Consciousness felt as if it had been torn in two.
One half of himself was trapped in that twisted, chaotic room, seized by the pale figure and slowly doused with boiling water.
The other half stood on a fragmented, chaotic corridor in the twisted space of the 3rd floor he had traversed in the first loop, wearing that filthy life-saving uniform and limping through the dead-end ruins.
Pain gnawed at his will.
The agony of his very self being torn apart sent his thoughts into further disarray, as if he were already descending into madness.
"Hah... ah..."
Gao Hai knew the reason for this situation.
After speaking the core anomaly of the Shirakawa Apartments aloud, he had effectively borne the most severe curse erosion. He was instantly dragged to the 3rd floor of the Shirakawa Apartments, likely... into some area within Room 304, the source of it all. Then, he was subjected to an execution by the power of the horror story, a reenactment of the past, and was about to die on the spot.
But in the end, he didn't die immediately.
Perhaps his willpower was truly tenacious enough, or maybe it was because he was being executed rather than instantly killed. Thus, he managed to regain consciousness for a moment before the final blow and put on the badge at that critical moment.
And that Rescue Team badge was a bizarre object capable of gradually transforming him into a part of the Rescue Team horror story, making him a component of that anomaly. It was probably something like the objects of obsession that Lao Guo and the woman possessed.
This caused Gao Hai to no longer be judged as completely human on a conceptual level, failing to meet the conditions for execution. As a result, he temporarily gained the ability to move within that room.
But this could only be maintained for a short time. He guessed it might be because he had delved into the source area of the Shirakawa Apartments. Even using an object of obsession to temporarily change his identity, like exploiting the 2nd-floor corpse identity bug to masquerade as an anomaly, he would eventually be identified. The result was that Gao Hai seemed to be torn in two in some fashion—not in a physical sense, but in a conceptual transformation that was difficult to put into words.
At this very moment, he could clearly perceive the entire process of his execution in that room. The pain of every second was as clear as it could possibly be.
Meanwhile, this version of him in the chaotic corridor seemed to be undergoing a deeper transformation from the Rescue Team badge. Even though he had already removed the badge, the thought of going to the first floor to evacuate residents kept popping into his mind, as if hundreds of people were chanting it incessantly inside his head, tormenting his senses with increasing intensity. And as this transformation deepened, the badge he had removed actually began to slowly grow back on his shoulder.
Gao Hai felt he was probably going to go mad soon.
But he was still lucid.
Even though his fractured mind was on the verge of collapse, he was still maintaining his lucidity at this moment.
He even had the spare energy to observe the veteran player being executed alongside him not far away, watching as she was submerged in boiling water amid despairing wails.
Speaking of which, am I going to repeat my death from the first loop? No, this seems even worse than the first loop, doesn't it? At least back then I was boiled to death directly, so the pain only lasted a few minutes. I've been getting scalded for over ten minutes now, how am I not dead yet...
Wanting to make such a snarky comment, Gao Hai ultimately let out only a weary gasp.
He continued to step forward down the corridor.
The sound of footsteps came from beside him, but when he turned his head, he saw nothing.
The invisible footsteps paced back and forth, their form unseen.
His consciousness seemed to blur again, and then he saw terrified people from all over the world. He saw their bodies begin to fall apart, their minds descend into chaos, and saw them become invisible things wandering within the apartment. Some played the part of debt collectors from the outside, some played the part of warm, friendly neighbors, and some shattered so completely they couldn't even retain a basic consciousness, becoming a part of the apartment itself.
"Using actors to reenact the apartment from memory?"
Gao Hai seemed to understand something.
He had already seen the source, the reason for the Shirakawa Apartments' drastic transformation.
Although he didn't know why such an unexceptional tragedy of domestic violence would evolve into such terrifying power, at least through continuous observation and exploration, he had gradually come to understand the most fundamental logic of how all the strangeness in this apartment operated.
Reenactment, interaction...
Reenacting the past in a twisted, chaotic way, and contaminating and distorting through interaction.
Verbal interaction is the most potent. Is it because the child was very young and therefore more inclined toward language?
Reenactment... The memories, distorted by a strange power, must be the foundation for the reenactment.
If I can stay lucid, and on that basis, further deepen my connection to the apartment's core taboo and endure even stronger contamination, can I obtain deeper intelligence about this taboo? Or even directly comprehend the root of it all?
It sounded promising, but the problem was he was already near his limit. Just staying lucid was already extremely difficult; he probably wouldn't have the stamina to last that long.
"In this state, you went into 304 and actually came out alive?"
A surprised voice sounded from his side.
Gao Hai turned his head and saw Lao Guo, carrying a head whose face had been skinned off.
The faceless head seemed to still be alive, constantly opening its stark white teeth, now unobstructed by lips, as if it were still breathing.
Just looking at this head, Gao Hai felt a chill run through him, and the sense of chaos in his mind seemed to lessen slightly. It's like... multiple different anomalies can influence each other, slowing the rate of mental erosion? Gao Hai wasn't sure of the principle behind it, but he took a step back, warily on guard against the other man.
"No need to be so vigilant. I'm not that wary of a dead man walking. Even if you left 304, from the moment you bore the taboo's curse, your survival was impossible. Even now, boiling water is still pouring from your body. Haven't you noticed?"
"I originally thought you'd be a troublesome competitor, but you ended up just blundering into 304. Heh, whatever. Go ahead and enjoy what little time you have left. I'm not going to waste my energy on a dead man here."
Lao Guo didn't seem particularly hostile. He just waved a hand at Gao Hai and started walking in the other direction.
Watching the man's retreating back, Gao Hai contemplated whether he should open his mouth and unleash the true name again, to speak the name that must not be spoken.
But although the man had turned to leave, the head he carried in his hand remained facing him. Gao Hai had a feeling that if he spoke even a single word, the man would act instantly to kill him right here.
But, in his current state, could he even die so easily?
"Hah—"
Taking a step, Gao Hai followed in the direction Lao Guo had gone.
And almost at the exact moment he started moving, Lao Guo stopped and turned, his expression cold as he looked back at him.
"I already told you I don't want to waste energy on you. Why can't you young people just listen to reason?"
Lao Guo spoke in a low voice, like an elder chastising a junior. He released his grip on the head, which fell to the ground the next instant and vanished.
"You—"
Bang! Bang!
The moment Gao Hai's first word left his lips, two bullets had already hit him. One pierced his mouth, the other his throat.
Like the woman disguised as Miwa Maeda, Lao Guo, also a veteran player, clearly knew a lot about this apartment. He had been on guard against Gao Hai using verbal interaction to reveal taboo information, so he acted immediately to disable Gao Hai's ability to speak.
It hurt. A lot.
But it seemed he couldn't die yet.
Despite his throat being shot through, Gao Hai found he wasn't having trouble breathing; he just felt the pain.
After all, he was a member of the Rescue Team. They don't die that easily. Right, time to go to the first floor. I'm a member of Team 1, I need to assist... I'm Gao Hai, I'm still Gao Hai, I'm Gao Hai right now...
His consciousness began to grow muddled and chaotic again.
Gao Hai found he was starting to lose track of who he was.
But he still knew what he wanted to do most right now.
And that was, before he completely lost himself, to beat this instance's shit-stirrer so badly his own mother wouldn't recognize him.
Gao Hai took a step forward.
Crunch!
Then, to the sound of something chewing, he collapsed to the ground.
Looking down, he saw that his right leg was gone from the knee down, and a faceless head was chewing beside the stump, its mouth wide open.
Drip—drip—
More water was still seeping from the life-saving uniform.
As his body took damage, Gao Hai realized his identity seemed to be transforming at an accelerated rate.
Must... evacuate... the people in this apartment...
Must... find out... this bastard Lao Guo's... trump cards...
No, no... I have to save people... no... I have to kill this bastard... no... I... who am I? Why am I here? I... what was I supposed to be doing?
He could no longer perceive the other, torn-off half of his consciousness. The agonizing execution by boiling water and stitches had lasted for about fifteen minutes before that half of his consciousness finally gave out and died.
And now, this consciousness—the one torn from Room 304, contaminated and transformed by the Rescue Team badge—was also on the brink of final collapse.
"A 1st-floor Rescue Team uniform? That's something that only appeared in this game. It can produce an object of obsession too? The ability to withstand multiple fatal wounds without dying... it seems to be a rather useful object of obsession."
Standing not far away, Lao Guo was still observing Gao Hai, who was struggling on the ground, being gnawed on by one faceless head after another.
He didn't think the man had any ability to threaten him anymore.
In the end, after suffering the curse of 304, this man had no path to survival. All he had to do was wait until he was on his last breath, step forward to retrieve the object of obsession, then use another object of obsession to suppress the target's transformation into an anomaly, followed by the familiar routine of looting the corpse.
Lao Guo had been through this routine many times. While he wasn't particularly strong when it came to dealing with horror stories and anomalies, he had his methods for dealing with other players. The combination of an object of obsession and a firearm could easily kill the vast majority of players who relied on such objects, even those far more famous than him. In his view, this time would be no exception. No one could maintain their consciousness after suffering the core anomaly's curse. This pitiful man must be in a state of complete chaos by now, perhaps on the verge of being fully transformed into a part of the anomaly, with no possibility of resistance left.
As Lao Guo was thinking this, he suddenly saw Gao Hai snap his head up.
"I am the Rescue Team. I must rescue people and get them out of here."
Gao Hai said to himself.
"I must rescue this person, get him out of the Shirakawa Apartments, and lead him away!"
His gaze locked onto Lao Guo, who had warily taken a few steps back and drawn his gun, and he spoke to himself with conviction.
In the next instant, Gao Hai stood up and strode toward Lao Guo.
"Still moving?! No, wait, how did the transformation complete so quickly?"
Seeing Gao Hai heal all his wounds in an instant and his attire completely change into that of a rescue worker, Lao Guo immediately realized something was wrong.
This transformation speed was completely abnormal. The Rescue Team was just a derivative anomaly of this apartment; how could it possibly transform someone so quickly?!
Could it be that this person is actually still conscious?
And while conscious, he can actively push his own transformation even further?!
What... what's the point of that? Won't you just die faster that way? Are you doing this just to take someone down with you? How can such a disgusting bastard exist?!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Several consecutive shots pierced Gao Hai's knees but failed to stop his movement at all.
The object of obsession head lunged forward and bit Gao Hai, then automatically let go. It seemed to enter a brief state of confusion before dropping to the ground, immobile and deactivated.
Lao Guo realized that the man before him had basically been completely transformed into an anomalous entity. And somehow, before the transformation was complete, he had managed to target himself with the anomaly's activation rules, making Lao Guo the target of said rules.
So how the fuck did he do it? A person with this kind of willpower shouldn't exist, right?!
Activating a high-explosive charge, he threw it.
Lao Guo spun around, rolling behind a distorted wall for cover.
A violent explosion erupted the next moment, demolishing the wall on the spot.
But as Lao Guo climbed out of the rubble and took his first step, a hand shot out and grabbed him by the collar. It was Gao Hai, half his face now transformed into that of a rescue worker, who then smashed a fist into his face.
Crack—
Several teeth flew out of Lao Guo's mouth.
Amidst the crisp sound of shattering, the punch nearly broke Lao Guo's jaw, twisting his mouth on the spot into the pose of a "Wry-mouthed Dragon King"—specifically, the Resident Evil 2 1000% exaggerated expression mod version.
"Don't be afraid. I'm here to save you."
After landing the punch, Gao Hai spoke to Lao Guo with utmost sincerity, then clenched his fist and punched him in the face again.
________________________________________
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