Day Six, the Chef

Aside from the initial knocking, the night was unusually quiet.

--Nothing unusual happened, no Anomaly emerged to disturb us, and there was no annoying knocking at the door.

Soon, as the room Lights came on, dawn broke, and Bai Zhi opened his eyes from the chair precisely on time.

Bai Zhi frowned slightly, rubbed his slightly sore shoulder, then got up and went to the bathroom to wash his face.

After doing all that, Bai Zhi went to the kitchen and started boiling water in the electric kettle. Then, he skillfully took out two packets of instant noodles from the refrigerator.

When the Night Owl rubbed his eyes and sat up in bed, a steaming bowl of instant noodles was already placed on the table.

"Instant noodles again..."

Her lips twitched slightly. After glancing helplessly at the person sitting at the table eating instant noodles, the Night Owl got out of bed and followed them to the bathroom to wash up.

Because her left arm and shoulder were still hurting badly, it took her a little longer than usual.

Around 7:45, the two of them walked out the door together.

Today marks their sixth day in this Apartment.

For some unknown reason, Zither-Drum Harmony, who was usually the first to arrive, was the last to leave today, and even after coming out, he still glared at Bai Zhi with a very resentful look...

"... You didn't actually go and clean that cesspool last night, did you?"

Looking at Zither-Drum Harmony's arms, which were washed white and red, PrayerUnderDreams's gaze became rather subtle.

"How many showers have you taken since you got back?"

"I can't remember clearly... but what happened last night will probably be a nightmare for the rest of my life."

After giving Bai Zhi a weak glare, she collapsed onto the table, looking as if she had suffered severe physical and mental torment. Zither-Drum Harmony then spoke softly.

"Oh, right, I also recorded that. It's a scene of all the Floor Administrator working together to swim through mountains Sea of Excrement dung. Do you want to see it?"

"Ahem... Let's get down to business."

After coughing a few times, PrayerUnderDreams seriously.

"But before we get down to business, there are some things I need to clarify first... Are you hiding something from us?"

As she spoke, PrayerUnderDreams turned to look at Bai Zhi.

"Yesterday, I found a video on my computer, and it showed you walking out of the bathroom in room [501] alone. I need an explanation for that."

"You received a tip that I am the Murderer killed Heavenless Heretic?"

Raising an eyebrow, Bai Zhi instantly understood the meaning behind PrayerUnderDreams's words.

"In that case, shouldn't you have someone secretly investigate me?"

"Because the guy who knocked on the door yesterday was too stupid; he exposed his intention to sow discord in just a few words... I'm not an idiot."

PrayerUnderDreams with disdain.

"Heavenless Heretic, who died after losing his body, wants to find it back, which makes sense in theory, but is actually completely wrong. In role -Role-playing Mode, our bodies don't exist in this world. Is that guy joking?"

"Uh... and books..."

Stealing a glance at the person beside him, the Night Owl, who had been pondering this matter all night without success, couldn't help but twitch her lips slightly, and a sense of inexplicable frustration welled up in her heart.

"However, even though it's the lowest level of sowing discord, you've also been hiding something from us, haven't you?"

Staring intently at Bai Zhi in front of her, PrayerUnderDreams's gaze was intense.

"I only realized this morning that Quest Target ② has already been completed without me even noticing... Aren't you going to share any of this with us?"

"I was planning to tell you today, but since you asked now..."

Shrugging, aside from necessary secrets such as information about the Night Owl's Skill, Bai Zhi casually revealed everything else.

For example, there's the Location Tracker the Night Owl secretly left behind, the non-existent Tailcoat reflected in the mirror, the previous speculations about Shinnosuke Apocalypse... and the real secret about this Apartment that Bai Zhi pieced together last night by combining the scattered puzzle pieces he had collected before.

Bai Zhi recounted everything in one breath.

"Harvesting Player..."

After hearing Bai Zhi's words, and glancing at the extra chairs arranged around the round table, PrayerUnderDreams frowned deeply.

"Five of us... no, four of us, are going to fight twelve completely unknown Anomaly? What's the difference between that and suicide?"

Player already face Life- threatening situations when confronting even a single, completely unknown Anomaly, let alone a full twelve unknown Anomaly?

"Today is the sixth day, and tomorrow is the Seven Days. We arrived at around 7:30 pm on the first day."

Bai Zhi shrugged indifferently.

"This Apartment has a certain suppressive effect on Anomaly during the day, and the harvesting time is after 9 or 11 pm, so we won't encounter those Superior Feeder."

So you mean...?

Seemingly also thinking of something, Zither-Drum Harmony's face turned slightly pale.

"That's right, you don't actually think that Apartment like ours only exist on this one floor, do you?"

Bai Zhi snapped his fingers.

"Leaving aside how many Special floors in an entire Apartment are used to raise Player, do you know how many of these Apartment have been built in this world? No, you don't. Everything about this, including the book, is unknown to us. But we don't need to know that, because all we need to do is hold out until the final time comes and return safely."

"If the danger we face is not those [Superior Feeder], then what danger do we face?"

PrayerUnderDreams's brows furrowed slightly.

"Of course, it's the 'Chef' who prepare ingredients for those [Superior Feeder], the ones who attacked Zither-Drum Harmony and Night Owl a few days ago. These beings have been stirring up trouble all this time."

Bai Zhi wore a cold smile.

"They deliberately stir up conflict and suspicion between us, and they also possess a degree of control over the Anomaly within the Apartment. The computers in each room are tools they use to monitor us; they've been lurking in the shadows, watching us make a fool of ourselves. They used to be human, but now they've completely sided with the Anomaly..."

"They are the Fallen Player who exist in this world."