I, a Reincarnation Stream Player

At that thought, he pulled out his phone and opened his photo gallery. Scenery shots featuring castles slid past one after another. His finger paused over one of them, then stopped.

Six towers rose above the high walls. The castle itself was a magnificent complex of two main buildings, one in front of the other, surrounded by a lush garden between the castle and the walls. A sprawling modern city stood not far away.

Yuki studied the picture carefully, then moved his finger and hit delete. Only then did he close his eyes and sink back into his seat.

Yeah, it was at least a nine out of ten—maybe even a perfect match.

At dusk, the Shinkansen pulled into the station. Dressed in a white shirt and casual trousers, Yuki slung his laptop bag over his shoulder, stretched, and stepped onto the platform.

Looking like an office worker on a business trip, he glanced around. Then his eyes lit up, and he strode toward the exit.

A slender girl stood there in a purple floral dress, like a daffodil slowly unfurling. Sadly, a mask hid most of her face, leaving only her lively purple eyes visible.

"Senpai, you really did come to pick me up. I thought you were actually that heartless."

"Hmph. What would you have done if I hadn't come?" Mai's gaze was resigned, but there wasn't a trace of distaste in it.

Yuki stood ramrod straight and lifted his chin slightly. "Obviously, I'd have gone around asking like a paparazzo until I found out where the famous Mai Sakurajima lives."

"Creep! Stalker!" Mai blurted out. When she saw the people nearby turn to look, she hurriedly lowered her voice. "I can't believe you. Come on, let's go."

She couldn't figure it out. She was sharp-tongued and mature, so how had she never won against him, not even once?

Heh. No one can beat me in a battle of words.

Yuki flashed a victor's smile and reached out to tug at Mai's sleeve.

"Are you ready to head back already?" Mai turned around, pleasantly surprised.

"Of course not. First, turn off your backup phone." Yuki looked up and saw that the station's security camera had stopped blinking red.

"Why?"

"I don't want anything interrupting our time alone."

Mai gave Yuki a somewhat speechless look. She couldn't figure out what that blockhead was thinking, so she simply took out her old phone and turned it off.

"Happy now?"

"Mm-hmm. Senpai really is obedient and sensible."

"I'm still in my third year of high school. You're a college student—have you no shame?"

Still bickering under their breath, they left the station and followed Yuki's winding route through the shopping district and into a narrow alley.

Just as Mai began to suspect he was up to no good, they finally stopped in front of a quiet café.

It was nicely decorated, with hardly any customers. The two of them found a seat in a corner.

Mai glanced at the menu and realized it was expensive. No wonder there were so few customers. Seeing Yuki dressed head to toe in cheap clothes, she ordered the least expensive black coffee and resisted the temptation to order dessert.

After a while, when the server brought their coffee, she took off her mask. Stirring her drink with a golden spoon, she fixed her gaze on the man across from her.

"Senpai, if you keep looking at me like that, I'm going to get embarrassed." Yuki turned his head away, looking troubled.

"Don't lie to me. Your skin's so thick, how could you possibly get embarrassed?" Mai gave a quiet snort and tapped the table. "You came all this way and made it feel like a secret-agent rendezvous. What exactly do you want?"

"It's simple. We finally made it back to reality, so I thought we could look around. We might discover something new. And I could help you with some after-school tutoring while we're at it."

Well, that made some sense.

Mai nodded slightly. They didn't know what the next instance would be, so there was no way to prepare for it. The three of them had decided to team up, so it made sense to help one another get stronger.

But why did this after-school tutoring sound so weird?

She picked up her coffee and took a sip, then cleared her throat. "You just got back. Shouldn't you be resting instead? Don't you have any friends?"

"Can't help it. I'm the team leader, so naturally I have to take responsibility." Yuki picked up his coffee and swirled it gently in his hand, glancing at the girl. "But don't you have no friends either?"

The café's music played softly. Mai froze for a moment, her brows drawing together.

Yuki had hit the nail on the head. She really did have no friends. But unlike an ordinary girl, she didn't raise her voice or make a fuss when he called her out. Instead, she lowered her voice.

"When did you start being a creepy stalker?"

"I'm just guessing. You got famous so young, and people always keep their distance from anything that shines too brightly." Yuki nearly choked on his coffee. He looked at the girl, who seemed rather pleased with herself. "But even if you do have friends, it doesn't matter. After clearing the beginner instance, we've become something else. We can't even talk to anyone about our worries."

"Something else?"

Ding.

Yuki set down his coffee cup, leaned forward, and spoke slowly, one word at a time.

"Misfits called players."

Chapter 5: Isn't This a Date!? (Revised)

In the quiet, elegant café, Yuki and Mai Sakurajima sat opposite each other, each looking troubled.

Misfits? The word sounded familiar.

Mai didn't feel any aversion to it. If anything, she agreed. For the past two days, aside from ignoring her mother's calls urging her to return to show business, she had spent all her time staring into space in her apartment.

A mountain of heavy worries weighed on her. She had no one she could talk to about them, and at any moment, she could vanish into thin air, never to return.

Coming back hadn't been as wonderful as she had imagined. Even going to school had lost its meaning. And yet she still wanted to return. She wanted to see her mother and younger sister, and she wanted to keep pursuing her dream.

It was like the string holding a kite. Without the real world, sooner or later she would drift away and disappear.

"No wonder you went out of your way to find me. Did you think we ought to stick together and keep each other warm?" Mai gave him a faint, mocking smile.

"Wrong. I'm only responsible for improving your odds of surviving in the game. You can live your life however you want."

"Doesn't that contradict what you just said?"

"It's the same thing. I'll be the one to listen to the things we can't say out loud, and we can figure out how to solve them together." Yuki didn't press her. He simply stirred his coffee. "The rest is up to you. You can keep pursuing your acting career if you want. You're already famous enough that you can't exactly hide anyway."

So that was what he meant: separate the game from reality. Live like a normal person in one, and share their troubles as players in the other. Wait, wasn't that how I used to live?

Mai raised her brows slightly, then realized it wasn't quite the same. At least before, she hadn't been a classmate struggling in the entertainment industry, rejected outside the spotlight. And in the cutthroat world of show business, there were no friends, let alone companions who would risk their lives for one another.

Suddenly, everything became clear to her. In every sense, Yuki was quite close to her. The Reincarnation Game was just one point where their paths crossed.

"Thanks. I've been worrying about these things lately. But you could have told me all this online."

"Talking through a screen just feels weird. Besides, I don't just have no friends—I don't have a single relative either." Yuki shrugged. His situation was much worse than Hayasaka Ai's or Mai Sakurajima's. After returning, he had no idea what to do with himself.

His plan to join the Diving Club had been scrapped. He was afraid the oolong tea would hit too hard and leave him entering an instance hungover, with a Debuff right from the start.

"Heh. Isn't there someone just like you right in front of you? Someone who's your friend?"

"Senpai, you're so good with people!"

"You practically handed me the line. How could I pretend not to hear it?" Mai rolled her eyes and slowly reached out.

Uh, she'd seen right through him.

Yuki wasn't embarrassed at all. If he wanted to win her over, he had to go from teammate to friend first. The timing was perfect. They had risked their lives together, and they had the same interests. It would be easy to break through that invisible barrier between them.

Their hands met—warm and soft, with what seemed like a unique fragrance. But after only two seconds, Mai quickly pulled her hand back.

"Senpai, you're so stingy. We held hands plenty of times in Crimson Moon City. I even carried you on my back."

"That was to escape. How could that possibly count?" Mai glared at Yuki and rested her head on her hand, asking leisurely, "When are we going to discuss the team? Don't we still have the most important third thing to talk about?"

She still had two enhancement points and two specialization points. She'd nearly used them several times, but there were so many possible ways to spend them that she couldn't make up her mind.

"Am I really that boring to be around?" Yuki asked, dodging the question. He looked like a deflated balloon.

"No, you're pretty interesting," Mai replied instinctively. Then she saw the boy's smug grin and turned away in irritation. "Don't get full of yourself. I just mean you're not boring."

He really was interesting. At the very least, she'd never met anyone so complicated. He was a lecherous blockhead, full of dirty thoughts and pickup lines she could barely handle, and also a cold, decisive executioner who almost never made a mistake in the suffocating Reincarnation Game.

But more important was the way he never abandoned her. He had brought her back from a nightmare.

That's right. Li Dan made her nervous, but she wasn't afraid of this blockhead at all. What he did was terrifying, and even Li Dan was wary of him.

Mai looked out the window, a smile appearing on her face before she realized it. Some relationships took shape quietly, without either person noticing.

Yuki saw that smile but didn't take the chance to unleash another string of pickup lines. Instead, he tilted his head back and gulped down his coffee.

"Let's not rush. I still need to confirm a few things. That way, I can make sure our everyday lives aren't disturbed."

"Is this about the real world?" Mai raised her brows. She wasn't stupid. Their earlier conversation had seemed to be about friendship, but underneath, it had all revolved around the game and reality.

"Yeah. We'll know soon." Yuki blinked, picked up his laptop, and slapped a ten-thousand-yen bill on the table. "Come on. Let's look around first."

Mai glanced at the bill and thought that she should have taken him up on his offer to pay earlier.

"I didn't realize you had so much money."

"Not really. I spent all my inheritance years ago. The rent on my apartment is only twenty thousand yen a month."

"Then why come to such an expensive café?"

"I don't even have enough to pay for a ride back to Izu, so these next few days..." Yuki ran a hand through his hair, looking proud to be broke. He transformed into the Immortal of Bows and bowed deeply. "Senpai, please take care of me."

He'd tricked her again. Was this jerk doing it on purpose just to mess with her?

In the alley, the streetlights were dim. The girl in the white dress walked ahead of him, looking furious.

She'd thought they would meet in person, talk everything through, and then go their separate ways until the next instance. Somehow, she'd ended up saddled with him.

When she offered to pay for his train fare, Yuki said a proper gentleman couldn't accept charity from a woman. When she offered to lend him the money, he started talking about how he was afraid of having to pay back nine and owe thirteen, and how he'd have to sign himself away if he couldn't repay her.

"Hey, you really aren't going back?"

Yuki looked down at his phone and tapped lightly on a nearby pillar. His voice was subdued. "I can't get back. It'd take a full day and night to walk, and I haven't even had dinner. I'd probably starve to death halfway there."

"You... Fine. I'll buy you dinner and get you a taxi. Does that work?"

"A true gentleman could never..." Yuki stopped midsentence when he saw the girl's fierce glare. He gave an awkward laugh. "It's my greatest honor that senpai is willing to take care of me."

At least he knew when to quit.

Mai relaxed her brow and suddenly realized that Yuki knew exactly how far to push things. He could be shameless without making her truly hate him. And he was easy to talk to, unlike the cold, silent types she imagined powerful people to be.

He really was a strange guy, but he was pretty interesting.

She gave a light snort and slowed her pace, letting Yuki walk beside her. Then she asked, "What do you want to eat? Nothing too expensive."

"What's the liveliest place in Kanagawa? Where are there the most food stalls?"

"Probably Temple Fair Street."

"Then let's go to Temple Fair Street."

The two of them walked shoulder to shoulder through the alley, heading toward Temple Fair Street. The streetlights in the Old Town were dim, and the alleys were completely deserted. In the past, Mai would have been terrified, but this time, she wasn't scared at all.

After the beginner instance, her mental fortitude was stronger than an ordinary person's, to say the least. What was there to fear about the dark? Was it as scary as a horde of Living Corpses charging out beneath the Crimson Moon? Or as terrifying as a wall suddenly shattering and a bald, three-meter-tall giant locking onto her?

Maybe this is a blessing in disguise. Even if I've become an ordinary person again, at least I'm a lot braver. If some punk tries to assault me, I can kick him until he's crippled without even panicking.

And the instances are short, with a transition period after returning. I don't have to worry about anyone finding out, either.

Mai quietly clenched her little fist. At last, she understood the positive side of the Reincarnation Game.

Gradually, the streetlights grew brighter, and more people appeared on the road. Little shops selling accessories lined both sides of the street. Mai looked around and saw that almost everyone was a young couple, holding hands, with the occasional intimate giggle drifting her way.

She froze for a moment and turned to look at the boy walking beside her, his face masked just like hers.

She hadn't thought much of it before, but with all the couples on the street around them, the two of them seemed to fit right in. No one would have found anything unusual about them.

Wait, wasn't this a date!?

Chapter 6: A Player!

Mai suddenly felt her face grow warm. Her fingers tightened around the edge of her skirt, and she could almost feel the admiring gazes around them, along with the jealous snorts of other women.

Even with their masks on, their figures and bearing couldn't be concealed. If anything, it made people wonder which celebrity couple had sneaked out for a secret date.

Wasn't this a date? No wonder he'd managed to scheme Li Dan to death. He was playing at such a high level.

Soon, though, she felt indignant. Setting aside the matter of fighting, she'd spent years struggling her way through the entertainment industry. How had she let someone else lead her around so easily?