[To Those Who Come After:]
[No matter who you are, the fact that you have found this place means you must be trapped here for some reason, searching for a way out. Furthermore, you have likely learned things you shouldn't have known, placing you in a situation far more dangerous than others.]
[If you want to escape, the method is simple: find a security guard uniform and put it on. You will then find yourself appearing inside a sentry box. Next, no matter what you see, do not panic. Confirm that the other person is wearing a security uniform, and tell them you originally intended to come for a shift change but found you arrived early. This way, you will be able to leave safely. Do not be afraid; if your behavior is too abnormal, you might actually be kept there.]
[In short, after doing this, you will be able to proceed from the Stone Forest Path direction toward the cave's exit and successfully leave this place. Do not go to the Gentle Slope. There should be signs at the entrance; read them clearly. You absolutely must not leave from the Gentle Slope direction. Doing this should allow you to leave successfully. But don't rush, don't rush yet. You must confirm what your initial identity was upon entering this place and complete a certain amount of roleplaying using that identity.]
[If you are an explorer, you must go to the "Heart" once. If you are a Rescue Team member, you must go through the rescue process at least once to change identities. If you are a tourist, security guard, or staff member... no, people with these three identities cannot survive, nor can they live to see this note, so I won't bother with them. In short, your first roleplay identity must accomplish something beforehand. If you switch identities directly, problems may arise. How should I put it? It's like an "unprofessional actor"; you might be more easily seen through.]
[Besides that, there is a very serious problem. The world where the security uniforms are located seems to have something extra... No, it should be said that recently, something has been added to every part of this cavern. There is a thing watching everything here. It is angry, it is terrifying. I don't know what it wants to do, but its presence can absolutely not be ignored. So, if you want to avoid it and successfully escape, you need to complete an operation here.]
[Perhaps you will be confused as to why performing a certain operation here can end all this. I have no way to explain it in detail. I have stayed here for many years. Ever since the Red Nut Gray Hole was sealed, ever since those damned bastards killed my only friend, I found a way to return here. Then I stayed in this nightmare of a place for a long, long time—long enough that I've almost forgotten how long.]
[Those guys who caused countless tragedies thought that throwing me into this hell would destroy me, but they were wrong. I have stayed here for a long time; I know how to survive here. So I pretended to cooperate. I entered here, and then, bit by bit, I researched what I could do. The final result is that I connected the circuit system of this place with the power grid of those guys.]
[Although that terrifying thing has been wandering this place all along, the place it wants to go most is where those bastards are hiding. So, if you pull the power switch, their power will be cut, and then that thing will shift its target. That will be your chance to survive and escape this place.]
[Before taking action, you must be prepared. You only have one chance. If you cannot escape within 15 days of your arrival, you will never be able to leave. So before acting, think it through carefully. Once you pull this switch, there is no turning back.]
[I can no longer leave here. I know I am becoming one of them. I missed the 15-day time limit. For the current me, even death is a luxury. However, I will not regret it, because this is what I deserve. When the sins occurred, I failed to stop them; I even colluded with them for a time. This is the price I must pay. Stranger, if you can leave here, please live on well. This is the only thing we, as ordinary people, can do.]
[As for me, the last thing I can do after leaving this shelter is to verify the true face of that thing. If I can return lucidly, I will record what I know. If I do not, do not attempt to make contact with that thing.]
[——Werbo]
This was an incredibly dirty hut that emitted a slight stench.
A large number of cans and water bottles were discarded on the ground. Costumes for various identities—explorer, firefighter, staff member, security guard—were thrown messily on a small table on one side of the room, and many extinguished cigarette butts lay scattered about.
Words were carved onto the wall with crayons, recording the time. Gao Hai counted; a total of 59 days were recorded here. That meant this man named Werbo had survived inside the Red Nut Gray Hole for a full 59 days. Or to be more accurate, he successfully survived for 59 days with the self-awareness of a "human".
That was almost equivalent to this instance opening and closing four times. Was this guy really that formidable? Or was it because he could no longer escape and had begun to gradually transform into an anomaly, allowing him to survive in this place more safely than players?
Also, the switch this guy mentioned—once pulled, it would cause a power outage in a certain place?
Gao Hai already knew which place Werbo was referring to.
{Maki, has anyone on your side gone to the Power Zone? Do not destroy the power system. Absolutely do not destroy the power system. The research institute you are in possesses some kind of defensive capability itself. If the power is turned off, that white dress anomaly will charge directly into the research base.}
Without the slightest hesitation, Gao Hai, having put down the message letter, immediately contacted Maki Shijo and informed her of the situation he knew.
{The one who entered the Power Zone is Auntie Kaguya. She won't act recklessly; we agreed beforehand to investigate first before deciding how to act. Wait, we have a situation here...}
Hearing Gao Hai's voice, Maki, who was flipping through experimental data, listened seriously to what he was saying. While answering him, she walked to the door of the dormitory. Just then, she heard an abnormal noise coming from outside. Sensing something was wrong, she opened the door and realized the commotion was coming from the direction of the Power Zone.
Kaguya Shinomiya had been caught.
Two fully armed soldiers, played by anomalies, grabbed Kaguya's hands and forced her to bend over.
Standing to the side was the expressionless Professor Fulen. He gave Kaguya a deathly stare, then said, "Violator. Handle according to Procedure No. 3." He then turned around and walked toward where Maki was.
The soldiers escorting Kaguya began walking toward the Observation Area.
Maki arrived at this moment, but Kaguya immediately shot her a look. The girl, understanding the other party's meaning, was forced to stop in her tracks, watching somewhat helplessly as Kaguya was escorted away just like that.
It all happened quite suddenly.
Kaguya, who had entered the Power Zone, indeed did not act rashly. In reality, she had only stayed inside for a very short time before preparing to leave temporarily to discuss countermeasures with Maki and Chika.
As a result, while there was no one outside when she entered, two soldiers were guarding the outside when she came out. Furthermore, Professor Fulen, who had exhibited many suspicious points, was not far away. Consequently, Kaguya was captured, and one of the soldiers drew a pistol, intending to put a bullet in her head.
If things had really developed that way, she would truly have been beyond saving. But unexpectedly, Professor Fulen stopped the soldier and ordered that Procedure No. 3 be applied to her. Kaguya herself did not know the content of this procedure, but Professor Fulen explained it himself: they were to lock her in a cell in the Quarantine Zone and use her as a special test subject.
Although the situation was still incomparably severe, at least it wasn't an immediate crisis of death. Coupled with the fact that this was a plan proposed by the highly suspicious Professor Fulen, Kaguya Shinomiya signaled Maki, who had rushed over, not to take action.
Chika Fujiwara arrived slightly slower. Kaguya was almost being escorted through the Research Zone when this girl came down from the stairs.
But Maki's eyes lit up immediately. The reason Chika arrived a bit late was that she had gone to the Archives first. She released the invisible doll that Maki had left inside to investigate different file reports and brought it to the first floor. Maki did not hesitate; she immediately controlled the doll to follow Kaguya and covertly handed a scalpel to the doll. This way, no matter what situation Kaguya encountered later, she would at least have the ability to defend herself.
This girl, you can't tell by looking, but she's quite sharp. I was walking a bit too urgently just now and didn't think to bring the doll out.
Thinking this, Maki's impression of Chika improved significantly. However, she was immediately forced to raise her head and look at Professor Fulen, who had walked in front of her and was staring expressionlessly at her and Chika.
"Tomorrow, there is a new experiment in the Research Zone. You two will participate as assistants."
After dropping this sentence, the professor slowly left, walking up the stairs back to his office on the second floor.
At the same time, Kaguya Shinomiya, under the escort of the two soldiers, had already passed through the Observation Area and arrived at the entrance to the Quarantine Zone, where soldiers would not go under normal circumstances.
The large gate opened, revealing the spacious preparation room behind it.
They passed through another door, but then the two soldiers took Kaguya and turned a corner, heading in a different direction from where exploration personnel usually proceeded.
At this moment, Kaguya noticed a [Quarantine Zone Notices] posted on the wall. She immediately locked onto it with her gaze, reading the text on it clearly in an extremely short time and memorizing it firmly in her heart, before observing the surrounding situation.
This place was very close to the inspection room.
In the Research Base's 1st-floor map, this was just an empty corridor with nothing present.
But when Kaguya was escorted here, she saw a staircase leading downward at the end of the corridor. The staircase didn't descend very deep and reached the bottom quickly.
What Kaguya saw was a circular corridor.
On the outer side of the corridor was a ring of fully enclosed cells; the situation inside the cells could not be seen. The inner circle seemed to be a separate small room, the specifics of which were also indiscernible, though Kaguya saw a label reading [Confinement Room].
Some information was pasted on the door of every cell, but there were no photos, nor were there names or identities of the detained personnel. There were only simple codes like d1, d2, and so on. The cell Kaguya was thrown into had the code d6 written on the outside.
After the soldiers threw Kaguya into cell d6, they closed the door and left directly.
Kaguya Shinomiya sat on the cold floor of the cell. She sat there in silence for a while, then slowly exhaled and stood up from the ground.
Next, she had to find a way to figure out the specific situation here and ensure her own safety. Could she do it?
Although the girl's face remained expressionless, the unease in the bottom of her heart was swelling more and more.
Alone... could she really do it?
"Cough..."
Just at this moment, Kaguya heard the sound of coughing from the neighboring cell.
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