I, a Reincarnation Stream Player

Three meters.

The monster was getting closer, apparently enraged to the point of sprinting at full speed. Yuki lunged forward, his palm snatching the golden doorknob first, and then—

He straightened up, pressing his entire back against the wall.

Thud!

The blade slashed several marks into the chest of his coat. The ball of yarn slammed hard into the door. Right before Yuki's constricting pupils, the petals—sharp enough to slice through flesh—failed to leave a single mark on the door. Instead, after it crashed into the door, it burst apart like a scattering of flower petals.

This wasn't the impact itself. It was the rules harming an eliminated player, and the damage was greater than what the door had suffered ten minutes earlier.

Hiss—

With a shriek of utter agony, Yuki suddenly surged forward, as if stepping into a thorny flower bed. Ignoring the pain stabbing through his body, he fixed his gaze on the milky-white "stamen" at the center of the scattered petals and, without a word, plunged the scalpel into it.

General Principle Two: High Risk, High Reward!

Chapter 4: Players Don't Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai

Thump, thump, thump, thump.

His heart pounded like a drumbeat. Leaning forward, Yuki stared without blinking at his right hand.

He drove the scalpel deep into the mass of brains, twisting his wrist to gouge out a large chunk. From the corner of his eye, he could see the frozen "petals" all around him. Some had already sliced through his skin and sunk into his flesh, and bright-red beads of blood ran down his body.

In just one second, those things, like bone knives, would shred his body like a blender, turning him into another bloody work of art.

"But I bet right."

Breathing heavily, Yuki watched the "flower" shrivel rapidly, as if all its moisture had been drained away.

The split petals drew back toward the center, rebuilding into a high chest, a pale neck, and a golden-haired, blue-eyed head. The sweet-faced girl stared blankly at Yuki, then slowly sank downward.

Huh?!

Yuki instinctively took half a step back. Then he saw the unblemished corpse sink as if into sand, disappearing completely into the floor within seconds.

"That's it?" Yuki blinked several times and hurriedly turned around. He saw the scratches on the walls and floor, then turned back, dazed.

Had I actually killed someone? Was that thing human or a ghost?

There was no answer. Whatever the truth, he wouldn't feel too guilty about it. Then the strange voice sounded again, and he slumped against the wall as if all the strength had been drained from his body.

[Player has completed the beginner's tutorial]

[Completion: S]

[Personal panel unlocked. Open it?]

This Reincarnation Game really did lack guidance, and it was even less like an Infinite-type game, with its stage-by-stage mission instructions. But some principles were shared.

The voice, as if made up of countless people speaking together, jolted Yuki's spirits. He latched onto the keyword "game" and used the information he'd observed to look for the most advantageous solution.

There were no points, but the "S" completion result showed that his guess had been right. It also helped him understand what "beginner's tutorial" meant.

"So it's an elimination game. That means even people who use the simplest solution won't be too stupid. It also gives me a general idea of the game's style."

It was strange, with a brutal elimination rate, and focused on players exploring things for themselves. For now, he couldn't think of any similar scenario.

Yuki lowered his left hand from the door. He'd chosen to gamble just now, but he hadn't been planning to go all in. He'd prepared a backup plan long ago.

The lock had already turned. If something had gone wrong, he would have charged through the door without hesitation. Just like now: the door was clearly ajar, yet the monster had slammed into it with all its strength and hadn't budged it at all.

"If it can't see the door, it can't break through. If there was any real gamble involved, it was more about whether this identical door opened inward or pulled outward. But this game wouldn't mess with my head like that, would it?"

Yuki instinctively grinned, excitement at winning the bet filling him. It took several seconds for his expression to return to its usual calm.

Don't get excited yet. I've only explored a fraction of this game. I still have to keep going.

"Open the panel."

Player: Yuki Sorajima

Physical Strength: Human (Excellent)

Ego Trait: None

Equipment: Scalpel (Common Grade)

Chaos Item: None

Primary Skills: Bladed Weapon Proficiency (Beginner), Combat Technique (Proficient), Bladed Weapon Proficiency (Expert), Biological First Aid (Proficient), Reconnaissance (Expert), Self-Hypnosis (Proficient)

Enhancements: One

Specializations: None

The panel opened in just one-thousandth of a second, but Yuki's brows immediately furrowed. This panel wasn't what he'd imagined.

"Never mind the items and equipment for now, but why aren't the stats quantified? And what's an Ego Trait?"

The strange voice was clearly lazy, and it made no attempt to answer all the questions filling Yuki's mind. He could only rub his chin and make a few guesses.

Physical strength was obviously a basic attribute. Fortunately, he noticed an asterisk after it. He focused on it and read the explanation:

[Physical Strength is a comprehensive assessment of a player's current attributes, including strength, speed, endurance, intelligence, and so on. The human stages are: Frail, Ordinary, Excellent, Limit, Extraordinary, Transcendental Grade. Open detailed stats?]

"So it's an average. And there are human stages, which means there are nonhuman ones, too?" Yuki understood. Quantifying the stats this way was reasonable enough. After all, a living being's attributes fluctuated under different conditions, so they couldn't be represented by simple numbers.

A mother might see her child about to fall from a building and sprint across the street in a few seconds, then catch hundreds of kilograms of weight with her bare hands. How would you quantify her speed and strength?

A warrior might go several days without a drop of water on the battlefield and still take up a gun to kill the enemy. How would you quantify his endurance and willpower?

Yuki didn't dwell on the question. He was simply curious why he'd been rated Excellent.

"Open. No, close it!"

After just one second, he let out a pained groan, clutching his head and retching repeatedly. It took him a long time to recover, and the veins on his forehead bulged.

"Quantified stats? Are you messing with me?"

The fleeting glimpse had nearly made him pass out. The panel was far too detailed—ridiculously detailed!

Muscle fiber strength, cellular activity, lung alveoli oxygen capacity...

There were over a thousand entries, all packed with tiny decimal points. No human could analyze all of that; at least, the human brain couldn't take in that much data in such a short time. It was more like a taunt from the game:

You like quantified stats, don't you? Is this detailed enough for you?

Huff, huff.

Yuki opened his eyes, still shaken. He'd lost interest in the panel. In the end, it was just an assessment of himself and couldn't affect anyone else. The game's style was what really annoyed him.

He'd never heard of a game that could make someone pass out just by looking at their stats. If that had happened during a fight, the experience just now would have been enough to get him killed several times over.

So he grew even more cautious, pulled himself together, and carefully examined the explanations.

Skill ranks: Beginner, Proficient, Expert, Excellent, Master, Legendary...

That was easy enough to understand. A quick comparison was all it took for Yuki to figure it out.

For example, due to circumstances, he'd only trained with firearms at a shooting range. Naturally, he was better at hand-to-hand combat, which he'd put more effort into. As for bladed weapons, that probably meant knife techniques, which he was even better at than hand-to-hand combat.

And all the years he'd spent honing his information analysis and attention to detail had been grouped under [Reconnaissance]. An Expert rating made sense. But going from Expert to Excellent required two enhancement points, and from Excellent to Master required three, and so on.

It suited the game's premise. The more specialized you became, the harder it was to improve.

"An Ego Trait is a concretization of one of the characteristics or desires from my life. Huh, that's pretty novel." Yuki found that part of the panel interesting. It wasn't something he'd encountered in the games he knew.

From the description, it sounded a little like a life-bound magical artifact from a cultivation novel. Unfortunately, it wasn't unlocked yet, so he'd have to wait and look into it later.

He reined in his curiosity and focused on the last unknown category.

[Enhancements can improve any one of the following: items, equipment, or skills]

[Specializations can improve Physical Strength or an Ego Trait]

[Both can raise an evaluation by one rank or, when consumed, randomly grant a skill or item (new players only)]

Damn, that was generous—and heavy-handed!

Yuki was stunned. He'd never expected the Reincarnation Game to make its upgrades so simple and straightforward. Never mind the random draw; it could raise an evaluation by one rank?

He'd spent ten years and countless hours of sweat earning his Proficient rating in combat and swordsmanship. That didn't seem to fit the game's style at all.

But after thinking it over, he calmed down and decided it made sense.

"The rewards must be scarce. Specialization points are probably even more valuable than enhancement points. Did my unorthodox approach earn me a beginner's gift pack?"

The monster hadn't been that strong. Experienced players in the game could surely kill it. But he couldn't forget that this was a "beginner's tutorial."

Ordinary people wouldn't just fail to observe the details and gather information—they'd probably wet themselves at the sight of it. Someone with a little more nerve might avoid it or charge straight through, but no one would think of how to deal with it amid all the unknowns and chaos. Or rather, they wouldn't know how.

"Unless someone was dragged into the game carrying a rocket launcher, ordinary guns wouldn't stand a chance. Even someone with incredible composure or observational skills wouldn't understand what the word 'game' meant—at least, not yet."

Dragged into this bizarre castle, any ordinary person would only think about how to survive. Who would think about strategies? Only someone like Yuki, who spent every day preparing for exams and was always ready, would take an unorthodox approach and understand the universal principles behind words like "Infinite" or "Reincarnation."

"Was this the biggest perk I got from crossing over? Hmm, if I hadn't arrived ten years early and trained in all sorts of ways, my frail shut-in body wouldn't have been able to pull any of this off."

Yuki grinned. Only by combining his knowledge and abilities had he been able to earn the "beginner's gift pack." But as he considered it, something seemed off. It almost felt as if someone had written the script for him.

"Never mind. This isn't the time to speculate. I'll think about how to use the enhancement later. First, I should take a look at my teammates."

He shook his head, looked at the red light seeping through the door, took a deep breath, and gently pushed it open.

Creeeak—

The door made a piercing sound. Yuki stepped through, his brows unconsciously drawing together.

The monotonous, endless corridor was finally gone. In its place was a hall, opulent yet antique. A huge, ornate crystal chandelier gave off a dim light, but it was bright enough to make out the people and objects inside.

A heavy crimson carpet covered the floor. Various swords hung on the walls. In the center stood a massive round table, with sofas and chairs scattered around it. Opposite the entrance was a floor-to-ceiling window. Beyond it was pitch-black darkness, making it hard to imagine where the red light had come from.

His gaze swept across the room. Setting aside the decorative suits of armor, Yuki could make out nine people. Some were men, some women; some stood, others sat. None of them spoke. The only sound was the tick-tock of a clock.

Two people stood on the table, naturally drawing more attention in the silence. But Yuki's gaze rested on them for only a second before shifting to the window.

The night breeze stirred the white gauze curtains, leaving the person behind them half-concealed. Yuki stared straight at her for a simple reason: she was impossible to miss.

Her tall figure was paired with waist-length black hair, its layers picked out by the warm light. Her Bunny Girl outfit was undeniably sexy and completely at odds with the surroundings. Her beautiful face was tense, as if she was struggling to adjust to her situation. She looked so vulnerable that anyone would feel for her.

The girl quickly noticed his gaze and glared back as if defending herself. She pulled the curtains around herself, wrapping them once about her body, but the rude Yuki didn't look away.

It had nothing to do with the girl's angry, alluring expression. Yuki knew her—or, more precisely, ten minutes ago, he'd been planning to go to Kanagawa Prefecture to see her.

His mind filled with countless questions again. His lips moved, and an absurd thought flashed through his mind:

Do Reincarnation Game players dream of Bunny Girl Senpai?!

Chapter 5: The Crimson Moon Hangs High

Mai Sakurajima? How could it be her? Could the world really be this small?

Even the girl whose head he'd just blown open with a single stab hadn't surprised Yuki this much—not because of her appearance. He'd known for a long time what kind of world he'd crossed into.

But it was too much of a coincidence. His last outing to investigate had been to check whether Mai Sakurajima showed any signs of the supernatural, and he'd ended up being dragged into the Reincarnation Game. But just as he began carefully analyzing the girl's facial expressions, he suddenly heard someone knock on the table.

Tap, tap, tap.

"You walk in and immediately start staring at the woman. Are you saying I don't matter?"

The somewhat irritated voice reached his ears. Yuki turned and saw a man in his twenties wearing a black leather jacket, staring at him.

He had a chiseled face, a bulbous nose, narrow eyes, and a tuft of red hair on his crown. At first glance, he looked a bit like the frontman of some underground band. This kind of getup often belonged to good-for-nothing punks who talked about their musical dreams but spent all their time getting into trouble and slacking off.

But this man isn't a punk.

Yuki's gaze lowered to the massive sword on the table, its blade covered in chainsaw teeth. The cold gleam it reflected proved that it wasn't a cosplay prop.

"Hey, didn't you hear me? Do you know how long we've been waiting for you?" The Band Guy seemed to read the scrutiny in Yuki's gaze. He picked up the greatsword with one hand and jumped down from the round table. His extraordinary presence made Yuki's brows twitch, and he immediately forgot about Mai Sakurajima.

An experienced player?

Someone had entered the Reincarnation Game before him. That proved his situation had nothing to do with Mai Sakurajima. Looking at the Band Guy's aggressive attitude, he quietly slipped a hand into his pocket.

"Enough, Thomas. We're teammates, and we still have to work together to get through this instance."

With a mild voice, a hand blocked the Band Guy's way. The man wore a black suit and rimless glasses, looking like an office drone, but there was a holster at his waist. The huge revolver inside made him seem a little more trustworthy.

"To get through an instance, we need people who can be useful. This guy only just made it through the beginner's tutorial. What good is he going to be?" Thomas sneered, but at least he stopped walking. "And Li Dan, this is our first time working together. Don't act like we're old friends."

"There are only two experienced players here. Don't you think we ought to take on a little more responsibility?" Li Dan didn't seem offended. He looked like an easygoing person.