Maki Shijo always felt that something was a bit off.
Although she had obtained a large amount of intelligence from Gao Hai through their mental link right from the start, knowing many things and gaining significant advantages from the beginning, for some reason, the girl instinctively felt that Gao Hai was being evasive when talking to her, as if he was trying to cover up and hide something.
Hmm... although this was just a feeling with no concrete evidence, once the thought arose, the doubts in Maki's heart couldn't help but intensify.
That idiot, he's not overexerting himself, is he?
Maki couldn't help but feel a bit worried.
After all, according to Gao Hai, this was already the second rewind, meaning this was the third time tackling this instance. What kind of torment had Gao Hai endured before, and how had he met his two deaths? This was something Maki knew nothing about. Although she had asked about it, Gao Hai had brushed it off. Maki knew such matters were a heavy burden for him, so she didn't press further. Instead, she focused more on her current tasks, determined to do her part well.
And then... there's Chika Fujiwara? Maki didn't have a deep impression of her, only knowing she came from a political family. At school, Maki and Chika had little interaction. However, she had heard that the girl had a very good relationship with Auntie Kaguya, having been friends since junior high.
With Hai-kun protecting her, as long as that girl doesn't act recklessly, her safety should be assured. But... ugh, having a girl she knew nothing about hovering around Gao Hai made her feel somewhat uneasy. She wondered what kind of person she was.
At this moment, Maki Shijo felt a subtle sense of crisis.
{All in all, we need to act more decisively now. The investigations in the research base so far have been too passive. We must find a breakthrough point.}
{Next, I'll head to the [Land of Lingering Regrets] area. With the power of my Blessing, I should be able to gather various intelligence there. Chi... Miss Fujiwara will come to your side and bring a few Obsession Items I've prepared.}
{In short, under the premise of ensuring your own safety, let's stir things up.}
Not long after the communication with Gao Hai ended, Kaguya Shinomiya, who was role-playing as an explorer, had just set off when Chika Fujiwara suddenly replaced the anomaly-possessed explorer.
Maki could tell that Kaguya and Chika truly had a good relationship. The two cooperated seamlessly with great tacit understanding upon meeting. However, Fujiwara Chika should be a newbie, yet Maki felt she seemed even more familiar with the place than her and Kaguya, handling things with an effortless naturalness. This was truly puzzling.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Gao Hai had successfully passed through the [Artery], smoothly completing the route from the [Heart] to the [Large Space] and then to the [Stone Pillar Plaza]. Incidentally, compared to the time it took in the second loop, Gao Hai cleared this segment three minutes faster this time, adding a new record to the speedrun history of the Red Nut Gray Hole.
"You're really quite an impressive veteran."
Along the way, Shelby, who had been led by Gao Hai, sighed in admiration. She and Ed were also players who had completed several missions, but because they had been lingering in Twilight-level instances without the ability to clear Dim Night-level ones, they had felt considerable psychological pressure. However, Gao Hai effortlessly evaded those mutilated [explorers] bodies, even chatting calmly with those terrifying things, teaching them to check their explorer suits at any time, exuding the demeanor of a true old hand among old hands.
Even when they reached the entrance to the Land of Lingering Regrets—the bizarre underground fire station—Gao Hai continued explaining to these players, telling them it was a gathering place formed by the consciousness of the dead in the cavern. He even revealed the existence of the sentry box in the rescue team area as a safe house.
At first, Shelby had some doubts about Gao Hai's confident lecturing, wondering if it was all show. But after experiencing real danger and seeing Gao Hai handle it with ease, she had to admit this guy was genuinely strong. Ed beside her felt the same, even developing a bit of admiration for Gao Hai.
"You... seem to know this place very well?"
This time, Gao Hai had arrived at the Stone Pillar Plaza even earlier than Lixer and Susan, even with two players in tow. After waiting and resting for a while, he saw the two approaching together. Upon learning that Gao Hai had led these two players here safely, the veteran player Lixer immediately looked surprised at Gao Hai and walked over, asking curiously.
"I wouldn't say I know it that well, but I have experience from other Dim Night-level instances (Shirakawa Apartments' actual difficulty approaches the Dim Night ceiling), so I have some familiarity with these things. You're pretty impressive yourself, managing to bring a newbie here."
Gao Hai smiled at Lixer, his tone full of admiration.
"No, that's not accurate. Miss Susan is very capable, and us reaching here was largely luck."
Lixer smiled back, his expression carrying a hint of embarrassment.
Thus, Gao Hai and Lixer faced each other, both smiling.
Their smiles looked so natural, so ordinary, like neighbors out buying groceries exchanging greetings.
However, deep down, Gao Hai had raised his vigilance toward Lixer to the maximum.
Just over ten minutes ago, before Chika Fujiwara put on the explorer's yellow-and-white striped uniform and left, one piece of intelligence she shared was about Lixer.
"There is no record of player Lixer escaping."
Chika Fujiwara was very certain of this.
Combined with Susan's disappearance, Lixer's unbelievable trust in her during the second loop, and his decisive act of yielding the sentry box to Gao Hai and Chika Fujiwara, it all made Gao Hai wonder if something was hidden here.
Perhaps both had died in the instance world.
But it was also possible... that there was something wrong with these two.
Especially when Chika Fujiwara investigated the [Black Blood Bullets], she found that unlike the [bone ash] and [purple talismans] in Japan, which had somewhat known crafting processes too complex for ordinary players, these were highly confidential with unknown origins. Only a few American players knew the supply source, distributing them to the player market.
"The source of [Black Blood Bullets] seems linked to the upper echelons of America. Though the investigation faced heavy resistance, my dad leaked a bit: the initial source is tied to the Bush family. That's all I could find."
As the daughter of a politician, Chika Fujiwara's greatest advantage over Maki and Kaguya was her edge in investigating foreign intelligence—she could directly ask her dad, mom, grandparents. Kaguya and Maki couldn't necessarily get answers even if they asked.
Incidentally, in the second loop, Chika's ability to appear in Gao Hai's area, blow herself up to break his death loop, came from using her father's connections to contact hard-to-reach veterans. She obtained a special Obsession Item from one, allowing her to bridge spatial gaps with Gao Hai via linked items like the chest-binding cloth. That's how she met him after entering the [Blood Vessel] fork; otherwise, she'd have been isolated in another similar space as Gao Hai predicted.
This Obsession Item was essentially single-use, summoning an anomaly to hunt the user afterward. Its applicability was limited, yet Chika still paid a hefty price.
"The holder said it came from an unfixed Dim Night-level instance—a strange unmanned village where nearly every room had Obsession Items, but flawed, like this teleportation one. He hesitated to pull others in to check, wanting to use it as proof to convince them, but I persuaded him, hehe, pretty impressive, right?"
Chika Fujiwara was smug when telling Gao Hai this, nose nearly to the sky.
"So how did you persuade him?"
Curious, Gao Hai asked.
"Kaguya offered 300 billion yen and some promises, then I persuaded him."
Chika replied righteously.
"Was it you or Kaguya who persuaded him...?"
Gao Hai retorted, then realizing Kaguya's strictly controlled life, he understood that in that now-erased future, she had likely torn ties with her family, taking over the group.
Who knew if she threatened with thunderous means or went full filial piety exemption.
In any case, Gao Hai was now secretly wary of Lixer. Even if he seemed normal now—practically a saint by player morals—Gao Hai wouldn't lower his guard.
"So, those capable and willing to continue, follow me into the next area. If you're not confident, change into rescue team clothes now and head to the sentry box—it's a safe rest spot."
Saying this, Gao Hai led toward the fire station door at the cavern's end, attention on who followed.
Meanwhile, Kaguya and Chika advanced through the dark cavern, while Maki in the command room watched the screen intently, the three continuing their actions.
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