This Humble One, Reincarnation Stream Player

"Let's go, we'll head up and wait for Mai."

"Is she really going to be alright?"

Yuki paused for a moment. A normal girl facing wave after wave of encirclement—anyone who pulled a trigger could end her life.

"She has to overcome it if there's a problem. Do you know what the core element of this Reincarnation Game is?"

Hayasaka Ai kept her face tense, watching the endless stream of police officers rushing past them, and shook her head slightly.

"What is it?"

"Growth. Growth in strength, growth in mindset," Yuki replied. He found that, despite the cinematic, blockbuster-like scene unfolding before him, he was actually becoming increasingly relaxed.

Leaving the underground, they emerged on the other side of the plaza. It was completely different from the holiday-like scene when they escaped the ancient castle; the atmosphere here had shifted entirely.

The air was filled with flashing police lights, caution tape cordoned off every inch of space, and fully armed officers paced back and forth—there were well over a hundred of them.

Was this even necessary?

Even if Thomas was brutal, he only used cold weapons, and Li Dan had nothing more than a revolver. To an outsider, this scene would make it look like the players were invading the game in tanks.

Ten in the morning.

Yuki glanced at his watch. The sun was blazing overhead, leaving nowhere to hide, but he wasn't afraid. He slowly walked over to the police car nearest the exit and even reached out to ask a nearby officer for a cigarette.

They were very close to the castle; Yuki even had the surreal sensation of 'I went in, and now I've come back out.'

"Five minutes left," Hayasaka Ai reminded him from the side.

"Right, wait for her until the very end." Yuki knew Mai Sakurajima's 'True Self' trait could only last for twenty minutes. If she exceeded that time, she would definitely end up riddled with bullets.

While 'sightseeing,' he mentally replayed the life-or-death moments he had just experienced.

First, the 'True Self' traits of Hayasaka Ai and Mai Sakurajima could affect any creature in the dungeon.

Second, did a few measly players really warrant such a massive deployment? Combining the police announcements with their actual behavior, it was clear these people were hitmen who intended to leave no room for survival.

It still didn't make sense. Wouldn't it be more efficient to capture them and force them to give up their accomplices? Why did it feel like they were dead-set on killing the players?

Finally, their search speed was too fast. Only one hour and fifty-five minutes had passed, and they were already right in front of them. Could this be linked to Hint 2?

If that were true, it would be dire. Even if he dug a hole and buried himself, he would be dug out within two hours at most.

So, what was the definition of 'location'? A spatial concept? Or a rule-based one? If he kept driving around, did that count as a single location?

And what was up with these enemies? There were so many of them, yet they all carried pistols. Based on the 'style' of the game, shouldn't there be more hot-headed guys wielding rifles and shouting profanities?

Yuki's mind was a mess until his stomach was poked by Hayasaka Ai's elbow.

"She's here."

The black-haired girl returned to the surface from the exit. Her steps were stiff, and her hands, hidden behind her back, were trembling. Hostile, fully armed officers ran past her, their shoulders almost brushing against hers, their magazines packed with live rounds.

No one saw her, and no one stopped to question her. As time passed, Mai Sakurajima's presence grew stronger, and she was now visible to both Yuki and Hayasaka Ai.

She walked on tiptoe, terrified of drawing any attention, just as she had in the corridors of the castle where hideous monsters lurked in the shadows, ready to tear her apart at any moment.

Only when she saw Yuki and Hayasaka Ai did her heart finally settle. It was her first time acting as the main force, and seeing the two of them waiting for her upon her return to the surface made the fear instantly dissipate.

"How does it feel to gamble with your life?" Yuki smiled, knocked out the officer who had given him the cigarette, and shoved him into the car.

"It was awful. They were firing wildly, and the bullets were ricocheting off the walls—I was almost hit," Mai said with a forced smile. She hadn't truly vanished from the world.

"That dangerous? You'll need to increase your combat training in the future." Yuki was slightly surprised; he hadn't expected the girl to be so calm. Seeing Hayasaka Ai open the car door, he didn't dare delay any longer.

"Let's go. The crisis has only just begun."

The way he used 'let's' was perfect. Mai's eyes lit up, and the lingering anxiety of being a burden vanished into thin air.

In the game, everyone had a role and an irreplaceable value. She nodded gently and took the hand Yuki extended to her.

"Yeah, let's go."

Chapter 25: Crazy, It's All Gone Crazy

Crimson Moon City, one in the afternoon.

An ice cream truck sped down the road. Yuki rested his arm on the window, frowning as he watched the streetscape blur by.

There was good news and bad news.

The good news was that the city outside the castle belonged to the modern world, so the three of them weren't lacking in supplies and finally didn't have to fight for their lives while starving. Furthermore, he had confirmed that 'location' was a spatial concept; as long as they kept moving, they wouldn't be penalized.

Stealing that police car had been the right move. With a city-wide manhunt underway and chaos everywhere, a police car patrolling the streets fit the current situation perfectly. After driving aimlessly through the city for over two hours and confirming the concept behind Hint 2, Yuki dumped it in an abandoned parking lot and stole an ice cream truck instead.

Then, he discovered the bad news.

As they passed an intersection, Yuki ducked his head slightly and saw a white pole mounted above the red light, with a surveillance camera perched right on top.

"You mean to say this city is evolving, tightening the noose around our necks?" Mai Sakurajima poked her head out, holding a chocolate cone.

Perhaps because they had returned to the modern world, she seemed more relaxed. The police's firearms were lethal, but they weren't nearly as terrifying as the hideous living corpses.

"Could it be a coincidence?"

"Impossible. Two hours ago, I didn't see a single camera. If they existed, high-traffic areas like subway stations would have definitely had them installed, and Hayasaka didn't find any relevant information online." Yuki threw out three pieces of evidence in a row, dispelling the last shred of wishful thinking. "This thing just popped up out of nowhere. This city, just like the castle, doesn't follow common sense."

Yuki gave a bitter smile. This was actually within his expectations; it was impossible to spend the entire day safely just by sitting in a car, and the Reincarnation Game wouldn't leave such a massive loophole.

"Hint 3 or Hint 5?" Hayasaka Ai stared ahead. As an all-around maid, she drove fast and steady.

[Hint 3: Time will flow ceaselessly, just like your lives and your hope.]

[Hint 5: Everyone has the right to bathe in the moonlight.]

Screech—

With a sudden slam of the brakes, the ice cream truck swerved into an alley. A few seconds later, a fleet of police cars roared past the alley entrance.

"I don't know. These two hints interfere with each other, and these enemies are very strange." Yuki shook his head slightly, took out a notepad filled with writing, and explained, "Two hours ago, we encountered patrol officers in bulletproof vests carrying shotguns. Forty-five minutes ago, SWAT teams with rifles appeared."

"The police force is divided into many branches, isn't it? What's so strange about that?"

"It's hard to say. I feel like their equipment is upgrading, and it's the kind that just pops out of nowhere. In terms of gear, it's impossible for everyone to have forgotten to put it on."

Yuki rubbed his chin, feeling as if flashing police stars were hovering over his head like in some video game, so he turned up the volume on the radio he'd salvaged from a police car.

[Suspects are heading toward East Wutong Road.]

[Officer down in the crossfire, requesting backup!]

[Another group of suspects spotted on Andes Avenue, request to set up a roadblock ahead.]

Various chaotic voices intertwined. Yuki had told Li Dan his analysis, hoping the veteran player would draw fire, but that seemed to have little meaning now.

"Thomas is also constantly moving. Didn't he split up with Li Dan?"

"It's possible he figured it out on his own. That guy isn't stupid, but there is one thing that's very strange."

"Go on."

"Why do these two veteran players always like to act separately?"

Yuki rubbed his furrowed brow. Through previous contact, he already knew Li Dan hadn't managed to persuade Thomas to return. After the side effects of the Chaos Item wore off, Thomas had taken the housewife Kathy and fled on his own.

"Li Dan didn't trust Thomas to begin with, and in that kind of emergency, it was impossible to keep covering for him." Hayasaka Ai thought for a moment and provided a reasonable explanation:

"The side effects of that Chainsaw Sword of Thomas's likely don't distinguish between friend and foe. The risk of acting with him is too high."

Very reasonable, or perhaps, too reasonable.

Yuki nodded, agreeing with this explanation. The main conflict now was how to escape; there was no need to overthink the two veteran players.

"Let's head to the coordinates Li Dan gave us to regroup. With the speed at which this city is evolving, we won't be able to hide for two hours. Are you familiar with the terrain?"

The previous lull hadn't been wasted; under the guise of patrolling, Hayasaka Ai had thoroughly familiarized herself with the area.

She hummed in affirmation, but just then, a police car reversed back to the alley entrance, and someone began shining a flashlight into the alley. Her nerves tightened instantly.

Discovered so quickly? Those cameras really weren't just for show.

"Hold on tight."

Screech—

Before the words had even left her lips, the ear-piercing sound of tires grinding against the pavement erupted. A violent force pressed Yuki back into his seat, and he hurriedly reached out to press Mai Sakurajima against his chest.

Before she could gasp, the small truck shot forward like an arrow released from a bow.

Bang!

The police car blocking the alley was sent tumbling. Hayasaka Ai reversed, shifted gears, slammed the steering wheel, drifted through the turn, and floored the accelerator.

Vroom—

The engine roared, and the speedometer climbed frantically.

A powerful surge of acceleration hit them, and the scenery blurred past on both sides. Yuki gripped his toes tight, unable to spare a thought for the muffled cries of distress coming from Mai Sakurajima.

Speeding through the streets at over 120 kilometers per hour, the truck swerved left and right through traffic. The sound of horns blared in a continuous stream, followed by the long, wailing sirens of the police drilling into his ears.

Within two minutes, the pursuers were right on their tail. Yuki poked his head out the window to look back and saw someone reach out and pull the trigger without a second thought.

Bang bang bang bang...

Bullets mixed with the flow of traffic. The scene was pure chaos: rear-end collisions, crashes, explosions, and stray bullets cutting down pedestrians.

Yuki saw someone crossing the street; Hayasaka Ai dodged instinctively, but the pursuers didn't care at all, sending the person flying through the air.

I knew it! This isn't a normal world!

Where in the world does the police force ignore civilian safety just to gun down criminals? Where is the justice? Where is the law?

No, it's perfectly normal for criminals other than players. They are here to kill us.

The difference—where is the difference?

Yuki recalled the scene just after escaping the castle. There were police in the square then, too, but they handled things normally and didn't draw their guns to execute anyone.

Just because Thomas killed a few people? No, that isn't enough to overturn the logic!

He thought of the anomaly when he unlocked his trait.

That sigh, that gaze, that choice—but now, there were too few clues, and he couldn't make sense of anything.

Screech—

Hayasaka Ai whipped the steering wheel frantically, her right foot pinned to the gas pedal. She drifted into the left boulevard, and seeing two police cars charging head-on, she gritted her teeth.

"Duck!"

Gunshots rang out immediately, and several bullet holes instantly appeared on the windshield. The girl buried her head, and just seconds before the two sides collided, she pulled the handbrake, causing the pickup truck to smash through the guardrail and swerve onto the sidewalk.

Bang! Bang!

A massive crashing sound erupted from behind as two police cars brushed past, colliding head-on with their companions trailing behind.

Under the high-speed impact, the steel compressed toward the center like a biscuit, the rear of the vehicles lifting high into the air before collapsing into a pile of tumbling scrap metal.

Yuki kept his eyes fixed on the rearview mirror, noticing that not a single car stopped to assist their comrades, instead speeding past the twisted wreckage.

They were too manic, like a pack of living corpses that could drive; they had eyes only for us, having completely lost their sanity.

"How many minutes until the River Bridge retracts?" Hayasaka Ai stared straight ahead without blinking, as if fully immersed in her role as a veteran driver.

According to the intelligence gathered earlier, there was a canal running through the center of Crimson Moon City, and even if no ships were visible on the water, the bridges would still retract on schedule.

"Five minutes. Faster—they're already intercepting us up ahead." Yuki leaned back, watching as vehicles on the road scrambled to give way, some unable to stop in time and simply slamming into walls.

This cleared the road instantly, and Yuki immediately spotted the iron bridge in the distance slowly beginning to retract, though police lights were flashing in front of it, and figures were jogging out to deploy spike strips.

The barricade was already set, and SWAT teams in black uniforms were disembarking; looking further back, dozens of police cars were charging at full speed, as if intending to crush them along with their own comrades.

"Floor the gas, charge through!"

Yuki had no other choice; he used his left hand to pull the seatbelt and strap himself to Mai Sakurajima, while his right hand pressed firmly against the underside of the seat.

Reinforcement Magecraft. Full Power.

He pushed this skill to its limit, reinforcing various concepts of the battered pickup truck, though the strength was inevitably diluted due to the vehicle's massive size.

Yuki wasn't sure if it would hold, so he simply lowered his body, listening to the sound of gunfire popping like roasted beans.

Rat-tat-tat-tat...

Glass shards sprayed everywhere, and the cabin was instantly riddled with dense bullet holes. Hayasaka Ai buried her head into the steering wheel, feeling the searing heat of bullets grazing past her hair.