The silence at the door lasted for more than thirty minutes.
Shinomiya Kaguya had been standing with her ear pressed to the door the whole time before finally straightening up and stepping away.
"The footsteps went downstairs."
She said this in a low voice, then gestured for Takashina and Shijo Maki to head further down the corridor.
Room 208 had the same layout as 204—again a long hallway ending in a sharp right-angle turn. The structure was oddly designed.
There was a wall clock near the living room entrance, just like in Room 204. Takashina recalled the time he saw on that clock earlier and, after calculating the time that had passed, realized that the clocks in both rooms were synchronized.
Were all the clocks in each room absolutely accurate?
That rule suddenly came to mind.
If the rule was absolute, what would happen if he adjusted the time on this clock—would it still count as "accurate"?
Though the thought tempted him, Takashina didn't act on it. Right now wasn't the time to test the rules. Besides, something strange had already happened earlier—something that didn't match what the guide said. According to the rules, things only became unsafe outside the room after 9 PM, but that bizarre incident had just occurred in broad daylight.
Maybe the guide wasn't wrong, and it had just been an isolated abnormal event.
Maybe they got the time wrong, and it really was night already. The light coming through the sealed windows couldn't be trusted to determine the time.
Or maybe... the rules themselves were flawed. The so-called "guide" was no longer reliable, and its various rules could no longer protect anyone.
Of all the possibilities, Takashina found the third one most likely.
After all, the guide was titled "Life Rules," not "Survival Rules." The focus was on "living," not merely surviving. Takashina didn't believe the author was someone careless with words. Besides, if that person had the ability to leave a copy in every room, then it was likely that at some point in the past, a small group of survivors had coexisted in this ruined apartment, and the guide was written during that time.
But by the time Takashina and his group were pulled in by that idiotic "sacrifice game," the building had clearly been abandoned for a long time. The rooms were decayed, and even the guides were covered in dust—though not as much as the ruined furniture.
So, the guide might simply be outdated—no longer valid or reliable.
That thought made Takashina feel increasingly uneasy.
No... he couldn't jump to conclusions.
The strange occurrence hadn't breached the room. At least, nothing strange happened inside. So the rule about rooms being relatively safe might still be true. But he and Kaguya were no longer in their original room, so he should still be cautious.
Creak—
While he was lost in thought, Shijo Maki, walking in front, opened the living room door. Takashina followed behind her, with Shinomiya Kaguya at the rear.
The living room in Room 208 was much the same as 204, only with a square coffee table instead of a small round one. There was a worn-out sofa and a few stools. The kitchen door was still intact and stood open.
Takashina didn't see any printed rules in this room. Had the previous survivors skipped this one?
"No need to worry about this room's safety. This is where I woke up. I've already searched it in advance."
Leaning against the wall, Shijo Maki spoke calmly to both Takashina and Kaguya. She casually placed her own copy of the rules on the cabinet.
Unlike the pitiful loser girl Takashina remembered from the original story, this version of Shijo Maki exuded a presence not unlike Kaguya's—cold and intense. Though, compared to Kaguya's piercing, knife-like aura, Maki's gaze merely made others uncomfortable.
Ah, right—Maki was always considered the "loser Kaguya" or the "sunny version of Kaguya." Though often underestimated due to her "loser" label, she was also the heiress of a powerful conglomerate, with top-tier intellect, skill, and social standing. If you removed the tsundere-loser factor, she was essentially Kaguya · Lily—a highly valuable ally for Takashina. Possibly even more so than Kaguya herself. After all, Kaguya's twisted upbringing made her a volatile teammate, while Maki was a pure angel. As long as he didn't mess things up, she would never betray him.
"Kai Takashina, what exactly do you know?"
Kaguya clearly trusted Maki. Hearing her say the room was safe, she immediately turned to Takashina and asked.
"You were just surveying the area when we were in the hallway at first."
"But I noticed you kept focusing on that guy who called himself Old Guo. Your gaze lingered on him several times. That kind of attention wasn't just because he seemed authoritative—it was for some other reason."
"Then, when he did something strange—locking himself in his room—you immediately decided to hide. It's like you were treating his actions as a guide. Same with the guidebook itself. You didn't question its validity, almost as if you'd seen something similar before."
"I hope you can explain all this. If you're honest, I think we can form a temporary alliance. I believe, given your observation skills, you understand how valuable it is to have both me and Maki on your side."
Before Takashina could respond, Kaguya rattled off this series of questions with a cold tone and fast pace.
While he was observing others, Kaguya had clearly been watching him.
She noticed several inconsistencies and now laid them all out.
Takashina could tell both girls were on high alert. Kaguya's knees were slightly bent—he didn't doubt for a second she'd strike if he gave her a reason. Meanwhile, Maki had subtly backed away, left hand behind her back. He could faintly see she was holding something—maybe a rusty kitchen fork or knife. One jab and he'd be cursed with tetanus for sure.
Whether they would become allies or enemies depended on his next move.
Takashina slowly raised his hands to show he wasn't a threat. After a moment's thought, he prepared to speak.
Huh? Why do I suddenly feel like having two cute and capable JKs as teammates is kind of otaku-pandering?