[The flood peak arrived early. The Shirakawa Apartments have not yet completed evacuation. We are the nearest rescue team. Brothers who still have strength, come with me!]
He returned to that place once more.
He went to the third floor, organizing personnel to evacuate room by room, until he arrived before the door of Room 304.
He wondered what that girl would be like now. He knew that her life after he left would still be as hard as before, but, after all, even a tigress does not eat her cubs; she should at least still be able to live on, until after growing up, she would have hope of escaping those parents and finding a life of her own.
Before opening that door, before not finding that child, he had once thought this.
When facing the evasive gazes of those two people and their irrelevant replies, he had not completely given up this idea.
Before being blocked as he followed that disturbing odor forward, walking into the kitchen, heading toward the bathroom, and being told that it was a "place he could not go," he had not entirely thrown away such delusions.
But in the end, he still saw the truth, saw what had happened.
[These candies are for your little brother]
[They're not for you]
[If you dare eat them I'll beat you to death!]
[Calling you greedy, calling you gluttonous, calling you greedy!!!]
[Let's see how you steal food now]
That day, Mom was really angry.
The debt collectors had come again and even smashed up the home.
The front door lock of the home was broken, and a hole had also been hacked into the kitchen door.
Mom said there was no money to fix it for the time being and that they would have to make do for now, and then she was yelled at and beaten by Dad again.
She was unhappy the whole day, her face constantly dark.
But she was very hungry.
Yesterday she was punished again and not allowed to eat.
At big brother's home she had eaten candy once. It was sweet, very tasty.
If she only ate one piece, she probably wouldn't be found out.
When she reached out to take it, she realized her mother had never left and was waiting for her to take it.
First came the scolding, then the beating.
Just like before.
But Mom was still very angry.
She used a needle to stab people again, like she used to.
It hurt.
But she was still very angry, still not appeased.
Then she said she would make it so that I would never steal food again.
[Buzz—]
The sound of the kettle boiling rang out.
Scalding water poured down.
Needle and thread passed through, dripping blood and tears.
Pain.
It hurt.
It really hurt.
Her whole body hurt everywhere, her mouth hurt, her throat hurt, it hurt, it hurt…
Mom said I should be punished, and locked me inside the bathroom.
My body had no strength, it hurt.
Outside it turned dark, it hurt, it hurt.
Outside it turned bright again, then dark again, then bright again.
My body still had no strength, my head was dizzy, and it still hurt.
I wanted to stand up, but I couldn't stand up anymore.
Outside it turned dark again.
Dad opened the door and came in once, then closed the door again.
He forgot to lock the door; I was supposed to stay inside and be punished, but it hurt a lot, and I was hungry, and dizzy.
Is big brother home?
Does big brother have food at home?
I haven't seen big brother for a long, long time. Did big brother leave? Is big brother still here?
I want to go knock on big brother's door.
Big brother…
Is big brother here…
I can't remember where big brother's door is anymore…
…
…
[…Beasts.]
[…You two beasts!]
[You beastly things… I'll beat you to death right now!]
[Captain, stop, don't do this!]
[The flood peak won't reach the third floor, restrain them first and take them away.]
[Don't destroy the scene, take them away and then call the police, don't strike here.]
[She's my kid, what if I kill her?!]
[You beastly thing, I'll kill you!]
[Murder, murder—aaahhh—]
[Captain, calm down! Calm down! Doing this is useless; take them away first. The flood peak is about to arrive; if we do not leave now, it will be too late!]
[What are you doing? Trying to catch me? Get lost, do not touch me!]
[Let go, you are assaulting me, assaulting me!]
[Hurry and take them away. These two… forget it, Captain, let's go. We will come back after the flood peak passes.]
…
[That was already something from a few years ago.]
[I had never thought that someone could do such a thing to their own flesh and blood, to their own biological child.]
[I was born into an ordinary family. I had always believed that most people were normal. I knew that abnormal people were only a minority. But even this kind of minority—just seeing them once—was enough to make me so furious that I could not control myself, yet at the same time so… powerless. I did not know what I could do. I could only delude myself, deceive myself, make myself believe that everything could get better.]
[But the final truth was even more cruel than I had imagined.]
[All of this still had not ended.]
[Whether those two beasts had received the punishment they deserved in this endless repetition of loops, I did not know. They should have, originally, been the same as me, retaining their consciousness. But now I could no longer see that. Perhaps they went completely insane under the torture, perhaps they died at the very beginning. I hope it is the former, and to be honest, even if it is the former, I still think the punishment they received is not enough. They deserve it.]
[But that child did not.]
[But those innocent people dragged into this apartment did not.]
[This apartment becoming what it is today has nothing to do with that child. This was not something she did.]
[Someone—something—has been orchestrating all of this from behind the scenes. This apartment becoming what it is today is the result of some kind of power intentionally guiding it.]
[From that child's memories, I barely saw some residual fragments, but there was still too little related information. I do not even know what that thing actually was. I only know that it once existed inside the apartment, watching everything happen, and only at the very last moment did it reveal traces of itself, pushing all of this to what it has become today.]
[That child is still unable to rest in peace.]
[My comrades, their obsessions were also guided and trapped in the seventh day's death loop, unable to leave.]
[And those ordinary people who had their own families, who had their own lives. They were thrown into this place like meat tossed to a ferocious beast, able only to die in the midst of struggle.]
[It was as if something was being cultivated.]
[Using the deaths and suffering of these people, using that child's memory and despair that could not rest, repeating again and again, devouring more lives, cultivating something in this way.]
[None of this should be like this.]
[No matter what purpose the one who orchestrated all of this has, I will never accept it. I will resist to the end.]
[It seems my identity has some special meaning to that child. I did not completely become like my comrades. I still remember what happened; I can still think normally. I think I should be an exception, a variable, an existence that the one behind the scenes did not anticipate.]
[So I will use all my strength to change all of this.]
[Only…]
[I seem unable to make contact with that child's existence.]
[This apartment seems to be undergoing a metamorphosis.]
[That child's existence itself is imprisoned. In this apartment as it is now, she has no way to obtain liberation.]
[Am I lacking something?]
[I can clearly see her memories, can feel her pain.]
[But I cannot see her obsession, cannot see what she truly longs for.]
[I think… perhaps in the end I will still fail.]
[As expected, I will still fail.]
[Just like how I was once unable to save her, the result this time will be the same.]
[But you are different, Takumi-san.]
[The apartment you are in has already completed its metamorphosis. Her existence has already been released. It has already reached the point where it can bring her rest.]
[The 1st floor, the 2nd floor, the 3rd floor… no, the three floors are actually one whole.]
[She never left the 3rd floor until she died. On the third day, she crawled out from her home. She crawled through the corridor of the 3rd floor, knocked on every household's door, wanting to find me, hoping I could open the door for her like last time, let her in, let her hide in that safe little bedroom, close the door, then close the outer door, and then she would not have to hear the noise outside the door anymore.]
[Her range of activity was actually only the 3rd floor. The 1st and 2nd floors existed only in imagination and were not real. So 104 is 204 is 304; each room is actually overlapping in space, only forcibly divided into three parts because the apartment's rules rely on her memories.]
[The reason you cannot reach 309 now is because she did not find the 309 in her mind. Even if you truly reach a room with the number 309 written on its door plate, you will still be unable to enter. Because you are now moving within the scope of her obsession.]
[But now it no longer matters, because you have received the information on this cassette tape. Here lies the last trace of obsession I left behind, as well as the obsessions of all the people who once struggled to survive in this apartment. Having listened to this message, you will surely be able to find that place.]
[Fulfill this wish, let her rest in peace.]
[If you do that, you will certainly be able to escape from this place, able to completely destroy this blood-soaked apartment.]
[Only, please, you must act quickly. This Horror Story generated from her obsession is a monster without any emotion or reason. It will not sympathize with you, will not show mercy just because you want to save this girl.]
[Next, the contamination will only accelerate at an ever-increasing speed. There is not much time left. You must, together with your companions, find that place at the fastest possible speed. Before everything collapses, find that door, and open it once again.]
[I will also use all my strength, use my final power, to help you.]
[I wish you all the best, Takumi-san.]
[I am Kyosei.]
…
There seemed to be something more in his palm.
Lowering his head and opening his hand, a slightly rusted key with the marking "309" had already fallen into his palm.
The entire Shirakawa Apartments had already completely fallen into darkness, entering the night of the third day, entering the final countdown of less than two hours.
Takumi could no longer hear the voice of that man called Kyosei.
The cassette player in the living room was still running, but it no longer produced any sound. Everything it could play had already finished playing.
However, it was already enough.
Takumi stood up.
It was time to go—that was what he originally wanted to say to Maki and Kaguya beside him.
But when he actually opened his mouth, he found himself unable to say anything.
Pain.
Intense pain spread across his mouth.
"Takumi-kun, your mouth!"
Maki let out a cry of alarm and hurried forward.
On the other side, Kaguya also looked shocked. She immediately took out that Obsession Item scalpel and slashed toward Takumi's mouth.
Those densely stitched threads sealing Takumi's mouth were then cut open.
"Ah…"
Opening his mouth, before he could even speak, blood had already begun to flow.
Hideous and terrifying burn marks were emerging across his body.
In this moment, Takumi deeply understood what Kyosei meant by "not much time left."
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