Click—
The black wristwatch's hand moved from 1 to 2.
Everything plunged into darkness, as if sinking into an unfathomable oceanic trench.
The pain faded.
The wounds healed.
All that had transpired reset to zero.
Until consciousness returned—until he opened his eyes once more to this lifeless, abandoned city.
"Second loop. Survived until the third day."
Takakai took a deep breath, slapping his cheeks to shake off the mental fatigue.
It had been too brutal.
Green, who had been reliable in the first loop, nearly doomed the team this time by his actions.
The woman pretending to be Maeda turned out to be a veteran player hiding among them, waiting to strike at the most opportune moment.
And Guo—that absolute bastard—not only accelerated time on the first day but then caused complete chaos on the second night. What's worse, the guy had an entire arsenal of tricks up his sleeve. Takakai had nearly turned himself into part of the anomaly just to take him down.
Now, facing another reset, Takakai contemplated his next moves.
Kaguya and Maki would forget him again. Maki... wouldn't remember anything between them. Not their desperate escape together in the first loop, nor the lap pillow and first kiss they shared in the second.
What a damn shame.
If this kept happening, Takakai wasn't sure he could endure it—this feeling of building a genuine connection, only for her to forget everything. It left a bitter taste in his mouth.
So what should he do differently this time?
Standing alone in the silent city, Takakai carefully mapped out strategies for the next loop. But after careful consideration, he realized with frustration that many of the same pitfalls would be unavoidable. Rebuilding trust, re-exploring the first floor... just thinking about going through all that again was exhausting.
DONG—
The deep toll of a bell echoed through the empty streets.
Takakai looked up at the giant clock tower that dominated the city's skyline—
Then his eyes widened in surprise.
Something was falling from the sky.
Five distinct objects descended, materializing from the void. They circled him slowly before flying toward his left wrist:
A waterlogged rescue team badgeA scalpel so sharp it could slice through boneA disturbing blood-red cloth dollA human head with its face skin removedA corpse puppet with its joints hollowed out and replaced
The black watch on his wrist split open with a grotesque sound, a dark fissure appearing across its face. The objects were sucked inside before the watch snapped shut again.
Understanding dawned.
Any cursed item that had been stained with his blood during the previous loop could be claimed by the watch after reset.
The fake "Maeda" and Guo's various tools—anything he'd bled on during their confrontations—were now his. The only exception was Guo's blood-red key, which had been lost when the rescue team anomalies dragged him under.
DONG—
A second bell tolled.
10 resets remained.
"The next loop... will be the decisive one."
While the apartment's deepest secrets weren't fully uncovered yet, most of the pieces were now in place.
He knew all the players. He knew their tricks and tells.
It was time to end this.
DONG—
The third and final bell.
The crimson city dissolved into swirling darkness around him.
But as he waited for the reset to complete, a new and unfamiliar sensation gripped him—a strange pull from his left arm, as if some invisible force was drawing him toward...
Toward someone.
Memories flooded his mind unbidden:
Their fingers intertwined as they wrote messages on each other's hands in the dark.The weight of her body as he carried her through the nightmare landscape of the third floor.The proud little smile she wore when serving him the noodles she'd cooked.And most vividly of all—the soft press of lips he hadn't been able to properly feel in his dying moments.
These memories had been his anchor.
Acting on instinct, he reached out toward that intangible connection—
And in the void between worlds, his hand found hers.
Small but strong. Proud yet trembling slightly. Unmistakably her.
Click.
The watch's hand jumped from 2 to 3, its mysterious power quietly expended to fulfill this unspoken wish. The sound was so faint Takakai barely noticed it through the haze of memories.
204 Room.
Takakai awoke to the familiar scent of Kaguya's shampoo (pleasant enough, but not nearly as nice as Maki's in his opinion).
"Hello. I'm Takakai—a two-time veteran of this game. You must be new?"
He played his role perfectly, handing her the rulesheet with practiced ease before stepping out into the hallway. His performance was flawless—a complete contrast to his awkward approach during the second loop.
The same familiar faces greeted him:
Sun Dajun, trembling like a leaf.Green, observing everything with cold calculation.The Black guy, butchering both Mandarin and English in his attempts to communicate.
Notably absent was Guo.
Did losing his cursed items make him too scared to come out?
Then—
208's door creaked open.
Maki stepped out cautiously, a grandfather clock clutched in her arms—
And her eyes immediately locked onto Takakai.
"Kai... you're okay? You're really okay?"
Her voice—filled with unmistakable recognition—shattered his carefully maintained composure.
She remembers.
SHE REMEMBERS.
The watch's final gift had been this—their memories, now preserved across the reset.
Before he could fully process this game-changing development—
BOOM!
210's door exploded inward.
A bloodied, furious Guo came stumbling out, his face twisted in absolute rage. His appearance was even more haggard than before, his eyes burning with manic intensity.