"Everyone, wait a moment..."
Yanami Anna didn't know if it would succeed either, but she had to try no matter what.
Opening her schoolbag and taking out the Losing Heroine Diary, Yanami quickly wrote down her wish.
And then... nothing happened.
Facing everyone's gazes, Yanami felt a bit nervous:
"Fulfilling a wish requires a certain amount of 'accidents', so we must keep moving, we can't just stand still."
Izumi Sora nodded slightly:
"Then let's keep walking forward."
"..."
The group continued along the subway station.
As they reached a corner, a cold wind suddenly blew from the ventilation duct above. The wind carried a choking smell of dust, making them subconsciously close their eyes.
When they opened their eyes again, the subway tunnel had suddenly become completely empty. The noisy footsteps behind them had vanished, leaving only a deathly silence.
"This eerie, oppressive feeling..."
Izumi Sora raised an eyebrow slightly, turning and walking back. Rounding the corner, the empty tunnel immediately came into view; the pedestrians from earlier had completely vanished.
"This is it."
"There were clearly several office workers behind us just now, and now they're all gone."
Izumi Sora withdrew his gaze:
"It seems we've really entered the bizarre subway."
"Anna is amazing." Yamada Elf praised in awe. "We walked it so many times and couldn't get in, but right after Anna made a wish, we got in immediately."
"D-Dust got in my eye..."
Hearing Elf's praise, Yanami didn't have time to be happy, rubbing her eye pitifully:
"Sora, help me blow in my eye."
"I'll help."
Angel-sama said softly.
When her wishes were fulfilled before, various accidents would always happen. It was the same this time.
"It feels like something is pressing on my heart, making it hard to breathe." Elf hugged her arms, looking around. "Speaking of which, we clearly didn't do anything, how did we suddenly enter the bizarre subway?"
Izumi Sora pondered:
"Did everyone close their eyes just now?"
Elf: "That's right, it felt like there was dust in the wind, so I subconsciously closed my eyes."
Yanami: "I closed mine too."
Izumi Sora interlaced his fingers, analyzing in a deep voice:
"It seems one of the conditions for entering the bizarre subway is to close your eyes."
"Besides that, there's another condition. It should be being in an unobserved state... We just turned a right-angle corner, which perfectly cut off the line of sight of the pedestrians behind us."
Izumi Sora turned to look at his childhood friend, saying softly:
"In any case, thanks to Anna."
"Don't praise me." Yanami Anna ruffled her hair, a little shy. "Let's hurry up and find Ruri-chan."
Serious business first.
Everyone's expressions quickly turned serious.
"Let's go." Izumi Sora took the lead and stepped forward. "Let's go find Ruri."
The girls hurried their pace, following behind Izumi Sora.
Because there were many of them, and the lights in the tunnel were very bright, it wasn't very scary. Elf wasn't afraid; instead, she looked left and right curiously:
"It feels completely ordinary, there's nothing bizarre about it."
Izumi Sora suddenly stopped in his tracks:
"Look at the poster on the wall."
"Eh?"
Hearing this, the girls all turned their heads and looked at the poster on the wall.
There are usually many posters in subway tunnels, mainly promoting various products, and then there are beautiful promotional posters for various games.
At this moment.
On the wall to their left, there was a game poster.
The poster featured the character Silence Suzuka from the hit game Uma Musume. The illustration of the iceberg beauty with deep-hidden melancholy could be described as quite cute.
"There doesn't seem to be anything special about it, right?"
Yamada Elf cupped her chin with her right hand, looking left and right.
Izumi Sora reminded them:
"Walk forward a few steps."
"I'll try."
Yanami Anna walked forward while looking at the poster. She quickly widened her eyes, her voice tense, her pretty face slightly pale:
"Her eyes! Silence Suzuka's eyes are following me, and her expression suddenly became eerie!"
Elf followed suit to try, and was quickly startled:
"The eyes really do move."
"Characters in posters don't move." Izumi Sora's voice was low. "This is undoubtedly some kind of anomaly."
Yanami Anna looked over nervously:
"So should we turn back?"
Izumi Sora shook his head:
"We keep going forward."
"Eh?" Yamada Elf tilted her head in confusion. "Knowing there's something wrong with the poster, why are we still going forward?"
Angel-sama said softly:
"Ruri hasn't come out, so she must be lost in the tunnel. If we turn back, we'll leave the subway. Only by going forward can we find the missing Ruri."
"I see." Yamada Elf clenched her pink fists. "Then let's keep going forward."
"..."
Under the eerie gaze of the moving poster, the group continued walking deeper into the tunnel.
As they progressed, various anomalies began to appear.
Bloody handprints covering the entire tunnel, a headless JK (high school girl) wearing a sailor suit, and finally, a tide of bloody water surging from the end of the tunnel.
Looking at the surging tide of blood, Izumi Sora decisively turned around:
"Run."
He could face other things, but a sea of blood was truly unacceptable.
The group quickly turned and ran back.
As they rounded a corner, the sea of blood behind them instantly vanished.
"Hah... haah..."
Yanami Anna rested her hands on her knees. Her pretty face was pale, her breathing rapid:
"Sora... I feel a bit dizzy..."
Yamada Elf whispered:
"I feel a bit dizzy too, and it sounds like someone is whispering in my ear..."
Angel-sama gently bit her lower lip, panting slightly: "I feel it too. Our minds must be being affected."
One person feeling unwell might be an accident, but everyone starting to experience auditory and visual hallucinations meant it definitely wasn't simple.
Very clearly.
The bizarre subway not only had various anomalies, but it would also corrode and affect people's minds.
"I haven't had any auditory or visual hallucinations." Izumi Sora frowned slightly, quickly thinking of a possibility. "Perhaps my mental strength is strong enough."
"Eh?"
"As I said before, helping to purify makes me stronger..."
Having continuously leveled up his character recently, all his attributes had comprehensively improved. Izumi Sora's mental resistance naturally far exceeded that of ordinary people, which was probably why he was unaffected.
But being fine now didn't mean he would be fine forever.
Izumi Sora turned his head and looked at Elf beside him:
"Elf, start turning invisible now. Tell me when the side effects appear, and I'll help purify your magic power."
The deeper they went, the greater the mental pressure might be. He had to try his best to get more versatile experience points to level up.
"Okay~"
Yamada Elf quickly nodded and agreed.
After a brief rest, drinking some water, and eating some chocolate to replenish their stamina, Izumi Sora led the girls forward again.
Unfortunately, the simple rest didn't have much effect.
Not far along, Yanami Anna furrowed her delicate eyebrows and covered her forehead:
"Sora... I just heard my mom calling me home for dinner..."
Even when hallucinating, you're still thinking about food!
Izumi Sora decisively spoke up: "Anna, don't walk anymore."
"Eh?"
Yanami Anna was startled, her voice aggrieved:
"Is Sora going to leave me behind?"
"Of course not." Izumi Sora glared affectionately, quickly half-crouching down. "Get on, I'll carry you."
Yanami Anna's eyes lit up, but she hesitated slightly:
"Um, carrying me, Sora will use up a lot of stamina, right?"
Izumi Sora said casually:
"Don't worry, an Anna over a hundred pounds isn't heavy."
Yanami Anna puffed out her pink cheeks in rebuttal: "I'm not that heavy!"
"How heavy is Anna now?"
"A girl's weight is a secret, Sora, stop asking!"
"..."
Izumi Sora carried 'Inmate Eight' on his back and continued forward.
After walking a little longer, Elf's mind started having problems. She stood in place, her gaze vacant:
"Sora... you can't play there..."
Hey, hey, what exactly are you seeing to say you can't!
"Elf, are you okay?"
Mahiru, walking beside her, subconsciously reached out to support Elf.
"Wait—"
Izumi Sora suddenly realized something was wrong, but he was still a step too late.
The next second.
As Elf's right hand touched Mahiru, Angel-sama's upper body school uniform instantly vanished.
It was already summer, so the school uniforms were light and airy.
With her school uniform erased by Elf's Hand of God, Mahiru's snow-white skin was instantly exposed to the light.
"...!!!"
Angel-sama's pretty face quickly flushed red, and she hurriedly raised her arms to cover her chest.
Izumi Sora involuntarily looked over, and his originally somewhat weary mind instantly perked up.
"Sora-kun, close your eyes, no peeking."
Angel-sama's pretty face was blushing like fire, shyly and affectionately scolding him.
"Mahiru, I'm sorry."
Yamada Elf snapped back to reality and hurriedly apologized.
"I don't know when I actually canceled my invisibility..."
"It's not Elf's fault." Angel-sama's pretty face was flushed; she naturally wouldn't blame Elf. "I was also affected just now. When I suddenly saw Elf, I should have known something was wrong... Elf wait, don't touch yourself!"
"Eh?"
Yamada Elf's eyes were glassy, and her right hand accidentally landed on her own body.
The next second.
The Hand of God quietly activated.
The school uniform Elf was wearing also vanished, leaving only snow-white skin shining under the light.
"So cold..."
Yamada Elf shivered, but her mind cleared up a lot.
The corner of Izumi Sora's mouth twitched slightly as he looked at Mahiru:
"Do you guys have spare clothes?"
Angel-sama's pretty face was burning hot. Hearing this, she shyly shook her head: "There's no P.E. class today, so I didn't bring my gym clothes..."
Izumi Sora sighed, his gaze falling on himself:
"I'll sacrifice myself."
"Eh?"
Izumi Sora set Yanami down from his back, and then began taking off his clothes.
"I'll sacrifice my innocence, it'll be fine. I can't just stand by and watch you guys expose yourselves, right?"
As he spoke, Izumi Sora quickly took off his school uniform jacket, followed by the shirt underneath.
"Mahiru, here's the jacket."
Izumi Sora handed the school uniform jacket to Mahiru.
"Thank you, Sora-kun."
Angel-sama's pretty face was flushed. She whispered her thanks and quickly took the jacket to put it on.
This was a subway tunnel. Although there wouldn't be any pedestrians, it was truly too embarrassing.
"Elf, here's the shirt."
Izumi Sora then handed the shirt in his hand to Elf.
"Phew..."
After putting on the jacket, Angel-sama breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Her gaze fell on Izumi Sora, lingering slightly on his body, then with a blushing pretty face, she quickly averted her gaze:
"Umm... Sora-kun, you've taken off all your clothes, you'll catch a cold, right?"
One piece of clothing was given to Mahiru, the other to Elf. Izumi Sora was now bare-chested. His muscle lines were smooth and beautiful, exceptionally clear under the light. Not as exaggerated as a bodybuilder, but perfectly fitting the golden ratio, making Mahiru's heartbeat quietly accelerate.
"My physical fitness is very good, I won't catch a cold."
Izumi Sora lowered his voice:
"For Mahiru's sake, I sacrificed my own innocence. Remember to give me a lap pillow reward when we get back."
Shiina Mahiru: "..."
At a time like this, he's actually still thinking about a lap pillow. Sora-kun is getting more and more improper!
"Will we be able to go back?"
Angel-sama lightly bit her lower lip with her pearly white teeth, her expression slightly bewildered.
The terror of the tunnel was clearly far beyond her imagination.
"With me here, we will definitely be able to go back." Izumi Sora's voice was steady.
So far, he hadn't been affected by the hallucinations. Clearly, his previous guess was correct: only those with weaker minds would be affected.
With both Elf and Mahiru by his side, as long as Izumi Sora continuously helped purify their magic power and constantly leveled up his character, they would definitely be able to clear this bizarre subway.
There was no need to worry about food and drinking water either. There were vending machines in the tunnel. Izumi Sora had verified earlier that after buying something, the items would refresh at the next corner. There was completely no need to worry about food and thirst.
While they were talking, Elf had already put on the shirt.
Izumi Sora's shirt was quite loose. Worn by the blonde loli, it made Elf's figure look even more petite.
"Sora, I'm dressed."
Yamada Elf looked up, her gaze glassy. She clearly hadn't recovered:
"Let me touch..."
"Don't move."
Izumi Sora grabbed Elf's small hand and helped purify her magic power.
A moment later.
The magic power purification was complete.
Versatile experience points credited to his account, Izumi Sora decisively invested the experience points into his character level.
His character level rose again. A warm energy poured through his entire body. Stamina, endurance, mental strength, charm, and other attributes all began a small increase.
"Do I feel like Sora looks even better?"
Yanami Anna tilted her head curiously.
"It's an illusion." Izumi Sora carried Yanami on his back and held Elf's soft hand with his other hand, maintaining the purification state at all times. "Let's keep moving."
A moment later, a new anomaly appeared.
Arms suddenly thrust out from the tunnel walls, waving everywhere in the air, causing their sanity points to plummet drastically.
Angel-sama's pretty face was pale:
"Sora-kun, should I activate Time Stop?"
Izumi Sora took a deep breath: "I'm counting on you, Mahiru."
With the activation of Time Stop, the entire world suddenly fell silent.
"Sora-kun, the weird whispering sounds in my ear are gone." Angel-sama's voice was pleasantly surprised. "That suffocating oppressive feeling has also vanished."
Good news.
Izumi Sora's eyes lit up upon hearing this.
It seemed Time Stop could affect the bizarre subway. They could finally rest properly and replenish everyone's mental strength.
After an unknown amount of time, the girls' mental states finally returned to normal, as if they had been reborn.
And so they continued exploring forward. A girl with long straight black hair, featuring a cat tail and cat ears, finally came into view.
"...It's Ruri-chan!"