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"Let's go, let's try leaving here."
Amamiya Natsuki exhaled lightly and stood up.
"Are we going to look for the thirteenth step?"
Hayasaka Ai followed suit, completely relieved of the pain curse, feeling light and in a great mood.
"That's right."
Amamiya Natsuki nodded.
Just now, while stripping the curse from the Spy Maid, his 'written conversation' with Komi hadn't stopped.
One person's wisdom is short, but three people's skills are long.
According to Shinomiya Kaguya and the others' conjecture, since they entered the alternate dimension by stepping on the thirteenth step, it's highly likely they'll need to leave via the thirteenth step as well.
The location of this thing is erratic, constantly shifting and changing.
For example, just now, after Amamiya Natsuki stepped on it and disappeared, the thirteenth step also vanished.
Therefore.
Ordinary people who accidentally enter the alternate dimension can almost never leave again—
Firstly, the location of the steps is erratic.
Secondly, the vengeful spirits in the alternate dimension are quite eerie; as soon as they discover you, they will make you endure equivalent pain, and when the pain exceeds a certain limit, the entire person will collapse and sink.
The vast teaching building, the eerie and terrifying environment, plus the bizarre evil spirits and rules, unless one has lottery-winning luck, it's truly impossible to walk onto the thirteenth step again.
—Of course, none of these things are a problem for Amamiya Natsuki.
First is the location of the thirteenth step.
Ordinary people who want to find the steps can only conduct a carpet search throughout the school and must pray that the steps' location doesn't change.
But for Hanako-chan, who is also a kaidan, the location of the thirteenth step is like a light in the dark, perfectly clear, with no secrets to speak of.
The step's location is easily obtained.
The notebook is responsible for transmitting information.
Amamiya Natsuki only needs to follow the notebook's index and go directly with the Spy Maid.
Now the only question is to verify whether the thirteenth step is indeed the key to getting out.
"Let's go."
"..."
Amamiya Natsuki walked ahead with the notebook, Hayasaka Ai followed closely behind, and the two quietly walked out of the office.
They arrived at the hallway.
It was still a twilight evening with a blood-red sunset.
Indeed, there was no passage of time in the alternate dimension.
"The steps are on the far left of the first floor; let's go there."
Amamiya Natsuki glanced at the notebook and walked forward.
"Senpai, I'll walk in front," Hayasaka Ai said softly. "There are many strange vengeful spirits inside the teaching building. We can't be seen by them. Once seen, we'll be cursed and inexplicably feel pain all over."
Not long after walking, this Spy Maid hugged Amamiya Natsuki's arm and whispered a reminder:
"We can't go straight ahead; there are evil spirits lurking. Let's take another path."
"Okay."
"..."
This Spy Maid had spent half a day in the alternate dimension, exploring almost every accessible place and mastering the movements of most vengeful spirits—the vengeful spirits in the alternate dimension are very strange; they almost always stay in the same place and rarely wander around.
The two arrived on the first floor.
As they approached the stairwell where the thirteenth step was located, mournful, weeping sounds drifted from the restroom.
"I don't know what's inside the restroom." Hayasaka Ai gently furrowed her brows. "If we approach rashly, it might be dangerous. The vengeful spirit inside might be Hanako."
"It's not Hanako." Amamiya Natsuki shook his head. "The vengeful spirit crying inside is a thirteen-year-old elementary school student from fifth grade."
"Eh?" Hayasaka Ai looked over in surprise. "How does Senpai know?"
"Of course, because I've been inside." Amamiya Natsuki said matter-of-factly, "When I first entered the alternate dimension, I heard crying from the restroom and even wondered if you were hiding inside, crying alone."
Hayasaka Ai glared at him in annoyance: "Who would hide in a place like a restroom?"
"Just don't worry about it." Amamiya Natsuki smiled. "Miyuki-chan and I inside are already good friends."
"How do you know the vengeful spirit's name?!"
Hayasaka Ai covered her forehead and couldn't help but retort: "Wait a minute, Senpai went into the restroom and even saw the vengeful spirit inside. Didn't you get cursed with pain?"
"I really didn't." Amamiya Natsuki said meaningfully, "I probably know what the rules are."
"..."
Seeing Amamiya Natsuki walk over without any fear, Hayasaka Ai naturally chose to believe him.
The two quickly arrived at the restroom door. Amamiya Natsuki stopped and called out to the dark restroom:
"Miyuki, do you want to come out and play for a while?"
"..."
The crying in the restroom stopped abruptly, and there was no sound anymore.
Amamiya Natsuki called out again:
"I'm really not a bad person, come out."
Hayasaka Ai: "..."
Generally, people who say they're not bad people are definitely not good people!
Since the elementary school student in the restroom refused to come out, Amamiya Natsuki could only shrug regretfully and, with Hayasaka Ai, bypassed the restroom and came to the far left corridor.
"One, two, three, four, five... thirteen."
Under the faint twilight, Amamiya Natsuki extended his finger, counting the steps one by one.
"Is this the thirteenth step?"
Looking at the inconspicuous thirteenth step, Hayasaka Ai felt conflicted.
On the way there, she had counted the steps in other places, and they were all twelve steps.
Earlier, when she was being chased by Ghost Story Hanako, she had no mind to count the number of steps, and at that time, she didn't even know there was a step kaidan in the school.
If Amamiya Natsuki hadn't risked danger to break in, she would probably be trapped here forever, right?
No food.
No water.
Besides the sound of vengeful spirits, she couldn't hear any other sounds.
And that unpredictable pain curse, even she wouldn't be able to last long.
Thinking of this, Hayasaka Ai suddenly felt a little guilty.
Amamiya Natsuki risked so much danger to save her, yet she was only thinking about conquering the boy in front of her. Was that too much?
"Senpai, I feel very guilty." The Spy Maid stood on tiptoe and leaned close to Amamiya Natsuki's ear, speaking softly. "Senpai risked so much danger to save me, but I have no token of gratitude at all. It's too much; it doesn't make sense and goes against the Hanamori family's motto."
"How about this?" Hayasaka Ai tilted her head, closed her eyes, and pointed to her cheek. "I've decided to let Senpai steal a kiss, but only on the cheek. Other places are not allowed for now."
Amamiya Natsuki said expressionlessly:
"Not interested. I just want to see you perform a backflip."
Hayasaka Ai was furious: "Senpai, you big blockhead!"
"..."
The two walked up the steps and soon reached the twelfth step.
Amamiya Natsuki stopped and said:
"You step on it first and try. In every version of the urban legend, the thirteenth step seems to only be triggered by a single person."
"Okay."
Hayasaka Ai nodded gently, not saying anything overly sentimental. With the notebook, Amamiya Natsuki's safety didn't need to be worried about.
Taking a deep breath, Hayasaka raised her right foot and gently stepped onto the thirteenth step.
The next second.
The Spy Maid's figure suddenly vanished.
Amamiya Natsuki looked down; the ground was flat, and the thirteenth step had also disappeared, clearly having shifted its position.
Very good.
Verification successful.
The thirteenth step is both the 'entrance' and the 'exit.' To get out, one must indeed pass through this step.
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