The sensation of weightlessness faded.
Because she had mentally prepared herself, Horikita Suzune held her breath and forced her heart — which had leapt into her throat — back down where it belonged.
Her pupils trembled, but quickly snapped back into focus.
And it wasn't just her.
With the veterans of each class present to anchor the room, the newcomers this time performed considerably better than Ichinose had on that first night. Every single one of them recovered their composure within seconds.
"This place is..."
Ichinose Honami gripped Shiranami Chihiro's hand and swept her gaze rapidly around the area.
A dim corridor. Walls with peeling paint. At the far end, a wooden door that looked one strong breeze away from collapse.
It felt disturbingly like walking onto the set of a horror film.
But then her eyes caught the faded crest of Advanced Nurturing High School on one of the walls, and her voice steadied with certainty.
"This is... the old school building. The one they're planning to renovate."
After learning last night from a conversation with Hoshimiya-sensei that the school did in fact have some connection to the Black Sphere trials, Ichinose had spent the night digging through every document she could find — including detailed maps of the school's layout and facilities.
"The renovation isn't finished yet, so the whole area is technically sealed off. Everyone watch your step!"
"The old building, huh..."
Katsuragi Kohei rubbed his chin, his voice low and measured. "The terrain is complicated. Splitting up would put us at a serious disadvantage."
Horikita Suzune pulled her gaze inward, staring at the strangely-shaped X-GUN in her hands.
Chris had given her this weapon. But how exactly was she supposed to use it...?
She opened her mouth to ask.
"Ahem."
Sakayanagi Arisu had somehow already positioned herself in front of the group. She raised her X-GUN and began to explain.
"I would normally love to let everyone experience the joy of discovering unknown technology through their own trial and error — but given that this is a team exercise, I'll graciously volunteer as narrator."
"To use this weapon, you first press the upper trigger to lock on. You can only fire once the 'LOCK' display on the grip screen has turned red."
"Ichinose-san has already mentioned the three-second delay — what I want to add is that this thing hits hard."
She let her gaze drift meaningfully toward Ryuuen as she said it.
"We haven't confirmed whether it's effective against humans yet — so I'd ask everyone to please be mindful of where you point the barrel."
"The cost of a test case, after all, is rather steep. Wouldn't you agree?"
"...Phew."
Ichinose exhaled audibly, her shoulders dropping with visible relief.
Even from a rival, in an environment this unfamiliar and dangerous, Sakayanagi volunteering intelligence without prompting had genuinely spared them the most costly kind of mistake.
Ryuuen Kakeru, for his part, didn't bother responding to Sakayanagi's pointed little jab. He turned the black weapon over in his hands, gaze sweeping across the gear held by Chris and Kamuro Masumi.
Since both he and Ichinose had chosen the X-GUN — the one that had proven itself in the previous exam — most of the group had naturally gravitated toward the same choice.
The exceptions were Shiina Hiyori and Kamuro Masumi, who had both taken Y-GUNs. And Chris, who had picked up a combat blade.
Ryuuen couldn't quite figure out the logic, but he passed along the information anyway.
"That blade — it extends when you use it. Cuts through steel like it's nothing."
"As for that black gun that looks like a hairdryer... nobody's tested it yet. Unknown effectiveness."
Horikita Suzune found her eyes drifting, almost involuntarily, to the hilt in Chris's hand.
Why did he choose a blade?
Ranged combat is objectively safer... Is it confidence in his own physical ability? Or is there something special about that particular weapon?
"Ichinose — are the red dots on the screen our targets for this round?"
The steady, composed Katsuragi raised his black weapon and gestured at its display, cutting to the essential question.
"That's right."
Ichinose's expression turned grave.
"From what I've seen, the creatures the Black Sphere designates can blend into normal society. They're intelligent, and they can disguise themselves. The moment they realize they've been exposed — or if they're provoked — they attack immediately."
"So until we understand the specific nature of these 'malevolent spirits,' everyone should stay together. Don't split up."
Not that any further motivation was needed.
Faced with the unknown, human instinct does the work on its own — every person in the group had already begun drifting toward the center without realizing it.
Even Horikita Suzune quietly shifted two steps closer to Chris's direction.
Sakayanagi, Kamuro Masumi in tow despite the latter's profoundly reluctant expression, drifted to Chris's side and tilted her head up at him with a mildly curious look.
"Chris-kun — why did you go with this?"
Chris glanced at the Y-GUN Kamuro was gripping unhappily, then replied in a flat, unhurried tone.
"Same reason as you."
"If the Black Sphere is handing out starter gear, it wouldn't give us something useless. I watched Ryuuen's approach last time, and it gave me a theory I want to test."
"Heh." Sakayanagi's smile deepened. She lowered her voice.
"You really are interesting."
"By the way — my earlier offer still stands, you know. Care to join my faction?"
"Pass."
Chris didn't even look at her.
"Trying to form cliques in a dungeon where everyone can get wiped at any second? Some people really can't get enough of dying."
Kamuro Masumi, pressed against Sakayanagi's side, blinked blankly.
Wait — these two aren't actually on the same side?
They'd been walking arm in arm like a couple just moments ago, and now they were doing political power plays? In here?
Sakayanagi, utterly unfazed by the rejection, simply turned away and began speaking to no one in particular — not bothering to lower her voice.
"I've been thinking about the information the Black Sphere provides, and what purpose it actually serves..."
"The Parasyte last night only began eliminating witnesses after it was exposed. That was its behavioral logic."
"And combined with the catchphrase assigned to these malevolent spirits..."
"Doesn't that suggest that as long as we don't voluntarily reveal that we can see them — they'll maintain some kind of order? That on the surface, at least, they won't actively attack?"
The words carried easily to the group gathered nearby.
Not everyone fully understood the implication — the information gaps were too wide for that — but watching Ryuuen and Ichinose both react to the same conclusion was instruction enough. Katsuragi, Shiranami, and the others were smart enough to follow the lead.
Weapons lowered. Sharp, wary gazes softened. Eyes shifted to discreet observation — watching the periphery, watching the red dots on the screens.
Chris gave a quiet, internal nod.
These spirits were from The Girl Who Could See. So long as you performed blind, the odds of making it through in one piece were significantly better.
Even the Parasyte from the previous exam — when facing a crowd, it had tended to wait. Wait until the numbers thinned. Wait until someone was alone.
It chose the moment, not the target.
Meanwhile, Shiina Hiyori had fallen into step behind Ichinose and Kamuro, peering around the dim corridor with something that looked unsettlingly close to curiosity.
She loved books. Mystery especially.
Her chest was tight with fear, yes — but the oppressive, storm-dark atmosphere pressing down on them was, in some inexplicable way, exactly the feeling she got when she was deep inside a really good book.
Shiina Hiyori's heart rate was elevated. But not entirely from terror.
Then Ryuuen's low voice cut through the silence like a blade.
"Here it comes."
Everyone with a screen-equipped weapon cut their eyes toward the mottled concrete wall on the left — without lifting their weapons. Nobody was eager to volunteer as the guinea pig.
Shhh...
No sound of something smashing through the wall. No dramatic entrance.
It was like ink dropped into water.
Out of the concrete wall — passing through it without resistance — oozed a translucent, hunched figure.
It had no legs. Its lower half trailed away into wisps of smoke.
And on that pale, bloated face — where eyes should have been — there was only smooth, dead flesh.
In their place: a mouth. Enormous. Grotesquely wide. Ringed with rows of razor teeth, puckered into a circular, lamprey-like sucker.
"Ugh..."
Despite all her mental preparation, Shiranami Chihiro's knees buckled at the sight of it. She clutched Ichinose's hand with everything she had to keep from crumpling to the floor.
Fortunately, the spirit paid her no attention.
That eyeless head rotated in one slow, wrong-angled revolution — and stopped.
It had fixed itself on Horikita Suzune. The one standing at the outermost edge of the group.
An icy, putrid breath hit her full in the face.
Less than five centimeters from the tip of her nose. Close enough to make out the writhing tissue inside that puckered maw.
"Can you see me?"
"You can see me, can't you?"
A voice like fingernails dragged slowly down a chalkboard — rasping, grating, relentless — whispered directly into her ear.
Horikita Suzune's pupils contracted to pinpoints.
Don't move.
Move and it knows.
What was left of her rational mind screamed.
She pressed her bloodless lips together. Stared straight ahead. Forced herself to ignore the face that was practically touching hers.
Treat it like air.
I can't see anything. I can't see anything. I can't see anything...
Time stretched out into something endless.
Every person in the group held their breath.
One second. Two seconds...
Getting no response, the spirit seemed confused.
It tilted its head. The sucker-face drifted slowly away from Horikita's, as though searching for a different target.
Horikita Suzune was just beginning to let herself exhale—
—when, without any warning, the spirit's twisted body snapped back around.
That enormous mouth flew open. A blast of fetid air. Right back in her face.
"YOU CAN SEE ME! I KNOW YOU CAN!!"
BANG!
____
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