Chapter 75

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 75

Chapter Title: Please Write One Item Needed to Escape This Place (6)

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'...A hallucination?'

The scene before my eyes felt so much like a hallucination that I immediately reached out and touched the shattered trap...

'...Do hallucinations come with tactile sensations too?'

This situation was overflowing with realism for a mere hallucination, and confusion began to set in.

I mean...

'Why?'

If the broken trap wasn't a hallucination... that meant someone had deliberately smashed it.

'Who? And why...?'

I was the only 'participant' here, after all.

I hadn't ventured to the 3rd floor or higher yet, but...

According to the records, I should be the sole participant—the only 'human'—in this place.

If the traps shattered right in front of me weren't hallucinations...

'...What about teammates or something?'

That would mean a monster broke the trap, right?

'But there were no records of monsters breaking traps...?'

A quick scan of the overall records showed no mentions of monsters stepping on traps or deliberately destroying them.

As I briefly wondered if the building-wide blackout had warped the monsters' perceptions too...

'Then the sound I heard... was it the traps breaking...?'

I intuited that the noise I'd heard from the safe zone was indeed traps being smashed.

With a hunch, I immediately checked my phone for info on the 3rd-floor traps, and...

'Guess I need to go up.'

Relying on my phone's flashlight, I began stepping into the pitch-black darkness to investigate.

'It's quiet.'

Normally, ascending to the 3rd floor meant being filled with the sound of a child crying.

That was why everyone who came up here had to cover their ears—it was the rule.

'What is this? Why... is there no sound at all...?'

Forget crying—even the breathing of living creatures was absent. The silence was profound.

And moreover...

'Nothing here...'

Every single trap on the 3rd floor was shattered, and there wasn't a single living being in sight...

Suddenly...

'No way.'

The monster mercenary hypothesis I'd formed on the 1st floor resurfaced.

'Did they stop because the stones stopped coming in...?'

The monster mercenary hypothesis was more plausible than I'd thought.

Indeed, in survivor villages, there were monsters who did business with humans for stones.

Like the nurse monsters in Unfair Hospital or the ones in Bellierd Library... some lived for stones.

'Since there are so many monsters that target stones...'

In other words.

Whether used as currency or food.

Just as money was practically essential for humans, many monsters needed stones or lived for them.

So the monsters in this capitalist horror tale had likely contracted with the horror's main body to work weekly or daily in exchange for stones.

Thus...

'Right? If we work normally but don't get paid, we'd wanna smash everything too.'

These traps smashed right in front of me...

They were probably the monsters venting their rage at the horror's main body for not paying up on time.

'Oh... that's a pretty solid hypothesis.'

Of course, to verify it, I'd need to climb higher...

But right now, there wasn't a single noise from anywhere in the building.

'Gotta go up.'

I started ascending—

Bang!!

'Gotta go back down.'

Maybe because the lights were out and I couldn't see...

There seemed to be floors where trap disarmament wasn't complete yet.

So I decided to spend a few more days in the safe zone before heading upstairs.

"Wife monster hasn't shown up lately. Busy with something?"

I watched the community's reactions for a bit, then turned off the phone again.

Every last percent of battery needed saving right now.

"Without you, I'd be in real trouble."

Turning my back ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on the phone's dead screen, I opened the fridge door and let its light guide me through another day.

"Love you, fridge."

I'd tried communicating with it at first.

Wrote stuff like 'Thanks.' 'Always happy with the tasty food.' on blank paper and put it in.

Even put stones from my phone in to build affinity...

But...

"What? You love me too?! So warm chicken for dinner tonight, right?"

It didn't take the notes or read them.

Leave stones in for hours... it just refilled food.

Easy to realize: this fridge was just an anomalous item, not a living monster.

"You rude bastard. Cold chicken? What's the point?? Power's out—warm it up, what's it hurt? What? Heat with flamethrower? Genius?!"

That's how I amused myself alone today, munching cold chicken vigorously, when...

"Wait, main body's dead—who's posting notices?"

Even with the horror's main body dead, new notices appeared in the record book. Who was behind it?

Why wouldn't there be questions?

The record book here posted about the manager's death... but that wasn't the horror's main body.

A dead main body wouldn't post 'I'm dead lol ;'...

"...Is this paper some kind of lifeform?"

In a way, couldn't call this paper a 'monster'?

Thus...

"What changes if I kill you?"

On a whim, I gathered all the record papers in the room...

"Too bad."

I gently placed them right in front of the safe zone door.

Then...

Whoosh—

I used the flamethrower to burn every last paper.

'Why didn't I think of this sooner?'

The papers ignited slowly, burning bit by bit—fitting for monsters, but kinda ridiculous.

"Dark here, perfect."

In total blackness, burning paper providing light? Gold.

"Gotta warm some chicken too."

Grabbed cold chicken, set by the fire to heat up while warming food.

Staring blankly at the flames like fire-gazing... suddenly remembered No. 33 trying to torch the whole room with a flamethrower.

"Not a troll after all?"

Maybe... No. 33 was a pioneer?

Realized the paper played a key role in this horror...

To prevent more victims, tried burning it?!

"But then torched all the escape items needed."

Truth known only to No. 33 participant.

But I'd been so sure No. 33 was a troll.

Definitely hadn't thought to burn the papers myself.

And so...

"Heh... nicely warmed up."

Munching the perfectly heated chicken, looking at the fully burned request papers.

"Status window."

Habitually muttered it again.

"Huh?"

Finally...

The long-awaited status window was back to normal.

Packing must-take items into inventory.

Anon 1's words reminded me of VIP system's emergency escape.

'This should actually let me escape, right?'

Main body dead, game over; request paper monster dead too...

No parcels, no one to enforce return... lightly pressed return button.

Unfortunately didn't work, bit disappointing, when...

"Right, they said they'd come get me anywhere."

VIP escape: 0th Financial Sector staff come rescue you anywhere.

'Packed everything, time to go?'

Nothing left to grab in this capitalist horror. About to activate VIP escape...

"...Kinda curious now."

Suddenly wondered what was at the exit here.

"Just peek at exit then go."

Check exit, head to survivors.

Pulled phone from inventory, started live stream, headed upstairs.

"Using VIP to escape, but wanna see what exit looks like before I go."

"They realized eternal no-escape and died. I'll be fine."

"Yes. Ready to hit escape if problem."

Phone flashlight on, live stream running, slowly climbed stairs.

Escape when escaping... but gotta see what exit looks like to feel at ease, right?

Curious why no one ever escaped.

Finger on status window, ready for VIP escape if issue, kept ascending.

"Ugh... no monsters left at all. Guess they all escaped somehow."

"Not me."

"Aish..."

Exchanging silly jokes, eerie feeling no monsters left at all, when...

"This is the top floor."

Reached 8th and final floor, looked up...

There was a door that screamed 'exit' to anyone.

"Tch... closed."

Tried 'EXIT' door handle.

Firmly shut, no opening.

"Yeah. Not opening."

"Right? Let's smash it."

Pulled unidentified thigh bone from inventory status, smashed down on exit handle.

Crack—

"Hm...?"

Handle broke easier than expected, kinda absurd—

Screeeeech...

"...Huh?"