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Classmate wa Isekai de Yuusha ni Natta kedo, Ore dake Gendai Nihon ni Okizari ni Narimashita - Chapter 110

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Chapter 110 – The Cultural Festival Has Begun, Part 2

“So this is Class 2-B’s room…”

On the second floor of the school building, all the windows of Class 2-B’s classroom were covered with black curtains. Illustrations of jack-o'-lanterns and cartoonish ghosts were pasted on them, and a girl in a ghost costume stood at the entrance near the blackboard, acting as the receptionist.

At a glance, it looked like a fairly decent haunted house straight out of a drama or manga. Whether due to the festival mood or not, there was quite a line here too—though not as long as the one at the hot dog stand.

“Wow, that was scary!”

“Yeah, that trap really got me!”

Most students leaving the room seemed pleased. Apparently, the class had prepared some clever tricks.

“Let’s line up for now.”

“Sure. …It might be inappropriate to say, but I’m kind of excited.”

“…Honestly, I’m actually looking forward to it too.”

Despite having encountered and even fought real ghosts and vengeful spirits, here we were, getting excited over a haunted house. Even I was surprised at myself as we waited for our turn.

“Welcome to Class 2-B’s Heart-Pounding Haunted House! Please write your class and surname in this logbook!”

A girl dressed like a vampire—complete with horns, fangs, and a red cape—cheerfully greeted us when our turn came.

As instructed, Kyōri and I wrote our class and surnames in the logbook and were about to enter when—

“Ah, wait a second!?”

The vampire-costumed girl looked at the logbook, suddenly grabbed Kyōri’s arm, and asked:

“Um, sorry, but aren’t you in the Literature Club? Do you know where Ikoma-san is?”

“Ikoma-senpai?”

“Yes. She was supposed to be playing the ghost in our haunted house, but we can’t get in touch with her. Have you heard anything?”

Apparently, Ikoma-senpai was supposed to be on duty here, and this girl was worried because she hadn’t shown up or contacted anyone.

“I’m sorry. I haven’t been able to contact her either…”

“I see. Sorry for stopping you.”

The girl gave us an awkward smile and stepped away.

…From her reaction, it seems only Kyōri and her group had been informed that Ikoma wouldn’t be attending the festival. Why just them? Why distinguish between her classmates and Kyōri?

“Shuu-kun?”

“Ah, sorry. I was just thinking. Let’s go.”

With that, I pushed aside my thoughts and entered the haunted house.

“Wow…”

“Hmm…”

Inside the classroom, the lighting was dim, mimicking candlelight and creating a spooky atmosphere. Black curtains hanging from the ceiling formed a path, guiding visitors from entrance to exit.

Yep, definitely a haunted house.

As we walked through the designated path, I suddenly felt someone’s presence nearby.

“Baaaah!!”

“Whoa!?”

A ghost draped in a white sheet with cutouts for eyes and mouth suddenly jumped out in front of us. I was so startled I shouted, and the ghost, seemingly amused, vanished behind a curtain.

Damn, that scared me.

Even a cheesy costume like that is frightening when it jumps out at you in the dark.

Looking over at Kyōri, I saw her staring silently toward where the ghost had disappeared. …Was she too scared to move? I guess jump scares get to her too.

Just as I was about to say something to calm her—

“…Was that a Western-style ghost? Or maybe it resembled a new type reported in the Kinki region a few years ago…? Could there be a connection between apparitions and the collective unconscious of humans…?”

…Turns out I was totally wrong.

Kyōri had just been seriously analyzing the ghost costume like a professional.

“…Kyōri, we’re holding up the line. Let’s keep moving.”

“Oh—r-right! Sorry.”

She snapped out of it and bowed her head. Well… I guess that’s one way to enjoy it.

With that, we continued deeper into the haunted house.

“Thank you very much! Please fill out the feedback survey if you have time!”

Upon exiting the classroom, we were handed a survey and pen by a male student dressed as Frankenstein’s monster.

The survey asked questions like “Were you satisfied with this exhibit?” and “Which trick scared you the most?” I quickly filled it out, writing things like “Very satisfied” and “The first ghost jump scare was the most surprising.”

“When you're done, please drop it in this box!”

The same student held out a box with cartoon ghosts drawn on it.

As I placed my survey into the box, I turned to Kyōri.

“…That was startling. …In this context, ‘startling’ means surprised, right? …Then…”

She was still pondering how to answer the survey, having spent the entire haunted house analyzing the costumes’ origins. Looks like it’ll take her a while.

Thinking it might be a bit, I tuned into a water-magic-powered drone I had set up beforehand, eavesdropping on the surrounding 2-B students’ conversations.

“…Hey, I want to check out the food stands too.”

“…We have to hold back, okay? Ikoma isn’t here, so we’ve got to cover. I wanna leave early too.”

As expected, they were panicking over Ikoma’s sudden absence. Understandable, since she disappeared without notice.

“…Ikoma dumped all the work on us. I thought we’d get to relax this festival…”

“Shh! Don’t say that where others can hear. There are underclassmen around.”

“…But it’s rough, right? We used to leave all the annoying stuff to Ikoma.”

…Well, that’s unpleasant.

Seems like the class treated Ikoma as their go-to errand girl. Now that she’s missing, they’re dealing with the consequences.

(The haunted house itself was fun, though…)

At least I got the info I wanted. Once Kyōri finishes her survey, we should leave.

Just then, the student who had played the ghost earlier appeared, taking off her white sheet to reveal a female student. She stormed over to the Frankenstein-costumed student.

“Hey! Where the hell are Kidera and the others!? My shift’s over already!”

“H-Hey, Harada, don’t take off your costume here! They went in dressed up a bit ago…”

“What!? I didn’t see them anywhere!”

Apparently, she was angry that her replacements hadn’t shown. But according to him, they had gone in dressed up. Well, it’s easy to lose people in the dark…

“Excuse me, I’ve finished the survey…”

“Oh! Sorry! Please drop it here.”

Kyōri, finished with her survey, handed it in. The girl finally noticed us and, slightly embarrassed, muttered she was going back to look again.

As I pulled out the festival pamphlet, thinking about where to go next—

“Zzzzrrrrrr…”

“Eek!?”

“W-What the…!?”

A deep dragging sound echoed, and the entire school building shook violently. Thinking it was an earthquake, I instinctively shielded Kyōri and scanned the area.

“H-Hey…! What the hell is going on!?”

“What is this…!?”

“Shuu-kun… this is…”

“Tch…”

Everyone’s gaze turned to what used to be the haunted house.

Now, a bizarre alternate space had appeared. Telephone booths, road signs, train crossings, bookshelves, basketball hoops, slides, swings, and TVs were all jumbled together—an unnatural fusion.

And at its center, a gate had replaced the classroom.

◇◇◇

“…We were too late.”

Alicia muttered as she stood outside her school, thinking about what to do next.

Her mission had been to prevent the uncontrollable surge of Ikoma Juri’s powers. She had skipped the cultural festival and was patrolling the city with her subordinates—but missed the enormous anomaly that had occurred.

“Lady Alicia. It seems you’ve noticed as well.”

In front of her appeared Ibara, a modified doll under the command of Iori Shuu.

“…So you weren’t with him.”

“No. I was instructed to monitor Ikoma-sama’s condition.”

“I see. That explains why you weren’t caught in this disaster.”

Iori Shuu had claimed to be safe, but his true origins were still unknown—Alicia couldn’t let her guard down.

She extracted information from Ibara and turned her eyes once more toward the school.

—Her everyday school building.

But that was only a façade.

“…”

She tried entering again but was instantly teleported back to the front gate.

“To replace the entire school with an alternate dimension… Not even my master could pull that off.”

“Oh, I don’t know. He might be able to manage it.”

“Hehe… You really think highly of your master, Lady Alicia.”

Exchanging light banter with Ibara to steady herself, Alicia began forming a response plan.

(First, seal off the surrounding area. Then memory manipulation and information control for all involved…)

All they could do now was evacuate civilians and cover up the truth.

Only one person trapped inside—Iori Shuu—had a chance of resolving this abnormal space, likely the result of Ikoma Juri’s power spiraling out of control.

“Ibara, you’re coming with me. You’re the only one who can confirm whether he’s still alive in there.”

“Understood.”

With that, Alicia issued orders to her subordinates to begin the containment and cover-up—hoping with all her might that this massive anomaly would soon come to an end.

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