I'm a Reincarnation Stream Player

"Someone else?"

His muscles tensed instinctively, but Yuki wasn't too surprised. The prompt had said to meet up with his teammates, so there had to be more than just him inside the building.

Teammates? Or some kind of dungeon monster?

After thinking for a moment, Yuki slipped his right hand into his coat pocket and pressed his back against the wall. He rose onto his toes and crept up the stairs one step at a time. Peeking around the corner, he made out a black shadow climbing the stairs ahead.

Its upper body was hidden in the shadows beyond the light. He could see a pair of pale blue jeans and white sneakers. It seemed to have heard him coming up the stairs, because its legs suddenly stopped, and the white sneakers turned around.

"Who's there?!"

The voice wasn't speaking Japanese. It sounded more like Spanish, yet Yuki understood the girl perfectly.

That wasn't surprising. If time and space could change at will, making people in the scenario understand one another was simple enough. Yuki stayed silent. At least for now, he couldn't trust any living thing.

"Were you kidnapped too? Thank goodness! I thought I was the only one here." When Yuki didn't answer, the voice grew more frantic. He could even hear the beginnings of a sob as she ran down the stairs, speaking with lingering fear.

"Did you hear that weird voice talking about some stupid game? Get me out of here! If we escape, I'll have my dad pay you!"

The girl rounded the corner and came into full view. Seeing the black-haired boy backing away along the way he'd come, her tearful voice turned irritable.

"Hey, why are you backing away?!"

Yuki really was backing away, several times faster than he'd climbed the stairs. In the blink of an eye, he was back in the hallway. He tipped his head back and swallowed.

"Miss, what did you do when you heard that strange voice?"

"What did I do? Obviously, I turned around and ran! I kept running and ended up here. Why don't you come over? Why are you standing so far away?"

The girl chased after him, her voice taking on a touch of madness that didn't fit her sweet tone at all.

"I see. You didn't follow the prompt." Yuki stayed where he was. In the light of the wall lamp, the figure at the stairwell corner was reflected in his red eyes.

Like her pleasant voice, the girl had a lovely figure. Her cartoon-print T-shirt and jeans outlined the ample curves characteristic of a European woman. But as his gaze moved upward, what he saw became bloody and bizarre.

Her pale neck was like a flowerpot. Where her beautiful head should have been, everything had split apart, like a cartoon picture torn to pieces by some brat. Her skull and muscles had spread like petals, and a mouth split across three of them was writhing. Drool dripped uncontrollably onto the floor.

Unbeknownst to her, the drool had pooled into puddles and was slowly spreading outward. The stench of blood was strong, and a foul odor rushed toward him.

"Miss, your head's blossomed."

Yuki's lips moved soundlessly.

Chapter 3: High Risk, High Reward!

So this was the Transcendental Grade? This was the Reincarnation Game?

Yuki's heart pounded. Even though he often spent time in the dissection room and had forced himself to watch every horror and gore movie he could find, seeing those images on a screen become reality still made him want to retch.

For a moment, he felt the game's deep malice. He hurriedly pinched the soft flesh at his waist, using the pain to clear his head.

Judging by what she said, she should be a player just like me. So if I'd acted on my own just now, would I have ended up like this too?

What kind of beginner's guide is this? No wonder it said fifteen minutes instead of fifteen seconds. So this is the catch.

This game really was different from the usual ones he'd seen before. Instead of a beginner's guide, it was more like an early-game culling. Even with so little information, Yuki had already reached his first conclusion:

This game was probably very difficult, and it was full of malice.

"What prompt? Oh, you mean the one telling me to open the door? I'm not listening to something so ridiculous." The girl had no idea the boy in front of her was deep in thought. She came down the stairs, her flailing, blossoming head enough to scare a normal person into wetting themselves on the spot.

Yuki instinctively lifted a foot, but when he put it down, he was still where he'd started. He had already calmed down, and he could hear the irritation and madness in the girl's voice beginning to fade.

Does how someone sees themself determine whether they're friend or foe?

He sensed something strange. An ordinary person would either wet themselves and freeze in place—which, judging by the blossoming-headed girl's behavior so far, probably wouldn't end well—or turn around and run. With enough luck and speed, they might escape. Even taking a detour upstairs to the area glowing red could count as clearing the stage.

Fifteen minutes was plenty of time to play hide-and-seek.

Of course, he could also be reckless and say nothing, just sprint upstairs. Could this game have different ways to clear it?

"Why aren't you saying anything? Am I that scary?" The girl kept coming down the stairs. She was only a couple of meters away from Yuki.

Yes, you're terrifying. An ordinary person would've wet themselves already. Good thing I'm not ordinary.

Yuki answered her in his mind. After a moment's hesitation, he moved toward her instead, his eye twitching at the fragments of her head swaying on the "petals."

It looked disgusting, but if his guess was right, he could get more information from her.

With that thought, Yuki forced a gentlemanly smile and tried to keep his eyes on her ample chest. Her cleavage was deep, and there was even a mole above it. It was a good way to focus his attention.

"Do you see that red light? Maybe it's shining in from outside."

"Red light? Where?" The girl looked puzzled. The eyes split into eight parts all turned toward the upstairs, swaying back and forth like moving eyeballs.

Could she not see it because she'd been eliminated?

Yuki quickly got his answer. Keeping his gaze fixed in her deep cleavage and his expression unchanged, he said, "Huh? Maybe I was mistaken. How about we go downstairs?"

"Downstairs? There's nowhere to go down there."

She still couldn't see it?

Yuki's expression shifted slightly as an idea began to take shape. He quickly turned and headed back the way he'd come.

"Follow me."

"Hey, wait for me!" The girl quickly caught up, her voice much steadier now, as if she'd found someone to rely on. "My name's Linda. I'm from Mexico. What's yours?"

"Yuki Sorajima."

"Japanese?"

"More or less."

"How come? Mexico and Japan are so far apart. Could this be some international crime syndicate?" Linda shook her head with a naive air, then timidly added, "Ugh, I don't know what's going on. My head feels so heavy, like I've gotten stupid."

"Stupid" didn't begin to cover it. Your brain is sitting in the middle of those "petals" like a flower's core.

Yuki glanced at the bloodshot white mass, fought back his nausea, and took her slender wrist. "I don't know, but don't worry. I'll get you out of here. Just, just don't panic."

"Really?"

"You can only trust me right now." Yuki put on the air of a domineering CEO. Based on what he'd learned so far, he had to keep her calm.

Seeing those "petals" contract slightly, like a shy girl, gave him a strange thought.

Why does it suddenly seem less disgusting? Tsk, I hope I haven't been corrupted into having weird tastes.

As they spoke, they returned to the place where Yuki had entered. He deliberately lagged half a step behind, staring at the girl's swaying hips and the open doorway.

What would happen if she walked inside?

His curiosity mounting, he moved so quietly that his footsteps were almost imperceptible. But soon, he heard a dull thud.

"Ow." The girl landed on her butt. Her head split apart in a frenzy, spreading like writhing earthworms and revealing the brain at its center.

At the same time, her voice, which had just begun to calm down, turned irritable again.

"Another one of these invisible walls! It's like a nightmare. There's nothing there, but it still knocks me back."

She couldn't see it or get through it, and hitting it hurt her.

Yuki watched from behind. The situation was already obvious. This doorway was a sanctuary the game had provided for new players. He'd been wondering how an ordinary person could possibly fight that blossoming-headed monster head-on.

This game really did have multiple ways to clear it. But would it kill them to give a few hints?

Yuki was a little speechless. It was like venturing into uncharted territory: he had to find every clue himself. But he didn't take the opportunity to slip through the doorway. Instead, he quietly sorted through what he'd learned from interacting with the girl.

First, she was an eliminated player who had become the game's "beginner's guide." Her perception had become distorted, with serious consequences, but when she was calm, she was no different from an ordinary person.

Second, since she was no longer a player, she couldn't see the quest route he could see or enter it. Touching it hurt her.

Third, the normal way to follow the beginner's guide should be to hide, or simply say nothing and rush upstairs. But if he used the first two points...

With that thought, he went over and helped the girl to her feet. Fragments of her head swept back and forth in front of him. The pores on his face widened as he felt the "petals" brush against his cheek.

They were as hard as blades. There was no doubt they could cut through a human body.

"Huh? You didn't hit the invisible wall?" Linda asked, puzzled, though her voice was gradually settling down.

"I did. Back home, we call that a 'ghost wall.' Looks like we've ended up somewhere extraordinary." Yuki kept his tone as gentle as he could and chose to skip the subject. "But there's bound to be a way out. If we have to, we'll take another route. Given enough time, we'll get out."

In this strange place, with Yuki as the only other person around, the girl didn't have many options.

"Mm-hmm. I'll trust you for now."

That "for now" was a nice touch. Was she warning him that once her patience ran out, she'd lose control again?

Yuki noted another clue. The countdown in his mind was starting to irritate him too, so he quickly took a deep breath and led the girl to the other end of the hallway.

"This way."

He acted as if he couldn't hear the countdown. Every so often, he'd jog to test the monster's running speed, then slow down again to study the brain among the petals.

Time passed second by second, and he really did discover a few interesting things.

Her running speed was about the same as that of an adult woman. She showed no signs of superhuman strength. Her brain was important to her: the cigarette box he tossed was cut to pieces before it could touch her, but she didn't notice. She only thought her scalp was a little itchy.

And what had cut the cigarette box apart just now was a piece of her skull.

When there were about two minutes left on the countdown, Yuki finally reached the wooden stairs. Rounding the stairwell, he saw the red light coming from the left.

He'd spent twelve minutes gathering information. It was about time to make progress. The girl was becoming more and more frantic, and harder to soothe.

The girl behind him hadn't spoken for a minute and twenty seconds. Unable to find a way out, she was growing uneasy, and her head was tossing about more and more wildly.

Both she and I are nearing our limits.

Yuki climbed the last step and looked left. It was another windowless hallway, identical to the one below, except there was a set of double wooden doors at the end. They were exactly like the ones he'd opened earlier, and red light spilled through the gap between them.

"Go that way. If we get through the door, we might be able to leave." Yuki pointed, feeling the girl move a little closer to him.

"What door? That hallway doesn't have an end!"

As expected, she couldn't see it.

Yuki felt a little more at ease and began adjusting his original plan. But a moment later, every muscle in his body tensed. A soft, damp sensation brushed the back of his neck, as if a tongue had gently licked him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lick you. Huh? What happened to my head?"

From the corner of his eye, Yuki saw the girl raise a trembling hand to touch her head. Her split face was becoming more and more distorted.

Of course, she couldn't feel her own face, but she kept at it, as if trying to gather up scattered sand.

"My head, my head, no!!"

Her voice went from confusion to terror, then from terror to rage. Finally, a shrill scream rang out, hurting Yuki's eardrums.

Now!

Yuki didn't hesitate, and he had no intention of gently telling her the truth. He spun around and pulled his left hand from inside his coat. A bright scalpel gleamed in his palm.

Clang!

The blade struck the petals and burst into a bright shower of sparks. The flower stems, which looked no thicker than fingers, were as hard as reinforced bones.

His wrist went numb from the impact. Yuki had just turned his head when Linda fell silent. She spread all her petals, sweeping them toward him like a circular saw.

They moved incredibly fast. Yuki instinctively crouched, and heard a series of scraping sounds. More than a dozen deep grooves were gouged into the wall, showering fine plaster dust.

The door was twenty meters away. Had she suddenly gone berserk by chance, or was it deliberate?

Yuki fought to stay calm and brought all ten years of preparation to bear, scrambling backward with hands and feet.

Thud, thud.

The carpet was sliced into rags, leaving deep marks in his shoes. Yuki retreated several meters before he saw the girl lean forward, her split head cutting through everything around her like tentacles.

She wasn't very fast, but the splitting continued.

The "stems" had spread to her full chest. Naturally, the petals multiplying from them kept increasing. Yuki scrambled to his feet, turned, and sprinted away, throwing the scalpel behind him.

Clang.

The sound of the blade ricocheting reached his ears. The red-lit door was right ahead. His instincts were screaming warnings, driving his body to react:

Run for it, open the door, and hide inside!

Yuki could feel the frenzy behind him. Turning his head slightly, he saw a huge mass of swaying "vines" thrashing wildly. They looked like a ball of rolling yarn. Even if his legs were running as fast as they could, he had no chance of standing against that supernatural power.

Ten meters.

Five meters.