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 - 17

Chapter 17: Murase: “I Don’t Think It’s the Suspension Bridge Effect.”

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

“Ah, what are you two doing out here?”

Appearing along with the beam of a flashlight was the blonde girl, Hoshino-san.

“Ohhh? Don’t you two look suspicious?”

Hoshino-san said that to us with a teasing grin. The location was different, but she’d said something similar last time, too.

“Hoshino-san, don’t tease us.”

“Oh, come on. Miocchi isn’t letting go of Ueno-kun’s hand at all.”

“Uu…”

The strength in Murase-san’s grip increased. S-She was digging in with her nails because she was being teased!

“W-What did you come here for!? We barely even talk!”

“That’s true, but Ueno-kun stormed off all angry, so I got curious.”

Ah, this might’ve been the first time I heard about what I did before Murase-san woke me up.

“Was I angry?”

“Yeah, you were super mad. You said it wasn’t right to force a punishment game on just one person.”

“Huh~.”

“What’s with that response? You were all fired up saying if someone had to do it alone, you’d do it too!”

Wha—? Seriously!?

So I was planning to go through that torii too.

“Ueno-kun… you said something like that for me…”

Murase-san muttered softly beside me. The warmth of her hand in mine seemed to rise another level. I didn’t remember saying any of that, though.

But I see. That must’ve been the original flow of this world. 

During the first and second loops, I’d been so desperate that I couldn’t even remember how I’d ended up there in the first place.

“You know, when Miocchi looked scared, you went, ‘I’ll go in her place, so let Murase-san rest!’ and picked a fight with Tanaka and Sato over it. Then you just charged off after that.”

Murase-san lowered her head, looking like she was about to boil over.

…Which meant that in the original timeline of this world, I headed toward the torii to protect Murase-san, and she chased after me. That was why the two of us ended up at that spot, the starting point of the first loop.

“Well, whatever.”

Hoshino-san let the smile fade from her face and pointed the flashlight beam into the forest behind us.

“Have you seen Yamamoto? He went to check on you two because you weren’t coming back, and he hasn’t returned. He’s not answering his phone either. Sato and Tanaka went to look for him.”

Ugh, so now we had a new development. Even if we didn’t regroup, we’d still end up split apart?

“We haven’t seen him…”

“I see. Maybe he went to the bathroom or something.”

I had nothing but a bad feeling about this. When they found him, wasn’t this going to be one of those ‘discovered as a corpse’ scenarios?

“Ueno-kun.”

“Yeah?”

“Let’s go that way.”

Murase-san tugged on my hand, looking slightly displeased. Ah, right. Murase-san was supposed to be the “first victim.” In that case, the corpse-discovery pattern wouldn’t happen yet. It wasn’t a nice way to put it, but for now, the safety of the other classmates was practically guaranteed.

One thing still bothered me: Murase-san’s cause of death.

Her abdomen had been slashed open. No matter how you looked at it, that wasn’t the work of a ghost or a spirit. Which meant one of our classmates had to be the killer. Based on last time, it could only be Sato-kun. And right now, Sato-kun was supposedly out searching for Yamamoto.

Suspicious. No matter how I looked at it, way too suspicious.

“We’ll go look for Yamamoto too!”

“Okaaay. Just don’t let it turn into the suspension bridge effect~.”

Hoshino-san waved with a suggestive grin as she walked away. As darkness returned, Murase-san’s walking speed subtly increased.

“Murase-san, you don’t have to rush. Actually, where are we going?”

“Ueno-kun, you’re an idiot.”

“Huh? Why!?”

“I don’t know.”

Whaaat? She’d gone back to her usual expressionless self. There were way too many things I didn’t understand, both about this world and about Murase-san!

“…Ueno-kun, you have friends, don’t you?”

Murase-san stopped walking and turned back to look at me. Her voice was low and carried a faint dampness to it. In her eyes, I thought I saw a strong emotion, something close to impatience.

“Well, I mean, friends… They’re just classmates.”

“…Hmm.”

Murase-san let go of my hand once and clasped it tightly to her chest instead. She looked more anxious than I’d ever seen her before.

“I don’t think it’s the suspension bridge effect.”

“Huh?”

“I won’t say it again.”

After saying that, Murase-san reached out and took my hand again on her own. This time, she laced her fingers through mine in a deeper hold than before. I could feel her fingertips trembling slightly. This time, I squeezed her slender hand firmly in return.

“I wouldn’t try to save you this many times just because of some momentary rush of excitement.”

This time, no unseen force or invisible misfortune attacked us. Instead (?), our classmates were apparently out somewhere looking for us. Yamamoto and Tanaka were whatever, but I absolutely wanted to avoid running into Sato-kun.

“…Sato-kun is out searching, right?”

Murase-san glanced around anxiously. She probably remembered, at least vaguely, what happened last time too.

“Murase-san, let’s settle down somewhere first. I want to think about what we should do next.”

More than anything, I didn’t want Murase-san to enter Sato-kun’s field of vision. Still holding hands, we descended a small slope by moonlight. Staying alert, we walked slowly together through the ruins. Then, one relatively well-preserved single-story house caught my eye.

“Murase-san, let’s use that place.”

“Okay. I want to be alone with you too, Ueno-kun.”

Somehow… Murase-san seemed a little strange too. Was she always the type to express her feelings this honestly?

“……”

The front door opened with a rattling, poorly fitted sound. Inside was a dusty space where traces of the former residents’ lives still faintly lingered.

I have to find a foothold to clear this world soon…!

And for that, this time we couldn’t let our classmates find us. The test of courage had turned into a game of hide-and-seek.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー