"If a typical evil spirit wanted to grab someone, where would it usually target?" Amamiya asked calmly, his gaze shifting toward the female ghost with "正" symbols covering her thighs. "For instance, like that train nympho lady."
The subway car hummed quietly.
In the chilly carriage, Amamiya's voice remained steady and indifferent.
"The wrist?" Chika ventured, her tone thoughtful.
"And the shoulders," added Umi, the hot blonde.
The timid short-haired girl chimed in after a brief pause. "Well... in horror movies, evil spirits tend to go for the throat, right?"
Amamiya nodded slightly, continuing his analysis. "In short, when a vengeful spirit attacks, it grabs the most convenient part of the body. So, under what circumstances would a vengeful spirit specifically grab someone by the ankle?"
"I get it!" Chika's eyes brightened, her voice rising with excitement. "The spirit that attacked Umi-chan could only grab her ankles for some reason."
"…"
All the players turned their attention to the body lying near the subway entrance.
The corpse in question was a middle-aged man, dressed in a suit and clearly suffering from a severe hair loss problem. His lifeless body lay face down at the subway door, his skin pale, lips tinged purple. It was clear to anyone that he was dead.
"The ghost passengers are all huddled in the corners," Amamiya continued. "At first, I thought they were afraid of the creature outside the subway, but there's another explanation—they're scared of the uncle lying at the door."
"On this subway, you're either a ghost passenger or a player. So why is there a dead body?"
"The truth is simple—"
Amamiya pressed his fingers to his brow dramatically. "He's not a corpse at all!"
"…"
After his declaration, Amamiya turned to Chika, giving her a knowing look.
"Meow?" Chika tilted her head in confusion, her large pink eyes filled with uncertainty.
"Hurry up and use your combo skill," Amamiya reminded her silently.
This is a horror game, not the time to be meowing!
Although, based on what they knew, the evil spirit couldn't move until the lights went out, better safe than sorry.
Only Outlaw Don could give them complete peace of mind.
"I got it." Chika quickly nodded and pointed at the body on the floor. "Outlaw Don, I summon you. Do you dare answer me?"
The next moment, a cold, raspy voice emerged from the corpse.
"... Don is here!"
"He spoke!" Umi took a startled step back. "It's really a vengeful spirit!"
Amamiya stepped forward, touching the middle-aged man's body. He immediately felt reassured.
It doesn't matter if you're the boss of this game or something else—as long as your name is Don, I'll catch you, even if you're a god~
The middle-aged ghost remained completely still throughout the process.
Shimizu stepped forward and bent down to pick up the briefcase that had fallen from the man's hand. From inside, she pulled out an empty plastic bottle.
"It's heart medication," she murmured, her delicate features softening with a hint of nostalgia. "…I used to take these often."
As someone who had suffered from congenital heart disease, Shimizu was familiar with the medication.
"We've caught him, so why hasn't the game ended?" Chika asked, tilting her head in confusion.
"Because there's still something left to do," Amamiya replied, his eyes drifting toward the female ghost passenger. "You falsely accused this uncle of being a pervert, didn't you?"
"The others just stood by, not wanting to get involved," he continued. "Even when the poor man collapsed from a heart attack, no one offered help."
"That's why you're stuck on this subway. You can't leave."
"Oh, I get it now!" Umi exclaimed, her eyes lighting up with realization.
"That's truly despicable," Chika said, frowning. "The idiot who caused the false accusation is bad enough, but accusing someone wrongly is even worse!"
In Japan, the crime of falsely accusing someone is rooted in the principle of presumed guilt. In short, if you can't prove your innocence, you're presumed guilty. Women sometimes exploit this to extort money by accusing men of inappropriate behavior.
Even after revealing the truth, the game wasn't over.
Amamiya furrowed his brow. So clearing the man's name wasn't enough to finish the game. Could it be that they needed to throw the middle-aged man out of the subway?
"Amamiya-kun," Shimizu whispered softly in his ear. "The sound we heard earlier—it was a defibrillator."
Amamiya immediately understood.
For the man on the ground, clearing his name wasn't the solution. What he truly wanted was for someone to help him, to save his life.
As the subway gradually slowed and darkness began to creep back in, Amamiya turned the man's body over and began performing CPR, just as he had learned in health class.
In that instant, the world around them froze.
The sound of the game's prompt rang out in the players' ears.
[The game has been cleared. You will be exited in ten seconds. Please prepare.]
"Mrs. Shimizu," Amamiya quickly turned to Shimizu. "Come back now."
He couldn't risk leaving her behind on the subway. If he lost Shimizu, Miss Ice Princess would undoubtedly be furious with him.
"Understood." Shimizu nodded and quickly attached herself to Amamiya.
"It really was a vengeful spirit," Umi whispered, her eyes wide with astonishment.
While I'm still struggling, they're already defeating vengeful spirits! Are we even playing the same game?
"Umi-chan, Big Sis isn't a vengeful spirit," Chika explained quickly. "I'll add you to the group later, and we can talk more when we're outside."
Although Kaguya's empire hadn't been established yet, Chika had already managed to form a small player support group, though it only had a handful of new players so far.
Ten seconds passed in an instant, and before anyone could say more, everything went black.
When Amamiya came to his senses, he found himself back on the crowded subway. Glancing down at his phone, he saw that only one minute had passed.
That ten-second exit time... it must've been to give players a chance to compose themselves, to prevent them from suddenly breaking down and causing a scene in public.
"Hmm..." Chika blinked, turned her head to scan her surroundings, then leaned close to Amamiya's ear and whispered, "Are we back?"
Amamiya nodded slightly, pressing a finger to his brow. "Today really isn't a good day for a long trip."
Though his body wasn't tired, mental exhaustion was unavoidable.
"They mentioned we triggered a special event earlier. Could it be related to this subway?" Chika suddenly realized.
"Most likely," Amamiya replied quietly, "It could even be this subway car we're on."
"I'd rather not think about it." Chika shook her head, taking out a bloodstained notebook. "I'll add Umi-chan to the mutual aid group first. Turns out she's also at our school, but we haven't met since her class is far from ours."
"Stare--"
Chika suddenly turned, widening her eyes as she stared at Amamiya without blinking.
"Why are you looking at me like that all of a sudden?" Amamiya leaned back slightly, creating some distance.
"Amamiya-kun," Chika said softly, "What was the name of the other player who cleared the game with us?"
Amamiya thought for a moment. "...Tomoya?"
"Not him," Chika shook her head, "I mean the girl who was with us."
Amamiya frowned, shocked to realize that while he remembered the girl had short bobbed hair and an average build, her appearance was blurry in his mind.
"That short-haired girl... what was her name?"
"I can't remember."
"..."
They stared at each other in silence.
Chika clutched Amamiya's arm nervously. "A ghost player!"
Moments later, the subway arrived at the station.
Amamiya and the pink-haired girl disembarked and parted ways at the exit.
"See you tomorrow, Amamiya-kun," Chika waved with a clear voice.
"See you tomorrow."
Amamiya nodded and walked away.
It was past eight when he returned home. Amamiya had planned to call Miko over for a recharge, but Miko wasn't willing to come. So he had no choice but to give up.
"Ah, finally home."
Shimizu stretched lazily, raising her arms above her head, then looked over with anticipation. "Amamiya-kun, the phone—hand over the spare phone!"
"No." Amamiya walked to the refrigerator, opened it, glanced at the human-headed evil spirit inside, killed it expressionlessly, and grabbed a can of Coke. "Mrs Shimizu, you shouldn't be using your phone in your current state."
If you keep it up, you'll become immortal and ascend right away!
"How can that be?" Shimizu looked disappointed, but suddenly, her eyes brightened. "I have an idea."
"What?"
Amamiya took a sip of his Coke, glancing over at her.
"How about I help Amamiya-kun recharge?" Shimizu crossed her left leg over her right, pressed a finger to her thigh, and raised the corners of her lips, forming a playful smile. "Kaguya can do it, I can do it, so surely I can help Amamiya-kun recharge, right?"
There was no denying it—Shimizu was stunning, and every gesture and smile seemed to amplify her beauty.
Compared to the cold, expressionless ice queen, Shimizu was both elegant and alluring.
"I used to... well, before I died, I learned how to give massages." Shimizu smiled seductively. "I guarantee my skills are far superior to Kaguya-chan's or Miko-chan's. Amamiya-kun will be in for a treat~"
"..."
Amamiya wasn't sure if it would be relaxing, but if she generated her own electricity and recharged herself, she'd be well on her way to becoming a master of amateur science and perpetual motion!
All perpetual motion machines are scams, and Amamiya wasn't about to fall for it. After some thought, he shook his head and declined.
"Let's forget it. I just want to rest. We'll talk tomorrow."