Chapter 43: The Fastest Way to Deal with the Most Disgusting Thing

Chapter 43: The Fastest Way to Deal with the Most Disgusting Thing

Why?

Why is this happening!?

Old Guo really wanted to scream, to yell out loud because of the incomprehensible things he was facing.

Where is his Obsession?

Had it already disappeared just after entering here?

Why did his Obsession vanish!?

Of course, Old Guo knew that many difficult game maps would have strict limitations on items carrying the player's obsession. For example, if a player at the Red Moon game level brought an Obsession that wasn't part of the core of the Dusk game, it would certainly lose control as soon as they entered the game.

The reason for this is that the bizarre elements in the Red Moon level game are very high-level and can directly cause lower-level Obsessions to lose control. Therefore, once a player decides to participate in a Red Moon level game, they must clear all Dusk level Obsessions, and at least bring in an Obsession of the Dark Night level or the core Obsession of Dusk to participate.

But the problem is, even the most dangerous and terrifying Red Moon game would only cause the Obsession to lose control, not completely take it away!

Moreover, this was clearly just a Dusk level game that was about to be "Fixed," at most reaching the difficulty of a Dark Night level game. So why was his Obsession immediately taken away? What was the cause?

Boom!

With a loud collision, Old Guo slammed into the wall, coughing up a mouthful of blood. Then, a headless male corpse in the living room grabbed his neck, lifted him up, and threw him out, sending him flying halfway across the room. He rolled on the ground, his elbows and face scraping against the floor, blood flowing everywhere.

It shouldn't have been like this.

When Old Guo finally managed to find information about this Dusk level game and confirmed that no one had bid on this map, he had prepared thoroughly.

He had bought some information about the map, knowing that the Shirakawa apartment had once been led by a man named Xu Sheng, who guided survivors. They had summarized many rules, leaving behind items that could help future survivors on the map. For example, the lockers in the hallways, which were said to have saved many people, along with the supply boxes in the rooms. He also knew that the main danger in the Shirakawa apartment came from the [Debt Collectors] wandering the hallways and the [Rescue Team] that would appear on the seventh day on the first floor. Of course, there were also the [Children's] dolls that appeared at night.

For games that hadn't been [Fixed], it could be understood that the core of the location was still evolving and changing, so the difficulty of the game would be much easier. This is because many things related to the core anomalies hadn't been completed in this phase of the game. After [Fixed], it could be understood that the core of the anomalies would almost be completed, and the difficulty of the game would increase, sometimes even causing a level jump.

For example, this Shirakawa game, after being [Fixed], its difficulty could reach the Dark Night level. But that damn "Sacrifice game" didn't change the difficulty right now; it had to wait until the [Fixed] was completed before the level would change.

The downside of this was that old players would face the risk of failure because Dark Night level games were extremely dangerous. However, Old Guo was very confident in himself. He believed that with his rich survival experience, he could easily complete the Shirakawa map and obtain the core Obsession. He saw this as his best opportunity, because once the [Fixed] was finished, the game would open to all old players, and there would be many more opponents.

In the end, due to not having enough money, Old Guo couldn't buy all the information himself and had to share the map entry with another anonymous player. This meant that he and the other player only had half of the information. However, Old Guo was not worried at all. He had survived many Dusk level missions and escaped from a Dark Night level mission. He was confident that with his experience, solving an unfixed Dusk level mission would be a piece of cake. As for the other player, if they dared to come, he would show them why his nickname was "Old Devil."

He also knew that, due to not having the [official ticket], he would face many difficulties when entering this map. For example, the first step: he had to confront the corpse in Room 210, which was supposed to protect the homeowner but mistook him for an intruder and immediately attacked him.

And for Old Guo, who possessed many Obsessions, dealing with this was quite simple—just bring the "blood puppet" that could greatly limit the bizarre entities… wait, where is my blood puppet? Where did that large blood puppet go!?

The most important Obsession to ensure that he wouldn't face any problems at the beginning, the Obsession that he should have stored carefully, now… it's gone!

Boom!

With a loud crash, Old Guo was thrown up high, slamming into the ceiling before falling back to the ground, covered in dust and blood.

He struggled to get up, wanting to check if he still had any Obsession left, and then he realized.

Where is the "faceless head"!?

The item he used to deal with players, the item designed specifically to kill, capable of consuming people without harming the Obsession, one of his most valuable possessions, why can't he find it? Why is it gone?

Before he could understand where his precious item went, the headless male corpse pinned Old Guo to the ground, picked up a filthy machete, and prepared to strike his neck.

In the critical moment, Old Guo had no choice but to throw out ashes, using them to temporarily stop the corpse's movement.

But this was originally used to stop living beings from transforming. It had little effect on things related to horror story rules, especially on the corpse, which had completely become a part of the horror story rules. As a result, Old Guo threw a handful of ashes, almost completely used up, and the result was only a temporary halt of the opponent's movement for a second. Before he could even reach the living room door, the headless corpse caught up with him, slashing at his back with the machete, tearing through his protective suit inside his shirt, leaving a bloody gash.

"Dammit!"

Finally realizing that he might lose his life here, Old Guo had no choice but to choose the weapon as a bomb, setting off the explosives to collapse the old, unstable wall. From there, he found the opportunity to run out of the room, his face and body covered in dust.

...

Meanwhile, in Room 205, two women were silently looking at each other.

"You... what are you doing? I don't have money, kidnapping me is useless..."

Maeda Miwa, trembling, curled up in the corner, too scared to move.

The woman standing in front of her, however, had a cold expression, gritting her teeth and standing still, not acting as she had before. After killing the woman in front of her by using the Obsession within her body, taking away her existence and turning it into a "second life" that she could imitate, discarding it when needed as a life-saving tool.

And the reason she didn't do this was simple: after checking her equipment again, she suddenly realized that one of the surgical knives meant for attacking was missing, and the invisible doll she used to eavesdrop on information was also gone.

What is going on?

What is happening here?!

Where are my things? My Obsession, the Obsession I worked so hard to obtain, where did it go!?

The game had only just started, and everything was completely out of control. The woman was even more afraid to act recklessly, her expression growing more sinister and terrifying, her entire face resembling a centipede, causing True Maeda Miwa in the corner to nearly faint.

Click!

Then, the sound of the living room door unlocking echoed.

The woman raised her head, seeing a tall white man carefully open the door, followed by a young Asian man with a refined appearance who stepped in and smiled at her.

"I was thinking, when I couldn't find my Obsession, someone like you, who likes to sit back and enjoy, would definitely not dare to act immediately. After all, someone who always secretly observes others' actions and waits for the 'right moment to reap the fruits' will always act clumsily when faced with danger."

The other person's words were quite rude.

The woman understood the other's intention, and her face grew increasingly ferocious as a scalpel fell silently into her hand.

It was clear that everything had been set up by the other party, but she wasn't someone easily bullied. Did he really think she would be subdued so easily by approaching her like this?

"Oh, it seems I've run into some trouble this time, but I've only just arrived, please don't hold it against me. We could—ahhhhhhh!"

The woman pretended to be weak, but before she could even finish her feigned weak words, she screamed and fell to the ground.

A decapitated head on the ground opened its mouth, clamping onto the woman's thigh, swallowing her entire leg like a bottomless pit.

As she was still thinking of ways to fake weakness and find an opportunity, the opponent did not hesitate, immediately taking action with the clear intent to kill her.

"AHHHHHHHHH——"

The severed thigh sprayed out a massive amount of blood.

In excruciating pain, the woman moaned and writhed, her hand holding the scalpel flailing as if trying to do something, but in the blink of an eye, Takakai dashed toward her, pulling the scalpel from her hand with a single strike, severing it cleanly from her wrist, just like how she had severed his wrist in the previous round.

The body beneath the bed had crawled out, its target locked directly onto the woman with severed limbs.

Meanwhile, Takakai had lifted the head, casually picking up the woman's scalpel, then signaling Maeda Miwa, who was sitting still in fear, and telling her to run quickly. At the same time, Takakai casually took the wall clock from Room 205 before they ran out of the room and back into the hallway. By this time, Shijo Maki was waiting in front of Room 206, holding Old Guo's backpack and taking all his guns and explosives.

The entire sequence of events, from start to finish, only took a few minutes.

Without any further explanation, Shijo Maki only said one thing to Kaguya: "Trust Kai-kun the way you trust me," before immediately taking action, persuading Sun Dajun to return to his room. Takakai then went directly to find Green, placed the "faceless" Obsession with its powerful visual attack ability out, and said, "Work for me or die," causing Green, who had been watching from the shadows, to immediately kneel and lead Takakai to unlock Room 205.

As for Old Guo, this man had, of course, noticed Takakai take out his Obsession. But before he could act or do anything, Takakai threw out the blood puppet, pulling Old Guo into his Obsession and trapping him in the hallway, unable to move.

Regarding the black man, even though Takakai still didn't know his name and wasn't clear on why Old Guo had so easily used him as a sacrificial pawn, Takakai was in a hurry, so he didn't say anything more. He simply swung his scalpel to cut into the wall and pointed at him. Upon seeing the cut in the cement wall, the black man exclaimed, "Ayo man, I'm listening to whatever you say," before running into Room 206 to hide.

The strange footsteps were now getting closer, but by then, Takakai had entered Room 205, and the others had entered Room 206, leaving only Old Guo stuck in the hallway. As a result, the bizarre creature was drawn by the clear target and immediately rushed toward him.

When Takakai and Green stepped outside, they just caught sight of Old Guo slowly disintegrating, his body breaking apart, his mouth open but unable to make a sound.

The strange creature did not stop in the hallway. Although Takakai couldn't see it, Shijo Maki was always listening from the door of Room 206. After confirming the footsteps had descended the stairs, she opened the door, tore half of a rule sheet, and shoved it into the crack of the door to Room 205 as a signal for Takakai, confirming the hallway was safe. After verifying that Old Guo was in the process of transformation, Shijo Maki bravely moved forward and stripped the remaining equipment from him.

Next came the most dangerous step. When Takakai stepped out of Room 205, he took out a rescue team badge, drove a small nail into it, and pinned it to Old Guo's chest, who was about to be fully transformed into a door-knocking creature.

He stood in the hallway for a moment, observing the phenomenon of Old Guo's body gradually stabilizing. His clothes started transforming into a rescue team uniform. Takakai then retrieved the blood puppet, entered Room 206, locked the door, and closed the living room door.

A few minutes later, when he opened the door, Old Guo was no longer in the hallway—only wet footprints leading up the stairs remained.

The homogenization effect of the rescue team's Obsession had a high priority, stronger than the homogenization of the invisible door-knocking creature, perhaps only second to the effects of the core creature at the Shirakawa apartment complex.

Although the "test" process was extremely uncomfortable and could be described as unbearably painful, in the end, all the pain had transformed into experience, becoming an advantage for Takakai in the new round, helping him eliminate two veteran players.

Takakai finally breathed a sigh of relief, giving Shijo Maki a thumbs-up.

From the time they began preparing to act, he and Shijo Maki had only exchanged a few simple ideas, no more than ten seconds. And completing all of this took just two or three minutes, with no mistakes in their coordination throughout the process.

"Finally... we've eliminated the two biggest threats."

After this series of actions, Takakai sighed and sat down on the living room floor, feeling a sense of accomplishment.

As for the others present, aside from Shijo Maki, who was fully aware and actively cooperating, nearly everyone else was in a state of confusion and fear, not understanding what had transpired in the first few minutes.