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

The first thing you feel is a complete blockade of your senses. You can't see, touch, smell, or hear anything, just like being sealed in a coffin under a snow-capped mountain, completely deprived of all perception of the outside world.

This is followed by an intense feeling of weightlessness and falling, which, combined with the deprivation of the senses, amplifies the fear of the unknown countless times.

Chang Rong frowned deeply, trying to suppress the instinctive fear emanating from his body. He opened his eyes wide, desperately trying to find that white or golden figure, but he couldn't even tell if he had actually opened his eyes.

And just when even the sense of the passage of time was about to be completely lost—

Boom! ! !

"Goo-wah?!"

Chang Rong fell heavily to the ground with a muffled groan. Fortunately, the so-called 'impact' was not as fierce as the caress of the Hundred-Ton King. Putting aside the fear, it was simply like accidentally slipping in an elevator.

Indeed, after the seemingly endless void receded, Chang Rong suddenly found himself lying in the elevator in the basement, as if the experience of being swallowed by the void had been a hallucination.

"...Maybe you should eat less of the bread made by Naya Kaori in the future."

Chang Rong got up, rubbing her head and muttering to herself as she left the elevator. She'd started daydreaming in broad daylight; if she kept drifting like this, she figured she wasn't far from ascending to a white flour planet.

"Leya-sama—Meruru?"

Although Chang Rong had arrived at the control center of the underground cryogenic chamber, he did not see the two figures. The control room, filled with various instruments that were rather retro by modern standards but incredibly 'advanced' for Witch Island, was empty. The metal explosion-proof door leading to the witches' graves was as tightly closed as ever, with only the ventilation duct exhaust vents there waiting to be dismantled and brutally penetrated.

"...?"

Chang Rong took out his phone and found that there was no signal and he could not contact anyone. After a brief moment of thought, he returned to the elevator and prepared to leave the basement first.

Meruru has control over the area, so if she had been here, she would have opened the blast door. In other words, the two of them probably hadn't arrived here, but were somewhere else.

With that thought in mind, Chang Rong left the underground area and returned to the Water Crystal Chamber.

Chang Rong used all her strength to push open the hidden passage. With a loud crash as the bookshelf slammed to the side, Chang Rong finally managed to pop her head out of the hidden passage.

"The covering has been put back up again...?" Chang Rong looked at the bookshelf in the room that had been pushed open with a puzzled expression. Normally, the covering in the Crystal Chamber should have been moved away long ago.

Could it be that some 'low-intelligence remnant' came here to clean up and casually restored the room? You're really lucky. I've only ever seen people casually pick up wild Da Yu Tong Bao coins before. It's quite rare to see someone actually put the room back up properly like this.

...There are more and more things I don't understand.

Chang Rong frowned and pushed open the door to leave the Water Sprite Chamber. Fortunately, at least the view outside the door was normal. She had indeed returned to Witch Island, instead of being forcibly conscripted by the weasels and dragged to Holy Terra to guard Kadia, and she didn't end up sitting on a rickety cart about to be taken to the execution ground to be beheaded.

After leaving the basement, Chang Rong immediately returned to the castle to find others to confirm the situation, but she soon noticed something was wrong.

It was unusually quiet the whole way.

When passing by the warehouse, the Kurobe Nanoka, which should have been cooked in a stone oven at the entrance to achieve 99.99% purity, was not there.

When passing by the sunroom, Tono Hanna, who should have been sitting in a chair enjoying the pleasure of being surrounded by flowers, savoring afternoon tea like a 'young lady' and taking a break from housework, was not there.

When passing through the courtyard, Arisa Wisteria, who should have been enjoying a peaceful sleep in her hand-woven hammock like a hibernating hedgehog, was not there.

As they passed the restaurant, the pink and white piglet Emma Sakuraha, who should have been wielding a fork in her left hand and a spoon in her right, transforming into the user of the oldest dual-wielding style, muttering "Come on, have another bite—okay, have another bite," also disappeared.

Although the castle itself still exists, the girls who lived there and whom he knew so well seemed to have vanished, and even the traces of their shared life had disappeared. The castle had lost the 'vitality' that the lively life of the prospective girls had given it, leaving only a static, lifeless, dusty appearance, as if time and blood had been frozen and dried up.

What's going on... Where did everyone go? Is this really Witch Island? No... Did I really experience those things on the so-called 'Witch Island'?

Chang Rong covered her forehead. Some memories seemed to have gradually faded after she woke up. The preparation witch, the witch trial, the witch factor, the love system—these things that she should never forget had become increasingly blurry. Chang Rong could not even recall the faces of Hasumi Rhea and Ice Meruru. All that remained were vague impressions, like "tall blonde" and "white jellyfish".

The feeling is like waking up from a dream, with everything that has been experienced before fading away from your mind in an irreversible way. Even if you try your best to remember it, you can only reach out and grab scattered fragments.

The cold touch of 'reality' eroded Chang Rong. There were no witches here, no sinners waiting to be judged, and none of the girls who had spent every day with her, whose appearances and personalities were completely different, yet who were all as cute as those in anime.

All that exists is endless emptiness—no, wait...!

Chang Rong bit his lip hard, the metallic smell rushing into his brain interrupting the pessimistic thoughts that were constantly eroding him.

I still remember that rusty smell... When I tore my wrist, that was the same smell that filled my nostrils, exactly the same, without any change.

This is not the 'Witch's Island' he knows, but some kind of trap or 'abnormal space'. Even though everything in front of him tells him that 'it's all an illusion', he knows very well that those shared experiences could not be simply dismissed as 'dreams'!

The 'sense of waking up and passing away' in his mind stopped, and at the same time, Chang Rong arrived at the reception room.

"—!?" The moment Chang Rong pushed open the door, she froze on the spot.

The good news is that Chang Rong saw something in the reception room that proved the witch had ever existed.

But the bad news is...

"Hiss... hiss—"

In the reception room, dozens of twisted remains wandered aimlessly. They moved incredibly slowly, seemingly without any destination in mind, simply drifting around.

Unlike the 'remains' that Chang Rong was familiar with, these remnants that had been stripped of their witch factors did not have artificial 'outerwear' or controllers. They looked more like clumps of black, twisted things, except that proliferative structures resembling 'clothing' extended from certain parts of their bodies.

"..."

After a brief moment of thought, Chang Rong made an action that could be described as extremely rational—closing the door again.

As we all know, if you accidentally enter the wrong classroom, the best thing to do is to slowly back away, close the door, and run away, rather than rushing in and yelling, "OK, everyone look at me! I have something to announce!"

Click—Thump!

"Whoa!?"

However, things don't always go as planned. If it were an ordinary class, Chang Rong's behavior would probably only be mentioned briefly and then forgotten. But clearly, he had just accidentally wandered into not only the Tian family, but also the Linglan Hot-Blooded High School.

The moment Chang Rong noticed the wreckage, it transformed into a dump truck and crashed into her, the massive impact forcefully swinging the living room door open. Chang Rong instinctively dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding being destroyed by the door's force.

"Hiss hiss hiss—!!"

"It was wrong of me to disturb your afternoon nap, but is it really necessary to be this angry?!"

Chang Rong loudly complained as she ducked to avoid the twisted claws that were swinging at her, but because she was trying to avoid the attacks from the wreckage, she had to crawl back into the living room.

"Hiss hiss hiss...?" "Hiss hiss—" "Crack crack!" "Hiss—"

The wreckage that had somehow appeared there now all noticed the white-haired intruder in front of them. Chang Rong was like someone who had thrown a firecracker and attracted the Axe Gang; he was instantly surrounded by a group of wreckage next to the fireplace.

"^q^ Wait, wait a minute... I think there must be some misunderstanding between us... I just came to see a friend, I absolutely didn't mean any harm. We forget so many things every day in life, why not just forget about me too—wait!"

Chang Rong tried to negotiate with the wreckage, but the other party rejected her nonsense and responded with a loving left hook.

—Damn it! I've been spending so much time with my older sister that I've almost forgotten that these 'remains' are actually impossible to communicate with!

Chang Rong dodged the attack in a disheveled manner, while constantly looking around. Now he was certain that this was not the 'Witch Island' he knew, but a 'different world' that only had a similar appearance but a completely different core.

"Hiss..." "Goooooooo..." "STARS..." "Hissing goooooooooo..."

"I was just about to complain, did some weird stuff get mixed in with these wreckages? — Damn it, this is the only way!"

Seeing that it was about to be completely surrounded, and judging from the previous interactions, the other animals were definitely not surrounding it to lift it up and take turns cosplaying Simba.

Lend me your strength, everyone!

Chang Rong grabbed the fire poker stuck in the fireplace beside him. At this moment, he was no longer fighting alone, but had received the power of the Yamato Nadeshiko!

clang!!!

A crisp, muffled thud came from the living room. Chang Rong used a golf-swinging, sword-blocking technique to deflect the oncoming debris, then turned and used a shovel to scoop out embers from the fireplace and sprinkle them onto the debris.

As the wreckage instinctively retreated due to the burning flames, Chang Rong immediately rushed to the wall, took down the crossbow bolt hanging on the wall, pulled back the bowstring, and pulled the trigger on another wreckage that was rushing towards him.

brake!!

As expected of a weapon that even Coco could easily draw her bowstring to its fullest extent, yet possessed the power to allow An'an to sink a shot in one go. The upper half of the wreckage was pierced through, and the immense force of the impact sent it flying.

Chang Rong rolled forward, transforming into the raccoon dog, and forcefully stabbed the fire poker into the calf of the wreckage guarding the exit. He then pulled out the crossbow bolt and hurriedly escaped from the reception room through the gap that had been painstakingly created.

Ah, Hiro, Coco-chan, it turns out you've always been with me...

Chang Rong was filled with gratitude. He prayed to the witches and unexpectedly obtained the power of the ancient Yamato Nadeshiko, which gave Chang Rong a subtle and strange sense of security.

Although these remains, which appeared for some unknown reason, were far inferior to 'Big Sister' in size, mobility, and strength, they still possessed the characteristic of immortality.

Except for the wreckage that had been hit in the knee with a fire poker and could only drag its upper body like a pupa, the other wreckage that had been beaten and pierced by crossbow bolts got up again and attacked Chang Rong once more.

"Why are you even chasing me?! Do I look like cough syrup...?!"

Chang Rong tried to relieve the pressure by spouting tired jokes that only veterans of the Qing Dynasty would understand, while constantly retreating and running to avoid being pursued.

The place, which had been incredibly deserted and even made Chang Rong doubt herself—whether her past experiences were just a pipe dream—had suddenly become incredibly lively. However, this 'liveliness' was something Chang Rong could hardly compliment.

"Damn it, there are so many pieces of wreckage... Are all the veterans piled up together?! Ugh... This is bad..."

Chang Rong was trapped in the shower room, which had no exit. He held up his crossbow with only one bolt and aimed at the slowly pouring debris, but these wrecked people, who knew nothing of fear, did not even seem to slow down their pace.

Is this the end...? I'm acting like an idiot. I haven't even seen a trace of Meruru and Rhea-sama... Could it be that they've already...? No, I shouldn't think about this anymore.

Chang Rong gritted her teeth and stared intently at the wreckage, putting aside the terrifying speculations in her mind.

Even if he were to die in this 'other world,' it wouldn't matter. He still had his own hero, the hero Hero, who could correct all mistakes.

……

...No, I came here to save people, not to put pressure on that idiot Hiro!

The thought that Hiro would cry because of her actions and, in despair, end her life in the most cruel and painful way to trigger 'retrogression' made Chang Rong's body, which had originally been prepared to accept its fate, act once again.

A true Sigma man would never let the girl he loves die for him!

Boom!

Chang Rong kicked open the cover of the garbage chute next to her, covered her body with her hands, and jumped straight into it.

Although this 'Witch's Island' is full of ruins, from my observation, the various decorations and furnishings in the castle have not changed much.

In that case, the trash chute in the shower room must be the same as the original Witch Island, but the biggest difference is that the blonde twin-tailed young lady, Tono Hannah, who likes to use the cute verbal tic "desuwa" to show off her status, does not exist in this 'fake world'.

She was the only one who would help with the laundry, even though it was considered wasteful, and it was because of her that those clothes weren't thrown into the garbage chute and incinerated every day. In other words—

Pfft!

A dull thud was heard as Chang Rong crawled out of a pile of clothes that was either waste paper, clothing, or some other twisted object.

Unless today is some kind of 'burning day', the incinerator would be piled high with 'clothes' that have been thrown down to await burning, just like it is now, and these 'clothes' just happen to act as a buffer.

"Cough cough cough... There's still so much dust..."

Chang Rong pushed open the door of the incinerator and rolled out, covered in soot and looking extremely disheveled, coughing as he slung his crossbow behind his back.

This isn't the Witch's Island I know. I suspect Meruru and Rhea are trapped here too… I need to contact Coco and tell her what's going on.

Chang Rong took out his phone from his pocket, only to find that the black glass panel in his hand was covered with cracks, and no matter how many times he pressed the power button, there was no response.

"...When I get back, I'm definitely going to print out a picture of Coco and sew it onto my body so I can take it out and look at it whenever I have a spare moment."

Chang Rong sighed and stuffed his damaged phone back into his pocket. He should have taken it out to contact Coco-chan immediately when he first 'returned to the elevator,' but the seemingly normal surroundings had lulled him into a false sense of security, making him wonder if he had been eating too much white milk powder and bread, which is why he hadn't tried to contact Ze Du Coco.