Chapter 187: The Animal Zone is Full of Animals
"Don't listen to him. The red-uniformed staff are mentally unstable."
The girl in the blue uniform corrected the man, her expression dead serious. "Do not come out at night unless absolutely necessary. It's dangerous outside; some of the more aggressive beasts might escape their enclosures."
The man in red immediately flailed his arms, his voice rising with manic energy. "She's lying! Look at these fences! If it's really so safe inside, why use such sharp iron spikes? Why lock you up like animals? Because it's full of animals! Animals don't use reason! You'll die if you go in!"
"That is to prevent the beasts from the Animal Zone from escaping and harming tourists," the girl in blue retorted, refusing to yield an inch.
Kaguya watched the two bicker with an amused glint in her eyes, then turned to Haruto.
"So, Haruto, are we going in or not?"
Youmu's hand already rested on the hilt of her Hakurouken. She needed only a single word from Haruto, and she would clear the path without a moment's hesitation.
Haruto didn't answer right away.
Beside him, Wu Lian's brow was deeply furrowed. He glanced from the blue-uniformed girl to the red-uniformed man, his gaze finally settling on the entrance to the Residential Area. It was dim inside, the silhouettes of tents barely visible in the gloom.
"Coo coo..."
"Roar..."
"A sound!" Wu Lian suddenly exclaimed, his eyes widening. "There are animal sounds coming from inside!"
As soon as he spoke, Haruto, Kaguya, and Youmu all turned their attention to the entrance. In the oppressive darkness, pairs of glowing eyes blinked open, their appearance accompanied by the low growls of unseen beasts.
'Are there really animals?'The thought surfaced in Haruto's mind, an almost subconscious acceptance of the illusion. But in the next second, he shook his head, clearing the fog from his thoughts.'What am I thinking?'
It wasn't as if his eyes couldn't pierce the darkness. The area had been completely empty just a moment ago; where would any animals have come from?
Just as he steeled his resolve, Kaguya patted him on the shoulder, her tone laced with mischievous excitement.
"Haruto, Haruto, look! There are rabbits over there! Do you think if we go in, we'll find them and get to eat some spicy rabbit heads?"
'Why is it always about spicy rabbit heads with you?'
Instantly, the phantom animal sounds that had been fading from Haruto's perception surged back, growing clearer than before. He could have sworn he even caught the faint, tantalizing fragrance of chili and spice.
Noticing Haruto's resentful glare, Kaguya let out a careless whistle, her expression practically screaming, 'It has nothing to do with me.'
Haruto refocused his attention on the two staff members. Whether the Residential Area was secretly the Animal Zone was irrelevant for now. The only certainty was that the "animals" inside were nothing more than a perception-altering illusion designed to keep people out.
Unlike him and his companions, however, Wu Lian was clearly susceptible. He seemed to lean more toward the red-uniformed man's frantic warnings and subconsciously took a couple of steps in his direction.
Haruto let out a shallow sigh. He reached out, grabbed the back of Wu Lian's collar, and pulled him back. Then, without any ceremony, he summoned a brick from a gap and gave the man a solid thwack on the head.
"N-No... there's no sound inside... no animals..." Wu Lian mumbled, his senses clearing. He scrambled back in horror, putting distance between himself and the red-uniformed staff member before looking at Haruto with a grateful expression.
The girl in blue breathed a quiet sigh of relief and urged them forward with her eyes.
The man in red was still shouting behind them, his voice cracking with desperation.
"Come out! Get out of there! That's the Animal Zone! It's full of animals! You'll die... everyone will die in the end...!"
Haruto ignored him, leading Kaguya and Youmu through the gate and into the Residential Area proper.
The sounds and the glowing eyes were, indeed, just hallucinations.
It was quiet here. Deathly quiet. Not only was there not a soul in sight, but even the chirping of insects and birds was absent. The entire area was an unnerving pocket of silence.
The Residential Area consisted of row after row of drab tents, with no brick-and-mortar buildings to be seen.
Haruto lifted the flaps of a few tents to inspect them. The interiors were identical: six iron bunk beds crammed into each one, reminiscent of a spartan school dormitory.
So, their lodging was settled.
Haruto took a brief walk around the perimeter but couldn't find any place for storing or preparing food. It seemed the issue of meals could only be resolved outside the Residential Area. Factoring in the circus's operating hours, that meant they could only eat between 10:00 AM and 8:00 PM.
He ultimately chose a tent on the far-left side of the entrance. The location was neither too close nor too far, unlikely to draw undue attention. And with their enhanced hearing, they could just barely make out the conversations of anyone passing by the main gate.
Wu Lian didn't follow them. After a moment of hesitation, he chose the tent next door.
Once inside, Haruto unceremoniously tossed the thin, grimy sheets and quilts from the iron beds into a corner. He pushed three of the bunk beds together to form a larger platform, then retrieved clean, plush bedding from a gap and began to lay it out.
After finishing, he looked at Youmu. "Youmu, you're up."
Kaguya watched curiously, wondering what other tricks Youmu had up her sleeve.
Under Kaguya's slightly shocked gaze, the floating half-phantom at Youmu's side began to expand, its volume growing until it was just large enough to spread perfectly flat across the newly made bed.
Haruto was the first to lie down on it.
Youmu's Half-Spirit had many wonderful uses, and this was one of them. The sheets he'd brought weren't quite thick enough to completely cushion the hard iron bedframes, which would have made for a bumpy night's sleep. Having the Half-Spirit act as a living mattress topper was the perfect solution.
Seeing the Half-Spirit mattress, which now looked like an oversized, impossibly soft mochi, Kaguya's eyes lit up with excitement. She immediately flopped down onto it next to Haruto.
"So the Half-Spirit can be used like this? It's so soft! Hmm? And it has a sweet, marshmallowy scent?"
She leaned in, took a deep sniff, and then, without warning, opened her mouth to take a bite. But Youmu, who had apparently gained experience from past incidents, was faster. She deftly blocked Kaguya's mouth with her hand.
Youmu's small face was tense as she urgently clarified, "This Half-Spirit does not taste like marshmallows, does not taste like mochi, and it certainly does not taste like colorful lollipops!"
As she spoke, her gaze remained fixed on Haruto, clearly worried about a repeat performance from him as well.
"Hey! Why are you looking at me like that!" Haruto grumbled, feigning aggrievement at Youmu's lack of trust. "I only took one bite last time. All the others were Yuyuko-sama."
A flash of embarrassment crossed Youmu's face. "This one naturally trusts Haruto-sama."
"Get on the bed and lie down. It's time for business," Haruto said, patting the empty space beside him.
Youmu froze. Her throat bobbed, and a faint blush crept onto her delicate face. In the next moment, Haruto had already pulled her down onto the bed.
Then, the quilt was lifted, covering all three of them.
They huddled together under the covers, facing the tent's entrance like three marmots plotting a grand scheme. After half an hour of discussion, they had a basic grasp of the rules.
First was Rule 1:
[Open daily from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM; please remain in the Residential Area after the park closes.]
This sentence clearly demarcated their safe activity time. They couldn't venture out during the circus's non-operating hours, nor could they linger in the main activity area, lest they encounter some unknown danger. The most critical part was knowing where the real Residential Area was and ensuring they could return on time.
Currently, they had two completely different narratives from the blue and red-uniformed staff. One claimed the Residential Area was safe, while the other insisted it had become an extremely dangerous Animal Zone.
Haruto leaned toward trusting the blue-uniformed staff member, but he didn't think what the man in red said was entirely wrong, either.
This was because of something Kaguya had said earlier: "That smell wasn't just a single pig."
She was referring to the scent of roasted meat that had wafted from the electrocuted pig. Haruto had absolute faith in Kaguya's judgment on this matter; the girl was a professional, veteran foodie.
If that pig might have been transformed from a human, it stood to reason that the red-uniformed man's claim—"the Residential Area is not necessarily the Residential Area, it's full of animals"—was not a complete lie. The Residential Area had likely undergone some kind of mutation. Under certain circumstances, people inside would be contaminated and transform into animals, which would explain the staff member's frantic warnings.
But for now, at least, Haruto hadn't detected any abnormalities.
Lifting a small corner of the quilt, he peered toward the entrance. By now, many people had made their way to the Residential Area, but not many had successfully entered.
As for Rule 2, [Clap, clap, remember to clap], it was self-explanatory. When they encountered a situation that required clapping, they just had to clap.
Next was Rule 3:
[Feeding prohibited, animal actors.]
The first half, "feeding prohibited," was clear enough. The problem lay in the second half: "animal actors." Was it simply emphasizing the prohibition of feeding the animal performers, or was it a warning: "prohibiting becoming an animal actor"?
Combined with their earlier speculations, Haruto leaned toward the latter. "Animal actors" likely referred to players who had already been contaminated and transformed. This rule was probably a warning to players, telling them not to engage in behaviors that could lead to their own "animalization."
This prohibition on feeding, however, conflicted with Rule 5: [When the merry-go-round rotates silently on its own, it is impossible for children to be sitting on it; do not make eye contact, and immediately purchase snacks. If no abnormality occurs within ten minutes, the snacks may be consumed by yourself without violating other rules.]
Children generally love snacks. If one approached them, giving it a snack in exchange for safety seemed like a straightforward way to resolve the situation. But whether this counted as "feeding," and what would happen if one refused, remained a gray area.
Among the remaining rules, only Rule 7 and Rule 9 were still points of contention.
Rule 7: [The Circus has no Animal Zone and no breeders.]
This was a typical cognitive correction rule, designed to combat anomalies one might witness with their own eyes. It was telling them: if you see an "Animal Zone" or "breeders," it must be wrong. It's a sign that you've been contaminated or are hallucinating. This implied that an Animal Zone might indeed exist, but it was so dangerous that this rule was applied to forcibly correct a player's perception, making them "know" it wasn't real.
The final rule, Rule 9: [Please enjoy this journey, keep smiling, and do not cry under any circumstances; your happiness is the sole pursuit of this troupe.]
The one thing the three of them could be certain of was that they couldn't cry. Once they cried or displayed excessive negative emotions like sadness or fear, it would likely trigger the most direct elimination mechanism. Verifying this point wouldn't be too difficult. Once morning came, they just needed to find a chance to ask if the teammates of the man who was killed yesterday were still alive.
The next day, around noon.
Haruto was woken by the noise outside.
He squinted at the canvas ceiling above him, the memories of being in a new instance slowly returning. A warm, soft sensation emanated from his arms.
He looked down and found himself holding Youmu. Her tender, fair face was just inches from his, her expression peaceful and her breathing steady as she slept.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kaguya hugging the Half-Spirit cushion, her tongue even darting out to give it a curious lick in her sleep.
"Very good."
Seeing that both were still asleep, Haruto's eyes gleamed with satisfaction. He pulled out a camera identical to Aya Shameimaru's and snapped a photo of the sleeping pair, then aimed another shot toward the tent's entrance.
'I'm the first one to wake up in this instance, too,'he thought smugly.'It seems the rumors about the Boundary Youkai's hereditary sleepiness will be thoroughly debunked by me.'
"Ahem..." Haruto cleared his throat loudly. "Stop sleeping and get up. It's already noon. We need to hurry up and go collect stamps. You two are so lazy."
Kaguya woke with a dazed expression. Hearing his words, her gaze immediately turned subtle.
"Haruto, you—"
"Don't talk!" Haruto raised a hand to interrupt her, his face a mask of righteousness. "I'm just asking, in both the last instance and this one, was I the first one to wake up?"
Kaguya nodded, her expression growing even stranger.
"Then that's that!" Haruto straightened his back, his face alight as if revealing a deep truth. "I have proven that the habit of oversleeping isn't hereditary at all! It belongs exclusively to..."
His voice stopped abruptly. Haruto keenly sensed a prickle of danger and stopped himself just in time, changing his tune in a heartbeat.
"...Rather, it varies from person to person! Yukari-nee is usually busy with a million different things and works so hard, so of course she needs more rest to recharge her energy. But I'm different! I'm young and full of vigor, so naturally, I wake up early!"
Kaguya's gaze became even more pointed. Although she hadn't sensed any unusual aura, seeing Haruto's cowardly, instantaneous reversal, one didn't need a brain to figure out why he'd changed his words.
Youmu also slowly opened her eyes, her gaze still hazy. When she saw clearly that she was being held in Haruto's arms, her little face turned red with a whoosh, looking as if steam might rise from her head.
"H-Haruto-sama, please... please let go of this one..." she stammered, trying to sit up in a fluster but finding herself unable to move.
Haruto refused, cleanly and decisively. He lowered his eyes, deliberately putting on a heartbroken expression.
"Is Youmu so unwilling to be close to me? So... so my feelings were all one-sided..."
"No! Definitely not!" Youmu panicked, her head shaking like a rattle-drum, her words becoming incoherent in her urgency. "This one, this one is just... that... it's too impolite! And Princess Kaguya is right there..."
Kaguya had already sat up, arms crossed, watching the scene with great interest. "I don't mind. You two continue. Youmu, if you're embarrassed, I can cover my eyes."
Youmu's face turned an even deeper shade of crimson, and she practically buried her head into her own modest chest.
Haruto knew when to stop. He leaned in for one last sniff and a close moment before finally letting Youmu go.
The three of them quickly tidied up, and after dispelling the protective barrier around the tent, they lifted the flap.
The noon sun was a bit blinding.
Quite a few players had already gathered in the Residential Area, including the man in overalls from yesterday's knife-throwing game—the one who had been the first to clap and seemed interested in everything. He didn't look very old, twenty at most.
The man in overalls noticed Haruto's gaze and turned toward them. He waved and called out as he jogged over.
Finally, he stopped in front of the three, looking up, slightly out of breath, and smiling with an 'I knew it' expression.
"You guys really did get in early! I knew it. When you were the first to run back then, you didn't look like those idiots. There was no way you'd fail to find a place to stay!"
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