Chapter 63: The Hereditary Drowsiness of the Boundary Youkai
"What are you looking at? You want to fight?!"
The heavy weight of the other players' gazes, two of which were laced with an inexplicable resentment, finally snapped Haruto's patience. His voice, raw with the irritation of being woken, cut through the dining hall's tense quiet as he glared back without a shred of hesitation.
The atmosphere instantly cooled. A collective shiver ran through the room as the players remembered that Haruto was no kind soul. The fool who had tried to snatch the parasol from his hand at the very beginning—who knew what dark corner of the castle his remains were now rotting in? As for his supposed "kindness" at dinner yesterday, it was now clear it had been a calculated move to secure the key clue and forge an alliance with the Butler.
One by one, they looked away. The two who had been glaring at him with resentment moments before hurriedly lowered their heads, their faces paling.
Seeing their submission, Haruto finally retracted his sharp gaze.
Being forcibly roused from sleep and then immediately stared down like some sort of exhibit had frayed his nerves. If it weren't for Yakumo Ran's years of patient correction, he would have long since followed the teachings of his sister Yukari. By now, he would have torn open a Gap or unleashed a Magic Cannon to turn the lot of them into fertilizer for some demonic flower.
Watching this unfold, Kaguya couldn't help but be reminded of the last time she'd visited the Yakumo residence. She had been looking for Haruto to go to the Human Village, but had kicked open the wrong door. The flying door panel had smacked Yakumo Yukari right in her sleeping face. The resulting all-night whipping she'd received from the enraged Sage of Youkai was a lesson she'd never forget. This foul temper upon waking… it really was a hereditary trait of the Boundary Youkai, wasn't it?
Everyone lowered their heads and ate in strained silence. The clinking of cutlery was the only sound until the meal concluded. A man named Zhang Katao then broke the quiet, a practiced smile on his face.
"Since everyone has eaten their fill, why don't we exchange information? I'm sure everyone has gathered some clues. We all have different ways of thinking, so while the intelligence we've gathered might be similar, it won't be identical. Only by pooling our knowledge..."
He hadn't even finished his sentence before Haruto stood up and walked out of the dining hall. Seeing him leave, Kaguya and Yotsuya Miko naturally followed. Lin Xuelao hesitated for only a moment before trailing after them.
The smile on Zhang Katao's face froze, a barely perceptible crack in his affable mask. He recovered in an instant, his smile returning as if nothing had happened.
"I know most of you here might be confident in your strength," he continued, his voice carrying a new edge, "but don't be too arrogant. In these instances, it's always the self-proclaimed geniuses who die the fastest. No matter how powerful someone is, fighting alone makes it far too easy for things to go wrong."
The words were clearly aimed at Haruto's departing group.
Xie Lin and his teammates, having spoken with Haruto before, had a faint grasp of his personality. Hearing this, their lips couldn't help but twitch. They truly had no idea where Zhang Katao found the courage to say such a thing. Did he really think that just because he had rallied a few people to his side, Haruto wouldn't dare to touch him?
Fortunately, Haruto was already back in his room, still in a post-sleep daze. If he had heard that little speech, he might have actually pulled out that parasol and smashed the man to death on the spot.
Zhang Katao, blissfully unaware that he had just narrowly escaped disaster, continued his address.
"Only by working together can we conquer this instance more easily. I can share the clues I've found first, and you all can..."
...Inside the guest room.
Haruto flopped onto the bed like a salted fish, falling back asleep almost the instant his head hit the pillow.
Seeing this, Yotsuya Miko and Lin Xuelao's eyelids twitched in unison.
Miko couldn't stop herself from asking, "Sister Kaguya, is it really okay for us not to exchange information? What if they have something we don't?"
"Do we really have that little information?" Kaguya shrugged with an air of total indifference. "It's only been one night. There's plenty of time. No need to rush."
She stretched languidly. "Besides, someone will come to us to exchange information later. When that happens, just tell them what we know and get whatever they have."
"I'm going to catch up on some sleep too. Wake me and Haruto up when it's time for lunch."
With a soft yawn, Kaguya slid under the bed covers. Although she was a natural night owl, she still felt drowsy after waking up. Ever since she started spending more time with Haruto, she had even started to break her old habit of staying up all night.
Watching Kaguya enter salted-fish mode in the blink of an eye, Yotsuya Miko opened her mouth as if to say something more, but ultimately swallowed her words.
'Someone will take the initiative to provide information?'
Miko and Lin Xuelao frowned in unison. The only people they could think of were Xie Lin's team; the possibility of anyone else coming over was practically zero.
As things stood, the players in the instance had vaguely split into two factions. One was the group of six led by Zhang Katao, and the other was their own group, plus the three from Xie Lin's team.
However, their relationship with Xie Lin's team wasn't particularly close—it was just a single conversation during a meal, a preliminary contact at best.
But thinking back, Xie Lin had sent Wu Wenwen from his team over yesterday to ask if they wanted to act together. That had been a clear expression of intent to cooperate. It was just that Haruto and Kaguya were dead asleep at the time, so Miko had been forced to refuse.
'Could they think I was rejecting their offer?'
A knot of anxiety tightened in Yotsuya Miko's stomach. She sat by the bed, waiting quietly.
Time passed, minute by minute. After about half an hour, a soft knock came from the door.
"Brother Haruto... Big sisters... are you there?"
A timid voice drifted from the other side. It was, indeed, Wu Wenwen.
Yotsuya Miko exchanged a glance with Lin Xuelao before getting up to open the door.
Wu Wenwen knew to keep her distance. Even after the door opened, she didn't enter immediately, just stood politely at the threshold.
"Come in and talk," Miko whispered. "Just keep your voice down. Brother Haruto and Sister Kaguya are asleep."
"Okay, thank you."
Seeing that Haruto and Kaguya really had come back just to catch up on sleep, a flash of disbelief crossed Wu Wenwen's eyes. Daytime was relatively safe, and the other players were racing against the clock, wishing they could split one minute into two. Yet here these two were, casually napping.
But shock was one thing; Wu Wenwen wouldn't dare underestimate them. Their past actions were more than enough to prove they hadn't gotten this far by luck. also, they had remained completely unharmed after being attacked by a ghost just yesterday.
Just as Kaguya had predicted, Wu Wenwen had come on behalf of her team to exchange information.
First was the Butler's schedule.
He leaves the castle at five in the morning and returns about half an hour later. Wu Wenwen noted that he looked angry upon his return, but there was a stronger undercurrent of fear in his expression. After returning, he washes up and changes his clothes, then heads to the kitchen punctually at six to prepare their breakfast.
Second was the fourth floor. There wasn't much up there besides some abandoned rooms. The only thing of note was a surveillance room, but the setup was incredibly crude, as if a complete amateur had cobbled it together. There were only three cameras.
One was on the third floor, aimed at the staircase leading up to the fourth. Another was aimed at the courtyard outside the castle. The last one was aimed at the only two washrooms on the second floor.
Upon hearing about the surveillance, Yotsuya Miko couldn't help but stiffen. They had observed their surroundings carefully and found no trace of cameras. Besides, how could modern surveillance equipment exist in an old-world castle like this? The only explanation was that these were items left behind by previous players who had challenged this instance.
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