"Bocchi-chan" was the Japanese phonetic rendering of "Little Lonely"—which happened to be this girl's nickname.
The girl's real name was Gotō Hitori. She was 156 centimeters tall and weighed 50 kilograms, and she was a guitarist who operated online under the alias "Guitar Hero." Takumi didn't clearly remember her follower count in the original work, but in this world he looked it up and found that she already had more than six hundred thousand followers—an astonishing number for a faceless pure-music content creator.
However, Gotō Hitori was, by design, an extreme social phobic. From childhood to adulthood, she had never been able to make any real friends, and she even found it difficult to speak properly to other people. She spent all day immersed in the little theatrical plays inside her head, to the point where Takumi even suspected whether this kid had some kind of congenital mental issue.
But… this was an anime-crossover world, right?
He had asked Kaguya before. She wasn't a student council vice president at all, but simply lived at school as an ordinary student. She still participated in the Kyudo Club, and she even continued to take part in the annual competitions, rather than, like in the original story, giving up the tournament because its date conflicted with Christmas. This meant that the Shirogane family didn't exist in this world—that is, the original male lead from Kaguya's story. And that did explain why, even in her second year of high school, Kaguya still maintained her 'Ice Kaguya' demeanor.
So… no Shirogane Kei either? That felt a little unfortunate.
In any case, with Shinomiya Kaguya as a precedent, Takumi understood that he definitely shouldn't judge the anime characters he encountered based on his original-work impressions. It might very well be a parallel-world modified version, so interacting cautiously was absolutely necessary.
"Hello."
After a brief moment of thought, Takumi took a step forward and moved to stand in front of Maki, carefully greeting the girl who was not far ahead.
Almost imperceptibly, the fingers of the girl standing across the street twitched.
She did not respond to Takumi immediately.
Those blue pupils contracted slightly, as if startled by Takumi's voice. Then they moved quickly, snapped onto Takumi for an instant, and just as quickly darted away again, shifting down toward the ground.
A step back, then another step back.
The girl widened the distance between them, making the already-not-so-close gap even farther.
"H-hel…lo…"
Without meeting Takumi's eyes at all, the girl bent slightly and greeted him in a voice so small it was barely audible.
It seemed she really was still the same socially anxious type.
He simply didn't have mind-reading or anything like that, so he had no way of knowing whether this girl was currently running through all kinds of frantic inner skits in her head.
"Are you a player too? We came because we saw the message on the TV. Are you also going to that market?"
Takumi stayed where he was. He didn't approach recklessly; he only spoke again.
He didn't sense any malice from her.
The power of the blessing shouldn't be something that could be tricked easily, so after thinking it over briefly, Takumi decided to adopt a more open attitude.
"Mm… I… am…"
Her voice grew even softer as she answered.
Even though they were still talking, Takumi had the vague feeling that this pink-haired girl's whole body was being pulled by some powerful suction force, like she was about to vanish from in front of him at any moment, barely keeping herself anchored to the ground with her legs.
"That should be an Obsession Item."
At this moment, Maki rose onto her toes and whispered beside Takumi's ear.
She was referring to the guitar on the pink-haired girl's back.
Only then did Takumi notice that the guitar on the pink-haired girl's back seemed unusual.
There were clearly red marks on it. The guitar itself looked somewhat old and worn, and he could even see what appeared to be small knife-carved letters on it. It was just that they were too far away to make anything out.
The moment he noticed it, he seemed to feel a faint chill—an uncomfortable sensation, like something was watching him.
Takumi recognized it. It really was an Obsession Item, and… it didn't seem like an ordinary Obsession Item?
Owning an Obsession Item—was she a veteran player?
"Are you a veteran player? A senior? I wanted to ask—are there any issues we need to pay attention to in the player market? My girlfriend and I are new, after all, and to be honest, there are still many things we don't really understand."
Even though the title "Veteran Player Bocchi" felt strangely out of place, Takumi still lowered his posture immediately and politely asked again.
"…"
This time, she did not answer right away.
Takumi only saw the pink-haired girl take another step back.
Then, her lips moved slightly.
No sound came out.
She took a deep breath, opened her lips a little wider—
Still no sound.
Finally, she lowered her head and took two or three consecutive deep breaths before she barely managed to lift her head again. Even though her eyes were still fixed on the road, at least this time he could finally hear a bit of sound.
"The booklet of player summaries… you can buy it directly…"
"And… don't attack other people in the market, and don't casually kill anyone. Players who kill randomly… the market doesn't really welcome them…"
"That's… basically it… more or less…"
With each sentence she spoke, the girl clearly took one step back.
By the time she finished her third sentence, Takumi realized she had already retreated all the way to the end of the street. She turned around, and in an instant, she was gone.
She still seemed to be the same eccentric person as in the original work. But with a personality like that, could she really be a senior player, a veteran? Could it be that she had been lucky enough to meet some reliable veteran who took her along, and that was how she managed to survive?
Takumi thought about it briefly, then prepared to continue forward.
And that was when the girl beside him stepped lightly on his foot.
"You—what was that about 'my girlfriend'? How can you just decide our relationship in front of other people like it's completely natural!?"
When he turned around, he saw Maki's slightly embarrassed and annoyed cheeks, along with the very noticeable canine tooth showing in her small open mouth.
"So we're not considered boyfriend and girlfriend yet?!"
Takumi showed a shocked expression.
"O-of course we're not yet… I-I haven't accepted your confession or anything… um, anyway, w-we're still just a tiny bit short of that…"
Maki puffed up her cheeks. She seemed to want to act more arrogant, but as she continued speaking, her face grew redder and redder, and she couldn't keep up her usual proud tone.
The nearly-over-the-line deep kiss from three days ago was still deeply imprinted in Maki's mind.
Especially when she remembered how she hadn't really disliked it, and how she had even subconsciously thought, "If it's Takumi… it might be okay." Realizing that made it impossible for her to keep up her usual confidence, and she could no longer maintain her normal pride.
"A-anyway, let's finish what we need to do right now first. As for our relationship or whatever… this isn't the time to talk about that…"
In the end, after barely skipping over the topic, the girl hurried forward.
Takumi didn't say anything else. He simply followed Maki's steps and, naturally, took her hand again.
This time, Maki didn't resist at all. Like a well-behaved kitten, she let Takumi hold her hand as they walked.
It actually felt… pretty nice.
Takumi couldn't help stealing a few glances at the girl's flushed cheeks beside him, and he sighed inwardly.
If they hadn't met inside this death game—if they didn't have to worry about the once-a-month Horror Story dungeon—then maybe… no, if that were the case, he would probably have had almost no chance to meet a girl like her, and it would have been nearly impossible for their relationship to develop this way.
It really was a contradiction…
And he truly had no idea how far things would go in the end.
With those slightly heavy thoughts, the two of them quickly reached the entrance to the underground mall. They stepped inside, walked down the stairs step by step into the dark space, and continued forward, approaching the depths of the darkness.
After they walked a short distance, the light suddenly came on. It was a faint blue ghostly flame drifting around them.
A sinister atmosphere was spreading little by little.
Takumi saw stall after stall—each one extremely simple, all clearly put together in a makeshift manner, as if the owners had just thrown something together casually. He also saw the shadows of all kinds of people moving about—no more than thirty or forty in total.
There were office workers in suits, heavily made-up women, older people with graying hair, and very young ones who seemed like they might still be middle school students. All kinds of people passed back and forth through this dark, abandoned underground mall lit only by the pale blue ghost-light, and everyone looked weighed down by their own concerns.
"Unfamiliar faces. New players?"
At that moment, Takumi heard a voice behind him.
He turned around and saw a thin, shriveled old man—almost like a dried corpse—standing behind him and Maki, baring a mouthful of yellow-black rotten teeth at them.
Before this old man spoke, neither Takumi nor Maki had sensed his presence at all.
"For new players, the newcomer handbook is free. And if you sell me your Dusk-level admission ticket after you clear the game, I can introduce you to a lot of good stuff, hehehe."
Rubbing his hands lightly, the old man let out a raspy laugh at Takumi and Maki.
For some reason, the moment Takumi heard that laugh, his first reaction was a flashback to Resident Evil 4, as if some mysterious merchant had appeared in front of him saying, "Whaddaya buyin'?" or "You're an artist, stranger."
And right after that, he heard Maki beside him furrow her brows slightly and repeat quietly: "Admission ticket?"
She felt a faint sense of unease toward the item the old man had mentioned.
"That's right, that's right. Every player who clears a dungeon gets one—an admission ticket to the dungeon he cleared. New players' Dusk-level admission tickets are very sought-after. After all, who wouldn't want to go into a low-difficulty dungeon, clear it easily, and then live safely for another month? Look at me—I'm such a sincere person. I'm telling you something this important straight-up."
The old man laughed even more happily, speaking to the two of them with great pride.
At this moment, Takumi and Maki exchanged a glance, their expressions identical—utter confusion.
Admission ticket? What was that? Why didn't either of them have one?
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