Chapter 649 - "The Second Stage"

The thing that had suddenly appeared in front of my eyes drew me in, as if it had a gravitational pull.

As I reached for the necklace that had fallen from my chest, I felt a terrible headache. The pain felt as if the me who was trying to pick up the necklace and the me who was trying to stop myself was colliding in my head.

Rather, in the first place, what is this necklace? I dont have any idea when or where I got it or even how long Ive been wearing it.

[Kuhh!? Uuuuuu Guhhh]

As I picked up the necklace, my hands were shaking and my body was profusely sweating. Therepon, the headache became worse.

It was a strange sensation, as if something was trying to jump out from within my body. However, even with this headache that would normally knock me unconscious, my eyes were still glued to the necklace.

What is this? Whats going on? What am I

[Ku ro- Agghhh!?]

The moment that word unconsciously came out of my mouth It was as if a dam burst, and a large amount of information memories that I had forgotten until now started flowing in like a gus.h.i.+ng river.

[I was? Thats right! I was with s.h.i.+ro-san and Where in the world is this]

-Kaito-kun! Please, answer me!!!

[ ! ? Is that Kuro!?]

-Kaito-kun! Im glad My voice finally reached you.

As I remembered everything, I heard an echo in my head That voice unmistakably belongs to Kuro. Hearing me respond, Kuro replied with a voice that contained a mixture of impatience and relief.

-Kaito-kun. Listen carefully Right now, Kaito-kun is in a virtual world that s.h.i.+ro created. You have a deadline of 30 days.

[30 days!?]

Hearing her explanation, I hurriedly turned my attention to the calendar on the wall. I see, so this calendar was actually showing the time limit which means that theres only 24 hours left for the deadline!?

-If you dont get out of there by that time limit, Kaito-kun will lose all your memories of the year you spent in this world!

[Wha]

My memory? The year I spent in this world Which means, all the memories I experienced since I was caught up in the Hero Summoning will disappear.

That was the penalty that I have to pay when I lose? There was something regarding that matter that Im bothered with, but lets put that matter off for later. First and foremost, I need to escape from this virtual world.

-Earth G.o.d told me that for Kaito-kun to escape from that world You need to go to a place where you can clearly see that the world youre in is fake.

[Clearly seeing that this world.. is a fake?]

-Its just a guess but Im sure that it would be a place that has something to do with Kaito-kuns parents.

[ ! ? ]

So thats how it is. I can understand now. This world is my ideal world. A world where my deceased Mom and Dad are alive, and where Kuro, Isis-san, Alice, Lilia-san, Sieg-san and Fate-san more accurately speaking, they were different people, but it still feels like a world where the people I love are here.

And perhaps, just as Kuro guessed This world is the result of me thinking if Mom and Dad were still alive No, perhaps, this world is composed of my innermost desires.

[I understand! For the time being, Im going to that place that I can think of.]

-Unnn Please, Kaito-kun. Make sure to come back

[Kuro? Kuro!?]

-s.h.i.+ noti huh Kaito un Do. best

After that, I didnt hear Kuros voice anymore. From what I could hear, I guess s.h.i.+ro-san noticed and cut off the communication between Kuro-san and I.

Anyway, theres no time left! I need to move now!

After wearing the necklace back to my neck, I hurriedly grabbed the bare necessities and ran down the stairs.

On the way, I looked into the living room and noticed that Mom and Dad, who were supposed to be home for the holidays, werent here.

Feeling a little uncomfortable about it, I ran out of the house but soon after, I had a bad feeling, so I turned my gaze to the sky.

[What is that? The sky is so dark.]

The sky up in the sky wasnt blue, but its dark no, black. As if the sky had been painted over, the sky was pitch-black. However, it still isnt night. The surrounding area was still as bright as day, but only the sky was black.

Not only that, as even though Im in a residential area at the end of the year There wasnt a sign of human presence anywhere.

[..]

Its just a guess, a hunch per se but I understood. That up to this point, this virtual world had been a world that was keeping me from noticing its true ident.i.ty. However, now that Im aware of it no, now that Ive remembered, the worlds aspect changed.

Yes, perhaps it has changed to a world thats keeping me from escaping.

The world had transitioned to the second stage huh Bring it on! Im definitely gonna go out of here I wont lose my precious memories of Kuro and the others!!!

Right after I strengthened my resolve with my fists clenched The doors of several houses in the residential area opened almost simultaneously.

[Eh? ..Huh?]

And then, from all those houses, humanoid beings with all-black body This might be weird to say and too spicy to peoples imagination, but they looked like people walking around wearing black full-body tights. These humanoid beings that were clearly not human, appeared in a line, approaching me with slow steps.

[Wait!? Whoaaaaa!?]

No matter how I look at it, theres no way that the strange monsters that appeared in this situation were friendly. Immediately turning around, I started running down the street in a mad dash.

What the heck are those things!? What the heck is happening!? They were moving slowly, but theres an unusual number of them Zombies? Are those freaking zombies!? It obviously wouldnt be a good idea if I get caught by them, right!? Wait, they started coming out in every houseeeees!?

Is this the second ordeal? When the heck did I become the protagonist of a zombie moviiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeee!??

? ? ? : [Shallow Vernal-sama, what a devil you are! Giving an ordeal that would need some sort of combat ability to someone with a physical strength like Kaito-san Thats the work of a devil! Do you have any idea how physically inept Kaito-san is!? Do you not have blood or tears?]

Serious-senpai : [In over 600 chapters, were finally getting one real fight moreover, it seems like this is one of those losing battles for the protagonist.]

T/N: 63/187