Chapter 1882: Chapter 1069: Telephone (2)
"No problem, boss." Takagi Reina shrugged.
"I’m planning to listen to today’s recording again." Yang Xiao hadn’t gathered much useful information that day. He was a bit unwilling to give up, hoping to find some overlooked clues in the recording.
"Not... are you going to play the recording now?" Takagi Reina looked a bit reluctant, instinctively glancing towards the corner, in the direction of the restroom, where Sasaki Sakura was "found." It was too horrifying.
Doing such things at night seemed inappropriate to Takagi Reina. The events of the day had already left a shadow in her heart.
"Don’t worry, I don’t think the curse is related to the recording. Just think about it: the recording was played several times today, both Watanabe Gou and Kato Shinjiro operated it. If anything happened, they’d be the first to die." Yang Xiao’s argument was logical.
Despite his words, Takagi Reina still felt uneasy until Yang Xiao turned on the recorder. He adjusted the machine, starting to replay the recording titled "Sasakimotoka."
Just like before, the recording only captured their questioning voices without any responses from Sasaki Sakura. Instead, there was a strange static noise, like interference, a "shh" sound of bad signal quality.
Just as Yang Xiao was engrossed in listening, the recording ended and automatically began playing the next segment.
"Miss Takagi, thank you for before, if you hadn’t asked me to accompany you to the restroom..."
It was Yang Xiao’s voice, from a recording they were forced to make when suspected. This very recording almost caused a conflict between Takagi Reina and Yandeta Chiyoda.
Then Takagi Reina’s voice emerged, tinged with anger and discontent, "That was just a coincidence, please don’t overinterpret it."
"Don’t get nervous, Miss Takagi, I didn’t mean anything by it, I just wanted to take this opportunity to talk to you." Yang Xiao’s voice sounded again.
Then came the voices of Xiao Lin Zhengyan and Yamamoto Chunai.
After their recordings, it was the voices of other teammates, because Yang Xiao and the others were "invited" out at that time, they didn’t know the content of the other teammates’ conversations. Now they could finally hear it.
But to Yang Xiao’s disappointment, their conversations were completely unremarkable. At the start of the task, everyone consciously avoided revealing information unrelated to the task, especially regarding themselves.
Just as Yang Xiao was about to turn off the recording, something unexpected happened. The recording seemed to suddenly malfunction, emitting an eerie "shh" sound. Upon close listening, there was a faint, intermittent rhythm in the background.
At that moment, Yang Xiao’s heart contracted sharply, and he jumped up in an instant. Takagi Reina stood there stunned; the suddenness of the situation was overwhelming.
However, this phenomenon lasted less than 10 seconds and then disappeared. The recording returned to normal, with a calm female voice, sounding like Hirano Yuuhi.
"Who... who was it just now?" Takagi Reina’s voice turned sharp.
Yang Xiao immediately rewound and listened again, marking those whose voices he could identify. The first was Kato Shinjiro, who also operated the recorder, followed by Yandeta Chiyoda, Watanabe Gou, Sakai Misaki...
Quickly jotting down the names of the teammates on paper, then crossing them out after matching them with the recording, until only one name was left after eliminating Ogawa Haruka.
Upon seeing the name clearly, Takagi Reina gasped, "It’s Mimura Kaori..."
The situation was complicated now. They couldn’t tell if Mimura Kaori had been replaced by a ghost or... or was targeted by a ghost.
Regardless of which it was, her fate was grim.
"Who is she teamed with tonight?" Yang Xiao suddenly asked.
"I think... I think it’s Watanabe Gou." Takagi Reina recollected after pulling herself together.
"Damn it..." Yang Xiao was anxious. Watanabe Gou couldn’t die. Setting aside his personal ability, he was the most fitting candidate for this Nightmare World.
Their roles this time were detectives from a detective agency, and Watanabe Gou’s real-world job was a private detective. His presence spared them from many unnecessary troubles.
Yang Xiao had a good memory, having memorized the residencies of the other five groups, but remembering was futile; he dared not go. Who knew if the person opening the door for him was human or a ghost?
But apart from going in person to report, he had no other means to notify Watanabe Gou, as they didn’t have a phone.
Watanabe Gou and the others did note the office’s phone number, but what use was that without anyone to call them? Logic suggested that he and Takagi Reina, who were guarding the detective agency that night, were the most at risk.
Yang Xiao never expected the incident to involve someone as distantly connected as Mimura Kaori, rather than Yamamoto Chunai and Xiao Lin Zhengyan.
"I know, it was in the restroom, the last person to interact with Sasaki Sakura was Mimura Kaori!" Takagi Reina suddenly exclaimed.
Though quite a few accompanied Sasaki Sakura to the restroom, only Mimura Kaori and Takagi Reina actually entered the toilet area with her.
Takagi Reina had gone into the adjacent stall, leaving only Mimura Kaori waiting outside Sasaki Sakura’s door, accompanying her.
The scene flashed swiftly through her mind, and cold sweat streamed down her back. If not for a near-miss, she would’ve been the unlucky one that night.
Takagi Reina knew that whether Mimura Kaori was alive or dead, she’d have a hard time making it through the night because she didn’t even realize she was targeted by a ghost.
And what if she knew? The task had only just begun, and they were clueless about the ghost’s ability; knowing would still mean death.
"What do we do now?" Takagi Reina looked at Yang Xiao, hoping he had a plan, but he had none.
"There’s nothing we can do but wait. They’ll all be back to meet at 8 AM tomorrow. Remember, if Watanabe Gou and Mimura Kaori return first, don’t open the door." Yang Xiao had already prepared for the worst.
Mimura Kaori was beyond saving. Yang Xiao just hoped not to lose Watanabe Gou as well. Losing two veteran players right at the task’s start was too severe a loss.
Yang Xiao sensed that the two were veteran players. Their reported task counts weren’t falsified; Watanabe Gou had four, while Mimura Kaori had three.
"Damn it, why not Yamamoto Chunai and Xiao Lin Zhengyan!" Takagi Reina gritted her teeth and cursed; the situation had veered away from her initial expectations, complicating matters.
"Ring-ring-ring——"
Suddenly, the screech of an old-fashioned telephone shattered the silence of the night. The ringing sliced through the tense atmosphere like scissors, startling Takagi Reina so much that she almost jumped.
It was the old desk phone, red and glaringly conspicuous.
Yang Xiao steadied himself and went over, seeing the caller’s number on the narrow black and white screen. Even Yang Xiao, normally composed, felt dizzy at this moment.
The last digits were 9304. He knew this number too well; it was the missing Sasaki Sakura’s cell number!
The missing Sasaki Sakura had actually called, clearly a ghost call!
Answering such a call would be foolish. Upon recognizing the number, Takagi Reina also fell silent. The two stood by the phone, scarcely daring to move, tense until it hung up on its own.
As the ringing stopped, as if a huge weight lifted from his heart, Yang Xiao breathed deeply while Takagi Reina felt her body weaken, her chest heaving rapidly.
Answering such a call would be foolish. Upon recognizing the number, Takagi Reina also fell silent. The two stood by the phone, scarcely daring to move, tense until it hung up on its own.
As the ringing stopped, as if a huge weight lifted from his heart, Yang Xiao breathed deeply while Takagi Reina felt her body weaken, her chest heaving rapidly.
