Why is my Isekai in the Slice of Life anime was become a Horror Story?

Chapter 36: The Beginning of Touching the Forbidden

Since the 21st exploration record, which documented the last resident in apartment 304, no readable entries have been found.

Each page had been completely torn apart. Considering that no one else likely entered this room, it's plausible that the writer himself destroyed them.

Having learned information about the most forbidden child in the Shirakawa apartment complex, Sanchez had suffered severe contamination and mental intrusion. Before descending entirely into madness, perhaps he destroyed even more dangerous information. This person had entered rooms 309 and 304 and mentioned leaving a cassette tape here—could anything related to it still be found?

Takahashi Takakai closed the journal and looked toward the documents on the desk.

These sealed documents were clearly stolen by Sanchez from various archives. For an ordinary person to achieve this seemed hard to believe—was it with the aid of some supernatural power?

Takakai didn't review the documents. First, because there were too many, and he had the sense that his time here was short. Second, compared to studying possibly irrelevant materials, confirming the leads he'd already found seemed more critical.

With that thought, Takakai stood up, scanning the room before approaching the coat hooks near the living room door. He reached out and took a small key hung on a rope.

One side of the key was engraved with "304." Could this be the key to apartment 304?

In his previous loop, Takakai had seen the location of door 304. Now, with the third floor of Shirakawa Apartments fully distorted into chaos, who knows what state the room—where it all began—was in now?

Whether to go there or not, holding onto the key was necessary. After all, the difference between having and not having the choice was significant.

Afterward, Takakai continued searching the room's drawers. Finally, in a small drawer, he found a cassette tape stored in a metal box.

The cassette looked old. Truthfully, even if he found a player, Takakai doubted it could still produce sound.

What other clues might there be?

As he pondered this, he prepared to move toward the desk holding the documents.

Screech—

At that moment, a piercing noise came from the computer screen on one side of the room.

Turning around, Takakai saw the monitor light up.

In the grainy video feed, he could see the very living room where he stood. It seemed to be a real-time surveillance system showing Takakai himself standing before the screen, staring at it intently.

The living room door creaked open.

Not the real-world door—but the door on the computer screen.

Takakai watched as the door on the monitor opened, and a man walked into the room, heading straight to the desk, pulling out a chair, and sitting down.

He turned his head back, but there was nothing behind him—just emptiness.

[Exploration Record No. 22 in 304]

Turning his attention back to the screen, Takakai saw the man sitting at the desk, mumbling to himself as he opened a journal and began writing.

[I've finally confirmed the location where Room 304 was hidden.]

[The storage room—it must be the storage room. It's an unassuming, small space.]

[Why don't any of the other apartments in this building have this storage room? In a uniformly structured apartment complex, such discrepancies are impossible—unless it was concealed.]

[Xu Sheng—was it you? What exactly are you? Are we trapped here as part of some behind-the-scenes plan of yours?]

The man, speaking as he wrote, suddenly stopped, sighed, and put the pen down.

[Forget it, this doesn't matter. I've already confirmed the name and information about that child. Now, I just need to find her.]

[She's the source of everything—it's definitely her. I don't understand what's going on, but ever since I learned that name, I've felt an overwhelming strangeness, as if someone has appeared in my room. No matter where I go, it feels like someone is always watching me.]

The man's mood seemed increasingly unstable.

He abruptly stood up, staring toward the computer in the room.

From Takakai's perspective, the man on the surveillance monitor was staring directly at him—at his back.

Behind him, it felt like an unseen gaze was fixated on him, drilling into his very being.

[Who are you?]

The man's trembling voice broke the silence.

[Why are you in my room? Who are you? Who are you? WHO ARE YOU?!]

The voice didn't come from the computer screen. It came directly from behind him.

A wave of heat hit him, along with the stench of meat stewing in boiling water.

Drip—drip—

The sound of water hitting the floor echoed, followed by the dragging footsteps of something heavy moving across the ground.

Takakai stood frozen, watching the man on the screen now moving behind him, almost pressing against him.

SPLASH!

Suddenly, with a chilling and suffocating sensation, Takakai plunged into water. He struggled to stand, finding himself submerged in a thin layer of water covering the apartment floor.

It was the living room of apartment 109.

The papers taped to the walls were covered in moss, and the documents on the desk had decayed to the point of illegibility.

He had escaped from the fragments of the past, returning to the real apartment 109.

At this moment, shadows filled the room, swarming and searching for something, circling endlessly.

Takakai took a deep breath, feeling the cassette tape and key still secure in his pocket. He confirmed they were intact, then began making his way toward the door.

He had to return.

Having obtained tools that were likely crucial, his next step was to quickly make his way back upstairs.

These... "rescuers" were probably searching for survivors in apartment 109. They were still being misled—perhaps. Either way, he had to seize this opportunity to escape. He needed to bring the key and cassette tape to Kaguya and Maki.

With this thought, Takakai pushed through the living room door and hurried down the moss-covered hallway marked by corrosion and pools of yellowed water.

Fatigue from earlier exertions weighed on him, and he noticed himself sweating heavily. He reflexively grabbed his shirt and gave it a small shake.

The main entrance was still ajar, and the outer hallway was in terrible condition—flooded with murky water and littered with debris and unidentifiable objects.

Takakai scanned his surroundings and quickly spotted apartment 106.

Now, his priority was to return upstairs and rescue the survivors trapped there. The flood was rising rapidly, and if he didn't act in time...

Thup-thup—

His steps grew slow and labored before coming to a stop.

Takakai coughed violently, spitting out a mouthful of yellow, dirty water. He leaned against the wall, frowning as he looked around.

Why could he see this?

The first floor... wasn't it completely dark?

Why could he clearly see everything now, and... were these my clothes? Why am I here? To save people... no, I need to go back to find someone... no, no, my mind is clearly not right, what's wrong... what's not right...

"Ah..."

He couldn't make a sound.

His body was gradually becoming stiff.

It felt as though he was no longer himself, slowly turning into someone else.

Takakai suddenly reached out, gripping the rope tied to his body, pulling on it, tightening it bit by bit.

He had to send a message.

He had to make the person on the other side understand the signal, and then... act...

[It's time. The couple in 304 has withdrawn. Take them first!]

The voice echoed from the end of the hallway.

Takakai looked up, seeing a few rescue workers running down the stairs, leading two people—a man and a woman.

[Let go! Let go of me! What if I don't go?!]

The man reeked of alcohol, constantly cursing and kicking, trying to attack the rescue workers beside him.

[You bastards! You bastards! Don't you have any shame? You were born blind, always eating pig food, may your descendants be run over by a truck and reincarnate as dogs! Let go! Let go of me! Let goooooo—]

The woman thrashed violently, shouting and cursing with vile words, even attempting to spit in the face of the rescue workers.

[This crazy couple, the child in that room...]

[The flood probably won't reach the third floor. If it does, we'll come back again... For now, take these two and make sure to watch them closely.]

[Savages, doing such things... are these even human? I heard their son was sent back to the countryside four days ago? Did they know this day was coming and prepare for it?]

[It's been so many days already... It stinks so badly, why didn't anyone report it to the police? The whole building can't have lost their sense of smell, can they?]

[Stop talking. Take them first. The police are waiting at the safe zone. We'll talk later.]

The voices of the rescue workers and the curses of the man and woman blended together, as if trying to burrow into Takakai's mind.

Amid the sharp pain, Takakai stood frozen, unable to move. He could only watch as the rescue workers approached, leading Li Youtai and Xu Jiazheng, along with... a small figure trailing behind them, unnoticed by anyone.

It was...

It was...

It was the child...

No... this was...

All of Takakai's ability to think almost snapped at that moment. He couldn't hear any more sounds, couldn't see clearly, couldn't feel anything. All that remained was the ever-growing pain, a fierce agony that seemed to last forever.

It felt like someone was using a needle and thread...

Sewing his mouth shut...

Sewing... it... shut...

Because... he couldn't... hear...

...

Kẹt!

When Takakai opened his eyes, he saw Green, pale, sitting beside the kitchen, the wall clock lying on the floor. Maki was anxiously helping him up, and Kaguya, Sun Dajun were also paying attention to him.

He had returned to Room 206.

He had come back to the moment just before the second exploration was about to begin.

"Did you find anything?"

Kaguya stared at Takakai and immediately asked.

Takakai didn't respond, only reached into his jacket pocket.

Then, he saw something that surprised him.

The key to Room 304 was still there, and the old cassette tape was still with him.

How was this possible? Why hadn't these items returned to their original places when time reversed? Was it because they had some unique property that prevented them from reverting?

"There were actually a lot of discoveries, I…"

Takakai sighed in relief for having returned to safety, then prepared to share what he had experienced down there.

But as soon as he opened his mouth and looked up, his words were abruptly stopped.

He saw the small shadow standing in the living room, looking at him.

She was here.

Quietly staring at him.

Waiting for his gaze to stop, for him to realize the current truth.

[The greatest Forbidden of the Shirakawa apartment complex is children.]

The crucial piece of information from the old rule sheet suddenly flashed in Takakai's mind.

He thought he had understood the meaning of this taboo.

But now, looking back, it seemed like he had only just touched the surface.

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