A massive chaos is sweeping through player communities across the globe.
As a fairly famous low-difficulty, high-survival rate instance, the demand for tickets to 'Red Nut Gray Hole' has always been very high. Many player organizations would deliberately collect tickets for this instance, using them on veteran players in need or potential-filled newcomers. In a sense, one could even say that tickets for this instance held a certain degree of strategic significance. It was precisely for this reason that Koikawa-san, who thought highly of Gao Hai's group, traded the tickets for this instance to them.
But now, this so-called [Tourism-level Beginner Twilight-level Instance] no longer exists.
Over twenty players entered that instance. The vast majority were either barely survivors from their first instance or veteran players who had experienced a certain number of instances but weren't particularly strong. In the end, these players were almost completely wiped out, with only a few survivors remaining. For example, Shelby and Ed from the Americas region, and a newcomer player named Wang Gui from the Asian region. It is said that there was also a player from the Japan region who successfully survived, but no one has appeared yet.
If it were merely this, it actually wouldn't cause that much of a stir. After all, an unfixed Twilight-level instance suddenly becoming fixed—while rare—is not unheard of. aside from lamenting how unlucky those players who entered were, people wouldn't have much else to say.
The problem is, according to the accounts of the surviving players, when they escaped the Red Nut Gray Hole instance, the entire instance was already shattered and on the verge of complete collapse. Many players could understand what this phenomenon meant.
A player entered the fixed Red Nut Gray Hole for the first time, and without any intelligence, cleared the obsession on their first sighting, destroying the instance!?
Is such a thing really possible?
Many players couldn't help but have this thought immediately.
A completely unknown instance, vastly different from the preliminary intelligence obtained before entering. To dodge the various fatal threats in a rules-based horror story while flying almost completely blind, and successfully face the core obsession directly, finding the other party's regret and making up for it... Is such a thing really achievable? One must know that facing the core obsession directly is the most dangerous and fatal aspect of all instances. Unless they are veteran players possessing sufficient experience and powerful Obsession Items, very few people would attempt to make frontal contact with such things.
Exactly how powerful of an expert is required to accomplish such a feat?
It is worth inquiring about; it is worth trying to rope them in.
Many players began to take action. Some were driven by curiosity, some by considerations of profit, and of course, there were some acting for other reasons. Regardless, with the destruction of the Red Nut Gray Hole instance and the invalidation of related tickets, Gao Hai and his party had already begun to be swept into the dark undercurrents.
"I won't publicly announce the matter of me gifting the tickets to you. If anyone asks, just say I gave you tickets to [Yamazaki Amusement Park]. Trust me, this matter won't be as wonderful as it looks. Once the fact that you destroyed the Red Nut Gray Hole instance is exposed, there will inevitably be many people forming ideas about you. Some might only try to recruit you to join them, but there are others who might pose a very serious threat to you—for example, by using mind-control type Obsession Items to directly turn you into obedient puppets."
On the second day after clearing the game, the veteran player Aoyama Nanami called, very seriously informing Gao Hai's group of this matter.
From her tone, one could hear that Aoyama Nanami, who had actually just cleared an instance yesterday herself, was quite exhausted. Yet, she still called immediately upon learning of this news, which was enough to show the importance she attached to Gao Hai and his group.
"By the way, how did you know we achieved a perfect clearance?" Gao Hai was somewhat puzzled at the time.
"The number of surviving players is very small, and your existence was repeatedly mentioned by the survivors. Just paying a little attention to the content posted by those survivors makes it clear what happened. In short, try to keep a low profile during this period. Mr. Koikawa and I will try to help cover it up. You personally shouldn't show your face in the player market for this month."
Aoyama Nanami answered somewhat helplessly, then proceeded to give careful warnings.
Gao Hai looked back and checked the United States forums on the player forum. As a result, he found a thank-you post from Ed, who had survived the instance. The other party's attitude in the post was actually quite good, constantly expressing how amazing Gao Hai was and such, and even describing Gao Hai's general appearance, stating a hope to find Gao Hai and meet him to express gratitude.
Provoking the Women's Face Gang after clearing the first instance, and now it looks like a pile of trouble after clearing the second instance.
A bit of a headache.
However, this was not the most headache-inducing matter.
Gao Hai's gaze looked to the left.
"Hmph!"
Maki Shijo immediately turned her face away, puffing out her cheeks like a cat with exploded fur.
Gao Hai's gaze looked to the right.
"Ehehe~"
Chika Fujiwara revealed a somewhat silly smile, looking back with a slightly blushing face.
In the next moment, a hand extending from his side grabbed the hand Gao Hai had placed on the table.
"What are you looking at? What are you smiling at? I haven't finished speaking yet."
Maki's very displeased voice rang out.
Unacceptable.
The girl's brownish-purple pupils constantly swept over Gao Hai and Chika.
She couldn't accept this kind of thing no matter what.
Hai-kun actually developed favorable feelings with another woman—what kind of thing is this? Moreover, thinking back on it now, this fat woman named Chika Fujiwara is clearly a newcomer, yet she performed so skillfully when dealing with the anomalies and horror stories. She clearly possesses memories from a Rewind. In other words, did she already hook up with Hai-kun during the second loop? Did this vixen actually take action long ago and already charm Hai-kun?!
She even made Hai-kun consume a Rewind use to leave behind her memories. This sort of thing... this sort of thing...
Maki's other hand, placed under the table, was already clenched tightly into a fist.
"Yes, we should explain things clearly. Regarding our current status, regarding what we should do now—these should all be made clear, shouldn't they?"
Chika Fujiwara paid no mind to Maki's action of grabbing Gao Hai's arm. She merely smiled slightly, looking calm and indifferent like a queen who controlled the entire situation.
Gao Hai remained silent, because he truly didn't know what he should say right now. Although he had shouted about opening a harem and being a pandering otaku male protagonist, how could he possibly have the experience to simultaneously deal with two girls who had feelings for him? Saying things like 'You are both my wings'—it's fine to use it as a meme, but asking him to actually say it now, he really couldn't get it out. But abandoning one of them... that was something he absolutely couldn't do either.
In the end... from the day this group of people became Players and acted together, normal interpersonal relationship development had completely diverged from the rhythm of their lives. If this were real life, how could a guy like him, a transmigrator who became an obscure little otaku, possibly have the chance to simultaneously know the daughter of an international conglomerate and the daughter of a top political family, and develop mutual feelings with both of them through life-and-death adventures?
Gao Hai, on this side, didn't know how to open his mouth to solve the immediate problem for a moment. Meanwhile, sitting opposite Gao Hai, facing the scene of 'three people putting on a show' on the other side, she similarly didn't know what to say. Her entire person was stiff, and her brain was in chaos.
It was now the second day after the mission ended.
Originally, after an afternoon and an evening of relaxation and thinking, Kaguya believed she had adjusted her state and wouldn't have any major issues anymore.
But after the four people gathered in this small private room again, and after Chika and Maki sat on Gao Hai's left and right with tacit understanding and started going tit-for-tat from the get-go, Kaguya had to admit that her brain had started to become messy again.
Persuading the two of them not to compete—such a thing was impossible. The family backgrounds of all three determined that they weren't people who would easily retreat. Giving up casually on someone they had set their sights on was absolutely impossible; persuasion in this matter would be nothing but useless effort.
Helping one side achieve victory to directly end this dispute... This wasn't very realistic either, and it wasn't good for her to take a side. More importantly, doing so would definitely lead to the team splitting. Right now, in order to increase their chances of survival in death instances, this team definitely could not split up. She couldn't do that kind of thing.
But just sitting and ignoring it didn't seem right either. Looking at the posture of these two, it was basically impossible for them to communicate properly, right?
Even though we agreed to meet to discuss the next course of action...
Kaguya's brain became even more chaotic.
Especially recalling the time inside the Red Nut Gray Hole instance, when she thought about the weight of herself and Maki in Gao Hai's heart, and pondered whether she should find a way to increase her own weight in Gao Hai's heart... Kaguya even produced a kind of hallucination. She felt that if she were to do something, one day she would replace Chika or Maki sitting here now, opposing another woman and fighting fiercely to snatch Gao-kun or something.
That appearance would be too unsightly... but thinking about it carefully, it doesn't seem completely impossible...
"What exactly did you and Hai-kun do inside the instance?"
At the same time Kaguya was becoming increasingly confused, Maki had already bared her fangs and brandished her claws, launching an attack toward Chika.
"I sacrificed myself to save Ah Hai, and died in front of him."
Chika Fujiwara replied with a smile on her face, her tone completely calm.
"Eh?"
Maki froze on the spot instantly. Chika's sentence caused the various counterattack methods she had preemptively imagined in her heart to solidify instantly.
"But Maki-san doesn't need to be too agitated. I know it—Maki-san is a very, very important person to Ah Hai. Because you also once saved his life, and he saved you. To Ah Hai, you are the first person he met in the horror story game who treated him well. I will not deny this point."
Chika Fujiwara placed her palms together, resting her fingertips against her chin, and continued to speak in a gentle tone.
"Ah, you know about those things? You..."
Maki subconsciously shrank back, already somewhat unable to understand the current development.
"So, Maki-san, gripping Ah Hai so hard like that will hurt him. Regardless, Ah Hai hasn't done anything to let you or me down. He has been fighting desperately, working hard so that all of us can survive. We have no standing to accuse him, do we?"
Reaching out her hand, Chika grabbed Maki's hand and continued speaking.
"Wuah, y-you... I know that! I wasn't accusing Hai-kun! And why do you call him Ah Hai? You've clearly only known him for two or three days, yet calling him so intimately? What exactly are you trying to do?"
Being spoken to until she blushed, Maki let go of the hand gripping Gao Hai's arm, then couldn't help but retort again.
She's completely lost her composure.
Kaguya, watching this scene from the side, couldn't help but sigh.
Like a beloved toy about to be snatched away, the current Maki couldn't calm down at all. Anxious and annoyed expressions were completely written on her face.
"Because Ah Hai really treats me very well. Ehehe, after all, Ah Hai is very tall, very gently helped me and guided me, and worked very hard to find a way to crack the instance. Plus, he's very interested in games, so we have many common topics to chat about. Of course I want to develop a good relationship with such a good person. Could it be that Maki-san doesn't hope to have a good relationship with Ah Hai, doesn't hope to get closer to him?"
Chika blushed slightly, speaking with a bit of shy twisting, looking just like a bashful maiden in spring.
"I, I... that sort of thing..."
Maki almost subconsciously wanted to blurt out a sentence like 'I don't want to have a good relationship with Hai-kun at all,' but immediately after, she remembered the pit Chika Fujiwara had dug for her in their previous conversation. That sentence—'Didn't you say you don't like Ah Hai and don't plan to fall in love or marry him?'—was still stuck in Maki's throat like a stone even now, making her feel so uncomfortable she didn't know what to do.
"Alright, alright, Maki-san, the thoughts between the two of us actually aren't important. What's most important right now is that after cracking the Red Nut Gray Hole instance, we have effectively attracted a lot of outside attention and have become enemies of a portion of the players. Although the players using Black Blood Bullets are concentrated in the United States, the possibility that they will discover we, who are in Japan, are the ones who cracked the instance and caused the Black Blood Bullets to fail definitely exists. We must make preparations to respond, mustn't we? So let's not talk about trivial emotional matters for now. How about we focus our energy on serious business? Kaguya-san has been watching us the whole time too."
But precisely in this moment of her silence and hesitation, Chika continued speaking without stopping, easily crushing the words Maki hadn't yet organized back into her mouth, not giving Maki a single opportunity to counterattack.
And sitting between the two girls, watching this scene of tit-for-tat confrontation... Gao Hai thought... how should he put it? It seemed to feel quite good? He had a marvelous sense of personally experiencing a Shuraba...
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