A small, locked room.
A tiny girl curled inside, eyes hollow.
An empty school. An empty world. Vast, yet to her—a prison with no escape.
No matter how she cried, no one came.
No safe harbor to be found.
So in the end, she sealed her heart.
Embraced madness.
Even hurt others.
She scavenged abandoned research notes, whispering to classmates that she could commune with Black Shadow, summon monsters.
(Though her imagination only conjured a big-mouthed thing with too many teeth.)
What she didn't know:
Someone watched.
Someoneenjoyedher descent.
Until the Butcher overheard whispers—
—and warned her.
The trap was nearly sprung.
The Butcher vanished.
She was truly alone.
So she chose to end it all.
If no one could escape—
—she'd be the one to pull the trigger.
...
Like waking from a long, long dream.
The girl sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes.
Her mother's voice echoed in the hall, scolding Ryouhei for sleeping in.
The smell of breakfast wafted through her window—Uncle the Cook must've had help from Uncle the Butcher.
Dressing quickly, she stepped out to see siblings already racing downstairs.
[Slow down, don't trip! Chiyo, you're up? Wash up first.]
Her mother—not by blood, but in every way that mattered—smiled from the hallway.
"Mm!"
Chiyo grinned, skipping toward the bathroom.
Sunlight streamed through the windows, just like she remembered.
Laughter filled the air, unchanged.
I don't need anywhere else.
I don't need anything more.
Just this—
Just here—
Is enough.
The grudge dissolved.
The Obsession found peace.
The shattered world plunged into darkness.
Takakai, clutching two half-grown dogs, landed in the orphanage's intact lobby—even the chainsaw-split door now repaired.
"Go ahead. I'll follow soon."
Hayasaka and Kaguya hadn't fully reverted, but their bodies were shifting—the Butcher's disappearance undoing the KP "Writer's" tampered rules.
They'd recover fully in the real world.
(The psychological scars… well, that'd wait.)
The dogs vanished through the door, exiting the dungeon.
Takakai wove through ruins, evading twisted specters and headless madmen, until—
—he found Touyama Akira, crawling through debris.
The man was a wreck—mind shattered, body frail—but still clawing forward.
"Hey. How's it going?"
Touyama lifted his head, slurring:
"You… did it…?"
A needless question. The crumbling dungeon answered for him.
"Save the chat for later. Oh, and I'm keeping the Obsessions—payment for saving your ass."
Takakai hauled him up, sprinting as the dungeon collapsed normally now—into pure black void.
(What lay beyond? Takakai was curious—but not die-to-find-out curious.)
Back at the orphanage door—the exit—he dumped Touyama unceremoniously.
"Th…ank… Yours… now…"
Touyama's weak smile vanished as he was tossed through.
(Hopefully his team was there to catch him.)
As for the Obsessions?
No take-backs.
Kumami had earned her freedom.
Touyama? He'd nearly killed Takakai twice. This was mercy.
"Mission accomplished."
A rescue op for Hayasaka had spiraled into something monumental.
The Key of All-Union?
Takakai eyed his watch.
(Hard to believe this was the "silver key" from the legends.)
As a failed writer, he knew the weight of "All-Union"—and the pressure of being the only survivor of the black watch's selection.
Gifts and calamity, indeed.
What secrets hid behind this Sacrifice Game?
Would the next tier—beyond Crimson Moon—reveal the truth?
Around him, voices rose—students moving on, judged not guilty by the watch for their coerced sins.
But the researchers, the soldiers, the architects of this hell—
—they had one destination.
[Your hatred and pain belong in hell—like your crimes.]
The watch's maw opened, swallowing them into the burning city.
Click.
The watch's hand rewound—from 7 down to 2.
(Less recovery than Fujisaka Academy, but the fuel intake sped up regeneration.)
"Time to go."
One last glance at the fading school zones—
—then Takakai stepped through the door.
White noise.
Fragmented images flickered in his mind:
[So this 'hotel' is where you learned your methods?]
[Yes. Terrifying… yet miraculous. Everything began there.]
(Sato's voice, laced with dread.)
[What left the deepest impression? A monster? A rule?]
[…A needle.]
[A needle?]
[A second hand. A clock with just one hand. That thing… I can't— No. Forget I spoke.]
Footsteps. Sato fleeing.
The questioner snickered:
[A second hand? How mundane. My story will surpass them all. "Writer"? I'll show them true genius—]
The vision distorted—the speaker's face unseeable.
(Gone for good, perhaps.)
Reality returned.
Takakai opened his eyes to—
—Hayasaka, kneeling like an eager puppy, and Kaguya, clutching a table for balance as she struggled to stand.
Fully, gloriously unclothed.
"E-E-EH?! T-TAKAKAI, LOOK AWAY—!!"
Kaguya's shriek pierced the air.
Hayasaka flushed but held his gaze, eyes bright with anticipation.
As for Takakai?
He leaned back, savoring the light novel-worthy moment.
Volume 3 (Middle): The Locked Room
END