"I once read about a true case involving an American explorer named Aron Ralston. During an outdoor expedition, he accidentally fell into a crevice, and his hand got pinned by a fallen boulder. He couldn't pull it out no matter what," Fumiya Jin said. "I'll skip the details, but in the end, he used a very dull pocketknife to cut through his soft tissue and tear off his own arm. That's how he escaped the crevice and was eventually rescued."
"*Gasp—*"
Even with such a brief description, Nijika was terrified and couldn't help but gasp. Just imagining it for a moment made her arm ache with phantom pain.
"With a dull knife, too...? Good heavens, how much must that hurt... Hey, wait a second?" Nijika suddenly realized. "You're not bringing this up because you're thinking of copying him, are you?"
Fumiya Jin nodded bluntly. He gestured towards the shackles with his chin and said, "We don't have a knife, but luckily, these shackles are very sturdy and fixed. The wrist joint is also a bit more fragile than the elbow. If I throw my entire body weight forward and to the left, I should have a decent chance of snapping my wrist bone."
"Huh? That's... that's not right!" Nijika bit her lip. "A person's joints are so strong, you can't just snap them whenever you want!"
Fumiya Jin looked at his own wrist.
While he wasn't some muscle-bound brute, he did occasionally exercise at home for his health. His arm was indeed quite sturdy, and his joints were relatively durable.
So...
The next second, quite naturally.
His gaze shifted to the other arm, twenty centimeters away...
That arm was fair and slender. You could see a faint hint of muscle definition, but it still had the attractive shape of a girl's arm. The joint also looked more delicate.
"You're right, my wrist is indeed a bit too sturdy," Fumiya Jin said, looking sincerely into her eyes. "How about you do it?"
"Eh?"
Nijika was stunned.
"Me?"
"Yeah, your arm is more slender. It should be easier to snap," Fumiya Jin said with a nod.
"Wha... What are you talking about! How could I possibly do something like that!!!" Nijika said indignantly.
Fumiya Jin glanced at her look of utter disbelief, thought for a moment, and then nodded. "True. Sacrificing a limb requires immense willpower and pain tolerance. It's probably too much for a young girl like you. Sigh... so useless."
Nijika stiffened slightly, inexplicably annoyed.
She puffed out her cheeks and huffed, "Yes, yes, I'm so very sorry that a normal high school girl like me can't do a 'trivial' thing like 'snapping my own arm to survive'! *Hontou ni sumimasen*!!"
But Fumiya Jin, acting as if he completely missed her sarcasm, just shrugged and said, "Alright, then I guess it's up to me."
"Uh?"
Nijika froze.
"You... wait, you're not actually going to do it, are you? You're kidding, right? You must be joking to lighten the mood!"
"No, who would joke at a time like this? It's life or death. Breaking my hand is a viable survival plan. In fact, it might be the most viable one we can think of right now."
After speaking, Fumiya Jin closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
And then...
He opened his eyes.
With a sudden burst of strength, he pivoted on his right hand and lunged his upper body forward and to the right!—he was going to snap his left wrist.
Of course, from a pure escape perspective, it would have been more convenient to snap his right wrist and roll out of the chair to the left.
After all, Nijika's chair was to his right, with only a 20-centimeter gap between them. Trying to squeeze through would be difficult.
But he had to consider one thing: if he failed to break the arm, unable to tear the muscle and sinew, and only managed to dislocate his right hand, what would be the consequence?
He would completely lose the ability to press the button.
Ultimately, he didn't know this Miss Ijichi well enough. If he unilaterally lost his ability to threaten her, he would be completely gambling on her character.
He had no desire to test human nature.
So he chose to break his left hand.
"*Crack!—*"
The sound of bone fracturing echoed. It was accompanied by the ripping sound of tendons and flesh.
But his left wrist wasn't that fragile—at least, that amount of force wasn't enough.
He snapped back, landing on the chair with a thud.
A sharp pain made him furrow his brow.
"Ah?!! Good heavens..."
Nijika was completely dumbfounded.
"You... you're serious? Stop! There's no way you can do something like that!!"
"It's not impossible," Fumiya Jin shook his head. His voice was slightly strained, but that was just a physiological reaction to the pain.
"I wasn't even using my full strength just now, and the wrist bone already feels a bit loose... If I go all out, three times at most should be enough to dislocate it. Then I just have to rip the connecting tendons and flesh, and I'll be free."
"Stop talking, stop talking! Just listening to you makes me feel like I'm going to die from the pain..."
Nijika was trembling with fear.
"Do we really have to go that far?"
"Do you have a better idea?" Fumiya Jin shot her a look.
"I..."
Nijika was speechless, overcome with shame.
He was desperately fighting to survive, yet she felt like she couldn't do anything.
She bit her lip and looked down at her own fair arm.
Maybe... she should try it herself?
In reality, Fumiya Jin hadn't expected her to come up with another solution anyway.
However, just as he was about to look away and continue with his plan, he noticed something above Nijika's head...
287... 286... 285...
His own timer was still synchronized. And their recent conversation had indeed taken about a minute.
In other words, their time of death hadn't changed at all.
This discovery made Fumiya Jin's brow furrow.
He had tested it before. The countdown didn't change after his decision was made, but rather as soon as his plan of action was established.
For example, when he had saved a girl previously, her countdown had changed the very instant he started running towards her.
So, logically, since he had already started executing the plan, and completing it should ensure his survival, the countdown should have changed by now.
But the countdown remained the same.
That meant there was only one possibility—either he fails to execute the plan, perhaps by passing out from the pain halfway through, or, even after succeeding, he suffers some kind of additional penalty and dies at the same time anyway.
Either way, it proved that this plan was ineffective.
Even this won't work?
Is there really no way to clear this perfectly?
Fumiya Jin's expression grew heavy.
After pondering for several seconds, he finally lowered his head and looked at the button on the inner face of the right armrest.
It was a round, red button, shaped much like one from an old arcade machine.
If he had a choice, he certainly wouldn't want to walk out over the girl's dead body.
It wasn't just about morals or conscience; it was because he had previously deduced that the girl was capable of reaching the 'both don't press' ending with him.
To be able to trust a stranger like him under such an extreme, terrifying threat of death and achieve the 'both don't press' outcome showed what a... naive, foolish little idiot this girl was.
Idiots like her were too rare in the real world, which was all the more reason to protect them.
He also wanted her to survive.
However...
What if there was no choice, and one of them had to die?
Fumiya Jin was ultimately not the kind of saint who would sacrifice himself for a girl he had just met—even if she was very cute, kind-hearted, and exactly his type.
"Hey, are you... looking at that button? You're not thinking of pressing it, are you?" Nijika asked, a little scared.
Fumiya Jin turned his head and gave Nijika a slightly regretful look.
If one of them had to die, all he could do was apologize to her.
But as he glanced at her, he suddenly noticed that her countdown had changed.
101... 100... 99... 98...
_____
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