The academy was quiet the next morning.
Not the cautious quiet of the previous day.
This silence felt heavier — like something unseen had already changed.
The cafeteria was less crowded than usual.
People still came in small groups, but conversations were shorter. Eyes moved more often. No one sat with their back fully exposed anymore.
Takumi Kisaragi noticed it immediately.
"Behavioral shift," he murmured, writing something in his notebook.
Across the room, Masato Takeda and Reina Shirogane were speaking in low voices.
Near the window shutters, Kurone Yoru sat alone, untouched food in front of her.
At another table, Hikari Tachibana tried to talk to Megumi Unabara, but Megumi kept glancing toward the hallway.
Restless.
Distracted.
As if she was waiting for something.
After breakfast, most of the students moved toward the lounge.
Routine was forming.
Routine meant stability.
Stability meant safety.
Or at least, the illusion of it.
Daigo Arashi stretched his arms and leaned back against the wall.
"Day three and nothing's happened," he said. "Maybe that announcement was just psychological pressure."
"Or maybe it's waiting for us to relax," Ayane Mizuhara replied quietly.
No one argued.
Because everyone had thought the same thing.
Around noon, Takumi stood up.
"I want to check the unused areas again," he said. "Storage rooms, side corridors. If there's anything hidden in this building, we should find it before someone else does."
"I'll go," Megumi said quickly.
Too quickly.
Several people looked at her.
She laughed awkwardly.
"I mean… I hate sitting still. Might as well move around."
Takumi nodded.
"I'll come too," said Sora Amamiya.
"Three people is safer," Reina added.
The group split naturally.
Most stayed in the lounge.
Takumi, Megumi, and Sora left together.
One hour passed.
Then another.
At first, no one noticed.
People were talking quietly. Some were playing cards. Taiyo was trying, unsuccessfully, to convince Daigo to join a game.
Then Hikari looked toward the hallway.
"…Shouldn't they be back by now?"
The room grew still.
Masato stood.
"I'll check."
Takumi and Sora returned at that moment.
Alone.
Hikari's face paled.
"Where's Megumi?"
Takumi's expression was tight.
"We got separated while checking the storage wing," he said. "We thought she came back already."
No one spoke for a second.
Then Daigo was already moving.
"Show me."
The storage wing was at the far end of the building.
The lights there were dimmer.
The hallway felt narrower.
Halfway down, Sora stopped walking.
"…There."
The storage room door was open.
Just slightly.
Masato pushed it wider.
The smell came first.
Metal.
Then they saw her.
Megumi Unabara lay on the floor between stacked supply boxes.
Her bracelet — Wheel of Fortune — caught the light.
She wasn't moving.
And the dark stain beneath her wasn't shadow.
For several seconds, no one entered the room.
No one spoke.
Hikari covered her mouth.
Taiyo whispered, "No… no, no…"
Reina stepped forward slowly and checked for a pulse.
Her hand stayed there longer than necessary.
Then she stood.
"…She's dead."
The word hit harder than the sight.
Dead.
Not missing.
Not unconscious.
Dead.
The group gathered in the lounge soon after.
No one sat.
No one knew how to.
Takumi spoke first.
"She was alive when we split up. That was about ninety minutes ago."
"Did you see anyone else in that area?" Reina asked.
"No."
"Any cameras?"
"Hallway only. Not inside the storage room."
Silence.
Then Daigo said what everyone was thinking.
"So this is it."
No one asked what he meant.
Because they all understood.
The game wasn't hypothetical anymore.
The Imposter had made a move.
Hikari's hands were shaking.
"Maybe… maybe it wasn't the Imposter," she said weakly. "Maybe it was an accident."
Reina looked at her.
"The wound was deliberate."
That ended the discussion.
Masato stepped forward.
"Everyone listen carefully," he said. His voice was steady, but heavier than before.
"From this point on, no one moves alone. Ever."
No one objected.
Because the illusion of safety was gone.
And something worse had replaced it.
Not panic.
Not yet.
Something colder.
Everyone in the room was thinking the same thing.
The Imposter isn't hiding anymore.
Later that night, the dorm hallway was silent again.
But the silence was different now.
Doors closed faster.
Locks turned immediately.
No one spoke in the open.
Inside one room, Hikari sat on her bed, staring at nothing.
Inside another, Takumi reviewed the timeline again and again.
In another, Reina wrote down names.
Not suspects.
Yet.
Just names.
And in the far corner of the hallway, one door closed quietly.
Inside, Arata Mujin leaned against the wall, looking at his bracelet.
Fool
He turned it slowly once.
Then stopped.
His expression didn't change.
Outside, the lights dimmed.
Twenty-two students had entered the academy.
Now there were twenty-one.
And for the first time…
Everyone understood.
This wasn't a warning.
This was survival.