The reason Alice came here is quite funny.
While she was tidying up her things, she overheard other students whispering about something. From what she caught, she roughly understood what they were talking about.
"Oh oh... The old dormitory has rumors of strange noises, it sounds really scary. It would be so stupid to go there out of curiosity."
And yes, she went against her own words. She really is a high-class contradictory girl.
She went there out of curiosity, even though in her heart she denied it and called it "wanting to see it with her own eyes."
"No problem! As long as my little rabbit is by my side, there's nothing to be afraid of! Right, bunny?" She took out her card and spoke to it.
No response.
Well, after all, even it has a superior intelligence than other monster. It clearly only followed orders and didn't reply like Felia.
"Huh... Whatever! I know you'll protect me!"
After saying that, she put it away and headed to the old dormitory area.
"Whoa, this place really looks old and eerie."
She looked around the area, then tried to peek inside.
Suddenly, there were footsteps that startled her. She quickly jumped into a nearby bush to hide.
Her eyes followed the person approaching, and she realized who it was.
'Igor? Why is he here? Could he be curious too?'
Her impression of Igor wasn't much beyond his studies.
Well, no wonder, she herself hadn't talked much with him except for greeting each other at the opening ceremony.
Maybe Alvin was the only boy she talked to quite a bit. As for Lucas and Kaiser, she didn't even know how to start a conversation with them.
Igor stood there, looking around, then suddenly a fluffy ball flew out from his outer coat.
It was his starting monster.
'...Now I suddenly feel so stupid. I can summon my monster out.' She knocked on her own head for forgetting that.
Creak... Clack clack clack... Creak.
'W-What sound is that?!' She startled, looking toward where the sound came from.
"Wu!!!!" Igor's monster fearfully clung to Igor, tears flowing like a water hose as it dragged him away.
...Okay? Why did Igor's monster show such vivid expressions? Even my bunny doesn't make any expressions unless ordered.
It was so natural! As if it was actually alive!
"You're a monster, what are you scared of?"
"Wuuuu!!"
Impressed by Igor's monster, she planned to stand up and talk.
RIIIIIITTTTT
A sound even louder than before rang out.
This time, it felt like the sound came right behind her.
Her face turned pale, her whole body trembled, cold from feet to head. She couldn't hold back and screamed.
"KYAAAAA!!!"
This time it was Igor's turn to startle. He turned and saw her.
The two looked at each other for a while, then she gave a slightly awkward smile and scratched her head.
"Y-You're here too?"
"..." Igor and his monster looked at each other, then back at her.
"I thought someone like you would go with a group of friends. Why did you come here alone?"
"Uh... I just got the urge to investigate?"
"...Well, want to go together?"
She was invited by Igor to go together.
*****
Alice Liddell
Yes, that's right, her name is Alice Liddell.
No need to say much, the name Alice Liddell is very famous from the best fairy tale ever written, with the character based on her being Alice.
And the character Alice is so famous that she has been used for names and appearances of many other characters (though most people usually take the Japanese version of Alice lmao).
Sage of Bacillus is no exception. Alice here even plays a very important role as one of the female characters who can be romanced and has an important role in her own event.
Yeah, it's not hard to guess, this event is Alice in Wonderland.
The deck she uses has two types: one is Wonderland and the other is Fairytale. Their strengths are different but they both have that damn Fairy type.
She is the Potential man type character.
And unfortunately, she is a Potential man.
Those two decks are really good, but her card playing ability is sometimes godlike, sometimes worse than an old man playing randomly.
Her win rate is the lowest in the game with only a few wins. I swear in the story she always loses to opponents, but when fighting me she drops atomic bombs that leave me unable to react.
Yeah, those few wins were from her beating me even when I held god-tier cards.
I don't understand. She's so strong like that but the story makes her lose, plus descriptions like "she could have won, unfortunately she didn't draw this card" or "she would definitely win if the opponent didn't draw that card."
But damn, her deck is the kind that harasses to death?! Whatever card she draws creates a destructive combo!
And then there's that line that frustrates me when the villain defeats her:
"Your deck is so trash it doesn't even itch me."
And then when I prepared the exact same deck as hers and fought him, that guy was completely destroyed.
Therefore, her deck-building skill is really excellent with nothing to criticize. Her deck made me suffer like Jane, unfortunately the story makes her weak.
"We... We're really going in?!" Alice trembled in fear.
"You already agreed, and I need someone to support me."
"B-But I only have 3 cards?! What can I support with??"
And among those 3 cards, one had a protect skill, one had a Passive called Prankster with a harassment skill, and one spell card for healing. That was more than enough.
Don't ask how I know.
Felia saw Alice scared and showed a contemptuous attitude.
Hmph, only knows how to be scared? Hurry up and do your job well to support my master!
"Hm." I opened the door and looked inside.
It was quite dark inside. I could barely see anything from here.
Then I and she went inside.
Slam!
"...?" Both I and she turned to look and saw the door had closed.
"...must be the wind."
"THAT'S NOT THE WIND! SOMEONE CLOSED THE DOOR!!!" Alice and Felia hugged each other in fear.
Scared of what? You act like a ghost is scarier than working overtime.
Maybe I'd rather befriend a ghost, because compared to the boss who always scolds for the smallest mistake, a ghost scaring people for their lives still seems kinder and more caring.
"Relax, what's there to be scared of? It's just the door closing." I walked over, looking calm, and grabbed the doorknob.
Click click.
...Hmm, it wouldn't open. Welp, definitely the wind.
"W-What's wrong? I-It won't open?" Alice asked, trembling.
"Probably something blocking it outside, like a tree branch?"
"THERE CAN'T BE ANY BRANCHES OUTSIDE! THERE ISN'T EVEN A SINGLE TREE OUT THERE!"
"Why are you so worried? We'll find another way out later. Let's go now." I casually replied and walked ahead, leaving Alice stunned while Felia, even if scared, would follow me.
Jeez, did he lose his fear nerve or something? Or is his instinct like a rock??
"Hm, this place still looks livable though? Even if it's quite rundown." I touched the wooden wall, creaking sounds kept ringing.
The gloomy atmosphere with light coming through the windows really gave a strange feeling.
The wooden floor had many rotten spots, even moss.
Quite surprising that it was abandoned only 30 years ago—not too long but not short either—and it still held up like this. The designer deserves ten thousand praises.
"You came here out of curiosity too?" Alice asked.
"Curiosity."
"Oh! So those strange noises caught your attention, right? I got goosebumps just hearing about it!"
"Not the noises."
"Huh?"
The noises here were just secondary. I was curious about what event was inside.
Usually in games or something, this kind of event could be a sad or horror story, or picking up something important later.
No matter what, I had to take the gamble. If nothing happened, it would just be sightseeing.
After all, important future events really need strong card battlers to handle.
And I won't accept becoming a punching bag.
I then stopped, causing Alice to bump her face into my back.
"W-What? Why did you stop?"
"Shh."
Felia, who was hiding behind my head, also curiously looked ahead.
It wasn't really scary. The door was just wide open.
There really wasn't anything noteworthy, just some dried liquid right below it.
There really wasn't anything to pay attention to, even though it was a deep black-red color.
"..." Alice and Felia almost froze when they saw it.
It looked no different from blood?!
I walked over curiously but was stopped by Alice.
"I-I think if we keep exploring and get caught by the teachers, our credits will be deducted... S-So let's go, okay?~"
Felia also nodded, sweating continuously and wetting the fluffy ball outside.
"Hmm." Seeing both of them so worried, I had no choice but to take out a card.
It was the evolution ca—I was joking, it was Elara.
"Elara, come out."
Light emitted from the card, and a small ice spider named Elara appeared.
She blinked, looking at Igor's ice spider named Elara.
How to say it? It looked quite cute?
"Elara, shoot a thread for me to hold. You keep shooting thread while going into that room. If you see something inside, shake the thread once. If something's wrong, shake twice."
Elara nodded and went inside.
In just a few seconds, the thread I was holding shook once.
"Let's go."
I, Felia, and Alice went inside and saw a messy room full of dust and dirt.
And indeed, this room clearly had even less furniture than a student's room when renting in the city. Hell nah.
"Hmm."
"Why do you keep hmm-ing like that?"
"Sorry, habit."
There was nothing noteworthy here no matter how you looked at it.
"I don't know why this room looks so scary, but there's nothing here."
"Phew." Alice sighed in relief.
"Alright, let's get out." I said, and went out with Alice and my monsters.
Thud.
The whole group stopped, then turned their heads back.
The entire room had changed. This time it looked like a bathroom.
"...what?"
Felia and Alice trembled, slowly backing up behind me.
I narrowed my eyes a bit, then went back inside.
The bathroom looked disgusting as hell. Toilets back then weren't modern, so people squatted and did their business, and under the toilet were all long brown streaks.
"...I think I roughly understand now."
"H-Huh? Understand what??"
"Everyone look away."
Felia and Elara both obeyed and looked elsewhere. Alice was confused but did the same.
I stepped back, took one last look at the room, then closed my eyes.
Thud.
When I opened my eyes, the bathroom had disappeared. This time it was just a private room, but compared to the first time I saw it, this room had some differences.
"The room is moving."
"What?!"
"Yeah, and no mistake, this is high-level magic. I don't know if it's self-activated magic or magic cast by someone else, but either way it's equally dangerous."
"How do you know so clearly?" Alice asked.
"Well... I read books?"
"Oh, makes sense!"
So easy to fool.
But I remember only a few people use this magic, including principal Mirlen of course.
'But if this is the early stage of the game then there's nothing to worry about. So it's highly likely someone from this academy...'
Eh, if it's that person then there's nothing to worry about. I can relax and explore.
So I loosened up, my face full of joy like going for a walk.
"Why do you look like you're going out to play?" Alice looked at me confused.
"Well, life is for enjoying, right? If you can't find joy in the most difficult situations, then you'll find it boring even in the most relaxing ones."
What the heck is that quote? Is it some new philosophy I just heard?
"Right, Felia? Elara?" I looked at both my monsters.
The two of them looked at each other then nodded at me, even though they didn't understand what the hell I was saying.
"Welp, let's keep going. What's there to—"
Slash!
A katana slashed straight down from above.
"..."
I looked at one strand of my hair falling, then looked at the person who just attacked me.
He had a large build, looking like a Samurai or Shogun with a long katana in hand. His body emitted a freezing cold aura that no one could withstand.
If simply describing him... an ice samurai?
His red eyes glowed as he looked at us.
"I-Igor?" Alice and Felia both trembled.
"...huh, I think I've seen this appearance before. Probably from that series with the useless goddess?"
"IGOR!!"
The ice samurai then raised his sword. Immediately, countless ghosts flew out from his body everywhere.
"And he has this move too. Definitely dual Ghost/Ice type."
"IGOR, WHAT ARE YOU STANDING THERE FOR?? RUN NOW?!" Alice shook me, her face filled with extreme panic.
Then I grabbed Felia and Elara and ran away.
"..." Alice watched me run faster than a train, then looked at the samurai and many ghosts staring at her.
Hmph, I once heard a Chinese saying.
Of the 36 stratagems, running away is the best.
So I've always prepared for encountering something unbeatable by using the Joestar technique!
"AGHHHHH!!!!!" Alice immediately ran after, with many ghosts chasing her.
Sorry Alice, but you run too slow. That's why I left you behind to run first. A bit rude but you have to understand.
My smile shone in the sky, with only Alice crying and running for her life.