In that cold, sinister atmosphere, the red-haired girl was walking toward Takumi's group of three.
In this dark, ruined corridor, she was a girl who looked wrong no matter how you looked at her, as if she had stepped out from an entirely different art style. Smiling the whole time, she slowly approached the three of them.
"That's..."
The first to sense that something was off was Miko. What she first noticed from the girl was an intense sense of otherness.
That feeling was hard to describe. If Miko absolutely had to put it into words, the closest thing she could come up with was: she does not belong here.
Because her existence was simply too out of place. She was completely different from Alice, from those twisted and deformed students and teachers, and from Fujihana Middle School itself. She was even different from Miko, Takumi, and Mai.
And on top of that, it seemed like she was sensing two different presences at once?
It was as if the one standing there wasn't just the girl alone, but some other existence as well—like two different figures were overlapping in that moment, confusingly coexisting, making it impossible to tell who was who.
That bizarre sense of displacement left Miko slightly dazed.
But at that moment, the girl had already started walking toward them. In just a few seconds, the distance between them shrank considerably.
[Hello... you all...]
She parted her lips slightly, smiled at them, and raised a hand in greeting.
As she spoke, she stepped forward again, only to wobble slightly after stepping on a rotten cardboard box. She immediately lowered her head and stared at the floor in confusion.
Takumi felt like this girl didn't seem all that bright.
"Kita-san, what are you doing here?"
In the next instant, the first person to respond was neither Takumi nor Miko, but Mai, who had been frowning and observing the girl this whole time.
"Kita?"
Takumi paused for a moment before finally finding a match among the red-haired beautiful-girl characters he knew, recalling her identity and the work she came from.
One of the four band members from Bocchi the Rock!, the cheerful extrovert girl Kita Ikuyo. In the original story, Kita herself also really hated this weird name that sounded like a bad joke when spoken aloud, to the point that when her real name was revealed, she made the same defeated expression as Bocchi.
Kita Ikuyo... for her to appear in the Fujihana Middle School Instance World meant that, like Bocchi-chan—Gotō Hitori—she was also a player. And was she already a top-tier player who had reached Red Moon-level Instances? Come to think of it, that guitar in Bocchi's hands was obviously no ordinary Obsession Item. Judging purely from the intensity of its aura, it had likely already reached Red Moon-level. Could it have been something she obtained from the Campus Uncanny Instance?
"Mai-san, do you know her?"
While Takumi was still caught up in his surprise, Miko, after a brief hesitation, turned to Mai—who clearly recognized the red-haired girl—and asked.
"Back when I got trapped in Fujihana Middle School during that operation, quite a few Red Moon-level player teams were acting together. She was part of one of them, a three-person team from Tokyo. Even though there were only three of them, all of them gave off a pretty good impression and weren't too hard to get along with. Though one of them was a little strange... I just didn't expect to run into her here. It's just that the way she is now... I honestly can't say for sure."
Mai's brows were tightly knit, cigarette clenched between her lips as she stared at the girl opposite them. The veins in both her hands bulged visibly; she had obviously already tensed up and was ready to fight.
"The other two teammates... were they named Gotō Hitori and Aoyama Nanami?"
Takumi had already raised his head to meet the girl's gaze as he slowly asked the question.
"You know the members of that team?"
Mai's answer was exactly what Takumi had expected.
And after hearing that, the dazed girl standing opposite them suddenly brightened up, visibly seeming happier.
[So... you know Hitori-chan... hehe...]
With that hazy voice, Kita Ikuyo swayed as she took a few more steps closer.
At that moment, both Takumi and Miko could hear more and more clearly the sound of something like a blade scraping across the floor, yet neither of them could actually see where the blade was.
This girl, who had looked deeply suspicious from the moment she appeared, had now walked right up in front of the three of them.
Takumi's blessing sensed the overlap between a human and an Aberration. In Miko's field of vision, the space where the girl stood seemed to repel her, warping continuously. As for Mai, she simply took the cigarette from her mouth and crushed it against the wall beside her to put it out, then stepped forward to the very front of the group.
No matter what, this suddenly appearing girl had to be approached and tested. In Mai's view, both Takumi and Miko still had clear limitations in their abilities, so as the strongest person present, it was only natural for her to step up and face this potential trouble.
She didn't find anything wrong with that at all, nor did she have any intention of letting Takumi and Miko go first to preserve her own safety. After all, before she had reached her current level of strength, she herself had been protected in exactly this way by players stronger than her. Now, this was nothing more than repeating something she had once experienced—simply the natural course of things.
"You're Kita Ikuyo, right?"
Mai fixed her gaze on the red-haired girl with both her human eye and her Bronze Eye, and slowly spoke.
[Kita… mm, I'm Kita… you… huh… you're… Kumagai Mai-san?]
The dazed-looking girl blinked, then nodded cheerfully, her head bobbing as she answered. Her long red hair swayed and scattered with her movements, adding an extra touch of liveliness to her already cute appearance.
"Do you remember what you came here for?"
Mai remained on guard, watching her surroundings for any sign of Alice making a return, while carefully continuing the conversation with Kita Ikuyo—and at the same time staying wary in case the girl, clearly in an abnormal state, suddenly turned violent.
[I came… huh… what did I come for… here… huh…]
But that question caused Kita Ikuyo, who had just been smiling, to freeze on the spot. The expression on her face instantly turned blank with confusion.
[I came here… Bocchi… I…]
[It's dangerous… here… very dangerous… we need to leave…]
[I… huh… I'm here… I…]
Amid her unfocused murmuring, her figure suddenly began to fade, flickering like a bad signal, gradually shifting from clear to blurred.
[We… took the wrong path…]
For a brief moment, the distorted, flickering silhouette seemed to turn into a pale, ghostly Aberration.
[We can't… go there…]
The red-haired girl appeared again, only to blur once more. All expression drained from her face, turning stiff and lifeless like a corpse.
[Here… not here… the card… identity…]
At the very last moment, she seemed to reach out, pointing toward Takumi—or rather, toward the identity keycard he held.
Then, as if she had never existed at all, Kita Ikuyo vanished completely, disappearing right in front of the three of them.
What was that supposed to be?
This turn of events was somewhat beyond Takumi's expectations.
He had considered scenarios where the girl would suddenly transform into a ferocious Aberration and attack them, or where she might join their side and strengthen the group, or even simply go their separate ways after failing to reach an understanding. But this—vanishing into thin air? They hadn't even exchanged any meaningful information. One question, and she was gone?
"I remember she and her team were responsible for investigating classrooms from Basement Level 3 to Basement Level 6 of Yoruyama Middle School. Looks like that assignment didn't go too well."
Mai sighed, somehow producing another cigarette from nowhere, lighting it, and taking a deep drag before speaking with a hint of reflection.
"She was a player assigned to Yoruyama Middle School? Kumagai Mai-san, do you know what state she's in right now?"
Seeing her reaction, Takumi realized she had figured something out and asked.
"I don't know the situation over at Yoruyama Middle School. Information about Red Moon-level Instances carries a high degree of contamination, so once each group confirms its assigned area, we minimize contact with other teams as much as possible. Otherwise, if something goes wrong, it can wipe everyone out in one go. As for her current state… she's probably been invaded and possessed by an Aberration. And… when that possession happened, she was most likely already dead—or on the verge of death."
Mai couldn't perceive Aberrations on Miko's level, but when it came to reading people, she was extremely sharp. The brief moment Kita Ikuyo had appeared was already enough for her to determine that the girl's heart had stopped, her blood circulation had ceased, and all her organs and muscles had entered a state of necrosis. The process of death had been forcibly interrupted midway, leaving her neither fully dead nor truly alive. The result was a corpse-like state—something doomed to wander the Instance forever.
"On the Red Moon-level players' internal forum, this is ranked number eight on the 'Top 10 Deaths Players Least Want to Experience.' We think that in this state, players likely retain some degree of consciousness, but because of Aberration erosion and physical damage, they remain muddled and unable to fully wake up. They just wander endlessly in the Instance, unable to die properly. Well… it's not actually that painful a way to die, but these 'corpse-like' players—if their contamination level is high—can become a huge threat to other players. Really disgusting. So people who've been attacked by former teammates tend to hate this one the most."
Mai gave her final evaluation in a matter-of-fact tone.
Unable to die, even in death?
For some reason, that felt familiar to Takumi—like something he had experienced personally, many times.
He didn't say anything further, simply turning his gaze toward the staircase in the distance. Mai had already started moving, heading downstairs.
A beat slower, Miko was pulled along by Takumi by the hand. Only then did she snap out of it and hurriedly follow. The three of them quickly descended to the first floor of the Dormitory Building and made their way toward the basement level that was their objective.
No matter what happened, no matter what they encountered, those who remained alive had no choice but to struggle with everything they had—to keep surviving.
So that brief incident just now… none of them dwelled on it.
…
At the same time.
Inside the swimming pool building, shrouded in darkness.
Creak—
A girl pushed the door open and stepped cautiously into the corridor ahead.
From behind, Yoshino Rika's anxious voice called out to her, but the girl ignored it completely and continued forward on her own.
Hah—what nonsense about this place being dangerous and not to wander around? Was she supposed to just sit there and let that deranged psycho kidnap them?
She had already figured it out—the lunatic had probably left. At least for now, he wasn't coming back. In that case, this was the perfect chance to escape.
With that thought, the girl's eyes lit up with confidence. She ran to the end of the corridor, reaching the half-open fire door leading to the stairwell, and pushed it—
[Outside… it's dangerous… don't go out…]
"Wah—!"
The voice from behind the door made the girl scream and stumble back several steps.
Using the candle Takumi had left behind with the students as a light source, she carefully leaned closer and shone it through the crack of the half-open door.
Kita Ikuyo stood behind it, her entire body pressed against the door, smiling as she stared at the girl.
"Y-you're… human? Are you a student from another school?"
Seeing that the other party looked human, the girl let out a breath of relief, then asked nervously.
[This place… is dangerous… go back quickly…]
Kita Ikuyo beckoned for her to come closer—while saying the exact opposite.
"What do you mean dangerous or not? Y-you move aside, I'm going out from here!"
Even though encountering a young girl blocking her way in this dilapidated swimming pool was already extremely unsettling, the girl, desperate to leave, no longer cared. Hearing Kita Ikuyo say the same thing as Yoshino Rika—telling her to go back—only stirred up her rebellious streak even more.
[It's dangerous… go back… go back…]
But Kita Ikuyo only pressed her entire body against the door, continuing to smile as she beckoned.
"You… what are you, trying to scare people?! Move!"
The girl, already feeling something was off, took a step back—then, embarrassed at having been frightened by someone her own age, grew angry and charged straight toward Kita Ikuyo.
Whoosh—
At that instant, she felt a bone-chilling gust of cold wind suddenly blow toward her from the front.
The girl reflexively shut her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, Kita Ikuyo was gone.
"Huh? Where'd she go?"
She pulled open the fire door and stepped into the dark stairwell.
In the candlelight, the place was completely empty. There was no trace whatsoever of Kita Ikuyo's presence from just a moment ago.
Ran off that fast? Hah, figures—just putting on an act to scare people. She wasn't afraid. She was getting out of here now.
With that thought, the girl took a step downward—only to feel something grab her from behind, while a breath brushed against the back of her neck.
"Wh—"
Crack!
Amid the sound of bone shattering, a deep indentation appeared in the center of her face, caving inward into her skull and continuing downward, almost reaching the back of her head.
Blood sprayed everywhere as the girl—her head nearly split in two—tumbled down from the stair entrance and rolled into the corner of the wall. Her wide-open eyes still held the final traces of terror and despair.
[Honestly…]
At that moment, the stairwell door slowly opened.
[Didn't I… tell you… it's dangerous here…]
With a soft click, the stairwell door slowly closed again.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the corridor, Yoshino Rika, who was staying with the other students in a small classroom, heard knocking at the door.
Was it the classmate who had just left, coming back?
Yoshino Rika picked up a candle and hurried to the door, looking through the glass window.
She saw two figures standing outside.
One was the girl who had just left. The other was an unfamiliar red-haired girl standing behind her.
At that moment, they both looked at Yoshino Rika, both raised their hands and gently knocked on the door, both smiling at her.
[Outside… it's dangerous… don't open the door…]
Their voices overlapped.
Click—
Then came the sound of the lock being turned, and the door slowly opening.
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