Tokyo: Rabbit Officer and Her Evil Partner-Chapter 334 - 255

Thud—

Thud thud—

A dull knocking sound came from the wall.

Minamoto Tamako lifted her head and, through the rabbit headgear, she could see the corpse of the dog-headed man lying still on the ground.

The broadcast continued to count down, beeping above her head as time ticked away by the second. Her fingers trembled in rhythm with the knocking from the wall.

Long, short, short...

Short, long...

Long, long, short...

Minamoto Tamako realized it was Morse code, and someone next door was trying to send her a message.

—"DOG"

Her gaze landed once more on the dog-headed man’s corpse. Even though grief surged in her heart, driven by the desire to survive, her mind uncontrollably began to think...

Why wasn’t the dog man killed by the steel pillar?

Minamoto Tamako turned her head to look at the remains of the pig-headed uncle, the body chopped into pieces, the headgear barely intact, with facial skin tissue still hanging on the chair.

Logically, the way of elimination in the puzzle game should be different from the designated execution method. Otherwise, why bother naming it ’Puzzle Game’; they could simply say elimination, right?

Moreover, the fact that everyone has five cards is odd. For instance, she has a "Rabbit" card...

Recalling this, Minamoto Tamako suddenly realized that the rules never specified that "Rabbit" could not pair with another "Rabbit"—the reason they had to wear masks, use animal codenames to address each other, and pair by card voting was probably because there were more than five participants!

The knocking sound next door indirectly confirmed this!

Minamoto Tamako hurriedly stood up, her small hands reaching into the headgear holes, wiping away her tears haphazardly. She jumped off the chair, suppressed her nausea, and stripped off the dog-headed man’s shoes and socks. After careful observation, she concluded they were definitely not Mr. Fushimi’s feet.

She had massaged Mr. Fushimi’s feet so many times, she naturally remembered their shape.

Mr. Fushimi’s feet were larger, with longer Achilles tendons, and nails trimmed cleanly. She was also responsible for washing Mr. Fushimi’s socks and shoes, cleaning them spotless every day, drying them with a warm machine, maybe marinated until they had a faint floral wine fragrance... This guy was completely different, smelly, with unidentified grime in his toenails.

...Great.

The one dead wasn’t Mr. Fushimi...

No, wait, since he’s not Mr. Fushimi, then why did he insist on pairing with her?

Minamoto Tamako couldn’t figure it out for a moment, nor did she have time to think further. She quickly retrieved the "Dog" card from the drawer and inserted it back into the card slot.

The only thing left was to wait.

Minamoto Tamako walked to the wall, carefully feeling the seams on the wall. The knocking had stopped on the other side. She swung her little fist and knocked hard, hurting herself to the point her face scrunched up, on the verge of tears again.

Why is it so hard...

Let alone a muffled sound, she couldn’t even make a ’thud’; there was no noise at all from hitting it, clapping hands was even louder.

What kind of monster is on the other side?

Could that knocking really be produced by a human?

Minamoto Tamako stepped back two steps and sat back down on the chair, growing increasingly uneasy inside.

Nothing is more tormenting than seeing a glimmer of hope in despair.

Her mind couldn’t help but wander, worrying the knocking was a trap set by kidnappers, then worrying she might have missed some clue, occasionally pondering whether there might be a direct way to leave...

These were the longest five minutes of Minamoto Tamako’s life.

She clasped her hands together, silently praying.

After some unknown amount of time, the broadcast chimed again, announcing the pairing results:

"Countdown finished."

"Pairing successful: Rabbit and Dog."

"No one eliminated this round, the trial is over."

"Congratulations to both on advancing successfully, the prize pool has accumulated to 45,000,000 yen, and the prize will be split among participants."

At the same time, cheerful sound effects played inside Minamoto Tamako’s headgear, and her neck lock made a crisp click amidst the Om Truth Light’s BGM.

"Eh?"

Minamoto Tamako tried extending her hand and easily removed the headgear. She instinctively tossed it far away, cautiously looking around.

A sound of gears and mechanisms echoed, and the wall slowly lifted, revealing a rectangular opening along the seam she had just touched.

The same thick scent of blood wafted in. Minamoto Tamako peeked in, observing that there was another room behind the wall almost identical to the one she was in, with four bodies lying chaotically inside, and she even saw the corpse of a girl wearing a rabbit headgear.

Strange.

Why are there only four bodies...

Minamoto Tamako looked around; the pig, cow, cat, and rabbit were all present, but there was no dog in sight.

Logically, she was paired with the "Dog," so this room must have another person still alive paired with her.

Minamoto Tamako cautiously walked behind the door, finding the chairs in the room all broken, it seemed the knocking sounds earlier were made by smashing chairs...

Hiss, why didn’t I think of that?

Minamoto Tamako felt regret, thinking she shouldn’t have let personal emotions influence her decision. If she had analyzed rationally from the start, maybe no one needed to die... they just needed to pair according to the animals on their headgear, and all ten of them could have survived.

But now, saying anything was too late.

Minamoto Tamako crossed her arms, furrowing her brows. This room too had neither door nor window, it was completely sealed. How did the "Dog" paired with her leave?

Could the "Dog" phase through walls? ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom

She shook her head, dismissing the unrealistic thought from her mind.

There must be some kind of mechanism...

Before Minamoto Tamako could investigate further, the broadcast chimed in again: "Would the participant like to proceed to the second stage trial?"

Of course, Minamoto Tamako chose ’no.’ She climbed on the wooden table, loudly warning the chandelier, that kidnapping police officers was a serious crime, and brutally slaying so many people in front of the police would get both the organizers and planners executed! If they turned themselves in now, maybe they could even get a life sentence!

It was apparent that she was not at all good at negotiating.

After Minamoto Tamako finished speaking, she waited for a few seconds. While the broadcast didn’t respond, another door opened across from her. She climbed off the table and poked her head out the door.

Behind the door was a dimly lit corridor with a light shining at the end.

She swallowed hard, glanced back at the bodies in the room, and cautiously stepped out, holding onto the corridor walls, quickly moving forward.

Maybe she really could leave here...

Minamoto Tamako picked up her pace as she walked, the light at the end of the corridor growing brighter. She could see it was a frosted glass door.

She dashed forward and pushed it open forcefully, suddenly thunderous applause sounded in her ears.

Minamoto Tamako gazed around in confusion; behind the glass door was a plaza divided into different areas by red retractable barriers, filled with black and white TVs everywhere, and in the center stood four electronic screens.

The screen displayed her bewildered expression.

"A colossal upset!"

"Participant Minamoto Tamako successfully survived the first stage trial!"

"Thanks to the Kujo Family’s daughter for offering such a spectacular performance to the Seven Sins Temple!"

With a loud bang, a flurry of streamers fell from above, accompanied by Om Truth Light’s BGM. All the suited, mask-wearing gamblers gathered around, applauding Minamoto Tamako with the warmest applause from outside the retractable barriers.

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