Chapter 162: Sacrifice yourself to save others

"I ended up in the doll shop next door. No one was there except me. I managed to escape, but when I touched the shark costume, I lost control of my body and put it on involuntarily. After that... I just wanted water," Chika recounted, patting her chest in lingering fear. "It felt like I was wandering in a desert for a whole week without a single drop to drink. I thought I'd die if I didn't get water immediately."

"That's impossible," Amamiya remarked calmly.

"Huh?"

"If you go a week without water in the desert, you won't survive."

"That was just a figure of speech!"

"..."

Amamiya's gaze drifted downward, landing on the girl's still-moist, pink lips. He seemed to consider something before asking thoughtfully, "Are you still thirsty?"

Chika's face flushed bright red, and she instinctively covered her lips with her hands. "W-What?! You want to feed me water again?"

"I've already taken off the doll costume, so of course I'm not thirsty anymore!" she stammered.

"Please don't let your mind wander," Amamiya said, his tone serious. "I was only asking if you're still thirsty. Two sips of water shouldn't be enough to completely quench your thirst, which suggests that you weren't actually thirsty in the first place. The need to drink water must have been some kind of mental influence from the costume."

As he finished speaking, Amamiya let go of his grip on the immobile shark costume.

Suddenly, the suit began moving again, trying to take control of a new host.

"Where's the monster you promised?" Chika muttered in frustration. "It's just a doll costume—how can you call this a monster?"

Even though there was nothing inside the costume, it moved on its own. Couldn't that be considered monstrous?

[After careful observation, you notice something special about this doll costume.]

"Hmm... Something special..." Amamiya thought for a moment, then turned to Chika. "Do you think the other doll costumes in the shop can move too?"

"I-I don't think so," Chika replied, blinking in confusion. "When I was there, all the lights were off, and none of the other dolls seemed to be moving. They were just regular dolls."

Before Amamiya could respond, his phone vibrated softly.

"Huh?" Chika's eyes widened in surprise as she leaned closer. "Why do you have a phone?"

Amamiya responded nonchalantly, "It's an item I got from a treasure chest in the restroom."

"Oh!" Chika quickly caught on. "The things Kaguya-chan prepared beforehand are actually appearing in the game? So this mall is real?"

"That seems to be the case."

Amamiya unlocked his phone, revealing a new message.

It was from Hanamori—the second person to receive a phone in the game. She was the spy maid.

"Fishball, where are you?"

In order to prevent monsters from impersonating players or getting hold of their phones, everyone had agreed to a secret code before entering the game. If the code didn't match, no words would be exchanged, and they'd walk away immediately.

Amamiya's secret code was "fishball."

Amamiya typed back: "Secret code."

Hanamori replied: "I'm Strawberry Daifuku."

The code matched.

Amamiya texted back: "I've found 'Pes.' She's in the restroom on the second floor, east side."

Pes was the code name Chika had given herself for the game.

Hanamori responded, "I'm on the first floor. I'll head up to meet you soon."

"..."

Putting away their phones, Amamiya and Chika headed toward the women's restroom on the second floor to retrieve the equipment box.

"Amamiya-kun, keep your eyes closed and don't peek," Chika grumbled.

"Sorry, but I've already had a thorough look," Amamiya responded, deadpan.

"Ugh, that's gross."

"Thanks for the compliment."

"I wasn't complimenting you."

It didn't take them long to find the cleaning supply box, inside of which lay a three-piece set: a phone, tablet, and bracelet.

"...Equipment upgrade!"

Chika slipped the bracelet onto her wrist, then unlocked her phone, her voice full of surprise. "Wow! This is the first time I've ever used a phone in a game. How cool!"

"Oh, right," she added, "what happens if we try calling the police right now?"

"I already tried. The calls won't go through," Amamiya shook his head. "Text messages don't work either. We can only communicate within the mall."

Chika blinked, confused. "Why is that?"

Amamiya asked, "Is there a digital store in the mall?"

"Of course there is."

"Then if we had the time and energy, we could break into the digital store and 'purchase' anything we wanted for free." Amamiya mused. "I think the ability to use digital devices to communicate is part of the game's rules. We just bypassed the setup and got the 'reward' early." 

Moments later, soft footsteps could be heard approaching the door.

"I'm Pes," Chika whispered.

"Strawberry Daifuku," Hayasaka responded as she stepped into view.

With her hair tied in pigtails, black-framed glasses, and a dark sweater that blended into the night, Hayasaka's presence was almost invisible.

The two sides finally met.

Now, three of the five-member team had successfully regrouped.

"Great," Chika said, placing a hand on her waist and nodding in satisfaction. "Now all that's left is Kaguya-chan and Umi-chan."

Amamiya then suggested, "Check the surveillance equipment, see if you spot anything useful."

"I'll take care of it," Chika quickly volunteered, grabbing the tablet and fumbling through the surveillance feed. Her clumsy handling made Hayasaka twitch slightly.

'So slow,' she thought. 'Poking the screen with just one finger? What are you, a grade-schooler?'

Chika soon spoke up, "I haven't spotted Kaguya-chan or Umi-chan, but there are definitely wandering monsters: a strange little train, a teddy bear, a woman in red holding an umbrella, Ronald McDonald, and even a reindeer... Wow, this surveillance is super helpful!"

"Don't get too comfortable," Amamiya warned. "Those are just the creatures in the hallway. Don't forget about this shark doll."

"Is there something special about this costume?" Hayasaka asked, curiosity piqued.

Without a word, Amamiya released his hold on the shark costume. In an instant, it sprang to life, flailing its fins and lunging towards Hayasaka.

"Be careful, Hanamori-san!" Chika called out quickly. "Don't let it touch you! If it does, you'll lose control and end up putting it on. After that, you'll get unbelievably thirsty—like you've been stuck in a desert for three days without water."

Amamiya swiftly restrained the shark doll again and added in a low voice, "Let Hanamori-san keep an eye on the surveillance. We're heading back to the doll shop."

"Huh?" Chika asked, confused. "Why are we going back?"

"There's something I need to verify."

"..."

With the surveillance feed providing some level of security, the trio made their way out of the bathroom and returned to the doll shop without any trouble.

As they pushed open the door, the interior was filled with all kinds of dolls. What would seem cute during the day had now taken on an eerie presence, evoking an inexplicable sense of fear under the midnight moon.

"Fujiwara-san," Amamiya turned to the pink-haired girl, "touch the dolphin doll and see if it comes alive."

Hearing that she had to touch a doll again, Chika's expression tensed. Having been "bitten" once by the shark costume, she was understandably hesitant to face another.

"I'll do it," Hayasaka said, unconcerned.

"No," Chika quickly stopped her, raising her hand.

What if Hanamori-chan ended up controlled by the doll too? She'd probably get just as thirsty as I did... Chika thought. Would I have to ask Amamiya to feed her water too? 

'I might not care, but Hanamori-chan would definitely hate that, right?'

"I'll do it," Chika said, inhaling deeply as she stepped forward.

'Sometimes, you've just got to sacrifice yourself for others!'