Whose youth romance story begins with a witch's trial?!

"Be careful not to fall."

"Don't underestimate us...!"

Natsume Anan, with the posture of a kitten climbing a cat tree for the first time, stepped onto the tree and peered up, while fiercely retorting to Chang Rong.

"You could have easily climbed up here... and you still dare to doubt me—wait a minute?"

Natsume Anan finally saw the top of the filing cabinet from the shelf, but before she could finish her self-praise, she was interrupted by a short, questioning voice.

"Ugh, ugh... Ugh!? No, don't come any closer—"

For a moment, Natsume Anan showed an overly panicked expression. She suddenly took a step back while standing on the shelf, and as a result, she lost her balance and fell down.

"That's why I told you to be careful—!"

thump!

The expected pain of falling to the ground did not come. After a few seconds, Natsume Anan cautiously opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was the white-haired boy who raised his hands to hold her tightly.

"Are you alright, An'an?"

The girl in his arms was exceptionally light, seemingly weighing less than 80 pounds. This was why Chang Rong was able to barely support An An.

"I... eh... eh eh!? I... I'm alright...!"

Realizing her current situation, Natsume An'an, who was initially a little confused, instantly snapped out of it. She abruptly broke free from Chang Rong's embrace, and it was only then that she noticed that the 'tape' she had carefully tied had actually come off at some point and become loose, to the point that she could easily pull it out with a slight twist of her arm.

In other words, when you think you have everything under control, the 'behind-the-scenes boss' that you've tied up is just putting on an act.

【You—】

"You...you...how dare you fool us!!"

When Natsume Anan was halfway through sketching on her sketchpad, she got annoyed by the hassle and finally just started breathing loudly at Chang Rong.

"It's just that the tape had been used for too long and had lost its stickiness. Subjectively, I was still willing to obediently be tied up, An'an."

Chang Rong held up a finger to indicate that, from a certain perspective, she was still being played with by An An in a bondage and placement play.

"You, you stupid white-haired idiot... you actually wanted to see me mess up and embarrass myself. Sure enough, you are the biggest mastermind, you are... you are an evil monster!"

With a flushed face, Natsume Anan kept hitting Chang Rong with her sketchbook as if she were sulking.

“You’ve said everything, An’an…” Chang Rong, who was being chased and slapped, had every reason to believe that if she really just stood by and did nothing, An’an, who accidentally fell, would still strike a pose and say, ‘It’s all Chang Rong’s fault!’ and then she would be blamed for the whole thing.

"In short..."

If you help us defeat that 'monster' over there, we'll, reluctantly, forgive you for now!

An An was sulking for a while when she suddenly remembered her taciturn personality. She quickly withdrew a sketchbook and tapped it, then quickly wrote the sentence on the sketchbook and handed it to Chang Rong.

"A monster...?"

Chang Rong was also a little curious about what An An had seen that made her gasp and stumble backward, so he nodded and accepted the task. Stepping on the shelf An An had dragged over earlier, he took a deep breath and cautiously looked up at the top of the filing cabinet—

There's a caterpillar there, not Rayquaza or Kushiro, just a caterpillar in the literal sense.

It probably climbed over from the courtyard forest over there; it must have had a tough time.

Chang Rong sealed the terrifying wriggling creature that had single-handedly killed the preparatory witch with hypnotic magic in a jar, then returned to An An to complete the quest.

Let me make this clear first: I wasn't scared by the insects, but rather... I was so focused on finding clues that I didn't notice them.

Natsume Anan examined the caterpillar through the glass bottle, then blushed slightly and shoved her sketchbook at Chang Rong's face.

"Yes, yes, I understand." Chang Rong smiled and indicated that she understood, while at the same time stuffing her arms back into the expired roll of tape to seal herself in. This is called having a strong sense of self-management.

This time, however, An An finally shook her head and tapped the sketchbook:

Regardless of whether you're behind this or not... I'll give you a little trust for now, and you can help us find clues to leave.

Thanks to the caterpillar, Chang Rong finally received a temporary exemption and was allowed to participate in the evidence collection and investigation process with An An.

Even with Chang Rong joining the team, the two didn't make much progress in understanding the secret room. The only thing they were certain of was that it seemed to be under some kind of magic, essentially isolating it from the outside world. The scenery seen through the windows was just like a projection of a painting, not a real scene that would change over time.

Even the flow of time on the phone seems to be frozen. It seems that the flow of time here is different from that outside. Perhaps it can be used as a mental time chamber for cultivation in the future...?

The entrance door still showed no trace of its existence, and the balcony was inaccessible due to the glass door. The only new discovery was a garbage chute behind a piece of rotten wallpaper. Judging from the map's layout, it should connect to the garbage chute next to the fireplace in the first-floor reception room, leading directly to the garbage incinerator on the basement level.

"If the structure is correct, then this garbage chute can indeed serve as an outlet."

【Is there another way to transport garbage? I...】Natsume Anan revealed an undisguised and straightforward expression of disgust halfway through her writing. Crawling around in the garbage duct was something she couldn't even imagine!

"It's okay, An'an, be careful. I'll just go check on her."

Chang Rong could also sense the intention expressed by Xia Mu An An's stiff body. He nodded to An An, then volunteered to open the garbage chute and carefully poked his head in to check.

If the map structure is correct, this chute should connect to the underground level, but when you actually look at it, whether you look up or down, all you can see is complete darkness.

It seems I need to observe more carefully... Hmm?

Just as Chang Rong was about to insert more of her body inside, she suddenly felt a short tug at the hem of her clothes at the waist.

"..." Natsume An'an tugged at Chang Rong's clothes. Although she wanted to say something, she couldn't get the words out and could only sway her cute face, which was flushed from holding back her anger.

"Are you worried about me? It's okay, An'an, it's just climbing a pipe and crawling through a hole, what could possibly happen—"

As Chang Rong uttered those words, a flood of fragments from the past suddenly flashed through her mind.

Two men dived into a deep-sea trench; five hikers lightly traversed the Aotai Mountains; one man suddenly had the idea to crawl through a hole—this is the most desperate way to die in the world.

"...Thinking about it carefully, it doesn't seem necessary to climb down completely?"

Chang Rong, who had activated his spiritual vision, suddenly realized something. Under An An's somewhat confused gaze, he used the tape that had lost its stickiness to bind the phone, turned on the flash and live stream, and let it drop down like bait for fishing.

On the other side, An An was watching the 'local area network live stream' on her phone. Sure enough, the signal transmission method used in this prison was different from that of the outside world. Even though there was no outside signal, the two of them could still communicate normally.

The live stream on the screen was completely black; only the edge of the slide could be barely seen through the reflection of the flash. But with another descent, the live stream abruptly lost signal.

Chang Rong quickly pulled the phone back, but what he saw was that half of it had been 'cut off' or rather swallowed up by the watery screen and disappeared, leaving only half of the phone.

"Ugh...!!?" Natsume An'an's face turned ashen upon seeing this, and even Chang Rong gasped. After all, if it had been her who had just crawled down... would she have paid homage to Colonel Anderson, Franda, and Nikaido Hiro?

My everyday teenage romance has suddenly turned into a bizarre tale of harem rules...

Looking at the remaining half of the phone in her hand, Chang Rong felt a lingering fear, but also recalled the image of Asakusa, where Meruru was crying and sobbing as she tried to get funding for a new phone for herself.

Sigh, I guess I'll have to get a new phone now. What about the old one? I guess I'll just feed it to the top dog in Hallownest.

In short, it's now basically confirmed that the two of them aren't physically trapped in a locked room, but rather, they're more like under some kind of spell, trapped in a completely separate space. Any attempt at violent escape will ultimately result in them being completely devoured, just like this phone.

"..."

"Let's think of another way, An'an."

Looking at the girl beside him, whose expression seemed somewhat dazed, Chang Rong sighed and gently comforted her.

The two then searched the surrounding area of ​​the room, even examining all the wallpaper on the walls, but they were unable to find an 'exit' that resembled a garbage chute.

"We... have had enough..."

As Chang Rong was searching for gaps along the edge of the glass door, Natsume An'an's voice suddenly came out, but it sounded incredibly low and dejected.

The girl sat in the corner of the room, her long, pure white hair cascading down. The emptiness and despair in her purple eyes were becoming increasingly difficult to suppress. Even the sketchbook she held in her hands had only a few pages left, replaced by crumpled pieces of paper scattered all around.

"Why is it always us... We are always so unfortunate. Even if we pray for happiness, it all disappears quickly, and we can't hold onto anything..."

Natsume An'an's hair visibly began to grow. Her already long, silvery-white hair now looked like sheep's wool that hadn't been processed in a long time, extending into a curly ball of yarn.

"These are not what I want... I only want a quiet, peaceful happiness... Am I not even qualified to have such a simple wish fulfilled? — Hmm!?"

Twisted horns slowly appeared on An An's head, but before these small horns could fully emerge, a force suddenly embraced Natsume An An.

The white-haired boy she called the 'Black Curtain Monster' was gently embracing An An. His left hand was gently wiping away the small tears that were about to fall from the corner of An An's eyes, while his right hand was stroking the girl's increasingly fluffy hair.

"Don't worry about me...! Anyway, I'll only bring misfortune, I'm just someone who doesn't deserve happiness... Waaah... Waaah..."

An'an struggled and writhed frantically, but Chang Rong remained completely unmoved, just like a parent facing a child throwing a tantrum, unconditionally tolerating An'an's outburst.

From initially resisting fiercely, to occasionally turning her head and shaking her body, to finally obediently letting Chang Rong use her as a pillow and stroke her hair.

"How are you feeling, An'an? Have you calmed down yet? No matter what you're thinking, at least I'm here with you right now. Just remember that, okay?"

"Well……"

After confirming that the girl in his arms was much better than before, who had been in a state of extreme despair, Chang Rong asked with a smile. An An turned her head away and avoided looking at Chang Rong, but her condition had visibly stabilized, and those heretical changes had been suppressed.

Fortunately, I knew in advance from Hiro and Coco that 'Natsume An'an's heart is very fragile,' so I rushed over to soothe her as soon as I sensed her abnormality, instead of standing still and thinking, 'Let's wait and see. What if I attack and find that the other side is actually fine? Wouldn't that be like turning into Jiahao?'

[Wait for us...]

An An looked down at her sketchbook, wanting to write something, but seeing that there were only a few sheets left, she put away her pencil and instead whispered what she had written.

"After I leave this place... I will definitely, definitely settle the score with you... How dare you treat me like a body pillow and knead me so wantonly... I will not let this go... You monster of darkness...!"

To make her harsh words more credible and convincing, Natsume An'an even reluctantly broke free from Chang Rong's embrace, using this method to demonstrate her resolve.

"Alright, alright, let's calculate the interest after we leave... Hmm?"

Chang Rong sighed and responded with a wry smile, while simultaneously tidying up the messy pile of discarded paper balls on the floor. However, when he picked up one of the paper balls, he saw the words "[Room where you can't leave without doing XX]".

"Waaaaah—that, that's not... Don't look! I just wrote it down casually...!" Natsume An'an's cheeks instantly turned redder than ever before. She frantically lunged at Chang Rong, trying to destroy the paper ball, but Chang Rong had already seen what was on it.

The next second—

"What does XX mean?" Chang Rong tilted her head, looking at the note in her hand with some confusion, and asked An An what XX meant, was it a size?

"Ugh...Wh-nothing...!"

Natsume An'an quickly snatched the crumpled paper from Chang Rong's hand and threw it into the nearby garbage chute that seemed to lead directly into the void, intending to completely destroy the evidence and leave no trace. However, due to her poor aim, the paper only hit the wall and fell to the ground.

Chang Rong blinked, surprised that An An's bean sprout-like body could unleash such power.

Volume 1: Chapter 163. The Two Creating a Work of Silver Glow

The two became somewhat awkward for a moment, as if a pause button had been abruptly pressed.

"Um, about that 'déjà vu' feeling before, I wasn't trying to flirt with you, I genuinely felt like we had become friends."

As the two leaned against the glass door in an eerie silence, Chang Rong suddenly spoke.

"But... if what Coco said is true, then An'an and I had only been friends for a short time when Coco... ... "

"Are you mocking us for being like small fry...?" An'an glared fiercely at Chang Rong and questioned him.

"Of course not! What I'm trying to say is—maybe this is a chance to start over? Maybe this time I can really become best friends with An'an, someone I can talk to about anything, and I can truly appreciate your work. Although it's just wishful thinking on my part, I would be so happy if you could agree!"