There Must Be Something Wrong With This Game!

Chapter 40: Chapter 40: If Only I’d Known There Was... By the Road

"The time is now 4:00 AM. There are four hours until classes begin."

To fully observe the experimental results, the Doctor had specifically given Junko a voice recorder and a walkie-talkie. This would allow her to document everything for subsequent review and research.

The Doctor’s house was on the mountainside. Getting to school required traversing a winding mountain road, circling around to the back of the school’s own hill, and then making their way onto the campus.

After that, they had to find Junko’s classroom and get there on time to successfully begin the school day.

But this was just the beginning. The most important job was making sure no one realized that Junko was no longer the same person.

"All right, let’s slowly head to school together. First, lift the left leg."

Under their combined control, Junko executed a swift, high leg-kick. Her left foot shot straight through the ceiling, leaving her dangling there, staring down with a blank expression.

"...Maybe we should just give up?" Darts Guest said, exasperated.

"Don’t say that, Darts Guest! Let’s give it another shot!" Bystander A said reassuringly. "Let me summarize the situation. We can all feel what this body feels, but to control it, we all need to apply effort. Otherwise, we can’t move or speak properly. When we do apply effort, it’s our combined force that’s registered. So, everyone needs to carefully control their own strength. Got it?"

"Okay."

"No problem."

"Roger."

"WOOF!"

"Good. Now, let’s slowly pull her out of the ceiling."

Slowly, they bent her over. Slowly, they exerted force. Slowly, Junko’s left leg was pulled free from the ceiling... and then she crashed heavily to the floor.

The body wasn’t particularly sensitive to pain, so the fall didn’t hurt. Aside from her head popping off and rolling to one side, there were almost no issues.

The four players, plus one bird and one dog, watched helplessly as their shared body spun around like a headless chicken, and they couldn’t help but let out a collective sigh.

’There’s no way in hell we can complete this mission!’

’Why does just trying to leave the house feel like we’re giving it our all?!’

Finally, the Doctor, noticing that Junko hadn’t made a move for a long while, came in. The first thing he saw was Junko’s headless body fumbling about aimlessly.

"So you’ve started playing games, have you! Forgetting about school?"

"You think we don’t want to?!" Duan Fei yelled furiously.

After listening to the group’s frustrations, the Doctor thought for a moment, then nodded. "I see. Having several consciousnesses in a single body is indeed quite troublesome. How about this? I’ll install an internal data terminal for you all. That should make controlling her much easier."

"Why didn’t you just do that from the start?!"

The Doctor’s data terminal looked like a pair of earrings. The pair could fully gather the thoughts of all six consciousnesses, allowing Junko to move according to their collective will.

While they still needed to make decisions together, it could synthesize everyone’s input to produce a general course of action.

"A word of warning," the Doctor explained. "The terminal aggregates all of your thoughts, but if one consciousness has an overwhelmingly strong impulse, it will be prioritized. All right, it’s four-thirty now. Off to school with you."

"Oh."

Using the terminal, the players found walking to be much, much easier.

They just had to send out the thought of ’walk,’ and Junko would automatically start moving. It was far more convenient than trying to manually control her left and right legs.

There were just a few... urges. The urge to drop to all fours while walking. The urge to mark every utility pole they passed. The urge to flap their arms and take flight after walking in an open space for a bit. But compared to actually being able to walk, these were minor issues.

Once they gradually got the hang of it, they could even manage a standing jump into a mid-air 720-degree spin, followed by a surprisingly elegant and stable landing.

"Hey, this terminal makes things way easier. This mission isn’t so tough after all," Darts Guest said, satisfied.

"You’re celebrating too soon," Duan Fei said grimly.

"Duan Someone, are you picking on me?!"

"There’s a pile of shit up ahead!"

"Holy shit! Darts Guest, control your dog!"

"I’m trying!"

"If your dog dares to go for it, I don’t care who you are, you’ll be my mortal enemy for life!"

"I’m trying!"

’If only they’d known there was a pile of shit on the roadside, they never would have come this way!’

The group’s muscles tensed. Staring intently at the pile of droppings, they slowly began to detour around it.

Feeling the pet dog’s obsessive craving for the droppings welling up from within, the group broke out in a cold sweat. They stared nervously at the excrement in the middle of the path, and only with immense difficulty did they manage to skirt around the damned thing.

Just as they finally got past it and let out a collective sigh of relief, they heard a cat meow.

’Oh no,’ the four players thought. They were about to forcibly take control of Junko when they felt the dog’s consciousness let out an uncontrollable howl from within. Then, their body shot forward, charging at a stray cat on the side of the road.

Granny Sakura was a well-known and kindly old woman in the neighborhood.

At eighty-two years old, Granny Sakura loved nothing more than to sit by the road and watch the students pass by. Their vibrant, youthful energy reminded her of her own past, rekindling a long-dormant spark of youthful passion.

Today, hearing familiar footsteps, Granny Sakura said kindly, "Oh, Junko dear, you’re so early today. Would you like to... Holy crap!"

She saw Junko, covered in leaves, tongue lolling out, running on all fours like a wild dog. She was excitedly chasing a stray cat, hurtling down the hillside at forty kilometers per hour and continuing her pursuit down the mountain.

Granny Sakura, who had been frightened flat against the wall by the sudden scene, was left dumbfounded. It took her a long while to return to her room and crawl back under the covers.

"Seeing hallucinations this early in the morning... I really can’t deny my age anymore. Old man, wait for me. I’m coming to see you soon."

「5:00 AM, the main gate of the school.」

Having finally wrestled back control of Junko, the four players were already mentally and physically exhausted.

Who knew the pet dog’s instincts could be so powerful? The moment it saw the stray cat, it had thrown caution to the wind and given chase, nearly spelling disaster for them all.

Thankfully, there weren’t many people out this early, so that scene had gone largely unnoticed. The Doctor’s mission was, for the moment, still on track.

"I can’t take it anymore. I really just want to give up," Darts Guest said, his voice cracking.

"You have the nerve to cry?!" Duan Fei nearly screamed. "Of all the pets you could have, you had to have a dog! If you’d had a snake, I’d at least respect you as a Xu Xian!"

"But I like doggies... And don’t be mad, okay? I don’t want to make my Little Duanduan angry."

"Shut up! My saga of invincibility has only just begun! Don’t let it be ruined by you!"

"All right, all right, Duan Someone, you calm down too," Bystander A interjected, trying to smooth things over. "Darts Guest didn’t do it on purpose. We should all learn from Cuihua. Look how composed Cuihua is."

"That’s because... Never mind... Let’s get ready to go on campus. I have a feeling the real trouble is just getting started."

Watching the disciplinary committee members who were already up and guarding the school gate, preparing to inspect uniforms and appearances, Bystander A whispered, "Yeah."