Chapter 65: Horror Episode
Hikigaya, Katsuragi, and the three students holding key cards exited the cave and began walking along the leveled road.
Looking around, they were surrounded by dense, leafy woods.
Kito walked ahead of the group, clearing the path as if leading the way. Kamuro and Totsuka Yahiko guarded Hikigaya and Katsuragi like bodyguards.
"Hikigaya-kun, I remember you were on the deck when the cruise ship was circling the deserted island earlier. Did you discover anything?" Katsuragi looked at Hikigaya and asked.
"Let me think. Things visible from the ship..." Hikigaya recalled the scenery vaguely visible from the cruise ship, reaching out and pointing southwest: "If you walk in this direction, besides a tall tower, there seems to be a small wooden hut in that area."
"A tower and a hut? Alright, let's go check those out."
After wandering in the forest for a while, the terrain ahead gradually became rugged, and they could faintly hear the sound of waves crashing against the reefs nearby.
The Class A group slightly quickened their pace, pushed aside the bushes, and successfully reached the coast.
Kito suddenly slammed to a halt, stretching out his muscular arm to stop the others behind him. There was no more standing ground ahead; it had turned into a cliff.
The scorching sun hung high, and the salty, fishy sea breeze blew against their faces. Under the sunlight, the sea surface sparkled, shimmering with colorful halos. The surging waves constantly rushed towards the shore, crashing against the reefs beneath the cliff, making a thunderous noise. Layers of sea foam were left in white circles on the seaweed-covered rocks. "Oh, a cliff! And it's so high!"
'Mr. Gold-Haired, thank you for your utterly simplistic observation.'
Totsuka Yahiko observed the cliff edge for a while, picked up a stone and threw it down the side, then turned to Katsuragi and said: "It looks like there's no path here, Katsuragi-kun. Let's turn back."
"No rush, let's keep looking," Katsuragi gently shook his head.
Hikigaya walked along the cliff, looking for a route to bypass it and descend.
Before long, he spotted a ladder in a blind spot. Hikigaya crouched down, grabbed the steel climbing ladder, and tried pulling hard to check if it would suddenly snap if climbed.
However, the ladder was firmly secured by iron spikes hammered into the rock face and looked quite sturdy. "Hikigaya, did you find something?" Kamuro, who was still looking around, saw Hikigaya suddenly crouch down and walked over.
Hearing Kamuro's voice, the others also walked over and saw the ladder fixed to the cliff.
"I see, a base hidden beneath the cliff?" Katsuragi looked around, and after confirming there were no other paths down, he continued: "I'll go down first to check the situation. You all come down after I confirm it's safe."
"Katsuragi-kun, we can't let you scout... I should do it."
"No, you hold a key card and must proceed with caution. It would be bad if students from another class were below. It's better if I check the surroundings first."
Saying this, Katsuragi grabbed the ladder and carefully began descending the cliff.
"Katsuragi-kun, please watch your step," Totsuka Yahiko nervously lay next to the ladder, peering down below.
"I'm fine... you can come down now," Katsuragi confirmed the situation and shouted upwards.
The group climbed down the ladder one by one. Directly below the cliff, a wooden hut stood firmly.
This was a place they wouldn't have reached if they hadn't discovered it before landing—a small hut located beneath the cliff.
The device proving it was a base was installed at the hut's entrance.
Apart from the hut, there seemed to be nothing else here, and there were no places to hide nearby, so there was no concern about being seen by others the moment they occupied it. Peering inside through the window, they could see fishing rods and gear.
This meant that by occupying this place, they could fish even without purchasing fishing gear from the school.
Hikigaya looked around, then walked up to the base device installed on the reef. The screen displayed the message "Unoccupied." There were no signs that the tools inside had been touched, and the room was covered in dust.
"If this base hadn't been spotted during the cruise ship's circle around the island, we might not even have known of its existence," Kamuro said, taking out a map from her pocket and roughly marking the hut's location.
After marking it, she folded the paper again and put it back into her uniform pocket.
"Without further ado, let's occupy this base too," Katsuragi said.
After occupying the base, the Class A group used the ladder again to return to the original path.
"Now, let's go find the tall tower Hikigaya-kun mentioned..."
The Class A group re-entered the forest and found a gravel path behind a patch of small shrubs bearing raspberries.
Following the path, they soon arrived at a flat, open area with the tall tower.
This white tower was magnificent and imposing, shining like a glittering golden arrow under the sun, piercing the sky and soaring into the clouds. Its appearance was full of power and beauty, giving people a strong visual impact.
The base occupation machine for the tower was installed on the wall. To confirm the situation, the Class A group slowly approached the tower. The terminal device here, like the hut base earlier, was in an unoccupied state. This tower also had a ladder installed on it. If they climbed the tower, they would have a panoramic view of the seaside scenery.
However, in Hikigaya's view, this tower was not a particularly useful facility.
It seems that among the bases set by the school, some are not very practical. "We've found another base. What do you think? Should we occupy it?" Kamuro drew the tower and the surrounding terrain on the map, then looked up and asked.
"This tower stands here and is very conspicuous, making it easy for students to find. In other words, someone might be hiding in the surrounding bushes watching this place right now. To avoid being spotted by the enemy, to be prudent, we shouldn't occupy this tower," Katsuragi thought for a moment and shook his head, refusing.
'Katsuragi is a cautious man, someone who only employs solid strategies. This man would never rashly approach a sweet bait near him.'
"Moreover, we could send a few classmates to ambush around this tower. Once students from another class come to occupy the base, we will be able to learn the leaders of the other classes."
'So, Katsuragi-kun isn't just focused on staying stable; he plans to use this tower base to set a trap, even if it sounds like waiting for a rabbit to run into a tree.'
After abandoning the tower base, the Class A group continued to explore the surroundings and occupied two more bases.
Watching the black device in front of them display the countdown for successful occupation, Katsuragi looked up at the darkening sky and said to everyone: "It's time to head back. If we miss roll call at 8 PM tonight, our class will have Material Points deducted."
The Class A group determined their direction based on the map Kamuro drew and began walking toward Class A's cave base camp.
'Finally, I can go back. I'm exhausted. I used to be the general bringing up the rear, hanging behind the crowd. This time, I'll be the advance guard!'
As the last ray of sunlight vanished from the sea, the dense forest became unusually gloomy; merely being inside was enough to make one's hair stand on end.
Even though it was summer, the night forest felt somewhat cold. Since they forgot to bring flashlights, they had to rush along in the dark. Hikigaya tried his best to check the path ahead, preventing himself from contemplating whether the coldness was due to the deserted island's weather or something mysterious.
"This is bad, this is bad, this is bad, this is bad!" Totsuka Yahiko kept muttering, fearfully shrinking next to Katsuragi.
"Gwah—" Hikigaya subconsciously looked back toward Katsuragi, only to see Kito following him without a word.
The pitch-black, sinister environment, combined with that terrifying face, gave him the chilling feeling that the path under his feet was actually the road to the underworld.
"Eek! There was a weird noise..." Kamuro was so scared she grabbed Hikigaya's shirt hem.
'Hey, hey, hey, Kamuro-san, calm down. You're about to tear off my clothes. Could you please not? Actually, that was the sound I made when Kito-kun scared me, so it's nothing to be afraid of...'
Thinking this, Hikigaya glanced at Kito again. Noticing Hikigaya's gaze, Kito looked up at Hikigaya with a puzzled expression.
'No, he's still terrifying!'
"H-Hikigaya, I'm actually a bit afraid of ghosts and things like that..." Kamuro clutched Hikigaya's clothes tremblingly, cautiously watching her surroundings as she spoke, fearing something might jump out from the dark bushes.
"What's there to be afraid of about ghosts? Living people are the scariest."
"Is that your usual cynical theory? But that does make me feel a little safer," Kamuro let out a sigh.
'Ugh, honestly, I'm terrified too. If I were walking alone in the forest, I probably would have been screaming "Wah—yah! Wah-yah! Guh-wah—!" like a headless chicken, running and crashing everywhere, and then maybe I'd accidentally fall off the cliff because I got lost, eventually being carried out of the deserted island by the school staff.'
Just then, the group suddenly heard a rustling sound. Even though there was no wind, Hikigaya, who was walking in the lead, noticed the dense bushes not far ahead gently shaking.
Hikigaya nervously watched the bushes, only to see several Class C students emerge from the thicket, their arms draped over each other's shoulders, meeting Hikigaya's gaze.
'Oh dear, oh dear. Good evening, classmates. It's easy to run into danger when venturing into the forest late at night. Good children absolutely shouldn't do this!'
While Hikigaya was joking internally, those students widened their eyes in astonishment.
"Z-Zombie!"
"No, that's a ghoul!"
"That guy's eyes are terrifying! Run away!"
"Why are there zombies on a deserted island?! I want to withdraw and go back!"
Those students ran away with all their might. Hikigaya looked up at the starry sky, tears almost welling up in his eyes.
Kamuro behind him gave a thumbs-up, patted Hikigaya's shoulder, and smiled slightly at him: "Isn't that good? If they withdraw out of fear, the gap between the classes will widen. Thanks to your dead fish eyes, you've left them with a profound and unforgettable memory on this deserted island."
"Your level of comforting is awful..."
'Is this girl trying to push me to the brink?'
After the Class C students fled, the Class A group followed the direction they ran, finally finding a path leading to the cave.
Hikigaya looked down at the watch on his wrist, finding that it was less than ten minutes before 8 PM. Away from the city, the flow of time seemed to have slowed down. There were no bells for classes starting or ending, and no brightly lit streetlights.
The night on the deserted island was quiet, with the moonlight flowing like water.
The night sea breeze slowly restored Hikigaya's inner peace.
'—That's what should have happened.'
However, instead of calming down, he was startled again.
A sound of "Hah..................." came from the woods near the cave. Hikigaya looked in the direction of the sound and saw a beautiful woman with long black hair standing alone among the bushes.
Bathed in the moonlit water, her fair skin gave off a faint smoothness.
Whenever a slight breeze blew, her hair fluttered in the wind. Like a fairy, she was bathing in the moonlight, singing a song in a soft, faint voice like a mosquito's buzzing. In the slightly eerie, dark forest, the whispered singing inexplicably brought a great deal of peace to one's heart.
This scene was detached from reality, making one wonder if they were hallucinating and seeing a spirit or a fairy.
Hikigaya watched the scene motionless, afraid that taking one step forward might destroy the world she had created alone.
Thinking this, Hikigaya didn't dare make a sound, but Totsuka Yahiko, who was walking at the very end, suddenly stepped on a small twig with a snap.
The singing stopped abruptly.
"..........Who is it?" Yukinoshita Yukino looked cautiously in Hikigaya's direction.
'If this were at school, if I just meowed like a cat, given her love for cats, I might be able to fool her. But since we're on a deserted island, I had to give up and step out of the shadows.'
"It's me."
"Who?"
"Why are you asking the same question? You're the one who told me to go exploring."
'Stop tilting your head with that confused look. Being cute only makes me angrier. I'm serious.'
Kamuro also walked out behind Hikigaya, lightly patting Hikigaya's shoulder: "Hikigaya, stop chatting. It's 8 PM now."
The serious and solemn Katsuragi, along with Kito and Totsuka Yahiko, also walked out of the dark woods and said to Hikigaya: "Hikigaya-kun, Mashima-sensei is about to start roll call. We'd better hurry and gather."
After saying this briefly, Katsuragi turned to Yukinoshita: "Yukinoshita-san, let's exchange information about our exploration after the roll call."
"Mmm, thank you for your hard work. Let's go."
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