The Doll (1)
Episode 88: The Doll (1)
The curse of the choice was successfully transferred to Jaden.
Just as planned.
The trigger was activated when the choice of whether to accept or reject the confession came into play.
“Thinking about it again makes me sick…”
But thanks to that, I was able to save my life.
Starting tomorrow, Jaden will begin acting strangely.
Sticking a spoon into his lunchbox, or wandering around muttering his own name.
I confirmed through his diary that he would do those things.
Now, I can say goodbye to that agonizing choice dilemma forever.
However…
“Fucking hypnosis…”
Regardless of the fact that it saved my life.
The act I committed to save my life was pretty messed up.
[Month Day]
……
………
I think Ares likes men…
Is it just my imagination…?
I wish it were just my imagination…
But no matter how much I think about it, that look in his eyes… was definitely a crush.
But why a guy?
Ares definitely got hard when he looked at me…
It got hard a while back when I touched his chest, too.
…Can you get hard looking at a woman even if you like men?
I don’t know.
I just don’t know.
What should I do…?
If Ares really does like men, then I…
I’d rather he liked another girl.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
It wasn’t a delusion…
After school, Ares confessed…
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no
Why? Why?
Should I kill him? If I kill him, will Ares start liking girls?
I don’t know
What should I do? I hate this
……If I can’t have him
If I can’t have him
If I can’t have him……
Fortunately, no murders occur in the diary entries after that.
Neither I nor Jaden…
are killed by Ellie.
‘Well, that’s only up until Thursday, though….’
Anyway, that’s not what’s important right now.
What’s important is—that I’m being mistaken for gay.
“Guh…! Fucking hypnosis…!!”
It worked so well that it ended up expressing perfect love.
Just thinking about it again makes me want to puke.
Author: Ares
Title: This should clear up the misunderstanding, right??
[Photo]
If I just tell the truth, you’ll understand, right??
Fuck, if I don’t, I’ll have to hypnotize Elly.
Comments
[Night Mouse: If you don’t do it, you’re definitely dead lol]
ㄴ[How is being gay a cause of death lol]
ㄴ[Lunchbox Collector: But seriously, if you like the opposite sex, there’s at least a chance, but if you like the same sex, there’s no chance, so you’d have no choice but to despair]
ㄴ[I feel like I’ve seen that in a manga somewhere]
[For Glory: Won’t they believe it?]
ㄴ[For Glory: If they don’t, Ellie will probably hypnotize you lol]
[Hikikomori: Can’t be helped, let’s just go for the kiss]
ㄴ[Ares: Do I really have to do that…?]
ㄴ[Night Rat: You idiot, you should try to convince her first before worrying about that;;;]
ㄴ[Student Council Terrorist: This guy seems like he’s just fallen for the kiss lol]
“So, that was because I got caught up in another urban legend.”
“……”
“It just so happened that I had no choice but to pass that urban legend on to the person I like, so I used hypnosis to exploit a loophole in the condition…”
“……”
“Anyway, that’s why I did it.”
The next day arrived.
I waited for Ellie on my way to school in the morning, and we walked to school together.
As we walked, I told Ellie exactly what had happened.
Since the “Choice” urban legend was completely over now, there was no problem telling her.
“…….”
Ellie listened to my entire story without saying a word.
And when I finished, she glanced at me and asked,
“……Is that really true?”
She asked in a slightly trembling voice.
I nodded urgently.
“Absolutely. …No, it doesn’t even make sense! Why would I like a guy? I’ve never shown any signs of that before! You know that well, Ellie!”
“Yeah….”
“……So you believe me, right?”
“…….”
Ellie was silent for a moment after I spoke.
“Ellie…?”
Feeling a little anxious, I called out to her cautiously.
Snatch.
Ellie grabbed me and dragged me somewhere.
“H-hey, wait?!”
“…….”
She was dragging me into the woods on either side of the path to school.
She led me behind one of the trees.
Once we were there.
──Thud.
“Whoa…!”
“Thank goodness…!”
She hugged me tightly right there.
Squish….
‘Whoa…!’
Ellie’s massive chest pressed down hard on me, radiating an overwhelming presence.
But Ellie didn’t seem to mind; she wrapped her tiny arms tightly around my waist.
Then, burying her face in my chest, she murmured softly.
“I was so worried…”
“R-really…?”
“Yeah, really, really…”
“…….”
“…….”
Ellie is quite the shy one.
The fact that she’s being this honest… it really seemed to mean she was truly worried.
“I’m sorry… I couldn’t explain it to you beforehand.”
I apologized, stroking Ellie’s head as she choked back tears.
Then Ellie lifted her head, smiled with tear-filled eyes, and shook her head.
“Umm… it’s okay. You were just worried about me, right…?”
“Yeah…”
“Hehe…”
She’s cute.
Still, since I got to experience Ellie’s honest feelings like this, I felt that being mistaken for gay for a moment wasn’t so bad after all.
‘That takes care of Ellie.’
The only ones left are Lana and Claire.
As for Lana… she might have seen the gallery, so there’s a chance she already understands the situation.
If that’s the case, Claire’s misunderstanding is effectively the final hurdle.
…or so I thought.
“……”
[Month Day]
………
…………
……………
I heard the full story from Ares.
It seems that everything that happened yesterday was unavoidable due to some strange circumstances.
Thanks to that, I feel at ease.
Did they say that one can only be freed by sacrificing the person they love…?
Come to think of it, Ares…
He asked me if I could die for the person I love.
……Could it be that I was the one who was actually contemplating sacrifice?
Thinking about it that way makes me feel strangely happy…
But…
Is it really true that Ares has no feelings for men…?
He said it was thanks to the hypnosis at the hospital,
but can hypnosis really create something out of nothing?
Maybe…
Maybe Ares has actually liked men for a long time…
And that’s why he…
“Why did the story take such a turn when it was going so well…!!”
I screamed inwardly as I glanced through Ellie’s diary during morning roll call.
The misunderstanding hadn’t completely cleared up yet.
“Why on earth? I clearly explained everything honestly, without leaving anything out…?”
Is it just too shocking for her to shake off easily?
Come to think of it, even I have to admit that I was 200% sincere yesterday.
‘That fucking hypnotist…!’
This is why you have to do your job in moderation.
No matter what, I went way beyond the client’s expectations, and it ended up backfiring.
Author: Ares
Title: Well, Ellie’s more or less okay
[Photo]
Wait, fuck, but no matter how much I think about it, have I ever even given off the vibe that I like guys??
I seriously don’t get it at all
Touching, staring, getting hard, sucking on it
I did all that stuff
Why the hell is that???
Comments
[That high school girl Ares-chan yesterday was pretty shocking, lol]
ㄴ[Ares: F*ck, is that really the only reason??;;;]
ㄴ[Student Council Terrorist: It was just too extreme for humanity to accept…]
[Hikikomori: Is this really a kiss setup?]
ㄴ[Lana would misunderstand too, so isn’t it a kiss setup for Lana as well?]
ㄴ[Ares: Lana probably already knows from the forums]
ㄴ[This is ridiculous]
ㄴ[Night Rat: What the hell is this about a kiss? For fuck’s sake, please don’t turn WWE into UFC]
ㄴ[Night Rat: First, go explain yourself properly to Claire]
ㄴ[Ares: Alright…]
I explained the whole story about the gay incident to Claire during lunch break.
It had been a while since I’d had lunch with Claire.
Claire sat on the stairs on the fifth floor of the east wing, eating her packed lunch while listening to my story.
“……—So that’s how it happened. Do you get it?”
“Yeah… So, an evil spirit possessed him again, right?”
“That’s right, that’s right! It’s an evil spirit, an evil spirit!”
It seemed like the term “evil spirit” resonated with Claire more easily than stories about ghost tales or monsters.
It’s all the same anyway, so it doesn’t really matter.
Anyway, after hearing my story, Claire chuckled and nodded.
“Hehe, actually, I heard that the boy did something bad to Ares.”
“So you knew.”
“Yes, Lana told me. …I see. It is strange to suddenly start liking someone like that, after all.”
“Exactly! That’s why you’re Claire…! You’re the only one who understands me this quickly!”
“Eh… you’re… you’re overpraising me…”
As I grabbed Claire’s hand in gratitude, overwhelmed with emotion, she blushed and looked away.
But since she didn’t pull her hand away, she didn’t seem to mind.
━ Ares’s hand is big and firm…
━ My heart’s racing…
Thank goodness.
Unlike Ellie, Claire seemed to have some idea of the situation beforehand, so clearing up the misunderstanding was easier.
━ A man’s hand this firm…
━ Two men touching like this…
But then.
“……”
“……”
━ No, no
━ No matter what, this kind of fantasy is wrong
━ It goes against the Lord’s teachings…!
━ But…
━ Ares is quite a sinful person, after all
━ He might commit such a sin, just like the people of Sodom…!
“……Claire?”
“Yes, yes?”
“……You do understand, right?”
“Yes, of course. You mean what Ares did yesterday was because of hypnosis, right?”
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
Claire gave a cheerful little smile.
Flustered by the disconnect between the voice in my head and what I was feeling, I gently let go of Claire’s hand.
Claire gently wrapped her other hand around the one I’d released and glanced at me.
━ But then, what if there were two Areses?
“……”
“……Hehe.”
As our eyes met, Claire smiled gently.
━ Since doing it with yourself is similar to masturbation, isn’t it sinless?
━ Two Areses in the world…!
━ It’s so happy yet so incredibly erotic…!
━ If it’s Ares’s cock, I won’t feel guilty even thinking about it…!
━ I wonder what kind of expression Ares will have when it goes in…?
It seemed like Claire’s mind was in a complete state of confusion in many ways.
‘This situation is serious….’
In a different sense, she had more problems than Ellie.
No, Claire…
You’re a nun, aren’t you?
No matter what, that sort of thing is off-limits, isn’t it?
Author: Ares
Title: Claire, Too
[Video]
I mean, she seems to understand on the surface,
but her inner thoughts are running wild.
Setting aside my own misunderstanding, if we don’t set this straight now, it feels like a monster is going to be born in more ways than one.
Both Ellie and Claire… what am I going to do…?
Comments
[Red Night Sky: This guy’s concept is ruining so many people lolololol]
[Lunchbox Collector: Wow, but Claire]
ㄴ[Lunchbox Collector: She’s so innocent and pitiful, it’s super cute]
[If Lana starts acting like that too, we’re in big trouble, right?]
ㄴ[Ares: Seriously, why are you setting this up like that? ;;]
Anyway, I’ve more or less finished explaining things to Ellie and Claire.
So the only one left is Lana.
But honestly, I wasn’t too worried about Lana.
I knew from the board game incident last time that she still checks the gallery.
She probably saw the gallery for this incident too.
So Lana must have figured out a way to pass the curse on by grilling Jaden first.
That’s why I wasn’t really worried about Lana.
‘But I should explain it to her anyway.’
After all, she’s the one who was willing to take the curse for me.
…Though I don’t know if the reason was just a ploy to trick me into confessing at the graduation ceremony.
Anyway.
“Lana.”
“What?”
“Let’s go together today.”
I called Lana over after school to explain what had happened.
But then.
“No.”
“Huh…?”
Lana answered sullenly, then turned her back on me and walked down the hallway.
“……”
“……”
Thud, thud, thud.
Why is she acting like that…?
As I stood there staring blankly,
Swish.
“……”
“……”
She glanced back at me.
And then again… thud, thud, thud.
…Her pace has slowed down compared to before.
“…….”
“…….”
Swish.
She looks back once more.
“Wait, didn’t you say you didn’t want me to?”
“Why are you following me? Are you a stalker? Pervert.”
“They say if a pervert chases you, you should run away fast.”
Seeing Lana walking slowly as if to make me catch up, I had no choice but to go along with it.
“Please, just walk with me. I’m begging you!”
“…Fine, I’ll make an exception just this once.”
“…….”
I just can’t figure out what she wants.
It’s the same with Elly, and Claire, and this girl too.
In many ways, women’s hearts are a mystery.
“So? Do you have something to say? If you’re trying to confess, I’m sorry, but could you do that another time?”
“How long are you going to keep up that act…?”
Anyway, as I walked back to the dorm with Lana, I explained how this whole incident had unfolded.
“…──That’s how things ended up like that yesterday.”
“Huh, I see~. So that’s why you were acting gay yesterday. My goodness, my goodness. I had absolutely no idea.”
After hearing the whole story, Lana looked at me with wide eyes, covering her mouth as if she were completely shocked.
“…….”
“Why are you only telling me this now? I’ve been under the mistaken impression that Ares was gay all day today.”
“……Well, I was busy explaining it to the other two first…”
“Why am I the last one?”
Thump.
Lana, asking gruffly, bumps into my shoulder as we walk down the street.
I step aside a couple of paces, and Lana follows right up next to me.
“No…, I just thought you might already know something.”
“Me? I’m not a psychic. How would I know that?”
Thump.
Lana, her voice still gruff, bumped into my shoulder again.
As a result, I took another step to the side.
Lana moved right up next to me again.
“Sorry… I didn’t mean to put you off on purpose. It just kind of happened…”
“Oh my, if anyone saw this, they’d think I’m being sooo mean. I’m just asking because I’m curious about the reason, that’s all.”
Thump.
Lana bumps into me with her shoulder once more.
As a result, I’m pushed another step to the side.
Thud.
…My other shoulder hits the school fence.
And even knowing that, Lana comes right up next to me again.
The “Ares sandwich”—made up of Lana and the wall—is complete.
Squeeze…
“Then what the hell is this?! Why are you pushing me so hard?!”
“I’m just walking normally, aren’t I? Ares just decided to squeeze himself between me and the wall on his own. Pervert.”
“Say something that makes sense!”
No matter how I look at it, she’s totally sulking.
Is explaining the situation late really something to get that angry about?
‘I have this feeling that if I just let this end like this, it’ll be a disaster…!’
Elly, Claire, and Lana.
A strong urge welled up inside me that I couldn’t just leave things as they were.
What should I do?
How can I resolve all three of these issues?
Eli’s lingering misunderstanding.
Claire’s lingering delusions.
Lana’s inexplicable sulking.
“……”
“……”
Squeeze…
I was pinned between Lana and the wall, lost in thought.
And then.
“Ah.”
“……”
“Lana.”
“What?”
I spoke to her cautiously.
“……Want to go on a date?”
“…….”
“…As a way of apologizing. I’ll treat you to a meal.”
“…….”
I glanced at her, gauging her reaction.
Lana met my gaze with a coy expression.
And then.
She smiled.
She smiled.
“Hehe, really~, you didn’t have to go that far. So, when should we go?”
“…….”
Has she thawed out…?
It’s hard to keep up with her mood swings.
Author: Ares
Title: Found the Solution!
It’s a date, a date!
Whether it’s Elly, Claire, or Lana,
if I go on dates with them, I should be able to reestablish the image that I like girls!
Fuck, problem solved!
This should do the trick!!
Comments
[What? All three of them are going on dates??]
ㄴ[You're trash]
ㄴ[Student Council Terrorist: Seriously, he's just brazenly saying he's seeing all three of them lol]
ㄴ[Lunchbox Collector: He's probably going to end up just like me in the future]
ㄴ[Ares: You might as well just curse them]
ㄴ[Lunchbox Collector: What’s wrong with ending up like me? -_-]
[Night Mouse: Dating doesn’t seem so bad]
ㄴ[Night Mouse: If that’s the case, Eli and Claire will definitely end up with your creepy image stuck to them]
ㄴ[Night Mouse: But why Lana??]
ㄴ[Ares: Well, she seemed really angry about something]
ㄴ[Ares: So I thought I’d cheer her up with a date]
ㄴ[Night Mouse: So you asked her out and that’s why you posted on the gallery now??]
ㄴ[Ares: Yep]
ㄴ[Night Mouse: You fucking idiot lolololol]
ㄴ[Ares: ????]
ㄴ[Night Mouse: What if Lana sees the gallery right now lolololol]
ㄴ[Ares: Oh, shit]
ㄴ[Student Council Terrorist: Hahahahahahahahaha]
ㄴ[For Glory: Hahahahahahahaha]
ㄴ[Ares: Wait, but I don’t think I’ve seen her that often before. Is she gonna show up this time too??]
ㄴ[Ares: It seems like she only shows up when something’s going on]
ㄴ[Ares: No, fuck. And does a monster really hang out in the gallery this often??]
ㄴ[Night Rat: I don’t know lol]
ㄴ[Night Rat: I’ve never seen a monster come into the gallery right from the start before]
ㄴ[For Glory: Most monsters that come into the gallery either die, survive, or graduate]
ㄴ[Ares: Ugh, fuck, that can’t be right]
ㄴ[Ares: There must be some kind of cooldown]
ㄴ[Ares: Just trying to scare us, no way]
“That can’t be….”
I smiled awkwardly as I looked at the Gallery screen.
I know that Lana can enter the Gallery.
But I think that’s only in case something happens to me…
I mean, isn’t that right?
After all, the Gallery is like a special reward for me, who has to escape from here.
…It’s weird that she comes in so often.
‘…But Lana… how is she able to enter the Gallery?’
The question suddenly crossed my mind.
Of course, I’d wondered about it before, but I’d just brushed it off.
Back then, it was early on after I’d been dropped into this school, so I’d just let it slide.
But based on my experiences with urban legends and strange phenomena so far…
Most of these things have rules and conditions.
…Which means there must be some condition that allows Lana to enter the Gallery.
‘Why can’t other strange phenomena get in, but only Lana…’
I thought about it for a moment.
But I quickly gave up.
‘How am I supposed to know something even the Gallery members don’t know?’
Besides, I couldn’t exactly ask Lana outright.
I let out a sigh and got out of bed.
Then I walked over to the closet.
This weekend.
I’d agreed to go on a date with Lana.
‘What should I wear?’
With a slight flutter of excitement, I opened the closet door to pick out an outfit.
But then.
“Ah.”
“……”
My eyes met something.
It was none other than—a teddy bear.
“I’d forgotten about it… What am I going to do with this…”
It was the very teddy bear I’d bought in the horror story from the previous choice.