As usual, it was a forced transfer.
Tatsuki swept his gaze around.
This place looked like a private room—independent, sealed off—but it had the same cold, metallic, high-tech vibe as a starship cabin.
He took a quick look. A bed. A shower and toilet. Minimal, spartan, but the deeper part of the room was the real "starter kit."
There was a sleek silver exosuit—something like ARK: Survival Evolved's Tek armor.
Next to it stood a weapon rack packed with all kinds of gear.
Information flooded into his mind.
He understood instantly: the armor was called the Alpha-Type, Gen-1 Bug Exterminator Battle Suit.
Inside it was a standard power core, capable of boosting the wearer's mobility in every direction, and the weapons on the rack…
Firearms. Blades. Chainsaws. Flamethrowers. Everything.
This loadout felt similar to the spaceship + monster planet combo from earlier Apocalypse games—but overall, it was clearly more advanced.
Almost every weapon had a compact power core built in, able to output absurd levels of energy.
Even a simple tactical knife was somehow a micro-nuclear powered tactical combat knife.
Yeah… advanced was putting it lightly.
After confirming the basics, Tatsuki didn't bother suiting up or grabbing a weapon. He simply walked straight to the door and stepped out.
The moment he crossed the threshold, he entered a wide, nearly circular chamber.
At the center sat a large round table.
Ten chairs surrounded it.
Ten doors lined the walls—one for each seat.
Click. Click. Click.
A series of doors opened one after another as people began stepping out.
Just as Tatsuki expected… Yukino, Chika, Megumi, Haruno, Marin—and Yumiko were all here.
"Ugh… why is there an Apocalypse game again…" Chika pouted, her sadness written all over her face.
It had been so long since the last one that she'd almost forgotten this whole nightmare system existed, but honestly? She wasn't scared at all now.
She glanced toward Tatsuki's direction.
Hehe. Boyfriend = maximum security blanket.
Back in the very first Apocalypse game—on that starship—she and Tatsuki had gotten closer because of it, and that first time… she'd embarrassed herself in front of him so many times…
Meanwhile, Yumiko was still in shock.
"Y-You're all here! Wait—aren't you even surprised?!"
This was her first Apocalypse game. Of course she was freaking out, and when she realized that almost everyone from their circle was present—except Miko, Yui, and Eriri—she became even more stunned.
The worst part was that everyone looked calm. Like this was just a mildly annoying pop quiz.
"Yumiko, relax," Tatsuki said gently. "We've all been through Apocalypse games before, so we're not shocked."
"Hehe!" Marin grinned. "All our superpowers came from earlier Apocalypse games, you know!"
She was genuinely happy—another familiar face meant another person they could trust.
"Megumi too?" Yumiko asked, turning to the unbothered Megumi Kato.
Megumi nodded. "Yeah. Twice."
"…" Yumiko got it now.
So that's why their "Supernatural Research Club" even existed—because they'd all survived abnormal events together.
Then a thought hit her like a lightning bolt.
Wait—Yui isn't here!
Doesn't that mean… on this thing, she was ahead of Yui?
Yumiko sneaked a glance at Tatsuki—then immediately snapped her eyes away and started internally screaming.
Why do I even care about being ahead of Yui?! What is wrong with me?!
Her brain was chaos. Of course, she was also ignoring one critical fact: Yui had already gone way further than she could imagine.
Yumiko's glance was subtle—super subtle—but Haruno had been watching her from the start and caught it instantly.
Ohhh? Another girl getting trapped, huh.
Haruno smiled. "Tatsuki-kun, aren't you going to introduce your friend to me?"
Tatsuki gestured toward Yumiko. "You should all get to know each other. If there's a next Apocalypse game, odds are we'll end up together again."
Yumiko still didn't fully understand what an Apocalypse game even was, but she straightened up and introduced herself seriously.
"Hi. I'm Yumiko Miura. I'm… Tatsuki's club member."
Chika shot her hand up. "Hi! I'm Chika Fujiwara, secretary of the student council at YY High!"
Haruno narrowed her eyes—then very deliberately added fuel to the fire.
"I'm Haruno Yukinoshita—Yukino's older sister, and… Tatsuki's girlfriend."
"Huh?!" Yumiko stared at Yukino and Tatsuki like her brain had just blue-screened.
She could understand Yukino having a gorgeous sister, but—Haruno was Tatsuki's girlfriend… and Yukino was also Tatsuki's girlfriend…
How in the world did they accept that arrangement?!
Yukino—who'd just been named—looked ice-cold.
She clearly hadn't forgotten last night's nonsense and this morning's chaos, and she wasn't interested in giving Haruno a friendly expression.
Even though she still hadn't agreed to Tatsuki's call him that request…
Under his relentless coaxing, she had yielded to two extremely humiliating conditions: First—she would let him use the cat tail again, one more time. Second—she agreed to try it with her mouth.
That alone was enough to make Yukino want to evaporate through the floor.
For Tatsuki, though… he wasn't aiming to win everything in one blow.
Yukino's tiny surrenders were exactly how her defenses would slowly crumble, and he loved the siege.
Step by step, he'd break down her walls and enjoy every inch of progress.
"Three people still haven't come out," Megumi said, staring at the three unopened doors.
Click.
Right as she said it, one door opened.
A small blonde head cautiously poked out through the crack.
"Eriri?" Tatsuki recognized her instantly.
"W-Wait—Tatsuki! Yukino! You're all here?! You scared me!"
But even after recognizing everyone, Eriri didn't step out. Instead, she pulled back suspiciously, clearly ready to slam the door shut at any second.
"Hold on! How do I know you're the real ones?!"
"…"
Everyone traded looks, and Yumiko—who had just started calming down—immediately snapped right back into panic mode.
"R-Right! How do I know you're real?!"
She hurried backward toward her own door too, eyes sharp with fear.
If monsters existed… if anomalies existed… if supernatural events existed… then illusions weren't exactly a stretch.
"Unless you say something only we would know!" Eriri looked genuinely proud of herself for thinking that fast.
Tatsuki nodded in approval. "Good. That level of caution is exactly what you need."
"Only something we'd know hmm..." Tatsuki tilted his head, then smiled. "Like how you love it when I take you from behind and grab your twin-tails—and you like calling me 'Daddy' while we're at it. Does that count?"
The instant he said that—the atmosphere changed. The way everyone looked at Eriri became… weird.
Judging by their expressions, most of them definitely understood what he was implying, even without details.
Eriri's face went nuclear red.
"Huh?! HUH?! HUH?!"
Then—BAM!
She yanked the door open and came charging straight at Tatsuki, twin-tails flying, radiating pure "I'm going to end you" energy.