Chapter 177
The result was obvious, but Abate scratched his head, unable to utter the words "congratulations." Something was wrong.
"If everyone fights like this, what's the point of having a deathmatch arena? Isn't the meaning of fighting to celebrate and gain glory?"
Abate's mind went blank, as if he had encountered some incomprehensible bug, and his mutterings made Yuki think deeply.
None of the six game prompts mentioned words like 'cheers' or 'glory,' indicating that this phenomenon is a rule inherent to the instance, somewhat similar to the gathering in Yadu Town.
Yuki against them like this, but he had to ensure his safety before tackling the dungeon.
Thinking of this, Yuki deliberately asked, "When does the next match start?"
"Probably not in the short term. Everyone needs time to get used to your style before we see if anyone is interested in you," Abate replied reluctantly.
This is it.
Yuki quietly clenched his fist, revealing that the Night Domain was not only a means to combat mental erosion, but also had an extended plan:
He wanted to reduce the frequency of battles, and since Abate repeatedly mentioned 'interest,' he decided to start with what he saw and heard.
The people here are not afraid of death or failure; on the contrary, they enjoy the process of fighting under the spotlight, like masochists—the more ferocious you are, the more excited they become.
His own blood, the enemy's blood, the fighting accompanied by fervor, that kind of passion fills people with power, and to deal with these kinds of people, you have to burn Boruto for them.
Suppressing his excitement, Yuki asked in a cold voice, "Since there isn't one, take me to the lounge."
"Turn left after you leave, it's the first shop. I need to ask the higher-ups if this counts as breaking the rules." Abate turned around impatiently and left, but was Yuki halfway there.
"Now can you tell me what the Warriors are?"
In the spacious lounge, Yuki lay reclining on the sofa, shaking his legs.
"Those who fight in the deathmatch arena are collectively called warriors. Under the cheers and witness of the audience, those who fight their way through and eliminate all opponents will be promoted to heroes."
"This city has a total of eight deathmatch arenas, and each arena has only one warrior, who is essentially the strongest selected."
"Eight warriors battle it out again for the final championship; the plot is really simple and straightforward."
After spending most of the day in the dungeon, Yuki finally understood the plot of 'Calamity of Blood'. Well, on the surface, it wasn't complicated at all and seemed quite straightforward.
It's all about killing them to the bitter end, until they're completely convinced of your Yuki. If Yuuki had just followed the plot, there would have been no need for him to use the Night Domain.
In that frenzied atmosphere, standing on the ring, they would kill one challenger after another, either burning themselves out or wiping out all the challengers. Their blood was boiling and their killing intent was surging. If they were men, they would fight to the very end with real swords and spears.
"But I'm not a hot-blooded brute." Yuki a slightly self-deprecating smile. If he were hot-blooded, he would have died long ago. How to describe his experience over the past month?
Those stronger than me can't outsmart me. Those more cunning than me can't beat me.
"I always feel like you're not ashamed at all, but rather proud of it," Hayasaka grumbled from the side. She had her hair in a ponytail, wore a black trench coat, and had a huge revolver and a thick-backed machete at her waist, making her look like a female assassin.
Knock knock knock.
The low-heeled leather boots made a soft clatter, and a steaming cup of coffee was placed in front of me.
"Hayasaka, I feel like I can't think straight without your coffee."
"You said the same thing to your senior, only you switched from coffee to tea."
"Huh? When did I say that?" Even though Yuki was thick-skinned, he couldn't lift his head for a moment. Hearing the laughter beside him, he realized that he had been tricked again.
He glanced at the girl next to him; her tights and black trench coat gave her an extremely capable look, and coupled with her serious expression, she was undoubtedly an elite player.
"But I still prefer the maid outfit."
"Should I switch back?" Hayasaka asked tentatively.
"Never mind, that outfit of yours, combined with your menacing aura, always reminds me of another maid," Yuki retorted, conjuring up an image of a maid from another work in her mind.
Smack
No sooner had she finished speaking than a fair hand slammed heavily onto her shoulder.
"You know any other maids?"
The deadly question seemed to have crossed Hayasaka Ai's bottom line, Yuki immediately transformed into the France white flag, raising both hands high.
"Of course I don't know him, I was just making a casual comment."
"Real?"
"Aside from the Reincarnation Game, where in this world are there maids with murderous intent? I wouldn't even have the chance in a dungeon." Yuki quickly explained, her face instantly hardening. "When you're clearing a dungeon, be serious."
"Okay, I'll do as you say." Hayasaka still had some doubts, but regained his indifferent tone and said, "This story mission seems simple on the surface; it's just that you keep fighting and competing for the championship."
"But it's actually not simple at all. The atmosphere was very strange, and it contradicted clue six."
[Tip 6: Battle and bloodshed are both glory and poison]
Yuki had already felt the effects of the poison; mindless, hot-blooded fighting would only cause his blood vessels to burst, and he always felt that there was a problem with continuing to fight like this.
"Judging from the battle just now, these characters in the story are pursuing the glory of fighting to the death, and they have no regrets even if they are defeated and die."
"So you're taking a different approach?"
"To be precise, it's the opposite. I hate fighting without thinking." Yuki swirled his coffee cup, narrowing his eyes. "Abate's reaction is interesting. It's a bit like I solved the problem, but my solution wasn't accepted."
"You mean that Cult wants the players to keep fighting like madmen?" Hayasaka Ai realized that the atmosphere had been off.
"It should be; the hint clearly states that they are the organizers." Yuki and Hayasaka exchanged a glance, seeing the unease in each other's eyes.
From what I've observed, the Cult, like the Yadu Town Church, acts as the administrator of the instance. I wonder what the consequences will be if Yuki goes against their wishes.
"Don't panic. At least I didn't violate the game's instructions, and doing this will solve the immediate problem. If we really followed the storyline, would I still be here drinking coffee and analyzing things slowly?"
Definitely not. He's too hot-blooded. He's still fighting like crazy on the arena right now, and he doesn't even know how many warriors are in the Arena IV. It's all just a surge of adrenaline, nothing more.
"And then there are the eight pillars along the edge of the ring." Yuki put down his coffee cup, his brows furrowed.
He possessed the Demon Eye, and in the Devil's Vision, the eight pillars contained terrifying soul energy, resembling eight blazing torches.
"When Bull Demon won, he was almost at his peak, but when it was my turn, the burning passion subsided, and I didn't seem as excited."
"You mean the atmosphere here is related to the mysterious soul energy?" Hayasaka Ai suddenly found it interesting, gently pinching her chin. "This seems to corroborate the rule from earlier: the Cult is the organizer of the deathmatch, those eight pillars must be related to them, perhaps even connected to the final secret of one of the main quests."
"Based on past experience, the Cult is definitely the enemy. My approach neither violates the rules of the game nor fails to frustrate them. We can continue to test them," Yuki replied firmly. When it's time to place a bet, he's always bolder than anyone else.
This was all the intelligence they had gathered after the fierce battle. Yuki adopted a reverse strategy, intending to observe the opponent's reaction before making any further moves.
Anyway, there are a lot of people this time, so there's more than one way to go.
Click.
The door opened, Kaguya Shinomiya happened to return. Seeing Yuuki sitting in a high-backed chair Yuki in thought, she felt inexplicably pressured. Fortunately, her maid was by her side, and her steps became lighter again.
"Hayasaka, pour me a cup of coffee."
"Yes, Miss Kaguya."
Taking the coffee, the familiar taste completely relaxed her. She placed the cup back on the long table before speaking, "Just as you thought, hint 1 and hint 5 are indeed parallel rules."
[Hint 1: This is the world of deathmatch; players will participate in deathmatches as individual players or in teams.]
[Tip 5: Players who lose three times will be eliminated, while teams of players in a deathmatch will earn respect. This tip upgrades as the player's status increases.]
This was something planned before even arriving at the deathmatch arena. Shiina Hiyori analyzed it almost meticulously, spotting the problem right away.
Whose respect are we trying to gain? Since we're locked in a life-or-death struggle, what's the point of gaining respect?
"Oh? How so?" Yuki subconsciously sat up straight, and Kaguya secretly rejoiced at his inquiring look, forgetting the resentment she felt when she was used as cannon fodder for scouting.
While Yuki fighting, Kaguya, Hiyori, Mai Sakurajima quietly left the edge of the arena. Abate didn't stop them and simply left the deathmatch arena without hesitation.
She had prepared herself to fight those irritable citizens, but to her surprise, their attitude changed. She walked several hundred meters without encountering anyone who came up to cause trouble.
To what extent did you probe?
"Is splashing water on someone considered malicious?" Kaguya retorted, her expression changing slightly upon seeing Yuki's regretful look. "The prompt mentioned respect. I can't exactly stab someone a few times and then pretend nothing happened, can I?"
That's not quite right.
Yuki was teasing her on purpose, thinking to himself that as expected of a young lady, even her provocations were so civilized. If it were him, he would have spat in the face of a passerby long ago.
So that's what it meant...
These two clues aren't hard to guess. The Reincarnation Game isn't crazy; it doesn't have to kill players. If you want people to investigate secrets, you have to give them some freedom.
The people in this city are strong and violent. You can't even move around much, let alone get any information out of them. There's almost no difference between the streets and the deathmatch arena; it's all endless fighting.
"Is this essentially another strategy route?"
"What did you say?"
"It's basically about taking down Abate right at the start, then turning a fighting game into a sandbox game. If you have affinity-related traits, that's a viable option." Yuki's thoughts wandered, and seeing Kaguya Shinomiya's blank expression, he knew this gaming idiot didn't understand what a sandbox game was.
"When will this respect end?"
"Fifteen minutes ago, right when Hayasaka told me your battle was over, that's why I was able to confirm the two notifications." Kaguya gave a reserved smile, then her face turned cold. "There's something I've always wanted to ask, why am I always the one who takes the risk to gather intelligence?"
"Stop complaining. We can't exactly send Hiyori or Senpai, can we? In terms of combat strength, you're stronger, so you can make up for any mistakes in your predictions."
"But I always feel like you're targeting me." The girl looked suspicious.
"That's not true." Yuki glanced at the maid by the door and lowered his voice, "I'm always very magnanimous, I won't hold it against you for speaking ill of me to Hayasaka."
You... actually knew that.
Kaguya immediately stood up and sat down at the other end of the sofa, leaving the bewildered Hayasaka Ai standing behind her before giving Yuki an elegant smile.
So what if I know? Come here.
Kaguya Shinomiya realized that the ice sculpture was useless to me, so she started to become silly and goofy.
Yuki ignored her; it was normal to be upset about having something you cherish taken away, and he focused all his attention on the dungeon.
Since it's a team effort, does that mean if even one person steps into the ring, the rest of the team are automatically in a fight to the death?
This wasn't just a game notification; it also applied to all non-player warriors. At least he hadn't seen any warriors fighting each other on the streets, and these warriors were even locked in the deathmatch arena, never venturing out.
Yuki tapped his knee with his fingertips. The characters in the dungeon all had similar art styles, but there was a fundamental difference—
Strength.
Without those eight pillars, this city, no matter how big, would have been demolished long ago. For example, that Bull Demon could destroy an entire city block with a single blow of his hammer.
Whether the soldiers were unable to take action or were simply too lazy to do so, this aspect was also included in the investigation.
Yuki spread his hands, took out his notebook, and flipped through several pages, circling two paragraphs.
[Tip 5: Players who lose three times will be eliminated, while teams of players in a deathmatch will gain respect and level up as their status improves.]
It is now confirmed that Tip 1 and Tip 5 will run in parallel. That is, when a team participates in a dungeon, even if only one person steps into the arena, the rest of the team will be in a deathmatch state by default. Players in a deathmatch state will gain respect and will not have to struggle to move around in the city.
"Then Kaguya confirmed the result. As soon as I finished fighting, she immediately returned to normal. There's no such coincidence in the world."
Thump.
Yuki tapped the table lightly, startling Kaguya, who was drinking coffee next to him. She saw that the man's eyes were burning with excitement.
Finally, we can use a two-pronged approach.
Chapter Seven: Corpse Mountain, Blood Sea (4K)
"OK, since you also think it's okay, let's get started."
At the entrance to the deathmatch arena, Mai Sakurajima pressed her earpiece, and Reishi transmitted Yuki's analysis. Without saying anything more, she simply raised her hand and tied her long hair into a neat ponytail.
Because of trust, the team's execution efficiency has always been high, and no one cares about gains or losses.
Mai Sakurajima hung up the call, turned around, and looked at the girl who was looking up at the sky.
"Hiyori- kun, Yuki agrees with you; the clue really did contain the solution."
The silver-blue-haired girl continued reading the blood-red sky, remaining silent for a long while.
Mai Sakurajima smiled and shook her head, then walked over and waved her hand in front of her eyes. "What are you thinking about, so engrossed?"
"Sorry, senior, I got so engrossed in reading that I didn't realize it." The girl snapped out of her reverie.
"A new discovery?"
"No, I was just wondering what's above the dome. This place is completely different from Earth; I can't even find a single blueprint."
It really is different.
Mai Sakurajima glanced at the sky. None of the four dungeons she had experienced before had this kind of anomaly. Demon Hospital and Bloodthirsty Red Moon aside, although the era of Battle on the Raging Seas was different, it was at least within the realm of common sense.