Takakai felt slightly awkward.
At this moment, he and Miko were hiding at a stairwell landing, debating whether to go up or down.
The sequence of events was actually quite simple: After being instantly killed by the jumping ghost girl - with every bone shattered and half his skull caved in - Takakai's blessing automatically activated, granting him ten minutes of invincibility.
Realizing the jumping ghost's instant-kill mechanics were utterly unreasonable, Takakai immediately thought of Miko - the poor girl with ultra-sensitive spiritual awareness who attracted supernatural entities like a magnet. So he'd left his dorm to find her.
Though his current state was gruesome (not a single intact bone, blood everywhere), blessings were supernatural powers that defied logic. So even as a barely-functional corpse, Takakai could still move - even faster than normal, like a marionette controlled by invisible strings.
Upon reaching the fifth floor, remembering how Maki had gained the ability to see the main building's survival rules after obtaining the second [Occult Club Recruitment Poster], Takakai first knocked on Room 503's door to check their status. No response - they seemed completely dead asleep.
Not wanting to break down the door (unnecessary when he had the [Blood Key] that could open any locked door), Takakai used it to enter. Inside, both Maki and Kaguya were in deep, unshakable slumber - their consciousnesses seemingly projected elsewhere.
Did they enter Bythos after falling asleep?
Choosing not to wake them, Takakai cautiously checked the other two beds meant for mimic-students - both empty, just like in his dorm.
More disturbingly, the longer he stayed inside, the more the dorm itself began to feel...wrong. He quickly exited and closed the door.
Next was Miko's Room 508.
This time, before even opening the door, Takakai sensed an overwhelming supernatural presence leaking out.
Throwing the door open, he saw Miko standing dazed by the bathroom window - and a figure falling past it outside.
The jumping ghost girl!
Realizing Miko had been targeted, Takakai didn't hesitate - he rushed in, grabbed her, and hauled her out.
Now, intention-wise, Takakai absolutely meant to protect Miko with zero ulterior motives.
There was just one...small oversight in his urgency:
The current Takakai charging at Miko was a blood-drenched, bone-shattered, half-skull-caved-in monstrosity.
Miko didn't scream.
When Takakai dragged her to the stairwell between the fifth and sixth floors, listening for any crawling sounds below, she simply sat beside him silently...crying.
Only when she sniffled softly did Takakai notice something was off, turning to see her tear-streaked face.
Clearly, the girl had been severely startled. Understandable - being suddenly grabbed by a bloody, mangled corpse would rattle anyone.
But now she'd clearly recognized this horrifying figure was Takakai and calmed down somewhat. Though the tear tracks remained fresh.
"Sorry for scaring you," Takakai whispered apologetically.
"..."
Miko stayed silent, just shaking her head slightly. Even knowing it was Takakai, she maintained strict quiet, ensuring no [communication] could be established between them.
Seeing she remained composed, Takakai said no more, continuing to monitor their surroundings.
Creak—
The door opened sooner than expected.
Something slithered into Miko's dorm - the sound of fabric dragging slowly across the floor.
It didn't seem fast, just...methodical.
But when Takakai realized the dragging wasn't coming from Miko's room anymore but right beside them in the stairwell—
When did it get here?! How didn't I notice?!
Pure terror spiked through him.
Without hesitation, Takakai yanked Miko toward the sixth floor while summoning [Rescue Team Member Howard] to charge downstairs as a distraction.
In seconds, they reached the sixth floor landing.
But Howard saw nothing on the fourth floor where the sounds originated.
Through their shared vision, Takakai confirmed the area was empty—
Is it invisible while moving?!
Then—a head peered up from below.
Matted hair. Brains and blood oozing. Half its skull missing.
This thing might have been a student once. The remnants of prettiness lingered beneath the ruin.
Takakai met its single remaining eye.
Even invincible, primal fear gripped him.
Its pupil held infinite hatred—as if this entity had become [Hatred] itself.
How does something like this even form?
Why does this dorm have a—
"Uh?!"
Miko's muffled gasp sent danger signals screaming through Takakai.
He turned.
The bloody, half-caved-in face was right there, bulging eye staring into his.
When did it get beside me?!
No—
Distance means nothing to this thing.
Takakai understood now.
The [Jumping Ghost Girl]'s killing rule was simple: [Eye Contact]. It didn't even need its victims to notice it. Once its gaze locked onto someone, it was already beside them—inescapable.
Meaning if not for his invincibility, the moment it looked at him from the stairs, he'd have been dead. There might be a slight delay, but once [Eye Contact] was made, death was inevitable—no amount of running could change that.
Now, because he couldn't die, it had latched onto him like a curse, following him everywhere.
[Why pretend not to see me?]
The whisper in his ear could have been a question or just the thing talking to itself.
Miko, untouched by its gaze, hesitated before moving to help—
Strum~
A guitar chord echoed through the stairwell.
The ghost's head jerked sideways unnaturally.
History had been rewritten.
Takakai hadn't come alone—a decoy created by Gotou Hitori had been scouting ahead. Now, that duplicate took the lethal gaze meant for him.
"Go!"
Not wasting a second, Takakai pulled Miko into the sixth floor hallway.
A dorm door silently swung open ahead—pitch black inside. Suspicious, but with the ghost turning back toward them, they rushed in and shut the door.
The bathroom door here was closed, plunging the room into perfect darkness.
Scrape...scrape...
The awful dragging sound passed by outside a few seconds later before fading.
The thing seemed to check another dorm—probably Hitori's actual Room 604—before leaving. Not that it mattered now.
Because the socially anxious guitarist was already here.
Takakai turned to see Gotou Hitori standing behind him, nervously plucking her guitar strings—and immediately tensing up under his gaze.