Drip—drip—
Washing off the stains clinging to his body, he changed out of the dirty bathrobe and put on the spare bathrobe from Gao Hai's room.
Maki Shijo took a deep breath before finally stepping out of the bathroom and looking toward Gao Hai, who was sitting on the terrace outside the room.
At this moment, Gao Hai had his head lowered, seemingly pondering something. He was thinking so intently that he didn't notice Maki's appearance. It had to be admitted that this man was quite handsome when he quieted down to think seriously; at least in this state, Maki wouldn't feel the crisis of potentially being 'eaten' at any moment.
This guy, clearly he can be properly handsome, yet he usually always acts so unserious. Wu, although that unserious personality isn't particularly annoying, as expected, she still hoped this guy would be a bit more serious.
Maki, who had originally thought she might be pushed to the ground the moment she stepped out of the bathroom, quietly breathed a sigh of relief, then took a step toward Gao Hai.
"What's wrong, what are you thinking about?"
The young girl called out to Gao Hai from a distance.
"Just spacing out, waiting for you to come out, that's all. By the way, the moonlight is beautiful tonight; do you want to admire the moon together?"
Hearing Maki's voice, Gao Hai raised his head, smiled at the young girl, and then, while speaking, reached out to pat the seat beside him.
"Wh... Ugh, it's not like I can't, but a guy like you actually has a hobby of admiring the moon?"
Startled by the phrase [The moonlight is beautiful], Maki blushed for a moment, thinking Gao Hai was confessing his love to her. However, she immediately realized that Gao Hai was not from Japan and probably didn't understand the implied meaning behind that sentence, so she breathed a sigh of relief that carried a hint of disappointment.
Forget it, better not expect this guy to make any romantic moves.
Thinking this in her heart, Maki responded to Gao Hai casually, walked step by step to his side, sat down next to him, and looked up at the sky.
Hanging in the sky was a crescent moon. Its light wasn't bright enough to obscure the scattered stars surrounding it.
This hot spring hotel was built against a mountain, so the second-floor terrace was actually constructed connecting to this rock-structured mountain body. Thus, despite being on the second floor, it still possessed a natural hot spring; the first floor below and the higher third and fourth floors followed the same logic.
And at this moment, the two of them sat quietly on the wooden chairs on the terrace just like that, raising their heads together to look at the sky.
"The ends of the universe stretch for tens of billions of light-years, yet we still haven't seen where the end lies. Meanwhile, a human life is confined to a single planet; no matter the joys, sorrows, or anger, one cannot transcend it. I always feel it is a very ironic and cruel thing."
Gao Hai began to sigh with emotion softly.
"Wu, are you planning to switch careers to become a poet?"
Maki blinked somewhat doubtfully and asked.
"I already know how to write articles. It's just that what I wrote before was mostly relatively vulgar stuff, but that doesn't mean I don't have a heart that pursues elegance."
Gao Hai spoke with righteous solemnity.
"Pursuing elegance to the point of kissing Fujiwara in the corridor?"
Maki's tone turned slightly colder.
"The fair lady, the gentleman's desire; this is indeed a form of elegance. If you don't believe it, let's have a kiss right now, and then you'll know if it's elegant or not."
Gao Hai's expression remained unchanged, still maintaining that righteous solemnity.
"...So I'm saying you really are shameless. If not for the existence of the [Sacrificial Game], scum like you would have been stabbed to death, you know."
Maki, feeling somewhat helpless regarding Gao Hai, reached out and poked his cheek.
"Mn, that is certain. If I hadn't encountered these strange games, I wouldn't possess the power I have today, wouldn't have met you all, and wouldn't have had such encounters and experiences. I would probably still be an obscure nobody, continuing to live ordinary and mundane days until the day I died, my life not stirring up the slightest ripple."
Gao Hai was very candid about this, admitting it quite crisply.
"But you were [Selected] to participate in this game, and you also possess such powerful strength, and can stay together with so many of us girls who hold high positions, gaining our loyalty. Do you feel very proud? If it were you, would you even want to thank this [Sacrificial Game]?"
Maki hadn't quite expected Gao Hai to say this, but since the other party wanted to speak like this, she just went along with his words.
And this time, after her words fell, Gao Hai fell silent for a long time before slowly beginning to speak.
"Thank... it? Thank this thing called the [Sacrificial Game]?"
"...Ha, it's hard to say. Although I indeed gained a lot of benefits, to be honest, the suffering I endured for it wasn't small either. Those tortures of death, those encounters... I really don't want to recall a single one of them, don't want to experience a single one again. To me, there is nothing more terrifying than that."
"However, perhaps I really should give thanks. But not thanks for the benefits I received, nor thanks for the suffering experienced, but merely thanks for being able to meet you all. To me, being able to meet good girls like you is the thing I should be most grateful for. After all, for a person like me, the entire world is utterly boring. Your appearance and companionship are the greatest comfort to me. If it were merely for the sake of 'living,' simply struggling on because I didn't want to die, I think I might not necessarily have been able to walk this far."
Gao Hai spoke very seriously, very sincerely.
Maki knew that this man was baring his heart to her.
She could feel the other party's trust, could feel the warmth that this trust filled in the bottom of her heart.
Only, the moment she thought about him saying "us," she couldn't suppress a feeling of sourness, and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but twitch downwards.
"These words, do you say them to Fujiwara as well?"
Maki didn't look up at Gao Hai, merely muttering in a small voice, asking deliberately as if she wanted to throw a small tantrum.
"...I really haven't said them. Words like this, I've only said to you."
Unexpectedly, Gao Hai actually lowered his head to ponder for a while, then shook his head and gave a negative answer.
"Really? Would a playboy like you be this honest?"
The corners of Maki's mouth had already curled up subconsciously, but she still feigned reserve and continued to ask.
"No, I can be certain, I've only said these words to you. After all, to me, you are the one I knew earliest, the one I am most willing to trust. So I think for words like this, I would probably only speak them to you, and wouldn't say them to anyone else."
But Gao Hai just shook his head, continuing to speak seriously to the young girl.
"...Is that so?"
Maki opened her mouth. She originally had a lot she wanted to say, but in the end, she only spoke this single sentence.
"It is so."
And Gao Hai's answer remained the same; neither his voice nor his demeanor changed in the slightest.
Is that right.
To him, I am the person who walked into his heart earliest, and also the person who has truly seen his fragile and soft side.
So I am special; am I different from all the others?
What is this? Clearly he was just being intimate with that woman earlier, yet now he can say things like this to me, and even claims he isn't a playboy. Clearly, he knows quite well how to coax people into happiness. Does he think I can't figure these things out? Does he think words like these can conquer me?
Truly a... dummy...
After sighing lightly, the young girl tilted her head and leaned against Gao Hai.
"You guy, sometimes I don't know what to say about you. But, anyway, I've already fallen for you, so I can't do anything about it anymore."
She could feel the slight stiffness in Gao Hai's body; she knew her proximity had made this man slightly excited. Deducing this wasn't difficult for her; after all, he had made moves on her so many times, so she could more or less understand his condition. Moreover, knowing that this guy had just been intimate with that Fujiwara not long ago only to be interrupted by her, he would definitely be easier to excite and easier to tease right now.
"Maki, you..."
Gao Hai frowned; he had already smelled the clear fragrance amidst the girl's hair at his side, a scent of cool flowers different from Chika's.
"Mn, next, let's change the topic."
The young girl beside him spoke softly.
"Talk about what?"
Gao Hai kept his breathing steady and continued to ask.
"Talk about—"
Amidst the deliberately elongated voice, Maki's small hand gently grasped Gao Hai's hand.
Soft skin, transmitting the girl's body temperature through those small fingers.
Then, just as Gao Hai was getting a bit distracted by this small interaction from the girl, he heard Maki's voice, which carried a slightly mischievous taste.
"Let's talk about the rules of [Alice's Game], and how about we discuss those 12 opening hints of [Fujihana Middle School]? This is only one-quarter of the known scenes in the instance, yet there are unexpectedly so many opening hints; there might be quite a few important things hidden inside."
"..."
Gao Hai had to admit, this feeling of a sudden sharp turn was quite deflating.
However, considering this person definitely did it on purpose, Gao Hai decided to keep a mental tab first and fall out with her later.
"Discussing work during a vacation, you really understand how to add pressure. So, you've already seen those 12 hints, right?"
Therefore, having sighed, Gao Hai went along with Maki's words and just continued the conversation like this.
"Of course I've seen them. Among them, 8 appeared when this instance was still Red Moon-level, so 4 of them are false clues that will lead players to a dead end. The other 4 appeared after the instance was downgraded to Dim Night-level, so there will be one false clue inside. Some of the false clues have already been confirmed, but there are still those whose truth hasn't been verified, which is quite headache-inducing."
Maki nodded. Judging by her appearance, she had likely already memorized those 12 hints by heart.
Red Moon-level Game Hints Version 1:
1. Everyone has a side unknown to others
(Clearance players generally confirm as true; specific reasons inconvenient to explain due to rule power)
2. Choosing lies maybe better than choosing the truth
(Clearance players unable to determine truth of information; no intelligence found related to this information)
3. People are still waiting for a truly fair trial
(Same as item 2, truth undetermined)
4. Bad children are actually more popular than good children
(Clearance players generally confirm as false; believing this hint will bring fatal danger)
Red Moon-level Game Hints Version 2:
1. Only those who win the game can leave alive
(Clearance players unable to give judgment on truth of this information due to rule power)
2. Once the mask is worn, it cannot be easily taken off
(Truth undetermined)
3. Things that are hidden are in places that cannot be seen
(Truth undetermined)
4. People who dig for secrets are to pay a price
(Clearance players generally confirm as true, and most players think this is purely a nonsense statement; attempting to dig deep into secrets in any instance will attract all sorts of dangers. Anyone who isn't a fool can clearly understand this fact)
Dim Night-level Game Hints:
1. The audience below the stage need not care about the facts
(Truth undetermined)
2. People who cannot stand firm are not needed
(Truth undetermined)
3. Fanatic faith is a perfect match for an idol
(Truth undetermined)
4. Alice just wants friends, okay~
(Clearance players generally confirm as true; specific reasons inconvenient to explain due to rule power)
These full 12 hints were worlds apart from the mere 4 hints in the previous two instances. It was just a pity that there wasn't much detailed information that clearance players could provide. Since the power of the [Campus Horror Stories] instance itself could take effect outside the instance, for the vast majority of the content in these 12 hints, players could only make guesses.
"So, did you figure out anything from inside them?"
Maki looked at Gao Hai with great curiosity and asked.
"It is certain that at least one hidden area exists in [Fujihana Middle School], very likely underground. Many of the hints here correspond to situations that clearance players haven't found; it is very likely those clues correspond to the hidden area. After all, these clues are often related to a perfect clearance. If one merely wants to survive and escape the instance, they wouldn't necessarily come into contact with scenes related to the hints."
Gao Hai gave his answer very calmly.
"Your conclusion here is basically realized by all the players on the forum who are paying attention to this instance..."
Maki was obviously very dissatisfied with Gao Hai's answer and immediately frowned.
"Yes yes yes, dissatisfied, dissatisfied. Alright, I don't want to discuss this kind of thing right now. I came to the hot spring hotel to relax my body and mind, not to continue fighting with horror story rules. So, let's change to the next topic."
Gao Hai let out a long sigh, waved his hand, turned his head to look at Maki, and spoke.
"Truly perfunctory. Then what topic do you want to switch to?"
Maki twitched her mouth, though she didn't insist on this topic that couldn't make people happy, but instead asked, following Gao Hai's words.
"This, shouldn't you ask yourself?"
Gao Hai just continued speaking.
"Ask myself?"
Maki froze for a moment.
"Right."
"What do you mean..."
Amidst her confusion, the young girl raised her head, only to discover that Gao Hai had been silently gazing at her all along.
Brown-black eyes met with brown-purple ones.
Looking at Gao Hai's gaze calmly gazing at her, in this moment, Maki's heartbeat quietly accelerated a few beats.
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