join p atreon.com/KeyofStars and become a Sequence 9: Reader for hundreds of additional chapters and over a dozen stories
"The sky… is so strange…"
"Why has the city disappeared…"
"Are we still on Earth?"
"…"
Kitahara Makoto and the four girls instinctively stepped out of the elevator. What greeted their eyes was an incredibly strange world.
The sky above their heads was like a Monet painting, with no stars or sun, only various indescribable abstract colors intertwining.
Not only that, but outside the unfinished building, where there should have been a residential area, they could normally see skyscrapers in the city center by looking into the distance. But at this moment, all that appeared before them was an boundless gray wilderness, with faintly visible broken walls and ruins, an aura of loneliness, desolation, and deathly silence assailing them.
"What is this place…" Kita Ikuyo widened her eyes, muttering to herself, "We didn't accidentally transmigrate to another world, did we?"
"Probably not." Kitahara Makoto came back to his senses and retorted, "Although the other world is already overpopulated with Earthlings, those are all passive world travelers… Hmm?!"
"What's wrong, Kitahara-kun?" Kita Ikuyo quickly looked over.
"The elevator…" Kitahara Makoto's expression was serious, "It's gone."
"Eh?"
Hearing this, the girls quickly turned to look behind them, then one by one, they widened their eyes in disbelief.
"Where's the elevator? Where's that big elevator?"
"It really disappeared?"
"Oh, no, we can't go back, can we?"
"…"
Where the elevator should have been, there was now only a damp and cold wall, even growing faint moss, with no sign that an elevator had ever existed.
Looking around, the group was standing on the roof of a low-rise building, about two or three meters above the ground, surrounded only by an endless, desolate wilderness.
"Let's search carefully." Ijichi Nijika became anxious, "An elevator certainly wouldn't just disappear."
Yamada Ryo: "Illusions, all illusions."
Kitahara Makoto: "I have a bad feeling…"
Kita Ikuyo: "Kitahara-kun, don't jinx it!"
Everyone sprang into action, meticulously searching the top of the dilapidated residential building, yet still found nothing. Such a large elevator had vanished without a trace, with no sign of its existence.
A moment later.
A very serious problem lay before Kitahara Makoto and the girls.
How could they return to the Reality World?
"Don't be afraid, everyone." At the critical moment, Ijichi Nijika bit her lip and stepped forward, her voice firm, "Since we can come here, we can definitely go back."
"Nijika-senpai is right." Kitahara Makoto nodded in agreement, "If this is the Li World, then someone must have come in and gone out, otherwise the diary wouldn't have an entry method."
"Ah, the diary!" Kita Ikuyo's eyes lit up, and she quickly said, "Nijika, quickly check the diary for a way back."
"Okay, I'll check."
Ijichi Nijika took a deep breath, quickly pulled out her notebook from her backpack, and nervously flipped through it.
Several minutes later.
"Nothing…" Ijichi Nijika bit her lower lip, having already flipped through the entire notebook several times, she whispered, "The diary doesn't record how to leave the Li World."
"…"
The atmosphere immediately fell silent.
"Don't give up, everyone." Kita Ikuyo clenched her fists, "We can still call the police!"
Kitahara Makoto said from the side:
"Generally speaking, after encountering a supernatural event, phones usually have no signal…"
"…Kitahara-kun, don't jinx it!"
"…"
As they spoke, Kitahara Makoto and the girls all took out their phones, wanting to make a call.
The outcome was as expected.
Although the phones could turn on, there was no signal, calls couldn't go through, and messages couldn't be sent.
Kitahara Makoto even specifically turned on the compass function, but the compass spun wildly and wouldn't stop, making it impossible to distinguish directions.
A cold wind blew eerily.
The chill was bone-piercing.
"So…", Yamada Ryo hugged her chest, her pretty face already slightly pale, "There really are ghosts in the world, and urban legends really exist. We accidentally stumbled into the legendary Li World through the method recorded in the diary?"
"It should be." Kita Ikuyo nodded, "Ryo-senpai, you must believe Kitahara-kun isn't a liar now, right?"
Yamada Ryo looked at the desolate, scarred world, then suddenly looked down at the ground:
"…Do you have any medicine?"
"Eh?" Kita Ikuyo tilted her head in confusion, "What medicine?"
"Regret medicine." Yamada Ryo looked up at the sky, expressionlessly, "I want to take regret medicine, then go back to this morning, keep my phone off all day, and not leave the house for a single step."
Kita Ikuyo couldn't help but retort:
"That's why such a precious thing doesn't exist in the world!"
After a brief panic, the girls quickly calmed down. After all, they were high school students who grew up reading light novels and manga, so their acceptance ability was relatively strong. Kita and Bocchi-chan had even personally encountered ghosts, so after a brief panic in the face of the sudden supernatural event, they quickly calmed down.
"I'm sorry, it's all my fault. It was me who brought everyone to this place…"
Ijichi Nijika bit her lip and bowed in apology.
Her normally bright and lively golden ponytail seemed to have drooped now.
"If anyone's at fault, it's definitely me." Yamada Ryo said expressionlessly, weakly, "If I hadn't doubted Kitahara-kun, nothing would have happened."
"Everyone, don't blame yourselves. Although we've entered a strange Li World, it might be a very interesting adventure…" Among the girls, Kita Ikuyo had the best mindset, "And we still have Kitahara-kun with us, so we'll definitely be able to go back safely."
Kitahara Makoto's lips twitched slightly:
"…Kita-san, you trust me so much, I'm really sorry."
"Please rest assured, I will definitely lead everyone out of here." Ijichi Nijika took a deep breath, calming herself down, "Everyone, let's discuss what to do next?"
"Hmm…" Kita Ikuyo tilted her head in thought, "I remember the teacher saying that when encountering unexpected danger, the best way is actually to stay put and wait for rescue."
"That won't work." Yamada Ryo narrowed her eyes, offering a dissenting opinion, "This is clearly not the Reality World. Even if we stay put, no rescuers will appear."
Ijichi Nijika lightly bit her lip, her gaze sweeping over Bocchi-chan, who was huddled up, finally looking up at Kitahara Makoto, and softly said:
"What are Kitahara-kun's thoughts?"
After seeing fragments of the future, it was inevitable that some influence would remain. For instance, at this moment, Ijichi Nijika subconsciously wanted to rely on the boy in front of her.
Also… the place where she used a cleaver on Kitahara-kun was the school rooftop, not a strange Li World. In other words, everyone must have left safely, right?
"My idea is to get down from here first." Kitahara Makoto's voice was steady as he walked to the edge of the rooftop and looked down, "I've already searched carefully, the elevator is gone, so we'll likely be staying in the Li World for a while. Therefore, we must solve the problem of food and water. People can last a few days without food, but one day without water becomes unbearable."
"First, solve basic survival needs, then look for a way to leave the Li World."
"Makes sense."
"We support Kitahara-kun."
The girls all expressed agreement with Kitahara Makoto's suggestion.
"But… how do we get down?"
Their current location was the rooftop of a deserted residential building, and there were no tools like ladders nearby.
"It's simple…"
Kitahara Makoto reached out and grabbed the edge of the rooftop, then, under the nervous gaze of the girls, he directly flipped over and jumped down.
Thud.
Kitahara Makoto landed steadily, then looked up at the four girls above, spreading his arms and exhaling deeply:
"…I am Takeshi Takuya of the Hidden Light Society. You can all jump down, I can 100% catch you!"
join p atreon.com/KeyofStars and become a Sequence: 9 Reader for hundreds of additional chapters and over a dozen stories