"Finally... we made it out alive. Whew, that was close! Thank you so much!"
Fujiwara Chika clutched her chest, exhaling in relief before bowing deeply to Kumami.
"Same here. Without your help, we'd have been trapped in that room forever."
Shijou Maki followed suit, barely stopping herself from addressing Kumami too formally.
"Save the thanks for when we actually escape this dungeon."
Kumami flicked away her cigarette, her voice steady but her posture slightly hunched.
The battle in the hallway had been brutal.
Using multiple Obsession Artifacts and blessings in quick succession had drained her—especially the ones with heavy backlash.
And that thing she fought...
Its mechanics matched the "Third Core" of the original Yoruyama High—a supposedly unsolvable anomaly.
Why is it here now?
And that broadcast... no records mention anything like it.
She'd burned two of her three lifesaving artifacts just to survive.
One would recharge in a few hours, but for now, she was vulnerable.
If only I still had my original gear...
But regrets were pointless.
Kumami forced herself to focus.
This dungeon's memory suppression was worse than Shirasawa Elementary's.
Even as a veteran of that hellhole, she'd missed the signs until Maki and Chika broke away.
How many other clues had she ignored, dismissed as "normal"?
But now that she'd pierced the illusion, the effect couldn't fully reassert itself.
The problem?
Only I remember. The others are still blind.
"Report," Kumami ordered. "What do you know? And what's the plan?"
Maki straightened, her expression hardening.
Through her mental link with Takakai, she'd pieced together fragments of the truth:
Following rules blindly won't break the dungeon.Breaking rules recklessly gets you killed. The key was coordinating between both sides—but the cognitive blockade made that nearly impossible.
This dungeon was designed to be unbeatable.
But Takakai's black watch gives him an edge.
And right now... I'm his lifeline.
"Right now, I'm the only one who can contact the 'missing people.' So protecting me is priority one."
Kumami nodded. "Understood."
"Next, we head to Class 2-10 to find Asamoto Eriko."
No hesitation. Kumami simply turned and started walking.
Just like Takakai said—she's all action, no wasted words.
Having someone this reliable... it's reassuring.
"Moving up a grade... so we're going back a year?" Chika mused. "There's still so much we don't know..."
Jealousy flickered in her chest—Maki's the one with the mental link—but she shoved it down.
Now wasn't the time.
The campus was eerily empty, the students contained in the main building thanks to Kumami's efforts.
Which meant their next destination was a den of monsters.
Even if we die... we have to get the intel to Takakai.
Maki steeled herself and followed.
Meanwhile, deep in the woods...
Takakai, Miko, and Bocchi emerged into a crumbling plaza.
Before them stood a collapsed school building—its upper floors reduced to rubble, only the first three levels partially intact.
The air reeked of damp decay.
Cracked pavement, overgrown with weeds, hinted at a former sports field.
A rusted bicycle, its paint long flaked away, lay abandoned nearby.
"...It's here?"
Bocchi froze, her eyes widening.
She recognized this place.
This ruin was the nightmare version of the Yoruyama High she'd explored before.
Where she'd lost Kita.
Where her band had shattered.
But in her memories, the building had been whole—three floors aboveground, ten below.
Now, it was a crumbling wreck.
Wait...
The "changed" version of Yoruyama High has a five-story main building...
Is there a connection?
Her thoughts tangled, Bocchi shook her head, unable to piece it together.
Takakai studied the ruins, wary.
Is this the Life Club's hideout?
He scanned the area but found no markers.
Do we go in?
A glance at Miko confirmed no immediate threats.
Then he noticed Bocchi's distant expression.
Is she... remembering something?
Recalling the mission briefings, he matched this ruin to archival photos of the original dungeon's collapsed school building.
In the records, this was intact. In the "changed" version, it's destroyed.
Which means...
The current pristine school building might be the original's ruined counterpart.
And more critically—
Bocchi's teammate Kita was lost somewhere underground here.
Which means we're near the dungeon's deepest core...
The "Creation from Nothing" anomaly.
Yeah, no. Not going in.
Just then, Miko pointed.
"Over there... something else."
Hidden deeper in the trees stood another derelict building—smaller, but more intact, its walls covered in vines.
On the fourth floor, a window bore a crudely painted symbol and the words:
[生活社 - Life Club]
A shadow flickered past the glass.
Takakai exhaled.
Found you.
With a silent nod to the others, he led the way forward.