Chapters 3559 & 3571 [The Terrifying Stairwell] Requesting Monthly Tickets ()

As Vermouth walked toward a secluded spot...

On the other side.

After using the toilet, Sonoko Suzuki washed her hands comfortably.

"Luckily, the bathroom door wasn't closed." She chuckled with relief. "I thought I was going to have a run of bad luck, like the bathroom having no water or electricity... Luckily, it didn't happen."

Turning off the tap, taking out a handkerchief to dry her hands, Sonoko Suzuki hummed a song as she walked out of the bathroom.

Just as I was about to return to the underground parking lot, suddenly, all the lights on the floor went out.

"Huh?" Sonoko Suzuki was startled, then shouted, "Don't turn off the lights! There are still people in the store! Turn them off after I leave! -- Hey? Is anyone there? Turn on the lights!"

The sound echoed in the dark exhibition hall, but no one answered.

Behind her, Yoshio Tadasu, who had been waiting for a long time, quietly revealed a cruel smile. He lowered his arm, causing the metal rod in his hand to hit the ground with a loud clang.

Hearing the eerie metallic sound, the young woman in front of him turned around in confusion, screamed in terror upon seeing him, and then her face contorted as she was struck on the head, bleeding profusely...

That's how it should have been.

However, in reality, Yoshio Teika struck a very imposing pose and waited for two seconds, but Sonoko Suzuki in front of him was still shouting at the top of her lungs in all directions, showing no intention of turning around.

"..."

...What is this woman shouting about?

Wouldn't that cover up the sound of the metal rod hitting the ground? Can't you be a little more vigilant?

He remained silent for a moment, then slid the club across the ground again. However, the strange sizzling sound still couldn't break through the woman's continuous, loud voice.

Under Yoshio Tsunekami's slightly twitching gaze, Sonoko Suzuki, still yelling, groped her way toward the brightly lit stairwell.

Deposit Yoshio: "..."

Several veins bulged on the back of his hand as he walked over, intending to give the yelling guy a good whack. But after taking only two steps, he tripped over a shelf, stumbled, and almost fell.

After barely managing to steady himself, Teijin Yoshio frowned and looked down, but he couldn't see anything.

The exhibition hall was pitch black. He had taken advantage of Sonoko Suzuki's visit to the 8th floor to change into his usual attack attire. Now, a pair of large sunglasses sat on his nose, and through the dark lenses, he couldn't see anything at all in the darkness.

“…A miscalculation.” Teijin Yoshio clicked his tongue inwardly. “A pitch-black place would certainly disorient that woman, but it would also disorient me, making it impossible to see which way to knock.”

"Forget it, let her live a few more seconds. We'll deal with her when we get to the stairwell."

...

Sonoko Suzuki was completely unaware of the murderous intent emanating from behind.

She groped her way into the stairwell and then secretly breathed a sigh of relief—although the light here was still dim, compared to the pitch-black exhibition hall, at least she could see things clearly.

"Sigh, these platform shoes are nice, but they're so tiring to climb stairs—luckily I'm smart, the restaurant on the 10th floor should still be open, I just need to climb up two floors and then take the elevator down."

A fashion-conscious high school girl, wearing thick heels, carefully made her way up the stairs, one step at a time—she hadn't really noticed while climbing the stairs because her mind was preoccupied with the toilet. Now that she had nothing urgent to do and was walking up the stairs again, she suddenly realized how inconvenient her shoes were.

As I was holding onto the railing, walking along with a miserable expression, my phone suddenly vibrated; someone was calling.

"Hmm?" Sonoko Suzuki glanced at the caller ID and answered, "Ran?"

Hearing the call connect, Ran Mouri breathed a sigh of relief: "Sonoko! Where did you go?"

"I went upstairs to use the restroom." Hearing a familiar voice, Sonoko Suzuki poured out her grievances:

"This shopping mall is outrageous! They turned off the lights so hastily right after opening hours. Shouldn't they have checked if there were any customers left in the store first? And..."

clatter.

A sound came from behind, like leather shoes stepping on the steps.

The sudden noise echoed in the narrow stairwell. Sonoko Suzuki stopped talking abruptly, a chill inexplicably rising on her back. She slowly raised her head and looked up.

However, all that was in front of them was an empty staircase.

"..."

After hesitating for a moment, Sonoko Suzuki moved to the railing and bent down to look down at the stairs.

The downstairs area was also deserted; there was no one there, and no leather shoes either.

"Haha." Sonoko Suzuki leaned against the railing, laughing at her own paranoia. "I've really watched too many horror movies."

On the other end of the phone, Ran Mouri asked nervously, "What horror movie?"

"It's nothing." Sonoko Suzuki straightened up, about to speak, when she suddenly realized that there was complete darkness behind her—a darkness unlike any other light.

She was startled, and subconsciously tilted her head, only to be met with a blank face.

A man wearing a black coat, a tall scarf, and sunglasses perched on his nose appeared behind her at some point.

The moment their eyes met, the other person raised a metal baseball bat and slammed it down heavily.

"Aaaaaahh ...

In a flash, perhaps it was the experience of solving cases in games that came into play, Suzuki Sonoko leaped to the side like a protagonist in an action game.

With a loud crash, the metal baseball bat missed its target and slammed heavily against the railing.

Several pieces of the cement railing were smashed and sent flying. The huge recoil caused Ding Jinfangxiong's arm to go numb and freeze briefly.

"Aaaaaah!!" Sonoko Suzuki screamed. According to her game script, a detective should have descended from the sky, trampled the criminal, and then generated a beautiful and romantic CG of two people... not with the criminal, but with her.

However, reality is not a game, and Sonoko Suzuki knew she couldn't save herself with fantasy. With a scream, she flung her hand, throwing the heavy flip phone like a brick, which slammed into Yoshio Tadasu's face with a thud.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the nimble high school girl pushed against the wall, turned around, and ran downstairs.

Behind her, Ding Jin Fangxiong clutched his nose in pain, only to find that his sunglasses were gone.

He paused, touching his exposed face. His previously teasing expression slowly turned into pure killing intent.

“She saw me…” he murmured, “She saw my face…”

The security guard, who had no intention of revealing his identity, gritted his teeth, picked up his sunglasses, and went to chase after that despicable woman.

However, when he looked down, he found that there was a cat next to his sunglasses, its body completely black except for its four white paws.

The cat, Wuyun Taxue, stretched out its paw and scratched at his sunglasses.

The two looked at each other, and the cat looked up at him. With a swipe of its paw, the sunglasses broke in two right in front of him.

Deposit Yoshio: "..."

He kicked it, yelling, "Where did this dead cat come from?!"

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