"Fine, I promise," Natsuki said, his tone firm but tinged with exasperation.
The werewolf girl bared her sharp teeth, her thoughts plainly visible on her face. If she couldn't eat Natsuki, she'd go for his friends instead. Revenge would be hers!
Natsuki could easily read the look in her eyes. He pointed at the group and said, "Not just me. All of us."
"No way," the werewolf growled, her eyes fierce. "There's too many of you. I can only carry one at a time."
"You can't carry us all at once," Natsuki agreed, bending down to pick up the fallen rope. "But if we use a sled, it's no problem. I bet with your strength, you could pull all of us easily."
"Of course I could!" the werewolf boasted, raising her chin. Then realization dawned, and her fur bristled with anger. "Wait, you want me to be a sled dog?!"
"Technically, a sled wolf," Natsuki corrected. "You've seen those old paintings of people pulling boats, right? If humans can do that, wolves can definitely pull sleds."
"Wolves aren't slaves!" she snarled, clearly not listening anymore. All she could think about was getting back at Natsuki. She lunged at him again.
Natsuki calmly pressed the remote control.
"Aaaaargh!"
Whatever company made this remote, it was effective enough to take down a werewolf.
After a few more shocks, the werewolf girl was on her knees, ears drooping and eyes misty.
"Please... no more..." she whimpered, finally surrendering.
"Natsuki's being such a bully," Chika muttered, her voice tinged with sympathy.
Kaguya crossed her arms. "It's a werewolf, not a person."
Natsuki looked at the others, who seemed stunned. "Let's take apart the chairs and make some quick snowboards. We can head out now."
Everyone snapped out of their daze and got to work.
As they left the castle, someone asked, "Why do we need a werewolf to pull us if we have snowboards?"
The moment they stepped outside, the answer became clear. The wind and snow were far too intense for normal skiing.
"Time to go," Natsuki said, squinting against the biting wind. He tied the rope around the werewolf's waist, and the others lined up behind him.
"Human!" the werewolf girl shouted. "If you don't take this collar off halfway down the mountain, you're dead!"
"Don't worry," Natsuki replied coolly. "I give you my word."
"Your word means nothing!"
The werewolf let out a mournful howl, then dug her paws into the snow and started racing down the mountain, pulling the makeshift sled behind her.
"Whoa, this is so fast!" someone shouted.
"The werewolf girl is incredible," another voice chimed in.
Sledding in what was supposed to be a horror game felt oddly thrilling. At first, people were yelling with excitement, but the biting cold wind soon shut them up.
The rest of the ride was silent.
In less than ten minutes, the werewolf had pulled them halfway down the mountain.
"We can stop now!" Natsuki yelled over the howling wind.
The werewolf's ears twitched, and she started to slow down.
Natsuki caught the girl who bumped into him from the sudden stop. Catching his breath, he asked, "How much time do we have left?"
Kaguya's lips were pursed, her face pale from the cold. "Ten minutes," she replied quietly.
"Should be enough," Natsuki said, stretching out his hand. "But let's play it safe."
Kaguya nodded, about to take his hand when she suddenly froze.
Wait a second.
This is a boy's hand. She can't just hold it!
That would be way too embarrassing!
"I'm freezing to death here," Chika whined, hugging Natsuki's arm. "Natsuki, warm me up quick, I'm dying!"
Kaguya's face went from pale to stone-cold as she glared at the oblivious pink-haired girl.
With all that body fat, she must be great at resisting the cold! She's probably got the longest countdown of all of us!
"Why are you staring at me, Kaguya?" Chika asked, tilting her head. "Natsuki's so warm. Want to hug him too? Or should Rikka keep you warm instead?"
Even if he were a hot pack, he shouldn't be shared!
"Human!" the werewolf growled. "I've dragged you halfway down. Now take this collar off!"
Natsuki nodded. "No problem." He used the key to unlock the collar around her neck.
"You... didn't lie to me?" The werewolf looked shocked.
"I told you," Natsuki said seriously. "You can trust my character."
"You're a despicable human with no character at all!"
"..."
"Natsuki, what now?" The other players looked over, shivering. Having the werewolf pull them had saved time, but it couldn't keep out the cold.
"Follow me," Natsuki said firmly, heading towards the forest.
The others exchanged glances before following him. There was no going back to the castle now.
[There is something strange about this forest]
Another prompt appeared in front of Natsuki. This time, he finally realized what was off about the woods.
The heavy snow had crushed many trees. These weren't the usual evergreens you'd expect in a cold climate, but broadleaf trees that didn't belong here.
It had been freezing cold at first. Then, gradually, the cold faded away. By the time of the Last Supper, he'd even felt hot. And those strange deaths, with smiles on their faces...
Natsuki held the hand of the girl who seemed a bit slow on the uptake, with the other players following behind. After walking for a while, they saw all the players lying neatly in a row under a natural cliff shelter in the forest.
"Look, everyone!"
"It looks like... that's us under the cliff."
At that moment, a game prompt sounded in all the players' ears:
[Scene: Wilderness Survival, Completed]
"I see now," Kaguya said, looking at the bodies under the makeshift shelter.
It was a classic snowy mountain scenario. When someone falls asleep in extreme cold, they first feel freezing. If they don't wake up, their blood concentrates on keeping the brain alive, causing a false sense of warmth or even heat. Finally, they die with a smile, lost in their dreams.
The game had been a shared dream all along. The only real task was to wake themselves up.
"Hey, why do those people look exactly like us?" some people were still confused.
Like Rikka, for instance. The middle school girl looked completely lost, the stray hair on her head quivering in the cold wind. She had no clue what was happening, even as the notification for completing the game chimed.
"Best player in the game," Natsuki muttered, shaking his head with a slight smile.
"Thank you, Natsuki," several players said as they came to their senses, walking up to express their gratitude.
If Natsuki hadn't urged them to leave together, they might have stayed in the castle. The outcome of that doesn't bear thinking about.
"Don't mention it. We should help each other through tough times," Chika chimed in, her voice clear. She couldn't resist adding, "When you get back, you should join our mutual aid group... See you in real life!"
The cold wind howled, and snow kept falling. The snowy mountain wasn't exactly the best place for a chat, so after a few quick words, everyone hurried to the cliff shelter and reached out to touch their bodies.
[Game Completed]
[You will leave the game in ten seconds. Please prepare yourself.]
"So that's why everyone's countdown was different," Chika mused. "It was actually related to our physical fitness, huh?"
Natsuki and Kaguya exchanged a look, both thinking the same thing.
"No, it's just fat."
"..."
The ten seconds flew by in an instant.
Natsuki felt a slight dizziness, and the next moment, he heard a soft voice calling his name.
"Natsuki?"
He opened his eyes to find himself lying on a sofa. Miko was leaning over him, her hands on her knees, eyes filled with concern.
"Long time no see," Natsuki said, sitting up and holding his head. His voice was low and a bit groggy.
"Huh?"
"I just spent hours in the game, but it feels like it was yesterday..." Natsuki murmured, trying to reconcile the time difference between the game world and reality.