Hayato scanned the room, focusing his search on the paintings.
If there were clues hidden in the art room, the paintings had the highest probability of containing them.
Hayato looked again at the portrait of the beautiful black-haired girl among all the paintings. Even as someone with no art background, he thought it looked amazing. The details were incredibly fine.
Whether it was her expression, her skin, her hair, or even the cuffs of her sleeves, everything had been painted perfectly.
The artist was definitely someone who paid attention to detail and pursued perfection.
Fujibayashi Ryou stayed by Hayato's side, her gaze systematically falling on each object nearby in turn.
She was doing her best to contribute.
Kazuya and Chiharu went to the other side of the art room.
The only person not moving at all was Kawasaki, which made Chiharu incredibly frustrated. She was starting to think her boyfriend genuinely had zero brains.
In this dangerous situation, even if he resented and opposed Hayato internally, he shouldn't show it now. He should be actively working and contributing to prove his value.
With her boyfriend's current attitude, Chiharu had no doubt that if something went wrong, Kawasaki would be the first one abandoned.
Actually, thinking about it more carefully, maybe that wasn't such a bad thing.
Chiharu couldn't help but think.
She was planning to break up with him after they got back anyway. With Kawasaki as the prime candidate for abandonment, if something went wrong, he'd be sacrificed first. That actually increased her own survival odds.
Once Chiharu figured this out, she withdrew her attention and focused on the desks, easels, and other items in the art room, searching for possible clues.
Kazuya, who was nearest to her, noticed something odd about the curtains by the window. Full of confusion, he walked over and pulled them open.
WHOOSH!
A human figure. Long black hair...
"AHHHHH!"
Kazuya stumbled back several steps in fright and fell hard on the floor.
The ghost! It was the ghost!
The ghost was already in the art room!
Startled by Kazuya's sudden scream and panic, Chiharu spun around and ran.
When she glanced back at that figure, her pupils contracted, and she ran even faster, heading straight for Hayato. She passed right by Kawasaki on the way, completely ignoring her boyfriend.
"Hayato-san, we need to run!"
When she said "run," what she really meant was hoping Hayato would take her with him. She knew about that miraculous escape ability of his.
Hayato patted the panicking Fujibayashi Ryou, signaling for her to calm down, then walked toward the figure.
"It's a mannequin. Looks like a life-sized doll."
Hayato poked it and spoke.
Only then did the fallen Kazuya shakily look toward the figure again.
"It... it really is a doll."
Kazuya used one hand to push himself up and walked over to Hayato's side. Looking it over from different angles, he couldn't help but amazed.
"It's so well-made. At first glance, I thought it was a real person!"
Kazuya reached out to poke it, but Hayato stopped him with a quick smack.
"What are you still doing here? Go look for other clues!"
"Uh, right away! I'll go search right now."
Under Hayato's urging, Kazuya gave an embarrassed laugh and immediately headed to another area to search. Fujibayashi Ryou patted her chest, calming the fear in her heart before continuing her search work.
Chiharu nervously glanced quickly at her boyfriend, only to see him looking cold and even somewhat disgusted. She immediately understood that her unconscious plea for help had upset him.
You're so useless, how am I supposed to ask you for protection?!
Chiharu thought resentfully, though she knew better than to say that out loud.
Hayato felt around but didn't find any useful items on the doll's clothes or body.
Having a life-sized doll in the art room stood out, so his first instinct had been that it contained clues or key items. But apparently he'd guessed wrong.
"Hayato-kun, keys! I found keys!"
Fujibayashi Ryou's excited voice rang out. She pulled out a set of keys, the constant metallic jingling filling the air.
"Where did you find them?"
Chiharu asked excitedly.
"The keys were inside the black suit."
A wooden coat rack held three pieces of clothing: a blue dress shirt, a black suit, and a white short-sleeved shirt.
Clearly, clothes belong to an adult male teacher.
Looking at it now, the coat rack and clothing combination stood out conspicuously, but before this moment, it had been completely inconspicuous. Chiharu silently lamented losing this opportunity for nothing.
If she'd been the one to find the keys, that contribution would've been way better than anything that otaku had done!
Knowing that Hayato had a trump card ability, Chiharu desperately wanted to cling to him. Even if it meant sleeping with him, she wouldn't refuse.
She couldn't help glancing at Hayato. Tall build, well-proportioned physique, a face that wasn't incredibly handsome but grew more attractive the more you looked at it. Most importantly, the courage, guts, and ability to survive in this cursed school building!
A man like that...
She wouldn't lose out. She'd profit big time, actually.
But then she looked at Fujibayashi Ryou and immediately felt her chances plummet. Compared to Fujibayashi Ryou, she was just common and vulgar. No way she'd catch his eye.
Chiharu quickly walked over to Fujibayashi Ryou's side and started searching the nearby area intensively, but didn't find anything else useful.
After about ten minutes, the four of them had basically searched every inch of the art room, even checking the spaces behind canvas boards for hidden notes.
And wouldn't you know it, they actually found another note with hint information.
In the hidden space behind the portrait of the black-haired girl.
The content was mostly similar, though it filled in two more pieces of information for them.
"Bones!"
Different wording for the same meaning. Clearly, the author who'd left this information wanted to tell them: "Bring her bones to the art room."
"Bones. Human bones. Her bones are somewhere in this school building..."
Fujibayashi Ryou swallowed hard, her heart rate involuntarily speeding up.
She'd thought it would be a ring, necklace, or some other special item that could serve as a vessel. Turns out it was bones.
"How are we supposed to find those?"
"Worst case, we search classroom by classroom. I'm guessing the ghost's bones are definitely in one of those locked classrooms. Now that we have keys, we can go straight to those rooms, open the doors, and search for the bones inside."
With Hayato here, Kazuya wasn't worried about safety at all.
"Easy for you to say. Are you going to search?"
Chiharu shot back with one sentence.
"I'll go with Hayato-san."
"Heh, and here I thought you could handle searching three or four classrooms by yourself!"
She laughed.
There were ten identical keys total, with no differences between them.
Now there were nine left.
Just earlier, Hayato and the group had gone out to the music room next door to run a test. The keys could directly unlock and open classroom doors, but once a door was opened, the key would disappear.
They had keys to open nine classroom doors.
In other words, they had nine chances.
The entire school building had four floors. Floors one through three housed each grade's classrooms and their respective teachers' offices. The first floor also had a physics lab, the second floor had a chemistry lab, and the third floor had a biology lab.
As for the fourth floor, besides the art room, there was a music room, library, study room, administrative office, and offices for the school chairman and other administrators. The remaining space was the student council office.
"If I'm not mistaken, there are currently twelve locked classrooms throughout the building that need keys to open."
Hayato recalled the locked doors on floors one through three. He'd made a point of memorizing them while searching for the art room. As for the fourth-floor situation, he'd quickly counted during their test run just now.
"Fourth floor: chairman's office, student council office, library, and administrative office. Four rooms total."
"Third floor: biology lab, one teacher's office, and Year 1 Classes B and E. Four classrooms total."
"Second floor: Year 2 Classes D and G. First floor: physics lab and Year 3 Class F."
Everyone fell silent.
So this is what a high-level player looks like?
An experienced veteran who'd survived terrifying supernatural games?
At most, they'd remembered four or five classrooms, but Hayato had memorized all of them and could even clearly and systematically recite each classroom name.
Comparing person to person, the difference was more than just a little bit.
If Hayato hadn't memorized each classroom's status in advance, they'd definitely need to go explore once more, confirm which specific classrooms were locked and the total count, then return to discuss. But now that wasn't necessary.
How much time did that save? No, the key wasn't time but how much risk it reduced. The longer they stayed outside, the more easily they'd be attacked by the ghost!
"Twelve classrooms, nine keys left."
Which nine classrooms should they choose?
Fujibayashi Ryou and the others' gazes fell on Hayato.
Up until now, Hayato had consistently been their strategist. Occasionally, Kazuya and Fujibayashi Ryou would offer some ideas, but the others hadn't provided any useful suggestions.
"Hayato-kun, you decide. I trust you!"
After Fujibayashi Ryou stated her position, Kazuya immediately spoke up too.
"Hayato-san, whichever ones you say. Whatever you choose can't be wrong."
Chiharu went without saying.
The only person in the art room who didn't react was Kawasaki. Right now, he stood far away, having become his own isolated group as if he didn't want to get involved or come closer to help.
"I think we need to search all four rooms on the fourth floor: the chairman's office, the student council office, and the other two."
"On the third floor: the teachers' office and biology lab."
"And since the second floor is the grade she attended, we need to search Year 2 Classes D and G."
"First floor: the physics lab."
"That adds up to nine rooms total. Simply put, we'll skip searching Year 1 Classes B and E and Year 3 Class F."
Because the ghost was a second-year student, the probability of finding the target item in first or third-year classrooms was very low.
Fujibayashi Ryou pressed her lips together, seeming to want to say something.
"Fujibayashi-san, what's on your mind?"
"Well... might Year 3 Class F also be special? Since it's Class F, I mean."
That letter was indeed special. That ghost was from Class F herself.
Hayato finally looked toward Kawasaki, who'd been treating himself like an invisible man this whole time.
"Kawasaki, any thoughts?"
"No."
He coldly refused, completely excluding himself from Hayato's four-person group.
"Kawasaki-kun, Hayato-san asked for your opinion. You don't need to be so cold about it!"
Chiharu suddenly felt like she'd found her value.
"Everyone's discussing and searching for a way to get out of here alive. We'll all have to go out and look for those hidden bones in a bit. The way you're acting..."
"Heh."
Kawasaki laughed.
"How am I acting? Is there a problem with me not participating in your discussions or offering any opinions?"
Of course, there's a problem!
You've completely excluded yourself from this group!
That'll drastically lower your survival rate!
Even if you hate him, it doesn't mean reducing your own safety just for the sake of revenge. That's just the thinking of weak people who can't hold on and lash out in critical moments!
Chiharu was increasingly amazed by Kawasaki's lack of intelligence.
"I'll just say it here! I'm not going out to search for clues, and I'm definitely not looking for any bones."
"I don't want to get killed by that ghost. Right now, all of us are in this art room, and she still hasn't appeared. I can confirm this place is safe, and we won't be attacked by the ghost. I'm staying here to wait until dawn before leaving!"
His statement reminded everyone of the other method for "escaping this place."
When dawn comes, they can leave.
Chiharu suddenly felt like a clown. Her boyfriend's brain was actually working after all. He'd already figured out a survival strategy early on.
But undeniably, what her boyfriend said made sense. This place was safe.
The ghost still hadn't appeared. There was a high probability she wouldn't show up at all. The art room was safer than the teachers' offices, possibly even an absolute safe zone.
"Chiharu, as your boyfriend, I'm advising you to stay here."
Chiharu couldn't help glancing at Hayato.
"Unless he threatens or kills us, if we don't want to go out, do we really have to leave?"
In an instant, the atmosphere in the art room changed.
This place was safe. The ghost wouldn't come. Once daylight arrived, they could leave and return to reality.
The safety level here was high!
"But what if daylight never comes?!"
"Won't it be fine to search then?"
Chiharu's eyes suddenly widened with realization.
"Hayato-san, we..."
"You can choose to stay here. I won't force you. All of you can. Everyone has the freedom to choose."
The first to take a stand was Fujibayashi Ryou.
"I'm going with Hayato-kun!"
She trusted Hayato.
Kazuya hesitated.
From a safety perspective, he definitely felt staying here was safer. But choosing to stay here also meant parting ways with Hayato. If he encountered danger later, Hayato definitely wouldn't help save him.
And he still had that conflict with Kawasaki. What should I do?
Hayato walked toward the art room door. Fujibayashi Ryou immediately followed. The two of them quickly left.
"You'll encounter the ghost if you follow me!"
Hayato looked at Fujibayashi Ryou.
"But I believe Hayato-kun will protect me. I'll be fine."
"You're really confident with my personality? What if I suddenly do the opposite of what I did before when the situation has reached the point where I can't choose between my life and yours?"
"I-it's not confidence!"
"Even though there's a possibility like that in my mind, I believe Ren-san's judgment of others is that they're not bad people!"
"So if Ren accepts dinner with the man, it means that the man is trustworthy."
Fujibayashi Ryou's face flushed with embarrassment.
Don't you know that in the original story, Nanase Ren's judgment of men is the worst? Hayato can only sigh and continue with his purpose.
After struggling, Kazuya finally decided to go with Hayato and Fujibayashi Ryou.
"Wait for me, Hayato-san!"
In the end, Kazuya came running out.
The art room was currently safe, but would it stay safe forever? Maybe there was a time limit, too. That was his guess after thinking about it based on the experience of reading many horror anime plot.