Reincarnation Stream Player

His breathing grew heavy. According to Li Dan, the Cable Gun's Limit range was two hundred meters. In other words, it had stopped only after embedding itself in something.

There were no clues, so there was no need to overthink it. He glanced at his watch. The minute hand pointed at "12." Ever since arriving in this game, he had noticed that everyone's time was synchronized with the clock in the first hall.

It was an easily overlooked detail. Players came from all over the world; they could not possibly all have been in the same time zone.

Li Dan saw what he was doing and immediately understood.

"Time. Right, time. Check what time it is for all of you."

As soon as he spoke, some took out their phones while others checked their watches. They had come from all over the world. When Yuki entered the game, for instance, he had just woken up.

"Eight o'clock."

"Exactly eight."

Everyone answered in unison. Li Dan drew a light breath. "Survive beneath the red moon until the third day. That 'day' can be defined in many ways."

"If it's a day, then there must be daytime and nighttime. By the usual definition, eight o'clock should be morning." Yuki's reply was brief and to the point.

"Meaningless. What does that prove?" Rich Brother pointed at the red moon overhead, veins bulging on his forehead. "That thing is still there. Aren't we still in the night?"

"Yes, like Polar Night. But that's precisely the concept I'm betting on, because polar night only exists in a specific region." Yuki stepped onto the battlement, the night wind sweeping through his black hair as he stood bathed in red moonlight.

Below them were nothing but gaping bloody mouths and grotesque arms, barely a meter from his feet. Ahead, Thomas was nearly insane. His chainsaw swung without restraint, shredding the unending Living Corpses while making the arrow tower teeter on the brink of collapse.

"So what are you planning to do?!" Li Dan's eyes widened. Before he received an answer, the black-haired youth raised a hand, grabbed the rope, then hauled Mai Sakurajima and Hayasaka Ai up onto the battlement as well.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Mai Sakurajima's voice sharpened, and she did not dare look down.

She stood on the boundary between life and death. Just as her mind went blank, she felt a warm hand grasp her wrist and firmly place it on the cable.

A terrible feeling washed over her. Before she could speak, she felt a vicious kick land on her backside.

"Ah—"

Never had instinct been given such free rein. With a brief scream, Yuki jumped out as well, followed by Hayasaka Ai, who had bitten her lip hard enough to nearly draw blood.

These three were insane?!

Everyone, Li Dan included, stared dumbly as the figures descended along the cable, sliding toward the boundless sea of corpses.

The oncoming night wind tossed his black hair. Yuki looked at the countless grotesque faces and the hands raised in unison, then finally at the dense red mist drawing ever closer.

Expressionless, he faced death, madness, and the red mist, shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Into the Abyss!!"

Ego Trait

The night wind howled, and scenery flashed past on either side of his vision.

There was not much to see, really. Yuki felt like a superstar charging headlong into a crowd of rabid fans. His vision was filled with upraised hands, reaching with boundless "enthusiasm" to drag the three people flying overhead down.

Mai Sakurajima would probably love this scene. She was so famous, yet she had never been this popular.

A bad joke flashed through Yuki's mind. He kept his eyes on the red mist approaching ahead as thoughts raced through his head.

This was certainly a gamble, but it was not a baseless death wish.

It stemmed from the inspiration brought by Long Night of Terror, from the clue of the fire extinguisher deep underground, and from adapting to the style of the Reincarnation Game.

After every crisis, there was a chance to catch one's breath, whether long or short. That meant the game should progress in stages. Just like the "third day" prompt—if it merely threw Players into an ancient castle to sit around and await death, there would have been no need to issue a mission at all. Even veteran Players like Li Dan would have had no chance of survival.

Because the first night was incomparably long. Or rather, it had no end at all. So how could there be a third day?

"Which is why 'day' is the key to solving this. That fire extinguisher, so completely out of place, must exist for a reason. Combined with the architectural blueprint Li Dan showed us, I realized that the end of the second basement level extends beyond the castle walls, straight into the depths of the red mist."

Only by seizing this key would the red moon set and the progress advance to the second day.

Of course, many things began as baseless guesses. That fire extinguisher might have been nothing more than an illusion. But as Li Dan had put it:

The worst choice in the Reincarnation Game was making no choice.

"Then come on. Pass through the mist of chaos and seize that sliver of life!"

Amid Mai Sakurajima's ragged breathing, Yuki plunged headfirst into the mist. At once, it felt as though a red veil had been draped over his eyes, leaving him unable to see anything.

No, he could still see the flailing arms. As they descended, fingernails scraped against the soles of their feet, and the three hurriedly sucked in their stomachs and raised their legs.

Ten meters, twenty meters, thirty meters...

They kept falling and plunging deeper. Their curled-up legs were almost not enough. He cursed having such long legs, but at that moment, the red veil before his eyes grew incomparably thick.

Forget the Living Corpses—even Mai Sakurajima's back had vanished from sight. If not for the sticky sensation still in his hand and gravity continuing to drag his body onward, he would have thought himself lost in the dense fog.

After silently counting another second, a dazzling light forced his wide-open eyes shut. Then a painful scraping sensation came from beneath his feet, followed by a bang as his whole face slammed into a petite back.

It felt like a bunny girl outfit.

That thought flashed through Yuki's mind, and then he heard a host of strange sounds.

Talking, laughter, and the gurgling of a fountain. Oh, and that clicking sound was a lot like the shutter of a DSLR camera?

His head felt a little dizzy. Then the marketplace-like noise abruptly vanished, replaced by several startled cries.

"What happened to them?"

"They're covered in blood! How terrifying."

"Call the police! Get a doctor!"

It was neither Japanese nor Chinese, yet he could understand it. Yuki opened his eyes in confusion and looked around. His pupils contracted even more violently than when facing the sea of corpses.

This... this was...

Mai Sakurajima stood in front of him, and Hayasaka Ai behind him. Li Dan and Rich Brother were sliding down the cable overhead, but the rest of the scene made him feel as though he were dreaming.

Warm sunlight poured down, and the plaza was packed with people. There were no more grotesque faces, no more horrors. Old people and children alike filled the place, creating the relaxed scene most common on a day off.

Everyone was watching them, though. Phone flashes flickered one after another. Some people wanted to come help, while more whispered among themselves and pointed. Then, farther back—

An ancient castle rose beyond the plaza. Its high walls, spires, and gates were exactly the same. Aside from the absence of dense red mist and grotesque Living Corpses, was that not the very place they had left?

Who am I? Where am I? Is this a dream or reality??

Even someone with Yuki's mental resilience was stunned, let alone Hayasaka Ai and the others. The disconnect was so severe that it made them question themselves.

The castle looked like a tourist attraction, and the people around them were ordinary people. Surely nobody would willingly visit a place to become food for Living Corpses? Then the question was: who were those monsters just now, and where had they come from?

"We actually made it out!"

Li Dan, having just landed, wore an excited expression as he looked toward the young man beside him. This guy really was useful.

"Don't overthink it. This is a Dungeon too. Did you really think you were home?" He heavily patted Yuki on the shoulder and sighed. "Well done. So the castle itself was Polar Night. We would only have died if we stayed inside. I was wondering—the answer was here all along. What clue did you find?"

That slap jolted Yuki awake. He realized this was definitely not a dream, because the soles of his feet still hurt from the scraping.

Just as Li Dan had said, trying to understand the Reincarnation Game with common sense and logic would only drive one mad.

"Me? Nothing much. Just something interesting. How should I put it? Let me think..."

Yuki looked utterly bewildered, like he had been frightened senseless and did not know how to phrase it. Li Dan grew anxious and was about to press him.

"Someone else is coming out! Everyone, call the police!"

Right then, shrieks and cries erupted from the onlookers. He looked up and saw Thomas descending as well, the teeth of his greatsword coated in minced flesh. He looked murderous, like a violent criminal.

Only the Housewife remained behind him. The office beauty had disappeared.

"Rachel was too unlucky. The Living Corpses formed a human ladder to block the way, and Thomas only had time to save Ms. Kathy." Li Dan saw Yuki's confusion and sighed softly. Since they had escaped, he no longer intended to pursue the matter of the clue.

He had not saved the beautiful woman he had a PY deal with, but instead pulled out this frail, sickly woman? There were scratch marks on her waist, and her clothes were torn.

That matched the signs of being grabbed by Living Corpses, then violently dragged free by someone.

Yuki froze for a moment, but had no time to think further. The crowd went from screaming to fleeing. Thomas seemed to have gone blood-mad, rushing up and cutting several bystanders in half at the waist.

Transcendental Grade power triggered a massacre, and the increasingly close police sirens sent a chill through their hearts.

Not good!

Yuki suddenly realized the danger was far from over. They had indeed escaped Eternal Night Castle and the Living Corpses' pursuit, but being thrown into modern order was just as dangerous.

Living Corpse teeth were deadly. Bullets were even deadlier.

Li Dan also realized something was wrong. They were still inside a Dungeon. This was not the real Earth at all—who knew what bizarre phenomena might occur?

"Run! I'll try to get Thomas out from under the influence of that Chaos Item. Hold on to the Walkie-talkie. We'll regroup later!"

He made a swift decision, firing into the sky as he went to meet Thomas.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The crowd, panicked by the gunshots, fled in every direction and instead blocked the police rushing over. Yuki did not dare delay. He turned and firmly slapped Hayasaka Ai and Mai Sakurajima on their backs.

"Run."

"Thomas turned us into Thugs?" Hayasaka Ai panted heavily, feeling as though all they had done that night was run.

"The negative effect of the Chaos Item. There was nothing he could do about it. Or rather, this Dungeon won't let us spend the daytime comfortably either." Yuki had already prepared himself mentally. The Reincarnation Game would give them a chance to catch their breath, but not for an entire day.

He blended into the crowd and took off his bloodstained, tattered coat, though he knew it was useless. The three of them practically reeked of rot.

"Don't run too fast. Save some stamina. We'll talk as we go."

Yuki swiftly surveyed his surroundings, ignoring the fleeing crowd as though he were a scanner recording every important detail.

There were cars across the plaza, two motorcycles parked beside a statue, and stone steps leading downward on the plaza's south side. The symbol on the sign probably meant subway.

"Over there!"

Yuki's eyes lit up, and he immediately hurried over while continuing to speak.

"You both heard the prompt just now, right?"

The moment they left the red mist, that strange voice had sounded in their minds again.

"Yes. It said we passed the first day and unlocked an Ego Trait, but I haven't had time to take a proper look." Hayasaka Ai spoke quickly. There truly had been no time to study this new thing.

"Me too. But I glanced at the description while we were running. It said something about me becoming difficult to observe." Mai Sakurajima looked confused.

Just as expected. She had become Schrödinger's Bunny Girl Senpai.

Yuki clenched his fists at those words, a trace of excitement flashing through his eyes. The reason he had done everything possible to protect the girl, aside from her calm maturity and the fact that she would not become dead weight, was to gamble on this Ego Trait.

After all, he had some "experience." When the personal panel was unlocked, he had studied it carefully and believed that Mai Sakurajima had a high chance of awakening Adolescence Syndrome.

This was far too useful. At the very least, I know how to use this Ego Trait.

Yuki did not immediately have Mai Sakurajima familiarize herself with it. Or rather, his attention was entirely focused on his own prompt.

[Player Yuki played an important role in surviving the first night. Additional reward: one enhancement point.]

Good. An enhancement point. It was now as precious as gold.

He clenched his fist tighter. With the foundation already in place, this enhancement point was more valuable than any red moon gift. But the following whisper was somewhat strange.

[Player Yuki, do you confirm that you wish to unlock your Trait immediately?]

A question? This whisper could ask questions?

Vestment of the Unknown!

Tap, tap, tap.

Tattered leather shoes struck the stairs as Yuki carried his blade and led the two beautiful girls into the subway station. Judging from the signs on the walls, this was Crimson Moon City Line 7.

Whether it was the blade or the blood covering him, both made fleeing people avoid him. Several security guards holding riot batons charged toward him, only to see Yuki's deeply furrowed brow, murderous gaze, and blood-soaked clothes before hastily fleeing back the way they had come.

Yuki ran while frowning, with no mind to hunt anyone down. Only after reaching the lowest level and seeing the rails in the tunnel did he slow his pace.

Why had it been phrased as a question? This Trait was clearly a trump card for new Players. Even Players who performed poorly in their beginner missions could access Transcendental Grade power. Who would refuse to unlock it?

"Hey, what are you spacing out for?"

Yuki stood blankly on the platform for several seconds before Mai patted him on the back, pulling his thoughts back to reality.

"Senpai, when you left the castle just now, did you unlock a Trait?"

"Yeah. Didn't I just say that?"

"What was the description?"