Wrong.
Assassinate?
Wrong.
Play dead?
Wrong.
It's "don't fight homicidal maniacs."
I don't understand.
I've killed people during games.
Isn't that enough for the rest of society to consider me a homicidal maniac?
These games are built around survival, not killing, as the win condition.
That's why we've become specialized in only that.
But homicidal maniacs are different.
They're playing a different game.
Whatever you do, don't fight them.
What if I'm forced to fight one?
What if it's the only way to win?
What do I do then?
Training is over.
Figure the rest out yourself.
It was probably Hakushi's so-called "homicidal maniac"
who threw the pine cone,
but that would mean she'd been targeting her.
Impossible. She'd never make a mistake like that.
But there was no other plausible explanation.
No. That doesn't matter.
What I should be focusing on right now is...
my own survival.
A-chan?
What will happen to me if I don't become a swan?
What?
A duck...
If I'm still a duck when I grow up...
what should I do?
What do you think you should do?
Huh? Me?
If I'm still a duck?
But I like ducks more than swans.
Really?
Then you'll be fine even if you stay a duck.
Even if I don't become a swan...
Even if I can't do anything about it...
Still... That's exactly why...
All I can do is fight back.
It will soon be 5 PM on day one.
It is time for everyone to go home.
It will soon be 5 PM on day one.
It is time for everyone to go home.
No matter how far it went, the sun never got closer.
Instead, as it gradually grew smaller and farther,
the sun said...
"You are a grey nightjar.
I see. That must be quite difficult for you.
Fly tonight, and ask the stars for a favor.
After all, you are not a daytime bird."
Moegi-san.
It will soon be 5 PM on day one.
It is time for everyone to go home.
Good. You're still alive.
There's a serial killer among the rabbits,
so no one can focus on the game.
You're not leaving, are you?
No.
I felt hopeless by myself. I'm glad I ran into you.
The situation has become difficult, but let's survive together.
Okay.
So, I know it's a lot to ask, but may I make a request?
I don't have any weapons right now.
If you can afford to spare anything, then...
Sure.
Thank you.
One shot will do, right?
It is now 5 PM.
The gates will open again at 6 AM tomorrow.
It is now 5 PM.
The gates will open again at 6 AM tomorrow.
I ran into a rabbit.
She was like a ghost.
What?
Their experience levels were too different.
No matter what I tried to do, the ghost was always one step ahead.
At this rate...
I thought if I killed my parents...
If I could just kill my parents,
then I could be like Kyara-san.
I knew that a grey nightjar could never become a whale.
That's not...
That's just not...
I love you.
Apparently, that was how Moegi interpreted her exhalation.
I love you.
Because it was something she'd never received before,
she didn't understand exactly what it was, but...
I love you.
That warmth
was her final remaining reason to live.
Even if a grey nightjar can't reach that star,
I...
I will keep fighting.
I refuse to lose here.
Because I am Kyara-san's student!
My nerves burned with pain.
I think I took another blow to my shoulder and stomach,
but I couldn't tell where anymore.
I didn't even understand why the ghost woman made that face,
but apparently, it was over.
It meant I didn't have to pretend to be strong anymore.
I haven't felt this way since I killed my parents.
Wait, what?
How did the grey nightjar end up?
It couldn't become a star, and then...
Whatever. I'll have Kyara-san read it to me again.
In any case, until my very last breath, I, Moegi...
until my very last breath...
cried tears of frustration.
And so, the grey nightjar's star continued to burn.
It kept burning and burning and burning.
It's still burning to this day.
It was inconsequential.
She lacked talent. That was the only way to put it.
Apparently, she was the homicidal maniac's student,
but she surely lacked potential.
Even if we'd repeated the same events a hundred times,
that stump would've lost every time.
But still, she saw it.
Her face as she died.
She poured all of her being into reaching for it and still failed.
How could she compensate a loser who'd lived the best she could
but whose efforts didn't pay off?
Yuki couldn't begin to guess what that was,
and she couldn't begin to sympathize if asked,
but there was still something there.
It was different from Yuki's feelings of "just because."
By continuing to play these games and live in this world,
there was something she could achieve.
And Yuki killed that.
Someone living "just because"...
No, a practical ghost who wasn't even really alive...
depending on her innate talent.
Hakushi had taught her how to emotionally prepare herself.
Take a couple of slow breaths.
But not even that technique could clear her mind.
No matter how many times she breathed,
nothing changed.
Eventually, even the beating of her own heart
felt strange to Yuki.
A part of her couldn't accept that the stump had died
while she still lived.
If she encountered the homicidal maniac in that state, she'd die.
Still, her legs didn't stop walking.
How do I have legs
when I'm not a ghost?
Isn't that incredible?
Welcome home.