A full three minutes passed before that mighty, flag-bearing, backpack-wearing group of dolls finally finished marching by and disappeared from sight.
Jumping down from the cabinet, Takumi recalled the outfits of those dolls and couldn't help but think of the spring and autumn field trips that elementary and middle schools often held.
A way of reproducing a child's memory?
Did it really have to be re-created in such a terrifying manner though? With that many dolls, if he hadn't run fast enough, how many times would he have been scalded by boiling water? He'd probably end up fully cooked.
"Phew…"
Kaguya, who had also jumped down from the cabinet, exhaled softly after landing, finally managing to calm her nerves.
"What's wrong, Ojou-sama? Are you already too tired to keep going?"
Takumi teased Kaguya lightly, then took the lead, striding toward the blood-red door ahead.
"Utterly boring provocation. I simply dislike this repeated act of hiding."
Quickly catching up, Shinomiya Kaguya spoke coldly, the redness that had just surfaced on her face rapidly fading as she returned to her calm state.
Unlike when dealing with Maki, Kaguya was not a girl who could easily understand others. Therefore, when cooperating with a woman like her, it was best to adopt a slightly forceful—even impolite—attitude. Paradoxically, that made it easier for her to get into the proper mindset and take things more seriously.
Because he had seen the original work, summarizing this kind of interaction pattern was not particularly difficult for Takumi—but… it was quite awkward nonetheless. After several exchanges, Takumi couldn't help but feel that he was gradually turning into one of those strange characters who smirked wickedly before starting to provoke others.
"Be prepared. The moment I open the door, we might encounter an extremely dangerous situation."
He inserted the key to Room 304 into the keyhole.
Turning back, Takumi spoke to Kaguya with a serious expression.
"Let's move."
Holding the wall clock in her hands, Kaguya had already placed her fingers on the clock's hands, ready to turn them at any time.
[Click!]
With the crisp sound that followed, the key turned lightly, and the dark red door slowly opened.
Takumi pushed open the blood-colored door before him.
The darkness beyond was gradually dispelled by the faint light from the corridor.
It was a narrow passageway.
A passage piled with broken liquor bottles and garbage bags, reeking of stench.
"So foul…"
Kaguya, whose sense of smell was sharp, frowned and looked toward the end of the passage—toward that empty, distant end—wondering where it might lead.
Meanwhile, Takumi's gaze was fixed on the small, blurry silhouette standing at the far end of the corridor.
And behind that figure stood a tall, twisted, deformed body holding a kettle of boiling water.
He heard that thing's voice.
[You disobedient mutt!]
A voice filled with fury—terrifying, and yet impossible to resist.
[That's what you get for disobeying! For being greedy! For disobeying!]
The roaring scream that followed was almost inhuman.
Boiling water poured down from above Takumi's head in the next instant, drenching him completely.
Scalding steam spread through the air.
"Takumi-san!?"
Kaguya, who saw nothing, turned her head in shock. She hadn't expected Takumi to be struck by such a bizarre attack and, without hesitation, grabbed the wall clock in her hands.
The clock's hands spun sharply.
Time began to reverse at that very moment.
Takumi and Kaguya returned once again to Room 206, back before Maki.
Yet the clothes that had been soaked in boiling water were still steaming hot.
The reversal had failed.
When faced with the cursed attack triggered inside Room 304, the wall clock capable of turning back time had not been able to alter Takumi's condition.
"As expected, it wasn't going to be that easy…"
Letting out a helpless sigh, Takumi collapsed to the ground in the next instant.
The two girls beside him hurriedly began helping him take off his scalding clothes, cooling and disinfecting him as best they could to prevent the burns from worsening.
The result of the first round of the 3rd-floor investigation was that, after more than an hour of exploration, Takumi and Shinomiya Kaguya hadn't even managed to enter Room 304. Takumi had already suffered severe burns, making him unable to participate in any further action for the time being.
At this moment, it was still only mid-morning on the first day. It seemed that there was still plenty of time and opportunity for the remaining survivors in the apartment to continue their attempts.
...
Amid the sound of rushing water, Maki washed the blood from her hands, then turned to look toward the kitchen doorway—where Takumi lay on the floor.
His burns had mostly recovered. The method was simple: repeatedly putting on and taking off the Rescue Team emblem. By taking advantage of the emblem's function of healing wounds and altering the body's condition during the process of transforming a person into a Rescue Team member, he gradually restored his injuries bit by bit.
In a certain sense, this could be considered a unique method of using an Obsession Item that only Takumi could perform. Normally, anyone else who repeatedly used an Obsession Item with an assimilation effect like that would have long since suffered a complete mental collapse, lost their sense of self, and become part of a Horror Story—or their body would have entered an irreversible state of transformation. But as long as Takumi could maintain his mental stability, he could remove the emblem before his body reached the irreversible stage of assimilation, wait until he had mostly recovered, and then start the process again.
Of course, even so, Takumi still had his limits. Essentially, he could only repeat this process up to three times within an hour before having to stop. He would then have to wait at least a full day before he could use the Rescue Team's Obsession Item again—otherwise, he would be instantly assimilated the moment he put it on. After all, compared to his indomitable willpower, his body still had the limits of a mortal.
Meanwhile, Maki was helping Takumi remove the life-saving suit that had materialized due to the Obsession Item's effect. These items, generated through the Obsession Item's power, were connected to Takumi's body to a certain degree, so taking them off inevitably tore small patches of his skin. Although this was far better than the full-body burns from before, Takumi's upper torso was still wrapped in many bandages. As she dressed his wounds, Maki's hands were soon covered in blood.
"Just the first preliminary exploration, and something like this already happened… the danger level on the 3rd floor is far too high."
After washing her hands clean, Maki returned to the living room. Looking at Takumi lying on the floor and Kaguya sitting on the sofa beside him, she couldn't help but speak up.
"The key issue should lie with Mr. Takumi himself. According to his own speculation, he became more susceptible to attacks and injuries because he learned a forbidden knowledge that must not be known. From that perspective, Takumi-san actually isn't suitable for exploring the 3rd floor. That place is already the closest to the core of danger, and for him, it's even more perilous than for anyone else."
Kaguya glanced at Takumi, paused for a moment in thought, and then slowly spoke.
Even now, she still hadn't completely recovered from the shock. A whole basin of boiling water suddenly being poured onto the person right beside her—such a thing was more than a little overstimulating.
Yet seeing Takumi endure such pain without much reaction, and calmly carry out a series of orderly self-rescue actions using an Obsession Item, Kaguya couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. She instinctively suppressed her emotional response, forcing her expression to remain composed and maintaining her usual cold demeanor—because she didn't want to appear weak or be looked down upon for overreacting.
"Who could've known this thing would be so unreasonable—getting attacked just for knowing something? What a pain. Still, at least it's not all bad news. Since Shinomiya-san didn't suffer an attack when entering Room 304, it proves she should have a chance to explore that place normally. If she's careful, we might be able to break through this situation."
Lying there like someone who had completely given up, Takumi sighed as he spoke, chewing on a chocolate stick to use its sweetness to fight against the pain in his body.
He could already faintly feel that something was watching him.
He hadn't actually viewed the corresponding information or directly observed any of the forbidden content, yet he clearly possessed memories related to the taboo. This caused the attention upon him to steadily intensify—but not to the extent of immediately reaching the most dangerous stage. It felt somewhat like being a frog boiled in warm water. Yes, he meant the kind where the frog is tied up and boiled in the pot.
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