"I've finished reading it," Amamiya said, setting down the questionnaire in his hand. "This game is seriously dangerous."
"Shameless! Hypocrites!" The cow lady gritted her teeth in anger. "You humans love to lie!"
"Hm?" Amamiya's eyes narrowed as he said coldly, "Fujiwara-san, cut another bunch of leeks and bring them here."
The cow lady's ghost lowered her head, reluctantly conceding, and muttered bitterly, "...I'll remember this grudge!"
"Everyone is free to share their thoughts." Kaguya crossed her arms and said, "Fujiwara-san, you go first."
"Ahem." Chika cleared her throat, clenching her right fist and pressing it lightly against her mouth. She spoke up in a clear voice, "First of all, the vengeful spirits in each ward seem to vary greatly in personality. Some are communicative, while others are highly dangerous."
"One player mentioned that they got a skill from a blind box that lets them detect important items... They sensed something valuable on the vengeful spirit in the same ward, but didn't dare ask for it, let alone try to take it."
Chika turned to the cow lady ghost, adding, "That player also mentioned that Miss Cow here has something important on her."
"I'm not a cow!" the cow lady snarled, baring her jagged teeth. "Just look at these teeth—I'm clearly a carnivorous beast!"
Asuya muttered under her breath, "You were just eating a bunch of leeks earlier..."
"That's because of you despicable humans!"
"Sorry."
"..."
Amamiya glanced at the cow lady ghost and stretched out his right hand. "Hand over whatever you're hiding."
"I don't have anything on me," the cow lady snapped, still defiant.
"Is that so?" Amamiya sighed, pinning the cow lady ghost onto the bed. "Fujiwara-san, help me undress her. I've always been curious—when people die, why do their ghosts still have clothes? Let's investigate this today."
"Miss Ghost, please cooperate."
"Ahhh! Shameless humans, let me go!" The cow lady's upper body was pressed against the bed, her voice trembling with anger and shame.
Chika hesitated. "Stripping a girl's clothes off... this feels wrong..."
Amamiya's tone grew serious. "She just said you were fat."
"I'm not fat!" Chika's face stiffened in determination. "Alright, I'm doing it."
"Kujo-san, Takanashi-san, come help. Strength in numbers," Amamiya added.
"H-here I come…" Asuya stammered, her mind clouded with doubt. Something felt inherently wrong about pressing a crying ghost onto a bed and undressing her. Why was she suddenly feeling guilty?
Just as Chika began tugging at the ghost's denim shorts, the cow lady finally cracked.
"Stop! Stop! I'll give it to you!" she shouted.
"Oh, so you're giving it up that easily?" Chika said with a bit of disappointment. "I still wanted to see where your tail is."
Amamiya helped the cow lady ghost sit up. "Where is it?"
"In my chest," the cow lady ghost replied bitterly, her eyes misting with frustration. "Let me go, and I'll give it to you."
"No need for that," Amamiya said, his eyes shifting to the ghost's ample chest. "I'll handle it."
"Stare—"
The other girls simultaneously turned to him.
"Amamiya-kun," Chika crossed her arms defensively. "Taking someone's place like that is a crime, you know."
If we're talking about crimes, isn't storming into someone's ward and force-feeding them grass just as bad? You're all accomplices in this!
"I'll do it."
Without hesitation, Chika reached into the ghost's chest, searching for the item.
"Wow, it's... so big... My hand's getting stuck."
"And it's so soft."
"It's cold, though. If it were warm, it'd be super cozy to hold while sleeping."
You're overthinking it. If something that big pressed down on your face while you slept, you'd suffocate!
"I think I finally understand what the land of milk and honey in the Bible refers to..."
That's ancient Canaan, not the fantasy you're imagining!
A moment later, Chika pulled her hand out, holding a small black object suspended in mid-air.
"What's this?" Amamiya asked, inspecting the item, but all he could tell was that it was a small piece of debris.
Unable to determine its use, Kaguya took the fragment and changed the subject. "I've counted them; there are only eighteen questionnaires total."
As requested by Kaguya, Amamiya and the others had filled out the questionnaires too.
Amamiya's was quite simple.
[Roommate: Miss Sadako]
[Danger level: Unknown]
[Attributes: Shy, social phobia, teardrop mole at the corner of the eye, makes people want to bully...]
"Is something wrong?" Chika asked, confused.
"The number is off." Amamiya raised an eyebrow. "There are twenty wards on the fourth floor, but only eighteen questionnaires."
Asuya guessed, "Could two players be trapped in their wards?"
"One player was killed by a nurse with a needle at the start and got eliminated early," Amamiya said. "But the last ward is still a mystery."
Kaguya mused, "Once the corridor lights up, we'll check the nurse's duty desk for the ward list."
"..."
As the darkness faded and the corridor lit up, Amamiya let go of Miss Ghost and exited the ward with the group, heading straight for the nurse's duty desk.
"Kaguya and I can go ahead," Amamiya whispered. "The rest of you wait here."
Since they were just going to check the ward list, two people were enough.
"Be careful," Chika cautioned, covering her mouth. "Don't make any noise."
Amamiya nodded and quietly approached the duty desk with Kaguya.
The nurse with the swollen face was still dazed, indifferent to the players coming and going, as long as they didn't disturb her slacking.
"Found it," Amamiya whispered.
Right in front of the nurse, he gently picked up the ward information sheet he had reviewed earlier, immediately spotting the discrepancy.
There were twenty wards in total, each with one player and one ghost.
The players were identified by game-assigned nicknames like Chika's [Cancer of the Earth] and Rikka's [Evil King's True Eye User], while the vengeful spirits were just listed as black squares, their identities hidden.
However, at the bottom of the list, under the final ward's registration, there were only black squares—no player was listed.
"So… there's no player in the last ward?"