The distance between the two was closing.
It would only take a few seconds, and the monster would catch up.
It grew more and more agitated, more and more frenzied.
The woman before it was the pursuit and craving born from the very instinct of its body.
After seizing the body of the man, Murakami Mamoru, it craved even more.
And now, she was right there before it,
closer,
closer still—just a little more time and it could grab her.
Sensing the moment was right, it lunged forward in a single explosive leap, its claws about to seize her—but unexpectedly grasped only empty air.
The woman before it had, in that very instant, twisted to the side and, against all odds, dodged.
"Aaargh…"
It snarled twice and pounced once more, but failed again.
Lin Ye was currently using Haruno's body. Its physical attributes naturally couldn't compare to his own body, but at least his other capabilities made up for what the body lacked.
If it ever truly came to the most critical juncture, he would decisively use Time Stop.
Facing the monster ahead of him, he felt that was enough.
At most he'd just stall for some time, waiting for the Time Stop cooldown to pass.
"Swoosh!"
A whistling sound came once again from behind.
It was the sound of the monster pouncing frantically.
This naked-bodied monster truly displayed its desire to the fullest.
Lin Ye had already spotted the clothing store on the second floor. That shop, bathed in orange-yellow light, stood out especially clearly,
and farther off were Haruno and the female yoga instructor,
but why did Haruno seem to have her arms wrapped around the female yoga instructor?
Lin Ye had no time to think more about it; with a single sprint he dashed toward that special clothing store.
'Swish—'
The silent, deserted clothing store welcomed its guests.
Lin Ye and the monster entered one after the other.
In the very first instant of entering, Lin Ye casually grabbed a piece of clothing and flung it onto the monster's head.
"Aaargh!"
The monster howled, its hands wildly flailing, knocking garment after garment to the floor.
Its blood-red eyes fixed on Lin Ye, blazing with an astonishingly fervent gaze.
Lin Ye casually grabbed another piece of clothing, and in the instant the monster charged straight at him, he flung a black trench coat over its head.
"Rustle-rustle!"
It tore at the coat,
while Lin Ye seized the chance to dash quickly toward the entrance of the clothing store.
"Boom…"
But the escape wasn't so smooth. The naked-bodied monster seemed to sense Lin Ye fleeing, and roaring like a madman, it burst out with explosive power far beyond what it had shown before.
In a single leap it blocked Lin Ye's path.
This scene—
even Lin Ye hadn't anticipated it.
His expectation had been to successfully escape right then.
But… it wasn't a big problem.
He still had a trump card.
"Slap…"
But from outside came a crisp slapping sound.
"How awful!"
It was the voice of the female yoga instructor.
Haruno and the female yoga instructor, who earlier had been quite a distance from the clothing store, had already appeared near the shop,
and now Haruno was even slapping the female yoga instructor's body hard, producing a crisp sound of rippling, undulating flesh.
The naked-bodied monster turned toward the sound, and facing the bashful, blushing female yoga instructor, it could no longer tear its gaze and attention away for a moment.
"Roar, roar…"
It wanted to charge, attempting to prepare to seize the female yoga instructor and frantically vent its lust.
And Lin Ye, at this moment, seized the chance and successfully made it out the store's main entrance.
The monster came to its senses and instantly raised a claw to block Lin Ye, but it was a step too slow.
Its hand was as if blocked by an invisible wall, completely unable to leave.
"Aaargh, aaargh…"
It howled, charged, slammed, but still couldn't leave the clothing store.
"Are you okay!"
Haruno came to Lin Ye's side, reaching out to pull Lin Ye out.
"I'm fine,"
A moment later, the two swapped bodies back.
Haruno immediately felt her body's exhaustion, a fatigue that seemed about to swallow her whole, making her want to find a place to sleep soundly right now.
So tired, her whole body weary—
she looked at Lin Ye with reproach. Why swap back so early?
Wouldn't it be better to wait a little longer and let her body recover some?
Facing Haruno's gaze, Lin Ye paid it no mind. This woman had definitely done something while using his body just now—it was his intuition. Especially that earlier slapping sound; he knew very well what that kind of feeling was.
Lin Ye's gaze fell upon the female yoga instructor's face.
The female yoga instructor's expression, which had still held some pain, instantly melted into a smile. She forced out the best smile she could for Lin Ye; even though that slap earlier had been far too painful, she still smiled and endured it.
Compared to Haruno braving life and death, having to face the monster's attacks, getting slapped a few times was nothing at all.
But this man truly had no tenderness for a delicate beauty, no idea how to cherish a woman at all.
The female yoga instructor grew a little worried—would he be very brutal later on?!
Yet she also seemed to crave it a little.
"Thud…"
"Boom…"
The naked-bodied monster grew more and more frenzied. It bared its teeth and brandished its claws, slapping and striking madly, but no matter how hard it exerted itself, it couldn't break that invisible barrier.
The orange-yellow glow slowly changed.
With a 'Ding…' sound,
the light turned green,
the lush green of vibrant, living vitality.
The monster struggled and writhed in pain, descending into frenzy. It seemed to be afflicted by some unknown force, facing the terror of death.
'Tick-tock, tick-tock…'
In a mere dozen-odd seconds,
the naked-bodied monster, like melted ice cream, rapidly dissolved, becoming a pool of grayish-white liquid stain.
This scene was witnessed clearly by all three.
Haruno swallowed. "If I'd been a little slower leaving, would I also have… ended up like that?"
she said.
The shop was also dangerous; one had to leave and escape within a time limit, or face death too.
Haruno was struck with lingering fear.
As for the female yoga instructor, needless to say—having personally experienced the monster's attack, and now witnessing the monster melt and vanish before her very eyes, her little heart could hardly bear it anymore.
The mere thought that she too might melt sent a pitch-black terror surging up and seizing her entire heart.
Unconsciously,
the female yoga instructor hugged Lin Ye's arm, clinging tightly, her softness completely enveloping Lin Ye's arm.
Lin Ye realized at a glance that this was surely Haruno's handiwork.
Haruno gave an awkward little chuckle. "Miss Kurosawa really has a nice figure, and a nice feel too. While I was away, Lin-kun and Miss Kurosawa's relationship really developed quite well."
Haruno even started teasing him outright.
But facing Haruno's teasing, Kurosawa Eiko felt no shyness at all, nor any thought of letting go.
For her, compared to shyness and embarrassment, hugging tight to Lin Ye's thigh was what mattered most.
Right now Haruno's behavior was pure envy, a sheer wish to shatter the friendly relationship she and Lin Ye currently had.
"To the third floor. Next is the third-floor monster,"
"Let me, let me rest a bit first,"
Haruno said.
Her state hadn't fully recovered now; if she went to the third floor now, she feared she'd run out of strength to keep running before long.
"You go straight to the fourth floor,"
"Hehe, Lin-kun is so good to me,"
Haruno came to Lin Ye's side with a grin, reaching out to hug him, and leaning close to his ear, she lowered her voice and said, "You could also find a secluded spot to relax, you know!"
After saying that,
as she passed by the female yoga instructor, she even gave her a slap.
"You…"
The female yoga instructor, subjected to the wandering hand, was instantly enraged.
"Oh, angry? Being angry at me won't bring any good results, you know! Lin-kun is my… brother-in-law, after all."
A single sentence instantly stuffed back the words the female yoga instructor had been about to say.
Brother-in-law?
So these two were in that kind of relationship. She'd thought they were lovers, or quasi-lovers.
"Nice feel,"
Haruno headed off first toward the stairwell.
The female yoga instructor gazed reproachfully at Haruno's back as she walked ahead, thinking something. She hugged Lin Ye's arm, preparing to act coquettishly and have Lin Ye comfort her properly.
"Mind your station,"
An ice-cold sentence doused the female yoga instructor from head to toe as if with a bucket of cold water.
Her heart went cold through and through.
The man who'd just been taking liberties with her this way and that was now so cold toward her.
Men—they really are all no good.
Hateful, hateful,
but apart from that, there was nothing she could do.
After Lin Ye took the first steps forward, Kurosawa Eiko followed as well. Even though the second floor was now empty, she still wouldn't dare to stay here alone.
The second floor had left an indelible shadow upon her.
The three reached the fourth floor smoothly.
The male High School Student was the first to ask about the situation, though his tone was somewhat feeble; the blood loss and pain had left him in a poor state.
"Brother Lin, how's… the situation?"
"The second-floor monster has been dealt with. Two left,"
"As expected of Brother Lin,"
the male High School Student praised at once.
By now he also knew he couldn't be of any help. If he wanted to make it back alive, he had to rely on Lin Ye—all he could do was coast to victory.
"Rest for two minutes. Miss Kurosawa, you come with me to the third floor,"
"Mm."
Kurosawa Eiko had no right to refuse; having Lin Ye accompany her was already her best option.
At least Lin Ye wouldn't casually abandon her.
He would provide help when needed—not to mention Lin Ye had already taken so many liberties with her; surely after returning to reality, he'd want to do this and that with her, and even held expectations for her students!
The female yoga instructor sat down to rest, and in those brief few minutes many thoughts surfaced.
The rest time passed quickly.
Lin Ye rose to his feet.
The female yoga instructor was reluctant, but she too propped herself up with one hand and stood.
"We'll lure the third-floor monster down to the first floor."
The conditions for triggering the third-floor monster still needed testing, but based on the earlier encounter with it, at least it didn't require fewer than one person.
Lin Ye and the female yoga instructor went downstairs.
It was again the ash-black third-floor corridor, each step producing a crisp sound.
'Tap, tap, tap…'
Footsteps echoed.
The female yoga instructor stuck close behind Lin Ye, one hand tugging at the hem of his clothes. If she could, she'd have preferred to hold hands, but after being shaken off by Lin Ye, she knew holding hands was impossible.
After all, holding hands would hinder Lin Ye's movements, which would in turn affect the survival rate of them both.
So, even though she was afraid in her heart, the female yoga instructor adapted as best she could.
Following the corridor, the two pressed forward, each step as if treading upon a deserted, silent land.
Ahead, green light suddenly appeared—that was the third-floor dining room,
which had buried the fourth-floor monster.
"Student Lin, the monster doesn't seem to have appeared yet,"
"Let's circle around a couple of times and see,"
Could a pairing of one man and one woman not trigger the conditions for the monster to appear?
Earlier, when he'd acted alone on the third floor, he indeed hadn't drawn out the monster. Could it be that a woman was required again?
But he quickly dismissed that thought.
And so,
the monster appeared.
The monster in ragged clothing appeared.
Amid the deep ash-black atmosphere, it gave off a faint, unnerving aura.
The female yoga instructor noticed it too.
In this moment, her heart was extremely tense.
Lin Ye halted his steps; as for the female yoga instructor, needless to say—she was right behind Lin Ye's right shoulder, ready to turn and flee accordingly.
But that monster didn't immediately launch a charge like the second-floor naked-bodied monster had.
It came step by step, and when the distance between them closed to five meters, it suddenly changed: those ragged clothes spread open, pockets gaping one after another, like bottomless black holes.
This needed no word from Lin Ye; the female yoga instructor immediately lifted her legs and ran—though her reaction was still a bit slow, and she was still grabbed by the wrist by Lin Ye, who ran toward the stairwell.
"Swish, swish, swish!"
The monster in ragged clothing followed close behind, without the slightest sign of slowing—if anything, it faintly grew even faster.
'Tap, tap, tap…'
Lin Ye pulled the female yoga instructor, leaping down the stairs three or five steps at a time, leaving her terribly strained; her foot couldn't even land steadily on the step ahead, and once again she went flying through the air.
Lin Ye watched from the corner of his eye, confirming the monster was following, and only then continued running toward the first floor.
'Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…'
Suddenly,
from the monster's direction came an invisible force.
The intense force kept growing.
The female yoga instructor's body was struck by this force; her whole person tipped over, sucked toward the monster's direction.
'Swish!'
Her shoes were the first to be sucked away.
A familiar feeling.
That suction grew even stronger, dragging even the surrounding garbage into the air, ceaselessly sucked into the pockets of that ragged monster.
'Swish, swish, swish!'
The airflow grew ever faster, the suction ever more ferocious,
and even Lin Ye was affected.
The earlier encounter hadn't felt anything like this; using a trash can had temporarily solved it, but this time it was on a completely different level.
"It seems that after the other monsters are dealt with, the remaining monsters' strength increases,"
Lin Ye thought of the most likely explanation.
That last first-floor monster was probably going to be even more ferocious.
A thought popped into Lin Ye's mind; quickly, his attention returned to the matter at hand—the urgent priority was to get out of this predicament.
"Save, save me…"
"Student Lin…"
"Don't let go!"
The female yoga instructor was already floating in the air.
Her right hand gripped Lin Ye's hand tightly; feeling Lin Ye's strength was her last source of comfort, while behind her was the monster and its gaping, bottomless pockets.
So many things had already been sucked in, yet the pockets held nothing at all—still just a stretch of pitch black.
She knew very well that once she was sucked in, there would be absolutely no good end.
So, she had to give it her all!
"Whoosh-whoosh…"
The wind force abruptly intensified,
and the female yoga instructor suddenly felt a tremor—
it was the moment even Lin Ye couldn't hold on, briefly losing his strength for a while.
"Wuwuwu…"
The female yoga instructor cried!
That momentary loss of strength just now had scared her so badly that tears welled up and she was on the verge of weeping.
Frightened tears already streamed unstoppably. The female yoga instructor clenched her teeth and exerted herself with all her might, hoping only that Lin Ye wouldn't let go.
What she feared now was that Lin Ye might let go and abandon her for the sake of saving himself.
After all, in this most dangerous situation right now, if she were in Lin Ye's position, she would basically make the same choice—abandon the person to save herself, unless Lin Ye had a trump card to survive together; otherwise…
"Lin, Student Lin…"
The howling wind scattered her words, but she shouted loudly,
"Save me, I beg you…"
"I… will do… anything."
"My… beautiful students, I'll… set them all up for you!"
"Some of them… are quite flirty and lewd!"
...
To survive, she was already resorting to anything.
Lin Ye faintly heard her, but didn't think much of it.
As for the conditions the female yoga instructor offered, he really wasn't very interested.
But as the force kept increasing, Lin Ye knew he couldn't keep going like this; his own strength was nearly at its limit.
If this continued, even he would be sucked away.
Through his understanding of this monster, Lin Ye also gained a further grasp of the fourth monster's strength.
Time Stop.
Lin Ye once again used Time Stop.
Everything fell silent.
The first thing he did was close the open pockets on that suit of clothing on the monster; the next second, he immediately stripped off these clothes of its, leaving it in a bare, naked state,
then, carrying the clothes, he returned to the female yoga instructor's side, took hold of her, and headed toward the first-floor jewelry store.
He had noticed that long-haired monster on the first floor.
'Crackle…'
Time Stop ended.
The brief change caused the first floor, where a hurricane had been raging just a moment before, to suddenly lose its force and rapidly weaken.
And the monster in ragged clothing was even more stunned,
as it discovered its clothes were gone,
the clothes it used as a weapon were gone.
"Over here."
With one hand pulling the female yoga instructor, Lin Ye waved its clothing with the other.
"Aaargh, aaargh…"
Seeing its own clothes, the monster charged in a furious rage,
while the female yoga instructor only came to her senses after quite a while. But at least, no longer feeling that powerful suction, she realized she was finally safe for the moment.
Wonderful,
she was okay,
she could still survive.
In a short while,
the first-floor jewelry store, bathed in orange-yellow light, had already appeared before them.
As long as the monster was lured in,
this third-floor monster too could be successfully dealt with.
However,
a sudden change occurred.
That long-haired monster of the first floor appeared, blocking the way ahead, its hair waving as it faced the two figures.
"Lin, Student Lin… the monster,"
she cried out.
In this moment, despair filled the female yoga instructor's eyes.
How could the first-floor monster appear now?
Appearing at this very critical moment—wasn't this fatal?
This time, they were probably done for.
...
...
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