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 - 5

Chapter 5: I Heard the Sound of the Canon Route Shattering

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I suddenly felt embarrassed and hurriedly averted my gaze.

“A-ah, no…”

I had seen her face clearly for the first time in the light. It was smudged with dirt and dust, but she still had an incredibly beautiful face.

“Ueno-kun, are you hurt?”

“As you can see, I’m totally fine.”

“Thank goodness…”

Murase-san looked like she was about to burst into tears at any moment. Unable to bear that expression, I quickly twisted my body and moved off of her.

“S-so, more importantly, let’s get out of here! The shed looks like it’s completely collapsed!”

At the same time I pushed myself up, she quickly grabbed onto my clothes.

“We shouldn’t separate… Not even a millimeter away, right?”

She was right. Even though it was morning now, we still couldn’t relax. In stories like this, it was always when you let your guard down that something suddenly attacked.

“Murase-san, stay careful, okay?”

We stepped over the rubble, keeping a wary eye on our surroundings. The settlement that had felt so eerie at night now seemed strangely calm, it felt almost nostalgic. In that synopsis, it had said Murase-san would be found with her stomach slashed open…

“R-right! Your stomach! Is your stomach okay!?”

“My stomach?”

Murase-san tilted her head curiously at my words.

“It’s totally fine.”

She casually lifted the hem of her shirt and showed me her stomach. Smooth white skin without a single wound briefly came into view.

“I-I didn’t say you had to show me!”

Aaaahhhh! I couldn’t tell if she was cool or just airheaded anymore. It was the first time I’d ever seen a girl’s bare stomach.

“It’s not like you can see the inside, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

“In this case, that would literally mean what you just said, so please stop!”

“Hm?”

Murase-san tilted her head again, looking blank. It was better if she didn’t understand what I meant.

“Ahhh, the air tastes amazing.”

We somehow climbed out of the pile of rubble, and I took a deep breath. After being in that dusty place, the air felt even fresher.

“Uh…”

Murase-san let out a small sound beside me. She was looking down, trying her best not to show me her face, but her ears were bright red. Since she had such fair skin, it was extremely obvious in the daylight.

“What’s with that reaction?”

“It’s nothing…”

“…Just so you know, I wasn’t talking about you just now, Murase-san.”

“I-I know that.”

Her loud voice was swallowed up by the mountains.

“You don’t have to get so mad.”

“I’m not mad…”

As if protesting our exchange, she squeezed my hand tightly. That was when I realized we were naturally holding hands.

“My stomach’s about to growl.”

“Mine too.”

With the collapsed shed behind us, we returned to the broken bridge. Unlike yesterday, the river sparkled and flowed gently and clearly.

“Is it okay for an idol’s stomach to growl?”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s that thing about idols not going to the bathroom, right?”

“I’m human, so of course I go.”

“Right.”

What a meaningless conversation. And yet, right now, that aimless chatter felt incredibly comforting.

“Do you think help will come?”

“It has to.”

I sat down on a nearby rock. With Murase-san beside me, I almost let my guard down from the sense of relief. Neither of us made a move to let go of our joined hands. After staring at the sky for a while, I heard the sound of sniffling from beside me.

“Sniff… hic…”

Maybe sitting down made her feel safe. Or maybe it was the gentle murmur of the river. I wasn’t sure.

“I-I was so scared…”

Tears ran down the cheeks of Murase-san, who hadn’t changed her expression at all yesterday.

“They said we had to do a punishment game… Everyone disappeared… but I thought that if I said I’d do it, I had to go through with it…”

…I had never thought about it before. In movies and games, there were almost always background characters who got killed off easily. Sometimes they were sacrifices for the protagonist, sometimes they died to kick off the story. The audience didn’t care about those characters. Maybe even the creator of the story didn’t care.

But if you actually entered that world… Those characters would have their own lives. Even the ones who died first in a horror game would have real feelings.

“Murase-san, once we get out of here safely, do you want to go somewhere together? Somewhere that’s not a test of courage.”

“Huh?”

“I want to know more about ‘Air-chan.’”

“Geez…”

Murase-san looked at me and gave me that goofy little grin again. Seeing that smile made me realize it all over again. I was truly glad. Truly glad it hadn’t turned out like that synopsis I saw at the beginning.

“I’m hungry…”

“Me too…”

“What do you want to eat right now, Murase-san?”

“Meat.”

“Right in the morning!?”

As we were talking, a low sound echoed from beyond the bridge. It wasn’t a natural sound. It was mechanical.

“W-what is it this time!?”

Instinctively, I pulled her into my arms. Murase-san shyly wrapped her arms around my back in return.

“We’ve found two high school students!”

I-it’s a helicopter! 

A crew member in orange was speaking into a radio.

“Murase-san, it looks like they’ve come to rescue us!”

“Th-They do!”

Her voice sounded completely relieved.

“…”

Wait, hold on. Helicopters actually seemed kind of dangerous in their own way.

“Murase-san, even when we get on the helicopter, don’t let go of me.”

“Okay…”

She smiled at me again, a little bashfully. Even after we were loaded onto the rescue helicopter, I never let go of Murase-san’s hand. And she never tried to let go of mine. For now, it was safe to say we had avoided the instant-death bad ending… right?

Those mysterious choices had only appeared at the very, very beginning. Maybe that was because I had completely ignored the official route. Maybe there were supposed to be more choices originally…

Clunk.

Suddenly, the helicopter shook violently.

“Murase-san!”

I pulled her into a tight embrace. She wrapped her arms around my neck.

“Haha, it’s okay. It just shook a little.”

The pilot guy looked at us and laughed.

 No, seriously, don’t do that. You’re going to scare me to death.

Still… I wondered what would happen next in a horror game where the horror route had been avoided.

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