I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

Yang Nai stepped forward first, grabbed his sleeve, and peered over his shoulder, her face full of curiosity as she examined the dark, shadowy passage that seemed impenetrable to even light. She couldn't help but shake her head in amazement:

"Tsk tsk tsk, look how eerie this passage is made. Could it be that some kind of scene will appear where you walk along and arrows shoot out from the walls, with rolling stones chasing after you?"

"No, we can just walk down," Itoko answered for Tenkuji Yu.

Tenkuji Yu didn't completely believe the silver-haired girl's words, but he thought about it. The passage in front of him was only wide enough for one person. If they really wanted to set up a trap that would scare away tomb raiders, wouldn't it be a bit cramped?

Anyway, he assumed that, just like when they arrived at the old school building and came here safely, nothing would happen from beginning to end...

To be honest, such a uneventful process was somewhat disappointing.

It's too bland and too fast—just like playing a game by skimming the storyline and getting a speedrun method right away is so boring.

Well, it's better than putting everyone in danger. Whatever.

Too lazy to dwell on this trivial matter any longer, Tenkuji Yu looked back and found that they were braver than he had imagined. They were not afraid of walking down the unknown passage. They quickly tugged at each other's clothes, took their flashlights, and formed a long, straight line, waiting for his command.

Yukinoshita, Asuna Yuuki, Masuzu Natsukawa, Yukinoshita, Utaha Kasumigaoka—

He looked at them one by one, and the way they were arranged was very strange. He didn't know how they were arranged... Why was Yukino willing to follow behind Masuzu?

In any case, after confirming that they were all calm and did not need his words to reassure them, Yuu Tenkuji turned around, turned on his flashlight, and illuminated the darkness in the passage in front of him.

"Don't worry, I won't let you get into any danger."

He uttered those words with confidence and composure, then strode forward, his expression unchanged, and disappeared into the descending, dark passage.

Without any hesitation, the girls followed, quickly getting used to the feeling of pulling on someone's clothes to go down the stairs. However, they were still far from being able to relax and chat casually with the person in front of them. The girls unconsciously pursed their lips, looking ahead seriously, and silently walked into the thick shadows that seemed to have no end.

Kasumigaoka Utaha, who was at the back of the line, glanced strangely at the silver-haired girl who was still standing at the entrance of the women's restroom, seemingly planning to fall behind.

"Why aren't you following us? Didn't we say we needed you?"

“…Yes.” The daze quickly ended, and a fleeting hesitation flashed across Itoko’s face. But before Kasumigaoka Utaha could notice anything amiss, she quickly stepped forward, grabbed the hem of her clothes, and whispered, “Let’s go, we can’t hold them back.”

With her attention focused on the group ahead, Kasumigaoka Utaha didn't find anything strange and quickly turned around to catch up with the others.

And as the silver-haired girl's petite and slender figure, like that of a primary school student, was swallowed up by the dark passage.

The girls' restroom in the old school building shook violently.

Then, an earthquake-like shockwave suddenly descended.

Rumble rumble rumble—

As if an earth bull had casually rolled over, the entire old school building began to shake violently, with cracking and collapsing sounds coming from all directions. The tiles on the walls crumbled and shattered like falling rocks, and terrifying, huge ravines gradually appeared on the ground.

The anomalies were not limited to the old school buildings.

The moment when Yuu Tenkuji and his group disappeared into the passage, the entrance was once again filled with tiles.

Students and teachers preparing for class, office workers taking the tram to the company, diligent writers getting ready to start writing, and shop owners carrying iron roller shutters to open for business—all remained frozen in place, their expressions from the previous second frozen, like lifelike wax figures.

No one pressed the pause button, and the world suddenly came to a standstill—or rather, it came to an end.

The clock on the wall had long since stopped ticking.

The gray snowflakes falling from the sky gently and quietly enveloped the entire city in the stillness of the frozen landscape.

A faint sigh could be heard, bidding them farewell from the distant void.

"Is it finally over... Farewell, imposters."

Chapter 169 [Is a Lie Sunshine or Snow?]

The passage was dimly lit, with only the faint light from a flashlight illuminating half a meter ahead.

No matter how far away you are, no matter how much you shake the flashlight or even use your phone for additional lighting, you can't get the light to penetrate the dense shadows in the distance.

Tenkuji Yu took a careful step, feeling as if she were stepping on solid ground, but there was no sound of her footsteps.

"Sound-absorbing material?" he muttered, confirming that his hearing was temporarily normal, but no matter how hard he stomped on the floor, he couldn't hear any echo.

—Could it be that the system wants to turn this place into a haunted house-like special scene, scaring them so much that they dare not move forward?

Yuu Tenkuji shook his head. Regardless of whether the system was that naive or not, things had come to this point, and no matter how bizarre the scene was, it couldn't stop them from leaving.

He stared intently ahead, seemingly without end, wondering if he should sing a song to lighten the mood and prevent everyone from feeling suffocated by the overly silent environment. Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he abruptly stopped in his tracks.

"What's wrong?" Yukinoshita Haruno was caught off guard, her head gently bumping into his back. She simply hugged him, affectionately resting her chin on his shoulder, and looked ahead with a puzzled expression. "Did something appear? A mimicry, a treasure chest unique to dungeons?"

"No, didn't you notice?"

Without even having the time to criticize her, Tenkuji Yu turned around and pulled her behind him, staring intently into the darkness behind him.

"It's not that they appeared, but that they disappeared... I don't know when it started, but now it's just the two of us left here."

From the moment he stepped into the passage, he was completely focused, so he clearly remembered hearing the breathing of the other five people just seconds before.

But in the blink of an eye, the sound of breathing suddenly disappeared from his ears, leaving only Yukinoshita Haruno who was closest to him—he didn't even have a chance to realize what was happening before he was forced to accept the fact that everyone had fallen behind.

Yuu Tenkuji took a deep breath and then exhaled, trying not to let the unexpected situation affect his composure, and his mind raced as he considered the next course of action.

"Everyone's disappeared? When...?"

Reminded by him, Yukino Yukinoshita also looked in surprise at the empty space in front of her—as if there was a monster hunting them in the dark. She was shielded behind Tenkuji Yu, and the hand that was holding the hem of her clothes was firmly held by him. The warmth from his palm was familiar and reassuring.

But now is not the time to be blinded by love.

Yukino raised her flashlight and shone it around her. To her left and right were stone walls, while in front and behind was the thick darkness that seemed to be inhabited by monsters.

Just as he said, at some point, including Yuuki Asuna who was always holding onto his clothes, the others behind him quietly disappeared down the passage.

Once you hold your breath, the thick silence will fill your mouth and nose like a tidal wave, making you suffocate.

"Tsk..."

Despite it being a rare moment of solitude, Yukinoshita Haruno couldn't feel happy at all. She instinctively clung to his arm for security, and couldn't help but click her tongue in surprise.

"That system agent named 'Itoko,' actually betrayed us in the end... What is she trying to do by isolating the two of us?"

"I don't know. It's also possible that she didn't want to harm us, but that this passage was originally designed that way."

Yu patted the back of her hand, signaling her to relax, and turned the flashlight back down the stairs, half-embracing her as they continued forward.

“I am well aware of the system’s purpose and power. If Itoko really intended to betray me, there would be many more and simpler ways to make me despair. Instead, she chose to make everyone else disappear and leave you alone by my side. There’s no need to think about the worst-case scenario yet.”

"Then why didn't she tell us sooner? It couldn't be that she forgot or didn't know about it, could it?"

Yukinoshita asked in return, "Before we set off, we asked her everything we needed to know and everything we needed to be aware of, but she kept the fact that the others would disappear midway through the trip a secret. It's hard to imagine that she didn't have other intentions."

“Perhaps this is a part that she is restricted from speaking about due to her original body?” Tenkuji Yu shrugged. “I’m not trying to defend her, but besides rational analysis, my intuition also tells me that this shouldn’t be a trap left for me by the traitor.”

"what is that?"

"Whatever it is, we only have two options: turn back immediately or keep moving forward." Yuu Tenkuji lowered his head, looking at her delicate face, half illuminated by the flashlight. "Would you choose to turn back?"

"I knew it wouldn't happen. They probably sealed the entrance already." Yukinoshita Haruno rolled her eyes, her tension gradually dissipating, and her confident ease returning. "Well, there's no turning back now. If we're going to die, we'll probably die together anyway, so there's really nothing to worry about."

Yuu Tenkuji couldn't help but smile wryly: "Don't say such unlucky things... I promised to bring you all back safely."

Although he's currently in dire straits, barely able to save himself, let alone guarantee the safety of everyone else if he's killed...

However, the situation shouldn't be that bad—that's what Yuu Tenkuji's intuition told him.

Leaning against his arm, absorbing the long-lost scent and warmth, Yukinoshita Haruno waved her flashlight and replied casually, "It's no big deal to just say it. You know, I came to this world to find you with the resolve to die with you."

Sky Temple Yu remained silent, and at the swaying ends of her dyed red hair, the corners of the young woman's lips seemed to curve slightly upward.

Her tone brightened: "That's right, I won't let you leave me without my permission until you completely belong to me. I'll chase after you no matter where you are and cling to you no matter what..."

"This is your girlfriend, Yukinoshita Haruno. How about it? Are you starting to remember me? My dear little Haruno~"

I don't know if she was joking or if she said those words with a hint of seriousness.

Gazing at the slightly mischievous smile on her face, Tenkuji Yu could only offer this helpless reply:

Not yet. But my feelings for you are becoming clearer and clearer.

"Really? That's nice." As if suddenly remembering something, Yukino Yukinoshita smiled and then sighed with some emotion, "Thinking about it, we two have really had a lot of troubles... Memory and emotion, one of them is always offline."

"I clearly like you, but I don't know why. I finally regained my memories, but you said you've lost the feeling of liking me."

"I finally waited until you were willing to face me, but it turns out you're either plotting to build a harem or suddenly fall into a coma... Sigh, why is it so hard to fall in love?"

With no memory whatsoever of ever dating her, how should Tenkuji Yu respond to her complaints?

Of course, I pretended not to hear anything, stared straight ahead, and let her wave her arm and berate me.

She didn't know how long she had walked; time seemed meaningless in her light and gentle voice.

"Look!"

The two noticed something was wrong at the same time, but Yukinoshita Haruno was the first to shout it out, pointing her flashlight straight ahead instead of her finger, her surprise and excitement barely concealed.

Just as a journey with no end in sight has finally come to an end, and the treasure chest has finally been found by following the route on the treasure map, a large door with a faint light appeared in front of them, with what seemed to be a line of words carved on it.

To prevent any accidents, Yuuki Tenkuji first held Yukinoshita Haruno's hand tightly, then quickened their pace together, standing vigilantly in front of the gate.

Because the door itself emitted a faint glow, they could see what was engraved on it without using a flashlight.

Is a lie sunshine or snow?

"Is a lie sunshine or snow..." Yukinoshita read it aloud once, tilting her head slightly with a puzzled look. "What does it mean? Is this meant to help us solve the riddle?"

Tenkuji Yuu gazed thoughtfully at the line of text, then glanced at the young woman beside him: "It sounds a bit like a novel volume title, and it also feels related to you... Snow, sunshine, Yukino Yukinoshita."

"...And then I love to lie and deceive people, right? Wow, it really does relate to me~"

She paused, then chuckled lightly, though her eyes held no real joy; a chilling edge lurked beneath her forced smile: "Was it that silver-haired girl? She seems to know everything about what happened between us; it's not impossible for her to mock me like this..."

Yuu Tenkuji shook his head helplessly: "I don't think Itoko would be that bored. Let's think about it in the direction of some kind of hint."

Yukino Yukinoshita shrugged. "It's all so abrupt, who knows where to begin? How about giving me a hint like 'guess a Chinese idiom' or 'guess a food'?"

Naturally, the door stood there silently, ignoring her well-intentioned suggestion.

Not knowing if there was a limit to the number of times one could answer, Yuu Tenkuji didn't try calling out a couple of times to see if he could guess the "password" correctly.

He began to look around, gathering all the information he could—and unsurprisingly, apart from the fact that this was the end of the passage, the door panels glowed, and there were inscriptions, he couldn't find any useful information; it was just that clean and tidy.

"In that case, we have no choice but to take the risk... A lie? Does that mean the door itself is a fictional entity? Sunlight and snow aren't exactly opposites; after all, there are snows that sunlight can't melt..."

Just as Tenkuji Yu's gaze was serious, and his brain was working rapidly, trying to solve the puzzle presented by the system as quickly as possible.

Yukinoshita suddenly reached out, pressed the doorknob, and easily pushed open the door.