Nao ran as hard as she could, the sound of fierce fighting in the hallway getting farther and farther away from her, and she could occasionally hear a few angry scoldings from Higashino. But after a few minutes, the sound of gunfire and angry scolding all died down.

An emotionless system voice prompts, "Player 'Higashino' is dead." ”

"Higashino ......"

Nao's tears welled up in her eyes again, but there was no time for her to be sad right now. The injured Higashino still had a chance to run away if he escaped by himself, but he had worked hard to get these few minutes for her, and if he died at the hands of Lao Ma, what face would he have to see him!

Seeing that the door of the room was in front of him, the old horse had already chased after him at this time, and he was only one step away from grabbing it.

"You go to die!"

Nao screamed, turned around and threw out the only item on her body, "Screaming Bomb".

[Name: Screaming Bomb]

[Grade: Excellent]

[Type: Bomb]

[Equipment Requirements: Long-range F]

[Attack: Average]

[Special Effect: Melee explosion deals a small amount of damage and generates a huge sound wave that entangles nearby people]

[Description: A woman's scream is the best immobilization weapon.] 】

"Damn! And this! The old horse suddenly remembered when he saw that thing. He had fought with Nao in the last game, so he knew very well that she had obtained such an item, but the battle with Higashino just now consumed too much of his attention, and he actually forgot about it at this critical juncture!

Fortunately, Lao Ma is always a level 9 player, even if he is not a combat type, he is also oppressive compared to Nao in terms of physical ability. The moment Nao's wrist was raised, the old horse's right foot slammed on the ground, and with a force, he braked the momentum of the forward rush fiercely, and his body shot backwards like a rocket.

Nao's blow was already in the mood for the same death (of course, the bomb was not powerful enough to do this), so she threw the bomb with all her might. The screaming bombs that flew out were similar to the speed at which the ninth-level player Lao Ma retreated with all his might, but after all, it was weak and fell to the ground.

"Woo!!"

The screaming bomb exploded the moment it landed, sweeping through the space with a piercing scream. The old horse closest to it immediately felt as if its body was bound by a tight iron wire, unable to move at all, and even Nao, who was a dozen paces away, felt much heavier, and almost fell after stumbling.

She looked back at the old horse hatefully, and slowly retreated, retreating, until the moment before opening the door and entering the room, her gaze still refused to leave, as if she wanted to deeply sink the old horse into her memory.

After a few seconds, the old horse's mobility was restored. He rushed to the door of Nao's room and kicked hard, but the door did not move.

"There's no way to close it, it's almost time anyway." Lao Ma still has the room card he searched from Higashino in his hand. Before two o'clock in the middle of the night, he had to take out the oxygen mask in one of the rooms and quickly rush to the other room for the next six hours.

According to Lao Ma's plan, if the raid is successful, he can seriously injure Higashino and kill Nao in one blow at the same time, and then it will be easy to deal with the injured Higashino. After killing the two, the old horse, who had collected all three masks, could spend six hours in peace, and wait until eight o'clock to go downstairs and clear the customs. However, the crucial blow was missed by himself, and he had to kill Higashino in the shortest possible time, but he couldn't catch up with Nao who fled, and finally only got Higashino's mask.

"Four hours is fine, at least double the probability of survival." Lao Ma already had a plan in his heart. He could then survive the first four hours with two oxygen masks, and then try his luck in the room with his own filtering mask. It's no longer foolproof, but it's the way to have the best chance of survival.

He kicked Nao at the door a few more times, and the old horse left scolding. Nao in the room was already crying at this time.

Higashino, who had agreed with her not long ago to see her tomorrow, had changed into a dead man in the blink of an eye.

Not long ago, the old horse, who was a partner, has become a fierce enemy.

This is "The Land of Apocalypse", turning your hands into clouds, covering your hands into rain, and in the blink of an eye, your companions will turn against you, and your lover will die.

"Ahhhhh......h

Nao curled up at the foot of the bed, weeping bitterly. Her voice went from high-pitched to hoarse to completely silent, and she forgot how long she had been crying.

Until a strange noise sounded in the room caught her attention.

She opened her red, swollen eyes and watched the black-and-white images that appeared on the TV.

The picture is divided into left and right by a dividing line, with an empty room on the left and an old horse lying on the bed in the room on the right. At this time, Lao Ma was wearing the black mask that could provide oxygen for two hours, reclining on the head of the bed and not moving, watching TV like her.

"It's ......"

Nao hadn't recovered from her grief, and her head couldn't turn at all. Fortunately, the old horse's posture gave her enough hints.

"I see...... The game is on...... "Nao clenched his fists, "it's a bad fun." ”

It turns out that the TV in this room is not used to watch programs, but to allow players to see the players in the other two rooms at any time. As the game starts, the TV, which was supposed to be dead or alive while they are exploring, automatically turns on. Keep in mind that every player has their own opinion on when to use an oxygen mask, but even if you make up your mind, seeing someone else wearing a mask on TV will inevitably lead to doubts about your decision. Not to mention the panic and uneasiness that comes with seeing someone else poisoned to death, enough to make a usually calm person make a completely wrong decision.

The design of this game is really full of malice.

However, at this time, Nao looked at the old horse wearing a mask, and was indifferent. Whether she lives or dies, there are no more waves in her heart.

"I curse you, that you shall not die well."

Nao leaned close to the TV screen and said calmly, word for word.

And the old horse on the screen waved his hand, which was considered an answer.

Four hours versus two hours, the old horse has twice as many chances of survival. Even if everyone survives by luck, in order to prevent future troubles, as soon as she leaves the room tomorrow morning, the old horse will kill her. No matter how determined Nao's consciousness is, the level gap between the two in this game is as high as 7 levels and the resulting huge gap in actual combat experience determines that Lao Ma must be the final winner.

So the old horse is not in a hurry.

The two looked at each other coldly across the TV screen. The old horse, who was wearing a mask and had no pressure, even took a nap. Nao never used the mask in the room, just did nothing, and sat on the edge of the bed with her feet crossed.

Two hours passed, and the old horse changed into a second mask, but Nao still didn't use her mask.

"It's kind of." The old horse gave a thumbs up to the screen as a sign of encouragement.

He had somewhat guessed that Nao was not brave enough to endure two hours of fear.

It's that there is no love in life.

The anger against the old horse was consumed in the wild run and counterattack just now, and the anger at himself who abandoned Higashino and fled was completely vented with the crying two hours ago, and at this time, the largest part of Nao's heart was probably pure, because of the sadness brought by Higashino's tragic death.

Mourning is greater than dying, Nao is not afraid of poisonous gas, but wishes it came sooner and could send herself to Higashino. It is better to die of poison gas than to be killed by an old horse the next day.

Maybe it's too much sadness, but at this time, Nao's eyes seem to be hallucinating.

"Nao, put it on, ......"

Higashino's shadow floated in front of her, constantly making the "mask-on" motion. Nao's misty eyes swam with him, but she kept shaking her head.

"No, I'm not entitled to live." Nao said faintly, "I abandoned you. ”

"You made the only right choice." Higashino said, with a rare gentle expression on his face.

Nao reached out to caress his face again, but only touched a void.

"I should have stayed there and died with you." Nao's voice was hoarse, and every word seemed to be grinded out of sandpaper, "I turned my back on you, leaving you alone over there." ”

She laughed miserably: "But it won't be too long, it won't be too long, I'm going to accompany you." ”

"Nope." Higashino shook his head, "I want you to live, to live for me." ”

Even though he couldn't touch it, Higashino's hands wrapped around Nao's shoulders, just like the only hug between the two of them.

"I want you to live."

Higashino whispered in her ear: "Live, live with my share, and never give up." ”

Nao sobbed: "However, I am not qualified to ......"

"Let me decide this time, okay." Higashino interrupted her and stood up. Nao followed him to the closed door of the suite.

"It could be full of poison gas, or it could be a safe suite...... Nao muttered.

"Nope." Higashino shook his head.

"I'm going to let you live, and I'm going to make it the safest place in the world."

Nao's hand unconsciously pressed against the handle, and through the hazy teary eyes, she vaguely saw Higashino's blurred hand pressed against the back of her hand. "Let's go." Higashino said softly. Then Nao twisted the handle.

A puff of clean air greeted her, silky brushing over Nao's cheeks and ruffling the ends of her hair. She walked in, closed the door with her backhand, and stood for a moment in the darkness.

Thirty seconds had passed, and Nao was still standing. Exhale and breathe, without obstruction.

"I didn't lie to you......" Higashino didn't say so.

The moment Nao opened the door, she suddenly couldn't feel the presence of Higashino beside her. Maybe it was the gust of wind, Higashino led her here, and then silently turned into the wind and said goodbye to her.

"Thank you......"

Nao was crying for the third time today.