LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 52: Chapter 52: A Man Named Sanchez is Buried Here
Chapter 52: A Man Named Sanchez is Buried Here
"Haa…"
Kaguya could clearly feel her heavy breathing.
Just a moment ago, as she dashed past the cardboard box, there was a brief instant when she felt two sets of eyes converge on her. Two chillingly cold gazes, so intense that even without direct eye contact, their force alone made her realize and understand the consequences.
"Being seen means death."
Her instincts were so overwhelming that Kaguya's body nearly froze in place.
But at that moment, a sudden melody echoed from the other side of the living room, near the "mouse hole" where the two had initially emerged.
The gazes of the man and woman shifted slowly, turning toward the source of the music.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Kaguya sped up her pace, with Maki following closely behind, clutching a phone in her hand. The two slipped into the bedroom one after the other.
The stench.
That was the first sensation that hit them upon entering the room.
Piles of dirty clothes were thrown into a corner.
On a bed sheet tossed on the floor, there were prominent orange-yellow stains.
A boy of about two years old, with snot running down his nose, lay sprawled on the room's only large bed, snoring loudly. One of his legs dangled off the bed, emitting a putrid odor that was unbearable, suggesting it had been a long time since he'd been washed.
Kaguya furrowed her brow deeply, and Maki's expression beside her wasn't much better.
Regardless, they needed to investigate this place first.
Kaguya took a step forward while thinking this, but she suddenly stopped.
No, something wasn't right. This wasn't just the smell of poor hygiene.
It was the stench of a decomposing corpse, a smell so revolting that it made one want to vomit.
It was only then that Kaguya realized the chubby boy wasn't sleeping—he had been dead for a long time.
His body was covered with dark purple bruises, from which white maggots were crawling out. And then, the boy opened his eyes—
"Snap."
Maki gently patted Kaguya's shoulder, snapping her out of her daze.
The boy, who had nearly sat up on the bed, lay back down again, continuing his loud snoring.
Could it be that hearing the snores had caused some kind of "interaction," leading to hallucinations?
Realizing this, Kaguya immediately put her earplugs, while Maki, who had been standing behind her, had already put hers on.
She disabled the connection on her mobile phone.
Maki's phone, left behind at the "mouse hole" in the living room, instantly stopped ringing.
Though this cursed place didn't allow outgoing calls, strangely enough, phones could still connect with others inside the apartment. For this reason, Maki had left her phone at the mouse hole upon entering, intending to use it as a decoy in emergencies.
The "normality" that persisted awkwardly amidst these abnormalities—Maki didn't understand why it existed, but it didn't stop her from exploiting it.
She did feel a little regret for her newly purchased phone, uncertain if she'd ever retrieve it.
These scattered thoughts flitted briefly through her mind.
The two girls moved deeper into the shadows under the bed.
The area was covered in dust.
Every step they took sent up clouds of dust, so thick it almost obscured their vision.
....
Meanwhile, in the Living Room
Takakai sat silently on the sofa, eyes closed and brows tightly furrowed.
The sounds grew increasingly intense.
The echoes in the room persisted, reverberating endlessly.
"Get out of my sight. You're nothing but an eyesore."
"Why were you even born? You're nothing but trouble."
The disgusted faces of the man and woman "he" had seen as a child flashed before him.
"Finally, we have a son! Ha ha, just as it should be."
"Good, now that little parasite is even more unbearable."
The joy on their faces when their second child was born, and the growing disdain in their eyes whenever they looked at "him."
"This candy is for my son, not for you."
"If you dare eat it, I'll beat you to death!"
And many more—those hateful, loathsome faces.
It truly felt endless.
Takakai opened his eyes but avoided looking at the shadow looming over him.
He no longer wanted to see any of it, yet the sensations from the doll continued to overwhelm him—images and sounds flooding his mind.
Initially, he could still sever the connection with the doll and ignore the sights and sounds it transmitted. But after staying in Room 304 for some time, the doll seemed to have forged a stronger bond with him. Not only could he no longer block it, but the signals grew more powerful.
He now knew the child's age—five. That was the age when her life ended.
Before she turned three, she was only beaten and scolded. In those faint memories, her treatment was harsh but not unbearable, merely "suffering." But by the time she was nearly four, with the birth of her younger brother, she became a despised burden, and her torment escalated.
From being beaten for saying the wrong word to absurdly strict schedules designed solely to torment her for amusement. Her father would hit her whenever he saw her, as if it relieved some unease within him. Her mother, meanwhile, would point at the wall clock while yelling and hitting her, sometimes even stabbing her hand with a needle to watch her cry in pain.
She didn't know how to resist, and the very concept of "resistance" was far beyond a child of her age.
Of course, she wasn't entirely naive. Once, she secretly adjusted the clock so her mother wouldn't have an excuse to punish her. In the end, her mother only kicked her and left her alone.
But then came that day—when debt collectors stormed into their home once again. They seized the old TV, smashed the furniture, broke the kitchen cabinets, and left her little brother crying in fear. That day, her mother, already beaten by her father out of anger, spent the entire day consumed by fury. The events of that day were beyond anything the girl could have predicted or imagined. Who would have thought such a thing could happen?
"Tsk…"
Takakai rubbed his forehead, taking a deep breath to calm himself.
He couldn't let himself be consumed.
He couldn't let himself get lost in all of this.
The remnants of the past lingering in this room—saturated with intense corruption and curses—would do nothing to help him solve the current problem. Instead, they would only worsen his state. Whether pity or rage, any thoughts about these memories were a trap he couldn't afford.
The things that existed here were nothing more than soulless abnormalities. These sorrowful memories would only pollute anyone who understood them.
Takakai could feel his clothes gradually heating, as though soaked in boiling water.
He prayed silently in his heart:
Let me find a useful clue.
Takahashi Takakai's plea echoed in his mind.
...
Meanwhile, on the Other Side
Kaguya and Maki came to a halt.
They had found a corpse.
Unlike the towering family of three, this body was of normal proportions, similar to Kaguya and Maki.
The person had been dead for a long time—reduced to mostly bones with only faint remnants of human tissue clinging to them. The stench of decay was long gone.
Judging from the skeleton, it seemed to belong to an adult male, tall and dressed in practical exploration gear. Beside him lay a backpack.
Kaguya stood cautiously nearby, holding her blood puppet, ready to hurl it at the corpse if it showed any signs of movement. Meanwhile, Maki carefully approached, retrieved the backpack, and opened it to inspect its contents.
The first thing she found was a piece of paper with handwriting on it:
[To Those Who Come After Me]
[I am a fool who died here—a sinner. Sanchez.]
The trembling handwriting spelled out the name.
Sanchez?
Was this his corpse?
The discovery surprised both Kaguya and Maki. Even Takakai, observing through the doll he couldn't sever his connection to, found himself momentarily stunned.
[This is my will, the last thing I leave behind in this world.]
[I made a mistake. My arrogance consumed my soul, judged my existence, and turned it into evidence for my descent into hell.]
[I have harmed many people—those like me, the wretched souls trapped in this apartment. I dragged them into this, and I can never be forgiven.]
[I don't know if my penance in hell will ever be enough to end my sins or if God or those I hurt will forgive me—a sinner.]
[But for the sake of those who may come to this place, I must write this will.]
[The true key lies in Room 309, but Room 304 is indispensable as well. You can't solve this by relying on just one room; both must be combined.]
[This apartment constantly repeats the past, but it only loops the events of six days. One day is hidden—the final day, the day the deaths began for ■■■.]
Here, a name was initially written but later erased. Judging from the strokes, it seems the writer realized something and scratched it out themselves.
[Adjust the calendar in the room to the 17th, and you'll arrive at that day. From that moment, this apartment will begin reenacting what happened. The room's timeline will accelerate until 1 AM on the third night. That is the most crucial moment to resolve everything. You cannot wait until the seventh day—when the rescue team arrives, it's already too late. Only the third day offers a chance to salvage everything. I was a fool. Why didn't I notice earlier that "3" is such an important number?]
[Only someone in a rescue uniform can open the door to Room 309. I'm not sure if this was Xu Sheng's idea, but he was the sole survivor of the rescue team from that year. I should never have doubted him. But now, what does it matter? By now, he's undoubtedly become one with the rest of the deceased rescue team, no longer able to retain his former self.]
[Open the door to Room 309. Open it a second time. Lead her to a place she believes is safe to hide. This is the only loophole—the only way to end the endless cycle of memories and repetition. I tried to disrupt this path. I believed the misinformation that destroying her corpse would end it all. I scalded her body with boiling water. While it did destroy her physical form, it only distorted her existence further, making this apartment even more frenzied than before.]
[She no longer has a physical form, but she still clings to certain things. Her existence is tied to them. I believe they must be something precious to her, but I haven't found them in the room. Perhaps they were thrown away somewhere. I suspect they might be under the bed. But I couldn't continue any longer ■■■■■■.]
At this point, the handwriting becomes fragmented, with nonsensical and erratic scribbles. Occasional words like "mother," "I was wrong," and "stop" can barely be discerned.
[I ■ am dying.]
[I won't ■ become a part of ■■■■. I won't ■ die and ■ harm others. I obtained ■ something made of ash and bone and don't know ■■■ what. They said ■ consuming it after death prevents ■ becoming something monstrous. Haha. They lied to me about destroying the corpse, so who knows if they lied about this too. Anyway, I have one bullet left. I think I can still die as a human being.]
The handwriting gradually regains clarity after the chaotic segment.
[My daughter, I can't see you again. I can't fulfill my promise to you. May the suffering of this life end here, no longer burdening the road ahead for you. I will atone for my sins in hell and repay the debt to those I've harmed.]
[Goodbye, this cursed world, this cursed apartment.]
[—Sanchez]
The content on the paper wasn't extensive and didn't take long to read.
Maki and Kaguya refrained from making any comments about the man responsible for the destruction of the Shirakawa Apartment.
At this moment, they were more concerned about what the man had left behind in his final moments. It might hold the key to ending everything in the apartment.
Could something important truly exist under this dusty bed?
Just as Maki was about to act, she noticed that Kaguya's phone was vibrating in her pocket.
'Huh?'
'What's that? Is someone calling her?'
'In this cursed place?!'
Maki pulled the phone out, showing no intention of answering the call. Without hesitation, she tossed it to the ground and gestured for Kaguya to move quickly.
But even so, their reaction was still a step too late.
The phone hit the ground and automatically answered the call. The screen lit up, displaying the caller ID: [Shijo Maki]. It immediately connected and turned on the speakerphone.
"There are mice in the house again."
A woman's dreary voice echoed from the phone.
"There are mice in the house again."
The voice, like a weary sigh, resonated eerily around them.
BANG!
A massive, distorted, shadowy head of a woman suddenly dropped from nowhere. It landed by the bed, its face directly facing Maki and Kaguya under the bed. The head stared at them, unblinking, as its mouth began to move, uttering words.
"There are mice in the house again."
Then, the enormous head slowly rolled under the bed, blocking the light from outside and plunging the space beneath the bed into utter darkness.
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