Chapter 62: The Head of the Table… Isn't a Trap?
"You damned turkey... Dare to bite me...? I'll have your beak... make sausages out of it..."
Sprawled out in a starfish-like position, Kaguya was dead to the world. She only frowned, her arm twitching as if she'd just been bitten in a dream, before letting out the sleepy curse.
Yotsuya Miko's eyelids twitched violently. Her head snapped toward the door, her entire body coiled with tension. After a few thrilling seconds of silence confirmed that nothing had broken in, she finally allowed herself to exhale, the breath escaping in a shaky sigh.
This was unbelievable.
She could almost understand Brother Haruto.
But how in the world was Sister Kaguya also sound asleep?
Yotsuya Miko felt an urge to cry but found she had no tears left. She squeezed her eyes shut and decided, for her own sanity, to pretend she hadn't heard a thing.
"The person outside the door isn't a ghost," Lin Xuelao's soft voice cut through the darkness. "It's a player."
As if sensing Miko's silent turmoil, Lin Xuelao had spoken up. Hearing this, Miko felt her frantic heart finally settle back into her chest. Though Lin Xuelao was blind, her hearing was a far more reliable judge of their surroundings. Her words were a comforting anchor in the oppressive quiet.
After a moment's hesitation, Yotsuya Miko slipped out of bed. She crept toward the door, stopping a careful half-meter away, her hand hovering but not touching the handle.
"We're still alive," she called out, her voice a little strained. "Is something the matter?"
"My teammate has already gone to the third floor," a woman's voice—Wu Laolao's—replied from the other side. "He asked me to come and see if you all were alright, and to ask if you wanted to go up together."
The third floor? Already?
Yotsuya Miko was stunned for a second, but a moment later, she understood. In a survival game like this, you ultimately had to rely on yourself. While their group's relationship was currently amicable, it was a far cry from the kind of bond where they could entrust their lives to one another.
Therefore, any important clues had to be explored and grasped with one's own hands to truly feel secure.
It was just like back at the Mermaid Guesthouse. Even though the first floor had seemed the most perilous, Brother Haruto had still insisted on choosing it.
Besides, their search time had been far too short. Even she had felt it wasn't thorough enough and had already planned to investigate more carefully the next day.
"No, we're tired," Yotsuya Miko refused decisively. "We can talk about anything else tomorrow." There was no way she could wake up Brother Haruto and Kaguya on her own, not without a miracle.
Wu Laolao seemed to have anticipated this answer and didn't press the issue.
"Alright, get some good rest then. See you tomorrow."
The sound of her footsteps gradually faded down the hall.
Yotsuya Miko returned to the bed, only then noticing that Lin Xuelao had been sitting on the cold floor the entire time.
She thought for a moment, but decided against trying to wake Haruto.
"Come up and sleep with us," Miko offered gently. "This bed is big enough to fit four people."
Lin Xuelao didn't move. "You guys sleep," she whispered. "I'll keep watch. It's too dangerous at night; someone needs to stay awake."
Seeing Miko's silence, Lin Xuelao thought she might be worried about her ability to stand guard and quickly added, "Don't worry. I may be blind, but my ears are sharp. If anything approaches, I'll notice it and wake you up immediately."
"I'm not worried about that," Yotsuya Miko sighed, unsure how to explain the sheer absurdity of her situation. "It's just... not necessary. You can think of it as Brother Haruto having a sort of sixth sense that automatically alerts him to danger. Even while asleep, he'll wake up instantly if there's a threat. Besides," she added, "Brother Haruto has other safeguards."
A sixth sense?
Lin Xuelao was taken aback. She had heard that some people could develop such an instinct after spending a long time in a specific, high-stress environment, but could it really function while someone was sound asleep?
Despite her skepticism, Lin Xuelao didn't question it further. She trusted Haruto. If he acted this way, he surely had his reasons.
This trust was something she couldn't quite explain. Perhaps it was born from the boy's repeated acts of saving her. Perhaps it was the overwhelming sense of security that came from his demonstrated power. Or perhaps it was those hazy, strange emotions stirring within her.
Whatever the reason, she believed in him.
Still, Lin Xuelao chose not to get into the bed. Instead, she curled up in a corner, clutching her blind cane and resting with her eyes closed.
The next day dawned, the first rays of sun barely piercing the gloom.
A sharp knock sounded at the door, followed by the Butler's crisp, professional voice.
"Honored guests, breakfast is ready."
At almost the same instant, Lin Xuelao's ears twitched and she awoke. As she rose to her feet, Yotsuya Miko also stirred.
"We'll be right there," Miko called out. "Please go and inform the others."
The knocking stopped at once, leaving only the sound of the Butler's receding footsteps.
Miko then looked down at herself, and her expression immediately became a complex mixture of exasperation and resignation. She had been used as a human body pillow again.
Haruto's arms and legs were wrapped around her like a possessive octopus, while on his other side, Kaguya was holding onto him in the exact same posture.
Yotsuya Miko struggled, pushing and squirming, but she couldn't break free from their iron grips.
"Brother Haruto! Sister Kaguya! Wake up, stop sleeping, it's time for breakfast...!"
She tried to shake them, her voice rising in desperation, but their sleep quality was simply too good. No matter how she shook or shouted, she couldn't rouse them.
Beside the bed, though Lin Xuelao couldn't see the spectacle, she could clearly hear their deep, steady breathing. Her eyelids twitched imperceptibly.
She mentally took back part of her previous assessment.
These people were indeed powerful, but they were also unbelievably shameless, treating a life-and-death horror game like a five-star vacation.
Through Yotsuya Miko's relentless, near-heroic efforts, Haruto and Kaguya were finally awakened. Kaguya was more or less functional, but Haruto's eyes were only half-open, his expression vacant, as if his soul had wandered off to another plane of existence.
After a quick wash, the four of them arrived at the dining hall. The long table was already full of people; clearly, they were the last to arrive.
Lin Xuelao immediately walked with purpose toward the head of the table. Although Haruto had sat there yesterday without incident, everything in this place carried a risk, and she didn't want him to bear it again.
But just as she was about to sit, the back of her collar was grabbed, and she was unceremoniously yanked back and up.
"What are you doing?" Haruto's voice was a groggy mumble. "Trying to steal my exclusive seat?"
He plopped down into the chair, rubbed his eyes, and promptly flopped onto the table, looking for all the world like he hadn't finished sleeping.
Lin Xuelao stood frozen beside him, biting her lower lip as a familiar warmth bloomed in her chest. He was protecting her, in his own strange, possessive way. She didn't believe for a second that Haruto didn't understand the potential risks of sitting in that seat.
"Don't overthink it. Come sit over here," Kaguya beckoned from a nearby seat, showing no concern for Haruto whatsoever. "Ryuko can sit wherever he wants."
Lin Xuelao bit her lip again before quietly sitting down next to Kaguya.
Clatter... clatter...
The sound of a small dining cart rolling on the stone floor filled the tense silence. The Butler slowly approached, pushing the last batch of breakfast. When he saw Haruto occupying the head seat, his expression stiffened for an imperceptible moment. But he said nothing—not a word, not even a warning. He simply placed the meals on the table in complete silence.
The other players stared, their minds reeling.
The head of the table... wasn't a trap after all?
Or was it that, as long as one harshly rebuked the Butler, as Haruto had done yesterday, making him realize his status as a mere servant, one could sit there at will?
They recalled the shrill, inhuman scream that had echoed from the room at the end of the right corridor the previous day. Yet Haruto and his group had emerged completely unharmed.
Everyone instinctively ruled out the possibility that the ghost had screamed because it was beaten or frightened by Haruto. According to the common sense of these games, it was impossible for players to defeat ghosts.
So... excluding all other options, the only possibility was that Haruto held clues they didn't, which had led to some kind of secret cooperation with the Butler.
They had also explored the third floor yesterday, and it was indeed just as the clues Haruto had provided suggested. The only variable was this seat—the head of the dining table.
Combined with the Butler's reaction just now, they became even more convinced of their theory.
At this moment, every player stared fervently at that seat. One or two even shot Haruto a resentful glare, already plotting to snatch the head seat from under him the moment noon arrived.
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