Kaguya, already somewhat tired from beating them, stood to the side and simply watched Takumi continue disciplining the two people.
She did not have Takumi's thoughts; she did not have any intention of teaching two scourges a lesson. She had originally just decided to vent because she was going to die. As for now, she found that using fists to discipline people actually felt quite pleasant, and could be used as a very good way to relieve stress.
She wondered whether, when Hayasaka watched those strange stress-relief videos, she also felt something similar.
[Rumble—]
Amid the sound of the ground shaking, this stretch of ruins had already reached its final limit.
Takumi lowered his head and saw the ground beneath his feet spreading open with crack after crack.
"Looks like this is the end. Are you afraid?"
He said this to Kaguya beside him.
"What is the meaning of asking that kind of question? Are you afraid?"
Kaguya, realizing that this stretch of ruins was about to completely collapse, had a somewhat tense expression, but facing Takumi's question, she still showed a strong attitude and frowned as she spoke.
"Of course I'm afraid. My first two deaths were extremely painful. If this one is just as painful, I really don't know if I can hold on and make it to the fourth time."
Takumi let out a sigh, shrugged, and answered very honestly, then followed with another kick to Takeda Yūsuke and Takeda Kazue, who were trying to get up.
"…I'm also afraid. I don't want to die here. But I can't think of any way to save myself now."
Kaguya lowered her head slightly and, with a sigh, spoke out her inner thoughts.
Lifting his head.
Takumi silently stared at the point of light in the sky above.
Clearly they had reached the final step, yet in the end it all fell short.
That kind of feeling was truly frustrating.
He did not want to die.
Death was really too painful.
And every restart was a kind of torment—appearing in and leaving from that blood-colored city, truly feeling himself getting closer and closer to that strange city, realizing that after using up twelve chances to start over, he would remain there forever. When he realized this, he became even more terrified and even more unwilling to die.
Only, he still felt that he could not abandon the people who sincerely helped him.
Takumi did not want to be some good-tempered person, so if Maeda Miwa could not catch up with them, then she could not catch up; he would not care whether people lived or died.
But Kaguya was someone who had truly fought shoulder to shoulder with him, someone who had helped him all along the way. Even if her mouth was somewhat forceful and somewhat sharp, when doing things she had always been very reliable, able to make people believe in her. In that case, he had no reason to leave her behind and walk away.
But he still really did not want to die.
The pain of death was something that even with Takumi's tenacious will he did not want to experience repeatedly.
'So, I…'
[Hold on, we will get you all out right now!]
He heard someone's voice.
A voice coming from above, shouting toward him.
Takumi lifted his head and saw the long rescue ladder thrown down from above, thrown down from the door of 309.
"Shinomiya-san!"
Takumi suddenly shouted, and Kaguya, who had already realized what was happening, suddenly reached out her hand and grabbed the rescue ladder, and then she was pulled up by the rescue ladder at once, being dragged upward toward the pure white radiance.
The second and third rescue ladders fell immediately afterward, one landing beside Maeda Miwa, and one landing in front of Takumi.
Maeda Miwa, realizing that she was saved, hurriedly grabbed the rescue ladder and was pulled upward, and Takumi let out a light sigh and likewise grabbed the rescue ladder, preparing himself to go up.
[Creak—]
However, his rescue ladder was not able to move immediately.
After Maeda Miwa's rescue ladder had already gone up, Takumi's rescue ladder moved extremely slowly, unable to speed up no matter what.
"Seriously, I've vented enough already and can't be bothered with you two. Do you really have to look for death at the very end?"
Turning his head back, Takumi stared at Takeda Yūsuke and Takeda Kazue below, who were tightly gripping his legs, and his voice turned cold.
Not just these two people.
Takumi could still see the incomplete black arm, the shattered porcelain doll, and those figures that were gradually revealing themselves, which seemed to be the figures of debt-collectors.
These monsters born within the Horror Stories, these monsters that headed toward death because the core of the Horror Story had collapsed, at this moment grabbed onto him, perhaps not wanting him to leave, or perhaps wanting to use this chance to realize an escape that was actually hopeless for them.
[Let me go, I beg you, let me leave!]
[I will butcher her, I will butcher that brat who harmed us!]
The bodies of Takeda Yūsuke and Takeda Kazue were already shattered beyond recognition, yet their shrill shouts were still ringing out, still climbing upward, trying to climb over Takumi.
"You all just don't want to die that badly, huh…"
Takumi's lips slowly curved into a faint smile.
He let go of his left hand, using only his right hand to grasp the handrail. Then he licked the corner of his mouth, looked once more at the watch on his left wrist, and then, with eyes so cold they no longer seemed human, he cast his gaze toward Takeda Yūsuke and Takeda Kazue, as well as those broken, twisted things below.
"Then fine…"
Takumi slowly opened his mouth.
[I will grant you an eternal life. How about it?]
The black watch opened a fissure.
Without even having time to let out a scream, that man and woman were sucked into the watch, and together with the monsters behind them, all of them were sucked inside.
They were nutrients.
After the core of the Horror Story was destroyed, they were nutrients that could be absorbed and utilized.
Yes, they would receive eternity.
As nourishment, as fuel—an instant of eternity.
[Click—]
With a crisp sound, the hands of Takumi's watch slowly folded back from the 3 mark and returned to the 2 mark.
In the next moment, the handrail suddenly moved upward, and Takumi was pulled all the way toward the light, pulled toward the door of Room 309.
[It is time to go. The exit is just ahead]
Inside Room 309, the figures of rescue team members stood there, and the leading figure gently spoke to Takumi.
"You all cannot leave?"
But Takumi did not immediately leave. He stood where he was and looked at the unclear figure before him.
Kyosei.
Had he and the rescue team already recovered completely?
[We have walked for a very long time already. It is about time we stop and rest]
Facing Takumi's question, Kyosei let out a gentle laugh, then slowly opened his mouth to speak.
"…Is there anything you need me to say for you?"
Having understood now, Takumi lightly nodded, no longer being pretentious. He simply took a quiet breath and continued asking.
[No need. After this prison collapses completely, we will be able to go home. Everything has already ended. The people who forgot us will remember everything again, and the tragedy of this apartment will draw a complete ending. We no longer need to leave anything behind. Leave with peace of mind. There is nothing here you need to worry about anymore.]
Kyosei's answer was very calm, and the rescue team members beside him all nodded one after another. Clearly, everyone had already accepted this matter.
"I see. Then, goodbye—and thank you."
He did not say anything more.
Takumi solemnly left behind a single "thank you," then turned around and left, stepping into the bedroom door that shone with light.
In the next moment, he stepped into endless radiance.
And the last voice left by Kyosei also entered his ears.
[Thank you, for being able to save her, for being able to save all the people trapped here.]
The final voice gradually disappeared.
And Takumi could not help but let out a low laugh.
'What you said—without your efforts, without the efforts of the people struggling here, with only myself, it would have been impossible to reach this point.'
[Buzz—]
Amid the sound of shattering, Takumi turned his head and looked behind himself.
He saw the abandoned Shirakawa Apartments.
He saw the people drifting out from the apartment, no longer trapped inside.
Refrigerator Bro, Burnt Bro, those who remained on the second floor, who under Kyosei's decision voluntarily died in the rooms on the second floor to become a protective mechanism, those young people wearing rescue team uniforms, those who had been trapped here and had always longed to escape.
All of them, at this moment, drifted out from the apartment and disappeared beneath the light.
Finally, Takumi saw that little girl hopping and skipping.
The little girl who had changed into clean, beautiful new clothes, no longer dirty, no longer having wounds, walking beside a young man wearing a rescue team uniform.
She was saying: "Big brother, I want to eat cotton candy."
And the young man lightly nodded, bent down to pick the girl up, let her sit on his shoulders, then spoke with a smile: "Sure. Today, whatever you want to eat, big brother can treat you to it."
The young man and the girl laughed together, moving farther and farther away within the light until they vanished without a trace.
Takumi drifted outward within the light like this, until endless radiance submerged his consciousness, until two gentle points of light fell upon him.
Before losing consciousness, Takumi heard the voices of the girl and Kyosei sounding together:
[Thank you]
In the next moment, as the light shifted, pitch-black color spread out instead.
Piercing noise sounded beside his ears.
That strange voice that could not be identified as anything in particular suddenly rang out at his ears.
[Congratulations on successfully clearing the Dusk-level instance: Shirakawa Apartments]
[Congratulations on dismantling the Dusk-level instance: Shirakawa Apartments. You have already taken the first steps toward that real path. We wish you success in truly reaching where that path leads]
[Player: Takahashi Takumi]
[Now conducting summary evaluation of the player's individual performance]
[Your evaluation this time is: S]
[Congratulations on obtaining the highest evaluation of the Dusk-level instance. The reward prepared for you has already been issued]
[We wish you can… zzzt… reach… zzzt…]
That distorted voice seemed to be interfered with by something at the end.
Takumi opened his eyes, and in a daze he saw that cassette player, saw that small machine in the ruined room that was playing the tape found in Room 109.
Then he heard the voice that came from the machine.
[I do not understand. What exactly is your reason for helping me?]
Sanchez's voice, carrying a bit of confusion, came from the cassette player.
[Haha, it was only out of sympathy for you and admiration for you that I decided to help you. Besides, a game that cannot operate normally is really boring for us. If you can succeed, then of course everyone is happy]
And a strange voice, unclear as to what it was, sounded right after that, carrying a hint of playfulness and an undisguised snickering.
[I still do not understand—who exactly are you?]
Sanchez once again asked.
And the voice speaking with him lightly coughed, paused for a moment, then slowly opened its mouth: [As for me, I am actually just a very insignificant fellow]
[If we talk about a name, it really is not easy to say, but if you want to call me something, there is a title I think fits quite well]
[Just call me KP. Hm, hm, that's right. KP is my name. Have you remembered it?]
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I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
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