Chapter 57: The Sound of Despair and the Deep-Rooted Obsession Here
[What do you want me to say?]
[If it were up to me, this reconciliation wouldn't be necessary at all. What you need to do is revoke the guardianship of this couple and send the child to a welfare institution. With its current condition, anywhere would be better than staying in this family.]
[Young man, don't get worked up, take it easy, why would a normal family of four need to send a child to a welfare institution?]
[Normal? Do you see the wounds on this girl's body? Do you know how she's been beaten?]
[My child, I can beat them however I want, look at how stupid they are, huh, don't like it? Dare to glare at me? I'll beat you to death!]
[Don't provoke, don't provoke, everyone, let's talk calmly now]
[Come on, come here if you want to hit, are you scared of me, you damned old bastard!]
[Hey, hey, calm down——]
[A a a, I've killed someone, I've killed someone!]
[Hurry, help me pull this kid away, stop hitting, there are cameras, stop hitting!]
[Ha ha ha, if you don't kill me today, tomorrow I'll bandage up and go to your parents' company, ha ha ha, let's see what you do!]
The sound in the cassette tape shifted from calm to chaotic in just a few sentences.
The man's crude curses, the woman's frantic screams, the young man's angry shouts, and the sounds of chairs being knocked over, people pulling each other and fighting, all of it became a jumbled, chaotic mess, making it impossible to distinguish anything meaningful.
But this noise didn't last long. Eventually, everything gradually quieted down, then picked up again. This time, the voices came from the young man and another middle-aged man.
[You've only been out of the house for less than a month, and now you're causing trouble at the police station, even fighting in the mediation room? You want to embarrass me?]
[...I know, but that family, those two really aren't fit to be parents. You don't know how they treated the girl.]
[Right, I don't know, so what can you do knowing that?]
[I just can't stand it... how can there be parents like that? They left their daughter hungry for a whole day and night, wouldn't feed her, and her hands had needle marks. In the middle of the night, they threw her out into the hallway, she was only wearing a thin shirt, and the temperature was only 6 degrees. How could anyone do something so inhumane...]
[Alright, alright, you're a kind-hearted person, I know, but I didn't expect you to go this far, causing trouble at the police station for a person you don't even know. Do you know that after you beat someone in the mediation room, that person ended up in the hospital? Every time they check, they could ask for tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands. If this isn't handled properly, it won't just affect you, it will affect my job too.]
[How could I give him money...]
[You hit first, there's a recording, cameras, and witnesses who all saw it. The medical report confirms the injuries, you broke his arm, and it happened in the police station. Do you know, if this is handled strictly, not only will you go to jail, but it will also affect my job. If I pay him now to settle things, once he's healed, he might cause trouble at the company, and then it'll be much harder to solve. What do you want me to do? Leave home, stop taking care of your sister, let the grandparents stop taking care of her too, follow you and be a hero?]
[...Dad, I'm sorry.]
[Alright, I know you're a good son, you didn't do anything wrong in this matter, but there are bad people. People like us, with families and responsibilities, really can't deal with them. Alright, I'll ask someone to check and see if I can get you a spot in the city's rescue team. It's tough, but you're diligent. If you work there for a few years, you might get promoted to team leader or something. You'll help people and accumulate merit, it suits you.]
[That child really can't be helped?...]
[Helped how? What can you do to help? Don't think about it anymore. Oh, I've arranged for someone to return the apartment you rented. Everything's packed up, don't go back to that apartment. Next time, check the environment around you carefully.]
[...I understand.]
This seems like a conversation between a father and his son, a dialogue between the young man and his father.
Upon seeing the cold, dark night, the young man opened the door and saw the girl trembling in the hallway. He brought her inside, gave her a coat, offered her some sweet pastries, and served her hot tea.
The next day, when her parents discovered what had happened, they angrily came to his door, forbidding anyone from treating the girl kindly. A violent conflict broke out between the young man and them. The young man, who had just stepped into society and was still a young man in terms of psychology, was provoked and acted out, but ultimately became the one at fault. In the end, he left in disappointment.
From that moment on, no one opened the door for the girl anymore.
Until one day, during a rescue and evacuation operation due to flooding, the young man, now much more mature, returned to the area and saw the apartment building again.
[The water level has risen quickly, the Shirakawa building still hasn't completed the evacuation, and we're the nearest rescue team. Those with strength, come with me!]
He returned there.
He went up to the third floor, evacuating people from room to room, until he arrived at room 304.
He wondered how the girl was doing now. He knew that her life after he left would still be as difficult as before, but in the end, "even a fierce tiger won't eat its cubs." At least she had a chance to continue living, to grow up, and to have hope of escaping from these parents and finding a life of her own.
When he opened the door, before finding the girl, he had thought like this.
When facing the avoiding gaze and incoherent words of her parents, he still hadn't completely given up on this thought.
When he followed the unpleasant smell, entered the kitchen, and moved toward the bathroom, only to be stopped and told it was a place he "couldn't go," he still hadn't given up entirely.
But in the end, he saw the truth, he saw what had happened.
...
....
[This is candy for my son]
[Not for you]
[Dare to eat it, and I'll beat you to death!]
[I told you, you greedy little thing, you're so greedy, so greedy!]
[Let's see if you dare to steal it again this time]
That day, her mother was truly angry.
The debt collector came again, smashing things in the house.
The front door was broken, and the kitchen door had a hole chopped in it.
Her mother said there was no money to fix it for now, they'd have to endure temporarily, and then her father scolded and beat her mother.
All that day, she wasn't happy, constantly sinking into sorrow.
But she was very hungry.
Yesterday, she had been punished and wasn't allowed to eat.
She had once eaten candy at her brother's house, it was sweet, delicious.
If she just ate one piece, surely she wouldn't be caught.
When she reached out to take it, she realized her mother hadn't left yet, she was waiting for her to take it.
First, she was scolded, then beaten.
Just like always.
But her mother was still very angry.
She went back to her old ways, using a needle to poke her.
It hurt.
It really hurt.
It hurt so much.
Her whole body hurt, her mouth hurt, her throat hurt, it hurt, it hurt...
Her mother said she had to be punished, and locked her in the bathroom.
She was too weak to move, she hurt everywhere.
The sky outside turned dark, it hurt so much.
The sky outside brightened, then darkened again, then brightened again.
She still had no strength, her head was dizzy, and it still hurt.
She wanted to stand up, but couldn't.
Outside, it was dark again.
Her father opened the door once, then closed it again.
He forgot to lock the door, and she had to stay there, suffering the punishment, but it hurt so much, she was so hungry, and so dizzy.
Was her brother at home?
Did her brother have food?
She hadn't seen him for a long time... Had he left? Was he still there?
She wanted to knock on her brother's door.
Brother...
Is brother there...
She couldn't remember where her brother's door was...
...
...
...
Animal.
...You are animals!
Animal scum... I will beat you to death now!
Captain, stop, don't do this!
The floodwater will not reach the third floor, first control these people and take them away.
Don't damage the scene, take them away and call the police, don't cause chaos here.
My child, so what if I want to kill them?!
You animals, I will beat you to death!
Captain, calm down! Calm down! This won't help, take the people first, the flood is coming, if you don't leave now it will be too late!
What are you doing? Do you want to arrest me? Get away, don't touch me!
Let go, it's rape, it's rape!
Hurry, take them away, these two... Forget it, captain, let's go, we'll come back after the flood passes.
...
...
That was something that happened a few years ago.
I never thought that someone could do such things to their own flesh and blood, to their own biological child.
I was born in an ordinary family, and I always believed that most people are ordinary. I knew that those who aren't ordinary are a minority. But such minorities, just meeting them once, made me so angry I couldn't hold it back, yet so... helpless. I didn't know what I could do, I could only deceive myself into thinking that everything would get better.
But the truth was even harsher than I had imagined.
It's not over yet.
Whether those animals will be punished properly in this endless loop, I don't know. They should have kept their consciousness like I did, but now I can't recognize that anymore. Maybe they couldn't bear the torture and went mad, maybe they died from the beginning. I hope it's the first case, and to be honest, even if it's the first case, I still feel that the punishment they've received is not enough. They deserve much more.
But that child, no.
But the innocent people dragged into this apartment, no.
This apartment building has become like this, not because of that child, it wasn't something she caused.
There is someone, something, silently planning all of this. This apartment building has become like this as a result of a force deliberately leading things.
I vaguely saw some residual memories from that child, but the information is still too little, I don't even know what it is, I only know it once existed in this apartment, always watching everything that happened, until the last moment, it revealed its traces, leading everything to this point.
That child still can't escape.
My teammates, their obsessions are also being guided, trapped in the death loop of that day, unable to escape.
And the ordinary people, those with families, those with their own lives, thrown into this place, like food for beasts, only able to die in struggle.
It's like nurturing something.
Through the death and pain of these people, through the memories and despair of the child who can't escape, repeating, devouring more lives, to nurture something.
Things shouldn't be like this.
No matter what the person behind this plan's purpose is, I will never accept it, I will fight until the end.
It seems that I have some special meaning for this child, I didn't completely fall into the state like my teammates. I still remember what happened, I can still think clearly. I think I'm an exception, a variable, something that the person behind this plan couldn't predict.
So I will do everything in my power to change everything.
Just...
I seem unable to come into contact with the existence of that child.
This apartment building seems to be undergoing a transformation.
The existence of that child is imprisoned, in this building, she cannot escape.
Have I overlooked something?
Clearly, I can see her memories, I can feel her pain.
But I cannot see her obsession, I cannot see what she truly longs for.
I think, maybe in the end, I will fail.
Indeed, I will fail.
Just like before, when I couldn't save her, the result will be the same this time.
But you are different, Mr. Takakai.
The apartment building you are in has completed its transformation, her existence has been freed, it is time to bring her peace.
The first floor, second floor, third floor... No, these three floors are actually one unified entity.
She never left the third floor, she crawled out of her house on the third day, crawled through the hallway of the third floor, knocked on every door, wanting to find me, hoping I would open the door for her like before, let her in, hide in that small safe room, close the door, then lock the outer door, not hearing the noise outside anymore.
The area she could move in was limited to the third floor. The first and second floors only existed in her imagination, they didn't truly exist. That's why 104 is the same as 204 is the same as 304; each room essentially overlaps in space. Because the building's rules are based on her memories, it was forced to divide into three parts.
Now you cannot reach room 309, because she hasn't found room 309 in her mind. Even if you go to a room numbered 309, you cannot enter. Because you are now operating within the scope of her obsession.
However, it doesn't matter now, because you've received the information from this tape. This is the final obsession I left behind, and also the obsession of everyone who ever lived in this apartment. When you hear this information, you will certainly find that place.
Please fulfill this wish, help her rest in peace.
Then, you will definitely escape from this place and destroy this blood-soaked apartment.
Just, please, hurry. This monster was born from her obsession, it has no emotions or reason, it will not show mercy, it will not hold back just because you want to save her.
Next, the contamination will increase at an accelerating rate, time is running out, you must quickly find that place with your teammates, before everything collapses, you must find that door and open it once more.
I will also do everything I can, use all my remaining strength to help you.
Good luck, Mr. Takakai.
I am Xu Sheng.
...
...
It seems your hand is holding something.
Looking down, you open your palm, a slightly rusted key with the symbol 309 has fallen into your hand.
The entire Shirakawa apartment building had completely sunk into darkness, it was the third night, the final moment, with less than two hours left.
Takakai no longer heard the voice of the man named Xu Sheng.
The cassette player in the living room continued to operate, but inside it was silent, it had played all the available content.
However, that was enough.
Takakai stood up.
It was time to go,
He had intended to say this to Kaguya beside him.
But when he actually opened his mouth, he found he couldn't utter a single word.
Pain.
The sharp pain spread from his mouth.
"Kai-kun, your mouth!"
Maki exclaimed in surprise, quickly rushing over.
On the other side, Kaguya also looked horrified, then took a surgical knife and cut into Takakai's mouth.
The dense threads stitching Takakai's mouth were cut.
"Ah..."
Opening his mouth, before he could speak, blood started to flow down.
Horrible and terrifying burn marks began to appear on his body.
At this moment, Takakai fully understood the meaning of the words "Time is running out" that Xu Sheng had said.
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