Chapter 24: The Angry Tsundere Girl and the New Expedition
Shijo Maki was furious.
She had never felt this level of anger before. The boiling rage in her chest made her feel like she was about to explode.
For twelve hours, she and Kaguya had carefully explored the entertainment area on the third floor while also finding a way to obtain a soldier's uniform and hiding it in the dormitory on the second floor. Then, after spending the first night, Kaguya disguised herself as a researcher to infiltrate the command room, while Maki wore the soldier's uniform, went to the resting area to retrieve Takakai and Fujiwara Chika, led them for a basic health check-up, and then took them to the quarantine zone.
Throughout the entire process, both Maki and Kaguya were extremely cautious. In a place filled with these bizarre entities, even a single misstep could lead to the entire group's annihilation.
In the dormitory on the second floor, they saw silhouettes lying on beds—some were dried-up husks, their bodies completely dehydrated like mummies, covered in sand and dust; others were swollen beyond recognition, rotting so severely they no longer looked human; and some were flattened as if crushed, their bodies reduced to mangled remains of blood and flesh.
And yet, despite all this, the two girls could not detect the slightest stench from the corpses, nor was there any smell of blood. On the contrary, they could even hear these things snoring or chatting with each other as if they were still alive.
The situation became even more unsettling when they reached the resting area on the third floor. The entire room was splattered with blood, and dismembered bodies were strewn everywhere. However, all of them were dressed in either researcher or soldier uniforms, and strangely enough, they were drinking alcohol and playing recreational games like normal people. A bizarre atmosphere of merriment filled the space, and some even invited Maki and Kaguya to join in.
It seemed that what kept these entities "alive" was the clothing they wore.
As long as they wore a uniform representing a certain identity, no matter how severe their injuries were, they remained unharmed. They had escaped the cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death, no longer bound by natural laws, and simply continued to exist indefinitely.
Maki and Kaguya were not foolish enough to try any of the games in the third-floor entertainment area. The two carefully searched each room, and finally, in a small, hidden corner, they managed to seize a uniform while two grotesquely mangled corpses were "flirting" with each other.
To be honest, the sight of two mashed-up piles of flesh, as if run over by a truck-kun, entangled intimately with one another was deeply traumatizing. At the very least, Maki, who had witnessed it firsthand, was so shocked that she nearly vomited on the spot.
Incidentally, after having their uniforms stripped away—the symbols of their "identities"—the two entities quickly began emitting an overwhelming stench of decay. Their bodies started to disintegrate, chunks of flesh falling off, blood splattering everywhere. This explained why the third floor was covered in so many bloodstains.
Wearing this uniform was a huge test for Maki, as it was soaked in blood and even had fragments of bone and rotting flesh still attached.
However, in order to confirm Takakai's safety as soon as possible—to see with her own eyes that he was unharmed—Maki forced herself to overcome both her psychological and physical revulsion, gritted her teeth, and put on the soldier's uniform.
Strangely, although the uniform was clearly several sizes too big for Maki, when she put it on, it fit her perfectly, as if it had been tailored specifically for her. It was even surprisingly comfortable to wear.
After gaining a deeper understanding of the rules of assuming an identity, Maki immediately headed to the staff resting area, using her soldier disguise to extract Takakai and the others.
And then, she saw Takakai hugging Fujiwara Chika tightly, refusing to let go.
"The second expedition is about to begin. Both of you, prepare yourselves immediately."
With an expressionless face and an aura that even carried a hint of killing intent, Maki spoke coldly. Takakai instantly let go, while Chika. Andthe girl who had just been "rescued", hurriedly pulled away from him, panting, her face flushed red.
Too stimulating.
Chika placed a hand over her chest, feeling as if her heart was about to stop.
Last night, after sleeping for a while, she had been tossing and turning restlessly when she suddenly felt some movement beside her. Before she could even process what was happening, Takakai had turned toward her, wrapped an arm around her, and pulled her entire body into his embrace.
Takakai was nearly thirty centimeters taller than Chika, which meant she was almost completely pressed against his chest, her entire body forced to stick closely to his.
Adding to that was the absolute difference in strength—no matter how hard Chika struggled, it was completely useless. On the contrary, it seemed to trigger some kind of instinctive reaction in Takakai, making him hold her even tighter.
In the end, unable to escape, the small girl—exhausted from struggling and having confirmed that Takakai was truly fast asleep and not intentionally taking advantage of her—had no choice but to give up. She simply nestled into his embrace, using his body as a bed and closed her eyes to sleep.
The sensation was too stimulating.
At least, for Chika, who had never been in love and had barely ever been in close contact with the opposite sex, this was an overwhelmingly stimulating experience.
Especially the next morning, when Takakai's body experienced an "involuntary morning reaction"—the intensity of that stimulation increased even further, to the point that Chika felt like she was about to stop breathing on the spot and pass out.
Fortunately, the "soldier" arrived just in time to break up the situation, preventing a potentially disastrous development.
Thinking about this, Chika instinctively lifted her head to look—and was utterly shocked to discover that the soldier was none other than Shijo Maki. She immediately gaped in speechless astonishment.
"Put on your designated uniforms and follow me for a medical examination."
Maki maintained a cold expression as she spoke. Her aura at this moment was freezing to the extreme—so much so that Takakai almost thought she had been completely assimilated by some bizarre power and turned into a creature no longer human.
However, thanks to his Blessing, Takakai was able to confirm that the girl in the soldier's uniform before him was still on their side. It was just that her emotions were currently laced with a subtle hostility—not outright hatred, but a pure and overwhelming irritation directed at him.
As for the source of this irritation, Takakai, of course, understood better than anyone else.
This was way too awkward.
At this moment, Takakai was drowning in a deep sense of awkwardness.
Just a moment ago, this was still a terrifying and hardcore horror story scenario—so how did it suddenly transform into a "Shura battlefield" love drama? This development definitely felt off!
At a loss for words, Takakai could only quickly adjust his yellow-and-white striped uniform designed specifically for exploration personnel, then signal Chika to follow him. He himself then stepped forward to follow Maki for this so-called medical examination.
It only took about ten minutes—just passing through a few scanning devices for basic checks—before Takakai and Chika were informed that they had to head to the quarantine zone immediately to begin the next round of exploration.
"Be careful of everything."
Although her gaze still carried a hint of resentment toward Takakai, in the end, Maki earnestly relayed all the information she and Kaguya had gathered.
This included overheard conversations from the researchers on the third floor about how "the base still hasn't found a stable production method this year," "the number of explorers being sent from the prison is starting to become insufficient again," and "yesterday, an unlucky soldier who failed to follow the rules disappeared without a trace," among other things.
Additionally, all collected data was passed on to Takakai.
Maki even handed him a rough, hand-drawn map of the first and second floors of the base. However, as for the third-floor entertainment area, since she and Kaguya had not yet fully explored it, there was no accurate map available for now.
Takakai didn't hesitate and took this opportunity to hand over all the information he and Chika had gathered to Maki. This surprised Maki—she had never expected that the difference between [Explorer], [Rescue Team], and [Security] could result in being transported to different points in time, nor that the depths of Nutty Putty Cave contained such bizarre phenomena. She fell into deep thought, feeling a headache coming on as she tried to figure out a reasonable course of action to consolidate all this information.
Aside from the uniforms that Maki and Kaguya were currently wearing, there was still a researcher's uniform belonging to Maki, along with another soldier's uniform that she had stolen while that shameless dog couple had been cuddling. According to her and Kaguya's original plan, they intended to have Takakai and Chika switch outfits upon meeting them, allowing them to escape from the hazardous exploration mission, which could be filled with unknown dangers.
However, after some thought, Takakai chose to refuse. He decided to personally enter Nutty Putty Cave at this point to verify the situation inside.
As for Chika, although Maki was extremely displeased with the curvy girl, she wasn't so petty as to let personal feelings dictate someone else's life-and-death situation. So, when Takakai refused to change outfits, she immediately signaled for Chika to switch, granting her a new identity.
Unexpectedly, Chika also refused.
"During the last exploration, Takakai-kun saved me many times, and I also cooperated with him multiple times. That's why this time, I still want to act together with him. That way, if anything unexpected happens, I believe Takakai-kun and I can work together to deal with it."
As she spoke, her face was still tinged with red, but her attitude was firm, showing no intention of backing down.
At that moment, Maki's fist clenched slightly tighter.
'Well, well, these two have grown so close that they trust each other completely now, huh?'
'While I was busting my ass investigating this research facility, just what the hell were these two up to?!'
'And calling him "Takakai-kun" too? That sounds way too intimate, doesn't it?'
Maki's gaze burned with an unspoken fire as she looked at Takakai, but in the end, she held herself back, refusing to let personal emotions interfere with the task at hand. Finally, she simply gave Takakai a light kick in the shin before turning around and storming off in frustration.
Honestly, seeing her reaction, Takakai felt a slight pang of guilt.
But the problem was… when he thought about it, had he actually done anything with Chika?
Whether it was tearing her clothes, bathing together, or sleeping in the same bed while hugging—well, even though most of those situations had been unavoidable, they were still… kind of questionable.
But whatever, now wasn't the time to dwell on that. The important thing was survival.
Forcing himself to ignore Maki, who was now standing at a hallway leading to the quarantine zone—intentionally keeping her distance from him—Takakai continued forward. He stepped through the large doorway, entering the quarantine zone, a vast chamber known as the [Preparation Room].
A single glance was enough to spot over a dozen machine guns and auto-turrets aimed directly at him.
Moreover, he could sense several twisted, hostile presences lurking in the shadows.
However, judging from the firing angles of these turrets, it seemed their targets weren't Takakai, but rather something that would emerge from the direction of the cave.
Not far away, a glass wall stood tall. Upon entering the room, Takakai caught sight of his reflection in the transparent surface—his yellow-and-white striped outfit looked utterly ridiculous.
And beyond that glass wall, Kaguya stood inside another room, watching as a group of researchers monitored various data streams.
[Explorer has entered position. Number: 3… Number: 2? Number… 2. Total of two explorers. Notify the command room to begin the operation.]
A cold voice echoed.
A researcher—whose face had been crushed into an unrecognizable mess—turned his head and gave Kaguya an order.