't acted immediately to eliminate the female spy in the third loop, once she had completed the existence seizure, he would have had to kill her twice. The variables in that scenario would have been immense, and it would be hard to say if he could have successfully ended everything in the third loop under those circumstances.
The reason Gao Hai didn't find this Obsession Item when he killed the spy was also simple. Just as its name, 'Substitute Flesh,' implied, one had to swallow it to use it, allowing a mass of writhing flesh to occupy a part of one's body. Even if the host died, the Obsession Item would not leave the host's body. Instead, it would slowly eat the host from the inside out until only a layer of human skin remained. It would then control this skin, enter an out-of-control state, and return to its horror instance.
That's right, Gao Hai had learned from Hitori Gotoh what happens when an Obsession Item goes out of control in the real world: it 'returns to the world of horror stories.'
If a player's Obsession Item goes out of control inside an instance, it will summon the corresponding anomaly into the current instance, greatly increasing its danger. If an Obsession Item goes out of control in the real world, it will vanish into thin air within about five to ten minutes, devouring the people and things affected by its rampage and sending them all into the Obsession Item's corresponding instance world.
Considering that Obsession Items seem to have a perception-shielding effect on ordinary people, this also better explained why there hadn't been a large-scale outbreak of supernatural incidents in the real world.
No, perhaps it's more accurate to say there hasn't been a large-scale outbreak *yet*...
Gao Hai couldn't help but think again of those things floating around in various places.
"It's really hard to believe such a disgusting Obsession Item exists. People who would accept something like that, no wonder they're so insane."
Sitting beside Gao Hai, Maki sighed softly, an expression of disgust on her face.
The power of 'Substitute Flesh' was immense, but its side effects were also obvious. The user whose flesh was replaced would develop a craving for fresh flesh of the same species, their personality would become severely twisted, and the longer the Obsession Item was used, the more severe the abnormal changes to their body would become. Even a completely normal person would inevitably turn into a bloodthirsty, cruel madman after using it. Furthermore, there were no returns; once used, it was a lifelong companion, with death being the only means of removal.
"So they're the standard, irredeemably evil player-villain faction, and we've already made enemies of them. These bastards are quite loyal to each other; kill one of them, and the other four come looking for you. And since they've already killed Miwa Maeda, they probably have a basic understanding of us. But if they really have our information, shouldn't they have just come straight for us? Why hasn't there been any movement?"
Gao Hai was not at all afraid of this so-called 'Woman-Face Gang'. Killing one was the same as killing five. As long as they weren't beautiful girls who treated him with kindness like Maki, Kaguya, or little Bocchi, Gao Hai wouldn't feel a shred of pity for killing them. He just didn't quite understand the current situation. Since the enemy could quickly find and kill Miwa Maeda, it proved they were capable. Yet, based on their performance at the market earlier, the 'Woman-Face Gang' seemed to have no information on Gao Hai's group at all, to the point where they had to hire people to probe for information in the market.
Could it be that a group of psychopathic veteran players couldn't even break a worthless weakling?
Gao Hai grew even more confused.
However, from Gao Hai's personal perspective, it was only natural for him to be confused due to a lack of information.
He would never know just how furious the four remaining members of the 'Woman-Face Gang' were, and how deeply bewildered they felt at their inability to get any information.
Miwa Maeda was definitely not a tight-lipped person.
In fact, after surviving Shirakawa Apartments, the woman had almost immediately run to a hotel, drinking and partying hedonistically to vent the terror she had accumulated in that death-trap apartment. She even swaggered around, blabbing about what happened in Shirakawa Apartments, and as a result, was immediately discovered by a member of the 'Woman-Face Gang' who happened to be at the same hotel.
How bloody the subsequent interrogation process was is unimportant. What mattered was that Miwa Maeda's mouth, which they thought would be easy to pry open, failed to provide the information the 'Woman-Face Gang' wanted. And the reason for this was simple:
Before Miwa Maeda was found by the 'Woman-Face Gang,' she had already taken five times the normal dose of a hallucinogen.
This drug, recently popular in Japan and extracted from a certain type of poisonous mushroom, induced a strong sense of euphoria, plunging the user into a daze of vivid hallucinations. Although the police had been cracking down hard, a considerable amount of the hallucinogen still circulated in various entertainment venues.
And Miwa Maeda, having gone through the extreme life-and-death crisis of Shirakawa Apartments, had recklessly binged on the stuff to blow off steam, driving herself half-mad on the spot. She was completely incapable of giving the 'Woman-Face Gang' a coherent sentence. Combined with the corrosive influence of the 'Substitute Flesh,' these players were already extremely irritable and cruel. The interrogator couldn't hold back and killed Miwa Maeda on the spot, leaving the scene full of pent-up anger to start looking for other ways to find the participants of the Shirakawa Apartments mission.
Although the 'Woman-Face Gang' was indeed putting a lot of effort into finding them, even they felt it was a long shot. After all, players participating in instances came from all over the world, and their small gang's reach was limited. Therefore, they were more inclined to believe a veteran player was responsible and had focused their investigation on some secretive information brokers. As for the market, they had merely hired two people to repeatedly discuss related information to attract attention, hoping to stumble upon a clue.
"In any case, we should just keep a low profile for a while."
Gao Hai finally said just that.
The total number of active players in all of Japan did not exceed three hundred, while the number of active players worldwide was around two thousand. At least, the number of registered users on the global player network—which only players could browse because ordinary people would overlook and be unable to click on it due to the influence of Obsession Items—was around two thousand. Hitori Gotoh relayed this information to Gao Hai and Maki and gave them the URL for that network, finally connecting them to the larger player community.
Just as Gao Hai had initially guessed, the 'instance entry ticket,' an item obtained after normally clearing an instance, was essentially an intangible, floating object visible only to its holder. It could be summoned at any time for confirmation, and ownership could only be transferred when face-to-face with another player within two meters. To use it, one had to do so during the once-a-month instance opening time. Upon use, it could replace the instance assigned by the Sacrificial Game, serving as a way to reduce uncertainty and increase the probability of survival.
Veteran players had a very high demand for 'instance entry tickets,' especially Twilight-level ones. Dim Night-level missions were extremely difficult and could already be described as a one-in-ten chance of survival; Red Moon-level missions were so terrifying that even hearing the name made people's faces change color, and even top-tier players could at best manage to survive by a thread. But the Sacrificial Game didn't care about any of that. As soon as you achieved two A-rank evaluations at the same difficulty, your next mission would definitely be arranged at a higher level. Thus, the 'instance entry ticket' became a lifesaver for many veteran players.
But this method also had its limits. Although Hitori Gotoh hadn't experienced it herself, she had learned from the veteran player who guided her through her first clear that, regardless of whether you received two A-rank evaluations at the same difficulty, if you continuously cleared instances at the same level five times, you would start to be targeted the next time you entered a mission of that level. If you still refused to change the instance level after being targeted, this targeting would become more and more obvious, and clearing the instance would become increasingly difficult.
For example, other players playing normally would be assigned an identity by the instance and could use this identity to figure out their role and the rules they needed to follow. But a targeted veteran player would enter the instance in a 'stateless' or even 'identity-confused' state. For instance, Lao Guo couldn't obtain the 'Tenant' identity like Kaguya and Maki, and would be immediately identified as a hostile target by the corpses in the building and get beaten up.
And suppose Lao Guo had survived the Shirakawa Apartments instance and continued to participate in it repeatedly. He would face even more severe targeting for continuously participating in Twilight-level instances. Perhaps he would spawn directly on the 3rd floor, surrounded by porcelain dolls and footsteps. Perhaps he would start the game sitting in the living room of Room 109, facing the open diary with the little girl's name right in his face. He might even be thrown into Room 304 at the very beginning, face-to-face with that pair of beastly parents who have now become fuel.
There was only one way to remove this targeting: participate in an instance of a different difficulty, such as Dim Night-level, or of course, challenge the Red Moon-level. But for most players, the danger of a Dim Night-level instance was daunting enough. Therefore, unless they were targeted to the point of being in an unwinnable, instant-death scenario, veteran players would rather endure all sorts of malicious targeting and stay in the Twilight-level.
As for why the Dim Night-level was so daunting to veteran players...
Gao Hai looked at Hitori Gotoh, seeking her guidance.
The pink-haired girl nodded seriously and then once again took out her guitar.
"No, could you please explain it the normal way?"
Gao Hai, really not wanting to hear that strange performance again, raised his hand and suggested.
And so, Hitori Gotoh put her guitar back with teary eyes.
This girl... although she always had a tearful face in the anime, she surely couldn't be this quick to cry, right?
In any case, after spending some more time, Gao Hai finally learned from Hitori Gotoh the specific differences between the three difficulty levels of the Sacrificial Game.
First, a common feature of all games is that there will be four game hints, which are often related to the game's Core Obsession.
For Twilight-level games, the simplest in the Sacrificial Game, there is always only one Core Obsession, and its four game hints are guaranteed to be true. In other words, the origin of every Twilight-level game stems from the obsession of a single person, and players will receive four related hints at the very beginning. As long as one confirms the information about this core obsession, one can devise a related clear method, or even attempt to seize the Core Obsession Item.
As for the second level, Dim Night-level games, aside from the feature that one of the four game hints is always false, three different scenarios have been summarized so far.
In the first scenario, a Dim Night-level game, like a Twilight-level one, has only one instance core. However, the time progression within this instance often spans several decades, with the obsessions of numerous deceased individuals mingling together, making it extremely difficult to find the core. This is the most common and simplest type of Dim Night-level game.
The second type of Dim Night-level difficulty has two to three Core Obsessions. This type of instance is no longer composed of a single core and begins to feature overlapping and hidden obsessions. This is a high-risk difficulty worthy of being called a Dim Night-level benchmark, and every known dual-core or triple-core Dim Night instance is a terrifying entity that players avoid at all costs.
In addition, there is a third type of Dim Night game. This type is generally no longer considered a true Dim Night game because, in fact, it has been downgraded from the Red Moon level. When a Red Moon game has one or more of its Core Obsession Items removed for various reasons, causing a drop in difficulty, that Red Moon game is downgraded and reclassified as a Dim Night game. But, although the difficulty is said to be lowered, the complexity and danger of such an instance's rules are still effectively at the Red Moon level. Even extremely powerful players struggle to survive in such instances, so they are called 'pseudo-Red Moon level' by players.
As for true Red Moon-level games, Hitori Gotoh knew very little. She had never experienced a game of this level, and none of the veterans she knew had come out of one alive. The only thing known for certain is that a Dim Night-level instance called 'Campus Mysteries' was once ranked as Red Moon. Players discovered a total of 8 different Core Obsessions in that instance, but later, some players managed to take away three Core Obsession Items, causing the instance to be downgraded to Dim Night.
And when mentioning Core Obsession Items, Gao Hai finally learned that on the player network, many players who had cleared the Twilight-level instance Shirakawa Apartments had noticed three months ago that it was showing a trend of becoming fixed. It also happened to be the only instance about to be fixed during this period. Therefore, if Gao Hai's group, who cleared an instance but received no entry ticket, were to expose themselves, anyone with a mind for it would immediately connect them to this particular instance.
As for the Spirit's Blessings the three of them received, it was actually part of a different system from the Core Obsession Item. A player who takes the Core Obsession Item is still following a normal clear method, just with the item as a prize. After the Core Obsession Item is taken, the instance it was taken from will be in a 'locked' state and cannot be entered until the item goes out of control. Obtaining a Spirit's Blessing, on the other hand, requires fulfilling the instance's Core Obsession, finding its weakness, and destroying the entire instance. In this case, the instance entry tickets are directly voided, not just shown as temporarily unavailable. Therefore, it is very easy for other players to know which instance has had its Core Obsession Item taken and which has been broken, unless it's a new instance no one has entered before.
"Although that's the case... Shirakawa Apartments was long suspected of... possibly being upgraded to Dim Night-level upon fixation, so not many people were willing to go. How... um... how on earth did you clear it?"
Despite the ordeal of speaking each time, Hitori Gotoh couldn't help but ask out of curiosity in the end.
"Well, through hard work?"
Gao Hai thought for a good while before trying to give such an answer.
"If I have to say, it was giving it our all, plus a little bit of good luck. Something like that."
Maki, at his side, nodded in agreement and, after some thought, added her piece.
And so, in the next moment, Hitori Gotoh disappeared again.
Ah, no, she had just shrunk back into the cardboard box.
By the way, where does this cardboard box even come from? Why does it appear out of nowhere like a prop in a comedy anime?
"Anyway, thank you very much for your valuable information today. I hope we'll have a chance to meet again, Miss Gotoh."
After communicating and clarifying the various pieces of information summarized by players, Gao Hai and Maki did not disturb Hitori Gotoh, who was now nearly curled into a ball, any further. They left the small room and the underground market.
They had originally planned to see if there were any suitable Obsession Items to trade for, but now it seemed that the Obsession Items from Lao Guo, the female spy, and the instance itself were all unsuitable to be brought out. Thus, they had to reluctantly give up on the idea.
However, they had learned the start time of the next market, which was about three days before the new mission begins, so they could come again. If they prepared in advance, the situation should be much better than this time.
"Miss Gotoh, do you know what the normal clear method for Shirakawa Apartments was during its fixation phase?"
Just before they were about to leave, Maki, for reasons unknown, suddenly turned her head to look at Hitori Gotoh and asked again.
Hitori Gotoh, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, immediately tensed up again. After being nervous for a while, she finally managed to recall and answer Gao Hai and Maki.
Judging by her expression and attitude while answering, it seemed that although Hitori Gotoh herself wasn't very interested in these things, a rather strict friend had forced her to memorize a lot of instance information.
"According to information sold by some players who participated in the instance during its fixation phase, the original rescue team had basically succeeded in evacuating most of the residents from the 2nd and 1st floors. The problem must have occurred during the evacuation of the 3rd floor. So, one could escape the apartment by swapping clothes with a corpse to disguise as a resident, and then having another player use a badge to disguise as a rescue team member, recreating the past. But the prerequisite for this is to find a resident who was successfully evacuated back then, and the player wearing the rescue team badge could never leave alive, no matter what."
After summarizing the information given by Hitori Gotoh, Maki couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and look at Gao Hai beside her.
"It seems we chose a much harder path back then?"
Only now fully understanding that his novice instance had taken a path that ordinary people wouldn't, Gao Hai couldn't help but shake his head slightly and let out a sigh.
"In a way, we brought this on ourselves."
Maki followed up with a slight shake of her head, walking up the stairs as she spoke, gradually leaving the dark underground plaza and returning to a place touched by sunlight.
Whether it was self-inflicted hardship depends on whether the final reward was worth it.
That's what Gao Hai had originally wanted to say.
But he glanced at the girl walking ahead of him, her right hand in her coat pocket, deliberately leaving her left hand free and swinging, and he smiled. Without saying a word, he walked straight up and gently took her small hand.
And then, the two of them stepped forward together.
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