Kaguya Shinomiya heard the sound of coughing ringing out from next door.
The other party's physical condition seemed very poor, coughing incessantly. That person's voice was always full of confusion, as if they had forgotten many things, as if their spirit had suffered extremely severe devastation, to the point where they were about to lose even their basic self and humanity.
[Hehe...]
She heard that person start to laugh again.
[Hehe... They stole it, they stole it from her side...]
[Must find it back... Must find it back...]
[If it's not found... everyone will die... heehee... you too...]
Neurotically repeating, muttering non-stop.
A harsh scratching sound rang out.
That was the sound of fingernails scraping against the heavy metal door.
Then suddenly, the other party let out a low cry of surprise, as if they had discovered something.
[Who is there?]
[Are you also someone locked in here?]
[Those bastards... kept me locked in here all along. I... my name is Howard. What is your name?]
[Ha... it's fine if you don't speak. I've been locked here for a long time, I've just been locked here for a long time, that's all...]
[No, no no no, is there really someone there? No, no no no...]
The voice behind the wall attempted to speak to Kaguya once again.
But Kaguya maintained her silence just as before, not answering the other party. As a result, that person's voice turned into muttering to himself after a short while, finally vanishing amidst neurotic murmurs, returning to silence.
After another few dozen minutes or an hour or two, that voice would start ringing out again, beginning to mutter to itself once more.
Kaguya was very clear about this process, because this had already happened for the seventh time.
Before lights out yesterday, this voice had rung out multiple times. Today was the same, appearing intermittently, then disappearing.
She had never answered that voice.
Within this choice, there was caution due to uncertainty about the other party's identity.
On the other hand, the reason was also related to the notice she saw when she was escorted in.
[Quarantine Zone Prison Management Regulations]
[1. No guards may be left in the Prison Area. The continuous stay time for all personnel entering and exiting this place must not exceed 1 hour. The cumulative stay time within 24 hours must not exceed 3 hours. The number of times the same guard enters and exits this area within 3 days should be less than 6 times.]
[2. Do not converse with the prisoners in the Prison Area. Do not respond to any words from the prisoners. The prisoners are quiet; they will not speak.]
[3. Do not retrieve surveillance of the Prison Area without permission from superiors, especially surveillance inside the cells. Do not disturb those prisoners.]
[4. Before entering, confirm that the Prison Area is a concrete structure, a separate area secretly built inside the Filling Area. If you see scenes that should not be seen in this area after opening the isolation door, do not step into it. Close the main gate and do not enter the Prison Area again that day.]
[5. Use the mechanical structure built into the cell door to deliver daily food into the cell. Do not look into the cell when the mechanism is open, and do not attempt to listen for sounds inside the cell at this time.]
[6. Use the life detection system inside the cell to confirm if anyone survived. When life detection signs in a certain cell disappear, do not deliver meals to that cell that day.]
[7. Cells that have detected no life signs for 3 consecutive days may accept new prisoners. If you are detaining new personnel and discover that a designated cell has a life sign detection marker—specifically the red indicator light standard—within 3 days, stop executing your mission and request superiors to change to another cell for containment. Do not decide on your own to arrange the prisoner in another cell area; this is an extremely serious violation.]
[8. Lights in every cell go out promptly at 22:00 daily and turn on at 7:00 the next day. One must absolutely not enter the Prison Area during the lights-out period. If you encounter a situation where the lights in a room have not recovered during the lights-on time, do not act rashly, and certainly do not open the door of such a cell or use lighting equipment to observe the situation inside. Report it to superiors, and they will arrange personnel to handle it.]
[9. The Central Confinement Room in this area has been abandoned, and the main gate is completely welded shut; it is impossible to enter the Confinement Room. If you hear speaking sounds clearly coming from the direction of the Confinement Room after entering this area, you must leave the area immediately. You will not be assigned to work in this area again in the future.]
[These management regulations do not set punishment or disciplinary standards. Please be sure to comply with the content.]
With such simple rows of words, the final message stating "no disciplinary standards set" was truly quite concerning. Kaguya didn't know how to describe this line of text; the feeling this sentence left her with was that "setting disciplinary measures would be meaningless anyway."
In short, this prison was absolutely abnormal. In this extremely anomalous area, something quite terrifying was likely hidden. Therefore, she had to be extremely careful.
It was precisely because of this that Kaguya had never communicated with the voice behind the wall, only sitting silently in place, motionless and waiting.
How were the others doing now?
Kaguya couldn't help but think.
The cloth doll hadn't responded to Kaguya for some time, and she didn't know why. She could only guess, praying in her heart, hoping that Maki and Chika were just temporarily busy with something, hoping that in the end, both of them would be safe and sound, and that nothing bad would happen.
Buzz—
Amidst a muffled sound, the middle section of the fully enclosed cell door opened. A small tray was sent in from the corridor outside, holding several bowls and dishes. It looked like this should be her food for the day.
Kaguya Shinomiya stood up, took the food down, and placed it on the ground to the side, but she had no intention of trying to eat it.
She just silently watched that movable panel close again, listening to the footsteps of the soldier distributing food outside pass by one cell after another.
Including her own cell, that thing delivering food stopped walking a total of three times.
In other words, besides herself, there should be two other people imprisoned here—at least she hoped they were "people." Judging by the distance of the sound, those should be two adjacent cells next to each other. Perhaps it could be D3 and D4, but the possibility of D2 and D3 could not be ruled out.
The footsteps did not stop at the room next to hers.
The other party walked directly past the cell next to hers, with absolutely no intention of stopping to distribute food.
In other words, was there no one in the cell next door?
Realizing this, Kaguya's mood instantly became heavy.
And what she did not hear was that after the soldier responsible for delivering meals left the prison area, walked up the stairs, and opened and closed the main gate entering this place... that closed main gate quietly opened again a few minutes after the soldier had left.
With a vigilant expression, Maki Shijo put away the Blood Key and carefully stepped into this gloomy, chilling place.
Behind her, Chika Fujiwara, who had put on soldier's clothes, opened that door again after it closed, then walked toward the direction of the Quarantine Zone.
At this moment, the invisible doll controlled by Maki had already run out the instant the meal delivery panel opened, immediately following Chika to act together with her.
Maki Shijo herself was going to find Kaguya and get her out of that cell, to avoid her staying in that sealed, anomalous place forever.
There were still many things to do next.
After confirming the existence of the prototype [Black Blood Bullets] in the Research Zone, there were too many questions to consider.
The matter of the Red Nut Gray Hole was already an old story from the last century, yet the [Black Blood Bullets] developed here became equipment for players in the United States when the horror game appeared many years later. The cause and effect within this was a question very much worth pondering.
Additionally, what exactly were the [Lost Ones] for whom there were no clues in the game hints so far? Could they be found in the prison area? This was also an important objective for Maki's investigation in the prison area. She had heard the voice behind the wall that Kaguya heard very clearly through the doll, and she definitely had to investigate this issue clearly later.
As for Chika Fujiwara, she was to investigate another problem, or rather, another person.
A person named [Shegera].
The Cave Research Base had two leaders: one was Professor Fulen representing the researchers, and the other was General Shegera responsible for managing the soldiers.
Many regulations in this ghostly place mentioned these two people side by side. According to some data information, General Shegera's authority even exceeded Fulen's. Theoretically, General Shegera was the person truly controlling this place. However, after three loops so far, none of Kaguya's group had ever seen this general. He was as if he had vanished or gone missing; apart from his name, no traces were left behind. This point was truly quite suspicious.
Therefore, what Chika had to do next was attempt to enter General Shegera's office in the capacity of a soldier. If necessary, using force directly was also acceptable.
And because the doll was following Chika, Maki could learn of the situation on her side anytime and anywhere, and could use the Blood Key to launch support at any moment—one had to know there were many doors in the Research Base.
The last person besides them, the only one who could not enter the Research Base area lest it lead to a total wipeout ending—Gao Hai. He was currently not staying in that small hut which could be used as a safe house shelter either. In fact, Gao Hai had already torn down Werbo's note, then directly dismantled the lever of the power switch and hid it in his backpack.
That backpack was now on Maki's back, while Gao Hai had taken two self-made explosives from the backpack. Gao Hai had not yet given an explanation for taking these things.
Splash—
As footsteps advanced, the muddy water flow was split apart.
Amidst the continuous sound of dripping water, Gao Hai had already arrived at the upper area of the Red Nut Gray Hole, positioned in the place where the [Plains] were located.
Just now, he had already been to the sentry box, saw Shelby and Ed resting there, and learned that Lixer had returned once earlier, then left again to who-knows-where to investigate, and that Susan had also run off after staying in the sentry box for a short while.
Gao Hai, not staying there for long, quickly left. Then, at the connection between the [Stone Forest Path] and the [Plains], he saw a player trembling somewhat, walking toward this side with difficulty. A newbie player he had encountered before, already middle-aged, named Wang Gui. His specialty was demolition; he used to blast mines.
This specialty made Gao Hai decide to find him and guide him to the sentry box to rest for a period. Meanwhile, after confirming that the Rescue Team players had been basically wiped out after a day, he turned and arrived at the entry area of the [Gentle Slope].
Gao Hai remembered very clearly that the [Gentle Slope] was a dangerous area that even firefighters could not step into, especially near that great rift.
According to the content of the rescue personnel regulations, the reason for not entering the Gentle Slope was that [No rescue personnel are needed in the "Gentle Slope"]. This matter was truly quite concerning.
Although doing this would likely bring considerable danger, it was worth a try!
"Then I choose you, Rescue Team. Go in and find out what's happening."
Thus, Gao Hai, having made up his mind, directly ordered the Rescue Team member he had summoned before coming to the sentry box, making the other party tread through the muddy water and walk into the [Gentle Slope]. Gao Hai, on the other hand, retreated a distance as if watching a show, then simply found a large rock that wasn't completely submerged and sat down.
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