Chapter 309 One-Fifth of the End and a Fleeting Phantom Pain

Rumble— Rumble—

The ruins shrouded in darkness began collapsing even more violently.

The unresting Aberrations let out shrill, agonized screams as they charged toward the handful of living people remaining in this shattered land. Before long, a vast horde had formed behind Takumi and Miko, chasing after them relentlessly.

For a moment, the whole scene looked less like a Horror Story Instance and more like a zombie outbreak.

Takumi, however, was so used to this that he could hardly be more familiar with it.

After all, the endings of previous Instances had always played out like this. Compared to climbing ladders in Shirakawa Apartments or the platforming nightmare of Red Nut Grey Cave, this ruin was practically a flat plain.

The difficulty difference was enormous.

Whoosh—

As fierce winds howled around him, Takumi's eyes glowed blood-red.

His speed continued increasing, leaving the pursuing Aberrations farther and farther behind as he rapidly closed the distance to where Mai was waiting.

A twisted figure suddenly lunged at him from the side.

The next moment, it was forcibly frozen in place by the Bronze Eye and crashed stiffly back into the ruins.

Several more figures rushed in from every direction, trying to completely cut off Takumi's path.

But "Gotō No. 1" was already standing beside Mai.

Taking a deep breath, Takumi suddenly hurled Miko from his arms, throwing her toward the gate ahead.

At the same time, using the presence of Maki and Chika lingering within the puppet created by Gotō Hitori, he directly activated spatial transfer and teleported over.

Standing at the gate, Mai immediately aimed the Bronze Eye at Miko.

The rapidly falling girl was suspended in midair by an invisible force. The impact that her ordinary human body would never have been able to endure simply vanished without a trace.

Takumi then rushed forward and caught her, carrying her the rest of the way to the gates of Fujihana Middle School.

"This Instance is about to collapse. Once you pass through that gate, you'll be out."

After confirming everyone was present, Mai let out a sigh of relief and quickly explained the situation to Takumi and Miko.

The front gate of Fujihana Middle School was the place every student trapped within the school had dreamed of escaping through.

As such, within this regional Instance, it represented the path to survival.

Under normal circumstances, however, the gate could not be passed through.

After all, none of the students had ever truly managed to escape through it while alive.

Only once the Instance entered a state of collapse could it finally become a genuine escape route.

"Mai-san, Miko, you two should leave first. I need to stay behind for a little while."

After setting Miko down, Takumi spoke calmly.

"Stay behind? Are you crazy? Can't you see those things are almost here?!"

Mai was shocked.

Miko immediately added that she wanted to leave together with Senpai, staring at Takumi anxiously. She clearly could not understand why he would deliberately remain behind at such a critical moment.

"I have to stay here alone for a little while. Please."

Takumi simply repeated himself.

"...Because of the curse? You can't let anyone else see it, right?"

Mai frowned, instantly understanding from his reaction.

When Takumi nodded, she decisively grabbed Miko by the shoulders and forcibly turned the girl toward the gate.

Meanwhile, Maki, speaking through the mental link from inside "Gotō No. 1," gave Takumi one final warning.

"Don't do anything reckless."

Then, as the Instance itself continued collapsing, the puppet created by the Obsession Item could no longer maintain its form.

It quickly crumbled into ash and disappeared.

Step—

Facing the countless Aberrations surging toward him, Takumi slowly raised the hand wearing the black watch.

An indescribable sensation spread through him.

Takumi felt as though he was no longer himself.

As if his thoughts, his personality, and even his perception had all been altered by something, transforming him into a fundamentally different kind of existence.

Then he spoke:

"Sinful wretches beyond redemption, only endless flames can burn away the filth with which your abominable kind has stained itself!"

This time, the judgment made no mention of the innocent victims.

Clearly, that was because those obsessions had already found peace before the trial concluded.

A crack opened across the black watch.

The teachers, the researchers, the politicians, and every other Aberration still lingering within this doomed Instance were sucked into the watch, dragged into the place where the blood-red city existed.

Click. Click. Click.

The watch's dial spun backward repeatedly.

Incredibly, it returned all the way to zero.

It had instantly recovered to a completely full state.

In fact, Takumi could even see the hand showing faint signs of moving toward the eleventh mark, as though it had absorbed so much power that it was on the verge of overflowing.

Considering that this Instance had spanned several decades, involved an enormous number of people, and produced Aberrations terrifying in both quality and quantity, Takumi could only say that this was seriously fucking dark.

And also seriously fucking satisfying.

From now on, this watch would be the eternal home of you bastards. He hoped you all had a wonderful time in the flames.

Click.

In the end, the watch's dial still stopped at zero, returning to the same state it had been in when Takumi had first obtained it in Shirakawa Apartments.

Although this journey through a Red Moon-level Instance had been filled with pain and torment, the final result was, undeniably, enough to make one happy.

It felt as though all the hardship had finally paid off.

That said, this still was not the time to relax.

As the watch returned to normal, Takumi also shook off that feeling of being controlled by something and looked around. Yet no matter where he looked, he could not see any living thing other than himself.

All that remained here were ruins constantly collapsing, constantly sinking into the abyss of darkness.

Toyama Akira…

The second Red Moon-level player he had rescued from an Instance. After they parted ways in the hospital, Takumi had completely lost track of him. He had no idea whether the man was alive or dead, much less where he had gone.

During the earlier siege by the Aberrations beneath the underground stage, Toyama Akira—who should have been transformed into an Aberration—had not appeared among the orderlies and doctors.

In other words, he must have used some method to break free of the control.

Or perhaps… he had been taken away by something else through some kind of power.

Could it have been that "Takamagahara"?

And then there was the doll room he had only entered during the first loop. That room full of living dolls, where many players had almost certainly still been trapped.

Now that the Instance had collapsed, no matter how well-hidden that room had originally been, it should not have remained invisible.

But along the way, Takumi truly had not found that doll room.

He had not seen even a single doll.

So the place Alice had taken him to during the first loop had not belonged to the Fujihana Middle School region.

That place was probably… part of Takamagahara itself.

After struggling for so long, had he only solved the tip of the iceberg in the end?

Takumi had a feeling.

He would return to this Instance again.

He would return once more to the Campus Uncanny.

And that day probably would not be too far away.

After all, it had already been confirmed that a half-dead, half-alive Kita Ikuyo was wandering around Yoruyama Middle School.

Based on his experience of being dragged into this Instance by Miko, Takumi estimated that he would most likely end up entering another Instance because of that red-haired girl too.

After all, no matter how one looked at it, she was still a 2D heroine. He absolutely did not believe she had no exclusive plotline of her own.

He just hoped the story would be a little less hellish when the time came.

Though Instance worlds basically could not be normal, if every single one was this dark—and each one heavier than the last—he really was going to reach his limit…

Takumi sighed one last time.

The edge of the collapsing ruins was now only a little over ten meters away from where he stood.

And it was at that moment that Takumi saw something in the darkness.

Something faintly emerging in the distance.

One of them was a school.

A very large school, with an extremely complex structure. It looked like a high school.

Another was a place formed from countless rooms piled together. It was hard to tell what it was supposed to be, like something a child had haphazardly assembled out of building blocks.

There was also a building complex patrolled by soldiers, covered in barbed wire and high walls, filled with people wearing clothes that looked like striped pajamas. It looked like it might originally have been some kind of school.

Lastly, there was another building area so far away that he could barely make it out.

That seemed to be a school too?

Takumi found it strange that he would have such a feeling. He clearly could not see what it was at all, yet he instinctively believed it was a school, as though that knowledge had been directly written into his mind, forcibly making him think that way.

"What is this, the Four Heavenly Kings…? No, wait, Alice of Fujihana, one of the Four Heavenly Kings, has already been taken down by me. So those are the remaining Three Heavenly Kings, plus the legendary fifth Heavenly King at the end? Don't tell me I have to clear them one by one. Seriously, just hearing that sounds exhausting."

Muttering casually to himself, Takumi turned around.

He stopped looking at those illusory things.

He also stopped paying attention to the incomplete ruins drawing ever closer to him, already on the verge of vanishing entirely.

Then he began walking toward the front gate of Fujihana Middle School.

[Excuse me… can you be Alice's friend?]

A timid voice suddenly rang out.

Takumi turned his head and looked around, but saw nothing.

Still, faintly, he could sense it.

In this world on the verge of destruction, one final, tiny obsession had yet to depart.

"Wrong. That's not how you should ask."

So he laughed softly, then spoke with great seriousness.

"What you should ask is: 'Excuse me, can I be your friend?' That's the right way. That's what someone who truly wants a friend would say."

There was no response.

Because the moment Takumi gave an answer unrelated to violence or torment, that tiny obsession found peace and finally departed.

After confirming this, Takumi no longer paused.

He stepped through the school gate, into the darkness ahead, into the sudden, brilliant light beyond, and completely left behind this Instance that was about to be destroyed down to its last remains.

Buzz—

He seemed to hear a jumble of static.

He seemed to glimpse something faintly.

It was a person writing with their head lowered.

Frowning in thought, as though weighing something carefully.

[What are you writing?]

Alice curiously leaned closer and asked the person.

[A story. Mm, a story I haven't fully worked out yet. I can only say I already have the idea, but I still need to think carefully about the specific process.]

The person sighed, though there was a trace of excitement in their voice.

[And what kind of story is it?]

Alice continued asking questions.

Not far behind her, two researchers were dissecting a student's corpse. Dark-red blood had already spread across the floor.

[I want to write about a hero. Someone who suffered horrific torment, yet survived the tragedy. He spends many years drifting through life in a daze, unable to escape the pain of what happened back then, constantly asking himself why he was the one who survived.]

[Eventually, he pulls himself together. Then, after discovering that the events of the past never truly ended, he decides to step forward and stop the disaster with his own blood and life.]

[But when he finally brings everything to an end, he discovers that things have simply returned to the way they were originally. He changed nothing at all.]

[In fact, it was precisely because of his actions that everything returned to its original state.]

[And in the end, he becomes a sinner instead.]

The person's eyes gleamed with enthusiasm as they spoke, their tone carrying a distinct excitement.

[Wow, then wouldn't that make it a tragedy?]

Alice paused for a moment before tilting her head and giving the matter some thought.

[Exactly. Comedies are always the same. Happy endings where everyone reunites are unbearably boring. The power of tragedy is what truly moves people's hearts.]

[Mm. The ending of this story absolutely must come amidst raging flames. Let the fire burn everything away, burying both beauty and evil alike.]

[And the people who know nothing will neither remember the hero's name nor learn of the villain's crimes.]

[That alone is enough.]

[Good. The outline is clear now. All that's left is filling in the details.]

As the person spoke, they put away their paper and pen. Their voice was filled with anticipation.

[Mm... I don't really understand any of that stuff. Alice just wants to make friends. So can Alice really become someone like you?]

Alice shook her head, clearly having no interest in stories whatsoever, and immediately changed the subject.

[Of course. As long as you're obedient, listen carefully to those researchers, listen carefully to everyone else, and try your best to make as many friends as possible, you'll have a chance to become someone like me.]

[After all, you're so perfect.]

[So evil.]

[So pure.]

[So innocent.]

[Finding an actor like you is incredibly difficult...]

A soft chuckle escaped him as his gaze slowly shifted.

On the sheet of paper in his hand was the elegantly written word:

KP.

And at that moment, his originally gentle voice suddenly turned cold and sinister.

[Which is exactly why you're such an irritating person.]

[I had already written the ending to this story.]

[So why did you have to scribble all over it?]

[You defeated the villains and liberated the innocent, changing my ending with such a cliché and boring conclusion.]

[Is that what you wanted to do?]

[How arrogant. How rude—]

Bang!

He shot out a hand and seized Takumi by the throat, nearly tearing his head from his body.

[You think you're capable, do you?]

[Fine, then.]

[You can join this game whenever you want.]

[Pick whichever of the remaining places you like.]

[Go ahead and see for yourself what you're capable of doing to my work!]

His voice rang beside Takumi's ear.

A hoarse, distorted voice mixed with static.

A voice so oppressive and unsettling that it was almost impossible to describe with words.

[What are you doing?]

Alice looked at the person in confusion, unable to understand what he was doing or who he was talking to.

Crack!

Amid the sound of something breaking, Takumi felt as though he had been crushed outright.

An indescribably intense pain exploded through his entire body.

But in the very next moment, his eyes flew open. He jerked upright and took a deep, instinctive breath. Only then did Takumi realize he was sitting on the floor—right where those ghostly hands had dragged him into the Instance before.

What exactly... was that thing I just saw?

Still suffering from a ringing dizziness in his head, Takumi frowned deeply and tried to calm his chaotic thoughts.

He raised a hand.

Gently, he touched his neck.

Nothing was wrong.

His skin was intact. His muscles, blood vessels, and bones were all perfectly normal.

Everything he had seen moments ago seemed to have been nothing more than an illusion.

And yet, the pain and sensation of being torn apart in that instant remained vivid—so vivid that even now, even at this very moment, Takumi fell silent, unable to force a relaxed expression onto his face.

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