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 - 28-29

Chapter 28: Mio Murase’s Affection Level (3★ Limit Break)

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“M-Murase-san!?”

Murase-san’s warmth and soft touch collided with me head-on, and the faint scent of soap instantly tickled my nose. My heart was pounding wildly.

“I… I might have remembered…”

“Huh!?”

“I remember, vaguely, that Ueno-kun came to my house, and that you tried to protect me while we were camping. I can’t fully recall the events yet, but I remember the feelings clearly.”

Hot tears fell onto my chest from Murase-san.

“I…! I!”

She squeezed my shirt tightly with her hand. The loops hadn’t been in vain… Even if the world reset, the emotions we built up remained.

“Murase-san…”

A warm feeling washed over me, but that window popped into my mind.

◤ Remaining Continues: 1 ◢

I couldn’t turn back now. This time, I had to make sure I had no regrets…!

“Murase-san! I have a lot I want to talk about, but I need a favor!”

“What’s wrong? Why are you shouting suddenly?”

“That torii! Cross it at midnight!”

“Huh?”

Murase-san froze for a moment. But then she broke into her usual expressionless smile and looked at me.

“Got it.”

“…Don’t you find this strange?”

“I can trust what Ueno-kun says. My heart… it tells me so.”

The phone alarm signaling midnight rang. Murase-san quickly walked toward the torii.

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Do you want to regroup with everyone?

＞【Yes】

＞【No】

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The usual choice appeared in front of me. Honestly, I hesitated. But if I wanted to follow the proper route…!

Please! I hope this is right!

I reached tremblingly for 【Yes】. At the same time, Murase-san’s phone buzzed. I nodded once, and Murase-san slowly stepped through the torii.

“…!”

For the first time, Murase-san crossed under the torii! I rushed to her side. The tree was supposed to fall next, but… I pulled Murase-san close from the side, keeping watch. She wrapped her hands around my waist as if she trusted me.

“…”

“…”

Nothing happened. 

I guess this is the correct choice for now.

“Don’t move a millimeter away from me!”

“Y-Yeah…!”

Murase-san pressed her body against mine as if to eliminate every gap.

“No, you really don’t have to try to fill every gap! This already happened before!”

“B-But…”

Even out here in the open, we were pressed together. Having been in closets and lockers, maybe our sense of personal space was completely destroyed.

“Miocchi… you crossed the torii…”

While we were having back and forth banter like that, Hoshino-san appeared. The previous memories flashed back, and I stiffened for a moment, but her face was normal.

“Okay!”

Then Yamamoto came along. Both of them arriving was different from last time when we had chosen 【Yes】.

“Murase, you didn’t cross the torii quickly, so I was nervous.”

“Nervous…?”

“We were able to record it with our phone just fine! Let’s have a late-night snack in the tent after that.”

It was similar to last time, but the lines were slightly different. Come to think of it, last time they also mentioned filming.

“Miocchi, um…”

“What is it, Hoshino-san?”

“Maybe it’s better not to be alone tonight…”

With that cryptic line, Hoshino-san went toward the tent.

“You two can have a little alone time. Meet back in ten minutes.”

Yamamoto followed Hoshino-san toward the tent. 

A-alone time…? But I guess we already cleared the first hurdle. Next—

“Murase-san! There’s something I want to do before we go back to the tent!”

“Mmm.”

“Murase-san?”

“Hmph.”

For some reason, Murase-san’s cheeks puffed out. 

Huh? I don’t get it, but she’s sulking!

“W-Why are you mad!?”

“Ueno-kun, you were looking at Hoshino-san’s… boobs.”

“Bo… boobs!?”

Murase-san said something I couldn’t believe! I never imagined her saying something like that! This was the biggest shock since the loop began!

“No, I wasn’t! I just wondered if there was a memo in her chest pocket!”

“Hmph…”

“I wasn’t really looking in a lewd way!”

“…By the way, was there a memo?”

“Yeah…”

“You checked it pretty carefully, huh?”

“It’s a trap! I was just checking because it’s an important item!”

Murase-san, still pouting, squeezed my hand tightly.

“Make sure you pay attention to me too.”

“Of course!”

“You sneaky Ueno-kun…”

“Wha—what do you mean!?”

“…”

In the darkness, Murase-san’s cheeks turned bright red. This was totally different and extremely clear!

“…I might have a strong possessive side.”

“Huh?”

“N-Never mind!”

She muttered something that made me very curious, then turned away. That normally easygoing Murase-san was finally showing such raw emotion. But to me, that was proof that she was “here” right now, and I couldn’t help but smile slightly.

“…Don’t laugh, you sneaky Ueno-kun.”

“The sneaky part is unnecessary! But alright. I’ll pay more attention to you than ever, Murase-san.”

When I answered seriously, she nodded softly, “…Yeah,” and grabbed my arm tightly again.

“I’ll also do my best to become your ultimate heroine, Ueno-kun.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I just felt like saying it…”

Her face turned red all the way to her ears. She was embarrassed. Unbelievably embarrassed. So cute.

“So… what did you want to do?”

Murase-san pulled my arm, trying to change the subject.

“Yeah… I don’t know exactly what you remember, but there’s something I want to do while we can.”

“While we can?”

“Hide the weapon so nothing bad happens right away.”

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Chapter 29: Mio Murase Route Speedrun

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“…A blade…?”

Murase-san caught her breath. That was right. Both in the previous loop and the one before that, someone had ended up holding a blade before we even realized it. The mere existence of a weapon at the scene had to be a powerful flag that pulled the story toward a horror development!

“So, that means we need to run!”

“W-Where are we going?”

“There should be a nice-looking house up on the slope!”

It was that house where Murase-san and I had hidden in the closet last time! I was pretty sure Sato-kun had picked up the blade there. Anything dangerous needed to be hidden away as soon as possible.

“Murase-san, don’t let go of my hand no matter what.”

“Okay…!”

I told her a line I’d already said who knows how many times. But somehow, her reaction felt a little different each time. We’d deal with the blade and then regroup with Yamamoto and the others like nothing had happened. That was the best possible choice I could think of right now.

“…!”

Honestly, this part was a gamble. But there was no way I could just ignore that blade. Because there was a high chance that blade was the weapon that killed Murase-san. And that was the one thing I absolutely couldn’t let follow the original route…!

We desperately ran down the slope, searching for that house from memory.

“Here!”

We found it quickly. A one-story house in slightly better condition than the rest, completely out of place in an abandoned village. This had to be it!

“Ah—”

For the first time, the nameplate on the gate caught my eye. It read “Hoshino.”

Could this be Hoshino-san’s…?

My legs nearly gave out. Hoshino-san was a survivor from this village, and this was her house. And here, the seeds of tragedy were sleeping. But judging from how she’d acted, I couldn’t say she was the culprit… right? She’d even apologized to Murase-san. There was no motive for Hoshino-san to kill her.

I’m so close… so close to understanding something.

“Ueno-kun, are we going inside?”

“Yeah.”

Murase-san’s voice pulled me back from the swamp of my thoughts. No, no. This wasn’t the time for that.

“I think Sato-kun picked it up in the yard.”

“I feel like that’s right too.”

We said that as we hurried around to the garden. Pushing through the overgrown summer grass, we searched along the ground, clinging to fragments of memory.

“Ueno-kun! Isn’t this it?!”

Murase-san called out. At the tip of her finger lay a blade that gleamed unnaturally cold among some rusted farm tools.

“Th-That’s it!”

I quickly grabbed it. It was heavy in my hand. This hateful weapon. Just looking at it made my stomach churn. Since the nameplate said “Hoshino,” this might have once belonged to her family.

“Staaare.”

While I was thinking about how to dispose of it, I felt an unusually intense gaze from beside me.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing…”

“Wait, that makes me even more curious.”

“…Then I’ll just keep looking.”

Do I have something on my face? Well, more importantly, we have to hurry!

“Hmm…”

I scanned the area. Where… Where should I hide it? Somewhere no one could ever retrieve it would be best.

“Ah!”

That was it! There was a river nearby! We could throw it in there!

“Alright! Murase-san, let’s run!”

“Okay.”

Route-wise, it shouldn’t be that far from this house to the bridge. We’d toss the blade into the river and then regroup with everyone! If we hurried, we could just barely make it!

“Race you to the river!”

I pulled Murase-san’s hand and ran, slicing through the darkness of night. As Hoshino’s house grew distant behind us, my lungs burned, but I didn’t stop. The cold iron in my grip and Murase-san’s warmth made it cruelly clear that this was reality.

The old suspension bridge came into view, creaking faintly. Beneath it, the river roared.

The bridge hadn’t been destroyed yet…! If we wanted, we could escape on our own right now… but…

“I’m ending this here!”

With all my strength, I hurled the blade into the deep current.

Splash!

Along with the sound of water spraying upward, the trigger of the tragedy vanished into the depths of the murky flow. Breathing hard, I looked at Murase-san. She fixed her slightly messy hair and looked back at me with what seemed like relief.

“Murase-san, let’s run back!”

“Geez, this feels like we’re speed-solving something.”

“You’re probably not wrong!”

She was right. It did feel like we were racing through a puzzle. But this wasn’t a game. Real lives were on the line!

“Ueno-kun, you’re also RTA-ing me, you know…”

“What’s RTA?”

“Real-Time Attack.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not telling you anymore!”

What? I got scolded at the weirdest moment. Pulling along the pouting Murase-san, we somehow made it back to the tent where Yamamoto and the others were waiting.

“Pant… pant…”

“Why are you in such a rush?”

“So none of you died yet.”

“What are you talking about?”

Yamamoto looked at me suspiciously as I stood there drenched in sweat.

“Miocchi, are you okay?”

Then Hoshino-san called out to Murase-san. Looking closely, her face looked unbelievably worn out.

“Yeah. I went through the torii properly.”

“S-Sorry. I was tending the campfire…”

I guess now we just have to go with the flow…

“We’re heading back first thing tomorrow.”

Saying that, Hoshino-san grabbed Murase-san’s shoulders.

“Well yeah, we came all the way here for a test of courage! Of course we want to do something!”

“That’s because Tanaka insisted we come!”

“It wasn’t me! It was Yamamoto!”

They’d had this same argument before. Wait…? Something about that just caught my attention.

“By the way, Ueno and Air-chan have been glued together this whole time. Are you guys dating or something?”

Sato-kun, who had been feeding wood into the campfire, suddenly asked us that question. I felt relieved that nothing seemed off about him this time.

“…Y-Yeah.”

“Huh?”

“From now on… that’s the plan… maybe…”

““Ehhhhhhhhhh!?””

Everyone’s shock echoed into the darkness. That wasn’t something Murase-san would normally say in front of everyone, was it!? Something had definitely changed and it was on her side this time!

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