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

"[False Evidence] You did nothing wrong, Coco-chan, and this is the evidence—"

Silently praying for Natsume An'an's forgiveness, Chang Rong handed the transparent potion with the number [13] written on it to Ze Du Ke Ke.

"This was taken from 'An'an's' body. It's said to be a 'potion that can kill witches.' If An'an carries such a potion, she must be planning to harm someone, right? And the person she wants to harm... is me, isn't she?"

Chang Rong forced a smile in response, responding to Ze Du Ke Ke's spider silk that was almost about to snap.

"What? Stop trying to glorify yourself. Who would want to help a lunatic like you... but there's probably a long line of people who want to kill you, lol."

Zedu Coco snatched the Witch Killer Potion from the boy in front of her and stuck out her tongue at him, making a face at him once again.

"Oh right, Coco-chan, you've already used up your breath-breathing privileges for this month. Now, try out my newly mastered data cable spinning top whip technique~"

"Uh-huh--!?"

—This guy is always like this. Although he looks like he deserves a beating and is not serious, he always tries to meddle in my affairs and discipline me.

What an idiot, a complete and utter idiot! Doesn't he know that on this prison island, the best way to survive is to mind your own business and be alone?

That's right, I only need to be alone, since everyone else will turn into witch monsters anyway.

I initially thought Magchin was 'special,' but in the end... she just happened to avoid touching her taboo during her 'first playthrough.' She's still just like everyone else, nothing more than a witch's remnant in human skin.

Who knows what Emma will do next? Maybe she's the real mastermind behind it all.

All witches carry 'original sin'; they are monsters different from humans... In the 'previous cycle', Natsume Anan killed Saeki Miria in a near-torturous manner simply because 'her friend was taken away'. She was the most unstable monster among all of them.

"Give me your potion, and I can take down that white-haired idiot 'monster' who dared to steal Noah anytime, anywhere, hehehe."

Natsume Anan obtained the Witch Killer Potion, 'the white-haired monster that stole Noah'? It seems that this time her killing intent is directed at that sadistic bastard, but does this guy have a grudge against 'white hair'? In the last playthrough, she wanted to kill Emma, ​​and in this playthrough, she has her sights set on Chang Rong.

Anyway, as long as it's not me, that's fine. Someone like Natsume Anan, a nobody, definitely wouldn't be able to come up with any decent murder plan. In the end, Emma would just figure it out and execute him.

Wouldn't that get rid of two annoying guys at once? The sadistic rabbit who tortures me every day, and the gloomy bean sprout who might explode at any moment.

Just watch the show and ignore it... that should be fine. All I need is to survive, to live to the end here and then go back to be with 'my favorite,' nothing else!

Oh, 'I'm a fan' chatted with me today too.

Everything is fine here, Grandpa.

Friends? How could you possibly make friends in a place like this? Those lunatics are like instant-exploding landmines, they're absolutely terrifying!

Okay, okay, I'll make sure to eat and sleep on time. There's not even any decent internet here, so I can't stay up late~

It's too early to talk about things like "people I care about" now!

Should I thank someone properly if they help me? What? I'm not some kind of keycap that just breathes on and blows steam...

Grandpa, you should take good care of yourself.

You are... my only family member, so please, please take good care of yourself, okay?

……

After the call with "I Pushed" ended, I felt a little conflicted. Even though it was just a one-sided conversation with my grandfather, where he was simply confiding in me, it felt as if I had truly guided and comforted him.

It would be good to thank that guy a little. In any case, at least his nonsensical prank made me feel a little less stressed.

And while I'm at it, I'll tell him to stay away from that gloomy, bean sprout girl for now. If she really does die suddenly like some nobody, I'll lose a lot of fun... Yes, that's all.

Wasn't she inside? Did that gorilla woman drag her away again? How boring—hmm? What's this, scrap paper? It looks like paper from the sketchbook that the bean sprout girl always carries around—

We wish we could kill you.

The moment I saw that line of text, I realized two things.

Natsume Anan's killing intent this time might still be real, rather than the 'killing intent' that I originally imagined to be a joke.

And...maybe I do actually have someone I care about, who knows?

In the previous game, Natsume Anan's interval between developing murderous intent towards Emma and actually taking action seemed to be less than two days.

Since that's the case, I...

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

When consciousness returned to the present, Zedu Keke found Chang Rong using leaves and a bandage from her pocket to give simple treatment to the wounds on her ankle and arm.

Although her nails stopped growing, Zetsu Coco knew very well that she was not far from truly becoming a witch. In the distance, she could still hear the guards searching, and these sounds kept growing louder, tearing apart Zetsu Coco's fragile defenses.

"...Speaking of which, I should thank you."

"Uh?"

"Don't look at me like that, you 'What is this guy talking about?' kind of weirdo!"

Seriously, every time I try to be nice to him, he immediately does something ridiculous!

"Forget it, thanking someone really doesn't suit you—"

Sawatari Coco rubbed her hair helplessly, then took a deep breath.

Have you heard of the "serial indiscriminate killings on New Year's Eve"?

"No, it sounds like a topic the president is more interested in. Just bear with it for now, we'll have to tighten the bandage on your calf to stop the bleeding, it might hurt a bit."

"That's hardly a cold case. It's just a case of a madman breaking into people's homes and killing them, who was eventually driven to his death by the police and committed suicide. It's a murder case with pure malice."

"It sounds inhumane."

"I am a survivor of that murder case. I hid alone in the closet... just like I am now, and then I used my telepathic magic to witness my father, mother, and brother being killed by that murderer."

As Chang Rong listened to Ze Du Ke Ke's narration, she paused for a moment.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you'd experienced something like this, Coco-chan..."

"You're not that serial killer, why are you apologizing, you idiot?"

Zedu Coco said with a smile, but as the voices of the guards around her and the warden hanging above her grew closer, she felt her body grow colder and colder.

There's no escaping it; hiding won't help, it'll only drag this idiot down...

"Since things have come to this, let's just start a live stream—oh, can you pick up my phone for me?"

Zedu Coco tried to take out her phone, but she couldn't grab it and it slipped and fell into the gap.

"Hakimi, has Optimus Prime crushed your brain? Why are you streaming at a time like this..."

Chang Rong cursed and tried to pick up her phone, while Ze Du Ke Ke focused her gaze on the bottle in her palm labeled "[13]", a potion that could kill witches.

What I want to say is that this time I didn't pretend I didn't see it and 'run away'. Not only did I not run away, I also eliminated that 'serial killer' beforehand—although perhaps this whole thing was still wrong...

I'm not stupid, don't treat me like one. I know you, you idiot who's always playing pranks and acting crazy, are actually... terrified of seeing witches, right?

In that case, I can't become a witch.

"Here you go, but don't think about playing on your phone for now—Coco?"

Chang Rong picked up the phone and handed it to Ze Du Ke Ke. When he looked up, he saw Ze Du Ke Ke giving him a cute and gentle smile that he had never seen before.

"Oh dear, I've been really looking forward to seeing you, so please don't die like a nobody!"

Ze Du Keke said something to Chang Rong, but Chang Rong's gaze wasn't on the girl's innocent and adorable smile, nor did he pay attention to Ze Du Keke's words. He was simply staring intently at what she was holding in her hand, whose nails were growing longer and more twisted:

The [Witch Slayer Potion] is now empty.

"Do you remember me telling you that I'd give you a task in exchange for the information on the 'first playthrough'?"

“Emma couldn’t lead everyone to escape, and she couldn’t solve the mystery of this prison island, but if it were you… you should be able to manage.”

"So, let's end this torturous shit drama—that's my request, 'I'll push number 2'."

Before her eyes transformed into sparkling 'gems', Ze Du Ke Ke smiled and said to Chang Rong.

------

"Oh my, oh my, you're here."

The warden's voice came from above, accompanied by the sound of flapping wings.

At the same time, several guards rushed forward and surrounded Chang Rong.

thump!

The fully recovered 'Hairband Guardian' pinned Chang Rong to the ground, but the white-haired boy neither resisted nor spoke, only staring at the girl in front of him.

"Hmm...? Is she already dead? She didn't turn into a witch this time either? Hmm... It's a good thing Lady Meruru is already dead, otherwise she would have nagged me for a long time about how the prison's 'settings' weren't reasonable enough. Anyway, the execution is complete, I can go home and call it a day."

After confirming that the girl named Sawatari Coco had died in human form, the owl exclaimed with delight that it could finally go home.

Volume 1: 78. Kissing is correct, without a doubt.

—It's that punishment room again. Just standing at the door makes me anxious...tsk, I can only hope that the prison authorities have a normal sense of time.

Standing before the door to the punishment room, Nikaido Hiro faced the closed iron gate, repeatedly checking the time on his phone while instinctively stomping his left foot on the ground.

Hiro had an almost instinctive aversion to the punishment room, because it inevitably reminded her of the 'Baosheng Mag case', where she was treated like a murderer and detained in the punishment room, almost going to court before she could even clean the bloodstains and paint off her body.

Those are all 'absolutely incorrect' dark histories, and I really want to forget them if I could.

But for some reason, Nikaido Hiro had to come here.

dong dong dong...

As the clock on his phone struck the hour, the guard's signature footsteps echoed from a distance. Nikaido Hiro took a deep breath and silently watched as the guard with a headband on his head walked to the iron door leading to the punishment room.

Click—

The gate was opened with a key by the guard, and a dimly lit passageway appeared before them.

"—"

—Although Chang Rong said that 'the headband guards seem to be relatively stable,' I can clearly feel this guy's anger...

If the feeling of being disturbed continued and the guard stared at each other with wide eyes, who knows what strange things might be triggered? Nikaido Hiro could only adjust his breathing and follow the guard to the innermost punishment room.

The door to the inner punishment room was also opened, and the familiar room came into Nikaido Hiro's view. At the same time, the white-haired boy sat motionless in the corner, just like the other objects in this punishment room.

Nikaido Hiro glanced at the plate in the corner. The food inside hadn't decreased at all; it was still there untouched. It was likely that only bacteria and microorganisms had consumed and broken down some of it.

“Not eating is ‘wrong,’ Chang Rong. You shouldn’t be restricted to the point of being unable to eat, right?”

Nikaido Hiro looked at the boy in the corner whose wrists were tied, his tone somewhat annoyed.