Click—
At that moment, the hand on the black watch moved from 1 to 2.
Everything plunged into darkness, like sinking into a bottomless oceanic trench.
The pain was already gone.
The wounds had been mended.
Everything that had happened began to reset to zero.
Until he awoke again, until his consciousness returned once more, opening his eyes to behold the city he had now arrived in.
A dead, silent metropolis, empty and devoid of any life.
"The second loop... lasted until the third day in the end."
Gao Hai took a deep breath, then reached up to slap his own cheeks and shake his head, trying to force away his mental exhaustion.
It had been far too difficult.
Green, who had been a relatively reliable guy in the first loop, had a meltdown and nearly got the team killed.
Miwa Maeda was a sneaky veteran player who deliberately hid herself to reap the benefits later.
And Lao Guo was the worst of the worst. The time fast-forward on the first day was bad enough, but then he had to find another way to torment people on the second night. And that bastard really had a lot of tricks up his sleeve. Even after Gao Hai had practically turned himself into part of an anomaly, it still took a massive effort to finally deal with him.
Now that I'm resetting again, what's the best way to proceed?
Kaguya and Maki will forget me again. Maki... she won't remember what happened between us. Not our shared escape in the first loop, nor the lap pillow and first kiss in the second loop. She won't remember any of it...
What a shame.
If it happens a third time, I don't think I'll be able to bear being forgotten like that. This feeling, where we've built such a good relationship, only for you to remember nothing... it's really hard to feel good about it.
So, what should I do?
Standing in the silent city, Gao Hai quietly contemplated what he should do when the next loop began. He planned out all sorts of paths in his mind, only to realize with some exhaustion that no matter what he did, there were some pitfalls from the previous two loops that he would likely have to step into all over again. Whether it was the process of gaining their trust or the exploration of the first floor, these were things he'd already experienced but would have to do all over again, which was frustrating in every sense of the word.
Dong!
A bell tolled at that moment.
Gao Hai lifted his head and looked toward the giant clock tower in the city.
Then, he narrowed his eyes slightly, looking toward the sky with some surprise.
Something was flying down from above.
It went from a blur to crystal clear in just a few short seconds.
Gao Hai saw what those things were.
A soaked Rescue Team badge.
A scalpel that could cut through bone like mud.
A blood-red ragdoll.
A human head with its facial skin cut off.
A puppet made from a living person whose joints had been gouged out.
A total of five Obsession Items descended from the sky, circled around Gao Hai twice, and then flew directly toward his left hand.
Gao Hai saw the black watch on his left wrist suddenly crack open a dark fissure, absorb all of these items, and then slowly seal itself shut.
In the next moment, Gao Hai understood what was happening.
Any Obsession Item that had been stained with his blood could be seized by the black watch after it activated its reset ability, absorbing them and making them his own, allowing him to possess these items immediately after the reset.
The items used by the woman who disguised herself as a useless new player, and by Lao Guo—any that he had come into direct contact with—had been brought over. After all, he had been severely burned at the time, his body covered in烂皮 and bloody wounds, so it was inevitable that his blood would get on these Obsession Items when he touched them. The only one he didn't get was Lao Guo's blood key Obsession Item, but there was nothing to be done about that, since that guy was taken away by the buddies summoned by the Rescue Team badge.
Dong!!
The bell had already chimed a second time.
Gao Hai knew that he now had 10 chances left to restart his life.
"The next loop will be the decisive one."
Exhaling softly, Gao Hai's gaze grew firm.
Although the secrets hidden within the Shirakawa Apartments had not yet been fully revealed, the clues from various sources could now almost completely converge, leaving only the most critical pieces.
The situations of the players who entered the Shirakawa Apartments were now basically all clear. Though this group of top-tier teammates was each more bizarre than the last—so bizarre that Sun Dajun seemed almost cute by comparison—Gao Hai had now experienced all of their special tricks.
It was time to end this.
Dong!!!
The third toll of the bell rang out.
The blood-colored city began to dissolve, bit by bit.
His surroundings gradually returned to darkness.
Gao Hai stood in place, waiting for the moment the reset was complete.
But just then, he suddenly felt a subtle sensation coming from his arm, as if something was pulling on his left hand, drawing him closer to someone.
It was a feeling difficult to describe in words.
He was suddenly reminded of everything he had experienced with the young lady, Maki Shijo. Whether it was the two of them staying together in a dark room, writing on the backs of each other's hands; or when he carried her on his back after she was injured, running through the distorted third floor; or their conversations in the second loop, the proud smile on her face as she hummed a song and brought him a bowl of cooked noodles; and finally, when he lay in her arms, the kiss he had been unable to feel.
For Gao Hai, who had endured the agony of two loops and four days in the Shirakawa Apartments, these were incredibly important memories. Without this girl's presence, he thought he probably would have found it hard to muster the strength to move forward, to gather so many clues and accomplish so much.
Yes, these were无比重要的, unforgettable memories.
If possible, he hoped there would never be another moment when he would forget these memories.
Reaching out his hand, he grasped in the direction that those warm memories were pulling him.
In a daze, Gao Hai felt as if he had grasped someone's hand—the hand of a petite, yet imperious and very proud young lady.
Click—
The hand of the black watch suddenly jumped forward from 2, landing on 3. It was as if it had consumed a portion of its own power to fulfill someone's wish. Only, this time the sound was extremely faint, so much so that Gao Hai, lost in his memories, did not notice it.
The next moment, the darkness before Gao Hai's eyes completely dissipated, replaced by the familiar structure of Room 204.
Well, and of course, the scent of Kaguya Shinomiya's shampoo from beside him, but that wasn't important. After all, it didn't smell as good as Maki's scent. For the current Gao Hai, compared to the always cold-faced Kaguya, the little angel Maki was more worthy of his sole devotion. Yes, that's right, he, Gao Hai, had been a fan of Maki Shijo since before he was born. Ah, of course, this wasn't to say Kaguya was unreliable. When exploring the first floor, Kaguya's rescue had been very effective; as a teammate, Kaguya was very trustworthy. It's just that, well, Gao Hai wasn't the Student Council President, and he didn't have a whole year to slowly melt the ice mountain, so it was probably best not to consider a romantic plotline with her for now.
"Hello, my name is Gao Hai. I guess you could call me a veteran player who's been in two games? Are you new?"
Getting up from the bed, Gao Hai took a few steps back, then turned to look at Kaguya Shinomiya, who was sitting up in bed with a wary expression. He smiled and asked, his expression completely flawless, a stark contrast to his reaction in the second loop.
"You..."
Kaguya Shinomiya observed Gao Hai and the room with a mixture of confusion and caution. Unsure of the situation, she remained silent and made no move from the bed.
"I know you're confused right now. Anyway, hmm, this is the rules sheet. It might not be entirely accurate, but it should still have some reference value. You can take a look first. As for the rest, let's talk after we get out. Every round of the Sacrificial Game has a certain number of players. Let's meet up with the others before we think about what to do."
Gao Hai reached out and tapped the rules sheet on the nightstand, pretending to glance at it. Then he turned directly, opened the living room door, went out, grabbed the wall clock, and walked all the way to the main door, opening it to step into the hallway.
It was the same familiar second-floor hallway, so familiar it was practically etched into his DNA.
Sun Dajun stood in the hallway with a terrified expression, looking around fearfully. Green was leaning against his door, expressionlessly observing the people coming out. At that moment, Gao Hai walked out and their gazes met. Gao Hai even gave him a friendly smile, which made Green startle for a moment. The black guy was trying to communicate with Sun Dajun, speaking in a strange mix of Chinese and American English.
Lao Guo isn't out?
Could it be that because this magical watch took his Obsession Items, he's too scared to come out of his room?
While Gao Hai was still pondering the situation, the door to 208 slowly opened.
Maki, with a somewhat dazed expression, emerged cautiously from the room, holding a wall clock. Her gaze instantly locked onto Gao Hai.
"Hey there."
Looking at this girl who was so familiar to him he couldn't be more familiar, Gao Hai's brows furrowed slightly. In the end, he managed to control his expression and greet Maki with a smile.
"Hai-kun, you- you're okay? You're alright?"
But Maki's next shocked words left Gao Hai completely stunned.
Okay?
She's asking me if I'm alright?
What's going on? Why is she calling me by the name she used in the second loop?!
"You kept your memories... You retained your memories this time?"
This incredibly shocking fact made Gao Hai's composure completely shatter. For a moment, the expression on his face even scared the other few people in the hallway.
Could it be that what I felt at the very end before the reset connected me and Maki, allowing her to gain the ability to retain her memories and reset with me?!
Could something this good actually happen? With this, in this loop, I can definitely—
BOOM!
A violent explosion blew apart the door and wall of Room 210.
Before Gao Hai had a chance to recover from his shock, a battered and bruised Lao Guo came scrambling and tumbling out of the destroyed entrance to 210, the look of grief and indignation on his face more vivid than any expression he had worn in the past two loops.
________________________________________
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