Drip—
A drop of water landed on his shoulder, bringing with it a distinct chill.
He'd had the same dream again.
Dreamed of reaching a hand forward.
Dreamed of crawling, inch by inch, toward the front of a pitch-black, bottomless cavern.
He didn't know how to describe the feeling.
If he had to make an analogy, it might remind him of an experience from his childhood.
Back then, when he went to sleep at night, he would intentionally roll over and let the blanket wrap him up.
It was just like that feeling of being tightly enveloped.
But this was different. The surrounding rock strata were hard and cold.
At every moment, he could feel the scrape of his skin against the stones, could hear the friction of his body inching its way forward through the cavern.
It was as if the stones themselves were screaming.
Drip—
He couldn't tell where the sound of water was coming from.
Only the chill that permeated the cavern was rising, bit by bit.
Hah... hah...
He could hear his own breathing growing more and more rapid.
He continued to move forward with difficulty, then moved some more.
Time seemed to stretch on infinitely.
He didn't know how long he had been advancing in this darkness.
He didn't know what lay ahead in the darkness, or when he would ever reach its end.
Hah... hah...
But he could hear breathing.
A sound coming from behind him, from the rear of this cavern where he couldn't even turn around, where he could only crawl laboriously forward.
Drip—
With another crisp sound of water, Gao Hai heard something crawling behind him, heard the sound of skin scraping against rock.
The sound of it getting closer and closer, approaching him.
Right behind him.
He moved his arms with difficulty, grabbing the rocks on either side to worm his way forward another short distance.
He couldn't even retract his hands; he had to keep them outstretched just to crawl through this narrow cavern.
He couldn't look up.
Because even with his head tilted sideways against the ground, his ear was already pressed against the top of the rock wall.
With each scrape, his ear had long since become a bloody mess, and even the pain was beginning to fade.
He couldn't see a thing.
In the pitch-black cavern, devoid of any light source, he could only smell the scent of sand and earth.
Hah...
The breathing behind him seemed to be getting closer.
But he still couldn't see anything.
He could still only advance slowly, inch by inch, continuing forward in this narrow, suffocatingly dark cavern.
Drip—
He heard the sound of a water drop fall again.
Gao Hai slowly stopped crawling.
He could no longer hear the breathing or the scraping from behind.
In this silent darkness, it seemed he was alone again. Or perhaps, he had been alone from the very beginning.
Hah...
Not long after that thought arose, he heard new breathing.
Not from behind him, but from in front of him. Accompanied by the sound of something squirming and crawling, the breathing drew closer, bit by bit.
There was no way to retreat.
This narrow cavern was curved. To move forward, he could grip the walls and worm his way along, but retreating was practically impossible. You couldn't turn your head to see the rock structure behind you, and it was nearly impossible to find a place to get leverage.
Hah...
Gao Hai struggled, trying his best to back away, but he could only retreat a tiny distance, his movements incredibly slow.
Hah...
And the breathing from the front was getting closer and closer, so close that he could almost feel its breath on his cheek.
Hah...
He did feel it.
Someone, something, was lying face-to-face right in front of him.
He couldn't see the person's face, couldn't make out their appearance.
But that cold breath washing over his face described the person's form with chilling clarity, described the figure right before him.
He reached out a hand.
Slowly, he extended his hand forward, inch by inch.
Hah...
The breath gently brushed against Gao Hai's skin.
But in the end, his fingers touched nothing, merely brushing against the air and the cold rock walls on either side.
There was no one else here.
There was only him.
He was the only person in this suffocating, narrow cavern.
Drip—
At the sound of the next drop of water, Gao Hai slowly opened his eyes.
The sunlight outside the window was the same as ever.
Pedestrians ambled along the street, chatting about their plans for the new day, living lives no different from the day before.
Gao Hai himself sat up in bed and touched his ears, which weren't scratched at all. Then he looked at the calendar hanging on the wall, at the days he had crossed out one by one, his gaze finally settling on the few that remained.
He reached out and counted. The number left was 3.
Meaning there were three days left until the start of the next mission.
In the days following the trade, nothing much happened.
He and Maki had gone out on a few dates, but probably because he'd taken advantage of her before, the girl was much more guarded now. Holding hands was basically the limit; she was reluctant to even let him kiss her.
Kaguya would occasionally go out and organize tea parties for the three of them, but he always felt the way she looked at him had changed, as if she were somewhat on guard.
He didn't really understand the hearts of girls. In any case, there had been no real progress for the rest of the month.
It was worth noting that Maki had arranged for Gao Hai and Kaguya to slip into a private shooting range run by upper-class individuals, and had hired a professional instructor to teach them about firearm use and maintenance. Considering the environment of the next instance, Maki had someone procure two standard-issue pistols and had them modified to better adapt to the damp, sandy conditions of a cavern. But they wouldn't know how well they worked until they actually used them.
No, it would be better if they never had to find out. After all, guns were for dealing with other players. If they needed to use such weapons, it would only prove that there was hostile competition among the players in the instance. And Gao Hai, having been through the ordeal with Lao Guo and the female traitor, hated that kind of infighting among players the most.
There were already several unread messages on his phone: one from Kaguya with the meeting location for the day three days from now, a good morning message from Maki, and after he didn't reply, another message saying, 'Stop sleeping, lazybones, get up already.'
Gao Hai stood up, picked up the black pen from the bedside table, and crossed off another day on the calendar. Then he turned and left to wash up.
Everything had been inventoried.
Exploration suit, cut-resistant gloves, helmet, knee pads, hiking boots, headlamp, casual clothes to pose as tourists...
To deal with any possible situations, the three of them had prepared for two scenarios.
Amidst the sound of rushing water, Gao Hai washed his face.
He picked up a towel and gently wiped the water from his face.
Drip—
The sound of a drop of water from the faucet made Gao Hai pause for a moment.
"Have I been getting paranoid lately?"
He recalled the dream he'd had for the third time.
A dream of climbing through a narrow cavern, hearing something following him, only to find in the end that he was all alone.
A suffocating, profound, and terrifying nightmare.
Perhaps it was some kind of omen.
But Gao Hai couldn't bring himself to give up the ticket he had in hand just because of an omen.
Regardless, it was still a Twilight-level ticket, an instance entry ticket for a known mission, one for which they had obtained a great deal of intelligence from other players.
If he chose to give it up, he would have to face the prospect of being separated from Kaguya and Maki and entering a completely unknown world alone, which was clearly not a good option.
"..."
Reaching out, Gao Hai plugged the faucet's spout with his finger. He stood silently before the sink for a few minutes before turning to leave.
Today was another day where nothing happened.
He checked his equipment for what felt like the dozenth time.
Waiting for time to march forward, step by step, waiting for the next day to arrive.
Gao Hai felt he could vaguely understand what the word 'torment' meant to a player.
But no matter what he thought, that day would eventually come.
3 days, 2 days, 1 day...
Until the day the game began.
"Are you ready?"
When he pushed open the door and entered the small private room that Maki and Kaguya had booked in advance, the two girls already had their equipment organized and placed beside them.
"It's a bit late to say I'm not ready now, isn't it?"
Saying this, Gao Hai shouldered his backpack and sat down next to Maki.
The instance entry ticket was already in his hand.
None of the three said anything more.
Only the sound of their breathing and the oppressive atmosphere in the small room spread.
"It'll be okay."
In the end, it was Maki who spoke first, addressing the two beside her in a firm tone.
"Once we're inside, if we're separated, regroup as soon as possible."
Kaguya then added her piece. The moment she spoke, a crack appeared in her icy demeanor. It was clear that even with Ice Kaguya's composure, she couldn't maintain a peaceful state of mind when about to face a new, bizarre game.
"Mm."
Not knowing what to say, but feeling it would be wrong to remain silent, Gao Hai finally gave a small nod and a hum of agreement, playing along with the current mood.
And then, they waited for that moment to arrive, feeling the countdown, imperceptible to ordinary people, reach zero.
Voom—
The entry tickets in their hands spontaneously combusted without any wind.
And that bizarre voice immediately rang out in each of their minds.
[Welcome to the 'Sacrificial Game']
[The level of the game you are about to participate in is: Twilight]
[May you witness the end of all things amidst true fear]
The moment the voice faded, all their senses were submerged in darkness.
And then, the first thing that echoed in Gao Hai's ears was the clear resonance of a single drop of water, hitting the ground.
Drip—
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