Chapter 27

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 27

Chapter Title: My 1st Floor Roommate Won't Die (2)

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I jotted down a post on the community board and glanced around.

The interior of this second-floor house looked a bit spacious.

This place appeared to be an ordinary home, home to a 1st Floor Roommate that supposedly wouldn't attack humans unless attacked first.

'Should I head down.'

With somewhat light footsteps, I descended the stairs to the floor below...

'Huh?'

I spotted a pitch-black humanoid figure shambling around the kitchen—one identical in shape to the person I'd met during exchange time.

'Is that a person?'

The thought that it might be human crossed my mind for a moment.

'...Nah, probably not.'

Even though it must have seen me, it just kept wandering aimlessly.

That made it clear it wasn't any ordinary human.

'Guess it's fine to snap a photo?'

I needed to confirm if this thing was indeed the 1st Floor Roommate first.

Keeping my feet planted on the stairs, I used the status window to photograph it right away.

'Please don't cause any issues...!'

I bolted back up to the second floor.

According to the community info, this thing couldn't come up to the second floor.

If taking the photo triggered something, I figured it'd chase me, so I retreated upstairs...

'Phew...'

Taking a photo via the status window didn't seem to be a problem.

Hidden by the stairs, nothing happened—no sign of it coming after me.

With that settled, I posted on the community to verify if this was the 1st Floor Roommate.

With the target confirmed for extermination, I pulled out the camera and headed back down to the first floor.

'Blunt force or wide-area grips don't work, so piercing attacks only.'

From analyzing past records of this place,

the 1st Floor Roommate seemed to enrage under wide-area attacks.

With recovery blocked and a very narrow piercing tool like this awl, I could clear this place.

'Still there. Alright, say cheese.'

Before killing it, I decided to run every camera experiment possible.

I snapped a photo, retreated upstairs, and checked it...

'Let's see... Huh? What the hell?'

The saved photo showed...

not the black figure, but an ordinary person standing there.

And...

'...Huh?'

Looking perfectly alive, like a normal human.

Of course...

'A... person? Well, not quite...'

It looked just like a normal person, but it wasn't anyone I knew.

Empty eyes contrasting with twisted ankles.

Like a corpse that had already died, shambling around like a person?

'Whatever. As long as I can experiment.'

No matter what.

I still had to clear this ghost story dungeon.

'Time to test.'

I fiddled with the saved photo.

Monitoring sanity in real-time, I pressed various camera buttons.

When I hit the VIEW MODE button...

'Huh?'

Sanity dropped exactly 30, and a path guide appeared on the camera.

'This is tracking, huh?'

A rough glance showed it led to the roommate's location.

So that's how tracking works.

'Delete button must delete it then.'

Noticing the trash icon, with only editing left,

I poked more buttons.

Pressing Fn opened photo editing functions.

'Oh.'

This seemed to be the edit button, so I went to press the up/down arrows...

'Wait, no. It might register as an attack and make it come after me.'

If the roommate mistook editing for aggression...

'Good enough. I know what I need.'

With the essentials learned, I headed back inside.

Not via return, but by killing the roommate to clear.

'Hope piercing doesn't trigger a frenzy.'

Gripping the Awl Made from Teeth, I descended again.

It had just finished in the kitchen and stepped into the living room—perfect timing.

'Right by the stairs. Nice.'

Easy escape if needed, so I replicated the first experiment from the log.

'Throat stab, right?'

The roommate self-heals through any attack, never dying.

But this awl blocked recovery.

Pfshk—

I jammed it into its throat and bolted upstairs.

As expected, no recovery...

"???"

It looked up at me, awl in throat.

Chills hit; I nearly hit return...

But it ignored me, yanked out the awl, and faced forward...

'...What?'

Sat on the sofa, resuming meaningless actions.

And then...

'...It's healing...?'

The throat hole vanished. It had recovered.

'...Healing that bypasses recovery suppression? What the...?'

Recovery ignoring suppression...

Reminded me of childish kick reflexes from old games. No words.

Well, if it were that easy, pioneers would've cleared it already.

'Doesn't seem too interested in me...'

Not paying me much mind, I went down to retrieve the dropped awl...

And noticed something off.

'...Huh? Why does it look shorter...?'

Just a feeling.

A bit shorter?

And... longer hair?

'...Hair wasn't that long before...'

Startled by the change, I snapped another photo and posted.

The community's reaction doubled my confusion, so I closed the status window.

'Useless...'

Hoped for help, got none. What can you do?

To resolve this myself, I considered stabbing the roommate's throat again while pondering.

Suddenly.

'Oh right. The camera.'

Remembered the camera shows its true black form.

I raised it, snapped a photo, and checked.

'Definitely turned female.'

The formerly male roommate was now a woman.

'...What? Why...?'

One throat stab causes gender swap?

Does this awl actually swap the target's gender?

In the Melting Shampoo world, did stabbing the door make it female?

The Mannequin Monster became female too?

'...No? The mannequin didn't grow boobs or anything...'

Headache mounting.

To confirm, I'd have to stab it again. No avoiding it.

Left it wandering, picked up the awl, waited for it to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠return to the living room...

'???'

It headed to the front door...

Opened it and walked out.

'...The one that never left in the 9th run just walked out... Why? What changed the pattern...?'