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"Eh, what does that have to do with literary youth?"
Kitagawa Marin asked curiously.
"As everyone knows, literary enthusiasts like youth pain literature." Amamiya Natsuki looked at Marin and spoke of his personal experience, "I once read a novel where the male protagonist's entire family was killed on his wedding night, and his new wife was abducted by barbarians. He then traveled a thousand miles to find his wife and seek revenge. When he finally found his wife, he stood outside the house, secretly listening to the sound of his wife turning into a fluff ball, and finally even played a song of 'Phoenix Seeking Mate' to add to the excitement… It caused tons of damage to my young heart at the time."
"Stop talking." Kitagawa Marin hugged her arms, "It sounds so uncomfortable."
Shinomiya Kaguya asked curiously:
"What does 'fluff ball' mean? Why do your expressions always get weird when you mention it?"
"Cough, cough, cough." Fujiwara Chika immediately coughed and quickly waved her hand, "That's a domain only evil adults can access, Kaguya-chan, don't ask so many questions."
"That's right." The Succubus Girl looked at Kaguya and followed, "Good children shouldn't know."
Shinomiya Kaguya: "…"
Everyone knew, and only she was kept in the dark, which made her feel super unhappy.
Fluff ball, huh?
After the dungeon is cleared, she'll search for it herself on her phone!
"Let's go." Fujiwara Chika changed the subject, "Back to The izakaya."
"Wait a moment." Kitagawa Marin suddenly furrowed her brows, her tone hesitant, "We seem to have forgotten something very important?"
"Almost forgot."
Amamiya Natsuki turned his head upon hearing this and shouted into the dark, empty night:
"Juju, you can come out now."
Hearing the call, two figures, one tall and one short, finally stood up from a distant corner.
The petite figure ran over, thumping, and it was indeed Juju-sama, who had been guarding outside the inn's door earlier.
Behind Juju-sama followed a tall, long-haired black-haired girl, Komi.
This pink-haired girl trotted over, threw herself into Amamiya Natsuki's arms, looked up with teary eyes, and said:
"W-why did it take you so long to come out?!"
The time flow in the nightmare world was synchronized with reality.
In other words.
Every restart of an hour meant an hour also passed in reality.
The nightmare restarted four times, meaning Juju-sama had been waiting outside the inn for a full four hours.
Having gone through the previous Ghost Stories incident together, Juju-sama had unconsciously developed full trust in Amamiya Natsuki.
After Amamiya Natsuki, Kaguya, and Chika entered the inn, she was initially full of confidence, thinking they would be out soon, but as time passed minute by minute, her heart gradually sank. After four hours of no sound, her heart had sunk to the bottom, almost despairing.
That's why, at this moment, upon hearing Amamiya Natsuki's voice, Juju-sama was so emotional.
From ancient times to the present, things that are lost and then found are cherished even more.
"Sorry." Amamiya Natsuki reached out his right hand, rubbed Juju's small head, and said softly, "I made you worry."
Juju subconsciously rubbed against Amamiya Natsuki's palm, but quickly reacted, pulling away swiftly and looking over with embarrassment:
"Don't touch my head."
"Yes, yes."
Amamiya Natsuki's gaze shifted to the long-haired girl behind Juju: "Komi, we meet again."
Komi's body trembled, and she nervously turned her head to look around, about to pull out her notebook again.
There's no way Komi will speak.
"Juju, we've finally reunited."
Kitagawa Marin put her right hand on her hip, a brilliant, radiant smile on her face that could almost rival the sunlight.
Juju sniffed and asked curiously:
"Marin, why did it take you so long to come out?"
Succubus Girl explained: "Because there was a super terrifying nightmare inside the hotel…"
"Let's talk as we walk." Fujiwara Chika pointed forward, "Let's head back to The izakaya first."
"Strange."
Shinomiya Kaguya frowned slightly.
Amamiya Natsuki looked at Kaguya and whispered, "What's wrong?"
"I seem to…" Shinomiya Kaguya pursed her pink lips, "have also forgotten something."
Amamiya Natsuki gently stroked his chin, musing:
"Now that you mention it, I also feel like I've forgotten something."
"Could it be a Ghost Stories after-effect?"
"Possibly."
"…"
After walking for a while, Amamiya Natsuki suddenly stopped, his expression serious:
"I remember what I forgot."
"Huh?" Shinomiya Kaguya tilted her head, "What is it?"
Amamiya Natsuki slowly said:
"That obsessive female player who kept repeating 'all men must die' hasn't been found yet."
"Oh, I remember!" Kitagawa Marin slapped her forehead, "It's Miss Tanaka! I knew I forgot something!"
Shinomiya Kaguya: "…"
She had forgotten her too.
Marin, Kaguya, and another female player entered the hotel, and the other female player was the first to be affected. During the subsequent nightmare restarts, Amamiya Natsuki pretended to be a sewer cleaner and had a brief interaction with her. Due to time constraints, he didn't contact that female player again during the later restarts… He had completely forgotten about her.
At the same time.
Inside the hotel.
The other female player slowly woke up, trembling.
Who am I?
Where am I?
Why am I the only one left?
It's bad enough not to even have a name, but to be forgotten in a hotel? Don't side characters have rights too?!
"Should we go back and look for her?"
Amamiya Natsuki asked.
"Of course we should." Kitagawa Marin clenched her pink fist, "Leaving Miss Tanaka behind like this would make us feel guilty."
"Exactly." Fujiwara Chika nodded seriously, "We can't just leave Miss Tanaka behind. Everyone should help each other."
"…"
The group returned to the hotel. The Ghost Stories boy that had been occupying the hotel had already collapsed, so they could now enter and exit freely without worrying about being dragged back into the nightmare.
However, the tourists and staff in the hotel had revived. Saying 'revived' isn't entirely accurate; their bodies were dead, but their consciousness had awakened.
Amamiya Natsuki had expected these 'people' to be desperate and crazy, but upon entering, he found that the hotel staff, including the Grandma who was knitting earlier, were all cleaning the hotel.
Upon noticing Amamiya Natsuki and the others entering, all the hotel employees looked over in unison, their hollow eye sockets particularly eerie.
Juju jumped in fright and quickly hid behind Amamiya Natsuki.
Komi hugged her notebook, trembling.
Amamiya Natsuki said without changing his expression:
"Manager, we'd like to check in."
"I'm very sorry, guests." The manageress's voice trembled as she replied, "The hotel still needs repairs and cleaning for now. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause."
"…"
Indeed.
Even as vengeful spirits, the concept of 'the customer is always right' was still ingrained in their bones.
"Please clean the hotel quickly and reopen." Amamiya Natsuki's tone was regretful, "Also, one more thing: our friend accidentally entered the hotel earlier. Have you seen her?"
Grandma shook her head: "No."
"Then we'll look ourselves?"
"Guests, please do."
"…"
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