Chapter 808: As Long As I Reach That Place, I Will Definitely... Huh? Who Am I? Where Am I? What Am I Doing?
The moment her mind accepted the concept of a 'haunted house,' the illusion took root.
Nibutani Shinka's knees knocked together. A cold sweat broke out across her neck, and her breath hitched in her throat. She whipped her head toward Shichimiya Satone and the others, her mouth opening to scream at them to run.
But the words died on her tongue.
The three girls weren't panicking. They had jumped slightly at her initial shout, but now they were just staring at her with utter bewilderment.
What is going on? Nibutani thought frantically. Can't they see the eerie black smoke seeping out of the floorboards?
Her mind spun with endless question marks. The haunted house had already manifested right in front of them. Why were they acting like everything was perfectly normal?
The truth was far simpler, and far crueler.
Only she could see the nightmare. Ren had casually hijacked her senses, plunging her vision into a localized, terrifying illusion.
Before her eyes, the world warped again. The cozy, exquisitely decorated living room decayed into a rotting husk. And worse, the people inside it began to change.
In Nibutani's eyes, Ren and Rikka's features melted and stretched, contorting into abstract, ferocious ghouls with hollow eyes and jagged maws.
"Mori-summer, do you think I look like a ghost?" Rikka asked.
All the blood drained from Nibutani's face, leaving her ashen.
You've already turned into a horrifying monster, and you're still asking me that?!
"Hmm? Why aren't you talking?"
Seeing the older girl staring blankly, her jaw hanging open in mute terror, Rikka blinked and looked down at her own hands. She smoothed out her skirt. Everything seemed perfectly normal to her.
"Mori-summer, what's wrong with you?" Rikka asked, taking a step forward. She reached out a hand, intending to pat Nibutani's shoulder and snap her out of her daze.
But through the lens of the illusion, Nibutani didn't see a cute high school girl. She saw a withered, decaying claw, its elongated, rotting fingers slowly reaching out to drag her into the abyss.
A bloodcurdling shriek tore through the living room.
"GHOSTS!!!"
Pure, unadulterated terror hijacked her nervous system. She spun on her heel and bolted.
She ran like her life depended on it, screaming at the top of her lungs. Yet, even in her blind panic, she managed to throw a warning over her shoulder.
"Dekomori! Satone! Kumin! RUUUUUN!!!"
"Um, Mori-summer is acting really strange." Satone scratched her cheek, thoroughly confused. She shifted her weight, unsure if she was supposed to follow the screaming girl.
"Yes, yes, she seems to be very afraid of Rikka," Tsuyuri Kumin agreed, nodding sagely from her spot on the sofa.
"Huh? Am I that scary?" Rikka's eyes lit up with sudden excitement. She crossed her arms and struck a dramatic, imposing pose. "She must be trembling in fear before the overwhelming might of my Tyrant's Eye! Hehehe~"
"Such incredible immersion!" Dekomori Sanae clapped her hands together, her eyes sparkling with absolute reverence. "Mori-summer is so deeply engrossed in her role!"
Even Dekomori, a girl suffering from terminal chuunibyou, couldn't help but marvel at the sheer dedication Nibutani was displaying.
"As expected of Mori-summer!" Dekomori pumped her fists. I absolutely have to learn this level of acting from her!
Sitting on the sofa, Ren took a slow sip of his tea, a quiet chuckle escaping his lips.
Nibutani wasn't 'immersed' in anything. She was running for her absolute life.
She burst out of the villa's front doors, her legs pumping furiously as she sprinted down the long, winding road toward the estate's main gates.
In the distance, Haruno and the others, who were currently in the middle of their cultivation practice, paused to watch the screaming girl sprint past. Not a single one of them made a move to intervene.
"Tsk. Ren is being mean and bullying people again," Nino grumbled. She was lounging by the pool in a stylish swimsuit, soaking up the sun. She pouted, adjusting her sunglasses. Everyone in the household was well aware of Ren's occasional, nasty habit of tormenting his guests for amusement.
"Ha ah~" Ichika stretched her arms above her head, letting out a lazy, contented sigh. A sly smile crept onto her lips. "Instead of focusing on Ren-kun's naughty habits, why don't we place bets on when those girls will become our new sisters?"
Yotsuba blinked, waving her hands frantically. "Eh? No, no way! They're still way too young!"
Nino pulled down her sunglasses and rolled her eyes at her energetic sister. "You're seriously forgetting about Miko, Sagiri, Hinami, and the rest? Rikka is literally their classmate."
Ren's shameless perversion already had plenty of living, breathing examples walking around the house.
"Uh... okay, fair point," Yotsuba muttered, her expression turning awkward. She hadn't really thought it through.
"One day," Miku suddenly chimed in, her voice quiet but firm.
The other four sisters turned to stare at her in shock. You were actually taking the bet seriously?
"O-one day?" Yotsuba stammered. "Isn't that a bit too exaggerated? What kind of deep relationship could he possibly establish in just twenty-four hours?"
"Ren is very capable," Miku stated, defending her logic with a completely straight face.
The sheer conviction in her voice, combined with the heavy double meaning of the word 'capable,' sent a collective flush spreading across her sisters' cheeks.
They couldn't even argue. She was entirely right.
Ichika clicked her tongue, leaning forward. "Miku, who on earth corrupted you into saying things like this?"
Miku tilted her head, her expression the picture of innocence. "Does this mean he'll be operating a prison sewing machine soon? Utaha told me all about that."
The sisters exchanged deadpan looks. Utaha is way too dirty.
A few minutes passed. Inside the living room, Dekomori was beginning to fidget, unable to sit still any longer.
"Why isn't Mori-summer back yet?"
"Yeah, she's been gone for quite a while. Do you think she got lost?" Kumin guessed, tilting her head.
Normally, getting lost inside someone's house sounded like a ridiculous excuse. But Ren's villa estate was not only absurdly massive, it also featured entirely different biomes and environments scattered throughout the grounds. Even the girls who lived here couldn't confidently say they wouldn't take a wrong turn and end up lost.
"Um, should we go look for her?" Satone asked, glancing toward the hallway.
"No need." Ren calmly set his teacup down onto the saucer with a soft clink. "She's back."
"Ghost... ghost... ghost..."
To any normal observer, Nibutani Shinka was currently stumbling clumsily down the paved road, gasping for air as she neared the estate's towering front gates.
But in Nibutani's eyes, the nightmare hadn't ended. Every single person she had passed—the maids, the girls by the pool—had turned to look at her with the rotting, terrifying faces of vengeful spirits.
"Ah... ah ah ah..."
Faced with a world entirely populated by monsters, her mind had flatlined. Only one primal instinct remained.
Run! Run for your life!
Through her tear-blurred vision, she saw the massive iron gates looming ahead. The exit to the haunted house. Salvation.
A desperate light ignited in her eyes. Her exhausted muscles suddenly surged with a final, adrenaline-fueled burst of endless strength.
"KYAAAAAHHH!!!"
Nibutani exploded forward, sprinting with everything she had left.
As long as I can reach that place... I'll be safe!
The gate was right there. Just a few more steps.
Yet, just as she reached out to push past the threshold, the space around her violently stretched, folded, and twisted. The world warped like a crushed soda can.
In the blink of an eye, reality inverted.
The paved road, the iron gates, the bright outdoor sun—everything vanished.
In their place was the exquisitely decorated living room she had fled from minutes ago.
And standing directly in front of her was Ren.
He had one finger casually pressed flat against the center of her forehead, stopping her full-speed sprint dead in its tracks without shifting an inch.
"Oh, you're back," he noted dryly.
Nibutani Shinka's brain completely crashed.
Who am I?
Where am I?
What am I doing?
She clearly remembered being inches away from the gate. How was she suddenly back inside the living room?!
"Eh? When did Mori-summer get back? Is this a dummy?" Dekomori leaned over, her twintails swaying as she curiously poked Nibutani's frozen cheek.
It was warm to the touch.
It was a real person.
"Eek?!!!"
This time, Nibutani wasn't the only one whose hair stood on end.
Realizing that Ren had just casually warped reality to teleport a running girl back into the room, Dekomori, Satone, and Kumin turned completely pale with fright.
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