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 - 35

Chapter 35: There Is No “Quit” Option in Love

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“I didn’t know you two were like that.”

“…Can I ask why you’re here, Sato-kun?”

At my question, Sato-kun’s lips tightened. I remembered the letter addressed to Hoshino-san… That letter had said, “Pass through the torii gate and purify the impurity.” It was written as if demanding the recipient take responsibility. But if you thought about it the other way around, couldn’t it also be seen like this?

A letter meant to make people certain that whoever passed through the torii gate was the village’s traitor… Hadn’t Hoshino-san already realized that? That she herself was the target of revenge? That she might be killed?

…And hadn’t Yamamoto proposed the “punishment game” to protect Hoshino-san? Given Yamamoto’s personality, it wouldn’t have been strange for him to suggest something like a punishment game. There was still the question of how Yamamoto had learned what Sato-kun was planning to do… but if they were friends, it wouldn’t have been that strange for him to find out somehow.

“…I’m actually from this village.”

“Huh?”

Sato-kun began speaking in a low tone I’d never heard from him before.

“Apparently, it was a pretty messed-up village. Crop failures, water shortages, sudden illnesses. They thought it was all the work of the gods.”

“……”

“Every time something like that happened, they’d offer up sacrifices to the gods. Well, I don’t really know all the details myself.”

“Sacrifices?”

“Not just villagers—apparently, at worst, they even abducted people. It was such a messed-up village it’s almost laughable, right? They say there are tons of ‘spirited away’ cases all over the country.”

Sato-kun slowly stepped closer to us. I immediately moved to stand in front of Murase-san.

“But there was some kind of self-correction. People started showing up in the village saying, ‘This is going too far.’ And then—stab, stab—they wiped out the village.”

“That’s… the truth about this village?”

“Yeah, yeah. And then, my parents and my family…”

I could tell Sato-kun’s voice was trembling.

“I was still little, so I didn’t understand. I didn’t know why my parents were killed…”

With a sharp glare, Sato-kun fixed his eyes on me—no, on Murase-san.

“Air-chan, you read that letter, didn’t you?”

“I don’t know anything about any letter.”

“Don’t lie. I know there’s another survivor in this group. The child of the one who killed my family! My mother was stabbed in the stomach and died! And she was carrying the baby who was supposed to be my little sister!”

Sato-kun’s expression grew darker and more grotesque by the second. His current appearance overlapped with how he’d looked in the first loop. Maybe that had actually been what he looked like in the final phase.

“Wait, wait, wait, Sato-kun! Stop! Let’s calm down for a second!”

I stepped in front of Murase-san, spreading my arms as if to take the brunt of Sato-kun’s killing intent.

“Move, Ueno.”

“I won’t.”

“I said move, Ueno!”

“I won’t. Because you’re about to do something wrong. Actually, everything about this is wrong!”

If this were the original game progression, this was probably where Murase-san would be killed…! Honestly, I didn’t know what would happen after this. Maybe everyone would start doubting each other, wondering who had killed Murase-san. Maybe Sato-kun would realize he’d killed the wrong person and begin searching for his true target of revenge.

Maybe Yamamoto would secretly cooperate with Sato-kun to protect Hoshino-san, and everything would spiral into a tangled mess of relationships.

…That was all just my imagination. That was why this was the only path I had right now! Unless I turned this into a crappy game that ended at the synopsis, I wouldn’t be able to save my heroine, Murase-san!

“I said move!”

With a rough shout, Sato-kun charged at me. A sharp impact exploded against my cheek.

“Gah…!”

He’d punched me full force. The taste of iron spread in my mouth, but I somehow stayed on my feet. If I fell here, Sato-kun would go straight for Murase-san. I absolutely couldn’t fall.

“U-Ueno-kun!?”

“Don’t come any closer!”

I held up a hand to stop Murase-san as she tried to rush to me.

“If you want to kill Murase-san, you’ll have to kill me first!”

“D-don’t spout lines like this is some kind of game!”

There was something I’d realized from being in this world.

Flags are things you build yourself! For those of us who are alive, clichés don’t just automatically apply! Love, fear… Everything! You have to act and deal with it yourself! Deciding for yourself is terrifying! It’s like being in a horror story, but still!

“Do you have any idea how I’ve felt spending all this time with you guys!?”

A right straight to my face, then a left hook, and even a kick on top of it. Sato-kun punched me however he pleased. 

Damn it, it hurts like hell.

But no matter how much he hit me, I should be fine! Because I wasn’t supposed to be the first victim.

“Ghh… urk…!”

An impact that felt like it flipped my stomach inside out. Sparks burst across my vision, and my knees began to tremble. But for Murase-san’s sake, I absolutely couldn’t fall.

“I… I’m going to become the air for Mio Murase. I’m the one who’ll protect Mio Murase…”

“Yamamoto and you… Both of you keep going on about love and romance!”

“Ghh…!”

“Just quit this love nonsense! If you do that, you’ll be saved—”

“Like hell I will!”

Something inside me snapped. I grabbed Sato-kun’s fist as it struck my stomach and slammed my forehead straight into his face.

“Ugh…!”

Sato-kun fell backward onto his rear.

“I don’t give a damn about what you’re saying! There’s no ‘Quit’ option in love!”

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