Maple sat on her throne awhile with the ghost glaring at her, but eventually having
Maple with her made Sally calm down.
"Maple… is it still there?" she asked, not daring to look herself.
"Yeah, it is."
"Gah… why won't it just go away?"
Sally's voice was still shaking, but she sounded a lot more like herself.
"Feeling better?"
"A bit, yeah. Don't look. I'm sure I look hideous."
Maple had already gotten an eyeful of Sally's tearstained expression.
Besides, there was no hiding how red her ears were. Maple could imagine everything
else was the same color.
"Sure, sure. Was this thing really worth all this?"
"Honestly, even I don't know anymore. I want to punch myself for ever thinking I could
handle this."
Sally admitted the skills and items that were up for grabs had prevented her from
seeing the truth.
"It isn't every day you misjudge this badly."
"There were just too many skills I wanted. But I'm done! I've calmed down, I'm
thinking straight, and I can definitely make do without these skills."
"So what skill was it you wanted?" Maple asked. "You didn't actually tell me."
Sally began explaining all the skills and items that had tempted her and everything
she'd read about that was going down around the map.
"What do you think? If we're careful not to get separated again, we could search some
more."
"Th-the skill here doesn't matter anymore. I… just wanna leave."
"Gotcha! That said… hrmm."
Maple had been rather hoping the ghost would go away while they talked, but
apparently it was quite persistent.
"We can't risk leaving the throne… Maybe we can attack from here?"
Maple reached out, using one of her items to shoot razor-sharp slices of wind at the
ghost.
It staggered backward.
Problem was, it had no HP bar. Maple knew full well that meant this thing didn't take
damage and couldn't be defeated.
It moaned, clutching its face in both hands. But not long after, it came toward them
again, reaching out.
"We could try running while it recoils… Think you can manage, Sally? I bet it would
catch up with me."
Of course, that meant Sally would have to leave Maple behind.
"Um… nope. Not happening."
And this was clearly not just because her AGI was now at zero.
"Then what should… huh?"
After all that hovering, the ghost had suddenly drifted away from them, leaving the
room.
Maple just gaped after it, astonished.
"Now's our chance!" she said. "Come on, Sally!"
"Huh? What? O-oh…!"
Sally had been too busy staring at the floor to notice, but when Maple pulled her hand,
she lurched into motion.
For the first time ever, their running speeds were evenly matched.
From behind them, they heard yowls—likely the ghost's new victims.
Sally knew her screams of horror must have been just as bloodcurdling, and her face
started turning red.
"We're out!"
Maple had taken the shortest route she knew out of the no-logout zone.
"Thanks, Maple."
"Eh-heh-heh… You're welcome!"
But even as they rejoiced, cold hands wrapped around them from behind.
"Eek...!"
"Hng!"
They froze to the spot—and earned a skill.
"Um… Nether Nexus? Oh, the skill that doubles an item's effect."
Maple checked the description.
Sally was too busy collapsing in a heap to be curious, but she'd earned the same skill.
The flavor text suggested they had earned themselves an uncanny ally that would
occasionally reach out from behind, lending a helping hand.
"Ughhh… I so don't need anything like that…"
This was the skill Sally had been after, but she did not look pleased.
"What do you think? I'm up for more if you are."
"I'm logging out," Sally said, not even tempted. "Gotta get home."
"I figured. Bye, then!"
Maple waved.
"Thanks for helping, though. I'll make it up to you eventually."
"No prob. You've helped me more than enough already! I finally got to pay you back a
bit."
Maple grinned, and for the first time, Sally regained some of her old cheer.
"Well, thanks anyway. See you when the seventh stratum exists."
"I bet you come back before then."
"I won't! I've learned my lesson!"
With a feeble smile, Sally logged out.
Back in the real world, Risa got out of bed and put her console away.
"Ugh, I'm soaked with sweat. Gotta hit the bath… No, not yet. I should eat first."
She opened the door a tad more quietly than usual and went downstairs.
Her mother was in the living room, getting dinner ready.
"Risa? Food's not ready yet."
"Mm, just gonna watch TV, then."
Risa grabbed the remote and flopped down on the couch.
There was nothing on, and she wound up just channel surfing.
While she was killing time before dinner, the phone rang.
Risa twisted on the couch, looking toward the sound.
"Oh… yes, Shiromine speaking. That's right."
"......"
Her mother kept talking for a while and finally put the phone down.
"Risa, something's come up. I've gotta run. And your dad'll be back late tonight—you
better eat before the food gets cold."
"Oh… a-all right."
Oblivious to Risa's unease, her mother hustled off to get ready.
"I'll be back as soon as I can!"
"…Got it."
And with that, her mother left.
It was already dark out. The only sound in the house came from the TV.
"I-I'd better eat!"
Risa had gone to the door to see her mother off. She made a beeline for the dining table
and started dinner.
"..."
She picked up the remote again, upping the volume.
As she ate, her feet kept twitching. Her eyes were somewhat pinched.
Her chopsticks made slow progress.
When her plate was finally clean, she took the dishes to the sink and started channel
surfing again.
The weather report promised rain that evening.
She frittered away the time, but nobody came home.
"I do need a bath… but…"
Risa's heart was racing. She couldn't settle down.
And she knew exactly why.
"I'm just… spooked."
And saying it out loud made it worse.
Risa made sure all the curtains were closed, then hugged a couch cushion tight,
making herself very small.
"Oh!"
She'd had an idea that made her brighten right up.
Meanwhile, Kaede was busy studying—she'd logged out shortly after Risa.
Her phone rang.
"Is that…? I thought so."
Kaede picked up her phone to find Risa calling.
"Hello?"
"Oh, Kaede? Got a sec?"
"Mm, sure, what's up?"
"I was just thinking I was a real headache today. Can we talk a bit?"
Kaede had a pretty good idea why Risa was really calling, but she left that unsaid. They
chatted away like they always did.
"Mm?"
But as they talked, Kaede started hearing water running.
"Is she taking a bath? That would scare her… Oops!"
Kaede realized she'd said that out loud.
Risa must have decided to pretend she hadn't heard anything, but that did leave an
awkward silence.
"R-Risa?"
It took a moment, but eventually Risa said, "Kaede, thing is… there's nobody else
home."
"Uh-huh."
"So… I was just feeling a little jittery…"
"Mm-hmm."
"Or, I guess, scared. Do you mind keeping me company?"
Kaede was hardly about to say no here, so they kept talking.
And as they talked, Kaede remembered that this wasn't the first time.
"You've done this before, right?"
"Have I?"
"Yeah, although you didn't call me from the bath that time. But I sure didn't get much
sleep that night…"
"Oh, back in grade school? Ugh, I haven't grown up at all."
But talking like this certainly seemed to be helping her nerves.
She got out of the bath, and the discussion only heated up. By the time she was ready
to turn in, Risa seemed much more herself.
"Good night, Risa."
"Mm. Thanks. Good night, Kaede."
Risa would usually have stayed up a few hours longer.
But instead, she turned out the lights and burrowed under her covers.
She could hear it raining outside.
Going to bed this early wasn't really helping her sleep.
Half an hour passed. An hour.
And as time passed, her fears came rising back up.
"Mm… hngg…"
She rolled back and forth awhile but finally gave up and reached for her phone.
There was only one person she could call at times like this.
As her ring yanked Kaede out of her slumber, Risa got up and flipped on the lights.
"Ah-ha-ha… You've done this before, too."
"I'm so sorry, Kaede… Really, I am…"
Needless to say, the next day Kaede had trouble staying awake.