At that moment, both the people inside the room and the ones outside simultaneously fell into silence.
Takumi said nothing.
Miko looked completely lost and instinctively moved closer to Takumi, hiding behind him.
Mai's expression twisted strangely—it was obvious she desperately wanted to complain about something, yet had absolutely no idea where to even begin.
As for the Gotō Hitori outside the door… no, this was definitely not Gotō Hitori.
Sure, Bocchi-chan was funny, but absolutely not this kind of funny.
And earlier, at a quick glance, the discrepancy had not been obvious. But now that he looked more carefully, this girl actually possessed very slight differences in appearance compared to Bocchi.
It gave off a strange sensation… almost like something artificially manufactured?
Takumi could not quite describe that bizarre feeling precisely, so he could only vaguely summarize his impression of it.
Though that was not the main issue right now.
How had she appeared here?
And why did she possess the aura of Maki and Chika's Blessings?
To be more precise, it felt like the aura of three people layered together.
What was this, some kind of Super Fusion form?
No… the presence coming from this girl did not feel entirely human in the first place.
Could this perhaps be something created by an Obsession Item?
Before Takumi could finish thinking through the situation, he saw the smug expression on the girl's face suddenly collapse into a look of despair, as though she wanted to find a crack in the floor, crawl inside, and bury herself there. Then it shifted into stunned disbelief, then into relieved reassurance, and finally back into the same smug expression from the start.
For a moment, Takumi almost felt as if he had seen a pie chart on the girl's face.
Very soon, after completing that utterly baffling entrance performance, the girl walked into the room.
At that moment, Takumi also sensed that the mental link between himself and Maki had successfully been established. It was just that the signal did not seem particularly good. He could clearly feel that Maki's voice inside his mind carried a faint layer of static, as though it were being transmitted from an extremely, extremely distant place.
{Maki: Takumi-kun! Takumi-kun, are you all right? We found Gotō-san and asked her for help. She used her Obsession Item to create a body shell capable of interfering with the Instance. Right now, Fujiwara-san, Gotō-san, and I are remotely controlling it together through this shell. How are things on your side?}
Hearing that girl's anxious, concerned voice once again, Takumi had to admit he almost felt like tearing up.
{Takumi: I'm fine. Things are still okay on my end. How did you even manage this?}
{Maki: Thank goodness, thank goodness. Ah, Fujiwara-san is asking about you too. Has she not established a mental link with you yet? Uh… she's asking whether you made a move on that black-haired, golden-eyed girl. That…}
{Takumi: No, no. At least, not yet. Please don't worry about that.}
{Maki: Somehow, I feel like I can't relax at all… but as long as you're safe, that's what matters.}
Through that brief exchange, Takumi could confirm that Maki and Chika should both be able to communicate and interact with him through this strange girl's senses, and observe the situation on his side.
Hm?
Come to think of it, Bocchi-chan should be there too, right?
Of course, he was not close to her, so she probably had nothing in particular to say to him.
After learning that this was assistance Maki and the others had found a way to bring in, Takumi had to admit that he felt extremely moved.
During the time he had been struggling through Fujihana Middle School, Maki and Chika had actually managed to find a way to help him and continue fighting at his side. That was truly beyond his expectations.
Come to think of it, from the start of this fourth loop until now, roughly three hours had already passed.
In other words, within three hours of his disappearance, Maki and the others had found a way to support him inside a Red Moon-level Instance?
But this was probably because Bocchi-chan just so happened to have participated in the "Campus Horror Stories" Instance before. After all, back during his third loop, he had nearly been cut down once by Lady Returning Home.
On the other hand, this seemed to confirm that the guitar in Bocchi's possession really was a Red Moon-level Core Obsession Item. And it had to be one of the three cores of Yoruyama Middle School.
Though looking at it this way, if he had managed to last longer during the first three loops—if he could have survived for three and a half hours—their support would have arrived…
But with Alice around, that probably would not have meant much. Unless this supporter possessed some method to break through illusions or seal Obsession Items.
These thoughts only flashed through his mind over the span of a few brief seconds.
"Yotsuya-san, don't be nervous either. She's one of us, so there's no need to worry. Let's change locations. If we keep staying here, we might be discovered."
Taking Miko's earlier abnormal reaction into consideration, Takumi explained to her what was going on with the newly arrived girl while smoothly proposing that they move somewhere else.
The group quickly passed through the hallway and slipped into a small room on the fourth floor of the building to hide.
This time, "Gotō Number One" did not perform in the absurdly bizarre manner she had during her entrance. Instead, she obediently followed behind the three of them, even giving off a faintly gloomy, dejected air as she lowered her head.
Mm.
Although it was somewhat rude to say so, this version was much more like the Bocchi-chan he knew.
The upper floors of the outpatient building in this hospital did not seem to be used much.
A few offices and small rooms on the third floor had already accumulated some dust, and by the time they reached the fourth floor, even the renovations had not been fully completed. Dust and cobwebs were everywhere.
However, while it looked filthy, that also meant no one was likely to come into this area. In that sense, it was actually safer.
"It's Obsession Shaping, right?"
Only then did Mai turn toward "Gotō Number One," asking thoughtfully.
"…Mm. That's right. It's me. I'm… um, Obsession Shaping… It didn't turn out very successful…"
The girl's arrogant mode and shut-in mode kept switching back and forth across her face, making her look almost schizophrenic for a moment.
Mai, however, seemed completely used to this and merely sighed with deep emotion.
"Looks like your group succeeded in the end after all. My side was completely different. This really is…"
As for Takumi, he had actually been using the mental link to chat the entire way, so he quickly gained a general understanding of what had happened.
{Takumi: What method did you use to enter this Instance?}
{Maki: Gotō-san has one of Yoruyama Middle School's Core Obsession Items. With that Obsession Item, she can create human-like individuals out of thin air and remotely control them. Fujiwara-san and I mixed our blood into the created individual, using it as a medium to share its senses. That's how we were able to follow it into the Instance.}
{Maki: Gotō-san's Obsession Item is extremely powerful. According to Aoyama-san, if it is activated at full power, it can even directly create a person who never existed in history and insert that fabricated person into the real world's historical process. It's just that the cost of doing so is so great that no player could possibly endure it. So this time, Gotō-san used one of the people who was dragged into the Instance together with you, replacing that person's identity so that this created body could enter the Instance instead.}
The girl explained what Gotō Hitori had done with great seriousness.
And after understanding the operation that shut-in girl had pulled off, Takumi could only say that Red Moon-level Core Obsession Items were even more absurd than he had expected.
Creating a person who did not exist out of thin air, then having that person steal the real-world identity of an originally existing individual, thereby replacing them as they entered the Instance and taking their place in experiencing what they would originally have gone through.
That kind of power was honestly terrifying.
…It's just… why is the actual effect this strange?
Looking at the pink-haired girl behind him, who had somehow started moonwalking mid-step, Takumi could not help feeling a little puzzled.
{Takumi: It really is an impressive ability, and it certainly has personality.}
{Maki: Well, um, Gotō-san said she created the individual's personality based on her own understanding of what a social butterfly is… Anyway, that isn't the problem. Gotō-san can control this individual through an Obsession Item, and Fujiwara-san and I can also use this created individual to communicate with you, Takumi-kun. The created individual itself isn't actually human, and it doesn't possess a complete personality. It's probably a little like a machine acting according to logical commands, though the individual Gotō-san designed is definitely very… distinctive.}
Takumi could tell that Maki was trying to phrase it as tactfully as possible.
Only, when Takumi turned his head, the pink-haired girl in his line of sight had somehow put her glasses back on. She was no longer dancing samba, but had switched to tap dancing instead. Of course, only her movements resembled tap dancing; she was not actually making any noise that might attract things they should not attract. Even so, this was still far too strange.
{Takumi: When it comes to shocking people, Gotō-san really does have talent. Speaking of which, she shouldn't be able to hear our conversation, right?}
{Maki: Uh, well, Gotō-san has an Obsession Item that establishes temporary mental links. Its main purpose is to protect Fujiwara-san and me from mental contamination, so if we don't deliberately raise the encryption level of the mental communication, she can indeed hear us.}
{Takumi: …Did she hear what I just said?}
{Maki: She heard it.}
{Takumi: I see. I'm very sorry. I personally meant no offense. I was just a little shocked…}
{Maki: You don't need to explain. Gotō-san has already curled up inside a cardboard box.}
In any case, this unexpected participant had made the atmosphere of this small player team a little lighter.
And after hearing Maki mention that mental link, Takumi could not help turning his gaze toward Miko, toward the girl who still had not voiced what was on her mind.
If there really was some reason she could not exchange information…
{Takumi: Maki, can Gotō-san's mental-link Obsession Item work on the people here too? Can it bring Kumagai-san and Yotsuya-san into the link as well?}
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