Chapter 314 - 314: The Special Ticket Destined to Reach Your Hands

Takumi felt that he could already start preparing himself for a trip to the Hayadate Elementary School regional Instance.

Personally, he had absolutely no desire whatsoever to return to Uncanny Campus.

Yet after everything that had happened in Fujihana Middle School, he found himself recalling how he had originally become interested in that Instance because it had more available information than most others.

And that led him to a troubling thought.

Perhaps it was precisely because he had paid attention to Fujihana Middle School that, in some mysterious way, the Instance had chosen him.

Now Mai had brought up Hayadate Elementary School.

And Takumi couldn't shake the feeling that this might be another one of fate's inscrutable nudges.

A warning.

A reminder.

Whether he wanted it or not, he was likely destined to become entangled with the Hayadate Elementary School regional Instance as well.

It felt almost like the preview shown at the end of a television episode—

A handful of keywords.

A few fleeting images.

A glimpse of what was coming next.

Perhaps once this little half-month break was over, his next Instance would start there.

No—something even worse might happen. He could get dragged into the Instance before the mission officially began again. After all, as the saying goes, the number of times someone cross-dresses is either zero or infinite—wait, no, that wasn't the saying. The point was that once something happened once, it could happen a second time.

Back at Fujihana Middle School, it had been the high-school-aged aberrant idol Alice who had taken a liking to him. Maybe this time, at Hayadate Elementary School, some aberrant grade-schooler named Lily would end up taking a liking to him instead?

That's right. As long as he imagined things in the worst possible way from the very beginning, then even if it really happened, it wouldn't be that big of a dea—

Like hell it wouldn't.

He had only just gotten back. He had only just found some time to rest properly. If another crisis immediately came crashing down on his head...

No thank you!

"Takumi, what's wrong? What's wrong?"

Sitting beside him, Chika blinked and noticed the dramatic shifts in expression passing across his face. She leaned closer and asked curiously.

"Nothing. Just under a bit of pressure. My convictions are being tested. Mm... the test has been passed. Valor prevailed."

Takumi spoke with an air of complete seriousness, but his eyes were locked onto Chika's collar, specifically the faintly visible curve beneath her collarbone.

Ah... nice oppai.

He could practically feel his SAN points rapidly recovering.

Through the unique Takumi-style healing method, his mental state quickly stabilized.

"No getting horny. Absolutely no getting horny in public."

Highly sensitive to exactly where Takumi's gaze had landed, Chika poked his cheek and delivered the warning in an extremely serious tone.

"So if it's not in public, then it's okay?"

Twin beams of light practically shot out of Takumi's eyes.

"So your conviction test actually failed, didn't it..."

Chika tossed out the remark casually.

In truth, she didn't really have any complaints about where Takumi was looking. He had already seen them, touched them, kneaded them, and even licked them before. Compared to that, the desserts on the table were far more important.

Her attention quickly returned to the pastries laid out before her.

If Chika were asked what she was happiest about after becoming a player, she probably wouldn't answer, "Meeting Takumi."

Instead, she'd say, "Not gaining weight easily after getting superhuman physical abilities is the greatest thing ever."

Because players possessed bodies far beyond ordinary humans, they needed to eat much more than normal people, while also having virtually no worries about accumulating fat. As a result, Chika no longer had to care about calories, sugar, or anything like that. She could eat however she pleased.

In fact, after confirming the changes to their bodies, most players became rather casual about their diets.

Though in Takumi's opinion, that level of indulgence was nothing compared to the Red Moon-level players Mai had talked about—the lunatics who drank industrial alcohol or even kerosene in drinking contests.

Of course, enjoyment was enjoyment. Serious matters still needed discussing.

"As for Kaguya's situation... mm, I'm not actually sure either. But it seems like she's looking for someone. Maybe someone very important to her has gone missing? I was already planning to talk to you and Maki about this this afternoon. I've wanted to ask her before, but Kaguya has never liked asking others for help. Though I guess that's just the way she's always been..."

With a soft sigh, Chika shared everything she had learned from her conversations with Kaguya over the past two days.

Even though Chika was practically Kaguya's only friend at school, whenever it came to her own personal affairs, Kaguya still refused to explain the situation despite obviously being in trouble. She avoided communication and discussion altogether.

It was, frankly, an incredibly frustrating personality trait.

But now that they were a team that advanced and retreated together, they couldn't just ignore Kaguya's situation any longer.

After Chika had more or less confirmed the circumstances, Takumi decided to visit Kaguya personally and ask her about it.

"I can't go with you, Takumi? Why not?"

Chika, who had originally intended to come along, looked confused after being stopped by him.

"The situation on Shinomiya's side could be anything from harmless to serious. If something really is wrong—say, if her missing friend investigated something related to the Sacrifice Game—there's a chance I could run into danger when I go see her."

"My self-preservation abilities and combat strength are the best among us right now. If trouble really happens, getting away won't be difficult for me. You might not be so lucky."

"I already talked to Maki about this beforehand, which is why she isn't here today. So you don't need to come with me. Just leave it to me."

Takumi's attitude was firm.

After what had happened with Miko, he had been left more than a little traumatized. So now that something unusual had appeared on Kaguya's side, he had to take every possible precaution, even if it made him seem overly paranoid.

"But if that's the case, then you'll—"

"Maki already said all of this before, so don't start repeating it. The greater your ability, the greater the responsibility you should bear. Since I have the capability, then naturally I'm the one who should step forward."

Before Chika could voice her concerns, Takumi pressed a finger gently against her lips.

Though visibly dissatisfied, Chika could tell he was serious. In the end, she said nothing more and merely puffed out her cheeks before nodding lightly.

Finally, after calling Miko and reminding her that if she planned to return to her original classroom, she absolutely had to stay away from any strange doodles she encountered, he received the girl's reply:

"If you're saying it like that, then I've already decided not to go back."

After that, Takumi set off alone toward the Shinomiya estate.

Mm. If he really ended up entering the Hayadate Elementary School Instance, he still remembered some of the information he had seen about it before. The amount of information had been pitifully small, but it should still prove useful.

And he also needed to find a way to contact Kogawa Shu and replace the Dusk-level Obsession Items currently used by the team. A lot of their equipment was already outdated and couldn't keep up with the current meta anymore. They needed to upgrade those Obsession Items to Dark Night-level ones.

Though it probably wouldn't be easy.

While thinking through all sorts of plans and arrangements, Takumi arrived at the Shinomiya residence before long.

The servants there recognized him, so after announcing his arrival at the gate, he was allowed into the enormous Western-style mansion.

"Takumi-kun, what brings you here? Mm... so it was noticed after all?"

Kaguya looked noticeably more exhausted than before. The moment she saw him, she immediately realized that her recent abnormal behavior had drawn attention, and a somewhat bitter smile appeared on her face.

"We're all on the same team. Shutting people out and dealing with everything behind closed doors isn't a good habit. You should learn to rely on everyone a little more."

"Didn't we cooperate pretty well when dealing with your big brother last time?"

"Alright, tell me what's going on. Mm... is this about your little maid?"

From the moment he entered the mansion and realized that Kaguya was the only familiar face among those greeting him, Takumi had already guessed that the blonde little maid who had followed and monitored him so many times might have run into trouble.

If it was Hayasaka Ai, then it was no wonder Kaguya was reacting so strongly this time.

After all, she was the one person Kaguya could truly trust unconditionally—the only friend who had accompanied her for so many years.

Although, strictly speaking, Hayasaka had betrayed her countless times as a spy. And before Hayasaka quit being her maid, Kaguya had basically worked her like a beast of burden.

Ahem.

That was obviously an exaggeration.

Still, Kaguya really hadn't cherished Hayasaka all that much. In the original story, it wasn't until they both opened up to each other and Hayasaka stopped serving as her maid that Kaguya finally learned how to treat her like an actual friend.

But now...

The little maid had gone missing.

What could have caused her disappearance?

Come to think of it, that girl had tried to tail him a few more times recently. She also seemed terrified of him, probably because the whole Shinomiya Oko incident had been a little too high-profile and had frightened her.

Mm. If he followed the usual logic that stories were always full of coincidences, then maybe Hayasaka had disappeared because of him.

Hahaha.

If that were the case, then where would she be right no—

...Holy shit.

No way.

Before Kaguya could even say anything, Takumi's imagination had already arrived at a possibility that was both highly likely and intensely headache-inducing.

"Hayasaka... really has disappeared. As expected, I couldn't hide it from you, Takumi-kun."

"At first, I thought I could figure it out myself. But even now, I haven't found much."

"No... that's not entirely true. The investigation has uncovered some clues."

"I found this."

"It was in the backyard of your house."

"I'm sorry. That girl didn't really understand you, so she acted on her own and started monitoring you. And then... this happened."

Kaguya had already been planning to ask for help anyway. Once Takumi brought the matter up, she stopped hiding anything and explained everything outright.

But Takumi's focus wasn't on that.

"Are you trying to say that you found something that looked like a child's doodle?"

"And then you brought it with you?"

"Is that right?"

With an expression so flat that it had already entered the realm of complete resignation, Takumi asked in an exceptionally calm tone.

"Yes, that's right... eh?"

Kaguya nodded as she took out the bizarre doodle.

Then she froze.

Judging from Takumi's reaction, she suddenly realized she might have done something incredibly stupid.

This time, however, things weren't as bad as Takumi had expected.

On the contrary, the moment Kaguya produced the doodle, he sensed something else entirely.

This feeling...

A ticket?

It feels very similar to an Instance ticket, but also different.

There don't seem to be any restrictions attached to it. It's more like a key that can enter an Instance whenever it's activated.

And... it seems to be a key whose true purpose only I can perceive?!

At that moment, uncertainty flashed through Takumi's mind.

Then he suddenly remembered the experience near the end of the Fujihana Middle School Instance, when that KP had grabbed him by the throat during the bizarre hallucination.

Unlike the KPs from the Shirakawa Apartments and Red Nut Grey Cave Instances, that KP had seemed to harbor tremendous hostility toward anyone who destroyed an Instance.

He had clearly wanted to kill Takumi.

Yet in the end, he hadn't.

Instead, he had said a few things to him.

[You can join this game whenever you want. Pick any of the remaining locations you like. Go ahead and see what you're capable of doing to my masterpiece!]

That's right.

Takumi finally understood.

The doodle carried some sort of cognitive interference effect.

Given Kaguya's level of caution, even if she had determined the doodle was harmless, she normally wouldn't have taken it away so casually.

But that KP had already stated that Takumi could enter any area of the "Uncanny Campus" Instance whenever he wished.

Because of that, the doodle's original properties had apparently been altered by some unknown force, transforming it into a harmless ticket that Kaguya had unknowingly carried straight to him.

If that's the case...

Then there's a good chance Bocchi will contact me next and provide a method for entering the Yoruyama Middle School Instance whenever I want.

And if I still don't make a choice, perhaps a way into Baidōsu Academy—and maybe even the mysterious Fifth Academy that exists only in players' theories—will somehow find its way into my hands as well.

Ring—Ring—

Takumi's phone suddenly rang.

He took it out and glanced at the screen.

As expected, it was a call from Gotō Hitori.

So it really is happening...

For the first time, Takumi couldn't help but wonder whether he had finally touched upon a tiny fragment of the power possessed by those KPs hidden within the history of the Instances.

---

I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar

---