I Fell for It

The candle was blown out.

He reached behind him and pulled out his Personal Terminal, which displayed an incredibly lonely and pitiful list of friends.

Horikita Suzune's hand moved swiftly to open someone's homepage.

Her only friend, Kushida Kikyo.

Instead of sending a chat message, I opened a feature that the Advanced Nurturing players have already begun to learn how to use.

Location search.

Once you've added someone as a friend, you can check their real-time location anytime via your device.

Confirm, remember, exit.

Then, I clicked on the only other option in the list...

A man's role.

The location I remember coincides with my current location.

She watched quietly as the location tracking routes coincidentally overlapped on who knows how many days, eventually converging on the dormitory building at the same level.

There's no need to verify anything.

As a friend, it's not her place to dictate who she associates with or what she does.

She was just thinking about something, lamenting something.

So you knew his identity even before I did.

And they took action to achieve this.

"..."

Pierce the fork into the middle of the small cake, put the sweet flavor in your mouth and let the sugar dissolve.

Horikita Suzune suppressed her longing.

Temporary.

February 20th.

Kamuro Masumi's birthday.

Driven by a desire for thrills, he developed a habit of petty theft, and by chance, he was caught and instructed by Sakayanagi Arisu.

And so, she has been by her side like a maid until now.

To help, to follow, to protect, to run errands.

What should be done, what can be done, what is capable of being done, and what will be done.

She's done it all.

Even those around her would gossip about her situation.

They categorized her as a member of the LGBTQ+ community.

Sakayanagi Arisu once said that she would give her the stimulation she wanted.

But the reality is endless errand running and tedious, boring daily guarding duties.

It wasn't that she had any objection to this and wanted to sever ties with her.

After all, things had come to this point, and she had gotten somewhat used to it, even harboring a slight thought of considering that woman a friend.

But it really is... too boring.

Such is everyday life.

The Special Exam within the school have become stagnant, and the first-year students are now completely under that man's control.

Sakayanagi Arisu voluntarily declared defeat and surrendered; there seemed to be no competition, let alone resistance.

She gave up struggling and resisting, but Kamuro Masumi, who had hardly participated in anything, was starting to get a little bored.

Then.

The girl tentatively turned her gaze to the man who had easily defeated Sakayanagi Arisu.

At first, it was just pure curiosity. Having already conducted an investigation into Asakusa Toru on the orders of Sakayanagi Arisu, she knew a little about that man.

But starting from the end of the Mixed Training Camp, on a certain day, after going through the whole process of stalking, tailing, and spying, he was caught red-handed.

... She was simply transferred to Class A by Sakayanagi Arisu under the pretext of being a transfer vanguard.

Then, he temporarily became Asakusa Toru's follower.

Well, he's just a lackey, but this guy's usual behavior is pretty...

It follows a pattern.

Accompanying women on dates, sleeping with women, and playing with women.

"... I am bored."

Once the small door is closed and the little figures are stacked, the obvious things will happen again in the unseen space.

Why did she transfer to Class A?

Her long, fair legs gently lifted her toes as she gazed down from the railing, time slipping away unnoticed.

I don't know how much time passed, but then the sound of the door opening signaled the end of the ordeal.

Along with it, the man's voice also rang out.

"If you're bored, how about playing a game?"

As he spoke, he gently placed a heavy metal gun that looked incredibly realistic into Kamuro Masumi's hand.

"Russian Roulette."

Chapter 289 Falling into the Trap

Russian Roulette.

It's a very simple game.

All that's needed are two people, a gun, and a varying number of bullets.

The order in which the bullets are loaded is determined, a variable number of bullets are loaded, the loaded gun is rotated to make the bullet distribution random, and then the gun is fired at oneself.

The number of bullets loaded is variable, as is the number of times the gun is fired.

There is only one rule that needs to be followed.

It's about rotation.

After I fire my shot, it will be your turn.

The biggest driving force in this game is naturally the dark muzzle of a gun and the threat of death.

However, Asakusa Toru didn't intend to go that far this time; the gun he provided was a genuine one.

But it won't be fatal.

'Surprise Revolver'

One of the recently produced items, it has great value as a toy.

In fact, the corresponding rating given by the Diary is quite toy-like.

'C'

It can randomly generate surprise bullets with different effects.

The product details page doesn't explicitly describe all the surprise effects, but some of them can be seen in the demo animation.

Flowers, cold, improved condition, heat, truth vomiting, fainting.

There should be others, but the demo animation didn't show more; it only mentioned that after this round of bullets was fired, bullets with different effects would be randomly replaced.

At least the random effect is clear in this round.

Although the death threat has been removed, is it exciting or not?

Asakusa Toru thought it must be quite exciting.

"... You just want to be in heat, don't you?"

Hearing Asakusa Toru's explanation, Kamuro Masumi looked puzzled.

Because Asakusa Toru basically had no intention of avoiding her doing anything, although he didn't plan to let her into the room or onto the viewing platform, the details and clues in their daily interactions still made it somewhat obvious that something was amiss.

For example, if he simply pulls out his non-prescription glasses, people around him will ignore his blatant cheating, as if he were blind.

For example, the unparalleled skill of hitting the bullseye every time in target-throwing mini-games in shopping malls, almost like having a cheat code.

For example, his well-known terrifying physical abilities when he was on the Uninhabited Island.

Of course, there's also his performance at the Sports Festival, Sakayanagi Arisu's strange behavior after their meeting on the Uninhabited Island, Ryuen Kakeru's attitude.

And it's circulating throughout almost the entire school.

The Voice Recorder that originated from him, with no known source.

If it weren't for her constantly watching over him, he would have been just like everyone else, completely indifferent to it.

But she saw it, she understood, she knew.

Therefore, it wasn't just because she was transferred to Class A that she obediently followed Asakusa Toru as a servant.

It wasn't because he possessed qualities that attracted her that she chose to accept him.

And now.

"Let me make this clear beforehand: if you get shot yourself, I won't help you."

Rolling her eyes dismissively without a hint of coquetry, Kamuro Masumi pointed out Asakusa Toru's purpose while verbally criticizing him, but she didn't show any intention of refusing.

There are six obvious effects, four of which are clearly negative. The absolute dead ends are fainting and estrus. There are two positive effects, and the remaining two, a cold, are completely acceptable minor illnesses. As for vomiting...

She actually hoped that Asakusa Toru could get into that state.

She still had a lot of curiosity about Asakusa Toru himself.

If we can take advantage of this opportunity...

"Don't worry, I'll help you solve it."

Smiling, Asakusa Toru welcomed Kamuro Masumi into the house.

"The bullets are fully loaded by default, and the effect is random. Let's use a coin toss to decide the firing order," he said.

Kamuro Masumi had no objection to this.

She didn't care about the order of events, since there was no unacceptable outcome.

The worst outcome would be nothing more than mugwort.

With a metallic clanging sound, the ordinary 100-yen coin drawn from the Diary rose high into the air.

"Front."

Before it fell, Kamuro Masumi glanced at it and announced her choice.

"--Smack!"

Catch it, remove your palm, and show it.

"Unfortunately, it's the opposite."

Asakusa Toru spread his hands, revealing a regretful expression.

"Then, please go first."

After a moment's hesitation, Kamuro Masumi grabbed the gun from the table.

Although it had been held in my hands once before, I hadn't had a chance to really feel it just now.

Now that it's in his hand again, Kamuro Masumi can clearly feel its weight.

The gun felt heavy and cold to the touch; turning it around revealed its dark, shadowy muzzle.