Chapter 26: Everyone Move Aside! This Princess Is About to Start Showing Off!
"What is the meaning of this!?"
The stench of fish and brine clung to Liu Cangzhen, thick and nauseating. His stomach churned as he stared at the viscous, slimy substance coating his hands. Rage flared, and he nearly hurled the filthy mop back at its source, but the memory of Haruto's unsettling instability—and his willingness to knock out his own teammates—stayed his hand. He didn't dare make a move.
"What do you think he means?" Kaguya rolled her eyes at him, her voice dripping with irritation. "He's answering your stupid question."
Haruto silently walked to Kaguya's side, then suddenly reached out, wiping his mucus-covered hand down the pristine fabric of her princess dress. Without a second's hesitation, he turned and bolted.
"You bastard! You rogue! Stop right there for this princess!"
"Then don't chase me!"
Of course, Haruto had no intention of stopping. The two of them began a chaotic chase around the utility room, weaving between pipes and boilers, showing absolutely no inclination to answer Liu Cangzhen's question.
Seeing this, King Chen sighed and decided to explain on their behalf.
"They're trying to tell you that a mop this saturated with mucus couldn't have gotten this way from a simple, accidental spill. This was clearly used to carefully clean the substance off the floor."
He walked to a corner of the room, pointing at a collection of scrapers, buckets, and other cleaning tools. "So, the process was likely this: the mermaid enters the pension from the sea through that well. After it kills someone, it uses these tools to clean up the mucus it leaves behind. In other words, even hiding inside the guesthouse isn't absolutely safe."
A heavy silence fell over the room, the weight of his words pressing down on them like a physical stone.
A single, terrifying thought surfaced in everyone's mind, prickling their skin and making the hair on their arms stand on end: It possesses intelligence.
After hearing Haruto's account of his first instance yesterday, they had all felt a sliver of relief, grateful they hadn't encountered such an absurdly clever ghost. They had planned to use this instance to gather more experience, just in case. But now, it seemed that particular brand of horror had arrived ahead of schedule.
Most of the players present had already cleared two instances. They knew all too well that as time wore on, the restrictions binding the supernatural entities would gradually weaken, allowing them to grow increasingly powerful.
And they hadn't even figured out the main task yet.
At that thought, many of the veterans found it difficult to remain calm. A cold dread seeped into their bones as they questioned whether they could truly survive this.
Meanwhile, Haruto wore a look of theatrical depression.
So many people had gone through so many instances without ever meeting an intelligent ghost, yet here he was, running into one in two consecutive games.
This was clearly targeted; it couldn't possibly be a coincidence.
Kaguya stepped forward, lightly patting his and Yotsuya Miko's shoulders. She leaned in and said in a low voice only they could hear, "An excellent matchmaking system will never let any cheater off the hook."
Haruto's gaze turned gloomy. He knew perfectly well she was talking about him. The others here were just collateral damage, unlucky enough to have been matched into his game.
Of course, from another perspective, one could say it was simply their destiny to face this calamity.
Time was tight.
The three teams moved to the dining area, sat down, and began exchanging the information they had gathered.
Liu Wensong spread a yellowed, old newspaper across the dining table, gesturing for everyone to look as he explained.
"This is a newspaper from 2005, reporting on an event from twenty years ago. A family in a local clan had a child born from incestuous relations. The baby had congenital deformities—its legs were fused together like a fish's tail, and its eyes were swollen and bulbous. To save face, the family imprisoned the child in their backyard and told everyone it had died young."
Haruto's brow furrowed immediately. It didn't take a genius to connect the dots. This so-called 'deformed child' was almost certainly the mermaid ghost currently hunting them.
"Are there any other clues?"
Liu Wensong nodded grimly and took out a second newspaper, unfolding it with a solemn expression.
"Five years after that incident, a tragedy occurred at a seaside inn. A family of five, along with the guesthouse owner, were all murdered. Their deaths were gruesome; every last one of them had been skinned alive. When the bodies were discovered, they were found soaking in a giant glass fish tank."
He took a deep breath and looked around at the grim faces. "I'll offer a simple deduction. That deformed child was sold to the guesthouse. The black-hearted owner used its bizarre appearance as a gimmick, staging 'mermaid performances' to attract tourists."
"Since he was willing to buy a deformed person, he naturally wouldn't have treated them well, viewing them as nothing more than a tool. This caused the child's resentment to fester day by day. Finally, upon recognizing the biological parents who had abandoned them among the guests, the long-suppressed hatred completely erupted. They slaughtered their entire family, as well as the guesthouse owner who had bought them."
Liu Wensong's analysis was clear and well-supported. Everyone nodded in agreement; no one raised an objection.
"Uncle Chen, what about your side?" Haruto turned to look at King Chen.
King Chen shook his head, a hint of apology in his expression. "We only found a poster for this Mermaid Pension—the very place we're in now. The promotional content matches what young Wensong analyzed; mermaid performances were scheduled every day."
After speaking, he pulled a small stack of videotapes from his pocket.
In these instances, videotapes were often key clues, but there was no joy on King Chen's face. Combined with his statement that they had only found a poster, a sense of foreboding settled over the group.
"Is there no player?" Liu Wensong asked tentatively.
"We have both the tapes and a player, but they don't work." King Chen took the video player from his teammate. "I'm not sure if it's an issue with the tapes or if the player itself is broken. Does anyone here know how to fix this kind of old equipment?"
A long moment of silence passed. No one answered.
A trace of helplessness flashed in King Chen's eyes. An instance had at most a dozen people; what were the odds of finding someone who knew how to repair obsolete electronics?
The fire of hope that had just been kindled in their hearts was about to be extinguished when Haruto disdainfully took both the tapes and the player.
"I thought it was something serious. It's just broken, right? What's so hard about that?"
"Young man, you can fix a video player?" King Chen asked, his voice filled with surprise. The others all turned to Haruto, their eyes shining with renewed expectation.
At a time like this, any shred of a clue could be a lifeline, let alone something as obviously critical as a set of videotapes.
"No," Haruto denied calmly.
That matter-of-fact, deadpan delivery made everyone's temples throb in unison.
He's having another one of his episodes, isn't he?
If they weren't afraid of him suddenly knocking them unconscious, a few of the players might have seriously considered squaring off with him right then and there.
Seeing their looks of utter despair, Haruto gave them a dismissive side-eye. He then stood up, walked behind Kaguya, and firmly pushed her down into a seat.
"I can't, but that doesn't mean my subordinate can't. Go for it, Kaguya!"
Before Kaguya could even react, she was pressed into the chair.
She stared at the dust-covered tapes and the ancient player in front of her, then at the hope being reignited in everyone's eyes. She swallowed hard and frantically tried to signal Haruto with her eyes.
No! Are you serious? You're making this princess fix this? I don't know how!
Haruto returned a look of pure, innocent confusion. Didn't you say before that you could fix anything?
Kaguya's eyes widened in outrage. That was a computer! A computer, you hear me!
Although the others couldn't decipher the silent, frantic conversation, the way the two were making faces at each other was painfully obvious. She had clearly been thrown under the bus.
The crowd's hopeful gazes soured into resentment once more.
King Chen forced a smile, trying to smooth things over. "It's normal not to know how to fix such an old object. In that case, let's not dwell on these tapes for now. We'll continue analyzing other clues. In a bit, we'll have to go to the beach together to find some seafood to fill our stomachs. We'll need our strength—"
"Wait!"
Just as King Chen was about to pack up the tapes and player, Kaguya slammed a tool bag she had just requisitioned from Haruto onto the table with a loud thud.
"Everyone move aside! This princess is about to start showing off!"
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