Human? Animal?

Through the crack in the door, a pair of glowing green eyes observed the movements of Bai Yuze and Yukino.

Watching the two, the creature couldn't help but drool; it was incredibly hungry at this moment.

But before it could react, the kitchen knife in Bai Yuze's hand slammed instantly into the door frame.

"Peeking for so long? Why don't you come out and chat?"

Bai Yuze shielded Yukino behind him, calmly pulling the kitchen knife out of the door frame.

Bai Yuze knew that running was no longer an option; he had to fight to the death. Rather than sitting and waiting for his demise, it was better to take the initiative.

Bai Yuze kicked the door open, exposing the full body of the monster inside.

But Bai Yuze didn't care what the opponent looked like; he who strikes first gains the advantage, while he who strikes later ends up weeping.

Awoo!

The monster inside let out a wail, but the sound it emitted seemed surprisingly intelligent.

"This noise...? Could it be?"

Bai Yuze looked closely and discovered that the monster inside was actually a dog tied up with an iron chain, which reminded him of the monster Yuigahama Yui had described to him.

"I remember Tuanzi saying there was a vicious dog the size of an adult in the basement, but didn't you shrink down?"

The dog before him was just a medium-sized breed. To Bai Yuze, a dog of this size was aggressive, but as long as it couldn't bite his vital points, it was nothing to fear.

"You wouldn't happen to be the dog kept by the receptionist, would you?"

Bai Yuze suddenly remembered the receptionist had entrusted him with bringing his dog back. Could this be it? He had beaten the poor dog up the moment they met!

Suddenly, Bai Yuze acted as if his brain had malfunctioned.

He extended his finger toward the dog's mouth and said with a solemn expression.

"Oi! You, bite me now, and we'll call it even."

Bai Yuze's charming maneuver left Yukino stunned. What was he trying to do? Was his rabies vaccine about to expire?

Although the dog couldn't speak, it possessed human-like intelligence. It didn't even dare to open its mouth, terrified of accidentally injuring the human before it.

After all, a gleaming kitchen knife was still pressed against its neck. If it accidentally broke the skin of this human even a little bit today, it would be lucky if its head didn't roll off!

It remembered that, according to humans, this method was called "entrapment," but wasn't this human being a bit too arrogant? He wasn't even pretending anymore!

"Not biting? What a shame."

Bai Yuze didn't want to bring along a creature with an uncertain temperament, so he had hoped to use the condition of being bitten to justify a righteous act of self-defense.

But unfortunately, the dog knew that a wise man submits to circumstances and refused to open its mouth no matter what.

"Are you the dog kept by the receptionist?"

After asking this question, Bai Yuze suddenly felt quite stupid. He was asking a dog a question; did he really expect the dog to answer?

It actually did!

The dog stretched out its paw and drew a character on the ground.

"Huh?"

"It actually can?!"

Bai Yuze was surprised for a moment, then pulled the key out of his pocket. This key had been given to him personally by the receptionist, and since Bai Yuze hadn't touched it much, it still retained the receptionist's scent.

Sure enough, as soon as the dog smelled the scent on the key, it began to jump around excitedly.

"Looks like that's it. Your master wants me to take you back, so you'd better behave, or don't blame me for being ruthless."

Bai Yuze issued a threat, while Yukino inquired.

"Ruthless? Are you going to beat it up?"

Yukino was somewhat afraid of dogs, so she hid behind Bai Yuze, only daring to watch secretly. She also recognized this dog; it was the exact same one she and Yuigahama Yui had encountered.

"Heh, the receptionist told me to bring the dog back to him, but he didn't explicitly say it had to be alive."

Bai Yuze pretended to sharpen his knife, flashing a cheerful (craniotomy-ready) smile at the dog lying on the ground.

"Are you sure you want to take it with us? The vicious dog that Yuigahama and I encountered seems to be this one. However, the reason it has become so small might be because it just respawned and hasn't returned to its peak state yet."

Yukino recalled what Bai Yuze had said about how it was meaningless for anomalies to kill each other, as both sides could simply respawn.

But then she remembered that the male corpse should have obtained the Zhenxie Guiqi—the scalpel—so it made even less sense for this dog to still be alive!

"This dog chain is quite unique."

Bai Yuze's words interrupted Yukino's train of thought, and her attention shifted to the chain.

At this moment, Bai Yuze was hacking fiercely at the chain with his knife, but no matter how hard he struck—even with enough force to send sparks flying—the chain remained completely undamaged.

The dog, meanwhile, lay on the ground praying that it would survive and that Bai Yuze wouldn't accidentally slip and give it a taste of the blade.

"This chain shouldn't be an anomaly, so there must be another way to unlock it."

Just then, Yukino suddenly thought of something. She suppressed her fear and slowly closed the distance between herself and the dog.

Awoo?

The dog seemed to sense the girl's thoughts, as it lifted its head to look at Yukino.

"Do you have anything in your house that looks like a note?"

Afraid the dog wouldn't understand, Yukino even used her hands to gesture a few times.

Finally, her efforts paid off; the dog understood what Yukino meant, so it crawled back into the house, and a moment later, it walked out with a piece of paper in its mouth.

"It's so human-like? I'm starting to wonder if you're actually a person wearing a dog suit."

Bai Yuze sighed, then reached out and took the note from the dog's mouth.

[Pet Guide]

[1. Pets are not allowed in Minzhai, but the basement is not under Minzhai's jurisdiction.]

[2. Pets cannot speak, so before keeping a pet, please confirm whether the pet you are keeping can speak.]

[3. The scope of pets includes all animals; if you can take good care of them, you may keep pets as you please.]

[4. You must find the chain to tether your pet yourself, and it must never be removed.]

[5. Please keep your pet well-fed; you really don't want to know what they might do when in a state of hunger.]

Bai Yuze read the note carefully several times, and only when he confirmed it was in the same handwriting as the rules above was he willing to believe these rules.

"What strange hints. Could it be that even keeping a pet is dangerous?"

Yukino looked at the rules on the note, then looked at the dog lying on the ground.

"Keeping a pet shouldn't be dangerous, but the guy being kept as a pet is in danger."

"What do you mean?"

Yukino was a bit confused, but Bai Yuze's next action answered her doubt.

Bai Yuze pried the dog's mouth open, and aside from white teeth, what was revealed inside was a distinct set of braces...

"As you can see, this isn't a real 'dog', but a person! A living, breathing person being kept as a 'dog'!"

Bai Yuze felt a sense of melancholy; how could there be animals in Minzhai? Unless someone was using humans as substitutes for animals, after all, to a certain extent...

Humans are also considered animals...