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"Let's do a verification first."
After simply bandaging the wound on his hand, Amamiya Natsuki took the blood-stained shirt and turned to enter the nearest classroom, waving the shirt in front of the Faceless Person sitting by the door.
Her face was completely blank, even her mouth and nose had disappeared. Only the outline of a female could be distinguished, but the Faceless Woman remained motionless, showing no reaction at all.
Amamiya Natsuki then randomly selected several Forgotten People for verification, and the situation was exactly the same.
"Verification complete." Amamiya Natsuki returned to the hallway and said softly, "Ordinary Forgotten People do not react to red."
Shinomiya Kaguya crossed her arms over her chest: "In other words, anyone who has an abnormal reaction to red is highly suspicious."
"Exactly." Amamiya Natsuki nodded. "Let's split up. Report any situation immediately."
Yukinoshita Yukino pursed her pink lips: "Understood."
Before, they only knew that the anomaly's body was in the school, but they didn't know what it looked like, whether it was male or female, tall or short, fat or thin, etc. It had no special characteristics, so finding it was undoubtedly like looking for a needle in a haystack. Now that they had a direction, the three naturally took action immediately.
Shinomiya Kaguya and Yukinoshita Yukino acted together, the two girls responsible for checking upstairs.
Amamiya Natsuki was responsible for the floors below.
"Everyone, excuse me."
Amamiya Natsuki stepped into a classroom.
The classroom was full of students, and a teacher stood at the podium. Skirt, high heels, flesh-colored pantyhose... her attire clearly indicated she was a female teacher, and her waistline was exceptionally slender, truly curvy. Unfortunately, her face had become a completely blank mask.
"Stare—"
All the Faceless People in the classroom turned to look, but not a single sound was made. The entire classroom was filled with silent quietness and dead silence.
It must be said that such a scene was indeed somewhat eerie and frightening.
Unfortunately, Amamiya Natsuki was already a seasoned veteran by now; this level of fright was completely child's play. He walked into the classroom without changing his expression, starting from the first Faceless Person sitting by the door, and held the blood-stained shirt in front of them.
"..."
The Faceless Person sat quietly in their seat, showing no reaction whatsoever.
"Not you, next."
Amamiya Natsuki stepped towards the next Faceless Person student.
"Not them either."
"Continue."
One classroom was quickly covered. Amamiya Natsuki naturally didn't miss the female teacher at the podium, waving the blood-stained shirt in front of her, but still, there was no reaction.
Before leaving, Amamiya Natsuki didn't forget to check the lockers in the classroom—these are usually in the back corner of the classroom, mainly used to store cleaning tools like brooms and mops. Some petite girls could easily hide inside, like the short but super fierce Palmtop Tiger.
"Tsk, empty. The scenario of someone hiding in a utility closet only happens in manga, after all."
Amamiya Natsuki walked out of the classroom with regret, using the Love Omamori to communicate with Yukinoshita Yukino.
When they split up earlier, due to time constraints, they didn't perform the confession ritual again, and Yukinoshita Yukino still held the Omamori.
"Calling Hirano." Amamiya Natsuki silently thought, "Class 1-A, check complete."
Yukinoshita Yukino: "...Hirano?"
Amamiya Natsuki: "Oops, I accidentally spoke my mind."
Yukinoshita Yukino: "Giving people nicknames based on their bust size, scumbag-kun really makes one angry."
Amamiya Natsuki: "So, inner thoughts aren't a crime."
As he spoke, Hirano's figure involuntarily appeared in Amamiya Natsuki's mind.
Before, when he became Yukino's leg accessory at the zoo, their visions were shared, and many scenes were exceptionally clear.
For example, Yukinoshita Yukino was not a person with grand ambitions, because on her pure white skin, there was only a small mole near her collarbone... "Lewd!"
When holding the Love Omamori together, the two had no privacy whatsoever; all their thoughts would appear in the other person's mind.
"Lewd!"
"You said you didn't see it, but you clearly saw everything!"
Yukinoshita Yukino's voice was filled with shame and anger: "Delete that memory immediately!"
Amamiya Natsuki: "I'm sorry, please don't ask for the impossible."
Yukinoshita Yukino: "Physical amnesia method, get acquainted."
Amamiya Natsuki: "It's not like you haven't seen my body..."
The next second.
A certain scene appeared in Amamiya Natsuki's mind. Undoubtedly, Hirano-chan also remembered it clearly, having seen it distinctly.
The state of hearing each other's thoughts suddenly ended.
Amamiya Natsuki exhaled lightly and continued to investigate.
Twenty minutes passed in a flash.
Amamiya Natsuki, Kaguya, and Yukino met at the entrance of the school building.
"President, all classrooms have been searched, including utility closets, storage rooms, and even restrooms." Shinomiya Kaguya frowned slightly. "We found nothing."
Amamiya Natsuki said gently, "The school building is just a small area of the school. There are still many places to look. Fortunately, these Faceless People won't move, so we just need to use the elimination method."
Yukinoshita Yukino crossed her arms over her chest, her voice cool:
"Where to next?"
Amamiya Natsuki pondered, "Let's check the playground first, then the library, gymnasium, multi-purpose building, and infirmary."
The three didn't rest and headed straight for the playground.
Arriving at the playground.
"So many people." Yukinoshita Yukino slightly furrowed her delicate brows, carefully observing the Faceless People on the playground, and said softly, "Elderly, children, office workers... people of all ages and identities are here, but those in the school building were all students."
Amamiya Natsuki pondered, The entity of the weirdness might have originated from the school, or even was originally a student within the school. No matter what, it must have a close relationship with the school. Therefore, the entire school was not spared. The people on the playground, like your sister, were likely unlucky individuals randomly chosen by the weirdness and then failed the challenge."
Shinomiya Kaguya pursed her pink lips and suggested, "Should we form a line and search forward together?"
"Okay."
The search began.
Looking at the motionless, incredibly eerie and quiet faceless people on the playground, Amamiya Natsuki suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu, an extremely familiar feeling quietly emerging before his eyes.
Strange.
It was as if he had seen or experienced this incredibly strong sense of déjà vu somewhere before…
Amamiya Natsuki recalled for a moment and quickly remembered, unable to help but turn to look at the Sheltered Young Lady.
"It's the wooden doll game from Grudge High."
The Sheltered Young Lady happened to look up.
Their eyes met.
Everything was unsaid.
Both of them remembered the wooden doll game from when they were chosen by the game.
Although it had been a long time ago, it felt as if it had happened just yesterday, vivid and clear.
Unfortunately, now was not the time for kissing the Sheltered Young Lady; finding the entity of the weirdness was the most important thing.
Twenty minutes later.
The three of them had screened everyone on the entire playground.
"None."
"None of these people reacted to red at all."
"Clearly, they are not the weirdness."
Amamiya Natsuki said calmly, "At least we've ruled out one wrong answer… Next, let's go to the gymnasium."
"Okay."
The three of them headed straight for the gymnasium, splitting up to continue their search.
Unfortunately, they still found nothing.
"Then the library… Nothing."
"Let's go check the infirmary."
"…"
Time ticked by, and only twenty minutes remained until the end of the protection period.
After twenty minutes, the three of them would be eroded by the Curse of Oblivion, and all their memories, personalities, and everything else would inevitably begin to fade until they became one of the faceless people.
"We've searched the entire school, and it's nowhere." Yukinoshita Yukino gently furrowed her brows. Seeing that time was running out, she couldn't help but feel anxious. "Where exactly could that weirdness be?"
Amamiya Natsuki narrowed his eyes, looking at the faceless people on the playground.
In fact, he had initially thought of cutting down all the masked people in the school, but there was a prompt appearing before him. However, these guys were people after all, not ants that could be stepped on and killed. Besides, there were thousands of people in the school, and killing chickens wasn't that simple.
Now there were only twenty minutes left. Even if they lined up for him to kill, it would be too late.
Shinomiya Kaguya crossed her arms over her chest and said softly, "We forgot to search the school rooftop earlier."
Amamiya Natsuki said, "Let's go up and take a look."
"Okay."
The three of them headed straight for the teaching building, going up all the way, and soon arrived at the school rooftop.
Unlike in comics, school rooftops in reality are usually locked to prevent accidents among students.
Yukinoshita Yukino said softly, "When we came to the top floor before, because the door was locked, Kaguya and I didn't go up."
"You two, step back a bit."
Amamiya Natsuki took out an axe weapon from his game backpack and easily broke the lock.
The three of them pushed the door open and went onto the rooftop, beginning their search.
However… the rooftop was empty, with no living creatures present.
Shinomiya Kaguya frowned and said, "We've searched the entire school, and it's still nowhere."
In over an hour, the three of them had thoroughly searched the entire school: classrooms, activity rooms, restrooms, sports warehouses… every conceivable hiding place, but found nothing.
Yukinoshita Yukino's gaze lowered slightly, and she offered a guess: "…Could that weirdness have been constantly moving in the shadows, hiding in places we've already searched?"
"…Possibly."
Shinomiya Kaguya couldn't help but furrow her brows.
Only ten minutes remained. If, as Yukinoshita Yukino guessed, the weirdness entity could move freely and hide anywhere in the school, it would be impossible to catch it.
At this moment, Amamiya Natsuki spoke in a deep voice, "There's one more place in the school we haven't checked."
"Eh, where is it?"
Shinomiya Kaguya and Yukinoshita Yukino both looked over.
"It's…"
Amamiya Natsuki led the two girls down from the teaching building rooftop.
A moment later.
Outside the office.
"Eh, Yukino, you're back?"
Yukinoshita Haruno had not participated in the search operation but had stayed in the office, trying to awaken her friend.
Currently, it was clear that it had been of no use.
Yukinoshita Yukino: "We're back."
"Did you…"
Halfway through her sentence, Yukinoshita Haruno had already figured out the result. As a socialite, observing expressions and reactions was naturally an indispensable skill.
Yukino's expression was so solemn… so, they failed?
Amamiya Natsuki looked at Yukinoshita Haruno and asked, "Haruno, have you left this office?"
"No." Yukinoshita Haruno shook her head.
Amamiya Natsuki asked again, "During this time, has anyone entered or left the office?"
Yukinoshita Haruno shook her head again: "Still no, it's just been me."
"That's good."
Amamiya Natsuki raised an eyebrow slightly, his gaze slowly scanning the office, finally landing on the storage cabinet in the corner of the office.
After his gaze lingered for a few seconds, a prompt quietly appeared before his eyes.
"The most dangerous place is the safest place. After careful observation, you found that the storage cabinet is very unusual; something seems to be hiding inside… Yes, it's me!"
Amamiya Natsuki took a deep breath and walked towards the storage cabinet.
"Sister, come over here." Yukinoshita Yukino's gaze sharpened, and she called out softly.
Yukinoshita Haruno blinked, quickly reacted, and without any hesitation, swiftly walked to Yukino's side.
Amamiya Natsuki gripped the handle of the storage cabinet and pulled it open.
The upper layer held miscellaneous items, while the lower storage compartment contained a small, thin faceless person in a school uniform with black hair covering their face, holding a faintly glowing mobile phone.
Seemingly startled by the sound of the cabinet opening, the faceless person inside slowly looked up.
Shinomiya Kaguya stood nearby and directly handed the blood-stained shirt in her hand to the faceless person.
Upon seeing the red shirt stained with blood, the faceless person in the storage cabinet immediately tilted their head back, clearly making a panicked dodging motion. Then, a white shadow flashed, and they suddenly shot out of the storage cabinet, reaching the office door in a blink of an eye.
"Found you."
Amamiya Natsuki decisively activated Time Stop.
The next instant.
The entire world suddenly froze, and the weirdness, like an insect encased in amber, was also frozen in time.
Amamiya Natsuki didn't hesitate at all, directly took out the Cursed Cleaver, and stepped forward.
Three seconds passed in a flash, and time resumed its flow.
Yukinoshita Haruno's eyes widened, completely unaware of what had happened. She only felt Amamiya Natsuki instantly appear at the door from the corner, holding a cleaver in his hand, while the faceless person who had run out of the storage cabinet had already fallen to the ground.
"Eh, is it instant transmission?" Yukinoshita Haruno blurted out.
Amamiya Natsuki had already received the game's kill notification, so he put away the cleaver and casually said, "Sorry, it's actually Time Stop."
Yukinoshita Haruno: "…"
"Finally solved." Shinomiya Kaguya let out a soft sigh.
She and Yukino had also received the notification that the weirdness had been killed.
At the same time.
After being killed, the weirdness's body began to rapidly melt, turning into wisps of black mist that dissipated into the air, leaving only a white mask that dropped to the ground with a 'clunk'.
Amamiya Natsuki curiously picked up the mask and found that the game actually provided identification content, similar to materials dropped by monsters. Unfortunately, before he could examine it closely, he heard a cracking sound, as if something was breaking.
The few of them quickly went to the hallway and found that the breaking thing was actually the entire sky.
Huge black cracks appeared in the pale white sky, instantly covering the entire world.
Amamiya Natsuki put the mask into his game backpack, quickly grasped the Sheltered Young Lady's soft hand, and then grasped Yukinoshita Yukino's right hand.
"Sister, give me your hand." Yukinoshita Yukino quickly said.
"Okay."
Yukinoshita Haruno quickly reached out her hand. As an ordinary person, it was not shameful to rely on her sister when encountering supernatural phenomena.
A few seconds later.
Accompanied by a loud 'crack', the entire world suddenly shattered.
Amamiya Natsuki only felt his vision go dark, instinctively holding the two girls' hands tightly. Fortunately, in the next second, he felt a solid touch under his feet, followed by incredibly familiar and surprised exclamations.
"Natsuki-kun!"
"Senpai!"
"Natsuki-kun…"
Amamiya Natsuki opened his eyes and found that they had returned to the inn, which was the place where they were pulled into the Realm of Oblivion. All the girls were in front of him.
A warm and delicate touch came from his hands.
Amamiya Natsuki turned his head to look left and right.
Very good.
The Sheltered Young Lady and Hirano were both still there, and he even brought back one Haruno.
"Natsuki, you're back?"
Kitagawa Marin's eyes sparkled, and she suppressed the urge to rush forward and hug him, exclaiming excitedly, "You guys suddenly disappeared out of thin air earlier, and everyone was worried sick."
Amamiya Natsuki released Kaguya and Yukino, and asked, "That weird thing didn't play fair, and didn't give us any preparation time... How long were we gone?"
"We were gone for two hours," Koyasu Tsubame said softly, pressing her right hand to her chest and letting out a gentle sigh, her eyes as warm and clear as water. "It's good that Natsuki-kun came back safely."
"Stupid Natsuki, where are your clothes?"
Juju asked curiously.
Amamiya Natsuki said, "It's a long story. Let me rest first, and I'll tell you in detail later."
"Wahh... Kaguya-chan." Fujiwara Chika ran forward and hugged the young lady, "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Shinomiya Kaguya said gently. "The weird creature has been killed, so there's nothing to worry about."
Fujiwara Chika hugged her tightly, her eyes welling up with tears, "You guys suddenly disappeared for so long, how could I not be worried?"
"...Don't hug so tightly."
"No, I'm super happy right now, so of course I have to hug you."
Shinomiya Kaguya: "..."
You're happy, but with your useless fat pressing against my chest, I can't be happy at all!
"Ha, Haruno-chan, you're back?"
Glasses Girl was also in the hotel, and upon seeing Yukinoshita Haruno, she couldn't help but tremble with excitement, her eyes misty with tears.
"Rinko-chan, I'm back."
Yukinoshita Haruno was equally excited and embraced Glasses Girl.
The reunion after surviving a calamity felt even more precious.
The two hugged tightly for a while, then Glasses Girl calmed down and asked, "Haruno-chan, what about Kobayashi and the others?"
"..."
Yukinoshita Haruno fell silent and whispered, "...I'm sorry."
"It's not Haruno-chan's fault." Glasses Girl was filled with self-reproach, and tears streamed down her face. "If I hadn't wanted to play the murder mystery game, none of this would have happened. It's all my fault."
Yukinoshita Yukino exhaled softly, patted Rikka's head, then pursed her pink lips and secretly glanced at Amamiya Natsuki.
If she had been alone, there was no way she could have successfully rescued her sister.
So... how should she repay this life-saving kindness?
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