[Teacher already noticed, didn't you?]
Miko's face showed a teasing smile that she herself would never wear.
"You've already forgotten your good friend Kumagai Mai?"
Takumi spoke calmly. His very first sentence successfully choked Alice, freezing her smile in place.
[That's such an unlikable thing for a teacher to say. It was clearly you who took Alice's friend away and then let her die. Don't you feel even a little guilty? Or are you just like everyone else—thinking that as long as the one who dies isn't you, it doesn't matter? Alice thought you weren't that kind of person.]
Tilting her head, Alice spoke again, her tone subtly shifting, carrying a hint of irritation and wounded pride.
"From the moment the illusion you created on the rooftop was forcibly terminated, to the time we arrived at this platform—I've been keeping track of the time. It lines up almost perfectly. Even after being restricted by the system, as long as you've already possessed Miko, you can use a living body to buy yourself time to break free. That much, I've made sure to understand."
Takumi's tone remained steady.
During the second loop, he had already used the 'friend rule' to restrict her once, temporarily forcing Alice into silence. It wasn't until he was constrained by Principal Elephant's mechanism and sent into the underground area that she returned to her usual incessant chatter.
So after Mai's sacrifice this time, Takumi had been waiting—for the moment Alice would fully recover and make her move against him.
As for Miko herself…
All he could say was that it was unfortunate. Being separated by Alice's illusion on the rooftop for even that short moment had been enough for her to be possessed. Takumi genuinely wanted to stop it—but he simply didn't have the means.
But that no longer mattered.
In the third loop, he would seize Alice's final Obsession Item and completely shatter the illusion of Fujihana Middle School.
And regardless of whether he succeeded in destroying the instance this time, Takumi had already decided—
He would kill himself and restart for a fourth loop.
Whether it was the reliable veteran Kumagai Mai, or Miko, who had stumbled along beside him this entire time—
He would save them all.
As for the suffering they endured…
He alone would remember it.
For now, however—when it came to dealing with Alice, Takumi already had his guard up.
So, when he descended from the rooftop, he had already ordered the rescue team member in Zone 0 to discard the veteran player's puppet and climb down through the still-open elevator shaft. Keeping a deliberate distance, they would move covertly through the underground area, searching for the true location of Alice's Obsession Item.
As for what Takumi needed to do now—
It was to stall.
To delay Alice for as long as possible before she realized the diversion.
Buzz—
The heavy iron door behind them slowly closed.
Alice, still possessing Miko, smiled at Takumi.
In the next instant—
Takumi suddenly leapt upward from where he stood, landing on the ceiling. Grabbing onto a hanging pipe, he suspended himself in midair, looking down expressionlessly as he continued staring at Alice.
[Oh? Teacher's doing acrobatics now?]
Alice looked genuinely surprised.
"Just making sure you don't shove the answer to your puzzle into my hands."
Takumi replied calmly.
[That makes sense. After all, Alice can't jump around like Teacher can. So as long as Teacher keeps that position, Alice won't be able to become friends with Teacher.]
Alice giggled, seemingly unconcerned by his actions.
But Takumi couldn't help paying close attention to her words—
Faintly, he sensed that something about them was off.
Alice had just said she thought I was "different from the other teachers," and she seemed oddly fixated on becoming my friend. This "difference"… could it be related to my identity? Just like in the Shirakawa Apartments and the Red Nut Grey Cave, besides the Student role I'm playing in this Instance, I also have a hidden identity—and Alice has seen through it?
Takumi recalled once more the execution list he had seen earlier, and the final name on that list—the teacher who likely hadn't been executed in time.
In the next instant, an intense sense of danger surged through his perception.
He released his grip, then clenched both hands into fists.
Dropping down from the ceiling, Takumi landed as Alice's figure had already vanished from the ground below. A fresh, blood-red mark had appeared across his shoulder.
The Big Bad Wolf had shown up.
"Tch." He clicked his tongue. Earlier, that thing had been immobilized by Mai's Obsession Item, so he hadn't paid it much attention. Now it had caught up again?
At this moment, Takumi couldn't see the Aberration at all. Alice's illusions had once again blanketed the entire hall, and the only entrance and exit had been sealed by some unknown method, turning this place into a dead zone with no way in or out.
His footsteps suddenly accelerated.
In the next instant, Takumi burst into rapid movement.
The blessing that allowed him to sense Aberrations and malice had already begun to operate. Even though the illusions obscured everything, he had already sensed this ghostly wolf on the rooftop before. The blessing had memorized its aura—so as long as it came within a certain range, Takumi would be able to react immediately and evade.
Boom!
A heavy step struck the ground, sending shattered stones flying.
The pipe-laced hall transformed into a bright, sunlit classroom. Every seat was occupied by small students, all watching Takumi with anticipation.
In the blink of an eye, all the seats turned empty again—leaving only bloodstains, along with white chrysanthemums and red candles placed neatly on the desks.
"So, you think this kind of thing can get to me?"
Realizing Alice seemed to be trying something, Takumi deliberately shouted loudly. At the same time, he pushed the power of the Rescue Team Badge to its limit, continuing to move at an inhuman speed as he evaded the pursuing wolf.
[I just thought Teacher might feel nostalgic. And Alice is also one of Teacher's students, you know. Even if Teacher is no longer acknowledged by the students, even if the school has stripped you of your status as a teacher, Alice will still treat you as Teacher.]
The girl's soft laughter echoed through the empty classroom.
"And you call this treating me like a teacher? You've got quite the talent for lying. From where I stand, you're nothing more than a thoroughly deranged monster—"
Unable to stop moving, Takumi answered through gritted teeth while continuing to dodge. Suddenly, he slammed into an invisible wall. He hastily dodged away, but the pursuing Aberration still managed to carve another wound into his body.
The walls here couldn't be broken either.
At the moment of impact, Takumi clearly sensed the aura of the Aberrations from the 0th Floor seeping through the cracks in the wall. Even though he had already reached the underground research facility beneath the Dormitory Building, this place was still governed by the Dormitory's rules.
It was likely because the rules of the 0th Floor themselves extended to the underground levels, causing the research facility to fall under their coverage.
"Tch… this makes things even worse. Just relying on the Rescue Team Badge, I can't widen the gap from that thing. But if I use the blessing, my body won't hold out for long…"
Just like in the previous loops—once Alice truly made her move against Takumi, she could always push him into a life-threatening situation. He was already so familiar with this experience that nothing she pulled out next would surprise him.
…Actually, he could already guess what her next move would be. Ever since entering this underground base, he hadn't encountered any Aberrations here.
He just didn't know when exactly that Aberration would appear. Its formation had nothing to do with Alice, so she shouldn't be able to control it. The fact that he hadn't been attacked so far might mean he hadn't triggered whatever condition activated it.
If that was the case, Alice could easily use her illusions to fabricate a situation where he triggered that condition.
…How is this ability so disgusting?
[Teacher really doesn't hold back with your words, huh. But Alice is in a very good mood, so I'll forgive you.]
Amid Alice's giggling voice, Takumi was caught again by the wolf's shadow, another wound tearing across his body.
A crimson glow flared in his eyes.
At that moment, Takumi finally released the power of the blessing.
But immediately after, an overwhelming force suddenly struck from behind—slamming him to the ground even in his enhanced state. With a thunderous crash, the impact shattered the floor into cracks, sending pipes bursting and debris flying in all directions.
Something bit into his back, tearing a chunk of flesh straight off.
He couldn't see it.
Not because of Alice's illusions—but because the thing had lived in darkness for so long that it had completely forgotten its own form. It could no longer be perceived by any means.
This flesh-devouring Aberration seemed to move by scenting blood. Yet Alice, using her sensory-distorting abilities, had severed its perception of Takumi's bleeding, maintaining that concealment—until the moment he activated the blessing, allowing it to finally locate him.
The ghostly wolf lunged again, clamping down on one of Takumi's arms and tearing it clean off.
The severed limb rolled across the ground.
Alice bent down, picked it up, and pried open the tightly clenched fingers one by one.
[Every bad child has a bad, bad wolf watching them at all times. Hehe—this is a fairy tale the Principal Elephant once told Alice.]
With a soft laugh, Alice gently placed a somewhat worn, slightly damaged toothbrush—likely belonging to some researcher—onto the hand that had just been bitten off from Takumi.
"Then… are you a bad child?"
Though Takumi was being forcibly pinned to the ground and gnawed at by the Aberration, his face pale and drenched in cold sweat, the voice that came from his mouth showed not the slightest trace of panic.
[Well, when Alice asked the Principal Elephant a question back then, it was this: what kind of person can face a bad, bad wolf like that without fear—and even make the bad, bad wolf feel afraid, or even submit and become a good doggie?]
Alice covered her mouth with one hand, her laughter brimming with barely concealed malicious delight.
I see.
Takumi understood.
The "Alice" that had originally been created as an Aberration—although constrained by the rules imposed by the school—had likely been seeking ways to break through those rules all along. And by exploiting the very people who had established them, she had successfully uncovered loopholes within them.
Within Fujihana Middle School, the true "identity" that Alice possessed was most likely a special identity that only she held—one that the researchers of that time had been unconsciously guided into creating by her influence. That was why she could act so recklessly without restraint.
[And so next, Teacher is finally going to become Alice's friend~]
Amid her light laughter, the girl slowly walked up to Takumi and crouched down in front of him.
At that very moment, as Takumi felt the increasingly intense invasive force spreading through his consciousness—eroding and attempting to dominate him—he let out a slow breath. Struggling, he forced his body up despite his back and parts of his internal organs having nearly been eaten away. Looking at Alice in front of him, he gave a faint smile and spoke slowly: "Yeah… now it's finally time for the counterkill."
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