Chapter 67: No Breathing (2)

[There’s just one thing missing from this joyful banquet hall! Can you guess what it is~!?]

The Pierrot’s lively voice BOOMED throughout the banquet hall.

Yet no one dared to answer right away.

A heavy silence descended.

People only stole fearful glances at one another.

The Pierrot let out a long, exaggerated sigh. PUUUHHH—

[No, no, no, no, no……. This won’t do at all. You’re making things difficult for me……. I prepared so much just for all of you……. ]

The Pierrot’s voice began to change bit by bit.

[The hall, the tables, the carpets, the chairs, the cutlery, the food, the drinks, the chocolate fountain, the pamphlets, the events, the balloons, the bingo games, the quizzes……!]

Its tone turned into the screech of an awl scraping across an iron plate.

Before anyone noticed, the Pierrot’s face had twisted into something demonic.

Its huge eyeballs flashed with dark crimson light, and inside its mouth—split all the way to the ears—sharp, needle-like teeth were densely packed.

The Pierrot opened its terrifying maw.

[……If you keep acting like that, I really can’t help you.]

A winter-cold chill swept through the banquet hall.

But only for a moment.

Suddenly the Pierrot clapped its hands and began cackling.

[Ah ha! Ahahaha! Look at me, losing my mind! I forgot to explain the reward for answering correctly! Oh no, oh no! That’s why no one answered! Right? That was it, wasn’t it, everyone?]

The Pierrot continued with its playful face once more.

[The person who gets the right answer will be sent straight to the next floor, no questions asked! Come on, come on, who wants to tell me the answer? No one? The faster you speak, the more you gain!]

At those words, people hurriedly began looking around the hall.

The banquet hall was overflowing with enough food, drinks, and entertainment to party for days.

Then a man wearing glasses shot his hand up.

“Me, the answer!”

[The first challenger steps forward! Go ahead and tell us!]

The chubby man swallowed hard.

“Th-that…… What’s missing here is children.”

[Oho! Children! Immature human specimens from age six to twelve, yes? A very interesting answer. Unfortunately…….]

The Pierrot snapped its fingers with a CLICK.

[Wrong!]

At that exact moment, something EXPLODED.

BANG~! Splatter-splatter-splatter!

With the sound of a watermelon bursting, the chubby man’s head vanished without a trace.

Chunks of flesh and blood sprayed across the banquet hall.

THUD!

The headless corpse immediately collapsed onto the carpet.

“……!”

“……!”

“!”

This time, no one screamed.

If we upset the Pierrot, we might die.

People covered their mouths with both hands, thinking exactly that.

I quietly observed the situation as well.

Judging by how easily it killed an A-rank hunter, the Pierrot’s danger level was at least A+ or higher.

Of course, if I used skills like the Seven Demon Ultimate Techniques, I could probably defeat it.

But most of the techniques I possess are wide-area attacks.

If I used them recklessly, civilians would die too.

Soon the Pierrot spoke again in a cheerful voice.

[That was a clearly wrong answer, wasn’t it? My question wasn’t about something “missing” but something “lacking”! Hmm, still…… killing him just for a wrong answer was a bit too much. Invalid, invalid~!]

The Pierrot wiggled its finger at the fallen corpse.

Then.

CRACK—CRACK!

The headless body stood up, bones twisting and popping.

The Pierrot plucked a balloon that had been stuck to the ceiling and stuck it onto the corpse’s neck.

[Ta-da~! Now it’s invalid! He’s alive again! See, I didn’t kill him! Hahahahaha—]

People’s faces grew even paler.

After a long while with no one guessing correctly, the Pierrot finally spoke.

[Oh dear, was the question too hard? I tried to make it as easy as possible. This won’t do. I’ll have to give a hint. Right? Okay, I’ll ask you!]

The woman the Pierrot pointed at began trembling violently, clutching the tablecloth around her body.

The Pierrot continued.

[What did I call this place earlier? Maslow’s Tower, First Floor. I said it was a certain hierarchy of needs. Do you remember!?]

“Uh…… that…… physiological needs……?”

[Yes, exactly! This is the First Floor of Maslow’s Tower—the hierarchy of physiological needs! That is the hint for this quiz!]

The Pierrot nodded proudly.

Physiological needs.

Hunger, sleep, sexual desire, and so on.

Essential needs directly tied to survival.

In other words, what was “lacking” here was something related to those needs.

I looked around.

Something necessary for survival……

A keyword suddenly flashed through my mind.

That thing more important than food or water for survival.

Something absolutely indispensable for every living creature, not just humans.

But at that moment.

[Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Time’s up! How disappointing. Even with a hint, no one got it. The answer is……]

The Pierrot smiled meaningfully and continued.

[The answer is “oxygen”!]

The banquet hall erupted into chaos.

[Now, the doors to the next section will open in ten minutes! But oh no—what are we going to do? All the oxygen in this hall has already run out!]

Soon people began coughing one by one.

My head spun, and my vision gradually blurred.

Symptoms of oxygen deprivation.

……I didn’t even notice.

Then, dozens of balloons hanging from the ceiling all fell to the floor at once.

The Pierrot pointed at them.

[This is the final event I prepared for today! It’s called “Oxygen Scramble”! If you want to live, grab the balloons! Fight for them! Survive until the doors open! Hahahaha—]

The moment the Pierrot finished speaking, people rushed madly toward the balloons.

They abandoned the water, food, clothes, and dishes they had been clutching and charged forward.

The Pierrot watched and spoke again.

[Each balloon contains roughly enough air to last one minute! Which means, to survive ten minutes, you’ll need to secure several balloons, right?]

People frantically began picking up the balloons scattered on the floor.

The place with the biggest crowd was in front of an advertising balloon the size of a hot-air balloon.

Naturally, the bigger the balloon, the more air it should contain.

Everyone seemed to think the same.

Soon a scuffle broke out in front of the giant balloon.

“Let go! This balloon is mine!”

“What are you saying! Don’t cut in line!”

“I have asthma. Please, please let me have it.”

“Asthma or whatever! We’re all about to die—where’s the time for that!?”

It was pure pandemonium.

Then a B-rank hunter drew his sword.

“Everyone get away from the balloons! Unless you want to die!”

Murder gleamed in his eyes.

As people hesitated and stepped back, the B-rank hunter quickly stood in front of the giant balloon.

He tried to lift it, but.

“Ugh!?”

His face instantly turned deathly pale.

What he had claimed was a balloon-shaped lump of iron.

The B-rank hunter hurriedly looked around, but every balloon nearby had already been taken by others.

Meanwhile, one young woman had cleverly collected only the light balloons, piling up a huge stack.

“Huff…… huff…… huff……”

Gasping for breath, she finally picked up one balloon.

She untied the nozzle and brought it to her mouth.

But.

“……!?”

The young woman frantically pulled the balloon away from her lips.

“What is this?”

A mosquito-like whining sound leaked from her mouth.

The Pierrot clutched its belly and roared with laughter.

[Ahaha! Helium jackpot! Your voice is hilarious! Ahahahaha! I never said every balloon contained oxygen! Ahahahahahaha!]

Sure enough.

“Uwaaaargh—!”

“W-what is this!?”

“Gah…… cough…… cough……!”

Screams erupted everywhere.

Helium-filled balloons. 

Balloons filled with filthy sewage water. 

Balloon-shaped objects carved from thorn bushes. Balloons coated with hydrochloric acid around the nozzle. 

Nitrogen-filled balloons.

Balloons that stank of something foul, and more.

Those who picked fake balloons writhed in agony.

Their heads jerked backward, intraocular pressure skyrocketed, and their eyes bulged as if about to pop out.

Classic symptoms of oxygen deprivation.

Some people’s faces had already turned purple.

Meanwhile, I gathered a bunch of balloons and tossed them upward.

Some floated all the way to the ceiling, while others fell quickly.

I selected the ones that rose relatively slowly and descended gently.

“……!”

My lungs felt like they were about to burst.

I quickly untied one of the selected balloons and inhaled deeply.

WHOOOOOSH—

Fortunately, it was real oxygen.

Then a sharp voice came from behind.

“Hand it over! I said give me the balloon!”

“D-don’t do this! Kyaaaa—!”

The B-rank hunter was now robbing others of their oxygen balloons.

Even though he already had more than twenty.

“Who knows if the doors will really open in ten minutes! Give them all to me! Don’t want to die? My life is worth more than all of yours combined! Hand everything over!”

Because the B-rank hunter swung his sword and threatened them, people had no choice but to surrender their balloons.

“Cough…… cough…… cough……”

A young man clutched his throat and collapsed.

It was the one who had said he had asthma.

At that moment, someone stepped in front of me.

“Hey. What are you doing? Didn’t you hear me? Hand over every balloon you have while I’m still asking nicely.”

The B-rank hunter had now come for my balloons.

“What are you doing? Are your ears clogged? Want to die!?”

I silently began picking up more balloons again.

One, two, three, four, five……

Then.

KABAM—

The B-rank hunter stomped on the balloon I was about to grab.

POP! It burst with a loud noise, scattering colored paper confetti everywhere.

The B-rank hunter growled.

“Hey. You think this is a joke? Can’t you read the situation!?”

I stood up and looked at him.

The B-rank hunter grimaced.

“What’s with that face? You looking down on me, you little shit!?”

He threw a punch straight at me.

But.

SWISH—

I tilted my head slightly and let the attack slide past.

Then, with the hand not holding balloons, I struck the back of his neck.

CRACK!

“Gah, guh—!”

The B-rank hunter’s eyes rolled back as he collapsed.

At the same time, all the balloons he had been clutching scattered in every direction.

Then.

“Balloons!”

“Huff, huff. B-balloon……”

“Please, just one for me……!”

People whose faces had turned blue frantically scooped up the oxygen balloons.

Soon I put one oxygen balloon to my mouth.

PSSSSSHHHHH—

Fresh oxygen flowed into my lungs.

I had a total of thirteen oxygen balloons in hand.

That should be more than enough to last the remaining time.

***

[……Ten minutes over! Good work, climbers!]

The Pierrot’s voice rang out from behind.

At the same moment.

CLANG!

The doors on the ceiling all opened at once, and ropes dropped down.

A short while later, the survivors, including me, grabbed hold of the ropes.

Then.

WHOOOOOSH—

The ropes began ascending toward the ceiling.

Looking down, I saw the Pierrot waving a handkerchief.

[Goodbye~! Bye-bye~!]

Holding onto the rope, I looked down at the banquet hall.

Six people had died in the oxygen scramble.

Two suffocated because they couldn’t find oxygen balloons, and the other four died after choosing trap balloons.

Then someone shouted up at me.

“Hey—! Student!”

The people climbing the ropes were yelling something.

“If it weren’t for you, we’d all be dead!”

“Yeah, you saved every one of us! Thank you!”

“Thank you…… thank you…… thank you……”

They were the ones who had survived thanks to the B-rank hunter’s stolen oxygen balloons.

I steeled my resolve.

I will get out of here safely.

That is all I need to think about right now.

Soon the rope reached the ceiling, and blinding light poured down.

DING-DONG!

<Entering the second section of the Physiological Needs Floor!>