There Must Be Something Wrong With This Game!

Chapter 43: Chapter 43: Pseudo-man

"Alright, alright, that’s about the size of it. The situation can’t possibly get any worse, so you might as well just enjoy it. Besides, look on the bright side—you’re still alive, aren’t you?"

Duan Fei felt he’d done a pretty good job of comforting her.

If comforting counted as a Skill, he’d be at Master Level, at the very least.

But not only was Junko ungrateful, Darts Guest and Bystander A also chimed in, saying, "Your comforting technique is about as refined as the dead skin on a heel." This left Duan Fei feeling a little wounded.

’Are my comforting skills really that bad?’

’No way. These guys just have no taste!’

School in the Sakura District let out at two in the afternoon, so the group felt like all they did was wander around campus for a bit before things wrapped up without much happening.

"Sigh, I guess this is it for this scenario. Let’s just leave this mess behind and head back together," Duan Fei said.

"You’re going back? Back where?" Junko shouted in disbelief. "If you leave, what about me?"

"You’re on your own."

"...If you dare do this, I’ll Curse you! From now on, I’ll Curse you when I wake up in the morning, I’ll Curse you during my lunch break, I’ll Curse you when I go to sleep at night, and I’ll even Curse you when I get up in the middle of the night in my little white rabbit slippers!"

’...I get the feeling this kid would actually do it!’

"If you know what’s good for you, you’ll cooperate with me! At least let me make a few friends!"

With no other choice, the players had to go along with Junko, controlling the body together as they wandered the campus.

After all, Junko’s current situation was already quite bizarre. The players felt they couldn’t really bring themselves to abandon her, so they could only take things one step at a time.

Since school let out early and most students weren’t in any clubs, they all headed home the moment the bell rang. The only ones left were members of various school clubs.

Watching the sports club members burn off their youthful energy on the field, the boys and girls of the literature club sing praises to youth in their classroom, and the home economics club members live out their youth in their clubroom, Junko was filled with bitter indignation.

"It’s all your fault! If it wasn’t for you guys, I could be enjoying my youth with Teacher Goto right now."

"What’s so great about an old man like him? Hey, look over there. There’s a pretty girl. Go talk to her and start up a nice yuri romance."

Duan Fei was talking about a girl with long, straight black hair. At this moment, she was meticulously sweeping the floor with a broom, her tidy appearance completely unaffected by the sweeping motion.

Looking at her, Junko hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "That’s not a bad idea. I’ll make her my first friend."

’Sakura District girls really are all into yuri, huh.’

"What’d you say?"

"Nothing. Go on."

With the group’s cooperation, Junko finally managed to walk up to the girl. She forced a smile that looked more painful than crying and slowly started a conversation.

Thanks to the group’s efforts, Junko’s verbal skills successfully reached a kindergarten level. The occasional outrageous thing she blurted out also made her sound like she was asking for a punch.

But what the players found strange was that the other girl had no Reaction at all.

No matter what Junko said, the girl with long, straight black hair remained expressionless. Her eyes, like glass, never moved, and she just stared blankly at Junko.

Realizing something was wrong, Darts Guest, inside Junko’s body, said, "Don’t you guys think there’s something wrong with this girl?"

"What’s wrong? We’re having a great chat," Junko said, confused.

"She hasn’t even blinked!"

"Neither have I."

"You’re one of the living dead. Is she one too?"

"Oh..."

Finally realizing that something was amiss, Junko turned to leave, but the long-haired girl grabbed her hand and started walking toward the back of the school.

The girl’s Power was surprisingly great. It was as if an adult man resided within her slender body, giving Junko a bad feeling.

"Um, where are you taking me?"

The long-haired girl dragged Junko all the way to a small grove of trees behind the school before finally stopping.

She turned her head to face Junko, a hoarse voice coming from her lips. "Humans need to smile to reduce the sense of danger. I need to smile."

Letting go of Junko, the long-haired girl hooked her pinky fingers into the corners of her own mouth and pulled, forcing a smile.

She seemed unable to control her strength, pulling her mouth to its limit. The skin on her lips split from the excessive force, instantly leaving her covered in wounds.

The seven consciousnesses controlling Junko’s body fell into disarray. Some wanted to charge forward, some wanted to retreat and wait for a chance to counterattack, while others wanted to fly up into a tree and laugh at the girl.

The conflicting commands made Junko trip and fall to the ground, making her look like a girl who had collapsed in fear.

"The smile isn’t enough. You are still full of fear."

Pulling even harder, the long-haired girl stretched the corners of her mouth to their absolute limit.

With the sound of tearing silk, her mouth was ripped open from the center. Her once-pretty face instantly became a torn mask, sending a chill down Junko’s spine.

"I’m done playing! I want to go home!" Junko whimpered, scrambling backward on the ground.

But the long-haired girl had already crouched down, her blood-soaked hands bent into an unbelievable shape. The expression on her face became twisted and bizarre.

"Humans are creatures with two eyes, one nose, and one mouth. Humans are creatures that walk upright. Humans are social creatures. Humans get lonely without friends. I don’t have any friends. I’m very lonely. Let’s be friends, let’s be friends, let’s be friends!"

Leaping high into the air, the long-haired girl’s body seemed to elongate, expanding like a shadow before pouncing toward Junko.

Amidst Junko’s screams, her hands moved on their own, pulling a yogurt drink she had prepared at noon from her pocket.

The straw was quickly inserted into the yogurt. Cuihua gave it a hard squeeze, and the yogurt shot out, forming a long yogurt staff.

Swinging the white staff, the soft yogurt rod moved like a coiling dragon under Cuihua’s control. It instantly struck the long-haired girl several times, each blow infused with her full power, knocking the girl to the ground in an instant.

The girl on the ground tried to get up, but her joints had been shattered. A thick, black oil oozed from her joints, spreading stickily across the ground and emitting a nauseating stench.

The girl’s fair skin began to blacken, and her once-beautiful appearance started to break apart. In an instant, the pretty girl transformed into an abandoned puppet. The change was horrifying.

"Don’t move. I’ll handle this."

Bystander A stepped forward and took a lock of the long-haired girl’s hair in his hand.

Bystander A’s Profession was ’driver,’ but he wasn’t just a simple driver.

In the team, he was mainly responsible for reconnaissance and cleanup, and he had one Skill, [Reconnaissance], at the Great Success level.

Using Reconnaissance, he could see some of the target’s information. The greater the difference in their Attributes, the more information he could obtain.

Right now, Junko’s body was a masterpiece that combined all of their strengths. The advantage from her high Attributes allowed him to get a lot of information from the long-haired girl, which would help his further analysis.

After casting [Reconnaissance], Bystander A’s expression grew grim.

"A Pseudo-man. This thing’s a Pseudo-man."