The one-day, two-night trip to the hot spring hotel could be said to have been a very pleasant experience for Takumi.
The flame that Chika had been teasing and stoking within him for several days had now been thoroughly released. He had further explored the topic of life together with Chika and Maki. It could be said that everything was in its most beautiful and joyful stage—so much so that Takumi could even describe it with the word happiness.
As a result, when he returned home—back to his somewhat lonely little house—Takumi felt a bit unaccustomed and somewhat listless.
"I really want to keep being with Maki and Chika…"
Sitting on the sofa, Takumi could not help but murmur softly. Then, with a helpless motion, he sat up and picked up a printed map placed on the table.
Naturally, this map was of Fujihana Middle School—or, to be more precise, it was a rough layout of Fujihana Middle School.
It was said that each time the game began, the interior of the buildings there would change, forming distorted configurations that did not match the exterior at all. Therefore, the only permanently valid map was merely this rough distribution diagram.
Through this map, Takumi was able to confirm the basic features of various areas such as the Teaching Building, the Residential Wing, the Swimming Pool, and the Athletic Field. For example, the Teaching Building had three entrances, one of which connected to the Residential Wing and was concealed by a green belt. The Athletic Field was mainly divided into two areas: the basketball court and the soccer field. The main entrance of the Residential Wing led to the basketball court. The Swimming Pool was an isolated building located on one side of the soccer field. There was also a pedestrian path encircling the entire campus, and so on.
Although, for now, the possibility of Takumi entering the pseudo–Red Moon-level ultra-difficult Instance known as "Campus Uncanny" was not very high—and even if he did enter, it was not certain that he would start in the area of Fujihana Middle School—since he had already carefully gathered and studied so much related intelligence, he might as well finish reading the remaining relevant information.
"If it turns out that I get pulled into the Instance precisely because I've read so much intelligence about it, that would be really bad."
Looking at the map in his hand, Takumi could not help but complain.
Ding-dong—
The doorbell rang.
Who would be looking for him at this time?
Takumi pondered in slight confusion. He stood up, first slipping quickly to the window to secretly glance outside. Only after discovering that it was Yotsuya Miko did he go to the door to answer the intercom and open it, letting her in.
For her to come looking for him was not something unexpected to Takumi.
However, he had thought she would wait a little longer before coming to him.
After all, these Aberrations that appeared every night were quite different from the monsters in the original work Mieruko-chan. These things were ignorant and unfeeling; even if they were seen, they would not do anything to the observer. Therefore, the pressure Miko had to bear was far less than in the original work—she could completely rely on her own willpower to adapt to their existence.
Yet she had hurried over now, which meant that something must have changed, forcing her to begin seeking assistance.
Not knowing the specific details of what had happened, Takumi did not make wild guesses. He simply led Miko to sit down in the living room and waited for her to explain the situation herself.
However, he seemed to faintly sense something strange.
It was a kind of extremely discordant, peculiar feeling that was difficult to describe in words.
As though it was not only Yotsuya Miko who had walked through his door, but that something else had followed her in as well.
This feeling was truly uncomfortable—but there was no need to pay too much attention to it…
Why was there no need to pay too much attention to such a thing?
"Yotsuya-san, do you mean that someone among your classmates is carrying out some kind of spiritual ritual?"
In the living room, Takumi looked at the girl sitting opposite him, who appeared to be in quite a haggard state, and slowly asked.
"Yes. I don't know how to put it… I always feel like the people around me are being controlled in their hearts by something. They've become unable to think about the consequences of their actions, and they don't care about the possible dangers behind what they're doing. They just throw themselves into it with full interest. It makes me feel very afraid—terrified. There are far fewer people in my class now, but no one seems to notice it at all. It's as if those people have disappeared from everyone's memories. And I can't even remember the names of those classmates anymore…"
During this period of time, Miko had clearly been bearing enormous psychological pressure. Now that she was finally able to confide in Takumi, she poured everything out in one breath.
This feeling was truly quite strange.
She had barely met this man a few times, and this was only the second time they had actually spoken and communicated. Yet she seemed to instinctively trust him, feeling that he was someone who was "in the same world" as her. Because of that, she could speak without restraint about things she had never dared to say before.
Perhaps this was what people called a sense of security.
Just like now—after hearing her speak of such extremely bizarre matters, this man named Takumi would never, like other people, tell her things such as "You're too tense" or "These are just coincidences, there's no need to care." Instead, he would seriously take what she said to heart, think about it, analyze it, and—just like her—treat this as a kind of ominous precursor to some strange event and examine it carefully.
"It does sound quite bad. By the way, you know the name of that ritual, right? What is it called?"
Takumi's expression had already grown grave. From Miko's words, what he could infer was either that some player had used an Obsession Item to carry out some action in that school—or that the power of an Instance had manifested and descended into the real world. And the kind of possibility implied by the latter made the unease in his heart grow increasingly severe.
Could such a possibility really exist?
He could not help lowering his head to look at the black watch he was unable to remove.
He had recognized the problem and had tried to take action, doing his best to reduce the potential dangers he might encounter.
So had this watch, in response to his actions, thrown the problem directly in front of him the moment he finished collecting all the clues he could gather?
Are you seriously messing with me?!
"Yes. I remember. The name of that ritual is 'Alice Game.'"
Then, at Miko's next sentence, all expression on Takumi's face froze.
So it really was like this.
At that moment, Takumi could not help but let out a soft sigh.
"Takumi-san, do you… know what exactly is going on?"
Miko was still cautiously watching Takumi as she softly asked him.
"Mm. I know. I really do know."
Takumi nodded with a rather heavy expression as he replied. At the same time, a trace of vigilance gradually surfaced in his heart.
The manifestation of an Instance's power in reality possessed an Aberrant nature. As someone affected by that power, Miko should not have been able to remember the abnormal state within the school.
Yet not only had she become aware of the existence of those vanished students, she had also noticed the abnormality of forgetting their names and had tried to seek external help. This process had absolutely exceeded the three-to-four-hour upper limit of the forgetting time that Kaguya had tested. And that meant that the Miko of this world possessed a powerful perception capable of breaking through the cognitive masking of Aberrant power. That she happened to come to his house today—on the very day he returned—and speak to him about matters related to the Aberrant, while he himself had just faintly sensed something off…
A girl wearing the same sailor uniform as Miko, yet for some reason covered in grime, passed through the corridor outside the living room within the corner of Takumi's vision.
At that moment, the power of blessing trembled violently.
Every hair on his body stood on end. Every inch of his skin, every nerve, trembled under the threat of death.
Something had indeed come in.
After he had opened the door for Miko and let her in, something had followed behind her and entered his house together with the girl.
Takumi rose to his feet and looked toward the half-open living room door and the corridor outside it.
At this very moment, aside from the area illuminated by the living room light, the rest of the corridor within Takumi's line of sight had already become pitch-black—so dark that one could not see one's hand in front of one's face.
Had the corridor originally been that dark?
And that sudden figure that had just appeared—could that not already be considered an Aberrant openly declaring its own existence?
"Takumi-san?"
Miko noticed the sudden change in Takumi's expression and, realizing that something bad might have happened, turned her head along his line of sight toward the living room entrance. Then she noticed the heavy darkness in the corridor.
It was just like the restroom she had seen in her dream during the day.
Miko's body trembled violently, and the look of fear on her face was almost impossible to suppress.
"Come here. Don't go near that side."
Only after repeatedly confirming Miko's condition with the power of blessing did Takumi gesture for her to come over.
The little girl trembled as she cautiously moved closer to Takumi's side, looking fearfully toward the door. Although she had not yet seen any abnormal phenomenon appear there, in Miko's eyes it had already become the hiding place of something terrifying.
Encountering an Aberration inside his own home—and on the very afternoon he had just returned from his vacation trip—was truly a troublesome situation that Takumi could not laugh about. However, an anomaly of this degree was not enough to throw him into disarray. On the contrary, the current strange phenomenon was sufficient to make his mind tense up and return him to the focused state he maintained while inside an Instance.
The first thing to confirm was whether communication could still be used normally.
Takumi picked up his phone and sent a text message to Maki, asking whether she wanted to go out for dinner together in the evening.
About two minutes later, the other side replied, saying that she could come out for dinner and asking whether there was anything Takumi wanted to eat so she could find a restaurant in advance and make a reservation.
On the surface, everything seemed normal.
But at the same time, Takumi had already initiated communication with Maki through their mental link, asking about her situation.
{I just sent you a text message. Did you receive it?}
{Hm? What text message? I didn't receive anything here.}
Very good. The communication had already been cut off, and some Aberrant thing was impersonating her to send and receive messages.
After confirming this situation, Takumi slowly exhaled. Then he lowered his head to look at the new messages sent by "Maki," deleted them without even reading them, and immediately afterward, the other side called. In the next moment, Takumi crushed his phone in his hand, reducing it to fragments and throwing it into the trash can.
At that moment, Miko beside him also received a call. The caller ID showed that it was her mother.
"Don't answer it."
Takumi pressed down on the hand with which Miko was holding the phone and spoke to her seriously.
"From now on, until we can truly confirm that we are out of danger, don't answer any calls again—no matter who is calling you. The same goes for messages. Don't read them. Sometimes it's because we see something we shouldn't that we fall into danger."
After warning Miko in this way, Takumi hung up the call for her and directly took the phone from her hand, turning it off.
Miko said nothing. After seeing Takumi send a message and then crush his phone without hesitation, she had already understood what he meant—understood that whoever was calling and sending messages to her now was probably no longer human.
"What… should we do?"
The girl, her body trembling slightly, could only look at Takumi and ask in a soft voice.
She didn't cry, didn't make a fuss, and didn't collapse in fright. For a newcomer, that was already a commendable quality. Although, under the current circumstances, if this really was that so-called Alice's Grand Adventure Game, then no matter how outstanding a rookie was, it wouldn't mean much anyway.
"Don't panic. Don't be afraid. Listen to me. Can you do that?"
As he spoke, Takumi grabbed Miko's shoulders and slowly pulled her backward, retreating step by step in the direction away from the door.
As for what kind of behavioral rules an Aberration that had appeared in the real world would follow, Takumi had no way of knowing.
The only thing he could be certain of was that this thing likely hadn't triggered its killing rule yet. Otherwise, that girl earlier wouldn't have merely come out for a brief appearance.
They had to find a way to leave this house.
Takumi's gaze swiftly shifted to the window on one side of the room.
It was fitted with anti-theft bars, but with Takumi's ability, he could completely break them open. The window led out to the street outside.
He could see the street beneath the setting sun.
He could see pedestrians passing back and forth along the road.
He could see a row of male and female students in school uniforms standing on the street, lined up shoulder to shoulder, their backs to the window, completely motionless.
If he tried to get out through there, he would undoubtedly run straight into those "people" standing outside with their backs to him.
The dense malice and inhuman presence made Takumi immediately abandon that idea.
{Takumi-kun, how are things on your side right now?}
Maki's voice continued to echo in Takumi's mind.
{Very bad. There's a group of those things standing outside the window with their backs to me, and at least one has already entered the house. Did you receive the calls I made to you earlier? I've already crushed my phone—I can't possibly call anyone anymore.}
While cautiously observing the surroundings, Takumi continued communicating with Maki.
{Not only did you call—you called many times. I didn't answer. I've already contacted Auntie and Chika; they both know about your situation now and won't answer your calls.}
As a reliable partner, Maki naturally wouldn't make mistakes on this sort of issue. After Takumi had abruptly asked her earlier whether she had received his messages, she had already realized there was a problem. She quickly contacted Kaguya and Chika to explain the situation. After that, no matter how many calls or texts Takumi sent her, she neither checked nor answered them, trusting only the messages transmitted through their mental link.
{Good. Find a way to contact Kogawa Shu and Aoyama Nanami and tell them I've been attacked by the Aberration from Fujihana Middle School within the Instance of Campus Uncanny. Those two might have some relevant experience or solutions. Be extremely careful on the way. If you encounter students standing motionless with their backs to you, immediately use the power of blessing to confirm their condition. If it's an Aberration, withdraw from that area at once.}
Takumi rapidly communicated with Maki through the mental link, and at that very moment, the surrounding environment began to change.
Click—
The television, which had originally been turned off, suddenly switched on for some unknown reason.
Amid the static noise, the screen showed a live broadcast of a reporter visiting a school for an interview. At that very moment, the image displayed the reporter standing inside a classroom, smiling at the camera. Behind the reporter, the pale-faced students also opened their mouths and smiled happily at the screen.
But their smiles—after slightly turning their heads—were directed toward Takumi and Miko standing to the side of the television. They were smiling at the two of them, silently.
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