Chapter 1: Kaguya Shinomiya Wants Me to Turn Myself In
"...Amanomiya-san, turn yourself in."
A voice as cold and emotionless as a midwinter gale pierced his ears, freezing both body and soul.
The girl speaking wore an elegant, high-quality moon-white nightgown, her satin-smooth black hair cascading down to her waist. Her skin was flawless, her features exquisitely refined.
If he wasn't mistaken, this was his classmate… Kaguya Shinomiya?
The new school term had just begun, and they'd been assigned to the same class, but until now, they'd never exchanged a single word—standard "stranger classmates."
Natsuki Amanomiya took a deep breath and looked down at his hands. In his left hand was a black collar, in his right, a white leash. He couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
He had been about to take his dog for a walk. He'd just crouched down to tie his shoelaces, and when he looked up again, his Akita had transformed into an icy, pajama-clad girl?
Was this some kind of dog-girl's gratitude?
After all the effort he put into walking her every day… yeah, right.
What kind of gratitude started with demanding he turn himself in?!
Natsuki raised his head and surveyed his surroundings.
The familiar streets had vanished without a trace, replaced by an unfamiliar room—though "room" might not be the right word. No one built rooms the size of a soccer field.
There were no doors or windows in the walls, and aside from himself and Kaguya, the space was devoid of any other people, creatures, or even furniture. It was just an empty, hollow box.
Stranger still, despite the absence of any light source, he could see everything clearly.
This phenomenon, utterly inexplicable by science, made Natsuki wonder if he was trapped in a dream.
"...Turn yourself in."
The cold, crystalline voice rang out again. Kaguya covered her chest with one hand, her expression devoid of any emotion.
"Sorry, I refuse," Natsuki reflexively retorted.
Their first conversation as classmates starting with a demand to surrender—something had to be wrong here!
Kaguya's voice remained icy, her eyes like still lake water, unperturbed. "I don't know how you managed to kidnap me and bring me here, but my bodyguards will track us down soon… Your only option now is to turn yourself in."
What was with that look, like he was already a dead man walking?
If he didn't surrender immediately, would he end up feeding the fish in Tokyo Bay?
"Shinomiya-san." Natsuki's expression turned serious. "You've definitely misunderstood something."
"..."
Kaguya remained silent, her gaze lowering to the collar and leash in Natsuki's hands.
"I was just about to take my dog for a walk," Natsuki explained frankly. "Isn't it normal to have a collar and leash?"
Hearing his explanation, the ice-sculpture-like girl's eyes widened slightly as an even more intense wave of coldness suddenly erupted from her.
"Wait," Natsuki quickly added, "This really is a dog collar and leash, not some... equipment prepared for you."
The chill factor skyrocketed again, threatening to freeze their very souls.
Natsuki silently raised his hands in surrender: "...Is it too late for me to turn myself in now?"
Kaguya still didn't speak, but suddenly her eyes widened, her pink lips parting slightly to reveal two rows of pearl-like teeth. Compared to her previous ice-sculpture demeanor, this dumbfounded expression was unexpectedly cute.
Wait—
"There's something behind us!"
Natsuki's instincts kicked in as he swiftly turned around.
Holy shit!
What an enormous snake!
A giant serpent at least ten meters long had appeared in the room unnoticed. Its body distinctly showed segmented rings, and even more bizarrely—aside from its slightly larger head—its entire body maintained uniform thickness and length.
The next moment.
A strange voice suddenly echoed in both their minds.
[Welcome to the Paranormal Game]
[Game Scenario: The Snake Catcher's Tale]
[Clear Conditions: 1. Successfully catch the snake. 2. Survive for thirty minutes. Fulfilling either condition will allow you to leave the scenario.]
[Clear Reward: See the truth of the world]
[Failure Penalty: Random]
[The game will begin shortly. We wish the players an enjoyable experience.]
As the strange voice faded, the previously motionless anaconda suddenly "came to life," slithering directly toward Natsuki and Kaguya without any hesitation or warning.
Natsuki took a deep breath and turned to Kaguya, whose face had gone pale and who clearly hadn't recovered from the shock: "What are you staring at? Run!"
Only then did Kaguya snap out of it.
Even the "Ice Princess Kaguya" couldn't maintain her composure when faced with a monstrous serpent.
Fortunately, the giant snake didn't pursue them relentlessly. Instead, it changed course to swallow a glowing orb nearby before leisurely slithering away.
Apart from the giant snake, numerous scattered light orbs—about the size of soccer balls—had appeared throughout the room. One happened to be near the corner where they were pressed against the wall. Natsuki cautiously reached out to touch it, but his fingers passed through as if it were air, with no tangible sensation.
After catching their breath against the wall, Natsuki looked at Kaguya:
"Shinomiya-san, did you hear that strange voice just now?"
"I heard it," Kaguya replied, her face still pale and her chest rising and falling rapidly—clearly terrified of snakes, with her icy demeanor melting into something more like a snowman. She struggled to keep her voice steady. "It said something about welcoming us to a game..."
So they'd both heard the same message.
"Looks like we're the players in this game," Natsuki analyzed solemnly. "'The Snake Catcher's Tale'... probably means we need to catch that giant snake."
In this enclosed space, aside from the two "players"—Natsuki and Kaguya—there was only that enormous serpent, making their target painfully obvious.
The problem was... that snake was way too big!
Ordinary snakes might make someone grit their teeth and attempt to catch them barehanded, but trying that with an anaconda?
That's like an old man eating arsenic—begging for death!
"That giant snake just appeared out of thin air…"
Kaguya took a deep breath, her voice trembling slightly. She could face armed robbers with composure, but a colossal serpent beyond comprehension was another matter entirely.
"I was just about to take my dog for a walk in the park," Natsuki said, frowning as he failed to notice the subtle movements of the ice-cold girl beside him. "I bent down to tie my shoelaces, and when I looked up, I found myself here. And now, there's a… let's call it an anaconda appearing out of nowhere. We must be dealing with some inexplicable supernatural phenomenon."
The giant snake was utterly bizarre, as if it weren't a creature from Earth—though its size was closest to that of an anaconda.
The question remained:
How could an ordinary person capture a giant anaconda barehanded?
Natsuki quickly ran through all the tools at his disposal—a collar, a leash, and one ice-cold girl—before arriving at a conclusion.
Impossible.
Just wait for death.
The only way to survive seemed to be lasting thirty minutes…
As he stared at the distant anaconda, resigned to his fate, Natsuki suddenly felt a slight warmth in his eyes. Then, to his astonishment, a line of text slowly appeared above the snake's head:
[I have a dream…]