In an instant, Takakai's consciousness wavered.
It was as if some force had seized control of his body, forcing his mouth open.
Something had taken over his very existence, compelling him to agree—to become [Alice's friend].
"I—"
Realizing something was wrong, Takakai's voice trembled violently, but he couldn't stop himself.
A pen clattered to the ground.
His mind plunged into darkness.
Faintly, he heard the hum of an elevator.
Then—
A world of blackness, lit only by the faintest glow.
[Stepped on the kitty~]
[Stepped on the kitty~?]
[Stepped on the napping kitty~?]
His body was being dragged somewhere.
He couldn't move—not even a finger.
His body was no longer his own.
All he could do was watch and listen.
The one dragging him seemed to be a girl?
Her voice hummed a cheerful tune.
Soon, he was pulled into a room.
Surrounding him were... plush toys?
Dolls about half a meter tall, lined up in rows on either side.
Three rows on the left, three on the right—stretching so far he couldn't see the end.
At least a hundred of them.
There were sheep, elephants, turtles, giraffes, ducks, cats, rabbits—all kinds.
Then, a small white sheep doll was placed in front of him.
The singing continued.
Takakai, struggling to regain clarity, forced his eyes open, desperate to understand before it was too late.
Then—
Pain.
His chest was the first to split open, followed by his abdomen.
Flesh parted, exposing his organs.
Next, his nose split down the middle, then his lips and teeth.
The sound of crushing bones echoed clearly.
Like tearing open a cake, his entire face was peeled apart, revealing the muscle and sinew beneath.
His consciousness sharpened further.
Amid the agony, his blessing responded.
This room was full of people.
Not anomalies—people.
Trapped in endless suffering, driven mad, stripped of their selves.
People who couldn't die, imprisoned forever.
His organs were removed one by one.
It hurts...
The doll's back zipper was pulled open, its stuffing already emptied.
It really hurts...
Nerves were ripped apart, blades carefully slicing deeper.
It hurts so much...
[Stepped on the kitty~ Stepped on the kitty~?]
The singing never stopped.
His eyes were plucked out, replaced with the doll's glass ones.
His flesh was cut into pieces, stuffed into the doll alongside his organs and bones.
All that remained on the floor was a hollowed-out husk.
The doll's zipper was closed again.
Takakai was still alive.
The pain never ceased, assaulting what little of his mind remained.
He felt fused with the doll, yet not fully merged.
The doll had become part of him, yet it tore at him endlessly, grinding his flesh and organs into pulp.
He could sense the others in the room.
Inside the blood-soaked dolls.
Just like him.
Suffering forever, unable to die.
[Teacher, you'll be Alice's friend forever now~ You'll stay with Alice forever~]
Someone hugged the doll, whispering to him.
[Alice loves making friends.]
[This is Alice and Teacher's secret hideout~ Only friends can come here.]
[Stay here, stay with Alice forever~ Hehehe~]
As the girl giggled, the light in the room vanished, leaving only darkness.
In that endless agony, Takakai focused his last shred of willpower.
To the black watch buried in the doll's flesh, he sent his final command.
[Activate self-destruct.]
Something responded.
Trapped in the doll, unable to move, Takakai counted down.
50 seconds... 45 seconds...
He was placed on a shelf.
30 seconds... 25 seconds...
The girl's humming continued as she wandered the room.
10 seconds... 5 seconds...
Her voice murmured to itself.
[Got the swimming pool key back~ Now Alice can make more friends~ Play more games~]
[Alice wants friends~ Wants friends~ Wants best friends~]
Time's up.
Takakai didn't revoke the command.
Then—
A force surged through him, destroying the cursed flesh that refused to die.
The sheep doll exploded, scattering gore across the room.
Before his consciousness faded, he heard the girl scream.
A sound so horrifying, so inhuman, it made Takakai's soul shudder.
As if something was about to drag him back.
Click.
But then—the crisp sound of a watch hand moving.
The black watch's needle shifted from 1 to 2.
Everything vanished from Takakai's perception.
Even that terrifying presence.
Only the sensation of falling remained.
"I—"
He saw something.
After experiencing [Alice] so vividly, he saw—
A stage?
A sea of people, cheering.
Every face filled with worship, obsession, as if their very souls had been claimed.
[Alice!]
Takakai heard their cries.
[Alice!!]
He saw their tear-streaked faces.
[Alice!!!]
They screamed, jumped, waved glow sticks, their eyes burning with devotion.
On stage stood a girl.
Golden hair, a face so beautiful it seemed carved by gods—
—too perfect to be human.
[Hello, everyone~ Alice wants to be your friend~]
[With all of you~ With everyone~ Best friends forever~]
[Alice loves you all~]
She smiled.
Her blue eyes gleamed like jewels.
Her golden hair shone like sunlight.
The curve of her lips made minds go blank.
So beautiful...
Too beautiful...
Could such a person truly exist?
Takakai's thoughts scattered.
He felt himself sinking, drowning.
His palms were sweaty, his body numb.
Nothing else mattered.
All he wanted was to approach her, to stay by her side.
That's all.
No hesitation needed.
Just—just—what the hell kind of siren song is this?! Why would I abandon Maki and Chika for a fucking flayed skin ghost?!
Blood seeped from Takakai's lips.
He'd nearly bitten through his own tongue.
The pain jolted him awake.
His vision cleared.
He was back in Fujika Middle School, standing in the fourth-floor hallway.
Broken desks, scattered books—the ruins of the school surrounded him.
But ahead of him...
No one.
The skin-wrapped abomination that had been wearing Miko's face was gone.
Then—
A chill crept up his spine.
Takakai whirled around.
Miko stood there, back turned.
Shigeno Rika lay at her feet.
One eye wide with terror, tears streaking her cheek.
The other—gouged out, leaving only a gaping hole.
Squelch.
Miko pulled a black pen from Rika's skull.
Drenched in blood, it was now crimson.
[How wonderful~]
Miko turned, her head now properly aligned, and smiled at Takakai.
[Teacher is so amazing~ Biting your own tongue is so scary—I could never do it.]
[So, as the prize for winning the game... I'll give this to you.]
[Here, Teacher. You've won~]
She extended the bloody pen toward him.
Behind her, the flayed skin had grown long hair—
—no, not grown.
Drenched in blood, it hung like a curtain, obscuring the skin beneath.
Takakai stepped back.
Miko stepped forward.
So he ran.
Pushing his blessing to the limit, he blurred past human speed.
Miko's head popped up over his shoulder, watching him.
He accelerated further, activating Hadar's blessing, losing her in the halls.
Or so he thought.
Her footsteps still followed.
Even Hadar's power couldn't shake her?
[Teacher orders you to stop. Stand still until I say you can move.]
He tried the ram's head's authority.
And—
She stopped.
Frozen in the hallway.
"T-Takakai-san...?"
Miko's voice—her real voice—rang out behind him.
No trace of that other presence.
She's alive?
After being possessed, she's still... herself?
Takakai's shock lasted less than a second.
Then he kept running, not looking back, vanishing around a corner.
"Takakai-san! Wait! Please—! Don't... don't leave me...!"
Her pleas faded into the distance.
Takakai ran until he could no longer hear her, then finally stopped.
The hallway behind him was empty.
It seemed [Alice] needed a host to act.
With Miko immobilized, she couldn't pursue him.
In just over an hour, all 24 students had died.
Even Miko, whom he'd tried so hard to protect, was now [Alice's vessel]—as good as dead.
Left alone in that hallway... what would happen to her?
No point thinking about it now.
And who knows if those pleas were even hers?
Her neck was twisted earlier. She should be dead.
But this dungeon...
From the moment he'd entered, he'd been struggling blindly.
No clues on how to clear it, no decisive intel.
Now, he didn't even know where to go next.
One thing was certain:
Do not complete Alice's game.
Finishing it would mean certain death.
But without completing it, he couldn't leave the school building.
His options were running out.
Where next?
Before he was truly cornered, he needed more information.
A grim realization settled in.
Without Miko's supernatural senses, his chances of survival were slim to none.
So before he died, he had to make this life count.
To give his next attempt a better shot.
Then, based on what I know... where's left?
The basement.
Takakai remembered.
Fujika Middle School had an underground level, with dedicated faculty.
The visions he and Miko saw—the punishment room—was likely down there.
But where was the entrance?
After some searching, Takakai found the stairs, gripping the red pen as he descended into the abyss.
[Bzzzt...]
A staticky noise echoed through the school, reverberating in every hallway, every classroom.
The PA system?
Was someone using it?
Then—
A child's song began to play.
A strange, unsettling nursery rhyme.
[Stepped on the kitty~ Stepped on the kitty~?]
A child's voice, giggling.
[Stepped on the napping kitty~?]
The singing seemed to come from everywhere at once.
Takakai kept descending.
The [Turtle Teacher] never appeared.
But the song grew louder.
No—not just singing.
A roar of noise, drowning out the melody.
Angry, frenzied, maddened voices.
Finally, Takakai reached the first floor.
Something fell past the window.
Then another.
And another.
Students.
But not ordinary ones—Outstanding Students, in their pristine uniforms.
Their mutilated bodies were hurled from above, landing in the courtyard.
With each corpse, a cheer erupted.
Takakai looked up.
Every floor's windows were lined with students, watching.
On the rooftop, a crowd chanted as they tossed bodies down.
He blinked.
The sounds vanished.
No falling corpses.
No cheering students.
Just the ruined school, silent in the dark.
But the blood remained.
Splattered on walls, pooled on the floor, dripping from the ceiling—
—the hallway was drenched in red.
[Something terrible happened here.]
A voice spoke behind him.
[At first, the school had ranks—Outstanding, Good, Average, Problem, Bad.]
[But the Outstanding Students abused their power, turning more and more into Bad Students.]
[Soon, there were no Good or Average left—just Bad.]
[They thought they ruled the school now. That they could do anything.]
[Especially when the teachers did nothing to stop them.]
[Then... one Bad Student attacked an Outstanding one.]
[Killed them before they could give an order.]
[Stole their badge.]
[And the headmaster... recognized them as Outstanding.]
[Do you know what happened next, Teacher?]
The voice laughed, as if recalling something hilariously gruesome.
Takakai turned slowly.
Miko stood in the stairwell's shadows, smiling.
Her golden eyes held no life.
Just staring made Takakai's skin crawl.
Her clothes were soaked in dried blood, now black.
Her candle lay extinguished behind her, yet no monsters came.
Only a shadow loomed at her back—
—a single eye peering through matted hair.
There was no basement stairway in the school.
Takakai suspected it was hidden, accessible only under certain conditions.
Then he noticed something else.
He looked down.
The dark red pen was in his hand.
When did I grab this?
Before he could ponder further, Miko spread her arms.
Empty.
Dripping blood.
Drip.