(kaguya's pov)
She couldn't recall how she had ended up in such a place.
Her last memory was of an utterly ordinary school day. Yet the next time she opened her eyes, she found herself lying inside a filthy, decrepit house—on a bed that looked like it hadn't been washed in who knew how long.
Kidnapping? Blackmail? Imprisonment?
A flood of possibilities rushed through her mind.
No matter what, this was an unprecedented emergency—one she had to face with her full vigilance.
Kaguya Shinomiya instantly shifted into battle-ready mode.
For someone to snatch her straight from school, to bring her—the eldest daughter of the Shinomiya family—into a place like this, it was impossible for an ordinary criminal.
Extreme caution was necessary. First, she needed to assess the situation. Any rash move could lead to unpredictable consequences.
She ran through all these thoughts in an instant, without the slightest hesitation, and quickly devised a course of action.
She cracked her eyes open just a sliver. She then noticed the man lying beside her. He seemed to be asleep, but his head made faint movements, betraying that he too was quietly surveying the room.
From this angle, it was difficult to pin down his age. But he was clearly a young man. His clothes looked dirty with red-and-white stains. He was tall with a physique that was not at all frail. Considering he might be a trained operative, a head-on clash would be dangerous.
To be in such close proximity to an unfamiliar man—for Kaguya Shinomiya, raised like a girl kept in a gilded box—was unbearable in itself.
However, her rationality made her fully aware that she was now isolated in an unfamiliar environment. Acting with caution is indispensable.
"Is he a victim too? Or an enemy?"
Either way, from the way he pretended to sleep while secretly observing the room, it was clear he was just as careful and wary.
If Hayasaka were here... No. As the Shinomiya family's eldest daughter, she should not waste thought on things that do not improve the present situation. She had to act now.
As Kaguya Shinomiya's mind sped through possible strategies, a piercing sound struck—and she lost control of her body.
[...Player Kaguya Shinomiya, this is the first game you will participate in. Level: Dusk]
[Condition for clearing: Escape from Shirakawa Apartments]
[Time limit: seven days]
The specifics matched what Y/N had heard, differing only in the name.
Unlike Y/N, however, Kaguya—who had no idea what this thing was—was for a moment shaken to her core.
"What on earth was going on?"
Her body would not move.
It felt as if even her breathing had stopped.
But that was not what shocked the girl most.
It was the fact that this defied all common sense—an inexplicable, fundamentally unreal thing, something that should not exist.
"What kind of situation had I fallen into?"
No—this was not the time to panic. Fear would not help her escape.
As a Shinomiya, her mind had long been tempered. Even faced with a circumstance that utterly exceeded common sense, she forced herself to calm down and listen carefully to the voice.
"Sacrifice Game? Seven-day time limit?"
Those three hints sounded like meaningless wordplay, yet since the voice had given them, they had to hold some significance.
In that moment, Kaguya Shinomiya's mind raced with possibilities.
Soon, as the voice faded, she regained control of her body. Kaguya sat up quickly, her gaze instantly locking on the person beside her.
"Damn it..."
By contrast, Y/N's reaction was far more dramatic.
The abrupt loss and sudden return of control left him uncomfortable. He rolled straight off the bed. Even so, his hand instinctively grabbed the sheet of paper lying on the nightstand, clutching it to his chest as he scrambled to his feet and backed away.
Their eyes met.
"Ahem, uh, hello? Nice weather today, huh?"
He had no idea what would be best to say in this moment, but figured he might as well start with a greeting.
With that thought, Y/N raised his hand toward the girl sitting on the bed, putting on the most harmless smile he could muster.
Glancing at the paper Y/N held, Kaguya stepped down from the bed. She stopped by its edge, keeping a distance of roughly three meters from him, and spoke. "...That voice just now—you heard it too?"
Based on earlier observations, the chance that this man had been kidnapped and thrown into this place just as she had was high. Though she could not yet rule out other possibilities, conversation was still necessary.
"If you mean that voice telling me I was now a player in the Sacrifice Game, the one that froze my body in place—then yes, I heard it. So you, like me, were inexplicably brought here?" Y/N answered while edging back another step, putting more space between them so both could feel safer.
"I see. My name is Kaguya Shinomiya. May I ask yours?"
From that indifferent face, Y/N could read nothing of her feelings. Her voice, nearly flat, betrayed nothing either.
This black-haired girl might still carry a trace of youth, but the icy aura surrounding her was another matter entirely. Y/N suspected that even a grown man would struggle to remain calm under that piercing gaze, sharp as a blade.
Still, as someone who was used to analyzing strategy games, Y/N was not so easily shaken. He calmed down swiftly and spoke at once: "My name is Y/N."
"Shinomiya-san, if I'm not mistaken, you suddenly lost consciousness, and when you woke, you found yourself here—am I right?"
"That's how it was for me. I was at home packing when all of a sudden, I ended up here. In any case, I think we've been caught up in something extremely serious. Do you have any experience with this sort of thing?"
"Also, this sheet of printer paper caught my attention earlier. I think something might be written on it—the rules. Do you want to take a look?"
Y/N organized his words carefully, speaking at a steady, unhurried pace as he lifted the paper in his hand.
Though he hadn't examined its contents in detail—too focused on watching her movements—he had still caught a glance at the words Rules of Life in Shirakawa Apartments written across the top.
Even so, Y/N maintained a cautious distance from her.
For one thing, there were still far too many unknowns in their situation. For another, he remembered clearly: in the original story Kaguya Shinomiya actually had formidable fighting ability. She had once overpowered a man with sheer strength.
And now, with her clearly on high alert and just as unsure of the situation as he was, if he rashly approached her, he might very well end up beaten into the ground.