Vol 1 Chapter 3 (1/2)
Chapter 3 - Labyrinth Dive
My disassembled cells were reassembled inside the labyrinth
Zuhkihn, Zuhkihn, a pain assaults et teleported into a labyrinth On top of the cursed song overflowing inof my brain is terribly painful
Colors start flooding into the darkness of my vision
White light Red colors Blue, yellow, green, black
The pain in my head stops
My consciousness clears up
I can see s
Right now, I airl
”You're late shi+nnosuke! What's with your sluggish movements!?”
After entering the labyrinth, I got yelled at
It's shi+ro
I look at him and smirk
”Well, I'm scared”
”Don't screw around with me!”
Beyond his yell, I can hear the shouts of Gunjou Pointing her slender finger to her front,
”Goooooooo!”
Leading her class she has Towards the goal of killing the diseased girl
I look in their direction
The place we are in is as expected, the corridor of a pretty nor corps beforehand The labyrinth brought forth by the girl does indeed have the architecture, decors, and atmosphere of a school
There are a few soft-toy teddy bears in the wide corridor
Soft toys that are pink, green and orange The guards for protecting the diseased girl
The soft toys saw us materialize; they raise both their paws and extend their claws
”Teddy!”
They howl as if to mock us, then, just as they are about to coic and proceeds to mow them down
”Shut up! Beasts like you should know your place and not interfere with me!”
Gunjou raises her hands, swings and crosses the that, the cutters of her 『Sea Moon Wheel Switch』 that have already been activated slice the teddies apart accurately and precisely
Furtherood in their oay Four people who are probably on full-defense roles are standing on both flanks of Gunjou and protecting the sides, and another four behind them are probably on support roles
One of the girls on support says
”Mizuiro-san! Eight onally across your left above is a trap”
”What type?”
”Flame-type”
”Tanaka! Make a defensive wall! I'll charge through! Yaiyaap and protect me”
”Yes!”
”Yes!”
Two of the girls ere ordered replied
”Then, charge!”
Shouted Gunjou
While cal her allies, Gunjou advances forith a treor
shi+ro grabs rily
”Don't just stand there We need to gettoo!”
He drags me into a run Well, there's a need to run, I supposed After all, there is a time limit on us
”But, we can't really advance through that crowded corridor right?”
I said as I pointed at the sixteen classmates that excluded us, all crammed into the corridor
shi+ro says
”We're slow because you were late And I originally wanted us to just charge ahead before Gunjou got her group together”
”Really? I thought since Gunjou has the nuo ahead, and we can then just reap the rewards of their effort at the end”
”That's soh difficulty level but --- the labyrinth this ti hoeak those teddies were earlier, there's no doubt that it's really a rank 04 labyrinth In other words, we can just forcefully push through and clear it like that”
”Aah, I see Then, you can just go ahead without waiting for ht?”
shi+ro looks at me in exasperation and says
”Huuh? Don't screith me I paid you six million, didn't I?”
”Ah-haha You rather lose and get your money's worth? No no, you aren't such a fool, are you?”
”Nah, it's all your fault I' to cut three million from you and have you take responsibility”
”Ah-ha, don't screith me Besides, since I arrived till now, you aren't the least bit anxious You already have soht?”
With a few faltering steps, I turn around to look in the direction of Hi her eyes down, Hi on around her, and is ic
Fuh-fuh-fuh, she lets out in shallow breaths
And then ---
” PicnicDetour switch”
She ic circle appears in front of Hih that And then, completely different frohted look on it
”Aahh, aahh, nohich place is more fun, I wonder?”
She says
I gaze at her with half-opened eyes, and ask,
”What's with her? What kind of ic is this?”
shi+ro then answers
”It's the type ofcorps use”
Following that, Yousuke says from the side
”Picnic switch is loaded with a path-finding ic that is akin to --- Hi to her destination and it turns out to be the better route”
”What's with that roundabout kind of ic? Probably a defective product, I suppose”
”Haha, it's indeed roundabout but, its power is inversely proportional to the constraints it has”
Said shi+ro
”Himi How is it?”
”Ah, yes, I found an interesting looking place”
”Where?”
”It's just beside here Beyond this wall is a classroom If we break down the wall, we can reach the schoolyard fro to the infirmary”
I look at where Hi There is a wall Just a wall If we don't have the power to break down the wall, then in the end, this would just be a futile detour however
shi+ro says
”Alll~right, well done Switch to trap detection ic Check out what's beyond the wall I'll take it from here”
”Yes!”
Hi her next one
shi+ro taps the ith his palm and cocks his head to the side
”I wonder how thick this is Should I slice it apart, or open up a hole?”
Yousuke replies
”Hh for people to pass through”
”Well then, a hole it shall be All right”
shi+ro's finger dances But, Himi then says to him
”Please slice it apart There are three obstacles on the other side of the wall”
”Are they the teddies from earlier?”
”I don't know about that but --- if we go through a narrow hole, then it will become a choke point for them to attack”
But Yousuke cuts her off and says
”If it's at the level of the obstacles earlier, I'll take care of the defense shi+ro Just go with that ic Make a hole”
Yousuke snaps his finger and starts tracing it in the air
”Ok ~ then, let's do it”
To etch the rhyth his finger in the air, he activates his ic
”--- Thousand Deities Flash Of Light switch”
A spear appears in his right hand The tip of the spear is rotating like a drill shi+ro puts his left foot forward,
”Piieerce it throouuugghh!”
In a hurlinghe has, the tip of the drill strikes the wall Together with a burst of light, a spiral appears in the center of the wall, and the tip of the drill explodes But a new tip appears And explodes Appears Explodes Repeating at a blinding speed, a hole that's large enough for a person to pass through starts appearing in the wall
Before long, parts of the wall fell off And a classrooh to the other side
And just like what Himi said, on the other side were teddies Three of them
”Teddy!”
”Teddy!”
”Teddy!”
They co shi+ro all at once shi+ro is unable to take any countermeasure
”Yousuke!”
He yells
”I got it! Rather, I've already activated ic! Reverse-Force switch!”
I know of that eted area will be reversed for an instant Only an instant Just for one instant However, even if it's only for an instant, a reat power
The bodies of the teddies that were attacking shi+ro fell back The teddies are surprised but, it's all over shi+ro takes up his stance again He didn't throw his spear immediately Even in this precarious situation, shi+ro is cole of ai
”It should be here”
And he hurls the spear in one stroke
The spear pierces through one of the teddies And at the exact same time, the other two stop in their tracks And then,
”End it”
shi+ro takes up his stance again
In the next instant, the tip of the drill exploded All three teddies were scattered to the four winds simultaneously shi+ro's movements onderful The enemies were easily defeated not because they eak With his movements just now, even if they were many opponents, they could have been taken care off without a glitch
”All right, it's over ~ You guys can coet to the outside!”
”Yes!”
”Orh!”
Hih the hole
They are quite a good team, it seems Both Himi and Yousuke trust shi+ro, and shi+ro ansith the same trust If not for his nuainst Gunjou ht just be true
I slowly pass through the hole shi+ro looks at me and said
”Aren't you slacking off?”
”Haha, I'm actually a NEET at home”
Though I don't even have a home
shi+ro smiles and says
”I wonder whether it was really a good idea to have paid six million to hire such an unmotivated fellow”
I smirked but did not reply I merely ascertained the state of the classroom with half-opened eyes
A classroom without anyone
Desks
Blackboard
In a se written in chalk went like this
『Every one of you, I'll kill all of you Every one of you, I'll kill all of you』
The same line was repeated twice
I look at that with half-opened eyes, and say
”The words 'every one of you',as the words 'all of you'”
Every one of you, I'll kill all of you
Every one of you, I'll kill all of you
The co down the ass of a horse
Were the brains of Asahi Momo filled with moss, or, was there a special reason for her to less way?
The cursed song that plays while activating ic via the 《Headphone Fuzz》 emphasizes on the rhyme to stimulate the brain That's why users of the 《Headphone Fuzz》 beco words in their daily lives But, a 《Headphone Fuzz》 isn't available to a normal civilian Normal civilians aren't allowed to use them
And, the diseased girl this time --- Asahi Momoka should have been a civilian If she had been a practitioner of ic, this fact would definitely have been in the reports fro corps
The reason is because, there had been ic user had a high level of difficulty and a really nasty nature
Every one of you, I'll kill all of you
Every one of you, I'll kill all of you
There isn't any light --- rather, it's a dark classroom that has no fluorescent lamp installed
I looked intently at the blackboard for a while ---
” hey shi+ro Wait a minute”
I say
shi+ro and the rest are just about to exit from theinto the schoolyard
”Hn?”
From behind me, on the other side of the wall, I can hear the soft voice of Gunjou
”We broke into the infiret out into the schoolyard! Let's just finish this off!”
The other teaet to the outside area as well
shi+ro says
”daot out huh hurry, let's overtake Gunjou here!”
Himi says
”Thehere is nearer to the school gate”
Yousuke says
”As expected of Himi Let's win this time, shi+ro!”
”Yeah, of course!”
shi+ro puts his hand on the
It's bright outside the , and the wide area of the schoolyard's visible It has a calm, peaceful, tranquil scenery with the afternoon sun shi+ning down
But it's strange
It's clearly strange
Gunjou's team should have exited into the schoolyard
But no sign of theh the
And at thatplace on the ar
Below the 『Class 5』 that ritten on it, there were twenty ☆ marks They were stars that indicated the number of classmates
But those stars have started disappearing
Potsunh, Potsunh Potsunh, three of theo They have either escaped, or,
””
Are dead
”crap”
I open my eyes wide, and yell
”shi+ro! Don't open the !”
But it's too late
shi+ro has opened the
”Eh?”
It's night outside theMore like, it has the color of darkness
Plains that are colored with darkness
A red moon
Blue clouds
An abnormal scenery
A scenery made by an abnormal creator
In other words, the school yard we had been looking at was fake It was a lie shown to us by Asahi Momoka
However, according to the reports fro corps, there should have been a schoolyard before us
In other words, even the scans done by the scouting corps were a lie made by Asahi Momoka
This is a high rank labyrinth that was masqueraded as a labyrinth with rank 04
Right now, even the real difficulty of the labyrinth is unknown to us
It ht even be at rank 100
”daot us”
I moan
But it's already too late Khiiiih, I can hear an unpleasant howl fro in the darkness outside theI don't knohat it is But there is no longer any tirin foolishly with half-opened eyes
I have already activatedflows out from my 《Headphone Fuzz》 and fills my brain
【In an instant ♪In a flash ♪In the time of a flash ♪
The flash of time, the flash of an instant ♪In an instant ♪In a flash ———】
”Acceleration switch!”
I yell Clink, a switch flips in ic activates I can tell that my body has accelerated I have only a second's worth of acceleration
But, just one second wouldn't cut it!
”shi+ro, get away from the windoooooo!”
I close the interval between shi+ro andround, I pull shi+ro to ht
”Uwah”
shi+ro's body flies back into the classroom
And at the sa enters from theIt is a snake-like creature that looks like a plastic toy with four sections
Khiih, Khiiih, the snake howls as it co in
” kuh”
I twist e it
However, the snake's target isn't me
It's ai for Himi
”Eh, eh”
Himi couldn't even react At any rate, she's on all-support So in the first place, she doesn't possess any ic that can deal with it
”damn!”
I yell I re-activate ic, but won't be able to make it
Grabbing the shoulders of Himi, Yousuke yells
”Dodge it Himi!”
Yousuke has already activated his ic
” Spider Legs switch!”
With that, he steps up to stand in front of Himi And holds out both his hands Froht legs of a spider appears, and threads start dancing out, creating a barrier of threads in front of Yousuke
The toy snake crashes into that barrier Khiiih, it screams And the barrier was easily broken
” huh”
By the time Yousuke uttered that, the snake has already penetrated the center of his left breast
”Gah-hah”
Yousuke throws up blood and collapses
All that happened in a moment
Yousuke ht already be dead
I look at the scene
With a teary face,
”Noooooooooooooo!”
Screamed Hi ic At any rate, we have to deal with that snake but ------
At that moment, shi+ro jumps
”Penitence Severance switch!”
He screae knife appears in his hands that have already been raised upward
And as the snake is just about to spring up for the second ti the floor apart --- no, the space apart
That packed a tremendous amount of destructive power
The snake was destroyed
But, Yousuke is on the verge of death
shi+ro yells
”Yousuke!”
Hiic A ic used to stop bleeding However, she doesn't have a high enough level ofwound loaded in her 《Headphone Fuzz》
Hi
”T-The bleeding isn't stopping the wound won't close what should we do i-it's all my my fault”
”Gah, ah kuh, this is bad, damn”
Said Yousuke But it isn't just bad At this rate, he's going to die
Those who are ill die
This is such a place
shi+ro too goes up to Yousuke
”Sorry Yousuke! I, I let uard down!”
He shouts
But it isn't the ti A time limit exists here There isn't time to be concerned with the wounded
I look up, and say coldly
” Yousuke should be escaping right? Let's leave him and move on”
”Fk you!”
shi+ro says, but I reply with half-opened eyes
”What? More like, you should also say your thanks to o back, promise me that you'll pay me another 20 million or so”
””
shi+ro glares at me
Yousuke grabs shi+ro's arm and says
” i-it was ht Besides, it's like what the transfer student said Go on ahead, shi+ro If we stop here, the 3 million people in Yokohama city will die”
I smile and say
” see, the one who's dying has the soundest words, doesn't he? Let's go”
shi+ro narrows his eyes
Yousuke appears to have started his Escape ets out of here, he ht just die While I have no clue as to ould happen, at the very least, there isn't anything that can be done here
The s blood
Haah, haah, his breathing is sounding ragged
Yousuke says to shi+ro
” h-hey shi+ro You have a goal right Then win Get the better of Gunjou, kill the girl and save the world”
Somehow, it seems like Yousuke knows about shi+ro's secret I look down at Yousuke, then shi+ro, and the crying Himi
What in the world is the relationshi+p between the three of theether in a class whereby nearly everyone is a subordinate of Gunjou?
Well, right now, I don't have the tis
” would you guys stop your melodrama here? We don't have much time”
Yousuke then looks at me With a wound in his chest, and mouth smeared in blood Maybe he won't make it
” h-hey, transfer student”
”What?”
” s-say, can you come over here for a sec?”
”Huuh? Just hurry up and escape”
” p-please It's hard for me to raise my voice”
Yousuke's voice rasps from the blood in his throat
”How troublesome”
Without a choice, I rabs my arm And pulls me to him And tells me
” I, have a favor to ask”
”Hn?”
”S-shi+ro, is an auy so, please protect him in my place”
” I' me?”
”Fuh, ha-haha, fine I'll pay you But I already know this That you are you're a pretty nice guy”
”Aah?”
Yousuke is saying some shi+tty, heavy stuff
”Earlier, you were frantically protecting shi+ro right?”
””
”That's why I' but p-protect, shi+”
I cover Yousuke's mouth with my hand to shut him up And say
”Are you an idiot? You'll really die you know? Hurry up and just escape”
Yousuke looks up at me and smiles
”See, you're a nice guy, aren't you?”
”Shut up”
”Anyway, please, shi+nnosuke Well then everyone, I' first See you later Escape switch”
In an instant, Yousuke's body disassembles and disappears
He was teleported out
With a brooding face, Himi looks down at where Yousuke had disappeared from, and says
” ill Yousuke-kun be saved?”
I didn't answer
shi+ro says with a pained look
”Don't worry He'll definitely be saved”
That's a lie With that kind of wound He has clearly prepared hie of death, Yousuke orrying about shi+ro
What was behind that drive of his? What in the earth happened between this three?
shi+ro stands up
And looks out the
” dah level labyrinth?”
I nod
”Probably”
”What level do you think this is at?”
”Hmm To show us the kind of lie that instills hope in us, it should be above rank 10, I guess? Maybe around rank 15”
”Then, lots will die”
”Yeah”
”But, we have to stop it We have the lives of 3 million people in our hands”
”Well, an ally of justice will think that, I suppose? I'h”
shi+ro looks at me
”Then, you can just escape now, you know? Why won't you escape?”
”Well I guess I can still continue with this”
”Hmmmh”
”Besides, if we clear this labyrinth, there'll be an astounding aht? I'm sure of that”
”Money again? You're always about that”
”Yeah I'm all about that”
shi+ro looks hard at me
” what did Yousuke tell you?”
”Nothing He asked me to protect you”
” ha, what a joke He's a fool Still worried about ”
”Yeah The trust between you guys is creepy What happened between you guys? Don't tell me it's love?”
shi+ro did not answer Thus, I turn my eyes toward Himi,
”You know right? The three of you share a secret?”
””
Himi too didn't answer In other words, a 'yes'
”What's this? I'h”
I have never intended to beco
But, shi+ro says
”No, you're one of us And besides, you saved my life”
”Then pay me for that”
”Like I said, we'll be real comrades once we survive this and return I'll tell you my secret then”
”Huh? Why are youthis and think that I even have any interest in you? Who the hell do you think you are?”
”Your father”
”Shut up”
”Then, let's go No h the rank of this labyrinth is, we have to clear it Otherwise, 3 million people will die”
shi+ro once again looks out of the
Then, we jump out into what used to be a schoolyard, into the plains of darkness
♦
The scenery outside is a harsh one
It's co corps
In the first place, there isn't any school What's standing there is just a building whose corridor ere in earlier
The rest is made up of a vast amount of empty plains of darkness
Red moon
Blue clouds
There're seven broken toy snakes, the same kind as the one that attacked us
And
Three dead bodies of what used to be o
Two girls
One guy
””
They were probably Gunjou's conize their faces
Even after how she cried about not letting anyone die while she was barfing froot done in just like that Of course, this is a situation that can't be helped Even though it's so that can't be helped, I wonder what kind of face did she have then? Was she on the verge of tears, or did she put up an unaffected front, desperately still doing her best, I wonder
However, it's pointless to try is
Behind e, castle in Gothic style I don't kno e Trying to find the diseased girl in there would be like searching for a needle in the haystack No, in the first place, it isn't even certain that she's inside that castle The distinction between truth and lie isn't clear
I say
”Himi”
”Hyauh!? Eh? E-E-Er-Erhm, y-y-yeess”
She utters in strange surprise For some reason, her face is red
I cock my head to the side, and ask
”Eh, why're you so surprised?”
” erm ell, this is the first time that you called my name”
”Huh?”
”Erh no, you toldand not to talk to you, so, I'm really happy”
”Haah, I see e to have that kind of reaction under such circumstances?”
”I-I-I'm sorry”
”Never ic loaded?”
On hearing htful look on her face before replying
” are you asking ic that can be used to locate the location of the diseased girl?”
”To make it short, yes”
Himi answers