"Full name."
"...Wielder of the Wicked Eye."
"You just said your surname was Takanashi."
The ahoge girl stepped back half a pace, her right hand pressing against her eyepatch. "My true name represents power. I cannot easily reveal it to others."
"..."
Natsuki fell silent for two seconds. He suddenly felt the ahoge girl before him wasn't quite right in the head.
"Is there only you in the hospital room?"
"Th-there's one more."
Natsuki raised an eyebrow. "Is the other one also a player?"
"No." The ahoge girl shook her head, nervously glancing back at her room door. "It's a scary vengeful spirit. It can talk too. It said it was hungry and told me to go find food. If I can't find food, it'll get angry. The consequences of it getting angry are serious."
At the same time.
One after another, other unlucky players emerged from their hospital rooms. Unfortunately, Chika Fujiwara and Kaguya Shinomiya weren't among them.
After a brief exchange with everyone, Natsuki roughly understood the game rules.
First, each player would appear in an "initial hospital room," matched with a "roommate."
The roommates weren't human. They were all things like evil spirits that harbored obvious malice toward players. However, they wouldn't directly attack players. Instead, they would deepen the fear through various means.
The light would only last ten minutes.
The darkness-shrouded corridor was exceptionally dangerous.
Players had to stay in their rooms most of the time. To avoid harm, they had to build a good relationship with their roommate. The method was to satisfy the roommate's various terrifying demands.
For example, the ahoge girl before him had been ordered by the spirit in her room to go find food. Returning empty-handed would certainly not end well.
In short, all current danger came from the roommates.
Natsuki thought of Miss Sadako in his room.
Miss Sadako had fled back into the well due to social anxiety and refused to come out no matter how he called. Didn't that mean his room had already become a safe house, and he could just lie flat the whole time?
Of course, lying flat this quickly definitely wouldn't do. Kaguya and Chika still hadn't been found.
The two girls hadn't appeared in the corridor. They were obviously still in some hospital room, unable to leave for some reason.
Natsuki surveyed the corridor. Hospital rooms lined both sides.
"Push open doors and search room by room?"
"Too dangerous."
Natsuki quickly shook his head, driving the thought from his mind.
He could only see hints. He wasn't One Punch Man.
"In that case, I need to first figure out which rooms Fujiwara and Kaguya are in..."
His thoughts racing, Natsuki quickly sorted out his approach. He walked forward along the corridor.
Behind him, an ahoge girl followed closely.
"Why are you following me?" Natsuki stopped and looked at the ahoge girl behind him.
Rikka Takanashi looked up at him. "Fate guides me..."
Natsuki put on a stern face. "Get to the point."
"Oh." The ahoge atop Rikka's head drooped. "I don't know where to find food."
"You're already a mature player. And you're supposedly the impressive-sounding Wielder of the Wicked Eye. Solve problems yourself."
"Um, my Wicked Eye has been overused and temporarily can't be activated..." Rikka's expression was pitiful, like a small animal about to be abandoned by its owner. "Senpai looks like a reliable good person."
"Bad people never write 'bad' on their faces."
"Yukino-nee-san from last time said the same thing."
"Hm?"
"..."
Upon careful questioning, the chuunibyou girl before him had only cleared one game. She was still a fresh newbie player.
She hadn't cleared it because of her beauty and wisdom combined. Rather, in the previous game, she'd encountered a carry player—a black-haired girl named Yukinoshita.
Compared to other players with pale faces and panicked expressions, Natsuki was quite calm—very much like the thick-thighed girl Yukinoshita from the previous round. So Rikka Takanashi decided to continue hugging thighs!
While they talked, a nurse station appeared before them.
Under the dim, cold lighting stood a nurse in a white uniform. Her figure alone wasn't bad, but unfortunately her clothes were covered in dark brown bloodstains, and blood-seeping bandages were wrapped around her face. It completely killed any interest. Not to mention the thick syringe in her hand—even a pig would squeal for ages if jabbed with it. No player dared approach.
Earlier, a bold player who called himself "Tyrant of the Nangong Family" had gone over. He'd barely opened his mouth before getting jabbed, and he was still lying on the ground.
Natsuki stared for several seconds. A hint appeared before his eyes.
[You have discovered the Swollen-Faced Nurse]
[You have seen through her weakness...]
[As the lowest rung in the hospital, doing the hardest work for the lowest pay, plus endless night shifts, Nurse-san wants to kill herself every day]
[This nurse despises night shifts and has absolutely no desire to talk with nighttime patients. As long as you remain quiet and make no sound, Nurse-san will choose to look the other way]
Having seen through the weakness, Natsuki prepared to walk toward the nurse station.
"Senpai..."
Rikka panicked and quickly grabbed the hem of Natsuki's clothes.
"Stay quiet."
Natsuki held up a finger in a shushing gesture and said quietly: "Wait here for me. Don't make any sound."
The chuunibyou girl covered her mouth with both hands and nodded seriously.
Natsuki turned around and walked steadily toward the nurse station.
Some players who witnessed this scene were immediately shocked.
"What is that boy doing?"
"Knowing he'll get jabbed if he goes over, he still dares to go? He'll die, won't he?"
"Maybe he received a quest he has to complete, so he has no choice... Wait, why is he fine?"
Under the dumbfounded gazes of two unlucky players, Natsuki casually walked up to the nurse station. Then, right in front of the swollen-faced nurse, he began rummaging through things.
"Found it."
Natsuki quickly found a work schedule. It recorded the patient admission information for each room.
He was in Room 404.
Chika Fujiwara was in Room 405.
Kaguya Shinomiya was in Room 406... Well then, they were right next door to him.
Having obtained the specific information on the two girls, Natsuki turned and left the station. Nurse-san looked the other way the entire time.
"How is that guy fine?"
"Did he turn invisible?"
"Impossible. Nurse-san clearly looked up at him just now."
"..."
"I'm glad you're okay." Rikka let out a breath of relief and hurried to follow behind Natsuki. Unable to contain her curiosity: "Why were you fine just now?"
Natsuki retorted: "Don't ask me. Use your invincible Wicked Eye to see through the truth."
"The Wicked Eye is still sealed. I can't see the truth."
"..."
They retraced their steps along the corridor.
Not much remained of the ten minutes. The light in the corridor was rapidly dimming. Darkness was about to arrive.
Natsuki walked up to Room 405, raised his right hand, and knocked on the door.
Knocking before entering—that was basic courtesy.
After waiting several seconds, Natsuki gripped the door handle, gave it a light twist, and pushed the door open. His gaze quickly fell on Chika, who was down to just her underwear.
"Excuse me. Goodbye."