CH 311

“Chapter 311: Game Over?”

I wonder how long it’s been already. I stopped trying to count the days.

No morning or night here. Just dim darkness.

The three of us came back to the base that we thought we would never come back to.

On the first day of waiting I still had some hope, but it’s clear that no one will help us.

– ………I can’t move my body.

I just sat in the corner of my room all day and left all the work to Deko and Mira.

– Takaya, here are some stones. Can you take care of them?

– Yeah. Leave them over there.

Deko has been using the gunpowder as fuel for cooking.

The quality has been deteriorating exponentially with each day. It’s a good reflection of my current state.

– …Come on, get a grip. Yeah, we didn’t escape, but you wiped out almost all the dark jerks, and we can explore the third stomach now. Not everything is bad.

So what?

We can’t do anything with that.

I think the girl said that this was a game. What kind of game has no way to get to the end?

This isn’t a game. It’s a show. And a terrible one at that.

I’m sure she’s watching me even now.

But who cares at this point?

– Deko, how’s Takaya?

– Same as always. I gave him the stones, so let’s leave him alone.

– You can say it. I’m a burden, right? You’d be better off with just two people. (Takaya)

I… didn’t want to say that. But everything that comes out of my mouth is negative.

– …I’m sorry. I overestimated my powers. I thought I could do anything I ever wanted. Clearly I was wrong.

It had all been going so well up until now. Shimazu, the demon world, Shiori…

– You can leave me to rot. It’s fine.

– Takaya…

– …Sorry. I’ll work on the stuff you gave me. Could you please leave me alone for a bit?

– …Alright.

With that, Deko and Mira left the base to explore for the day.

They’ve been going to the maze to collect whatever they can find. A pointless effort.

There’s no escaping out of here. No Ralph. No friends. Only me slowly melting to death.

– …

I spend half the day resting in bed, and yet just a small amount of processing completely drains my body.

Whatever. There’s no point in trying hard.

We’re going to die sooner or later.

With that in mind, I slowly started falling asleep.

– B O O M –

– What!?

A huge explosion interrupted my sleep.

It was the sound of whale gunpowder being set off. But it came from the entrance to this stomach.

– What are those two doing?

With the little energy I had, I grabbed my bag and walked out of the house.

– Deko, Mira!

They were standing on top of digestive juices while looking at the wall.

– What are you doing!? Why are you wasting the gunpow-

– SHUT UP, TAKAYA! SHUT THE F̲U̲C̲K̲ UP.

– !?

I flinched at Deko’s words. I’ve never seen him raise his voice to this level.

Mira was silent, but her expression was exactly the same as Deko’s

– So? (Deko)

– Not a lot of reaction.

– Alright. We should try somewhere else.

Apparently they’re trying to confirm something.

– Takaya, you can go back to the base.

– I asked you a question! What are you doing!? Why are you setting off an explosion here!?

– We’re trying to find out whether we’re actually stuck here forever or not.

– What?

– Takaya, we haven’t given up yet. We will get out of this damn whale.

I thought they had been out exploring out of concern for me, but they were scheming their own plans.