Why play in a band if not for life?

"One."

"Ignite."

A strong sense of weightlessness and shock struck, and the cannonball carried the five people in despair towards hope.

However, when Shiko woke up, Ichiri was the only one beside her.

Chapter 14 Awakening

"Hiss—" Shiko tried to sit up, but her head throbbed, and she had to lie back down.

"What happened..." It was quiet all around.

Fragments of memories flashed through her mind. The shock that pierced her diaphragm, the disintegration of the cannonball, what she tried to do, what everyone tried to do, there was light, there was smoke...

"(Where did everyone go...)"

A rustling sound came from beside her. Shiko managed to turn her head: it was Ichiri. She had regained some mobility and crawled towards Shiko. Her body seemed fine, but Shiko didn't know if she had any internal injuries. It was a miracle. Shiko didn't understand her own condition either; her whole body was still numb, and she couldn't feel anything.

"I...Ichiri." She opened her mouth, trying to call the other person's name.

"Yes! Shiko, are you okay...?" Ichiri instantly came to Shiko's side, knelt down, and without caring about modesty, tried to unbutton Shiko's clothes to check her body.

Shiko's lips moved, and she temporarily put away the question she had brought to her lips.

After thinking for a moment, she joked, "My butt... shouldn't be on a tree, right?" Ichiri's hands paused, and her eyes twitched.

"No, it's all intact... and there are no trees here..." Seeing that Shiko had no obvious external injuries, Ichiri breathed a sigh of relief and quickly helped Shiko put on her clothes.

Shiko's lips twitched slightly before she asked the question she cared about most: "Where are the others?"

"They're not here... When I woke up, I only saw Shiko."

That made sense. Given the nature of this place, even if the explosion of the cannonball had torn through several layers of the cave wall, it would have quickly repaired itself, leaving no trace. The others didn't know where they had fallen.

"...It's all my fault." Shiko said, and then fell silent.

Ichiri didn't want her friend to blame herself, but she didn't know how to comfort her. Guilt was about to overwhelm Shiko. Because of her playful thought, the five of them had been scattered. If they had just been scattered, it would have been fine, but if...

She dared not think of the words that followed. The circular cave wall loomed above them. Normally, she might have unconsciously started admiring the lines on the wall, but at this moment, she could only let herself be submerged in the torrent of guilt. This was the punishment she deserved.

But after a while, Shiko's cold left hand felt warmth.

"Ichiri?" She saw Ichiri unexpectedly holding her left hand and placing it on her chest. Ichiri lowered her head, not daring to look at the part she was holding, but her hand was tight and didn't let go.

"At least they... are definitely alive and well," Ichiri nervously diverted Shiko's attention.

"Huh?"

"Don't you feel it?" Ichiri seemed surprised, "Is it because you received less of a buff... Feel it carefully, you can still sense their condition."

Shiko quickly calmed herself down. After a long time, she finally sensed the condition of the others through her connection with CiRCLE. She didn't know their exact locations, but they were all alive and well, and like Shiko, they were not seriously injured.

Shiko put her mind at ease for the time being and continued to lie on the ground to rest. During this time, Ichiri held her hand tightly. Ichiri's warmth spread throughout her body from her palm, allowing Shiko to slowly regain her strength.

"Thank you, Ichiri..." She pushed herself up with her right hand on the ground, only to see Ichiri still in her original position. Upon closer inspection, she realized that Ichiri had blended into her surroundings and turned into a stone statue.

...As expected, it was the familiar Ichiri.

After knocking off a thin outer layer, Ichiri, with her eyes closed, was revealed in the middle of the stone statue.

"Wake up, we have to go." She tried to touch Ichiri's forehead with her right hand. Ichiri's eyelids fluttered, stone fragments fell off her body, and she slowly stood up. Perhaps due to nervousness, she was still gripping Shiko's left hand. Shiko felt her face heat up and waved her hand, and Ichiri only then reacted and reluctantly let go.

Shiko turned around, her right hand unconsciously protecting her left hand: "No matter what, I was the one who made everyone separate, so I must be the one to bring everyone back together!" She strode ahead of Ichiri.

At this moment, the two were in a spherical space. The cave wall was extremely thin, and a tap with a hand could be heard echoing from other places. The floor was the same. It was unbelievable that this place hadn't collapsed. There was only one exit, a deep passage, with occasional openings leading to other spaces.

"This should be the inside of the lungs; we were just in an alveolus." Shiko explained to Ichiri, who was not good at science. She drew a mark on the stone wall with fluorescent powder, which quickly merged into the wall and completely disappeared.

It seemed that they could only rely on luck to find their way. Shiko leaned against the wall and quickly made a judgment.

"We're probably at the end of the trachea now. If we head towards wider forks, we should reach the main trachea. If the others are in a similar situation, they'll also head there, and we'll be able to meet." Shiko compared the two sides and decided on the direction to proceed. After a short rest, they began to move. This time, without Ryo leading the way, they often saw dark openings leading to alveoli, and the two were much more cautious.

The inside of the trachea was not too winding, but there were many forks, most leading to alveoli, and some to other bronchi. The openings connecting alveoli and trachea were not necessarily on the left or right sides; they could also be underfoot or overhead. The two needed to be extremely careful to avoid falling into an alveolus and being unable to climb out.

Every time they passed an accessible alveolus, they had to go in and check the situation. All the places were uniformly empty, just like where they woke up. They saw an opening, went in, and it was empty. They returned to the trachea, and the next opening was before them. Ichiri gradually felt like she had entered a maze. If this continued, she feared she might not even be able to distinguish the direction of travel, and it also consumed a lot of time.

Ichiri walked behind, her head down. Shiko's legs swayed in front of her, making her a little dazed. Since coming to this world, she hadn't had such a long time alone with Shiko. They had always been together, a bit noisy but also happy. When she was with Shiko before joining the band, it wasn't like this: both of them were better at ending conversations than starting them, so it was relatively quiet. The few topics they did discuss were basically about music: Shiko was Ichiri's only listener and producer. At first, Ichiri was nervous and couldn't play well. Shiko's music was also very raw at first, but gradually, Ichiri began to adapt, and Shiko's music became better and better with each passing day... Recalling such daily life, Ichiri couldn't help but get lost in thought, and one foot had already stepped into a hole.

Chapter 15 Ichiri's Secret

"Be careful!" Shiko quickly pulled Ichiri back, "Didn't I tell you to be careful? Daydreaming?" Ichiri looked up and saw Shiko's helpless expression.

"S-Sorry."

Shiko didn't dwell on it and continued forward, but this time, she grabbed Ichiri's wrist. Ichiri froze instantly, then was tremblingly dragged along.

My head feels so dizzy... Is it lack of oxygen?

Where Ichiri couldn't see, Shiko's face was also heating up. The last time Shiko held someone's hand was in her childhood in her previous life. Now, taking the initiative to hold someone's hand was more terrifying to Shiko than fighting monsters. However, since Nijika wasn't here, the task of taking care of Ichiri naturally fell to her... Shiko kept hypnotizing herself with high-sounding words like "responsibility" and "obligation."

Fortunately, this period was not long. While Ichiri was still dazed, Shiko had stopped walking at some point.

"There seems to be something in this one." Shiko stopped and made a "shush" gesture to Ichiri, slowly approaching the nearby opening. Before Shiko could get close, a surging, blood-yellow turbid current gushed out of the opening, from which countless bone tentacles grew and grabbed at Shiko. Ichiri reacted instantly, grabbed her, and ran backward, turning into another alveolus. Shiko reacted in time and sealed the opening before the mucus torrent reached them. The turbid current continuously corroded Shiko's seal, but with Shiko's constant maintenance, it eventually failed and slowly retreated.

Shiko released her ability and looked worriedly in that direction. To proceed, they could only go through that opening. But it was blocked by a monster. The monster's main body was liquid. Normally, it would be a small monster not worth worrying about, but now she was alone and couldn't attack such a creature, and Ichiri's ability to control water was useless. It was a shame that Ryo and Kita weren't here; one could control it, and the other could directly bake the monster dry, so there would be no worries.

Turning her head, Shiko saw Ichiri's condition. During the escape, some of the turbid water had wet Ichiri's coat and was corroding it.

Noticing this, Hitori quickly took off her jacket. Underneath was a normal black t-shirt, which was fine. However, Shiko's gaze was gradually drawn to the jacket in Hitori's hands: sewn into the inside of the jacket were two group photos they had taken before, and all the sheet music Shiko had given Hitori since they met.

Silence.

Although Shiko knew this wasn't the place to talk about such things...

Shiko understood why Hitori had been too scared to change clothes before. She had just thought it was simple shyness.

Hitori instantly hid the jacket behind her back, forcing a fake smile with sweat dripping down her face, "Let's hurry and go!"

How could they go now? Shiko didn't understand what she meant.

"Actually, I can deal with that monster..." Hitori picked up her guitar.

Shiko looked at her with disbelief. Wasn't she just changing the subject?

"Really..." Hitori began to explain: On the first day of hunting, she had successfully assimilated the acidic liquid sprayed by the Meat Mountain Monster. After that, she had an inspiration. She could turn the enemy's bodily fluids to her own use. It was the same with the Turbid Stream Monster in front of them; she could use her own water flow to infiltrate it until she assimilated the monster.

Since it was actually feasible, Shiko naturally had no objections.

However, she glanced at the sheet music in her pocket and started to worry. She had recently written a suitable solo for Hitori, and it would have been a good time to give it to her, but seeing that jacket...

"Here... take this."

"Huh?" Hitori saw Shiko handing her a piece of sheet music. It was a new song.

"Why... are you still willing... to give this to me..."

Her heart was beating so fast.

"...At least don't sew the sheet music anymore... I'll write many more songs for you... you won't be able to sew them all..." Shiko's face was practically turned away.

Hitori looked at her profile, then at the crumpled sheet music in her hand. She reached out and took the score. Their fingertips brushed, and a soft sensation instantly spread through Hitori's entire body. She immediately withdrew her hand. She controlled the flutter in her heart and shifted her attention to the sheet music. After a long while, a gurgling stream and the sound of a musical instrument emerged from the alveoli where they were hiding, flowing towards the monster's location, into the darkness, mixing with the monster's body. The monster didn't notice.

Of course, Shiko couldn't properly appreciate the music now.

When the monster finally dissipated, the two walked side-by-side into its room. Shiko couldn't bear to throw away the jacket, and at her strong insistence, it was stuffed into the backpack. Hitori promised never to take it out again.

There were no orbs in the room. However, there was another, more important remnant that made Shiko and Hitori, who entered later, instantly overlook that regret: a skeleton, a human skeleton.

In the center of the entire room was a skeleton with its head bowed. Having seen so many monsters, an ordinary skeleton like this wasn't frightening. Shiko touched it slightly, and it fell backward. Its skull rolled backward with a "clatter." Since the skeleton was at the lowest point of the room, the skull rolled back and hit the skeleton, making a dry sound.

"Hitori, look, there's writing here." Shiko looked. The ground in front of the skeleton was carved with words. It was so old that it was difficult to make out, but Shiko was certain it was Chinese characters!

Chinese characters! Shiko hadn't expected to see Chinese characters here, and from the legible characters, she could tell it was classical Chinese, which she was familiar with!

Suppressing her shock, Shiko read aloud while trying to translate for Hitori.

"I... a person, mistakenly entered... defeated... leaving behind for future generations... a hundred people."

"So, what does that mean?" Hitori didn't understand at all.

"I can understand the words, but I don't get the overall meaning. Who knows how many years have passed, only a few words are left. I don't know why it could be preserved in this place for so long." Shiko put aside her doubts, took out paper, and began to make a rubbing.

The work was quickly finished. Shiko looked at the skeleton beside her, "As for my fellow countryman, take them with you. We'll find a place to bury them later."

When they left, Shiko was carrying a large canvas bag. The atmosphere had clearly become much more somber. Although they had been fighting for a long time, this was the first time they had seen a deceased predecessor.

Shiko took one last look at the alveolus. This was the tomb of an unknown predecessor over thousands of years. From the ceiling to the floor, from the deepest part to the entrance, Shiko wanted to remember this place as much as possible, as a sign of respect for the predecessor.

It was this glance that made Shiko notice something out of place on the wall. She walked back.

"What's wrong?" Hitori followed, seeing Shiko standing two meters away from the wall. Shiko took out the steel fork and poked it into a certain spot on the wall.

The stone wall cracked open before them. A flight of stone steps appeared behind the wall.

Faint sunlight streamed into the dark underground.

Stimulated by the sunlight, Kita slowly woke up.

Chapter 16: Reunion

Ryo and Nijika were in a great crisis.

Since waking up, they had been trapped in a natural prison, experiencing countless springs, summers, autumns, and winters. In this small spherical space, the only exit was high above their heads. A short distance, yet an insurmountable chasm for a lifetime. Here, the two relied on each other, gradually developing superfluous emotions... Although Shiko, who heard their story later, wanted to imagine it that way, in reality, the two quickly found a way to escape and resolutely put it into practice.

"Ryo! What should we do, Ryo! Are we not getting out?!" Nijika, who had just woken up, shook Ryo's shoulders. The latter was calmly carving something on the stone wall with a piece of iron. This piece of iron was the last remnant of Shiko's pathetic cannonball, preserved because it fell on Ryo and was not swallowed by the stone wall.

Ryo made the final stroke, tucked the iron piece into her embrace, silently stepped back, lowered her head, and clasped her hands together.

"Namu." Her voice held a rare sadness.

Nijika was stunned and looked at the wall: "Seat of Ikuyo Kita," "Seat of Hitori Goto," "Seat of Shiko," neatly written, bringing tears to her eyes.

"What is this?!" Nijika, enraged, grabbed her drumsticks and chased Ryo. Ryo, however, grabbed Nijika's shoulders and looked at her with pity, "Accept reality, Nijika."

"They're not dead!!!" Nijika slapped her hand away and watched the words on the wall gradually disappear, scolding her unreliable friend.

Ryo was surprised and sensed carefully before realizing, "So that's how it is?"

"You really didn't know?!" Nijika's eyes narrowed into slits. She looked at Ryo's innocent face and decided to change the subject, "Let's think about how to get out of here..."

The spherical space was empty, and the exit was above their heads, completely unreachable. It was a similar situation to before, but without Shiko, the master of ideas, by their side. It was hard to say if that was a good thing.

Ryo tried to find a climbing spot on the stone wall, but failed. The power of sound waves was also insufficient to propel them to the ceiling. There were no cracks in the wall, and they couldn't see outside. The two searched the interior in every way possible but couldn't find any useful clues. After exhausting all conventional methods, they couldn't get any closer to the exit above.

After an unknown amount of time and effort, the two finally sat cross-legged on the ground, closed their eyes, and cupped their chins together, contemplating if there were any other methods. Nijika's ahoge swayed violently. Before it could finish swaying, Ryo pinched it between two fingers. Nijika opened her eyes, and Ryo, expressionless, held her bass in one hand.

Ryo picked up her bass, "I just discovered that the walls here are quite thin. If we could use sound waves to shake them down..."

"Wait!" Even with sound waves, Nijika had never seen Ryo use them to destroy anything physical. It must have been extremely difficult. Besides, Nijika had examined the wall; while it was thin, it was only relatively so. To destroy such a wall with sound waves, which were hard to control, one wrong move could cause the entire cave to collapse! Nijika stopped Ryo and stood in the center of the stone chamber, directly beneath the exit.

During this time, it wasn't just Shiko, who was developing gunpowder, who had been working hard. As the only person in the five-person team without offensive abilities, Nijika had also been striving to overcome this weakness.

Nijika crouched down, picked up a stone knife, and took a deep breath.

Nijika's only ability was healing, so she started from there, thinking of ways to convert it into offensive power. No matter how unbearable the method... If she didn't do this, she couldn't keep up with everyone.

The hand holding the knife trembled slightly. She closed her eyes and pointed the tip at her left palm. Finally, she made up her mind, her eyes wide open, and plunged the knife into her left palm. With a piercing pain, blood began to flow. Nijika tried not to look, pressing her left palm to the ground, and brilliant starlight erupted from it!

Nijika Ijichi

Skills: Jazz Drum Technique Lv6, Baking Technique Lv7, [Stardust] Lv1

This was a skill Nijika had discovered. The healing power of starlight was so immense that it even allowed Nijika to do things like "turn her surroundings into her own body." Now, a small area around Nijika had practically become a part of her. She could perform minor self-healing, such as... causing stone pillars to grow from the ground, leading to the exit!

Stone pillars slowly rose from the ground. Nijika didn't need to say anything; Ryo crouched behind her, silently supporting her body to prevent her from falling. The pillars rose higher and higher, lifting the two of them towards the only exit. They were getting closer.

With hope in sight, Nijika pushed herself even harder. The mental strain in this state was immense, and sweat constantly beaded on Nijika's face, dripping onto the ground and mixing with her blood, blooming into vibrant red flowers. In contrast, the results were also remarkable. Ryo kept track of their height, as Nijika had long since lost the ability to focus on anything else.

Ryo suddenly spoke, "We're here." Nijika could no longer hold on and stumbled forward. Ryo caught her. Nijika's body fell naturally into Ryo's arms.

Looking at the results before her and the girl who had fainted in her arms, even Ryo's eternally unchanging expression showed surprise. "You went too far, didn't you?"

Ryo picked up Nijika and stepped out of the cave.

When Nijika woke up, her head was resting on Ryo's lap. She sat up and found herself in a long, dark pipe.