Wen Xishu indeed planned to pull the trigger at this moment. The impact of this mental pollution is somewhat overwhelming.
But he started to delve into thinking about one thing...
Mariko had been showing that crazed expression all along, and now she suddenly did this. Is she preparing to attack?
Is she not afraid of my bullet? All this is an illusion, Wen Xishu is very clear.
If Mariko had truly transformed into a monster and ended her lurking, he wouldn’t even have a chance to draw his gun.
So, Mariko’s intention behind this, could it be that she is seeking death? She’s leveraging this to force me to acknowledge that Mariko isn’t human?
Wen Xishu felt it didn’t align with common logic.
"Takahashi Fumihiko has already been subdued by me. Now, Takahashi Fumihiko doesn’t dare to make any trouble because he knows I would acknowledge their humanity while killing them. So what is Mariko up to? She should know I won’t deny her humanity..."
"Moreover, it’s very strange. When I pulled out the gun, she instead became...even more bizarre."
"So...is it possible that what Mariko is doing, isn’t forcing me, but rather accommodating me?"
Shooting is instinctive. In such a situation, Wen Xishu pulling the trigger is understandable. But Wen Xishu always felt that to survive in this game...
You have to make some special moves.
Up until now, whether it was opening the door to let people in or letting people leave, in Wen Xishu’s eyes, all these actions were quite standard. He could do it; others could too...
So he needed to be more meticulous in capturing the truly crucial choices.
"Firstly, Mariko’s actions are all illusions... As long as she doesn’t end the lurking phase, she can’t harm me."
"Secondly, Mariko also knows this point, and right now is the time they should fear me, I shouldn’t fear them."
"So, Mariko continuing to do this might be based on her perception... This isn’t scaring me, but pleasing me?"
Earlier, it was just her hair showing, but as Wen Xishu prepared to pull the trigger, Mariko’s actions became even more intense.
A normal person in this place might have really pulled the trigger.
But Wen Xishu wouldn’t miss any details.
"Based on my past experience, to get an invitation card, you need to deeply experience a certain segment..."
"Mariko might not necessarily give the invitation card; this is the forty-second layer, things wouldn’t be that easy. But if I pull the trigger... Mariko going offline might lead to losing many opportunities."
Wen Xishu suddenly put away his gun.
He approached Mariko, touching her head:
"I still prefer your original appearance, Mariko."
Currently, Mariko didn’t have legs, her arms twisted backward, her stomach turned inside out, her head rotated a full one hundred eighty degrees...
This appearance, Wen Xishu didn’t reject or loathe it, rather he said slightly reproachfully:
"Can you turn back to your original appearance, Mariko?"
"Of course...of course, as long as it’s God Master’s wish, I can do anything."
The surrounding severed limbs began to disappear bit by bit. Mariko’s head rotated another one hundred eighty degrees.
Simultaneously, as her legs grew out, Mariko finally no longer had to crawl and could stand up again.
After several transformations, Mariko returned to her maid outfit with white stockings and twin tails.
Despite witnessing such horrific scenes just now, Wen Xishu could physiologically feel disgust towards Mariko’s hair.
But he still rubbed Mariko’s hair, and said in the gentlest tone possible:
"Nice, nice, Mariko, I like your current appearance."
The TV suddenly lit up again.
Wen Xishu was already accustomed to this; everything in this room was eerie, including this TV.
The image on the TV was from a galgame game.
Inside, the male protagonist stroked the girl’s hair, the girl’s affection incremented, and she said:
"Next time, exhibit even more intimate behavior."
After saying this, the girl hid the knife she had prepared to stab into her boyfriend’s stomach and showed a sweet smile.
If it weren’t for the knife-hiding scene, it would make people feel sweet and healing.
Wen Xishu could only say, this is very Island Country-like.
Then the TV turned off again.
Wen Xishu took a deep breath and continued to rub Mariko’s increasingly obedient and dazed hair, thinking about the message on the TV.
Undoubtedly, the TV is a rule notifier.
"In other words... Mariko’s love is rising and needs to be reciprocated. And the content of the reciprocation needs to be increasingly intense each time?"
"If my guess is correct... this time it was a head pat, next time it might have to be a hug?"
"Which means Mariko will periodically go mad... and this madness needs to be soothed by increasingly intense acts of affection."
"In the TV, the girl’s act of putting away the knife... could it imply that this soothing can extend the protagonist’s life?"
Wen Xishu’s eyes suddenly brightened; he seemed to have thought of something.
He looked at Mariko, who chirped like a cat after being stroked.
"Mariko, I need you to return to the sofa and stay quietly as you did just now, can you do that?"
"Okay, God Master, I listen to you." Mariko returned to the sofa and continued to look at Wen Xishu with that infatuated gaze.
Wen Xishu was pondering:
The girl’s act of putting away the knife on the TV might be a hint. A hint that as long as you follow the rules and increasingly deepen acts of affection...
Perhaps this can extend the lurking phase.
The "they" in the lurking phase, as long as you firmly refuse to acknowledge they are not human, they can only be human, most they can do is make you feel mentally polluted but won’t cause actual harm.