join p atreon.com/KeyofStars and become a Sequence 9: Reader for advance chapters | Every 100 powerstones = 1 extra chapter | Report issues @discord.com/GVBdncd9Wr
[Instance Ghost Marriage loading…]
[Loading successful]
When the slight dizziness dissipated, Amamiya Natsuki opened his eyes and found himself sitting in a large bus.
Amamiya Natsuki subtly surveyed his surroundings.
The bus was dimly lit, with a considerable number of passengers; people could be seen both in front and behind.
Beside him was an unfamiliar black-haired girl.
Outside the window was a lush, dark forest.
He hadn't seen Kaguya or the others yet…
Amamiya Natsuki was about to check the instance mission when he suddenly felt his body lurch forward.
Bang!
A crashing sound suddenly erupted, and the bus compartment instantly descended into chaos.
"I'm sorry…"
Under the effect of inertia, the black-haired girl next to him directly bumped into Amamiya Natsuki's chin, and she couldn't help but apologize softly.
Amamiya Natsuki rubbed his chin: "When apologizing, you should show sincerity."
"Eh?"
"For example, by first stating your identity."
The black-haired girl hesitated slightly, sat back in her seat, and whispered:
"My name is… Sayu."
I just want to know if you're a player, who cares about your name!
Amamiya Natsuki said calmly: "And?"
"I'm sixteen this year."
"Tsk…"
"A female high school student."
Hey, hey, everyone can tell you're a girl, and this isn't an interrogation game, don't say irrelevant things!
The black-haired girl's eyes had no sparkle, only a gloomy indifference that cared about nothing. She murmured softly:
"I ran away from home recently, and all my money is gone. I don't know what I'm going to do tonight…"
Sorry for making you recall your tragic life.
Sayu said faintly:
"Entering the instance isn't bad either… If I die in the instance, I won't bother anyone anymore, right?"
Amamiya Natsuki finally confirmed the girl's player identity.
Knowing about the instance situation, neither panicked nor surprised, she was clearly not a first-time unlucky person chosen by the game.
It was just her despairing mindset that was speechless; compared to Chika secretary, who entered the instance for the first time, she was miles apart.
Thinking of Chika, Amamiya Natsuki lowered his head and looked at his thigh.
On his right leg, a blue pendant bag was tied, clearly indicating successful entry into the instance.
At the same time.
The commotion in the bus gradually subsided.
"What happened?"
"The bus hit a tree."
"I just looked at the driver's seat, this bus doesn't even have a driver!"
Someone's voice was nervous: "Then why is the bus moving by itself?"
Amamiya Natsuki sat steadily in his seat and casually said, "Autonomous driving, understand?"
Someone nearby retorted: "A ghost bus is more likely."
"…"
Amidst the clamor, as the first passenger got off, others followed suit.
Amamiya Natsuki sat in the window seat and looked at the girl next to him, Sayu, reminding her:
"Let's go, we can get off."
"Mm."
Sayu's expression was calm, with an indifferent attitude that cared about nothing, she got up and got off the bus.
After Amamiya Natsuki stood up, he noticed that in the two rows behind him sat a beautiful, cool-looking, long black-haired girl.
It was Yukinoshita Yukino.
Their eyes met.
Amamiya Natsuki nodded slightly, then got off the bus first.
"Found a wild Yukino, is Kaguya-san on the bus too?"
Amamiya Natsuki calmly got off the bus and found that their location was a gloomy forest, with a long-neglected winding mountain road underfoot, its surface full of cracks from disrepair.
The bus was located halfway up the mountain; looking down, a dilapidated Village could be seen in the valley.
"Natsuki-kun!"
An eyepatch girl happily approached Amamiya Natsuki, her ahoge constantly swaying.
Amamiya Natsuki's gaze shifted, and he saw the Young Lady behind Rikka.
"Don't come over." Amamiya Natsuki extended his right hand, blocking Rikka who wanted to get closer, and whispered, "Let's do the secret code first."
Rikka blinked, quickly remembered, clasped her hands in front of her chest, and whispered: "Wasabi chicken breast."
After speaking, the ahoge girl said expectantly:
"What's Natsuki's secret code?"
Amamiya Natsuki's voice was faint: "What's a secret code? Why don't I know?"
"Eh eh eh?"
Rikka's eyes widened instantly, and she nervously took half a step back.
Could it be that the Natsuki in front of her was an imposter?
"Yukino-chan, don't go over." Looking at Yukinoshita Yukino walking over, Rikka quickly hugged her arm, "He doesn't know what the secret code is, he must be an imposter."
Yukinoshita Yukino pursed her pink lips speechlessly and whispered:
"If he were an imposter, he wouldn't have asked you for the secret code."
"…"
Takanashi Rikka had a question mark appear above her head, dazed for two seconds, finally reacted, and then couldn't help but puff out her pink cheeks.
He wasn't an imposter; he was clearly just teasing her!
Yukinoshita Yukino looked up and calmly stated the secret code: "Grilled chicken liver."
"Identity confirmed." Amamiya Natsuki smiled, "Yukinoshita, you can come over."
After confirming their identities, Amamiya Natsuki and the two girls all looked at Shinomiya Kaguya.
"Grilled chicken butt… I won't say such an embarrassing secret code!"
The Sheltered Young Lady shouted in her heart.
But the next second.
Amamiya Natsuki's voice resounded in her mind: "It is grilled chicken butt, identity confirmed."
"Eh eh eh?"
Shinomiya Kaguya was startled, then realized she was still holding the love amulet in her hand. There was no need to speak; they could directly hear each other's inner thoughts.
"Idiot President, you're eavesdropping on my thoughts!"
"Wait, wait a moment!"
"If what I'm thinking is heard aloud, then the fact that I like the President…"
"Quick, stop it! Don't think nonsense!"
Unfortunately, human thoughts are like wild horses without boundaries, completely unrestrained.
The more Shinomiya Kaguya tried not to think, the more her mind wouldn't stop.
Amamiya Natsuki quietly listened to the Sheltered Young Lady's thoughts and couldn't help but sigh.
She usually seemed elegant and dignified, but her inner thoughts were surprisingly rich and colorful.
"Kaguya-san is very cute."
"Ugh—"
The Sheltered Young Lady's pretty face flushed crimson, and she finally thought of a solution, taking a deep breath and decisively putting the amulet into her storage backpack.
As long as she didn't hold the amulet in her hand, her thoughts wouldn't be overheard!
After confirming their identities, everyone was on the same bus and hadn't split up, which was good news.
After a brief conversation, Amamiya Natsuki checked the instance dungeon quest.
[You are a kaidan enthusiast. One day, you saw a kaidan legend about an abandoned Village on an online platform, so you arranged with your friends to come and explore. Due to an accident, you are temporarily unable to leave…]
Oh, my sister, a group of people running to explore an abandoned Village in the remote mountains, this is a standard setup for a death-seeking expert!
[Main Quest: Escape from Narukami Village]
[Time Limit: None]
[Side Quests: Not yet activated, please explore on your own]
"That must be the Village in the mountains, right?"
Shinomiya Kaguya narrowed her eyes and looked towards the dilapidated Village down the mountain.
Amamiya Natsuki continued chewing gum: "Generally speaking, instances without a time limit are often more dangerous, otherwise they would turn into farming-style games."
At the same time, a middle-aged man stood up and said in a deep voice:
"Everyone here must be players, right? Being in an instance, we should cooperate and help each other to increase our chances of success. I suggest we share our respective quests. I'll go first."
This middle-aged man in a suit had a calm demeanor. He directly opened his quest panel, of course, hiding other information:
"The main quest is simple: escape from Narukami Village. What about you all?"
With someone taking the lead, other players began to speak up. After all, huddling together for warmth is human nature; only players who prefer to be lone wolves are anomalies.
"My quest is also to escape from Narukami Village."
"Me too."
"…"
Shinomiya Kaguya turned her head and looked at Amamiya Natsuki.
Their eyes met.
Without needing to speak, the two easily understood each other's gazes.
They didn't act like unique lone wolf players but publicly displayed their quest panels along with others.
"Very good, everyone's main quest is identical." The middle-aged man smiled slightly, "Now we can work together wholeheartedly to clear the instance."
"That Village at the foot of the mountain should be Narukami Village mentioned in the quest, right?" a bespectacled man said, "There must be hidden dangers inside the Village. If so, can we not go into the Village?"
Upon hearing this, someone immediately asked curiously:
"What do you mean?"
"It's simple." The bespectacled man extended a finger and pushed up his glasses, "There's a road behind us. Why don't we just walk back along the mountain road?"
A girl with a ponytail hesitated:
"It shouldn't be that simple, right? Maybe we'll encounter accidents like landslides, preventing us from leaving."
"Then we'll just cross the mountain directly to leave." The bespectacled man clearly had considered this earlier, calmly saying, "The surrounding area is just mountain forest with an altitude of a few hundred meters; there can't be impassable cliffs… Let's try it. Maybe we can clear it. If we do nothing, we definitely won't clear it."
Other players expressed their agreement.
"That makes sense."
"Let's all try walking back together. Even if we can't leave, we can rule out a wrong answer."
"I agree."
"…"
It must be said that these words sounded very reasonable. Takanashi Rikka turned her head, looking expectantly at Amamiya Natsuki, and whispered:
"Should we go together?"
Amamiya Natsuki nodded: "It doesn't hurt to take a look."
There were more than a dozen players present, with roughly an equal number of men and women. It was unclear how many veterans were among them, but there were clearly no loud and boisterous new players.
Before leaving, someone checked the bus and only knew that it was damaged and couldn't start. None of the players were mechanics, so they had to abandon the bus and choose to walk.
Led by the man in the suit, the others followed him, walking along the dilapidated, old road in the opposite direction, away from the Village.
Amamiya Natsuki naturally moved with Kaguya and the two others, walking unhurriedly at the back of the group.
The girl next to him, Sayu, remained silent, walking alone at the very end.
If Fujiwara Chika were here, she would definitely go and talk to Sayu.
Unfortunately, Chika was still a Kaguya-Type Leg Attachment, and neither Kaguya nor Yukinoshita were altruistic girls who wanted to take care of everyone, so no one spoke to her.
And so, everyone walked up the mountain road in silence.
At first, some people were still talking and chatting with each other, but later, for some reason, the group suddenly fell silent.
"Does anyone feel the forest is too quiet?"
"Confirmed, let alone small animals, I haven't even heard any bird calls."
"It feels so eerie."
"I hope we can just walk straight out. I don't want to enter the instance at all."
"Everyone feels the same. No one would be foolish enough to willingly enter an instance, right?"
"…"
Amamiya Natsuki silently apologized in his heart.
Sorry, I'm the one who willingly entered the instance.
After walking for about a few kilometers, the man in the suit at the very front suddenly stopped and said in a deep voice:
"There's a stone tablet here."
Amamiya Natsuki walked over curiously and found a stone tablet standing by the roadside. Moss had already grown on it, but the characters on it were still barely legible.
[Welcome to Narukami Village]
[Visitors, please observe the following rules—]
[One: After dark, please stay indoors and do not go out]
[Two: Always remain calm and do not think about things you fear]
[Three: If someone suddenly calls your name from behind, please do not turn around, and even more, do not respond]
[Four: If you see something strange, please remain still and do not shout loudly]
"…"
After reading what was on the stone tablet, everyone fell silent, feeling a chill quietly permeate the air.
The man in the suit said in a deep voice:
"Let's walk faster and try to leave this place as soon as possible."
Amamiya Natsuki stepped forward and reminded:
"It's going to get dark soon."
Other players looked over.
"How do you know?"
"We can't even see the sun."
"It might be morning now."
"…"
The sky had been overcast all along, and the scenery was unchanging, so many people couldn't even tell morning from afternoon.
Amamiya Natsuki spread his hands:
"There's a digital timer on the bus. It was already past five PM when it broke down. You didn't see it, did you?"
Upon hearing this, a player on the road hesitated:
"That's right, there was a timer… but I didn't pay attention to the time."
"We've been walking for a while, which means it's now past five and almost six o'clock?"
It gets dark very quickly in the mountains; it can get dark in the blink of an eye.
It would be fine if it just got dark, but the stone tablet specifically stated the rule "do not go out after dark." Everyone couldn't help but look at each other, starting to worry about what would happen after dark.
Two choices lay before the players.
Either continue walking along the mountain road to see if they could get out, with the danger that night could fall at any moment.
Or turn back now and enter the abandoned Village to avoid the night.
"What should we do?"
"Continue forward or go back to the Village?"
"How about we go back to the Village first and come back tomorrow?"
"…"
The man in the suit hesitated for a few seconds, walked to a large tree, quickly climbed to the top, took out a monocular telescope, and quickly said:
"I see a cave tunnel ahead, only two or three kilometers away… If we all run, it won't take long."
Upon hearing this, the players, who had been indecisive, all breathed a sigh of relief and quieted down.
What people fear most is not seeing a goal. Now that the cave is only two or three kilometers away, they can reach it quickly by running.
Led by the man in the suit, the group of ordinary players started running along the mountain road.
People are conformist creatures; when someone takes the lead, others will follow. In an instant, only Amamiya Natsuki and a few others remained in place.
"Natsuki-kun?"
Takanashi Rikka was clearly a bit tempted. Noticing that Amamiya Natsuki was standing still, she couldn't help but look up at him.
Amamiya Natsuki calmly said: "We won't go there. We'll go down the mountain directly."
"Huh?"
"The instance shouldn't be that simple." Yukinoshita Yukino's voice was clear and cold, "Of course, I don't rule out the possibility of them clearing it directly, but the probability is very low."
Shinomiya Kaguya agreed:
"No need to rush. If they don't come back, it won't be too late for us to leave tomorrow."
"But the Village must be very dangerous, right?" Rikka said weakly.
Amamiya Natsuki said: "We don't have to go to the Village. We can stay on the bus for a night."
Rikka suddenly realized: "We can do that too."
After the discussion, Amamiya Natsuki prepared to return.
"President."
Shinomiya Kaguya gently tugged at his sleeve, her eyes glancing to the side.
Amamiya Natsuki looked over. Besides the four of them, there was also a passerby player who hadn't left, and it was the girl who sat next to him on the bus.
This girl stood alone, neither speaking nor approaching, looking exceptionally lonely.
Amamiya Natsuki thought for a moment, then walked over and asked, "Why aren't you going to the tunnel with them?"
Sayu seemed a bit cold, her left arm wrapped around her chest, holding her right arm. She softly explained the reason, "I hate running."
You've got to be kidding me! You won't look for a way out just because you hate running? Miko isn't even as lazy as you!
Amamiya Natsuki said, speechless, "So, are you staying here alone, or are you coming with us?"
"..."
Sayu didn't answer, but simply walked silently to their side, clearly having made her choice.
After the team gained one more member, Amamiya Natsuki and the girls returned the way they came, heading down the Yamashita.
"What's your name?" Takanashi Rikka asked curiously.
"Sayu."
"How many dungeons have you cleared?"
"Today is my second time entering a dungeon."
"Oh, so you're a newcomer." Rikka quickly adopted a senpai's demeanor. "Don't worry, we'll protect you."
Sayu's eyelashes trembled slightly, her pink lips parted, and she whispered, "...Thank you."
Halfway down, Yukinoshita Yukino suddenly spoke, "It's getting foggy."
Amamiya Natsuki looked around. The fog, appearing from nowhere, silently spread, making the already dim forest even more eerie.
"Night must be coming," Amamiya Natsuki raised an eyebrow slightly. "Everyone, let's walk faster."
"..."
They quickened their pace, walking swiftly down the Yamashita, and could already vaguely see the bus.
However, the fog was thickening at an abnormal rate, almost instantly with each breath. They hadn't walked far before the entire forest was enveloped in dense fog, and visibility plummeted.
"Everyone, hold hands to avoid getting lost."
To be safe, Amamiya Natsuki held the Sheltered Young Lady's slightly cool right hand.
Then Shinomiya Kaguya held Rikka's hand, and Rikka in turn held Yukinoshita Yukino's hand.
"Give me your hand," Yukinoshita Yukino looked at Sayu and said.
Sayu was visibly surprised, seemingly unwilling to accept others' kindness. She hid her hands behind her back and whispered, "No need, I'll follow closely behind you... The bus isn't far now."
Yukinoshita Yukino didn't say anything more; she wasn't the type to force others.
They quickened their pace and continued downwards, only feeling the fog grow thicker, barely able to see their feet. Fortunately, before long, the crashed bus appeared before them.
"We're back," Rikka breathed a sigh of relief.
At that moment, Yukinoshita Yukino suddenly said, "Sayu... is gone."
join p atreon.com/KeyofStars and become a Sequence 9: Reader for advance chapters | Every 100 powerstones = 1 extra chapter | Report issues @discord.com/GVBdncd9Wr