"Not long after we split up on the second floor, we encountered other monsters. We had to scatter," the girl recounted, her face pale and voice trembling. She spoke quickly, her breath coming in nervous gasps as she recalled the events after they separated. "I and that guy hid in a room... but we didn't know there were monsters inside. We barely escaped with our lives."
Her voice faltered as she remembered the terrifying moments, and her expression grew more haunted. "We made it to the corridor, still trying to figure out where to go, when suddenly... the boy collapsed."
A trace of fear appeared on her face as she nervously added, "His expression was so... so terrifying."
Hearing this, Amamiya raised an eyebrow slightly. "Are you sure he's dead?"
"I... I don't know," the girl admitted, shaking her head timidly. "When I saw him fall, I called out to him, but he didn't respond... so I ran."
"Amamiya-kun, should we check on him?" Chika suggested without hesitation. "Maybe he just fainted."
As the beacon of humanity recognized by the game, Chika naturally didn't want to abandon any fellow human players.
"Let's go take a look."
Amamiya nodded and took the lead, moving forward down the corridor. The rest of the girls followed closely behind him. After all, there was no truly safe place in the castle—no matter where they went.
It wasn't long before they came across a boy lying face-up on the ground, his pupils beginning to dilate.
"It's Izumi," Amamiya recognized him immediately.
The boy had a frail appearance, one who seemed unaccustomed to exercise and who often coughed.
"…What a strange smile," Chika said, startled, taking an instinctive step back.
For some unsettling reason, the boy had a twisted smile on his face, making the sight all the more unnerving.
Amamiya took a deep breath, crouched down, and began a quick examination.
"No breathing..."
"His heartbeat is gone too."
With no signs of breathing and no heartbeat, it was clear that the boy was dead.
"And his body temperature..." Amamiya reached out to close the boy's eyes before continuing, "It's very cold."
A prompt suddenly appeared before his eyes.
''[After careful observation, you realize your teammate's body temperature is abnormally low.]''
Hey, hey, the boy has a name—he's Izumi, not just a random passerby! Amamiya thought wryly.
Still, the temperature issue was unusual.
Kaguya, half-kneeling beside the body with her hand delicately covering her skirt, frowned. "His body's unnaturally cold."
"It really is!" Chika exclaimed, her voice edged with surprise. "It's like ice."
That's a bit of an exaggeration, Amamiya thought. Not quite ice, but still unnervingly cold.
According to the girl, they had escaped into the corridor just minutes ago—no more than ten minutes at most. There was no way a body could cool down so drastically in such a short time.
"Could it be the work of a witch who drains the life and warmth from others?" Rikka speculated in a low voice.
No, Rikka, you're thinking of a succubus, not a witch!
The girl who had spoken earlier shook her head. "There were only two of us in the corridor, and we didn't see any monsters."
"The witch could've made herself invisible," Rikka countered.
If we keep talking like this, next thing you know, we'll be dealing with people who have superpowers, Amamiya thought with mild exasperation.
Yukino crossed her arms, her face thoughtful. "Could it be... related to the game's countdown?"
Everyone fell silent at her suggestion.
The air suddenly grew still.
From the moment they entered the castle, everyone was aware of the countdown for their main quests. There had been two prevailing theories about it.
The first was that it was a survival countdown. As long as one endured until the timer hit zero, they could leave the game.
The second, more ominous possibility, was that it marked the countdown to death.
No one dared to voice this thought aloud.
Now that Yukino had brought it up, the atmosphere shifted. The other players immediately grew uneasy, hastily checking the countdowns in their own games.
Unbeknownst to them, the countdowns had already passed the halfway mark. Most of them had only an hour left.
Amamiya's countdown, however, was slightly longer, thanks to a badge item, leaving him with nearly an hour.
The method to determine if it was a death countdown was disturbingly simple: they only had to observe what happened once the second-to-last person's timer hit zero.
And that second-to-last person was...
Amamiya frowned, his gaze settling on the person in question.
It was Kaguya.
The differences between everyone's timers weren't vast, but the next to face the countdown's end would be Kaguya.
"How much time do you have left?" Amamiya asked quietly.
Kaguya bit her lower lip. "Fifty-three minutes."
"That's so short!" Chika exclaimed in shock. She quickly turned to Amamiya. "Amamiya-kun, please give Kaguya-chan more time."
It almost sounded like a plea for more internet time at a café, Amamiya mused briefly, but this was no game—they needed to prolong her survival.
If it had been someone else, Amamiya might have considered standing back to see how the countdown played out, but there was no way he would let Kaguya fall into danger.
"Give me your hand," Amamiya instructed, his voice calm.
"Okay." Kaguya, composed but slightly tense, pressed her lips together and extended her hand.
As Amamiya held her hand, he noted how incredibly soft and delicate it felt. Her skin was smooth, without a hint of roughness.
While Amamiya remained calm, Kaguya's face, usually so composed, began to flush. A blush spread across her cheeks, and even the tips of her ears turned red.
You're Kaguya-sama, the cool and composed one—why are you blushing from just holding hands? Amamiya thought to himself.
"How's the countdown now?" Amamiya asked.
Kaguya took a quiet breath, her voice nonchalant. "It's gradually increasing."
"And now?"
Amamiya released her hand.
"The increase stopped," Kaguya quickly noted. "The countdown's back to decreasing... and the drop is very fast."
"Let's try again."
Amamiya took her hand once more.
After several trials, Amamiya reached a clear conclusion.
The "extension" effect was rather superficial. Once the physical contact stopped, the extra time would rapidly diminish until it returned to the original countdown.
Amamiya glanced down at Puppet Billy and asked, "When the butler said 'time is running out,' was you referring to the countdown?"
Puppet Billy responded cryptically, "I'm afraid I can't disclose that. I suggest you proceed to the dining room promptly."
Amamiya frowned and said, "Let's head to the library first."
"Huh?" Chika blinked in confusion. "Why the library?"
"To confirm a theory."
The library was on the second floor, so it wasn't much of a detour.
Amamiya started walking, and the group of girls followed behind him. As for Izumi, whose body was already cold... they could only offer a silent apology for leaving her behind.
The group soon arrived at the library.
Amamiya pushed open the door and stepped inside.
The library was quiet, with no sign of monsters lurking within. Ten rows of bookshelves stood silently, housing countless books. The few that had been burned earlier barely made a dent in the vast collection.
Amamiya stopped and turned toward Yukino, the girl with long, dark hair. "Yukinoshita-san, could you come over here for a moment?"
"Hmm?"
Yukino looked at him, puzzled.
"I need to tell you something," Amamiya said, before casting a glance toward Kaguya. "Shinomiya-san, could you step aside for a bit?"
Kaguya: "…"
Whispering with another girl right in front of me and then telling me to leave? This is too much! she thought to herself, mildly indignant.