Chapter 193: Wait, Isn't She Afraid of Pain?
The second round of rock-paper-scissors began.
The Long-necked Woman still threw scissors.
And Haruto threw… paper. Again.
The woman with the high ponytail was now utterly certain that Haruto was just messing around, but it was far too late to stop him.
"Why?! Why did you throw paper again! You should have thrown rock! Throw rock!" the Long-necked Woman shrieked, her voice cracking as she frantically slapped the wooden table.
Haruto stared back, bewildered by the sudden accusation. Kaguya was the one locked in the glass room, the one who had to perform the actions. Why was this creature acting like she was the victim?
Even Kaguya, seated inside the glass enclosure, couldn't stop the corner of her mouth from twitching. She probably had a good idea of what was going on.
The Long-necked Woman stalked into the glass room, waved her hand once more, and then walked out.
A heavy silence fell over the circus tent.
The team of players huddled by the entrance, in particular, looked as if they were questioning their very existence. Was this game really so childish? The favoritism was just too blatant, wasn't it?
The short-haired young man even began to wonder—if he had just slapped the monster at the start, could he have cleared this instance so easily, too? 'This isn't how you play the game,'he thought, his mind reeling.'It's not supposed to be like this…'
The Long-necked Woman didn't start the next round immediately. Instead, she leaned in close to Haruto, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "If you want to win… throw what the other party threw… If you lose, throw something neither of you threw…"
Haruto's eyes widened slightly. He couldn't fathom why she was suddenly telling him the secret to winning, but he gave a slight nod anyway.
The expressions on the faces of the players at the entrance were a mixture of shock and disbelief. Could there really be a tutorial session in the middle of a death game?
"Rock… paper… scissors…"
The third round.
The Long-necked Woman threw scissors. Haruto threw… paper. Again.
Thud! Thud-thud-thud—!
A series of dull thuds echoed through the room as several people slammed their heads against the table in unison.
The Long-necked Woman shot up, her hands clawing at her own hair in a frenzy.
"You should have thrown rock! You just lost! You need to throw something neither of you threw!" she howled.
From inside the glass room, Kaguya's voice floated out, faint but clear. "This concubine suspects Haruto is deliberately acting against me."
Hearing Kaguya's accusation and feeling the subtle, judgmental gazes from all around, Haruto immediately slapped the table and shot to his feet, his face a mask of indignation.
"How was I supposed to know if she was lying?" he declared righteously. "In situations like this, you obviously do the opposite! What if she was just trying to trick me earlier!"
"I didn't lie! I didn't lie!" the Long-necked Woman screeched, excitedly slamming the table as she stood up. But then, as if a thought struck her, she slumped back down and shook her head. "Forget it… just forget it… winning is fine, too. The one who dies… isn't you."
She trudged back into the glass room.
This time, however, it wasn't just a simple wave of her hand. A horizontal bar was now fixed in the room. She leaped up, hooked her toes onto the bar, and began to flip continuously, her body a spinning blur. She even changed direction mid-air, reversing her rotation several times before finally landing steadily on her feet. She then walked out of the glass room and sat back down.
Kaguya, however, remained motionless inside, her chin resting on her hand as she stared blankly into space.
"What are you doing?" Haruto asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.
Kaguya rolled her eyes at him. "Do you honestly think this concubine can do that?"
Her words finally jogged Haruto's memory. This girl possessed immense physical strength and was immune to pain, but her flexibility was somehow even worse than his. If it were a simple matter of forcing a split, she could probably manage it through sheer stubbornness. But a complex acrobatic maneuver like that? It was asking far too much of her.
Watching the two of them simply stare at each other, the woman with the high ponytail at the entrance didn't know what to say. She had assumed the young girl would at least have some basic physical skills. She never expected her to be completely incapable, not even making an attempt.
Since the outcome was inevitable, she could only speak up to offer a reminder. "Later, choose to give up your teeth, or a finger from one hand, or an eye… any of those will do."
Hearing the advice, Kaguya gave her an "OK" gesture. Her face showed no sign of tension whatsoever, as if she wasn't the one about to be punished.
A minute passed in the blink of an eye, and Kaguya remained calmly seated.
The Long-necked Woman tilted her head. "Imitation failed. You must accept the punishment—deprivation of any one organ. You can do it yourself, or I can help you."
"A finger, then," Kaguya said with a dismissive wave. "This concubine can do it herself."
"Any two fingers from either hand, which must be severed at the third joint. There are corresponding tools in the box in the corner that can—"
Crack—Squelch!
Before the Long-necked Woman could finish her sentence, Kaguya had already used her right hand to snap two fingers on her left hand backward, then yanked them clean off.
Two pale, slender fingers were torn away from her palm. Blood spurted from the ragged wounds, but she acted as if it were a common occurrence, her expression completely unchanged. She casually tore a strip of fabric from her sleeve and skillfully wrapped it tightly around the stumps to stanch the bleeding.
"She… she isn't afraid of pain?" the woman with the high ponytail whispered, her voice laced with shock and disbelief. She had seen tough people before, but never someone this ruthless to themselves.
The other players were even more stunned, their mouths hanging wide open in silent horror.
The woman's gaze shifted to Haruto and Youmu, only to find that neither of them showed the slightest concern for their teammate being punished in the glass room.
The Long-necked Woman watched the entire display in silence.
"Punishment complete. Continuing to the fourth round… Rock… paper… scissors!"
The fourth round of rock-paper-scissors. This time, the Long-necked Woman still threw scissors. And Haruto, once again, threw paper.
It wasn't just the Long-necked Woman this time. Even Kaguya and the others were beginning to question their sanity.
"This concubine is now thoroughly convinced you are deliberately acting against me."
"How was I supposed to know?" Haruto protested, looking genuinely wronged. "She's the one who said it! Aren't we supposed to win? So I figured she'd definitely do the opposite of what she taught me!"
The Long-necked Woman said nothing more and simply walked back into the glass room.
This time, however, she didn't perform any difficult acrobatic moves. Instead, she retrieved a small, sharp knife from the box in the corner.
Then, she turned around to face Haruto's direction. As her eyes met his, a look of almost intoxicated pleasure spread across her face.
She raised the small knife—
Squelch!
The tip of the blade plunged deep into her own abdomen.
Stab after stab, blood sprayed with each motion as she twisted her body in ecstasy.
Ten seconds later, when she left the glass room, her abdomen was riddled with at least five or six stab wounds. Blood dripped from her body, leaving a trail of crimson streaks in her wake. But by the time she sat back down in her seat, the bleeding from her wounds had miraculously stopped.
Clearly, the Long-necked Woman possessed powerful regenerative abilities.
Just as she and the other players thought Kaguya would surely have difficulty imitating this act, or at least show some fear, Kaguya moved. Without the slightest hesitation, she picked up the knife and began stabbing her own abdomen in the exact same manner.
One thrust after another, with no pause between them. The entire grisly act was over in the space of a single breath.
"This concubine accidentally stabbed one extra time. Do I need to start over?" she asked, her tone casual.
The Long-necked Woman's face stiffened. She squeezed out a reply through gritted teeth. "No need."
Hearing this, Kaguya casually tossed the blood-soaked knife aside.
At the entrance, the woman with the high ponytail and her teammates were utterly speechless. If being unafraid of pain was one thing, stabbing yourself that quickly and without even looking was another entirely. Weren't they afraid of piercing their internal organs and dying on the spot?
"Again! Fifth round!" The Long-necked Woman seemed to have been stirred by some twisted competitive drive. Her eyes flashed with an excited, greedy light as she eagerly shouted for the next round to begin.
"Rock… paper… scissors!"
The fifth round of rock-paper-scissors.
The Long-necked Woman threw rock.
And Haruto threw paper.
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