Nine PM.
The four of them parted ways. They'd reached the area near the Fujibayashi sisters' rental apartment.
"Ren, next time, come visit our place! Bring Hayato-kun too. I'm sorry about today. We can't really host you properly yet. The apartment's still a complete mess with boxes everywhere."
"It's completely fine! We'll definitely come next time. Ryou, if you run into any problems, just ask me directly, okay? I've been working in Chiba for several months longer than you, so I know the area pretty well."
"I will. Thank you!"
They said their goodbyes.
Now Hayato would walk Nanase Ren home.
"Hayato-kun, maybe I should just head back by myself."
"Worried I'll try something?"
She immediately shook her head. "No! It's just... my apartment is pretty far from yours. If you walk me all the way there and then head back, it'll be really late."
"There's a simple solution to that."
"What solution?" She had complete confidence in his problem-solving abilities.
"I'll just stay over at your place."
Nanase Ren froze for a solid ten seconds before her brain connected and she started frantically refusing.
"No, absolutely not!"
"I won't do anything inappropriate."
"I don't believe you! Men always say that and then... and then..."
"You sound quite experienced with this, Ren."
"I read about it! In books and things! Anyway, you absolutely cannot stay over! I can pay for you to stay at a hotel instead!"
Because if she let him stay over, what might happen tonight... she didn't dare think about it. She had a strong feeling she wouldn't be able to refuse when it came down to it.
So refusing now was her only viable strategy.
"Should we stay together at the hotel?"
"I'll sleep at my apartment, you stay at the hotel!"
"Hey, that's unfortunate."
Hayato was actually curious whether staying at a hotel with Nanase Ren would trigger the Death Game.
"Are you free tomorrow? Or the day after?"
"I have the day off."
She'd just asked Ryou about going shopping this weekend, but Ryou couldn't because she and Kyou needed to organize their new place.
"If you don't mind, would you keep me company while I look around Chiba? I need to buy some things, but I'm not very familiar with the area yet."
She didn't question whether he was really wasn't familiar with Chiba.
But wait... isn't this basically asking her on a date?
"If you have other plans this weekend, that's perfectly fine."
"I have time! How about... the day after tomorrow? I'd like to rest properly tomorrow."
She needed a full day to recover from today's exhaustion and mentally prepare for what was essentially a date.
"That works. The day after tomorrow at 11 AM. We'll decide on the meeting spot later. Just contact me."
"Okay!"
Half an hour later, Hayato walked her to the entrance of her apartment building.
Right up until they parted, he never suggested going up to see her place.
That made Nanase Ren breathe a sigh of relief, though she also wondered if her earlier firm refusal had upset him somehow.
"Next time... next time I'll invite him up. He's probably curious what a woman's apartment looks like anyway."
After watching Hayato's figure disappear completely from view, she headed back up to her apartment. The moment she opened the door, she spotted her underwear scattered on the floor. Including some rather revealing pieces.
She practically flew across the room, scooped them all up in one motion, and stuffed them in the bathroom.
"Next time, I absolutely must clean up before going out. Must remember."
She kept muttering to herself.
If Hayato had seen those... too mortifying to even imagine. Just thinking about it now was making her want to disappear.
An hour later, Hayato returned to his own apartment just before midnight.
After washing up, he sat at his desk, pulled out his notebook and pen, and began recording his thoughts about the day.
"This Death Game instance, 'Route 18,' appears to be connected to the Chiba Station fire incident...."
"So was the Chiba Station fire truly just an ordinary accident? Or someone targeting me?"
Hayato had serious doubts about that.
One time is a coincidence, but twice? That's a pattern. He had a strong hunch he'd encounter more strange games related to the Chiba Station fire accident.
"Need to investigate the truth behind that fire. Search for relevant information."
Hayato picked up his pen and added it to his notebook's planning section.
He had a good memory, but he preferred recording important things. Made it easier to organize his time properly.
He'd made plans with Nanase Ren for the day after tomorrow, so that ruled out that day. Tomorrow, then.
"Tomorrow. Chiba Fire Department and Chiba Police Station. Find the detailed investigation reports on the fire."
The decision was made. The sooner he learned the accident's details, the better prepared he'd be for whatever tasks and scenarios the Death Game threw at him next.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
His pen tapped against the desk, a steady rhythm while he thought.
"Nanase Ren didn't receive an invitation to the Death Game either. For now, it seems participants in reality routine tasks won't receive invitations to become players."
The overall number of Death Game players would be smaller than he'd initially expected.
There'd been seven passengers total on Route 18, including him. Two survived. Even so, Nanase Ren wasn't invited. Compared to Ai Hoshino and Kuroda Hikaru from the love hotel incident, Nanase Ren's contribution on that bus was definitely higher.
She'd sutured wounds on the supernatural entities. Cooled fevers. Used most of her strength helping others.
So participation and contribution weren't really connected to invitation qualifications.
Player qualifications, as far as he could tell, only related to the type of mission within the Death Game itself.
Scratch. Scratch.
Hayato carefully recorded today's bus experience, mentally reviewing whether he could've survived without his time-stopping ability.
"That game with the little boy was difficult. Pure luck or maybe the kid went easy on player."
But in that scenario, passengers would inevitably die regardless.
Projects relying purely on luck were the least safe option.
Without a time stop, he honestly didn't think he could have gotten through it safely.
At this time, that familiar mechanical sound.
[Ding!]
[Strange breath carrier Nanase Ren confirmed safe.]
[Reality routine task completed.]
[Reward 1: 1500 game points. (Blessing 'Half Point' is in effect)]
[Reward 2: 150 experience points]
[Reward 3: Random White Quality Item x2]
[Your current experience: 250/200. You can consume experience to upgrade the game character level.]
[Upgrade now?]
"Upgrade."
As soon as the word left his mouth, new notifications arrived.
[Congratulations! Game level upgraded to Lv1.]
[You gain 1 free attribute point.]
[Equipment item function unlocked. You will now receive relevant information when obtaining equipment items from the Death Game.]
[Backpack function unlocked. Current backpack slots: x5.]
[Your Death Game journey has just begun.]
[We hope you enjoy the experience!]
Equipment items unlocked? Backpack slots?
Hayato looked at his game character panel. Level now showed Lv1, with 50/300 experience.
"Next level requires 100 more experience than before. Need 250 more to hit level 2."
Each level gave 1 attribute point. He currently has 8 total. Hadn't used any yet.
"Let's test this backpack function."
Hayato focused his consciousness. The pen in his hand vanished.
"Already in the backpack, taking up one slot. Wonder if multiple similar items can stack in the same slot."
He grabbed a book.
Ten books? No problem. Then he tried stuffing clothes and pants together. Successfully stored in one empty slot. But the next piece of clothing went to a second slot.
Hayato experimented repeatedly. Tried stuffing books into clothes and storing them in the same space. Failed.
After multiple tests, he had a general understanding.
"Items with the same materials can be stacked together. Don't know if there's an upper limit on volume or weight yet."
Probably was one. The amount of clothes and books he'd taken was too small. Needed more experimentation.
"Once a slot's been used, can't put the same type of item in that same space anymore."
"If I take them out..."
All the clothes appeared on his bed at once.
He understood the backpack function now. Regardless, the backpack unlock gave him major convenience. He could carry items anywhere. Dangerous items could go straight into storage.
"Equipment. Equipment from the Death Game. Haven't extracted those three white quality items yet."
"Extract."
He opened the mail section in his panel. Two messages waiting. He selected an extract.
[Congratulations! Obtained Alloy Dagger x1, Quality: White.]
[Congratulations! Obtained 100,000 yen, Quality: White.]
[Congratulations! Obtained Gas Mask x1, Quality: White.]
Equipment quality started at white, the lowest tier. Then blue, purple, orange, gold. Gold was the best. Skills used the same color system to distinguish quality, rarity, and value.
"My time-stopping superpower should count as a skill. Quality should be at least gold."
Hayato smiled. Unfortunately, the time stop ability didn't appear in the panel column.
100,000 yen was spendable. Alloy daggers and gas masks could be purchased in reality too. Not particularly special items.
"Better than nothing."
Hayato stored the gas mask and alloy dagger in his backpack slots.
Opening his desk drawer to put away the notebook, he suddenly spotted the cloth-wrapped item inside.
"This..."
He remembered.
During Hoshino Ai's concert, he'd extracted those mysterious black beads from that man's forehead.
Hayato unwrapped the fabric and took out the black beads.
Instantly, information appeared in his vision.
"So these really are items from the Death Game? I thought it was just materials from the corpse...."