Mai cautiously poked her head out from the stairwell. After confirming that the first floor, now in its dark state, was relatively safe, she signaled for the two behind her to come down. She herself took the lead, stepping straight into the lobby and quickly approaching the area where Takumi had previously destroyed the door. Only after confirming that the wall there had already returned to its original state did she let out a slight breath of relief.
"Honestly, something like this could've been left to me."
From behind, Takumi pulled Miko along and made the suggestion, but Mai simply shook her head and calmly pointed toward the corridor.
"Alright, enough wasting time. We need to move faster."
As she spoke, she somehow produced another cigarette from nowhere, lit it, and strode ahead into the first-floor corridor.
At this moment, the pitch-black corridor was completely silent. After stepping inside, Takumi and Miko couldn't sense the presence of any students. Those who had filled the place during the "daytime" state now seemed to have completely disappeared, leaving behind only a series of dilapidated shower rooms and scattered fragments of clothing strewn across the floor.
Miko's own clothes lay there on the corridor floor.
When she had been grabbed earlier by the thing from the 0th floor, Takumi, even in that critical moment, hadn't forgotten what he was holding and had kept a tight grip on his clothes, avoiding any particularly awkward situation. But Miko didn't have that same level of composure—her clothes had fallen to the ground and were now scattered messily across the corridor.
As a result, Miko had no choice but to wear Takumi's clothes. Being effectively bare underneath made the girl extremely uncomfortable—especially since Takumi himself was currently wearing nothing but boxers. That made it even harder for her to stay calm. If not for the danger of the situation leaving no room for stray thoughts, Miko suspected she would have already found somewhere to hide and shut down completely.
Huh? That's strange. Why did I instinctively think of that as a solution? It's like I picked it up from someone else, like it's some kind of stress-relief method I've learned.
"So they didn't disappear after all. Overall, that's a good thing—at least Miko can change back into her own clothes."
While Miko was still confused by her inexplicable thoughts, Takumi had already nodded lightly and spoken.
As for Mai, after once again confirming there was no immediate danger, she stepped forward and casually picked up a piece of Miko's underwear from the ground.
"Hoh, that size—nice. Ahem. Here, take it."
After letting out an instinctive whistle, Mai realized she had just shown a rather middle-aged-man-like side of herself in front of strangers. She coughed twice, then hurriedly handed the underwear to the blushing Miko beside her.
Hopefully these two newcomers don't start thinking all Red Moon-level players are freaks. I mean, compared to the core members of the Slacker Crew—our crossdressing captain, our vice-captain with a foot fetish, our assault specialist who swings both ways, and our scout who casually brings firecrackers into bathrooms to blow up toilets—I'm completely normal.
…Man. When our team first formed, we were pretty normal. How did we end up turning into a collection of absolute weirdos?
Thinking about her own team, Mai couldn't help but feel a bit sentimental.
Meanwhile, Takumi took advantage of Miko retrieving her underwear to sneak a glance over.
Hmm. Pretty conservative style—bluish-gray, very standard. It fits her image as an ordinary girl (if you ignore the whole Aberration thing). And the size… yeah, there's definitely some weight there. He'd estimate somewhere around a C to D cup. Not quite on Chika's level, but still quite substantial.
That said, he hadn't actually seen them directly yet. Sure, he'd held her once—under completely natural circumstances, no less—and had experienced firsthand that soft pressure against his chest. But in Takumi's view, unless you observed something academically with your own eyes, and verified it through taste and touch in practical application, it couldn't really be considered a complete "benefit."
"By the way… doesn't that bother you?"
Mai leaned slightly closer to Takumi and asked in a low voice while Miko was busy gathering her clothes.
"Bother me?"
Takumi looked puzzled, not quite understanding what she meant.
"I mean, back when you had to get into that washing pool—yeah, it was unavoidable because of the situation—but there were other Aberrant students in there, right? And both guys and girls. Even if they're not really human anymore and just things following rules… doesn't that feel off to you at all?"
Mai narrowed her eyes slightly, curiosity written all over her face.
Before becoming a player, she had been a game modeler—and not exactly for the most wholesome kinds of games. So whenever she saw a well-built girl, she would habitually observe and mentally break down how to construct the corresponding physical model. Over time, she had developed a habit of joking about this sort of thing, though she usually restrained herself around strangers to maintain her image. On top of that, she also enjoyed shipping couples—whenever she spotted a man and a woman who looked like they might have something going on, she'd watch from the sidelines, and if curiosity got the better of her, she might even go up and ask directly.
And this time, it was obvious—she had already noticed Miko's strong sense of dependence and trust toward Takumi, and had realized that these two might actually become something.
"That, huh…"
Takumi wasn't flustered at all by being suddenly asked that question.
"As for me, I didn't really feel much about it. But with something like this, I'd still seriously consider how Yotsuya-san herself would feel. So when we went into the bath area, I used that bull-headed teacher's head to drive all the other students out. In other words, at the time, it was just the two of us in the bath."
Takumi gave a very serious explanation of what he had done earlier.
"You've got quite the possessive streak, don't you?"
That answer caught Mai a little off guard, but she looked very satisfied with it.
"I think it's perfectly fine to be a little particular about this sort of thing."
Takumi's expression did not change, though his tone turned slightly more flippant. Mai, meanwhile, was already wearing a smile that more or less said, "Well, aren't you a handsome one."
On the other side, Miko had already gathered all her clothes back up. Then, clutching them in both arms, she hurriedly trotted over.
Much as she wanted to find a place to change immediately, Miko was well aware of just how dangerous this place was. Even if she was going to change, she had to make sure the two of them could keep an eye on her at any moment... no, Takumi-san was out of the question. For something like changing clothes, it was better if Mai-san kept watch for her.
"Do your best. Work hard and stay alive. First make sure you can survive, and only then can you talk about the future."
Mai had naturally already noticed Miko's gaze, so she patted Takumi on the shoulder. After giving him that serious piece of advice, she signaled for him to turn around. The moment Takumi did so, Miko immediately changed clothes, forcibly suppressing her embarrassment and changing back into her original outfit as fast as she could.
Alice still had not appeared.
Takumi did not dare connect to the senses of the rescue team member who had entered Floor 0. Through the Rescue Team Badge, however, he could vaguely sense that the man still had not been killed. It seemed that whatever was on that aberrant floor only targeted the living, which was why the rescue team member, being an aberration himself, had managed to survive until now. The only question was how long those three Alices could keep it occupied. Without physical bodies, there was no telling whether the Alices could figure out a way to take the doll away from the rescue team member.
"I'm done changing. Thank you, Mai-san."
Her face still slightly flushed, the girl bowed seriously in thanks.
"Let's go."
Takumi did not pay much attention to the change in Miko's mood. Once he saw that she was done changing, he immediately spoke and took the lead. The other two followed behind him.
No matter what, they could not afford to waste time now. They had to reach the real underground floor as quickly as possible.
Thinking that, Takumi sped up. Sensing that he might be worried about running out of time, Mai adjusted her pace and quickened as well. Miko, meanwhile, was pulled along by Takumi and forced into a run. The three of them quickly crossed the corridor and arrived at the final staircase.
"Judging by the spatial rules of this staircase, if we go down from here next, we should be able to enter the real underground floor."
Standing on the stairs, Takumi stared into the staircase descending into darkness and spoke as he thought.
"Under normal circumstances, that would be true. But the rules of Alice's Game mention that 'the underground floor does not exist,' and that point is highly suspicious. Besides, if the underground area really were that easy to enter, those Alices should have disguised this place more thoroughly. So there's a good chance there's still a problem."
Leaning against the wall to one side, Mai also spoke while thinking, not rushing to head downstairs and investigate.
"Then should we throw something down there first to test the situation?"
Seeing the two of them discussing a plan of action, and not wanting to be left out, Miko thought hard for quite a while before timidly raising her hand and offering her own suggestion.
Step—
From the hot-water room beside the stairs, a shriveled student aberration came out carrying a kettle of boiling water.
This grotesque thing, which could only repeat certain actions from its life and would only begin slaughtering once the conditions of its own behavioral rules were triggered, sensed the presence of living people at that moment. So it slowly raised its head and looked toward the source of that presence with its horrifying, sunken face.
Mai, Takumi, and Miko all turned to look at it at the same time.
For about 0.3 seconds, both sides remained silent.
Miko, who was afraid of aberrations, was the first to look away.
Takumi only had time to ask, "Can we try throwing this thing down there?" before Mai had already walked up to the aberration. The Bronze Eye in her possession gave off a faint glow, completely sealing its ability to move. Then she lifted the aberration one-handed, and in an instant, the power of Blessing activated, embedding a fragment of personality into it. The next moment, she tossed it out in a perfect arc like taking out the trash.
Thud—thud, thud—
The student was thrown down the stairs, rolled onto the landing, and then, under Mai's forced control, began to scramble deeper down the staircase, tumbling and crawling as it went.
Standing at the edge of the stairs, Mai silently controlled the aberration as it descended step by step.
In her perception, the darkness seemed to be continuously expanding. From Miko's point of view, she could see red, thread-like lines appearing on the female player's body, extending downward into the darkness below.
Vaguely, Miko felt that the portion of those lines stretching into the darkness seemed to be slowly turning black.
Huh? What was that?
"How is it?"
Takumi was the first to ask.
"...It's gone down at least six floors, but it's still just stairs. It still hasn't entered any corresponding floor."
Mai's brows drew tighter and tighter, and a trace of uncertainty entered her voice.
What was this, a ghost wall?
Should they try going back up and see what happened? This did not feel like something they could keep doing. Generally speaking, when you ran into a situation like this, it meant an aberration's rules had already started taking effect. It meant you had already been targeted. But this was just one student aberration. So what exactly was that thing...?
"Mai-san, you've got red lines on you. The places where those lines connect to the outside seem to be changing color and turning black."
At that moment, Miko stepped closer and cautiously warned Mai.
"Red lines... those are...? Hm?! You can see fate lines?"
This time, Miko's sensory ability truly startled Mai.
The student being controlled in the staircase had already stopped moving.
At that moment, Mai severed the connection between them, allowing the personality fragment inside the student's body to collapse on its own.
Just before she lost her point of view inside the staircase, Mai saw the original stairwell faintly beginning to shift into another scene, while the words "Floor 0" gradually appeared on the wall. Alarm bells immediately rang in her mind.
"The underground stairwell only leads to Floor 0. Move!"
"So it really wasn't going to be that easy..."
It only took a sentence or two. No further explanation was needed. Takumi pulled Miko over and swept her into his arms, moving at full speed. Mai, meanwhile, deliberately stayed behind Takumi, matching his pace as she brought up the rear for this temporary team.
"If the underground staircase doesn't work, then it's probably on the top floor. The Dormitory Building may be reversed—the rooftop might be the place where we can find a way out!"
Takumi spoke with a grim expression, then, as he ran, explained the gaze of that aberration he had sensed earlier when he threw out the doll—the one that seemed to come from both the sky and the depths underground at the same time—as well as a certain possibility he had previously only guessed at without any actual verification.
"One of my puppets went upward and collapsed on the tenth floor. Through its eyes, I saw the corridor layout on the tenth floor and the room number 1003. Can that key of yours send us in the direction of that door?"
As she ran, Mai moved closer to Takumi, explained the situation, and asked her question.
She did not question Takumi's idea in the slightest. She skipped straight to the step of verifying whether it would work.
"No problem. We just need to hurry—"
A faint red light flickered in Takumi's eyes. He first shifted his grip, pulling Miko—who had practically been dragged along like a kite flying in midair—into his arms, shielding the back of her neck with his hand to protect her cervical spine. Then Blessing surged through him, and his body accelerated violently, carrying him across the corridor in a single burst.
Something from Floor 0 had already started chasing them.
Even though the three of them had accelerated as much as possible, that thing would catch up to them sooner or later.
'Just like everyone says, every single person will eventually be caught.'
Step!
Takumi came to an abrupt stop in front of the main entrance to the bath area that only Outstanding Students were allowed to enter.
A little over ten minutes ago, he had torn this door down, and Alice had nearly used that against him to get him killed on Floor 0. But now, the place had already returned to normal. The wall had healed like a wound, with not the slightest sign that anything had ever been wrong.
Mai inserted the Blood Key into the keyhole.
At the same time, she came to a stop and used mental transmission to show Takumi the outline of the "Room 1003" she had seen.
Then, the very next moment, with a soft click, the door Takumi opened connected directly to the tenth floor of the Dormitory Building, less than two floors away from the rooftop.
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---