Awakening.
Opening his eyes within the blood-red city.
After a brief moment of disorientation, Takumi quickly became fully lucid, understanding that he had once again returned through death.
"So I'm back home… I'm actually starting to feel like this place is my home…"
With that muttered remark, Takumi dropped down onto the ground, letting out a long sigh.
'Damn it, I'm really starting to treat this hellhole like my home. What kind of messed-up situation is this?'
And speaking of which, this was already the fourth loop. Both the Shirakawa Apartments and the Red Nut Grey Cave had been cleared in three loops, yet this time, Fujihana Middle School had dragged on to a fourth loop—and it wasn't until the start of this fourth loop that he had finally made real contact with the core obsession of the Instance.
Mm. Less than three seconds of contact—one glance, took a few shots, and then dead as hell.
And this death had been clean as hell too. After being shot, all bodily functions were forcibly shut down. Even the Rescue Team Badge and the power of blessings couldn't save him. After all, after being strengthened through two Instances, he could already ignore close-range handgun fire—but the moment he faced this core obsession, he was instantly killed. It was just absurd.
But, looking on the bright side…
This death had been clean.
Almost no pain. No drawn-out torture. One shot through the heart, followed by another to the head, and then it was over.
Really. How nice.
Compared to the ways he had died before, Fujihana Middle School's core obsession was practically a master of end-of-life care, letting him truly experience what gentleness meant. Seriously, I'm crying. Though I still don't want to die…
And this third-run exploration had only lasted about an hour in the end.
Even if he counted all three runs of his exploration through the Fujihana Middle School Instance together, it only came out to four or five hours. In those few short hours, Takumi had been fighting at high intensity almost every moment. Even then, he had only managed to force himself through it with the special ability granted by the watch and sheer ruthlessness. Now that he had finally dealt with Alice and cleared the first stage of the Fujihana Middle School Instance, Takumi could only say that he was utterly exhausted, both physically and mentally.
So this time, he simply lay down on the ground, closed his eyes, and fell asleep on the spot.
He dreamed of a school.
He dreamed of the days that black-haired girl had spent at school.
In a daze, Takumi found himself sitting beside that girl, being watched by her.
Should he say something?
After all, in a certain sense… he had personally killed her once.
Looking at Miko before him, Takumi opened his mouth and was just about to organize his words when he felt a hand settle on his shoulder.
Turning back, Takumi saw the expressionless Maki.
"Takumi-kun, where did this girl come from?"
Maki's voice carried a faint, chilly undertone.
From the other side behind him, footsteps sounded at that moment as well. Takumi turned his head and saw Chika standing there, her smile somewhat forced.
"Takumi… did I maybe come at a bad time? Um, sorry. I might have interrupted you."
As she said that, Chika took a step back, seemingly intending to turn and leave.
What was going on?
The Takumi in the dream thought in a slight daze. Then, driven by his DNA, he instinctively took action.
"What do you mean, a bad time? You came at exactly the right time! All of you are my wings!"
He grabbed Chika and stuffed her into his arms, then grabbed the bewildered Maki and stuffed her in too. Finally, when he looked at Miko, Takumi hesitated for a moment, but then abruptly reached out, pulled her over as well, and wrapped both arms around the three girls together.
Their soft, fragrant scent rushed into his nose, making him feel especially intoxicated.
But immediately after that, Takumi saw Kaguya standing not far away, staring at the four of them with a shocked expression.
"You… how can you all be so shameless? This kind of thing should only be done after marriage!"
Kaguya shouted, as if her worldview had suffered a massive impact.
"In that case, we can all just get married together, right? That's right, you won't get away either. Hehe, the creepy uncle is coming to catch you!"
In the next instant, Takumi directly flew up into the air and swooped low toward Kaguya.
And then he woke up.
The blood-colored city still had the same old recipe, the same old appearance.
After sitting up, Takumi stretched lazily. While feeling a long-lost sense of refreshment, he was also confused by the strange dream he had just had.
"Why would I call myself a creepy uncle and go attack Kaguya? And holding three people in my arms while shouting that all of them are my wings is even stranger. I'm not that shameless kind of person. Logically speaking, I'm clearly pretty reserved. Why would I have such a bizarre dream? That's completely out of character."
Takumi muttered softly, then turned his head and began searching through the blood-colored city.
Mm. Everyone in the flames was still as lively as ever.
And Yotsuya Miko. That's right, she had indeed appeared in this place again.
There was no trace of Alice. That feeling from before, when he had fused with the flesh and felt like there was another person inside his body, was gone too. As expected, anything that would negatively affect me is filtered out by this black watch when I revive, and won't be brought into this blood-colored city. So Miko was actually allowed in by the watch. It actively let her in because she won't, and can't, harm me. That's why the watch is completely indifferent to her entering the blood city.
But this time, Miko's condition seemed slightly different?
Takumi stared at Miko, who was lying motionless on the ground. After watching her for a while, he still walked over, crouched down in front of her, and reached out to poke her cheek.
It felt like… she wasn't as hard anymore?
Although she still had no breathing or heartbeat, and he still couldn't feel any body warmth from her, this time, when he touched her, Takumi could indeed feel the smooth softness of a young girl's skin, rather than the cold, stone-like sensation from last time.
Was Miko being accepted by the blood-colored city little by little because she had fused with him twice?
If that was the case, if I fuse with her a few more times, could she directly wake up inside this city?
That thought made Takumi's heart stir. But very quickly, he remembered the fact that he had to clear Fujihana Middle School as soon as possible. Once the Fujihana Middle School Instance was destroyed, the Obsession Items he had obtained inside this Instance—such as the red candle, white flower, sheep head, and so on—Alice's four Obsession Items, as well as that machine capable of fusing flesh, would all vanish along with the collapse of the Instance. After leaving this place, finding another Obsession Item capable of fusing flesh elsewhere would probably not be easy. And even then, it would probably be very hard to find a method safe and reliable enough.
If that was the case…
Closing his eyes, he forcibly suppressed the thoughts in his mind for the time being.
Takumi took a deep breath and decided to shift his attention to something else first.
To begin with, now that the third run had ended, he had actually gained quite a bit of information. Whether it was the origins of Alice's four Obsession Items, or the core obsession that had appeared at the end and instantly killed him, all of it pointed to many things. Especially the killing method of that core obsession—it could already be matched with the various clues he had found earlier.
The true core of Fujihana Middle School was precisely a ruthless individual who had killed Alice back when she was still acting as an idol, and who, after her fans dismembered her and turned her into Obsession Items, had then chased into the school and killed four of those fans.
The reason he had been killed by that thing after destroying the surface layer of Fujihana Middle School was probably because Alice had been sealed inside his body, causing that entity to misidentify him.
Then what exactly was the wish of this core obsession?
What kind of obsession could make this man—suspected to be a police officer—who had personally killed Alice, unable to rest no matter what, filled with such overwhelming resentment that he could even surpass Alice in authority and occupy the position of the core obsession of Fujihana Middle School?
And moreover, despite clearly being the core of the Instance, this obsession left no trace whatsoever on the surface layer of Fujihana Middle School. Even though it hated Alice so deeply that it would decisively act to erase her the moment it discovered her, Alice still ruled within Fujihana Middle School, completely covering up all scenes related to this core obsession, to the point that under normal circumstances, players would have no way of discovering the true side of this Instance.
Takumi felt that the deepest obsession of this seemingly ordinary man in a police uniform was to kill Alice.
But… that didn't seem quite right either. He felt that the situation in Fujihana Middle School was not the same as Hedda's obsession with killing Vernon in the Red Nut Grey Cave. When he was shot and killed by that police officer, Takumi hadn't sensed any sign of the man achieving fulfillment of his obsession.
Perhaps it required assembling the four Obsession Items to recreate a complete "Alice," and then delivering her to this core obsession so he could execute her?
Takumi felt this idea had some plausibility, but it wasn't particularly reliable.
Thinking carefully, recalling the clues he had obtained before, the Instance's game prompts often pointed toward matters related to the core obsession. There should be something usable among them.
[Choosing a lie may be better than choosing the truth]
[People are still waiting for a truly fair judgment]
[Those who dig into secrets must pay a price]
[Those who cannot stand firm in their position are not needed]
Could these four prompts be a set? Could they be pointing to something that this police officer had done while he was alive?
Come to think of it, "Alice" didn't seem to make any effort to hide her inhuman side. While her words were full of lies, both true and false, her actions had always been unhesitating in displaying cruelty and malice. If someone like that became an idol and was worshipped by the masses, would she really restrain her nature? Would she really never expose her true self?
And if such a cruel, deranged idol existed, would she receive the judgment she deserved? In a country like Japan, if an idol with maxed-out charm—fanatically worshipped by countless people, and clearly suffering from mental issues—were exposed for her wrongdoing, what kind of treatment would she receive?
[The audience beneath the stage need not care about the truth]
[Fanatical fans are a perfect match for their idol]
Takumi couldn't help but think of these two game prompts.
They seemed to connect into something, more or less—but it still wasn't enough. What exactly was that place like a mental hospital? He would have to thoroughly explore it in the next run.
Speaking of which, now that the surface layer of Fujihana Middle School had collapsed, where would Miko and her group of deadweight classmates appear in the new run? Would they also be locked into hospital rooms like him?
Hopefully they wouldn't turn into another total-wipe engine… And come to think of it, what was going on with Kita Ikuyo? How did an aberration from Yoruyama Middle School manage to come over using her body? Would she show up again in the next run? Facing threats from two core obsessions at the same time—there was nothing funny about that kind of joke…
No matter what, once the new run began, he would have to properly test all the ideas in his mind. He had to take action.
Dong—
Just as Takumi was thinking this to himself, he suddenly heard the sound of a bell.
In the sky, all the Obsession Items had already fallen down. Whether it was Alice's four Obsession Items, the flesh he had discarded, or even Kumagai Mai's own Obsession Item doll, everything had returned here—completely back into his hands.
Come to think of it… if I clear this Instance, and then die in another Instance later, when I revive, will Miss Kumagai be turned back into a doll and stuffed in again?
The thought suddenly made Takumi feel a bit uneasy.
But immediately afterward, the moment that thought arose, he received an answer. He realized that as long as he actively made the decision to [abandon a certain Obsession Item], then after reviving, that Obsession Item would not return with him. In that way, he could avoid the awkward situation of unintentionally killing players who had been revived from Obsession Item form and turning them back into Obsession Items upon death and return.
Dong—
The second bell had already rung.
After a brief silence, Takumi ultimately decided not to make a wish.
Although the flesh-fusion machine had given him some new ideas, he still felt that this line of thinking was far too dangerous and riddled with potential issues. Moreover, the number of remaining ability slots in the watch was already limited. Without absolute certainty, it was better not to use them recklessly. After thinking it over again and again, he decided that this time, upon resetting, he would not make a wish and would simply start over directly.
Dong—
Having already made up his mind, Takumi closed his eyes. After a moment's thought, he turned his head to look once more at Miko, who was still lying beside him.
Amid the ringing of the bell, he watched as everything around him gradually faded into darkness. Including the girl who looked as if she were asleep—her figure slowly disappeared into the dark, as though she had never existed at all.
After three runs, it seems I still haven't built a sufficiently close relationship with her. Even though we can be considered comrades who trust each other, if I want to trigger the memory-retention reset function and the thought-communication function, I'll need to go a step further.
In other words, if the fourth run doesn't go smoothly and I'm forced into a fifth run… I might have to consider dating her?
That thought made Takumi feel somewhat strange.
The darkness had already enveloped him calmly, beginning to send him back into the Instance world.
And at the very last moment, as Takumi recalled Kumagai Mai's sacrifice, as well as the act of having to personally kill Yotsuya Miko, he couldn't help but take a deep breath. Finally, he steeled himself, fully prepared to begin a new round.
This time, he absolutely could not let others die for his sake again.
…
Awakening.
Opening his eyes in a dim hospital room.
After a brief moment of discomfort, Takumi quickly regained clarity and confirmed both his condition and his surroundings.
Then, after hesitating for a moment, Takumi turned his head toward the direction from which the gun-wielding core obsession had burst in at the end of the previous run.
One second, two seconds, three seconds…
Mm. Nothing walked in and blew his head off on the spot.
Good. As expected, it was because he had fused with Alice in the previous run that he was killed. As long as he ended that fusion state, the core obsession would no longer target him.
Then next, let me properly take a look at what the so-called Fujihana Middle School Instance truly looks like!
At this moment, Takumi's will was firm, his confidence full.
[Patient 304, it's time for your outdoor break!]
Then two burly men, dressed in nurse uniforms and showing off thick, powerful muscles, opened the ward door and strode straight up to Takumi.
They unfastened the restraint straps and removed the metal rings.
The two men, each over 1.9 meters tall, hoisted Takumi up and dragged him straight out.
Takumi said nothing, did nothing, and simply let them drag him forward.
Mm… although they looked like ordinary people, he could sense that the two of them were actually aberrations. Especially when their bodies came into contact with his, that cold body temperature and chilling touch made it even clearer.
Outside the door was a long corridor. On one side were windows sealed shut with wire mesh; on the other side were heavy metal doors like prison cells—or rather, ward doors.
He could vaguely hear a girl screaming somewhere in the distance. Those high schoolers had probably started trying to get themselves killed again.
Back at the school, he had at least been able to cover for them somewhat. This time, there was nothing he could do to help those girls. But this place seemed to maintain a superficial sense of "normalcy." As long as they didn't act too recklessly, they probably wouldn't die. All he could do was wish them luck.
I wonder where Miko is right now…
All sorts of thoughts spun continuously in Takumi's mind.
At the same time, the ward two rooms over from his slowly opened as well.
Three attendants, fully equipped in protective suits and carrying electric batons—also wearing masks, neck guards, and helmets—moved forward steadily, pushing out a patient strapped onto a hospital bed.
In that moment, Takumi sensed a familiar, terrifying aura.
So he turned his head and looked toward the patient tightly bound to the bed.
And then he saw it—
The core obsession of the Fujihana Middle School Instance.
He saw that man, his eyes bloodshot, bound like a deranged lunatic on the bed.
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