Chapter 28: The Storybook, Lifesaver or Bane?
"Miko, you've made quite a bit of progress." A flash of genuine surprise crossed Haruto's eyes; he hadn't expected Yotsuya Miko to piece everything together so accurately.
"If I had accused him directly, the others might not have believed me, and it would have only earned his resentment. All we needed to do was plant a seed of doubt. We don't have to lift a finger ourselves; as long as the others aren't complete fools, they'll naturally figure out why I was targeting him."
Haruto wasn't particularly concerned about the resentment of an ordinary person. His physical fitness had long since eclipsed that of any top-tier athlete, to say nothing of the Boundary Power he held as his ultimate trump card.
Still, it was always better to be safe than sorry; that was a principle that never failed.
With this single, calculated move, Haruto's image in Yotsuya Miko's heart grew even more formidable. At first, she thought he was simply planning to slack off and coast through this instance, but she never imagined he was orchestrating such significant plays from the shadows.
"However..."
A faint, knowing smile touched Haruto's lips. He squinted, glancing back toward the distant guesthouse.
"Kaguya isn't really monitoring him to see if he hid the storybook. She's just checking if there are any other clues. As for the storybook itself..."
He gave a disdainful little smile.
"Is there something wrong with that book?" Yotsuya Miko was taken aback, catching the hidden implication in his tone.
"Think about it," Haruto said, his voice dropping slightly. "Do you really believe someone who was born deformed, grew up in a twisted, abusive environment, was eventually paraded as a tool for performance, and lived every single day in the agony of being called a 'Mermaid' would truly love a mermaid fairy tale?"
"Don't be so naive. If that were me, I'd be lucky if I didn't despise everything even remotely related to 'fish,' let alone cherish a story about them."
"So... so that book..." Yotsuya Miko's face gradually turned pale as the horrifying realization dawned on her.
"It's exactly what you're thinking," Haruto confirmed, his voice flat. "That storybook is most likely not a lifesaver, but a death sentence. It was probably filmed and placed there deliberately as a trap."
He picked up the bucket and continued walking forward, then paused as if a thought had just occurred to him.
"Of course," he added with a shrug, "it's also possible he genuinely yearned for a true mermaid—a creature that symbolizes freedom, one that lives in the vast, boundless ocean."
...
Inside the guesthouse, the search was underway.
Kaguya, along with Liu Cangzhen and the tall woman, found a large, thick wooden table of the sort often used for rural banquets. Working together, they heaved it over the well in the water room, covering it tightly. Then, they piled heavy objects on top, pressing down firmly until the entrance was completely sealed.
After a quick search of the remaining rooms on the first floor, Liu Cangzhen suggested they split up to cover more ground.
The tall woman, naturally, was against the idea. Being alone in a place like this would make one an easy target. Kaguya, however, directly agreed to it.
With the minority having to yield to the majority, the tall woman had no choice but to give up. She turned and began checking the other rooms on the first floor by herself.
Liu Cangzhen, meanwhile, made his way up the stairs.
Kaguya followed silently, her footsteps making no sound as she shadowed him all the way to the third floor.
She watched as he stopped in front of a particular door, glanced around to ensure no one was watching, and then slipped inside. A moment later, he stepped out again, moving quickly. A distinct, square shape bulged from beneath his clothes; it was clearly the storybook.
Having obtained the information she needed, Kaguya didn't linger. She quietly descended to the second floor and began her own search, carefully going through the rooms one by one, re-searching everything from the second floor up to the third.
Lost in her task, she didn't notice the sky outside beginning to change. The scorching white light of noon had, at some point, been blended into a viscous, honeyed blood-red that spread out at a low angle across the horizon.
Everyone outside noticed something was wrong.
They rushed back toward the guesthouse, finally arriving just before the world was plunged into complete darkness.
Haruto looked back at the sea and felt an unexpected chill crawl up his spine. The beach had turned a ghostly, pale white. The rhythmic sound of the waves now seemed desolate and mournful. The surroundings were terrifyingly quiet, creating the unnerving sensation that something was staring intently at them from the dark depths of the distant tide.
"Is time moving that fast? It was only noon when we set out, right?" Liu Wensong leaned against the wall, panting heavily, his eyes wide with disbelief.
"This is definitely abnormal," King Chen said, his expression heavy as he too looked toward the beach. "We shouldn't have been out for more than three hours."
"Two hours and twenty-eight minutes," Haruto corrected, having pulled out a cell phone from somewhere. "Not even two and a half."
Though the others were surprised to see the modern device, they didn't find it too strange, assuming he must possess some kind of storage-type spectral artifact.
"Is the time in this instance on a twenty-four-hour cycle?" someone asked.
"Yes," Haruto nodded. "There's a clock in the dining area; it's a twenty-four-hour clock."
Hearing this, a grim shadow fell over everyone's faces. This was unequivocally bad news. With the day being so short, the night would inevitably be long, and the danger would multiply accordingly.
"You're back so soon?"
A young girl's voice drifted from the corridor as Kaguya and the two others walked over. The group that had just returned from the beach didn't answer, their gazes fixed on the world outside.
Kaguya followed their line of sight and only then realized that the sky had, at some point, plunged into absolute darkness.
"It's dark already?"
"The days here are exceptionally short," Haruto explained. "It gets pitch black around three in the afternoon."
Kaguya was slightly taken aback. Her own sense of time was already vague, so she had simply assumed her search had taken longer than she'd thought.
"Did you find anything?" Haruto asked.
Kaguya nodded and pointed to the blackboard behind the group.
Everyone turned. The bloody words scrawled across the board had changed.
[Survive for four days]
Four days?
Haruto's expression was complicated. On the surface, the task didn't seem difficult. But that was only assuming a normal instance, one where ghosts acted on simple instinct.
The atmosphere grew heavy, everyone's expression grim. The sky was completely dark, and no one knew when the mermaids would begin their hunt.
Without further hesitation, the group hurried to the dining area.
Fortunately, perhaps because no one had been to this remote location for a long time, the supplies on the beach were exceptionally abundant. Even though they only had a little over two hours, the food they had gathered was more than enough for a hearty meal.
"Do you need help?" King Chen asked, his gaze turning toward Haruto's small group of three.
"No need," Haruto and Kaguya refused almost in perfect unison.
The dining area was fully equipped with kitchenware, some of which hadn't even been unpacked. Due to the time pressure, the other survivors could only make simple boiled seafood. It was then that the various seasonings Haruto had prepared earlier came in handy, earning him some grateful nods.
On Haruto's side, however, the situation was different. He and Kaguya looked at each other, then at the pots and pans before them, their expressions growing complicated.
"Go on, do it," Haruto finally said. "Why are you just standing there?"
"I don't know how," Kaguya replied with the unshakable confidence of a princess.
"Then why did you refuse so readily just now?!"
"You're the same! What right do you have to talk to me like that!" Kaguya shot back, indignant.
It was clear that neither of them ever cooked at home. Yotsuya Miko wanted to cry but had no tears. She weakly raised her hand.
"Maybe... let's not be so picky and just eat it boiled?"
Before she could even finish her sentence, she was met with two sharp, synchronized glares.
"How can we do that?" Haruto declared. "In this life, the stomach is the most important thing. How can we be so half-hearted about the sacred act of eating?"
"Exactly, exactly," Kaguya nodded repeatedly in fervent agreement.
On this one matter, the two had reached an unmatched consensus.
Yotsuya Miko had no choice but to silently lower her head and take charge of the cooking.
Since the guesthouse was a decade old, they had to burn wood to make a fire. Fortunately, she occasionally cooked for herself. Haruto and Kaguya, on the other hand, had almost zero experience and could only help with feeding the fire and passing ingredients.
After a flurry of chaotic activity, the three of them actually managed to stir-fry a plate of spicy scallops.
But the taste... was truly indescribable.
Haruto took a single bite, and his entire face twisted as if he'd just chewed on a pretzel made of lemons and regret.
"The taste... is a bit unique."
At those words, two streams of tears flowed down Yotsuya Miko's cheeks in her heart. She had really, truly tried her best.
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