Chapter 36: The Mermaid Never Entered or Exited the Well
"This is the witch's magic recipe," Haruto stated with absolute certainty.
Though the exact meaning of 'Pure Yang Blood'remained a mystery,'skin'and'flesh' could only be referring to the mermaid.
A knot of anxiety tightened in Liu Wensong's gut. "The mermaid is incredibly strong, not to mention the neurotoxins on its claws. How are we supposed to get its skin and flesh?"
"I can try setting a few traps," King Chen suggested, his voice heavy.
"No need." As Haruto spoke, he produced a long, slender, pink-painted fingernail from the depths of his Gap.
"Is that...?" Liu Wensong stared, stunned for a moment before his expression shifted to one of dawning, excited realization.
"That's right," Haruto confirmed. "This is the fingernail of that newcomer from the first day. Before she died, she managed to scratch the mermaid a few times. Fragments of its skin and flesh were left in the crevices."
At the time, the detached finger had been abandoned by everyone at the pension's entrance. Haruto, however, had conveniently collected it into his Gap. He hadn't expected it to actually come in handy.
"Now we're only missing the Pure Yang Blood," Kaguya said, her gaze unconsciously sweeping over the men present.
The room was suddenly plunged into an eerie silence.
The term 'Pure Yang Blood' was far too esoteric; no one had any idea what it specifically referred to.
"Stop racking your brains," Kaguya said, rolling her eyes at their clueless expressions. "This lady knows, even with her toes, that this so-called 'Pure Yang Blood' refers to a virgin's blood."
Haruto didn't deny her guess. If the recipe truly required the blood of some mythical 'Pure Yang Cultivator,' none of the players in this instance would stand a chance of collecting it; the difficulty would be astronomical. The only logical interpretation was the blood of a virgin male.
A bitter smile touched King Chen's lips upon hearing this. "At my age, I definitely don't count."
Everyone's gaze landed on Liu Wensong in unison. He immediately waved his hands in frantic denial. "Don't look at me! I haven't been one for a long, long time."
The group's collective gaze then shifted to Haruto.
He instantly crossed his arms over his chest and took two quick steps back, pulling Kaguya into his arms before she could react. His meaning was crystal clear: Don't look at me, I already have a girlfriend.
Kaguya shot him a sideways glance, her eyes seeming to say, 'Since when did this lady ever sleep with you?'
Their last hope fell upon the newcomer.
The young man's face flushed a deep crimson. Under the intense scrutiny of the entire group, he stammered and gave a small, jerky nod.
"I... I've indeed never had a girlfriend."
"Then the Pure Yang Blood will be up to you," Haruto said. "As for the mermaid's blood, remember when that guy pulled out the fairy tale book while running away? The mermaid tore open its own scalp in a rage. Some of its blood just so happened to splash onto the ground then."
To avoid causing a panic, he deliberately withheld the scene he had just witnessed in the Water Room's well.
The mermaid had quietly returned to the first floor and was, at that very moment, lurking motionless at the corner of the corridor stairs. If not for his Gap ability, Haruto probably wouldn't have noticed its presence at all.
Perhaps its only goal really was to keep them from leaving.
The creature remained perfectly still for the entire night, only choosing to depart the moment before the sun's first rays broke the horizon.
It was already the fourth day.
But now, everyone knew where the path to survival lay. They were no longer like headless flies, scrambling in the dark; they had a clear, tangible goal.
Although it was still early, no one dared to be the least bit complacent. The thought of facing the horrors of the final day was a powerful motivator. They split up, each moving to complete their assigned tasks.
After gathering the mermaid's skin, its blood, and the newcomer's 'Pure Yang Blood,' the group convened in the Water Room. Standing before the well, Haruto tossed all the collected materials inside.
The surface of the water immediately began to ripple, transforming into a shimmering mirror that, in an instant, became as clear as crystal.
A collective, breathless hope filled the small room. For the first time in days, their faces were alight with something other than fear.
Just as Liu Wensong was about to take the lead and leap into the well, Haruto's hand shot out and grabbed him from behind.
Liu Wensong turned back in confusion, his eyes meeting Haruto's, which had narrowed into sharp slits. The others also sensed that something was wrong.
"Is there a problem?" Liu Wensong asked tentatively.
"See for yourselves what's down there." Haruto didn't explain, merely gesturing toward the well's opening.
Though they were full of doubt, their trust in Haruto was absolute. Everyone leaned forward, peering into the depths.
A single glance was all it took. A frigid wave of pure terror washed over them, so cold it felt like their scalps were shrinking. Fear erupted from the crowns of their heads and spread like ice through their veins.
The water was not a path to so-called freedom. It was a churning mass of mermaids. Endless mermaids, their bodies floating with the current, their grotesque faces turned upward, staring at them.
"Th-this path to survival is also fake?" Liu Wensong staggered back two steps, nearly collapsing. "Then what was the point of everything we did?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Kaguya remained perfectly calm, clearly having anticipated this outcome. "You should have been able to tell that the fairy tale book was deliberately placed there for us to find. If that's the case, the escape method recorded within it isn't necessarily correct."
She shifted her argument. "However, that doesn't mean it's entirely false. As long as we look at it from a different perspective, the path to survival is still right in front of us."
Seeing that everyone was still lost in confusion, Haruto took over the conversation. "Just like the bloody words hinted, the mission clearly told us from the very beginning to survive for four days, not to escape to freedom."
"B-but didn't you say that on the fourth day, a large number of mermaids would appear, making survival impossible?" the newcomer asked.
"Yes. Is there a conflict?" Haruto countered.
Yotsuya Miko's golden eyes suddenly flashed with insight, as if she had finally pieced the puzzle together.
"Haruto-san, you mean that our mission is indeed to survive for four days, but we can't just do nothing during that time. If we remain inactive, we'll die on the last night. And the idea in the fairy tale book isn't wrong; we just misunderstood it. The one who should truly enter this well... isn't us, but that mermaid!"
At her explanation, everyone's pupils contracted in unison.
The steps in the fairy tale book were correct from beginning to end. But the instance had set up far too many misleading clues, causing them to fall headfirst into a cognitive trap.
"But... but didn't that mermaid come out of this well?" the newcomer couldn't help but ask.
Liu Wensong began to explain, "That was the situation before we scattered the magic formula. It's different now."
King Chen also nodded in agreement.
Haruto, however, shook his head and posed a baffling question to the group.
"Has anyone here personally seen the mermaid enter or exit this well?"
The newcomer pointed at the slime on the floor, about to speak, but Haruto cut him off with a dismissive wave.
"Slime on the ground? That's too contrived, isn't it? Since it had so much time to clean the slime in the corridor, why didn't it spend a little more effort cleaning up the Water Room, too? Sometimes, being too deliberate just makes things look fake."
As soon as he said this, it felt as if a large, cold hand had gripped each of their hearts. How could they not understand now? The slime on the ground was deliberately left by the mermaid, a piece of stagecraft intended to make them think it used the well as an entrance and exit, thereby leading them to a fatal judgment.
There were simply too many layers of misdirection. It wasn't just the traps set by the instance itself.
In the past, they had relied on human intelligence to clear their trials. But the ghost they faced now also possessed intelligence. All they could do was guess—and wager their lives on each guess. The ghost could afford to make countless mistakes, but for them, even one was too many.
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