Why Are You So Skilled?!

Looking at these three, who were like a pack of wolves ready to descend upon their prey, a trace of sympathy for the ghost girl actually rose in my heart.

What terrible karma did this ghost accumulate in her past life to run into these three? One wanted to beat her up, one wanted to… do things to her, and the last one was just plain weird.

I was suddenly struck by the realization that I was the only normal person in our dorm. Only I, who merely wanted to practice my confession skills on the female ghost, was the sole normal one.

How tragic!

#You probably have some misunderstanding of the word “normal”#

“From the information we have so far, we can deduce,” Yukino began her analysis, her thumb on her fair chin like the harbinger or death-detective Conan, her eyes sharp and focused. “That the uncle we met at the entrance is a homeless man living in this abandoned dormitory. He has also imprisoned a woman in this dorm and, for some reason, shaved her head. The woman can’t escape, so she left a note for help in the trash can—of course, this is just our speculation.”

“Mmm, but…” I kneaded Exusiai’s delicate knuckles, the sensation a small comfort in the oppressive darkness. “What we still don’t understand is whether the vision we just saw and the possible ghost have any connection to the homeless man.”

“We can only explore further. There’s no evidence to confirm our speculation yet,” Yukino said, her ferocious expression receding back into her usual calm facade. “If we can confirm that a crime is really being committed, we’ll call the police immediately.”

“Yeah,” I said, looking at the phone that was streaming. “The signal here is good, we can definitely contact the police.”

Compared to our growing tension, most of the people in the stream didn’t think anything real was happening. The long hair and the note in the trash can were one thing, but the video-like vision that was inserted in the middle was just too hard to believe as something that could actually happen during a live broadcast. It was too supernatural. So most of the viewers were treating this stream as a pre-scripted performance.

Because the performance effect was good, the reviews were mostly positive, but there were a few dissenters who felt they had been deceived.

I looked at the comments and shook my head.

…They think this is all fake?

I was almost certain that everything happening now was just the beginning. Since System-Hime had chosen this place, it meant that this livestream would definitely not end so simply. In the exploration to come, we would surely encounter things that were even more terrifying and could prove their authenticity. I hope those comments can remain so optimistic then… System-Hime wanted to spread fear throughout the world, so the place she chose would surely be able to convince the audience that fear was real.

I casually reached out and flipped the light switch on the wall. Click, clack. The lights in the room didn’t even flicker. It was obvious that this abandoned dormitory had long been without power.

“Let’s go, time to explore the next area,” I said, patting Exusiai’s slowly warming hand. I whispered a little sheepishly, “Stop hugging me like this, it’s time to go.”

However, the handsome angel classmate didn’t let go. Instead, she took an inch and rubbed my soft, flat stomach, looking as if she was completely infatuated with this body of Kiriko.

Her light, pleasant laughter tickled my ear. “Let’s just walk like this~”

“How are we supposed to walk with you holding me in your arms like this…” I could feel my face must be red, though it probably wasn’t obvious in the pale moonlight of the dorm.

“Look,” Exusiai said, demonstrating. “You lift your left foot, I lift my left foot. You lift your right foot, I lift my right foot. See? We can walk~”

“Wouldn’t that make us look like those idiot couples showing off their affection on the street?! It’s a debuff to all single people in the vicinity!” I raised my voice to retort, my pure tone involuntarily taking on a girlish delicacy. “And why are you so skilled at this?! Just how many people have you walked with like this!”

“Ehehe~” She scratched her red hair, making a soft rustling sound. “You know, we liberal arts students, are not very good at math.”

“So you’re saying there have been too many to count, is that it?! Your proficiency is maxed out!”

“You two… can you tone it down a bit?” Yukino looked completely helpless, rubbing her fair forehead as if she had a headache. “This place is full of dangers now. Both that homeless man and the possible ghost are hiding in the dark. We can’t let our guard down.”

A hint of regret appeared in her beautiful, cold eyes. “Look at me before, with the airplane incident. That was because I let my guard down.”

I was stunned for a moment, then quickly understood what Yukino was talking about.

During a vacation before the transformation, Yukino’s girlfriend was going on a trip to another city and, for some reason, didn’t want Yukino to go with her. Yukino, being completely obedient to her girlfriend, didn’t insist and just saw her off at the airport. By a strange coincidence, another classmate was also traveling to that same place. This classmate had seen Yukino’s girlfriend, who often visited our class, more than once before, and ended up seeing her being all lovey-dovey with another guy at the tourist spot.

The classmate didn’t manage to take a photo, but was still brotherly enough to tell Yukino about it. But at the time, Yukino didn’t believe it at all. She thought her classmate had seen wrong, that it was just someone who looked similar. She even said confidently, “I’m not a f*cking idiot, I personally saw her get on the plane!”

Well, now the case was solved. So what if you personally saw her get on the plane? You weren’t on the plane with her. How do you know there wasn’t another man waiting on the plane to take your place?

That was letting her guard down. A critical failure in perception.

“Alright, alright, I was just kidding~” Exusiai was always easygoing. After giving my stomach a gentle squeeze, she released her soft, slender hands, freeing me from her lean but warm embrace. However, she still held my small hand tightly, with a grip that felt like she would never let go in her life.

…This guy, she’s too skilled! Her game is on a whole other level!

Saber was the one who couldn’t wait any longer. She straightened the collar of her crisp shirt like an old-fashioned gentleman and took the lead out of the room, walking into the darkness with an eager pace. “My ghost girl, here I come!”

“Don’t act as excited as a groom on his wedding night!!”

The three of us hurriedly followed.

The sound of our footsteps, accompanied by rising dust, echoed as we passed several more closed wooden doors. We reached the end of the corridor, and a gloomy staircase emerged at the corner. It seemed the layout of this dormitory building had a staircase on both the left and right sides of the corridor, just like the dorm we lived in.

“Let’s go,” I said. Actually, I didn’t need to say it. Saber, like a groom driving his own wedding car, rushed up the stairs at a speed that violated traffic laws.

Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump…

A series of footsteps rang out. I pulled Exusiai and Yukino along, hurrying to keep up. The window at the corner of the staircase landing cast a cold blue moonlight into the stairwell, as if draping the air in a thin veil of ice.