Darkness.
An endless, all-consuming darkness that threatens to drown everything.
Muffled, chaotic sounds, as if coming through thick curtains.
Is that Shijou Maki-san's voice?
Impossible to make out the words.
Consciousness is hazy, senses blurred - everything is indistinct.
Only a faint laughter can be heard.
Who is it?
Someone standing not too far away, watching, laughing at me.
Struggling.
Trying to break free from this suffocating darkness.
Yet even the simplest act - opening my eyes - proves impossible.
Falling.
Plummeting uncontrollably into the depths.
All perception finally fades away completely.
Only the sensation of endless falling remains, wrapped in infinite darkness.
And then -
A sudden, violent impact against the ground.
"..."
Takakai opened his eyes.
It took about two or three seconds to go from grogginess to full awareness.
Slowly, he raised his head from the desk he'd been slumped over and sat upright, staring at the flickering candle before him.
The candlelight illuminated the desk's surface - carved with words like [Die], [Trash], [Idiot], and dried, rust-colored scratches resembling nail marks.
The stench of blood filled the air.
Thick, nauseating, as if his nostrils were flooded with it.
No opening instructions.
No mission briefing.
He'd simply been dragged into this place.
A dilapidated classroom, long abandoned.
A playground of horrors, shrouded in darkness, teeming with unspeakable things.
He looked down at his right hand.
Beneath it lay a torn sheet of notebook paper, its edges jagged.
Flipping it over, he saw the handwritten text:
[Alice's Grand Adventure Game!]
Unsurprisingly, it matched the rule sheet he'd found on the forum - the one detailing how to play with "Alice."
Extinguishing the candle would summon [Big Bad Wolf]. [Naughty Children] would blow out candles but could be repelled by candlelight. Running in the halls attracted [Sheep Mama]. Noise lured [Duck Teacher]. [Uncle Statue] loved to "hug" those it caught. [Turtle Teacher] lurked near stairwells. [Flashlight Sister] patrolled the halls - run if spotted. During class hours, [Sheep Mama] conducted inspections. Mistiming light switches summoned [Elephant Principal] and [Giraffe Inspector]. And the only way out was to find [Alice's Lost Items]...
Takakai skimmed the rules - identical to the forum version - then set it aside and surveyed the room.
Five rows of desks, five columns each. Twenty-five seats in total, each occupied by a motionless figure.
All girls. All wearing high school uniforms - the same as Yotsuya Miko's school. Just like previous iterations of [The Cursed School Rumor], this anomaly typically abducted entire classes. This time, though, Miko's class hadn't been fully taken, likely because Yotsuya Miko herself had resisted the mental erosion, diverting the curse's focus.
For now, the students remained unconscious, slumped over their desks.
Each desk held a burning candle, the only light source in the pitch-black classroom.
Each also had a rule sheet, identical to Takakai's - handwritten on torn notebook paper, adorned with cutesy animal doodles.
Most of the windows were shattered, glass shards glinting faintly on the floor.
Outside, a murky night stretched endlessly, punctuated only by a blood-red crescent moon. No stars. No clouds. Just that ominous glow bathing the lifeless campus.
Takakai turned to the other side of the room.
Two doors, painted red, both shut. Oddly, this wall also had two windows - one fully curtained, the other partially open, revealing a crumbling hallway littered with debris and another classroom's window.
At the front, a teacher's desk and podium stood beside an air conditioner.
And on the blackboard behind it, someone had written in chalk:
[Alice's game is about to begin!]
[This time, Alice hid 5 things in the school! Find just one to win~]
[The items are:]
A red pen
A red eraser
A red notebook
A red ruler
A red compass
[Super easy to find! Let's all play together!]
[After the game, we'll all be Alice's friends! ♡]
The handwriting was childlike, accompanied by doodles of flowers and animals - adorable, if not for the context.
Takakai memorized the room's layout, then noticed stirring among the students.
Normal humans, devoid of blessings or cursed artifacts, couldn't wake early like him. Their awakening meant the game was starting.
"Ugh..."
A whimper came from the seat beside him.
Takakai glanced over at Yotsuya Miko. The girl with supernatural sight looked dazed, still half-asleep, before jolting upright in panic.
Around them, the other students began waking - confused, terrified.
"W-where are we?!"
"I was just doing a ritual... How did I get here?!"
"Wait... the Alice game is REAL?!"
"Let me out! I wanna go home!!"
"Hey, you guys too? What's happening?!"
"Is this a prank show? Some kinda performance?"
"Did we get kidnapped?! No, no, NO--"
Twenty-plus high school girls, none accustomed to the supernatural, erupted into chaos.
Over half ignored their rule sheets and candles, rushing to the doors - only to find them locked.
Some burst into tears. Others huddled together uselessly.
"Takakai-san, this is..."
Yotsuya Miko, relatively calm, read her rule sheet and looked to him for guidance.
"We failed to escape. Now we survive," he said flatly, then muttered under his breath, "This is why you don't befriend plot-relevant characters."
"Takakai-san, everyone here is--"
Miko clutched her candle, staring at her classmates with growing dread.
"Most are already dead. Follow my lead, and I'll get you out. For now, protect that candle."
As Takakai picked up his own candle, the classroom speaker crackled to life.
[Ding-dong~!]
A cheerful tune played.
[Alice's game starts now~!]
A young girl's voice - bright, playful, dripping with faux innocence.
"WHO WANTS TO PLAY WITH YOU?! LET US OUT!" screamed a blonde girl, smashing her candle to the ground.
She stomped on it.
The flame died.
Takakai saw nothing - but Yotsuya Miko froze.
Then -
SPLAT.
The blonde's head exploded.
The broadcast continued, unfazed:
[3, 2, 1~]
[Game start!]