"Miura, aren't you going to participate in the sudden event?"
"No, I won't. I have to go find Yu now. I just saw him returning."
Standing in front of Hayama Hayato, Miura Yumiko smiled and waved her hand, declining Hayama Hayato's invitation. After saying that, without waiting for Hayama Hayato's reply, she turned and ran back toward the inn.
Miura Yumiko had just seen that Nakano Yu had participated in the test of courage together with Nakano Nino, which made her sigh in relief.
If she hadn't seen Katsura Kotonoha and Nakano Yotsuba approach Nakano Yu first to talk to him, she would have approached him immediately. She might even have been able to leave a good impression on Nino.
Although Katsura Kotonoha took the opportunity today, in the next six days she would be able to see Nakano Yu every evening. She didn't believe Katsura Kotonoha could surpass her and come before her!
What Miura Yumiko didn't know was that Katsura Kotonoha's mother had long planned to arrange an engagement between Katsura Kotonoha and Nakano Yu. For that reason, she had even contacted Nakano Maruo. Of course, all of that would come later.
Watching Miura Yumiko leave without hesitation, Hayama Hayato was left stunned. A moment later, he shrugged and turned to return to the center of the crowd.
At that moment, three people in the crowd wore white garlic necklaces, with cameras and battery lamps attached to their heads. In addition, each held a handful of talismans in their hands, standing upright and proudly under the curious eyes of the gathered students.
"For this event, only three lucky participants were chosen, who will be shown to everyone via live broadcast. Hiratsuka-sensei was sent to check homework, but that won't last long; you only have five minutes!"
"You have five minutes to go to the fourth floor of the inn, where monsters are said to be trapped, stick the talismans on the door of room 414, and then return the same way. Those who succeed will receive a mysterious reward!"
"Since the fourth floor of the inn is locked, this time we will climb. Are you ready? Start!"
Tobe Kakeru raised his hand, attracting everyone's attention. After finishing his speech, he pointed toward three long folding ladders not far away. The ladders were extremely long and at first glance looked intimidating.
Tobe Kakeru and several others had already used these ladders earlier to climb to the fourth floor.
"All right!"
The three chosen participants looked at each other. The tallest among them, a boy named Murakami, nodded, stuffed the talismans into his pocket, and led the way to the ladders.
Seeing this, the remaining two immediately followed him. All were members of the school basketball club, not only tall but also agile and strong. Amid the students' sighs, they quickly climbed to the second floor.
Soon the three of them reached the window on the fourth floor of the inn. Before them appeared a very clean corridor and several doors.
They didn't waste any time, opened the window, and climbed inside.
"It's so ordinary, doesn't look special at all."
After observing the layout, one of them, named Shimada, shrugged and said disdainfully.
"Isn't it a bit cold for you?"
Said a somewhat larger, dark-skinned boy. His name was Izumiyama. From his build, he appeared extremely healthy, but at this moment he was hugging his arms and rubbing them.
"It's a bit, huh? Ah, never mind, let's stick them quickly and get back."
Murakami also rubbed his hands. After that, he took a talisman from his pocket and headed toward the target door, "414."
Soon they arrived at the room sealed with a white shimenawa rope. On the door of that room, a talisman was already pasted, making it all quite convincing. There was no doubt, this was room 414.
Seeing that, Murakami nimbly stepped over the shimenawa rope and, with a "slap," pasted the talisman on the door, then turned and looked at his companions.
Their time was limited; they only had five minutes, so they had to be quick.
The remaining two understood. Just as they were about to cross over the shimenawa rope, their feet got tangled in something, and both fell, tearing the shimenawa rope.
"Squeak~"
An unpleasant sound was heard, and the door in front of the three of them actually opened slightly on its own.
"Uh~ It hurts! H-how did this door open?!"
Holding his knee, Shimada got up, but with horror noticed that the sliding door had slightly ajar!
It should be noted that these were sliding doors, the wind or anything like that couldn't have opened them, and besides, there was no wind just now!
At that moment, the ghost story from the inn echoed in Shimada's mind, and his eyes immediately filled with panic. He stuck his talisman on the door and, without waiting for the reaction of the other two, ran back the same way.
Seeing that, Izumiyama also panicked. He carelessly stuck his talisman on the door, not caring whether it had actually stuck, turned, and fled, even pushing the intact shimenawa rope aside.
Murakami, on the other hand, was much calmer. He followed the two of them without hurry and went down the stairs.
However, what none of the three noticed was that after they pasted the talismans, the original white talisman released a cloud of black smoke and, as if losing its stickiness, gently fell to the floor.
"Gugyagyagya~"
A strange laugh resounded, starting to echo throughout the fourth floor of the inn.
…
"Hm? Yu isn't in his room?"
Miura Yumiko, who had returned to her room, looked around confused when she saw no one inside. Could he have gone to Nakano Yotsuba?
But she had just seen Katsura Kotonoha and Nakano Yotsuba, and they weren't with Nakano Yu.
She frowned and Miura Yumiko decided to change clothes. She rummaged through her luggage and quickly found the light purple yukata she had prepared.
The pattern of the yukata wasn't particularly complex, but it looked very beautiful and was one of Miura Yumiko's favorites.
"I'll wear it, I'll wear it. When Yu comes back later, he'll be amazed!"
The girl giggled, her tone full of anticipation, as if she was already imagining Nakano Yu's surprised expression when he saw her in that outfit.
Soon after, Miura Yumiko changed into the yukata and tied it. Since she had already bathed in the indoor hot spring, she didn't plan to bathe again.
"Hm hm hm~"
Standing in front of the mirror, Miura Yumiko looked at her outfit, her face full of satisfied smiles. Suddenly, she noticed her hair.
"I heard that guys prefer more mature girls. Should I tie my hair up?"
Holding her hair in her hands, Miura Yumiko mumbled to herself. She wasn't particularly skilled at tying hair since she usually wore it down, and her curly hair was even more difficult to tie.
Just as Miura Yumiko picked up her phone, preparing to ask Yui how to tie her hair, a silhouette suddenly appeared in the reflection of the phone screen.
The figure was completely pale, naked, with a pair of large black-and-red eyes on the chest and terrifyingly wide mouth on the stomach. Moreover, the figure had no head!!!
"Ahh!!"
"Thud!"
Seeing the figure, Miura Yumiko screamed, her hand went limp, and the phone fell directly to the floor.
Ignoring the phone, the girl turned and looked behind her, but there was nothing there. Not to mention a monster, there wasn't even a single hair.
Seeing that, Miura Yumiko rubbed her eyes, her heart full of disbelief:
"Im-impossible! She, she clearly saw it just now!"
"Maybe the light flickered?"
Miura Yumiko looked toward the ceiling lamp and thought, but the atmosphere in the room now was too eerie. She didn't dare stay alone. She headed for the door, wanting to go find Yui and the others.
But when she opened the door, the dark corridor left Miura Yumiko speechless.
The light in the corridor had been fine when she returned just now, so why was it like this now…?
Just as she was thinking about it, an unusual sound reached her ears:
"Tap~ Tap~"
The sound resembled something stepping on rotten wooden boards with one foot, and…
It was getting closer and closer!