After Shirogane Kei left, Shido Makoto closed the door and leaned against it, standing quietly for a moment.
Increasing the chips to stay alive?
Perhaps.
But more importantly, this sensation of dancing on a knife’s edge, of brushing shoulders with death, made his heart—silent for far too long—beat fiercely once more.
He liked this feeling.
…
Ten minutes remained until dinner.
Shido Makoto opened his door.
The hallway was empty.
He walked directly toward the staircase and leaned against the wall, waiting quietly.
Before long, the door to Room 105 opened, and Shirogane Kei emerged.
She had clearly composed herself.
Her eyes had regained their composure, and when she spotted Shido Makoto, she gave him a slight nod.
Shortly after, the Artist from Room 104 and the Programmer from Room 101 emerged from their rooms in succession.
When the Artist saw Shido Makoto and Shirogane Kei standing together, she instinctively walked toward them.
“Clang—clang—”
The dining hall doors swung open in response, and the aroma of food drifted out once more.
Shido Makoto took the lead, stepping forward.
Shirogane Kei and the Artist immediately followed.
The Programmer hesitated for a moment before finally following behind.
He understood clearly that regardless of what happened within the team, the rules had to be obeyed.
However, the moment the four of them stepped into the dining hall, they all came to an abrupt halt in unison.
The dining hall still had that long, narrow table, but the scene was completely different from last night.
Last night, those blank-eyed puppet-like figures had occupied less than half the seats, leaving them a vast expanse of empty space.
Today, one side of the long table was packed densely with puppet figures!
They still moved mechanically, repeating their cutting and eating motions.
The only empty seats at the table’s edge were the long row directly across from them.
This meant they could no longer huddle in a distant corner like yesterday.
They had to sit directly across from these eerie puppet figures and share dinner with them at close quarters.
The group hesitated instantly, not daring to take their seats.
Shido Makoto’s gaze swept rapidly across the entire scene, his mind racing.
The situation had changed.
Was this…
increasing the difficulty?
The puppet figures would use aggressive feints to lure players into making sound—that was intelligence bought with one life.
Now they were forced to sit across from the puppet figures, making it seemingly impossible to avoid.
But on second thought, whether it was luring or something else, as long as he remained still and made no sound, as long as he ignored their existence, the rule’s judgment wouldn’t trigger.
It was a logical necessity.
Having grasped this, he gestured for the two girls to come closer.
The Artist and Shirogane Kei didn’t understand but moved near him anyway.
Shido Makoto lowered his voice so only they could hear: “Do you remember what I said?
Rules have their effective range.”
“No matter what they do later, don’t move.
Don’t make a sound.
Treat them like air.”
Warm breath brushed past Shirogane Kei’s ear, causing her earlobe to warm slightly, but she quickly suppressed the odd sensation and focused on committing his words to memory.
Although the Artist didn’t understand how Shido Makoto could predict what would happen, the second floor incident today had earned him considerable trust from her. Read the latest chapters at novelping dot com.
She nodded firmly, indicating she understood.
“…What will they do?” Shirogane Kei couldn’t help but ask.
“Don’t ask.
Just do as I say.” Time was limited, and Shido Makoto didn’t offer further explanation.
The Programmer in the distance witnessed the entire exchange, his face growing darker.
They definitely had information he didn’t know!
The feeling of being excluded from the inner circle made the unease in his heart breed frantically.
But he didn’t dare act out.
It was dinner time now.
Any unnecessary movement could bring death upon him.
He could only suppress the anger in his heart, pretend he’d seen nothing, and then force himself to choose a seat as far from Shido Makoto as possible.
Shido Makoto, Shirogane Kei, and the Artist took their seats in succession.
Shido Makoto sat in the middle, Shirogane Kei on his left, and the Artist on his right.
Dinner time officially began.
The four of them stuffed food into their mouths, moving carefully, trying their best not to make any noise with their actions.
After approximately ten minutes, something unexpected happened.
The puppet figure in a tuxedo with a bow tie sitting across from the Artist suddenly stopped its motions.
Its mouth corners curled upward at an extremely eerie angle, revealing a chilling smile.
Then it slowly raised the dinner knife in its hand, pointing it directly at the Artist’s eyes!
The Artist’s body tensed instantly, her survival instinct screaming frantically for her to lean back and dodge.
But just as her body was about to lose control, Shido Makoto’s earlier words exploded in her mind.
—Don’t move!
The Artist’s body trembled violently, cold sweat drenching her hair at the temples.
She clenched her teeth, desperately telling herself that if she didn’t move, nothing would happen.
One second…
Two seconds…
Three seconds…
The puppet figure maintained its knife-raising posture, its hollow eyes unmoving as it “gazed” at her, as if wondering why she wouldn’t dodge.
After several more seconds, the puppet figure seemed to lose interest.
It slowly lowered the dinner knife and resumed its mechanical eating motions.
Success!
The crisis was averted!
The Artist released a silent cry of relief in her heart before slumping against the chair back, breathing heavily without sound.
In that instant, she had felt death was only a hairsbreadth away.
The Programmer in the distance witnessed everything, chuckling coldly to himself.
So that’s all it was—just bluffing and intimidation.
As long as you don’t move, nothing happens.
He felt he had seen through the rules of this place and felt reassured in his heart.
This boy called Student was just one step ahead of him in figuring it out, nothing more impressive.
Meanwhile, Shirogane Kei, sitting on Shido Makoto’s other side, had witnessed the Artist’s harrowing moment.
Her heart had jumped into her throat, her palms soaked with sweat.
It wasn’t until the puppet figure lowered its knife that she exhaled in relief.
At the same time, her confidence in Shido Makoto’s judgment deepened further.
As time slowly ticked toward eight o’clock, everyone’s anxiety eased slightly.
However, just ten minutes before the grandfather clock was about to chime, a new development occurred!
This time it was Shirogane Kei’s turn.
The female puppet figure sitting across from Shirogane Kei suddenly flashed her an eerie smile identical to the gentleman puppet’s earlier.
It’s coming!
Shirogane Kei’s heart tightened.
She took a deep breath.
Though her heart still raced wildly, she was now psychologically prepared.
She straightened her spine, her gaze fixed forward, repeating to herself in her mind: It’s fake, it’s all fake.
As long as I don’t move, nothing will happen.
However, what happened in the next second exceeded everyone’s expectations.
After raising the dinner knife, the female maid puppet suddenly jerked its wrist!
“Whoosh—”
Accompanied by a sound of cutting through air, the dinner knife actually came slashing down!
Shirogane Kei instinctively closed her eyes, her body trembling uncontrollably.
But the will to survive kept her mindful of Shido Makoto’s instruction—don’t move!
Absolutely don’t move!
Seconds passed, and the intense pain she’d anticipated never came.
Shirogane Kei trembled as she slowly opened her eyes.
She was alive.
The female maid puppet opposite her still sat there, now back to cutting the food on its plate.
Everything seemed to be just an illusion.
She exhaled long and deeply, unable to help but feel grateful that she hadn’t moved recklessly.
She instinctively wanted to signal with her eyes to Shido Makoto and the Artist beside her that she was fine.
But when her gaze turned to Shido Makoto, she found him staring at her with an extremely grave expression, his brows tightly furrowed.
Huh?
Shirogane Kei was confused.
Following Shido Makoto’s line of sight, she lowered her head to look at her own hand.
In the next instant, all color drained from her face.
On her right index finger, a thin, long wound had clearly appeared!
Blood was continuously flowing from the wound.
When did this happen?!
The pain arrived late in sensation, transmitting from her fingertip.
What’s going on?
It clearly didn’t cut me!
Shirogane Kei’s mind instantly became chaos.
She quickly looked to Shido Makoto for help.
Shido Makoto signaled with his eyes for her to look at the puppet figure opposite her again.
Shirogane Kei fought through her confusion and directed her gaze back to the female maid puppet.
This time, she saw it clearly.
The puppet figure had an identical scratch on its own left index finger!
So the knife strike just now hadn’t been aimed at her—it had cut the puppet’s own finger!
But then why…
why, when it cut itself, was she the one who got wounded?
…
____
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🔥 New history: Samsara Game: Starting with Shirogane Kei
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