When I woke up, I found myself lying in the middle of the hall. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 infoThe so-called lobby is just a hotel lobby, but it seems to be luxurious. Not only are there ivory-colored stone carvings around, but the floor is also a high-end marble with a pure black color. There are a little lights shining on both sides, and there are no windows in my field of vision, so I don't know the time. I subconsciously wanted to reach for my glasses, but halfway through it I remembered that Riko said that I shouldn't wear those flat glasses anymore. No, Riko-

I looked around in a panic, and if I was coming, it would be nearby. Basically, if the two "air people" are all selected by the trial, the original physical location relationship will also be inherited into the trial place. When I went to the trial with my seniors before, the two of us were together. At that time, my senior kept holding my hand tightly, which made me very shy. Now that I think about it, I should have held Riko's hand tightly.

Luckily, Riko is right next to me. She fell asleep with a serene expression, and if her face was relaxed, Riko had a cuteness that was appropriate for her age. The petal-like lips and slender eyelashes look gorgeous. If you dry your hair and put on a beautiful dress, you may be caught by a talent scout to be an idol. However, Riko's personality should not be very suitable for expressing herself in front of others. I smiled as I imagined how Riko would perform on stage. If Riko wakes up, I'll say my smile is silly.

Soon, such a giggle also froze.

I noticed that there was a multicolored patch on Riko's back, hidden in the slashed uniform, about the size of a cherry. It's like an adhesive tattoo, tightly embedded in Riko's fair skin. If you think about the colors of the rainbow, they may be a symbol of beauty and happiness for people. However, in the eyes of the air man, it is a characteristic that belongs to the sun. Being active in the sun is the privilege of normal people who can fit into a social group. For freaks and outliers like us, the sun represents death.

Now, Riko is entrenched in such a death.

I tried to turn my brain, trying to figure out what was going on. If I'm not mistaken, Riko did run to me crying before entering the trial. She wanted to go into the trials with me, and she didn't want me to die alone. Usually I'll push her away and keep Riko away from me. But Riko lost her umbrella when she ran over, and if I didn't include Riko in my umbrella, Riko would definitely die. Riko forced me to make a choice in this way, so—

I stared at the spot of light behind Riko and was speechless.

Air people are not allowed to touch sunlight. Even huddled in the shadows, looking at the happy smiles of people walking in the sun, their eyes sting. Because we are garbage that is not accepted by the world, and we are not entitled to the light that ordinary people take for granted. In any case, Riko violated this iron law for me, and no matter how much she thought about it, she would not be unscathed. When she ran over, the backpack that Riko was holding in her hand was swallowed up by the sun. The bag fades away like snow in early spring, leaving no trace or sound. In the same way, the sunlight also hit Riko's body. Her uniform, which had been cut by her classmates with scissors, was so broken that she was powerless to resist the sun's rays. So now Riko is sleeping quietly, and I wonder if she won't wake up again. If you look closely, Riko's face is slightly blue, and her lips are a little red and frightening. The pure black marble shone with a gloomy luster, and the girl lay sideways as if it had-

I almost cried.

Whose fault is all this? If only the classmates who bullied Riko hadn't cut Riko's uniform, then the sunlight wouldn't hit Riko directly, and Riko might be fine. But why don't they cut other people's uniforms, but Riko's uniforms? Presumably because Riko is not social.,Always put on a very arrogant attitude and don't need to be respectful to teachers and senior students.。 Maybe it's all Riko's fault, Riko didn't listen to my advice and had to do such a dangerous thing, and in the end it ended up like this is also self-inflicted—I can't be so ruthless, I can't blame it all on Riko. It's better to say that my fault is even greater, and I probably shouldn't have mentioned to Riko that I was going to participate in the trial at all. It's best to find a random interface to avoid Riko, and then disappear silently. But I was scared, scared, I didn't want to die alone. I think at least someone can say goodbye to me, but I don't want Riko to get involved. It's because I'm holding this half-baked mood that Riko has become like this. If you really don't want to die, just make it clear to Riko and ask her for help. But I still have the dignity of an adult, almost stupid. I don't want to involve the child, I don't want Riko to sacrifice for me, just like the seniors at that time......

"Smack."

There was a sudden sound in my ears, and I came over for a moment to realize that it was someone clapping their hands near my cheek. I turned my head and saw Riko looking at me with wide eyes. Her eyes were still sharp and her expression was still stiff, but I was delighted by these familiar qualities.

"It's really unpleasant to see you show the expression of a dismissed junior clerk."

Riko's awkward tone also comforted me, but now is not the time to be relieved. I carefully told Riko about the light spots behind her. In the past, I saw air people disappear as soon as they come into contact with sunlight, and I don't know if this kind of light spot that looks like it is burned by the sun has any subsequent harm. Riko calmly listened to my somewhat incoherent narration, then shrugged her shoulders.

"That's ......"

"Riko-san? Hey, it's a very serious matter! Maybe it'll ......."

Maybe you'll die. Just like in the Middle Ages, the most common cause of death for a soldier in war was not hacking and stabbing to death, but from wound infection and loss of physical strength resulting in reduced immunity. Wounds can be fatal when no one knows how to treat them. Riko is very smart, and she understands these words even if I don't say them.

"But I'm going to die in the trial anyway." Riko said casually, "Sulfur is so nervous, the mortality rate of this trial must be terrifying. Who cares about a small wound like this? I was ready to come here when I came here. ”

“…… I'm sorry, maybe I underestimated Riko-san's consciousness. ”

"Well." Riko seemed embarrassed and scratched her hair and said, "And it doesn't seem to hurt much, and I can't see it behind my back, so just leave it alone." Where the hell are we now? ”

I looked around. We were standing in the middle of the road, as if we were going to defy traffic laws. Now he was suddenly lying on the cold black marble floor. The chandeliers on the ceiling, the tasteful-looking decorations and stickers on the walls all gave me a sense of unreality. But since "airmen" are all around, it's no surprise that things like teleportation magic are all around.

"It's supposed to be the place of trial, but I don't know exactly where it is. It looks like the lobby of a five-star hotel. ”

"The hotel should have a counter, you can't even see the door here......"

"That's what I said......"

The room is not completely enclosed, and there are some corridors in the corner, but there is no exit sign. According to the rules set by the public settings, there should be a green sign with "exit" on the route leading to the gate, and an emergency evacuation route map should be hung on the wall. However, this hall is like a prison cell, but slightly more luxuriously decorated.

"So Sulfona doesn't know where this is?"

"I'm sorry ......"

"Isn't this different from the last place of trial?"

"Here ......"

That's right, I've been to trials, so I know how horrible trials are. The senior I was with last time on trial died, and I was also in tatters, half dead. But we weren't here at the time.

"Just now everyone was teleported to a dark cave, and there are eleven people including me and my seniors. In the end, I was the only one who survived......"

"That's ......"

Riko's gaze shifted slightly from my face, so I guess I was given another chance to adjust my expression. This gentleness in the details proves that Riko is indeed a good child.

"Are you in any danger?"

"There are traps in the cave. The trap is okay, not deadly, but the whole cave twists and turns like a labyrinth. The most terrifying thing is that there is a monster behind us that is constantly chasing us. Like the Grim Reaper, he held a blood-stained scythe in his hand, which was two people tall. The monster looked like a man in a cloak, but in fact there was nothing underneath the cloak. Of course, there are no feet, he is suspended in the air......"

"Oh." Riko nodded coldly, "It's a classic Grim Reaper look." ”

"Huh? Isn't it classic? ”

"The Grim Reaper's scythe, there's nothing under the robe, these are the characteristics of the Grim Reaper. There are many such monsters in popular video games nowadays. Riko said, "In general, I understand that being cut by it is 'instant death', right?" ”

"'Instant death'?"

"It means instant death." Riko said, "In the game, special attacks that are equivalent to cross-domain levels and attack power defense values will die if you are defeated. It doesn't matter how strong or weak the person being attacked is. Of course, when the monster's attack power 'overflows', there will also be this feeling of 'instant death'. ”

Riko-san said a lot of words that I hadn't seen before, and it seemed to be a term for video games. I don't usually play this kind of game, but I can roughly understand what Riko means.

"Right...... Because it's a terrible monster, if you get caught, you're dead. ”

"And then you're running away in a labyrinth of traps?" Riko said thoughtfully, "So, what are the 'customs clearance conditions'?" ”

"What are the requirements?"

"It's how to pass the trial. According to what you said - no, it should be the **** god who said, we need to go through endless trials. Since it is a trial, it should not be a punishment, and we should have the possibility of winning. What did you do to stay long, and how did you survive at that time? ”

"I ......"

A sudden feeling of vomiting welled up in my abdomen. To be honest, I don't want to recall that trial at all. It's not just because the seniors died there, but ......

"I don't know, we just keep running. I couldn't run fast by myself, so my seniors pulled me to run with me. Then we all got tired of running, and one guy said he couldn't run, so he stopped. And then he was killed in an instant, and before we could understand the situation, he died. The monster kept chasing us, and we kept running...... Until, until we found out that sometimes there were some swords stuck in the walls. ”

"Sword?"

"Yes, it's like a sword used by ancient people, but it's not heavy to pick up, and a child can swing it. Actually, the blade is still sharp......"

"So you beat the Grim Reaper to death with these swords?" Riko asked suspiciously, "Although I don't really look like belittleing you, but a dozen abandoned people who have been abandoned by society...... If you refer to the level of Sulfur as an average benchmark, I'm afraid that another hundred will not be able to kill that Grim Reaper. And that monster might not be able to be defeated with a sword. ”

"That's right, probably can't be defeated......"

I smiled a little hollowly, and Riko was right. Even if you have a weapon in your hand, the weak are still weak. For example, a guy like me, although he can hold a sword, is afraid of its sharp edge. It's ridiculous, it's not good if the sword wasn't sharp. But I still can't fight with these swords, because I'm just such a coward. But-

"However, those swords are not used to fight monsters......"

"That's ......" Riko's face suddenly darkened, and she might have guessed it.