A dream.
Perhaps it was a dream?
Takumi felt as though he was trapped in a stretch of darkness, firmly wedged within cold rock walls.
It was as if he had never left that rock cave, as if he had never truly escaped that cramped, narrow world—just like everything that happened afterward was nothing more than a dream of his.
Drip—
The sound of a water droplet falling rang out in front of him.
There was no way to move.
Almost no way to breathe.
The dizziness surged up more and more intensely.
Yet his body remained completely motionless, firmly stuck in this dark abyss.
Drip—
A drop of water fell onto his cheek.
Cold.
Sticky.
Carrying a faint, fishy stench.
Is it… water droplets?
Takumi suddenly realized something.
Drip—
A second drop of liquid fell.
By then, he had already raised his head, looking up toward the top of the narrow cavern.
Drip—
A dark red liquid fell just like that onto his face.
Within the fishy stench, a suppressed sound of sobbing rang out above his head.
Only at this moment did Takumi realize that he was stuck inside a vertical cavern, unable to move forward and unable to retreat.
And above him was—
…
"Ugh…"
Takumi opened his eyes.
He could still feel a faint sensation of pain throughout his body.
He had clearly only intended to rest for a bit—had he actually fallen asleep?
Was he really that exhausted?
Even after waking up, Takumi still felt his head spinning slightly, as if from mild oxygen deprivation. Everything around him seemed a little unclear.
He reached up, covered his head, and gently massaged his temples.
After about one or two minutes, the dizziness in his head subsided a little. Only then was Takumi able to clearly see the surging water outside, as well as Fujiwara Chika still lying on top of him, sleeping soundly with her arms wrapped around him.
"Hehehe…"
She even rubbed against his chest a few times, looking like a silly little fool.
Taking out the waterproof phone from his pocket and checking the time, Takumi confirmed that he had slept for seven hours. His original plan to rest just a little while had now completely gone out the window. However, the power of blessing did not sense any abnormalities. Susan and Rex did not seem to have returned to this guard booth.
"Wake up. Stop sleeping."
Takumi reached out and patted Chika's face several times. The girl's small face had a bit of softness to it. He had to admit, the sensation of patting it was actually quite nice—it even made him think of Maki's… uh, Maki's chest?
That comparison somehow felt a bit mean.
"Mm… is it morning already? Eh—eh? Takumi-kun?"
Fujiwara Chika's boot-up speed was still very fast. From opening her eyes, to looking dazed, to becoming fully awake, it only took about five or six seconds. Immediately afterward, her body stiffened abruptly. Then she slowly lowered her head and discovered that, without knowing when, she had completely collapsed onto Takumi, even wrapping her arms around his neck—using Takumi himself as a bed and sleeping soundly on him.
"Honestly, if my physical condition weren't strong enough, I'd probably already be completely numb from you sleeping on me by now."
Takumi looked at Fujiwara Chika and said with a very serious expression.
"S-sorry!"
Fujiwara Chika hurriedly apologized and quickly climbed down from Takumi. Then, because she had just woken up and still had no strength, she stumbled and fell to the ground.
Takumi also sat up, moved his body a bit—now slightly numb after being pressed down by her for several hours—then stood up, bent down, and pulled Chika up from the ground.
"Stop freaking out all the time. Tsk. Sleeping on the ground for so long really does make your lower back and body ache. Let's go. It's about time to keep moving."
As Takumi spoke, he sent a message to Maki through his connection with her.
{Hey, you there?}
It was a very simple and blunt opening line—mainly because Takumi did not have the mood right now to think too much about how to greet her.
{I'm here, Takumi-kun. Where are you right now, and how is it going? Oba-san and I are both in the command room. After Oba-san left the Explorer identity, today C1 was replaced by another newly appeared Explorer played by the bizarre. It's still three people. I guess there are only three total slots for Explorers. Originally they were all played by the bizarre; once a player puts on the Explorer outfit, they will directly replace that slot. As for what would happen if a fourth performer appeared, I'm not too sure.}
Maki's message almost immediately sent over a large block of content. Clearly, the girl had long been waiting for his news. This made Takumi feel somewhat guilty. Especially when he thought about how, yesterday, he had slept together with another beautiful girl (even though nothing happened), that sense of guilt became even stronger.
{I've already arrived at the "Plains" area where the rescue personnel are. I rested overnight in the guard booth in this world. For now, it seems that as long as it isn't in the world of the "Security Guard" identity, the guard booth can be used as a safe zone. But I guess this safe zone is only temporary. I'm fine. The Fujiwara-san who's acting together with me is also fine. How are you and Kaguya? Don't push yourselves. I've already thought of a way to leave this instance. Just hang in there for now.}
After quickly explaining his situation to Maki, Takumi confirmed that the explorer outfit on his body was still fine, then had Chika confirm again as well. After that, he opened the door of the guard booth and stepped into the flowing water outside.
One piece of clothing after another drifted up and down in the water.
To meet the conditions for leaving the Red Nut Grey Cave instance, at least five security uniforms were needed at present. Four of them would be worn by Takumi, Maki, Kaguya, and Chika, so that they could move safely within the cave on the security timeline. One additional explorer outfit was also required. This outfit needed to be worn by Chika, who would travel to the world where the Cave Research Base was located while wearing it, and bring along three security uniforms to ensure that Kaguya and the others were all transferred to the world on the security side.
After that, he himself would also put on a security uniform and head to the cave on that timeline.
As for the two people who were originally planned to be sacrificed, after reconsidering the plan, Takumi realized that he actually did not need to do that. He could completely achieve an ending where everyone escaped without sacrificing anyone.
As for the method, it was very simple.
Put on the Rescue Team Badge.
A Rescue Team member with a blurred appearance appeared beside Takumi.
And through the power of the badge, Takumi had already issued orders to this summoned Rescue Team member.
[Later, you will put on a security uniform together with me. Then you are responsible for saying to me, Maki, Kaguya, and Chika, "I'm here to take over the shift," and stay inside the guard booth as the on-duty personnel. After that, when our group reaches the cave entrance and prepares to leave, you will shout three times inside the guard booth, "I am human, I am human, come catch me." In this way, we will be saved, and you, as a Rescue Team member, will have completed the rescue mission.]
Takumi then felt a powerful will coming from this Rescue Team member. It was very clear that the other party was already fully prepared to carry out this tragic rescue mission, and even seemed to contain a hint of eagerness.
Such a reaction made Takumi feel somewhat unwilling to go through with it. Although he knew that, as a derivative of an obsession, as long as the Rescue Team Badge in his hand still existed, it would never truly die or disappear, using it in this way still felt a bit improper.
That said, now that the Shirakawa Apartments had been liberated and Kyosei and the Rescue Team had already found rest, who exactly was this Rescue Team member?
Recalling this question that he had not paid attention to before, Takumi could not help but carefully examine this Rescue Team member.
The clothing was an ordinary Rescue Team uniform, except that it was already soaked through. The facial features were very blurred, as if the self had already been lost and therefore no longer possessed a face. However, this height, this build—let me think… why does it look a bit like Tanaka?
Takumi froze for a moment, then examined this Rescue Team member more closely.
There was no mistake. This guy was definitely Tanaka.
It was Tanaka, the one who had been made to wear the badge by him and completely transformed by that eerie power.
So that was it. Since the Rescue Team had already found rest, the lingering obsessional power left within this badge was actually left behind by this guy whom he had personally taken down? No—no, that was not quite right. This Rescue Team member was no longer Tanaka. Its memories and emotions as a human had already disappeared. What remained now was only the duty of a Rescue Team member and a strictly obedient, disciplined conduct. And its obsession… was to carry out the orders of him, this "Rescue Team Captain."
This peculiar discovery made Takumi sigh with emotion, sighing at how Kyosei, even after death, had still been able to arrange everything afterward in such an orderly manner. He had to admit that the level of respect he felt toward this person rose yet another notch. And moreover—
He immediately felt no psychological burden at all about using this Rescue Team member as expendable cannon fodder.
"Let's not split up. We'll quickly find the clothes we need, then return to the guard booth."
Takumi said seriously to Chika beside him. The girl nodded repeatedly, then straightforwardly grabbed Takumi's hand. The two of them maintained a hand-in-hand posture as they moved forward through the surging current.
As for that Rescue Team member, it had been ordered by Takumi to move around everywhere and collect the needed clothes as quickly as possible. As for whether it might encounter something in the process, that did not matter. In any case, it was a derivative summoned by an Obsession Item. Generally, it would not be attacked by anomalies, and even if it were attacked, it did not matter. Even if it were torn to pieces, it could simply be summoned again.
Inside the vast cave, there were quite a large number of clothes floating on the water's surface. However, picking out the needed clothes from among them still took Takumi and Chika some time.
After confirming with Maki that the Explorer was still inside the cave and had not returned, Takumi and Chika began heading back toward the guard booth. As for the Rescue Team member he had summoned, it had already placed the clothes it collected inside the guard booth early on, and even shook the water off the clothes before they returned.
Very good. So far, the actions had been going fairly smoothly.
In the process of collecting clothes, Takumi had been carefully on guard the whole time, wary of whether something might suddenly emerge to launch an attack. However, after staying cautious for a long time, nothing like that happened.
Splash—splash—
The turbid current, mixed with silt and pebbles, was still continuously surging and scouring.
Fujiwara Chika, walking at Takumi's side, held two sets of clothes tucked under her arm and stepped into the guard booth first.
Takumi, following behind, let go of Chika's hand, wiped the sweat from his forehead, then took a step forward.
As far as completing his plan went, the process was currently about one quarter finished.
Next, it would depend on whether Chika could successfully deliver the clothes to Maki and Kaguya's side.
As Takumi thought this, one foot had already stepped into the guard booth, and his other foot lifted as well, about to fully step into the guard booth.
Then, a bloated, large hand silently reached out from behind and, in an instant, grabbed Takumi's ankle.
What was going on?!
Turning his head, Takumi saw a figure wearing firefighter gear, its body unbelievably swollen as if it had been inflated.
[Explorer… I… came to save you…]
It opened its mouth. Along with the continuous outflow of pus-like liquid, the thing spoke slowly, then was about to drag Takumi directly out of the guard booth.
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