Kyoto Amusement Park, main entrance.
Eriri stood near the outer wall beside the gates, wearing a beige off-the-shoulder knit top, a light-blue miniskirt, and white stockings.
With nothing else to do, she stared absently at the distant sky.
Ever since the Evil God dragged Japan into the abyssal dimension, blue skies and white clouds had disappeared from the country entirely.
No one knew why the sun and moon still continued their regular cycle, but daylight always looked washed out beneath a gray haze, and even moonlight at night seemed strangely dull.
According to researchers studying the Cataclysm, the entire country was surrounded by a vast layer of gray mist.
That mist served both as a barrier against more powerful demons from beyond and as the catalyst that gave birth to Calamity Beasts.
No one knew what existed on the other side.
Every living thing that had ever entered the mist had failed to return.
Beneath that perpetually gray sky stood rows of abandoned skyscrapers, shopping centers, and office buildings.
The prosperity they once represented had long since faded, leaving only empty shells and a landscape marked by decay.
Sometimes Eriri found herself wishing she really were the Eriri from Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend.
If she had lived in that peaceful, ordinary world, perhaps her parents would not have died so young.
Unfortunately, there were no second chances like that.
Losing them had left her devastated, but Eriri had eventually forced herself through those painful years and found a reason to keep moving forward.
Then, later, she found something new to look forward to.
She pulled out her phone and opened the memo she had written the previous night.
Every part of today’s “date” had been meticulously planned out.
At the very bottom, one particular item had been deliberately bolded:
Confess on the Ferris wheel during the final ride.
Eriri’s entire face instantly turned red.
She hurriedly shoved the phone back into her shoulder bag.
‘Am I really going to do that?
Isn’t this way too soon?
What if he turns me down?’
Now that the moment was actually approaching, all of her earlier confidence had vanished.
“Hey there, cutie.”
A deliberately flirtatious voice interrupted her spiraling thoughts.
Eriri turned toward it, froze, and then felt the corner of her mouth begin twitching uncontrollably.
“Y-You idiot!
What the hell are you wearing?!”
Riku stood in front of her wearing black sunglasses and sporting a head of spiky blond hair.
His shirt was a loud Hawaiian print with the collar hanging open, his lower half consisted of casual shorts, and a pair of flip-flops completed the outfit.
As if that were not bad enough, even his normally fair skin had turned an aggressively noticeable bronze.
Clearly, Riku had used his vampiric transformation ability to alter his appearance.
His facial features had not changed at all, however, so Eriri recognized him instantly.
“Hmph.
Well?” Riku grinned proudly.
“Stylish enough for you?”
Eriri’s mouth twitched harder, and she instinctively took a step away from him.
[Doujin Artist]: Stylish, my ass!
You look insane!
[Riku-sama] [Group Owner]: ?
We’re standing face-to-face.
Why are you using the group chat?
[Doujin Artist]: I’m afraid your stupidity might be contagious!
[Riku-sama] [Group Owner]: Tch.
No taste whatsoever.
[Doujin Artist]: You have the nerve to criticize MY taste?!
Who dresses like this when going to an amusement park with a girl?
[Riku-sama] [Group Owner]: I think this is blatant discrimination against blond guys.
Do blond delinquents not have human rights?
[Doujin Artist]: Shut up and change back!
Just as Eriri sent the message, a sleek black luxury sedan stopped a short distance away.
Two bodyguards in black suits stepped out first and respectfully opened the rear door.
A beautiful young woman in a white kimono emerged from the car and, accompanied by the two men, made her way gracefully toward the amusement park entrance.
“Hm?”
Riku lowered his sunglasses slightly and watched her pass, genuine surprise appearing on his face.
Eriri immediately moved closer, her eyes sharpening with suspicion.
“You know her?”
“Sort of.”
Riku had barely nodded before Eriri wrapped both arms tightly around his right arm.
[Riku-sama] [Group Owner]: ?
[Doujin Artist]: We’re running late.
Let’s go inside.
[Riku-sama] [Group Owner]: I haven’t changed my appearance back yet.
[Doujin Artist]: Don’t bother.
This look is fine!
[Riku-sama] [Group Owner]: …
Eriri practically dragged him through the ticket gates by force.
“Hey, they really went inside!”
From an alley east of the amusement park entrance, Gokou Ruri cautiously poked her head out.
She was dressed in a gothic-lolita outfit that made her look even more conspicuous than the people she was spying on.
“I saw them.” Kasumigaoka Utaha folded her arms, looking completely determined.
“Come on.
We’re following them.”
“Isn’t this going a little too far?” Ruri asked uneasily.
Secretly watching someone else’s date had already pushed her sense of morality to its limit.
Actually tailing them afterward felt like a straightforward invasion of privacy.
“Are we Eriri’s teammates or not?” Utaha asked.
“And did she save our lives?”
“Well, yes, but—”
“You know perfectly well what a blond guy dressed like that usually represents in anime.”
Ruri hesitated.
Utaha leaned closer.
“Ruri-chan, you don’t want us finding Eriri tomorrow after she’s already been filled like a cream puff, do you?”
“Stop talking.
We’re going.”
Ruri immediately started moving.
The two girls were about to follow when they noticed Yukinoshita Yukino standing motionless behind them, staring toward the entrance as though she had seen a ghost.
“What’s wrong?” Utaha asked.
Yukino drew a slow breath and lowered her voice.
“I just saw my mother.”
…
Kyoto Amusement Park, manager’s office.
“Welcome, welcome!”
Nishida Rintarō, an obese man in a gray suit, approached with an ingratiating smile and extended one plump hand.
“President Yukinoshita personally visiting our humble park is truly an honor beyond words!”
Nishida.”
Yukinoshita Yuno ignored his offered handshake entirely.
Her expression remained cold as she continued, “Between August of last year and April of this year, this amusement park reported several unusually large expenditures.
I would like an explanation.”
“Ah, those?” Nishida did not appear embarrassed in the slightest.
His smile remained firmly in place.
“Necessary expenses for expanding the park.”
“You never submitted an itemized report to our board.
More importantly, as far as I can tell, this park has not filed any applications for an expansion project.”
Nishida continued smiling.
“Mrs.
Yukinoshita, are you lonely?”
Yuno paused.
“What did you say?”
Her gaze instantly sharpened.
“Mr.
Nishida, mind your behavior.”
“You must be terribly lonely, don’t you think?
Your husband passed away so early, leaving you to raise two daughters by yourself while also managing the entire Yukinoshita Heavy Industries Group.”
Nishida continued speaking in the same pleasant tone, rambling on as though they were discussing something perfectly ordinary.
By now, Yuno had realized that something was wrong.
She quietly took two steps backward.
“Hehehe…
Such a perfect woman.”
Nishida’s smile suddenly widened.
“Mrs.
Yukinoshita, allow me to ease your loneliness.”
He spread both arms.
“Become one with me!”
Nishida lunged at her.
Bang!
A gunshot cracked through the office.
His body jerked backward several steps as a bullet tore through his chest.
But the blood spraying from the wound was not red.
It was a foul-smelling dark green.
And that was only the beginning.
Nishida’s skin rapidly darkened into an ugly bluish-purple.
His eyes turned crimson, while swollen pustules began multiplying across his flesh at a horrifying rate.
“A Corrupted?!”
Both bodyguards immediately moved in front of Yuno, their expressions turning grim as they slowly retreated with her behind them.
The Corrupted were ordinary humans whose bodies had been contaminated by demonic energy.
As the corruption progressed, they gradually lost their original appearance and eventually ceased to resemble human beings at all.
But there was a serious problem.
Corruption was divided into four stages: early, middle, late, and terminal.
Once the process began, it was irreversible.
Judging by Nishida’s current condition, he had clearly reached the terminal stage.
So how had he been maintaining a completely normal human appearance only moments earlier?
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.