Takakai extended his hand, blocking Miko's approaching face and preventing her from actually kissing him.
"What are you doing?"
He stared at her clearly abnormal, dazed expression and slowly spoke.
"I'm… fine… ugh… Takakai-san feels so far away… I want to get closer… just a little closer…"
The half-lidded girl murmured, still trying to press forward, attempting to get closer to Takakai. Her cheeks were flushed with an unnatural redness, and her eyes carried a seductive charm that reminded Takakai of the expressions he'd seen on Chika and Maki during their battle.
To be honest, Takakai quite enjoyed watching a beautiful girl act like this. For someone with his… ahem… lewd tendencies, there was no better stress reliever than a cute girl.
But the problem was—
Why was Yotsuya Miko suddenly acting like this? After two loops of interacting with her, she didn't seem like the type to be so forward. Even if she did have feelings for him, she wouldn't just throw herself at him like this, right?
"Stop. Just stop for a second. This sheep mask I'm wearing is half-rotten. Are you sure you want to kiss this thing? Does that really align with your tastes?"
"It's fine… It's fine… If it's Takakai-san… then it's fine…"
His Blessing's perception still wasn't picking up any major issues. Takakai kept one hand on Miko's head, but the girl refused to give up. After a moment's thought, he grabbed her shoulders, flipped her around, and hoisted her up by the waist, carrying her against his side.
Even then, the girl kept squirming, twisting her body like a petulant child.
But with Takakai's superhuman physical abilities, her struggles were nothing to him. So, without hesitation, he sped up his pace, continuing forward while carrying the dazed girl.
The abnormality affecting Yotsuya Miko… might have been left behind by [Alice].
Looking down at the girl's unreservedly affectionate expression and vacant eyes, Takakai couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
Well, the rotting sheep mask raised an eyebrow. The thing had completely fused with his head by now, turning him into a literal human with a sheep's skull. Yet, somehow, he could still speak normally. The mechanics behind this cursed mask were beyond him.
Either way, Takakai doubted [Alice] had turned Miko into this state just for a cheap joke.
Once he confirmed that Miko was completely out of it and could no longer serve as an effective scout, Takakai found a small, enclosed room, placed her inside, and then ripped off the door handle before leaving.
The entire time, Miko kept staring blankly, trying to cling to him, stubbornly attempting to kiss him, her hands even groping him a few times.
But Takakai simply pushed her hands away, expressionless, before shutting her inside and walking off.
"If I come back alive, I'll let you out."
Before leaving, Takakai spoke those words to Miko through the door.
"2… 2…"
Faintly, he could hear the girl murmuring something. But Takakai had no intention of engaging further. He turned and left without another word.
The underground facility looked ancient, its corridors a labyrinth of twisting passages. Some rooms were filled with bizarre, incomprehensible machinery, while others were drenched in blood, looking more like slaughterhouses than anything else.
Takakai couldn't find the room where [Alice] kept her dolls.
He also found no maps to help navigate.
Meanwhile, the rescue team on the 7th floor had successfully entered the Principal's Office—only to discover its walls were covered in surveillance screens, divided into sections:
[School Building][Dormitory][Field][Pool Area]
The place felt less like a principal's office and more like a security room. It seemed the former principal of Fujika Academy had been responsible for monitoring the entire school—which explained why the [Elephant Principal's] curse manifested through cameras.
Speaking of which…
Wait, surveillance systems and keycard access weren't invented until the 60s or 70s, right? Did this world's tech develop faster? Hmm… probably just a parallel world difference. Not worth overthinking.
After some searching, the rescue team found a hidden compartment behind a bookshelf, containing letters and notes left by the principal.
The first page bore a line of bold, forceful handwriting:
[Fujii Gorou]
The 6th Principal of Fujika Academy.
Takakai wasn't surprised by the name. While he continued exploring the underground area, he ordered the rescue team to read the documents, confirming that this man was likely one of the masterminds behind the school's twisted darkness.
Document 1: Military Order to Fujika Academy
[The "God-Making Project" has commenced. Your school is to participate in one of its research initiatives.]
[You are to cooperate fully with military researchers. This is an unparalleled honor. Devote yourself to the service of our glorious Empire.]
The date placed it in the 1940s, confirming when this blood-soaked experiment had begun.
Document 2: Private Military Correspondence (To Fujii Gorou)
[To Fujii:]
[Your concerns are unnecessary. Rest assured—this research will not harm your interests or safety.]
[The fact that some newly enrolled students cannot be identified by name or appearance is not a flaw. On the contrary, it proves our experiments are succeeding. Supernatural power is accumulating within your school, manifesting genuine anomalies. You should take pride in this—your efforts have borne fruit.]
[As for the teachers who fail to notice the anomalies and treat these students as normal, do not engage with them. Do not attempt to warn them. If they have already been affected, let them be. Minimize interaction to avoid contamination.]
[We cannot dispatch additional personnel at this time. The war effort intensifies. Endure for now. We are preparing the next phase of our offensive. Your research must accelerate—deliver results applicable to the battlefield.]
[—Satou]
A new name had appeared.
This "Satou" seemed to be a high-ranking military official, possibly the one pulling the strings behind [Fujika Academy's] experiments. Had he died here too?
The next few documents were enrollment records, tracking the ratio of unidentifiable students to normal ones. In less than three years, the percentage of "those students" had skyrocketed from 15% to over 92%. By the end, only Class 1 of each grade remained fully human—the rest had been replaced.
Based on these records, Takakai estimated the school had killed around 2,000 students. And since each student's entire family was also erased, the total death toll likely exceeded 10,000.
These bastards really were monsters.
At the same time, deep underground, Takakai found a hidden safe room.
The reinforced door had been ripped open, its interior littered with empty cans and trash. In the corner lay a mutilated corpse—limbs and head missing, torso hollowed out, organs removed. The clothes suggested it was a researcher.
Inside, Takakai found a crumpled note, likely the man's final words.
Final Note of the Dead Researcher:
[I'm going to die. Yes, you're going to die, you idiot.]
The handwriting was frantic, nearly illegible.
[I never should have accepted this assignment. The moment I noticed something was wrong, I should have resigned. Even being sent to the front lines would have been better than this—at least I'd have died quickly, not lived in constant terror.]
[Everyone here is insane. No—everyone is already insane.]
[First, those things started blending in among the students. They called it "reducing casualties." Bullshit. Absolute bullshit. I analyzed the unidentifiable students—their blood samples matched the dead. Their clothes, their mannerisms… they weren't new students. They were the dead, coming back.]
[Then teachers and researchers started vanishing. Inevitable, even with the protective rules we established. One mistake was all it took. And then they came back too. People we'd burned in the incinerator—back the next day. Some didn't notice. Some pretended not to. Either way, the cycle continued.]
[I know why we kept going. The experiment had gone too far to stop. Failure meant seppuku for us all. But damn it—that doesn't justify this!]
[When the underground lab started getting infected, I knew we were doomed. The dead walked among us. Some knew. Some didn't. But everyone acted normal. That's when I realized—we were finished.]
[That bastard at Yoruyama Academy lied about achieving results. If they'd really succeeded, why was nothing changing? Just like that damned "unsinkable" Enterprise—all talk, no proof. Not a single verified case of exporting supernatural power beyond its origin point. How dare they brag? Their lies forced us to accelerate… to remove restrictions… and now…]
[I can hear knocking. Alice… Alice is coming for me…]
[She calls us all "friends." I don't know how. The rules forbid students from befriending staff. But there's no one left alive here.]
[She shouldn't be able to enter. We designed her with restrictions—no phasing through walls. As long as this door holds, she can't reach me.]
[But the food is almost gone… Why hasn't help come? What are those military bastards doing? I don't want to die. This isn't my fault! I was just following orders! I don't deserve this!]
[I don't want to die.]
[I don't want to die.]
[I don't want to die.]
[Idon'twanttodieIdon'twanttodieIdon'twanttodie—]
The final lines were a mess of overlapping scribbles, consuming most of the page.
And at the very bottom, in neat, girlish handwriting, was a single line:
[Alice is your friend now~ ♡]
Takakai didn't need to guess how this ended.
(Well, the headless, limbless, gutted corpse was a pretty clear hint.)
As he set the note down, he turned—
—and saw a blood-soaked researcher lying beside him.
The thing let out a shriek, its limbs and head snapping at unnatural angles, its torso splitting open as organs spilled out.
And then it lunged.