I Saved the First Victim of the Horror Game (The Idol in My Class), and She Became the Ultimate Sweet Heroine Who Smiles Only at Me - 1

Chapter 1: Murase-san Is About To Have an Instant Death!

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

It was pitch black. There was no sound, and I couldn’t even tell where I was standing. The only thing I could rely on was the cold feel of the smartphone clutched in my hand. For some reason, I glanced at its screen and a message I’d never seen before appeared.

――――【Synopsis】――――

“If you pass through the torii at midnight, you won’t be able to go home.”

There were only three days left of summer vacation. First-year high school student Satoru Ueno had come to the abandoned village of Sakuragafuchi for the class’s test of courage, rumored to have such a legend.

“What the hell… it’s just a rumor after all.”

At first, Satoru thought the same…. But the next morning…

Satoru’s classmate, Mio Murase, who had passed through the torii at midnight, was found with her stomach slashed open. That was how he got pulled into an “endless summer vacation,” triggered by the death of his classmate.

＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿

Noooooo! I don’t know anythinggggg! Sure, my name is Satoru Ueno, but I’m not the type to do a test of courage! And wait, what’s going on? Is someone about to die!?

As I panicked over the mysterious text, the edge of my vision warped slightly. A cold feeling crawled up from deep in my chest.

“Uh… wha—?”

My eyelids grew heavy. My consciousness sank. The last thing I saw was a single line of text on a black screen

【Game Start】

◆

“―Ueno-kun. Wake up, Ueno-kun.”

I woke up as someone shook my shoulder. In the dim night, the light from the phone faintly illuminated my face.

“Are you okay? You collapsed suddenly. I got scared.”

In front of me stood a girl with light brown hair. Her silky hair barely reached her shoulders, and her eyes were a bright brown. She didn’t have any particularly outstanding features, but her face was beautifully proportioned. However, her expression was incredibly lifeless, like a doll stripped of all emotion.

“W-where am I…?”

“Are you still sleepy? This is Sakuragafuchi. Don’t you remember the test of courage?”

When she said that, I looked around. On the left were crumbling houses and on the right, a stone staircase overgrown with weeds. Beyond that, I could faintly see a torii.

“There’s one minute left until midnight.”

The girl said this in a flat voice and showed me the screen of the phone. The time read 23:59.

“I lost at rock-paper-scissors, so I’m going now.”

“Rock-paper-scissors…?”

“There’s a rumor that something happens if you pass through the torii at midnight, right? Well… nobody seems to care about me anymore, but I’m called ‘Air-chan’ by everyone anyway.”

Her emotionless voice blended into the night sky. Even though she spoke matter-of-factly, it somehow sounded incredibly sad.

“What’s your name…?”

“Mio Murase. Yeah, nobody remembers my name anyway.”

“Y-you’re Mio Murase!?”

Hearing that name snapped me awake faster than if someone had poured Tabasco in my mouth! According to the text I read earlier, this girl was the one to die a narratively sudden death!? 

Wait, she’s going to die in one minute? Faster than it takes to cook instant ramen? Even a cicada lives longer than that!

“S-someone remembered my name…”

“Don’t go! You absolutely cannot go!”

“Hya!”

I grabbed the hand of the girl who had introduced herself as Murase.

“W-what’s gotten into you all of a sudden?”

“Don’t go! If you go, you might die!”

“I don’t understand…”

I didn’t understand either! I had no idea what was happening, and I had no clue how we even ended up here! But one thing was crystal clear…

If this girl dies right in front of me, it would be the absolute worst start to my day!

“Stop groping me all of a sudden…”

Murase-san’s modest protest vanished into the night silence.

“Uuuuuu!”

“Muuu…!”

Murase-san tried to pull away from me with all her strength. But I clung to her even harder. Just then, a game-like screen appeared in front of me.

◤￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣❖

Do you want to regroup with everyone?

＞【Yes】

＞【No】

❖＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿◢

What the hell is this!? And stop interfering! I’m busy trying to stop her right now!

I ignored that screen for what I thought was only a few seconds, but then, Murase-san’s phone started to beep.

“Haa… haa…”

“It’s… midnight now…”

Murase-san just stared at me in blank shock. I’d held her too tightly and felt slightly short of breath. Still, it looked like the worst-case scenario had been avoided.

“Alive!? You’re alive, right!?”

“Of course I’m alive…”

As I caught my breath and slowly stood up, my panicked mind began to clear. I needed to sort out this situation… By all appearances, I had been thrown into a world like some game I didn’t know a thing about. And of course, it had to be a horror game.

“I’m Satoru Ueno, fifteen years old. Nice to meet you.”

“Why are you introducing yourself now?”

“It’s fine, it’s fine.”

“…Mio Murase. Sixteen years old.”

I slowly extended my hand to Murase-san. First villagers deserved kindness.

Creak… creak… creak…

While I did that, a tree behind Murase-san suddenly began to topple toward us!

“Watch out!”

I hurriedly pulled Murase-san toward me. The tree hit the ground with a deep thud, gouging the soil. If she had stayed standing, it would’ve hit her directly.

“Ah… th-that was close…”

Murase-san gave a surprised sound, still expressionless. 

No, no. That expression doesn’t match your voice at all. Even so, do trees normally fall with such pinpoint accuracy? It seemed like it fell intentionally toward her…

“…Murase-san! We need to get out of this test of courage!”

A bad feeling ran through me, and I immediately urged her to move.

“Ehh… If I go, everyone will call me ‘Air-chan’ again…”

“Shut up! Stop saying ‘air’ over and over!”

“Why are you so desperate? I’m just a background character in class.”

At that moment, I remembered the very first screen.

(＞Satoru’s classmate, Mio Murase, was found with her stomach slashed open.)

It seemed that a cruel fate awaited the girl in front of me. Moreover, I would be caught up in something because of her death. No way I’d let that happen. Even if I just met her, I wouldn’t let the girl in front of me suffer.

Besides, I hate horror! If this girl dies, a bad end is guaranteed!

“I don’t care if you’re background or ‘air’! I will protect Mio Murase no matter what!”

“Ehh!?”

When I said that, Murase-san’s expressionless face cracked just a little.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー