BAD END NIGHT - Volume 2, 10: Solitude

Volume 2, Chapter 10: Solitude

Before my eyes was a mess of mops and furniture that had collapsed upon opening the door, somewhat blocking the entrance. I lowered my heavy head and saw a leg powerlessly thrown on top of the dusty floor. Its right knee was bleeding a little. My own leg… I wonder when I injured it.

My head began to catch up and went back through the memory of what I’d been doing. I lost myself in wanting to get away from that place as soon as possible and ran without any destination, then tripped in the hallway. I lifted my head and straightened my gaze, then looked around.

This was that first storeroom I searched with Kaito… He moved around the old desks, bureaus, mops, brooms, and buckets, leaving them piled up near the entrance. So getting in was fine, but getting out looked like a tight fit. But this was much better than the long gallery I’d entered repeatedly while running around, or one of the guest rooms. On the off chance they came looking for me, it would be hard to find me here.

The first shock came when the Mistress called the Doll Boy “Len,” and it merely confused me. I simply wondered, “Wait, why?” But as their conversation continued, my confusion became sadness… and fear… and resentment, and anger. All of my emotions were mixed, and I felt like I was going to burst from them.

Yet, when those emotions peaked, the intensity of them was suddenly gone, and I began to feel like I was watching a play – an ambivalent human drama swirling with love, hate, intrigue. My mind stopped thinking, and I admired the scene unfolding before me ala a play. How much I wish it were only just a play.

“Ahaha… How cruel…”

My hoarse voice echoed futilely in the unoccupied room.

“Somebody… tell me it’s just a lie…”

I reached out to cling to something and touched only air. I saw a hand in my blurred vision. But it was just my own hand… there was only me. No one would take my trembling hand.

I was sad. Regretful. Pained. Lonely. How miserable. I recalled the conversation I’d heard from behind the door piece by piece, and the intense emotions smoldering in my chest welled up to my throat, and I sobbed. I firmly held my mouth with both hands to keep from making any sound. But even so, my intense wailing that I must have wanted someone to respond to echoed in the empty room, only coming back to my own ears. The more severely I cried, the more hollowness it brought.

I had believed in the others unquestioningly as friends. I expected a hand to stroke my head as I wept all alone, a voice to scold me for crying over something like that, a gaze to gently watch in silence, or delicious milk tea that would calm me, but there was nothing like that… there never had been. The first-class actors who could manipulate every sense would not offer me such consolation anymore.

I had never truly been a friend to those professionals. I hadn’t even been betrayed; I’d just convinced myself that I had already become their friend. Idiotic… What a foolish, miserable, impudent mistake. Not seeing how I could never become a friend to them from the start, I made my own stupid assumption and prided myself on it.

“The lead role of this play will die, even if she says and does nothing. That’s her fate… Because it’s the law of this world.”

Earlier, I tripped in the empty hallway while running. I always tripped clumsily, so I was sure it was just that once again. But I was wrong. Just how many times had I felt the fear of death since coming to this world? The breaking stepladder, the fall down the stairs. Not to mention the sword that came down from above. The milk tea that was offered to me with perfect timing: right after hearing the story about the perfect crime of the well-concealed poison. It all seemed too unlucky. But they weren’t just accidents; they were all planned, intentional events…

The star actress who suddenly disappeared – taboo words – she who died – the replacement of lead roles – ninth person – the karma of death – necessary death – to bring her back from the grave – Miku can’t know the truth, or go back to reality – the completion of our objective – the mastermind’s invitation – the sudden troupe audition – the dream I saw this morning – First nighT.

Now, the pieces of the puzzle were assembled… Everything I had felt doubts about finally came together neatly to form a single story.

I had to sever myself from them – from the affection, trust, and bonds I felt. And I had to build resolve to fight against them. I had to think of a way to avoid things going to script, or I would be left all alone in this world to die…

All my sadness over being tricked changed to anger and hate. Just like in that Bad ∞ End ∞ Night. They were fighting, to the point of experiencing temporary death in this fictional world, to drive me toward the death they desired. So I would have to be determined as well, and finish them off before they finished me. This time, I would have them perform the script I had thought up, without letting them realize I’d noticed the truth – and finishing this repeating play with a last act, the actors would step off the stage to applause.

Kaito said that the letter was important. Most likely, this was the End roLL, like I’d predicted. And using the End roLL, I could create a scene they didn’t want – the lead being saved and being able to return to reality. And the things they tried to keep me away from… They were likely related to the usage of the End roLL.

First, the wine bottle. When I searched the wine cellar, there was a single bottle that wasn’t fake, with a bit of real wine left. Gack naturally diverted my attention away from the wine. I should have been very interested in this single non-prop bottle that concealed the potential to be used for something… but before I knew it, he was talking about wine in general, then switched things to an entirely unrelated topic. Maybe this would be the ink. Since when I spilled it on the blank End roLL, it glowed. Now for the other part…

I frantically went around my memories. As I searched for things hidden behind all the actions I’d witnessed since coming here, a particular scene came back to me. Rin was always in the hall, in front of the clock… Yes, the clock hands…! When I tried to approach them, she said it was dangerous, and her eyes threatened against coming any closer… I had to hurry and get those hands!

When I stood up, pain shot up my right knee. I took the handkerchief Luka gave me out of my pocket and wrapped it tightly around my knee. It was faintly soaked with the blood which still hadn’t stopped.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Behind my eyelids, I imagined another me.

She arrived late to their meeting and stepped into the dim room looking very apologetic. Everyone looked her over with some doubt and unease over how very late she was. She, too, looked like she was dying to ask the others something, a little curious about what she’d seen in those books in the library… Slowly, the air in the room grew tense, each party wanting to probe the other… She made a face full of unease, yet trusted them, and approached saying she’d found a hint toward finding the next page. Acting stupidly and easily-fooled, yes, like an audience member… Her objective was to steal their script.

Yes, I didn’t know a thing. Wholly ignorant of being number nine, the pitiful replacement, I would dance for them.

I hid the clock hands in my skirt pocket, held the wine bottle in my left hand, and with my open right, lightly knocked on the door to the study.

“Searching the stockhouse certainly took you a while. We were all waiting for you.”

The Mistress sitting on the sofa nearest the door welcomed me with a concerned smile. Only slightly opening the extravagant wooden door, I stepped my foot into the room.

“Um… I finished checking the stockroom a little while ago. But I remembered something when I was searching the wine cellar with Mr. Butler. You said you’d rather drink beer than tea earlier, so I brought some…”

“My, so there’s some left! I’m glad.”

“…This is no time to be drinking, all right?”

The Master scolded the rejoicing Mistress with deeper wrinkles in his brow than usual. I could interpret it as an expression with some unease; because the Villager had brought the wine bottle, a key to progressing the story. Coming inside, I went over to the wall on the right… toward the small table with the script. The armchair across from it was empty, so I was able to sit down there in a natural way.

Paying no attention to the script, the Villager looked fidgety about something else – she couldn’t help but be curious about the things she heard in the library earlier… but she was pondering how to break the topic. The inhabitants, meanwhile, were likely formulating a plan to steal the letter.

“Oh, did you find the page? Alas, I’ve had no luck at all. I haven’t found so much as a scrap of paper…”

The Lady started things off. The word “paper” was intended to cause a breach.

“Yes, same here! The kitchen had nothing but paper napkins for dining!”

“And the newspapers in the living room all had things written on them… Those won’t do. To think so much effort would go into finding a single piece of paper…”

“But…! They do SAY things are alWAYS right under your NOSE! YahaHA!”

I knew that they were creating a natural flow of conversation to obtain the blank letter the Villager had. Starting with the Lady, to the Maid, to the Mistress, to the Doll Girl, they formed a perfect chain with no gaps. The usual Villager who knew nothing would surely be enticed by this to say “Oh, if it’s a blank piece of paper, I do have one of those…” and pull out the letter in her pocket.

I only had one chance. To act out, as the uneasy, ignorant Villager… no, as the idiotic Miku who had the role of the Villager, the most natural response…

“I searched as hard as I could too, but… I just couldn’t find it. It’s a little bit depressing… But there’s something I’m curious about… I was wondering, is this letter I have part of the script…?”

“…!”

I slowly produced the letter from my pocket. Their eyes stared with delight. But like hunters reaching for a trapped rabbit, they concealed their true inner joy, putting up expressions of fresh surprise and expectation as if it were the first time game were caught in that trap, then acted slowly and carefully to procure the game without letting it get away.

“I… I didn’t even consider that. Did you have that all along?”

“Yes. I forgot about it, but I’m pretty sure it was always in my pocket…”

I took the folded blank sheet out of the envelope and opened it up to show everyone. They watched me with surprise like they’d never seen it before.

“I saw THAT too, in the HALL! It looked JUST the right SIZE! YAhahaHA!”

“Yes, a PERFECT fit! AhahaHA!”

“There’s nothing on it, huh! Just paper… isn’t it? It looks pretty faded, though…”

“The next page of the script is torn. And rather roughly, so there should surely be irregular tear marks along the inside edge. Indeed, it does seem that the size is just right… But if it’s not the right thing, even attempting to use it as the next page would be dangerous…”

“…! Oh, I see…”

Convinced by Meiko, the Villager complied with her advice, looked down with a bit of despair, and stuffed it back in her pocket like she’d completely lost interest. n-)𝕠-/𝒱)/𝓔..𝗅.)𝑩))1-(n

Immediately, there was a very slight unrest in the air. “If we take the Villager’s letter, it’ll inevitably lead up to us having to test here and now if it can be used as part of the script or not… That’s also rather dangerous… If we run out the time limit, we won’t need to take it by force, will we?” “We should steal it right now… She still has some unease… Who knows what she’ll do next?” I could see those two viewpoints flying across the room wordlessly.

Not at all noticing this confrontation, the Villager was visibly depressed about her hopeful idea being useless, and while wondering how to ask everyone about what she learned in the library, the Butler spoke to her.

“…Perhaps we should at least give it a try. If only checking whether or not the size is indeed a match.”

The others engaged in a wordless war stared at him in surprise. “Don’t take a risk like that, what are you thinking?”, I could almost hear the Master, Mistress, and Doll Girl scream. Meanwhile, the Lady and Doll Boy kept sending looks that said “Hurry up.” Ignoring the silent blame, the Butler standing by the window picked up the script enshrined on the small table and brought it over to me.

Casually standing up, I rested the wine bottle I was carrying against the back of the armchair, and while placing it carefully to keep it from falling, glanced at the route between myself and the door, confirming the distance. All right, no one there.

“No, hold on. Let’s all take a look at this first…”

The Master strengthened his tone, and with the kind of worried smile one would show to a child not listening to you, came toward me with his long legs. The master of the mansion would never have his expression disturbed and raise his voice over such a minor thing. In hiding his internal worry, his act as the Master was crumbling. Demonstrating no notice of that fact, I took the letter back out of my pocket, and moved my hand to open the envelope. Heavy glances gathered on that hand.

I took it out slowly, bringing it halfway up to show it off tantalizingly. Then…

I slipped it back in and re-sealed the envelope.

In unison, everyone stared in bewilderment, seeming to forget about playing their roles. The time was now – for the Villager to dance out as the lead.

“…No, you’re right. If it’s dangerous, maybe I shouldn’t. Who knows what’ll happen… And I was thinking, the script might have to proceed in the correct way… and this might actually be the End roLL, the last page. If that’s true, we have to find the next page, don’t we? Skipping over it and forcing an ending might not end this play properly… and it’ll disappear…”

“Y-Yes…”

I put the letter in my pocket. The Butler stood in front of me, the script laying in his hands, and just blinked, not grasping the reason behind the Villager’s sudden change of heart. But they opted not to deeply question the thinking behind her surprising act; they were confident they’d achieved victory, and relief swept over the room. No doubts, worries, or unease, just relief and a bit of kindness – a nostalgic mood. And…

“Well, I’ll be taking this, okay?”, the Villager said with a smile.

Before anyone could react, I swept up the script in the Butler’s hands – the script held out right before my eyes without any defenses – with my right hand, spun around, grabbed the bottle resting on the armchair, and dashed for the door. I tackled the door left slightly open without dropping speed, turned right down the hall, and sped toward the stairs. So taken off-guard, the others were unable to react promptly; I heard their footsteps quite a distance behind me.

“Wait! Where are you going?!”

Gack was fast. And he was the closest to me… the nearest to the door. If I slowed down even a little, he’d quickly catch me.

“This is mine! I am the star of the play, after all!”

“Miss Villager, wait! I apologize for unsparingly denying your idea!”

“Sigh… Enough of the act. I know everything! Your plotting… and the person you killed!!”

“?!”

As I reached the corridor and was about to hurry down the stairs, Luka shouted in a way resembling a scream.

“Wait, please! Stop! Calm down! What in the world are you saying?! Gyaaah, dooon’t!”

“I’m the ninth person – someone’s replacement, right?! …She was going to be the lead… But she died, so I became her stand-in! And now you want to kill me to revive her, don’t you?!”

“…?!”

Their voices repeatedly calling to stop me came to a halt. I couldn’t afford to look behind me. Only footsteps racing down the hallways echoed off the large hall’s ceiling, further fostering this air of bloodthirst. My nonstop sprint soon had me panting. Such a huge mansion…

Down on the first floor, I turned left, opened the door to the hallway behind the stairs, and made sure to shut it tight. I ran straight down the long hallway to my right. Slightly afterward, I heard someone opening the door I’d just closed. It’s okay, at this distance… I can get away…!

As soon as I was about to flee to the basement down the spiral stairs behind the Twilight ∞ nighT painting – somehow, Kaito, Rin, and Len were already there waiting for me. I quickly put the brakes on my full-speed legs.

“It’s too bad, Miku,” Rin said, looking like she actually did feel something was unfortunate.

I was sure I’d taken the shortest route from the second floor study to the first floor’s forbidden room. Before coming to the study, I even checked all the passages, and simulated it repeatedly in my head…!

“Remember the forbidden room up above you and I searched? Yes, it too has a Twilight ∞ nighT painting hanging outside it, exactly like this one…”

“Pant… pant… No way…!”, I muttered, breathing heavily. But the others who arrived before me weren’t out of breath at all. Because….!

“The secret stairs don’t only go from the first floor to the basement. However, the stairs from the second floor to the first can’t be opened from the first floor side…”

Kaito glanced behind him. I looked back there, and sure enough, there was a staircase leading up where there had only been a wall earlier. I completely overlooked it. Thinking about it, I should have noticed the possibility immediately. Argh… Still catching my breath, I glared at the three.

“…If we’ve been found out, oh well. Still, you certainly did trick us with that hastily-made act. We were thoroughly fooled… Bravo, number nine.”

“Gh…”

Len no longer had the cruel Doll Boy’s unperishing smile, and was back to his usual blank expression that made it difficult to read his thoughts. The footsteps in the distance got louder; one set came to a stop, then two more. Then, considerably later, the last person arrived. All seven surrounded me.

“Gasp… pant… I caught uuup!”

“Sigh… Meg! You really are unathletic. So slooow.”

“Y-You too, Miss Luka! Pant, pant… aren’t you out of breath too?!”

No one tried to take the letter, script, and wine bottle right away. Keeping their distance, they seemed to still be working out a strategy. I had my hands full with the script and bottle, so I couldn’t easily take the letter out of my pocket. But wary after having been tricked already, they surrounded me with a solid formation, and it seemed they could subdue me at any time. I would have to look closely to make an opportunity. I had to focus my senses, and put on an act as subtle as putting a thread through the eye of a needle. First…

“I can’t help feeling regret” – I was one step from being taken into their hands. The idiot Miku bit her lower lip, but trying to keep her composure, silently observed her foes’ next move.

“…Well, what now? We’ll sacrifice you, and exchange your death with hers – indeed, the woman I told you about then. You remember, yes? We all worked so hard to hide it. Our dear friend, lost before you joined the troupe… our star actress, suddenly gone… It rather piqued your interest, didn’t it? Your intuition’s quite sharp. It was planned for her, not you, to be the lead in Crazy ∞ nighT. And to bring her back, we’ve tried to kill you again and again in ways made to look like accidents… as you’ve learned. And until your death succeeds in the way this world desires it, the night will repeat endlessly.

“But what will you do, knowing that? By the laws of this world, the fate of her death is attached to you, which makes it easier for accidents to occur. Firmly-held swords will suddenly fall, stepladders will abruptly break, you’ll fall down the stairs, you’ll trip on nothing. Furthermore, you’re of entirely average intelligence and ability. Versus the seven of us: sharp, capable, professional actors with far better insight than you. The odds are stacked against you.”

“(There’s one of us who’s clearly inferior in physical ability, though…)”

“(M-Miss Lukaaa…!)”

“…”

I hated to admit it, but I couldn’t reply; it was all true. I naturally tightened my grip on the wine.

“Hah… Didn’t I tell you, that night? You have a fatal lack of insight. You don’t understand your own worth. You’re so wrapped up in yourself, you don’t at all notice how others see you, their true feelings. So others can easily trick and exploit you. Well, you reap what you sow.”

“…I know that!! I know so much it hurts… I understand the advice you gave me. You pretended you were letting me be less formal and more friendly with you because you accepted me… but it was just to fill me with relief and affection so I wouldn’t doubt you, wasn’t it? And… all of you, you opened your hearts to me right before and after act one. It was my first play, I was the lead, and for you, it was a play more important than any that couldn’t fail… I thought you showed me concern and gave encouragement to help me make it succeed. But even that was just preparation to ensure that when I was sucked into this strange world, I would trust you as friends and wouldn’t try anything funny…!

“Preparing a sacrifice and exchanging her for my dead predecessor… I don’t know what kind of magic can do that, but it must be the work of the person who created this bizarre world. So you conspired to ask Burlet… no, you made a deal, didn’t you?! You’d put on an amusing show for him to enjoy, and he’d revive the real lead in exchange! It all started when I was picked for the audition… No, earlier than that, when you suddenly put out the audition for a stand-in. Because a total novice, an average girl with no redeeming qualities, would never be picked by the Burlet Company for the lead of his lost play! Anyone could figure that out with a little thought… I could never be the lead! Ahahahahahahahahaha…!”

“…”

Miku’s deranged laughing made everyone hesitate a little. There was nothing funny about it… but her dry laugh wouldn’t stop.

“…Ahh. I looked up to you all that time, barely managing to go to the theater daily on the wages from my job… until just half a year ago. It wasn’t long ago, but it’s already so nostalgic… I was chosen to join the troupe, and I worked myself to death trying to quickly catch up and meet your expectations… But it was all useless… No, it was never necessary from the start… because I was just a disposable replacement.”

I mumbled out these words like I was telling them to myself. The quiet rain of tears became a small river, then increased in volume to an audible stream. The negative emotions wouldn’t stop until they’d cried a sea.

“Yeah… I’m just a replacement! Number nine, her replacement, stupid, miserable, and pathetic…!”

“…That’s right. You understand yourself well, huh?”

“Len! Don’t talk like that… Hold on a moment, Miku. You have it wrong. We’re really not doing this because we want to…”

“It’s useless to smooth things over now, Meiko. Her eyes are verrry scary. She’s found us out, so what’s the point in hiding anymore? Yes, you’re just a stand-in. Didn’t I tell you before? The one who we did everything with, but suddenly left us… Yes, she died… In the theater, shortly before you joined. Pitiable, isn’t it? It was because we cornered her… So we fiercely regretted her death. And then, a miracle occurred. We found we could bring people back by using someone else as a substitute… so we’re trying to do it for her. And you… were picked as the sacrifice for it. That’s the truth. Have all that?”

Luka’s words stabbed me in the gut. The truth was thrust in front of me, and I understood it well enough, but my heart wasn’t ready for the impact; my vision misted up with tears, and it got harder to breathe.

“…Oh, Miss Luka, you’re being excessively harsh… Look, I’m not going to try and make excuses, but we didn’t particularly enjoy tricking you, Miss Miku. At least believe that, okay?”

“…”

“When you say it like that, Meg, it kind of sounds like you’re making fun of her.”

“Miss Rin is right. You’re inviting misunderstandings, Miss Meg. Causing unneeded trouble once again…”

“So, yes, you must realize. There’s not even any time left. No matter what, you lose.”

“Haha… Come to think of it, Len… You gave me blue roses. You wanted to revive her no matter what. So was the meaning of those flowers your way of implying you entrusted me with a miracle… with her revival…? Did you love that dead girl, I wonder?”

“…!”

The stream gradually settled, stabilizing to a calm, smooth surface. Sticking my head out of the water, it was moved only by slight ripples; the undulating was coming to an end. Now – time to make some waves.

I gently put the wine bottle on the floor. A moment after everyone looked down toward it, I took out the clock’s hour hand – the knife – concealed in my pocket, and ran over to the wall of a T-intersection in the hallway. Then I turned around. From this position, everyone was standing in the same direction. A moment after I broke free of their encirclement, Luka and Meiko formerly behind me hurried to the hallways left and right of the intersection, trying to surround me again.

“Miss Luka, Miss Meiko! Don’t move!! If you come closer…”

For an instant, everyone was astonished. Holding the script under my left arm, I reached out toward Rin – the nearest person – restrained her, and pointed the sharp, glinting edge of the clock hand in my left hand toward her.

“I’m serious. No one come any closer!”

An eerie silence dominated the scene. Everyone must have known the hour hand of the clock in the hall was a knife.

“…That’s useless. Rin’s a doll now. It won’t do any good…”

“We’ll just have to see if it’s useless or not, won’t we…? Heehee.”

With a creepy grin, I gazed at the others. The small doll in my hand was trembling slightly, and I could feel her pulse.

“You’re shaking… Unfortunate, huh, Rin…?”

“Stop! Miku, please! Let go of Rin!”

“When you’d kill me without a care…? Ahaha.”

“…!!”

“I’ll be taking that wine bottle, too. I was supposed to drink it during act one.”

Kaito picked up the wine bottle from the floor in his left hand.

“…”

“Kaito…”

“Might you tell us why you need this bottle? What were you going to do with it?”

“…I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that, do you?”

“…I can’t give this to you.”

“You don’t mind what happens to Rin, then?”

“Kaitooo…”

I put the knife right up against Rin’s face, but Kaito didn’t move. The unexpected situation made a little bit of unease came back. If I tried to take it by force, he might pin me down in return. Without the wine… I couldn’t write the ending. What do I do? I had to think. Calm down…

“Stop with this foolishness, and give us the script.”

Kaito stepped forward to close the distance. To incite more fear in them, I brought the sharp edge right up to Rin’s eyeballs. Tears flowed from the Doll Girl’s glass-like eyes. If she could cry even as a doll, surely stabbing her would cause major pain similar to that of dying in reality, I thought dimly in the corner of my mind. The same pain I’d felt dying repeatedly in this world; I didn’t remember any of those deaths at all, but they did. They remembered it all…

Huge tears poured from Rin’s eyes, yet Kaito continued to approach. Deaths in this fictional world would just be fake deaths… so even if I killed them here, another night would come. So as much as it hurt, they could bear it knowing it was a lie… they wouldn’t even fear death.

It seemed that I, as the lead role, couldn’t be killed properly unless the woman’s death scene from reality were perfectly re-enacted. And they too wouldn’t die from being stabbed with the knife, reviving for the next night. Since their memories remained, surely their fear of death would too, but they knew it was only temporary… So strong-willed Kaito could endure it and stubbornly proceed forward.

I let go of trembling Rin and turned the knife toward Kaito. But he still wasn’t fazed at all. I couldn’t hesitate any more. With the knife in my left hand, I tackled Kaito and reached for the wine bottle in his left hand with my right.

Just as it was almost in reach, Kaito lifted his hand up, pulling the bottle away. The red liquid inside shook up, and some flew behind him in a clean parabola. A dull shock ran through my left hand. The knife was stuck in Kaito’s right forearm. Red blood danced before my eyes, mixing with the deep crimson of the carpet below.

“YAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Rin screamed. Everyone was motionless, eyes fixed on bleeding Kaito. His face tightened in pain; he faltered and fell on his knee. After a brief moment, time resumed. Slipping to the side of the others running toward Kaito, I ran for the now-unguarded stairs leading underground.

“…Dammit! Wait!”

The Doll Boy responded promptly and chased after me. But going down the stairs, the difference in our steps gradually widened the distance between us. The footsteps slowly got quieter, and I accelerated to reach the door at the end of the long stairs.

Right after heading through the heavy doors I left open, I put all my might into closing them and firmly barred the door with the wooden beam leaning against the wall. A few seconds later, I heard banging on the door behind me. Looks like I made it. Through the door, I could faintly hear their muffled voices. Len and Luka, Gack, then Meg. Rin and Meiko were probably at Kaito’s side. If all seven of them tackled it, they might be able to bust it open… It was heavy, sure, but a wooden door and lock weren’t reliable. I had to achieve my objective before that happened…

I turned to face the coffins again. The thumping on the door from outside annoyingly continued. But there was something odd. When I listened closely, I thought I could hear that sound from inside the room, too.

The eight coffins were aligned in two neat rows. I came to a stop in front of one, the one placed in the far back. I squatted down and put my ear to the high-quality wood. Thump, thump, thump – I could hear a sound inside, like knocking against the lid of the coffin. Was this the same sound, coming from nowhere in particular, I thought I was imagining upon waking up in this strange world…?

Suddenly, an unknown fear welled up in me. Could I really open these coffins? Imagine if a zombie came out and attacked me… The knocking continued like someone was calling for help. I had no doubt; in this coffin was the woman they had hid away… the former lead.

If they sought to exchange her death and mine, I would have to make her body impossible to exchange with. My only option was to make her die again, in this world, for good. I felt bad about it… But to borrow their words, it was inevitable given the laws of this world. So I told myself, scolding my body beginning to tremble. I was about to kill someone. But she was long since dead… Yes, she was really meant to be dead, so it was fine, it’s fine… I’d seen plenty of blood since coming here, mine and everyone else’s –

Blood…? That’s right… Kaito was injured back there. Remembering the fresh blood, I closed my eyes tight to shake away that image from my mind. That was another thing I just had to accept. They had murdered me again and again. Their whole goal was to exchange my death with the woman sleeping in this coffin… It was self-defense, really. I also questioned if a dead person could really be revived using a sacrifice… but I’d already spent all this time sealed in this bizarre world. It wasn’t strange to think it was possible.

I had failed to steal back the wine bottle. But after that earlier scene, I had a new idea.

I put my hand to my chest to check the time. There were only about ten minutes left in the play. I’d calm down for a moment. I wouldn’t forgive myself for making a mistake now because I was in disarray. If I failed here, all my efforts would be for nothing, my memories would be lost, and everything would begin again from the start. And with them keeping their memories, they’d continue tricking me with more difficult nights still. Before the birth of the next me… that poor, poor me. Here, this night, I would have to put an end to it all.

I slid the minute hand from my pocket into the keyhole on the coffin. Sure enough… a perfect fit.

As I focused myself to calm down, the banging on the door got louder; it seemed the remaining three – Kaito, Meiko, and Rin – had arrived. They had all started charging at the door together.

“Miku!! Open up!!”

“Hey, please, don’t open that coffin now! We’ll tell you the truth, all of it!”

Smash – there was a sound of glass shattering outside the door.

“Hey, are you listening?! The wine bottle’s in pieces now, and everything inside got sucked up by this absorbent mat. Now there’s nothing left to use as ink. Give up and come out here!”

“Len’s right, Miku! Even if you try to write an ending on the End roLL, you have to do it properly, or time won’t move… It’s impossible to do it this time! Look, I promise! Next night, we definitely won’t leave you out! Pleeease!!

Rin screamed bitterly, and seemed to be crying. Her convincing act made my chest tighten briefly. But I couldn’t let myself be fooled anymore. I had to calm down my shaken mind. I couldn’t lend an ear to their kind words. They had taught me the hard way that my greatest weakness was being too trusting of anyone, and too easily fooled.

By now, I’d had enough of this strange, sad night.

“No, it’s too late. Too late for any of that. Heehee… Ahahahahahahahahahahahaha!”

I had no idea if I was happy, angry, sad, or joyous. My wounded heart had exceeded its limits. After going through countless, mind-numbing repetitions of the same night, it all came to this scene. My mind forgot it all, but my body, my hand on the lid of the coffin, remembered that long, painful past well, and shook with delight.

I grabbed the minute hand in the coffin’s keyhole and turned it left. The click of a lock opening echoed through the dark room. With a shrill creaking sound like a bird’s cry, I opened the coffin lid.

“I fooound it.”