Thud, thud, thud—thud, thud, thud—
Amid the dull tapping sounds, that person stood outside the window, repeatedly crying out for help.
[Please, I'm begging you—please help!]
[Someone really is stuck in the Blood Vessel. If we don't do something, he'll die!]
[I'm begging you—please help us!]
That pleading voice continued to sound from outside the window, clearly entering everyone's ears.
But the four people inside the room merely remained silent, sitting there without reacting, not even looking at the one asking for help.
For a moment, the atmosphere seemed somewhat oppressive. Susan, still a newcomer and not yet used to this kind of atmosphere, curled up. Fujiwara Chika leaned toward Takumi. Then, after hesitating for a moment, she decisively sat down beside him, the two of their shoulders pressed tightly together. Perhaps only like this could she gain a little sense of security, and only like this could the girl remain calm under the bizarre circumstances at hand.
Takumi showed no particular reaction to this. On the contrary, he did not mind the pink-haired girl displaying a more intimate and more dependent attitude toward him at this moment.
'Come to think of it, it feels like the way this girl looks at me has gradually changed. What is going on?'
Takumi looked at the pink-haired girl sitting silently beside him, her arms wrapped around her knees, and felt that the way she spoke to him, communicated with him, and behaved when they were together seemed to have gradually developed a subtle difference.
Mm. He could not quite put into words what kind of difference it was… it somehow made him think of the process by which Maki had gotten to know him. Huh, why did he suddenly think of Maki?
While he was lost in these random thoughts, the knocking sound outside the window had already gradually subsided.
As the people inside the room maintained a state of "ignoring" it, the figure knocking gradually faded away and disappeared without a trace after a short while. The scenery outside the window also changed from an empty, pitch-black cave into a scene of rampant flooding, with many pieces of clothing rolling back and forth in the water.
Only after confirming, through the power of blessing, that the thing had completely moved far away did Takumi let out a breath of relief. His tightly tensed body slowly relaxed bit by bit.
"That thing probably won't come back for the time being."
Rex, who was sitting by the door, glanced outside the window and then spoke in a low voice.
"So, what are you planning to do now? Do you have any thoughts about the next course of action?"
Takumi looked at Rex and Susan and asked.
"Just take it one step at a time. There's no way to leave the instance in this area. I'm planning to try some other clothes later and see what needs to be done to find a way out."
Rex replied to Takumi casually, his tone sounding quite relaxed.
"That sounds pretty casual."
Takumi raised his eyebrows and said.
"No choice. If it were possible, I honestly wouldn't really want to move around, but given the current situation, there's no other option."
Rex shrugged, whistling to express his helplessness. However, in Takumi's view, this man showed more of an indifferent, unconcerned casual attitude. He seemed to have no fear at all toward this bizarre world, as if he was not worried in the slightest about being unable to leave this instance alive—or rather, as if he did not care whether he could leave alive at all.
This idea left Takumi somewhat puzzled. Then, recalling how this man had earlier handed important weapons and items to the newbie player Susan, he could not help but begin to suspect that this Rex might already have grasped some hidden clue and learned of another way to clear the stage.
After all, he had already been to the world where the security guard identity was. In theory, it was possible for him to know an escape method. If that was the case, then could it be that he had already been secretly planning to use Takumi and Chika as tools?
But if that was the case, his malice would definitely be impossible to hide. After all, Takumi had a blessing. Yet the only thing he could sense right now was goodwill. That did not make sense.
"Looks like you have pretty good stamina."
Takumi, having not thought through any conclusion for the time being, ultimately only said this casually. Rex merely smiled slightly in response and did not say anything more.
At this moment, Maki's side should still be asleep and resting, so Takumi did not communicate with her, maintaining communications silence on his side. As for Takumi himself, although he did not want to stop here, he had to admit that the energy he had expended along the way was indeed a bit too much. His current condition was not good either, and he probably still had to rest for a while.
As for Chika, she had already exhausted herself in the Big Slide area. At this point, she could barely even stand up, and it could be said that she was even less suited to continue moving.
They had to rest for a period of time.
Takumi, clearly realizing this, confirmed that this guard booth could be used as a safe zone in the Rescue Team world, and then planned to stay here for a while first, properly recover his stamina, and then continue moving.
It was just that, whether it was Susan or Rex, neither of them allowed him to put his mind at ease. If these two stayed in the guard booth, Takumi definitely would not be able to rest properly.
"Looks like you need to rest for a while."
Rex had clearly also noticed Takumi's situation. He looked at him and Chika and said in a casual tone.
"In that case, Susan and I will leave here for now and come back five hours later."
Then, this man actually stood up neatly, speaking in a light tone.
He was going to leave directly?
Takumi could not quite understand what this man meant.
"Mr. Rex?"
Susan also looked at Rex with some surprise, not understanding what his reason for doing this was.
"I know of other safe zones besides this one. As players, searching for safe zones in an instance where you can temporarily rest is a very important basic skill. All right—no matter what happens, we can talk about it again after we've both recovered our condition. In a so-called sacrificial game, players are often unable to truly trust one another. I understand that very well, so we will leave for now. I hope we can still see you again later, you two."
Saying this, Rex left the guard booth together with Susan, who still looked somewhat confused.
From beginning to end, the other party had displayed nothing but goodwill. Takumi, who could judge this through the blessing, became even more puzzled. He cautiously checked the surroundings of the guard booth and discovered that this man had truly left outright and had not left any hidden measures behind. This only made him all the more unable to figure it out.
However, no matter what the other party was planning, what he needed right now was proper rest. That was a real and pressing necessity.
A life-and-death struggle in the mud with a player who had turned aberrant.
Being struck on the head and body by stones falling from a height of dozens of meters.
And the repeated choking on water during the fight, along with the bruises caused by crashing into walls.
Not to mention climbing cliffs and climbing the Big Slide afterward. In any case, after going through all of that, even with Takumi's near-inhuman physical condition, he was already exhausted to an extreme degree.
On the other hand, it could be said that he had more or less discovered a loophole in the Rescue Team Badge. Although this item could greatly enhance the user's physical attributes and grant quite strong self-healing abilities, if stamina had already been depleted before using the badge, then this item had no way to make up for it.
While thinking about this, Takumi took out the last energy bar left in his pocket and began to consider the next course of action.
No matter what Rex was planning, Takumi had already prepared to attempt the normal end clearing method he had conjectured.
Relieving obsessions and destroying the instance sounded impressive, but actually carrying it out was by no means something that could be done casually. With a limited number of rewind attempts, Takumi still wanted to try whether it was possible to clear the instance using conventional methods. He had even already decided who the "good friends" would be that he would seek out to help with clearing it.
They were the two players who had participated in the instance as rescue personnel and who, in the first run, had forgotten their own names.
Having lost their own names, those two people's chances of clearing the instance were basically nonexistent. In that case, although it was quite inhumane, Takumi could not help but entertain the idea of making use of them. However, with no stamina to act right now, he could only rest here for a while before anything else.
One hour.
Takumi quietly set the rest time in his mind.
At most, he would rest in this guard booth for one hour. After that, he would have to go out and search for the players he had seen during the first run.
In addition, he still needed to collect enough security guard outfits—at the very least, he had to make sure that he himself, Maki, Kaguya, and Chika each had one set. Beyond that, it would be best to keep an extra amount equal to another full set as a reserve, just in case.
However, for the upcoming actions, Fujiwara Chika might not be able to recover so quickly. If that was the case, then letting her stay in the guard booth and rest a bit longer would be fine.
As Takumi was thinking this, he suddenly felt the shoulder leaning against his side grow heavier.
He turned his head and saw Chika's head slump down, falling into his arms.
It seemed that this girl was even more exhausted than he had expected. From earlier on, when Takumi and Rex were talking, she had shown little reaction. She was probably already engaged in a fierce struggle with drowsiness. And now that those two had left, she likely realized—judging from Takumi's expression—that there was no longer any need to stay on guard. Once she let her guard down, she fell straight into deep sleep, her body collapsing into Takumi's arms, clinging to him like a small animal.
This girl really trusted him too much, didn't she? Sleeping in the arms of a man she had known for less than a day—was she really this bold by design?
"…"
After a brief silence, Takumi reached out and gently stroked Chika's head.
Sleep. While you can still get a proper sleep.
From here on out, before this instance is cleared, there will not be many chances to rest like this anymore.
Thinking this, Takumi turned his gaze toward the window, toward the surging muddy water inside the stone cavern. In silence, he closed his eyes and rested as well.
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