"Miko, help me." Natsuki's tone was sincere. "You don't want me to break up someone else's family, do you?"
"Pfft!"
Miko spat lightly, so angry that she raised her right hand and pinched Natsuki's waist.
"How could you say something so shameless!"
"Do you believe I'll tell Kaguya-san and the others?"
Natsuki whispered, "If you want to tell everyone, the premise is to return to the original world. The fact is, we don't know how long it will take to go back."
Miko asked in confusion, "Didn't you say before that we could go back in just a few days?"
Natsuki shook his head and said, "If we're lucky, we can go back in a few days. If we're unlucky, it might take ten days or half a month... In short, the longer it takes, the greater the possibility of me making a mistake. Miko, you don't want to see me commit an unforgivable error, do you?"
Miko was so angry that she extended her right hand and pinched Natsuki's waist again:
"Can't you just endure it?!"
Natsuki said sternly, "I've been trying very hard to endure it, otherwise..."
Miko asked, puzzled, "Otherwise, what?"
Humans clearly have strong endurance. Those great mages who are thirty years old and still don't have girlfriends, none of them have exploded, have they?
Natsuki said faintly, "Otherwise, you'd be crying and apologizing right now."
"Eh?"
Miko blinked, and it took her a few seconds to react. Her pretty face quickly flushed, one hand covering her chest, the other patting Natsuki warningly:
"Don't even think about that!"
Natsuki said innocently, "That's why I need Miko's help."
"Ptooey~"
Miko spat lightly. Seeing that Natsuki still showed no signs of cooling down after such a long delay, a hint of hesitation flashed across her pretty face. Ultimately, she was still worried about Natsuki making a fundamental mistake. Her face was flushed like fire, and she nervously extended her hand...
Natsuki said in surprise, "Thank you, Miko."
Miko turned her head away, even the tips of her ears turning crimson, her voice trembling slightly as she said, "Don't talk!"
"..."
Twenty minutes passed in a flash.
The lounge remained quiet until a knock on the door broke the silence.
Bang, bang, bang.
"Open the door, open it now!"
Momo's shouts came from outside the door.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
A muffled cough immediately echoed in the lounge.
Followed by Natsuki's voice:
"Wait a moment, I'll be right out."
After speaking, Natsuki reached out and rubbed Miko's head, took out a bottle of mineral water, and handed it to his teary-eyed childhood friend:
"Miko, you worked hard."
For some reason, Miko's pretty face was so red it looked like it was about to bleed. She covered her mouth, her eyes watery, and her expression of panic and shame made her want to find a crack in the ground to crawl into. Hearing this, she could no longer hold back. She reached out and pinched Natsuki's waist, gritting her teeth and saying:
"You still say that! It's all your fault!"
"It's my fault." Natsuki put down the water and raised his hands, saying, "I'm going out for a bit, Miko. You rest first, and wait for me to come back."
"..."
Pushing open the door and stepping out of the lounge, he saw Momo and Parallel World Miko standing outside the door.
"Why are you only coming out now?" Momo's eyes were suspicious. "What were you secretly doing in there?"
Natsuki said without changing his expression:
"It's normal for a high school student like me to have some privacy, isn't it?"
"Tsk." Momo curled her lips in disdain and said, "Three minutes have passed, and you're only coming out now... Wait a minute!"
Momo suddenly widened her eyes, as if she had thought of something:
"I haven't seen Miko at all, could she be in the lounge?"
Natsuki said nonchalantly:
"Miko is clearly right next to you."
Momo put her right hand on her hip and said:
"I'm clearly talking about the Miko who came with you from the parallel world, don't pretend you don't understand."
Parallel World Miko gently tugged her, for some reason, a faint blush appeared on her pretty face, and she whispered:
"Don't talk about it, the main business is important."
Natsuki took the opportunity to change the subject:
"Why are you suddenly knocking on the door instead of resting properly?"
Momo crossed her arms over her chest and snorted lightly:
"You're just thinking about resting, you haven't even noticed that two survivors are missing, have you?"
"Two people are missing?"
Natsuki was slightly stunned and went to the internet cafe lobby.
After several days of surviving the apocalypse, these survivors had gradually adapted from their initial fear and anxiety.
It must be said that humans are indeed a highly adaptable species.
But at this moment, expressions of fear and anxiety reappeared on the faces of every unfortunate soul.
"Natsuki-kun!"
"Natsuki-sama!"
Seeing Natsuki appear, these unfortunate souls shouted with anticipation.
Natsuki scanned the room and said directly:
"Do you know who the two missing people are?"
"I know, I know." A middle-aged man stood up, still wearing his yellow raincoat. This item, as a special prop, automatically changes size according to the user's body shape, so it didn't look ridiculous. "It's Ms. Kobayashi and Mr. Hirata. We went out together today to explore the outside world, and when we were about to come back, we found that they were both gone, but we couldn't find them no matter what... Finally, it was almost dark, and there was nothing we could do but come back first."
Beside the middle-aged man, several others nodded in agreement.
Having only been in the apocalypse for a few short days, these unfortunate souls had already formed their own small groups, and during the day, they all went out in these small groups.
The middle-aged man said nervously:
"Natsuki-kun, could I trouble you..."
Natsuki raised an eyebrow and interrupted directly:
"So, just because it got dark, you abandoned your companions and ran back yourselves?"
Hearing this, several people showed ashamed expressions.
Natsuki turned to look at the others, and said calmly:
"Is anyone else lost?"
The other unfortunate souls all shook their heads, indicating that no one around them was lost.
Natsuki withdrew his gaze and looked at the small group led by the middle-aged man, asking:
"What do you plan to do?"
The middle-aged man said cautiously:
"We want to ask Natsuki-kun..."
"Stop." Natsuki raised his right hand, interrupting him and taking the initiative, saying, "I clearly said this morning that once you leave the internet cafe, no matter what you encounter outside, you are responsible for your own affairs. You wouldn't make a high school student like me risk danger to go out and help find people alone, would you?"
"..."
The lobby immediately fell silent.
Many people had overlooked Natsuki's identity as a high school student, and now that he had revealed it, they suddenly couldn't speak the words that followed.
To make a high school student go out and take risks while they themselves hid and rested in an underground internet cafe, people with even a little bit of shame truly couldn't say such things.
After a moment, someone spoke in a low voice:
"But we are all ordinary people..."
Natsuki said expressionlessly:
"When you went out, you said you were adults and guaranteed to be responsible for yourselves if anything happened. Now you're ordinary people again?"
"..."
The unfortunate soul who had been muttering quietly looked away in shame, speechless.
Of course, if someone was lost, they still needed to be looked after.
If it were just Natsuki alone, it wouldn't matter. He couldn't even remember the names of many of the unfortunate souls, and he could completely walk away without any pangs of conscience.
But now, it was different.
Since Miko had also transmigrated, if he just abandoned everyone and left, Miko's conscience would definitely not be able to bear it.
Given that...
Natsuki chose to take the initiative and seize the moral high ground first.
"Let's all vote by a show of hands." Natsuki clapped his hands, attracting everyone's attention. "Regarding the lost Ms. Kobayashi and Mr. Hirata, are you all willing to go out and look for them?"
The people in the internet cafe all raised their hands, indicating their agreement.
"Very good." Natsuki smiled. "Since everyone unanimously agrees to go out and find people, then everyone will go out together. There's strength in numbers."
Hearing this, someone immediately said in surprise:
"We have to go out too?"
Natsuki retorted:
"Ms. Kobayashi and Mr. Hirata were your companions on the same subway, like siblings, your dearest friends and family. You wouldn't even be unwilling to go out and look for them, would you?"
"..."
The woman who had spoken immediately pursed her lips, feeling the terrifying pressure of the moral high ground.
The expressions of the others were also very complex.
In their opinion, Natsuki, as an ability user, was enough to go out and search alone. Now, he actually wanted everyone to go out in the rain together. Many people were unwilling in their hearts and wanted to refuse.
But under the pressure of the moral high ground, no one could speak out.
What?
You're not going?
Those are your siblings, your dearest friends and family. Now that they're lost, you're not even willing to go out and look for them? Are you still qualified to be human?
So, they had to go out no matter what.
"Since no one refused, then it means everyone agrees." Natsuki smiled. "Rest for ten minutes, eat if you need to, and then we'll all set off together."
It must be said, standing on the moral high ground felt incredibly satisfying, even his pores opened up.
"You're too wicked, aren't you?" Momo lowered her voice and couldn't help but complain, "Many people had expressions like they were constipated just now."
Natsuki smiled:
"Rather than being morally kidnapped by others, it's much more enjoyable to kidnap everyone first."
"Tsk."
"..."
Natsuki turned and returned to the lounge, raising his hand to knock on the door.
"Come in."
Miko's voice came from the lounge.
Natsuki pushed the door open and entered, smiling:
"Miko, I have two pieces of news now, one good and one bad. Which one do you want to hear first?"
Miko had one hand covering her chest and the other covering her skirt, the blush on her face hadn't completely faded, and she said cautiously:
"You tell me the bad news first."
Natsuki said regretfully:
"The bad news is that we encountered an emergency, and we can't continue."
"Ptooey~"
Miko spat lightly and couldn't help but retort:
"That's clearly good news!"
Natsuki continued:
"And then the good news is, someone got lost..."
"Eh?"
"..."
Natsuki sat on the edge of the bed and told Miko the whole situation from earlier.
Since he said everyone had to act together, Miko was naturally no exception, otherwise, some people might harbor resentment.
"Someone actually got lost?" Miko frowned slightly, somewhat worried, "Did they encounter danger?"
"I don't know." Natsuki shook his head. "It could be simply getting lost, or it could be bad luck and encountering an anomaly. Everyone should be responsible for their own actions, and we can't manage that much."
"I know..."
Miko nodded lightly, but Miko was ultimately an ordinary person. Knowing was one thing, and a change in mindset was another:
"You go out first, I'll change my clothes and be right there."
Natsuki nodded, walked out of the lounge, and stood before Hachishakusama.
"Little one, I need to go back and rest." Hachishakusama sat on the sofa, still slowly sipping her tea, completely unconcerned by the recent events. Her voice was languid as she said, "The feeling of emptiness is growing stronger."
"Madam has worked hard."
Natsuki nodded and brought Hachishakusama back into the Midnight Theater.
The Strange Tales and malevolent spirits of this world are also susceptible to the erosion of emptiness, though the process is greatly slowed down. Nevertheless, over time, it can still drive monsters insane.
Natsuki pondered for a moment, deciding not to summon any other employees for now. This was a time for everyone to act together—
If he did everything himself, what would be left for others to do?
Ten minutes later.
Everyone had gathered.
Natsuki stood at the highest point of the internet cafe and spoke loudly:
"Ms. Kobayashi and Mr. Hirata are our companions. If they got lost for no reason, they could be in mortal danger. Can anyone just stand by and do nothing?"
"Of course not!"
"So we must find them as soon as possible… Let's go!"
Some were enthusiastic, some were just going through the motions, and others were reluctant, but no one could utter a word of refusal.
No one could withstand the ultimate punch of moral blackmail.
In such an atmosphere, everyone walked out of the internet cafe.
The next second.
A cold wind, mixed with fine rain, blew in their faces, causing many to shiver.
"Why is it still raining?"
Miko hugged her arms, shivering slightly.
"This rain has been falling for a long time; it hasn't stopped," Parallel World Miko said calmly. "It might be related to a type of monster."
Momo asked curiously:
"Eh, what kind of monster?"
Parallel World Miko said calmly:
"It's a type of white rain doll floating high in the sky."
"I see." Momo suddenly understood. "No wonder it's been raining non-stop. So those monsters are behind it."
Natsuki mused:
"What do you think, if we caught a few rain dolls and took them back, then sold them to people in desert regions, how much money could we make?"
Momo couldn't help but retort:
"You're thinking too much, trying to make money from monsters!"
"…"
Compared to the casualness of Natsuki and the others, the other passerby passengers felt much worse.
A cold, silent, and dead rainy night.
An empty, long street.
Clothes scattered all over the ground.
And various monsters occasionally appearing in the corners…
Even with twenty or thirty people walking together, the feeling of loneliness and chill still relentlessly encroached.
They hadn't walked far before many passengers began to feel regret. The ghostly Tokyo during the day was one thing, but once night fell, it became indescribably eerie and frightening.
But the arrow was on the string, the die was cast; they couldn't possibly say they wanted to go back…