Kuro
The moss-covered stone wall gave way with a soft crumble beneath the gentle press of Pencilgon's fingertips.
"Woah! Secret passage!" Sunraku and Oikatzo exclaimed in perfect unison, their voices bouncing down the freshly revealed corridor.
"I've scoured this area countless times… yet I've always missed this," I said, pausing as my eyes traced the passage's edge. Then, mainly to myself, I muttered, "Hidden in plain sight—classic."
"Most likely because this path only opens on full-moon nights," Pencilgon replied, striding down the corridor with the calm precision of someone who'd walked it a dozen times before.
"Such incredible detail! I'd expect nothing less from a god-tier game like this," Sunraku declared, clearly lost in his own little world.
"How'd you even find out about this?" Oikatzo asked, his tone probing. It was a fair question—I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious too. The path only opened under a full moon—roughly once a month—and even then, the cue was absurdly subtle: a single darkened rock on the cave wall.
An incredible find, really. Even if that cunning woman hadn't uncovered it herself.
"Luck of the draw, truly," she admitted with a cheerful shrug—much to my surprise, and, I imagine, the others' as well. "I came to gather a few items I needed and just happened to stumble across it."
"Ohhh? So it's folks like us, blessed by real-life luck, who stumble into unique scenarios, eh?" Sunraku declared, a smug grin clearly bleeding through his bird mask as he side-eyed Oikatzo—who, if I had to guess, was the only one among us still waiting on his first.
"Hey, wipe that smug look off your face. It's starting to piss me off," Oikatzo snapped, his eyes narrowing at Sunraku's teasing grin.
I watched the two of them with a reserved sigh. "In my opinion, Oikatzo's the luckiest of us. I never even wanted to be a well-known player."
"That just makes me feel worse..." Oikatzo muttered, visibly deflating, while Sunraku erupted into a fit of laughter.
"Enough comedy. We're here." Pencilgon's voice cut through the banter, pulling my gaze away from the others and toward the bright light at the end of the cave hall.
"Where even is here?" I asked, my gaze flicking between the three of them. Were Oikatzo and Sunraku just as clueless, or was it only me? "You still haven't told me what I'm supposed to be doing—just that it was a 'surprise,' then blackmailing me into coming along."
Instead of answering, she turned to face the three—four of us, I corrected, remembering Sunraku's ever-present bunny companion. A smug smile played on her lips, and behind her stretched a breathtaking expanse of red spider lilies, their vibrant petals glowing in the soft light of the full-moon lingering just above.
The entire area seemed to be encased in towering stone walls, as if shielded from the world outside. In fact, I wasn't entirely sure how we'd ended up outside in the first place. Wasn't the Prismatic Forest Grotto a cave? Nonetheless, the scenery was stunning. A gentle breeze brushed across my face, and soft, crimson petals twirled in the wind. It almost felt too real. Hard to believe I was still in a video game.
I suppose this is what you'd expect from a god-tier game.
My stunned silence quickly faded, though I wasn't quite ready to hear whatever Pencilgon had to say just yet. Instead, I crouched down into a squatting position, leaning in to admire the spider lilies up close.
In the real world, ingesting spider lilies could be toxic and dangerous. But this is a video game—no matter how real it feels, this isn't reality. So, I couldn't help but wonder... What kind of tea could I make with these? Oh, and just imagine the buffs they could give!
Though they're flowers of death...? Oh, who cares! I can't wait to test these out!
"Pencilgon...?" I called, my voice trailing off as I turned back toward her, already imagining the possibilities.
Before Pencilgon could answer, a sweet, honey-like voice echoed across the area. My gaze lifted to the centre of the space, where a dead, wilting tree stood. Beside it, a woman dressed in strangely modern clothing—a lab coat—stood, her presence oddly out of place. On closer inspection, I realised that the majestic voice was hers.
"How eerie..."
Our group stood in silence, almost as if we'd all caught the cue from Pencilgon, who was intently listening to the melody. We waited, caught in the moment, for her to finish her song. This was definitely screaming 'Unique Scenario…' What in the world has this silver-tongued model dragged me into now?
"She's transparent!" the bunny on Sunraku's shoulder screamed. On a note, I hadn't even noticed that. Ahem, guess I was too distracted by the spider lilies.
"A bug!?" Sunraku exclaimed happily. I doubted it, though. This was definitely screaming ghost with unfinished business.
"You always assume bug over plot…" Oikatzo replied, giving him a pointed look.
"Set-chan, it's been a while," Pencilgon introduced herself to the lone spirit. From her tone and the nickname, it was clear she'd met the ghost before. She seemed lighter, not at all like her usual manipulative self. Maybe she'd formed some kind of connection with the NPC. But if that's the case, why bring us here? Something to do with the unresolved business trope I was thinking about earlier? I suppose so. And if this is a unique scenario, it must be something tough. So, we're here to help her help this NPC, right?
Nah, That's impossible...
"This isn't the same group you brought before." 'Set-chan,' or Setsuna of Bygone Days as the nametag read out spoke.
"You're right, allow me to introduce you."
"Greetings, we're Pencilgon's Merry—" Sunraku began, but was immediately interrupted.
"Stooge 1, Stooge 2, and their mascot." She paused before turning to me. "And this one's a curiosity."
A curiosity, huh? So she blackmailed me with leaking my secrets to bring me here because I'm a curiosity.
How wonderful...
(A/N) Definitely a boring chapter in my opinion but its necessary for the story to progress. The next chapter will be released shortly as I'm currently very free. If not late today tomorrow. Depends on my motivation, its high right now though so we should be good.