"It feels... strange."
Tying the doll's ankle with a thin string and attaching it to her backpack strap, Maki turned her head to look at the doll perched on her shoulder, its gaze fixed forward. Then she turned to look at Gao Hai beside her, and her eyes suddenly sharpened.
"What's wrong? Is it uncomfortable hanging there like that? Should we try hanging it on the backpack instead? But if we do that, I'm afraid it'll be hard for me to control the doll's movements."
Gao Hai asked with a deadpan expression from his seat on the floor, his eyes filled with innocence.
"It's just that something feels off... Oh, forget it. Great-aunt, let's go. Hai-kun, this time I'll have to trouble you to be a good camera and early-warning system. Remind my great-aunt and me if there's any danger around."
Although she had some doubts in her heart, Maki ultimately didn't say anything more. She just gave Gao Hai one last instruction, then set off with the silent Kaguya, who was waiting by her side, heading for the third floor.
The blood-colored doll, controlled by Gao Hai, sat steadily on Maki's shoulder, moving forward along with her.
For Gao Hai himself, it was as if he possessed a second perspective, a second body. He could clearly feel Maki's body through the thin layer of her clothes, clearly smell the shampoo fragrance from her long brown hair, and when he reached out to touch her shoulder, he could feel her skin with incredible detail, as if he were truly touching her with his own hand.
Whoa, this is actually pretty awesome.
"I keep feeling like this doll has a lecherous look in its eyes. Is it just my imagination, Hai-kun?"
In the next moment, the doll was lifted up, forced to come face-to-face with Maki's brownish-purple pupils.
Gao Hai made the doll shake its head repeatedly.
"Don't waste time."
Kaguya, walking ahead, turned around and said with some annoyance.
"I know, I know. Tsk, that's the problem with elders, always getting impatient."
Looking at the doll again, she couldn't make out its expression, and besides, the thing didn't make a sound. Unable to figure out what Gao Hai was thinking while controlling it, Maki had no choice but to resignedly place it back on her shoulder and continue following Kaguya.
It's just a doll, so why do I have this strange feeling? Is it because Hai-kun is controlling it, so I'm subconsciously treating it like Hai-kun himself? Could this be a property of this Obsession Item?
Maki thought about it for a while but couldn't come up with an answer, so she decided to ignore it for now. As a result, she didn't notice the strange movement of the doll on her shoulder as it suddenly lifted its head towards her hair, then quickly bowed it down again.
"*Sniff—Haaaah—*"
In the living room, Gao Hai let out a long, deep inhalation.
In his whole life, this was the first time he'd been able to shamelessly sniff a girl's hair.
If he weren't injured and unable to move easily, Gao Hai would have wanted to jump up on the spot and shout something like, "Hell yeah!"
But well, for now, it's better to focus on the task at hand.
Exploring the third floor is no easy matter. There's a time and a place for lecherous thoughts; they can't get in the way of serious business.
Gao Hai's expression quickly turned serious.
The moment Maki and Kaguya officially stepped into the stairwell and entered the 3rd-floor area, he immediately suppressed all the unhealthy thoughts in his mind, focused completely on the current mission, and began carefully monitoring every area.
Huddled on one side of the living room, Miwa Maeda was terrified.
She watched as Gao Hai's expression shifted from sudden ecstasy, to blissful intoxication, to instantaneous coldness, and finally to dead serious. Then he just sat down on the sofa, closed his eyes, and became profoundly still, like a psychopath. It was truly frightening for her to watch.
Could it be that this man has been possessed by an evil spirit?
Her mind already a bit addled from taking hallucinogens, Miwa Maeda trembled and was about to run out of the room. But then Gao Hai, noticing her movement, opened his eyes and glared at her, scaring the woman so much she didn't dare move.
What's wrong with this clock-turning tool?
Gao Hai was confused, not quite understanding what was going on with her.
But he didn't pay too much attention to the situation here. His focus was on Maki and Kaguya, who had already set foot on the third floor.
"It's truly a chaotic mess. This kind of architectural structure couldn't possibly exist in the real world, could it..."
Staring at the upside-down tables, chairs, and glasses on the ceiling, Maki couldn't help but murmur with awe.
"Indeed, it's a nightmarish place, after all. Be careful, and pay close attention to the footsteps. The footsteps on the 3rd floor are traces left by the former[debt collectors]. We must not be discovered by the footsteps, but by tracking their direction, we can find the location of 304."
With this reminder, Kaguya took the first step. She first passed through a winding corridor, then carefully peeked out from the corridor to observe the surroundings. Only after confirming there was no danger did she proceed.
Maki immediately followed, vigilantly watching Kaguya's blind spots. The two girls advanced step by step, moving through this completely distorted structure.
"Ahead."
Kaguya suddenly said in a low voice.
Three porcelain dolls, walking side by side, emerged from a door not far ahead.
"Over here."
Maki spoke up immediately and was the first to move. Kaguya followed without hesitation, and the two quickly hid on top of a cabinet that Maki had already spotted and mentally noted.
"Go."
After the dolls had walked away, Kaguya flipped herself over and jumped down. Maki followed with a steady landing, and the two continued onward.
They moved forward some more. This time, Gao Hai noticed a doll silently approaching from behind and immediately tapped Maki on the neck. She spun around, saw the porcelain doll, and immediately whispered to Kaguya, "Behind us!"
Kaguya then moved forward quickly, leading Maki to a cabinet she had noticed during her scan just three seconds earlier.
Silently, Kaguya bent her knees slightly, leaped nearly two meters straight up from a standstill, and flipped onto the cabinet. She then extended a hand back.
Maki, following right behind her, jumped at almost the same time, reached out to grab Kaguya's outstretched hand, and landed smoothly on top of the cabinet. The speed and fluidity of their movements left Gao Hai, the spectator, stunned and at a loss for words.
"Ugh... it's a bit cramped..."
But because the cabinet was very small, Kaguya and Maki had to huddle together. The doll controlled by Gao Hai then "accidentally" fell between them, getting squeezed and stuck.
Just what kind of sensation was this?
Sitting on the sofa, Gao Hai couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
A sponge? A pillow?
It was like being gently embraced.
There was also a somewhat scorching thermal sensation.
But the depth didn't seem to be that great; there was still a bit of a bumpy feeling.
How could one describe such a sensation?
This question was filled with philosophical depth.
Gao Hai couldn't find an answer right away and could only sit there contemplating, which once again scared Miwa Maeda, who was cowering on the side of the room. She mistakenly thought Gao Hai was lost in thought about something terrifying.
Soon, the crisis was over. Maki, with a blank expression, jumped down from the cabinet first. She took the doll in her hand and stared at it for a long while before putting it back on her shoulder.
Gao Hai touched his own shoulder. A bloody mark had been pinched into it, the result of Maki unintentionally squeezing the doll too hard just now.
When this doll is subjected to external force, it seems to feed that force back to the user, amplified.
So, using Obsession Items is never that simple, huh? These things always have their pros and cons.
"Great-aunt, when you and Hai-kun came up here to operate, were you two also pressed together on a cabinet like this?"
Maki looked left and right. Seeing no immediate danger, she asked Kaguya, who had jumped down from the cabinet, with a hint of displeasure.
"...Is that important? Focus on the mission."
Kaguya's expression didn't change as she paused for a moment after being asked this question. She just gave a cold reply and then continued moving forward.
"I... ugh..."
Choked up by the rhetorical question, Maki couldn't think of a response and had no choice but to fall silent and keep moving.
Indeed, is it important?
He's just a guy she's known for four days. Does she have any important relationship with him?
She didn't quite understand this vague feeling of annoyance.
But, when that thing got squeezed between her and her great-aunt just now, it was definitely intentional, right?
Maki glared at the obediently sitting doll on her shoulder.
If the current situation weren't so inappropriate, she would have definitely taught him a harsh lesson.
Quickly suppressing these complaints, Maki followed Kaguya. Soon, the two of them found the door to 304. Their speed was almost twice as fast as when Kaguya and Gao Hai had worked together, making them extremely efficient. They only had to hide from the dolls three times. On several occasions, they even spotted the silent-walking dolls before the dolls could spot them, allowing them to take a detour in time.
They didn't even need to find a room to rest for a bit; their stamina was barely depleted.
Their operational efficiency seems to be many times greater than my own...
At this moment, Gao Hai felt quite awkward.
It felt like his performance during the first exploration seemed so amateurish in comparison to Kaguya and Maki's partnership.
No, that's not right. It's not being an amateur; it's called having different strengths.
One could only say that the role he was assigned previously wasn't quite suitable. Perhaps this current situation, directing things from the rear, is better.
Comforting himself with this thought, Gao Hai refocused his attention on Maki's perspective.
Kaguya took out the key and once again opened the door to 304.
*Creeeak—*
After the clear sound of a door opening, a dark corridor was revealed behind it.
An empty corridor, piled with trash bags and liquor bottles, filled with the stench of alcohol.
This time, even Gao Hai, observing through the doll's perspective, did not see anything unusual.
________________________________________
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