Chapter 65
The gray mist was faint, but it saw those mutated eyes, which exuded an aura of kinship.
"The Demon Eye..."
Yuki as if he hadn't heard anything, and without uttering any further words, he raised his right hand and slashed down with his sword.
"You think I'm Khorne? Actually—"
Swish.
Several parrying arms were pierced along with heads; the blade, imbued with all its power, even cleaved into the floor.
"I am Tzeentch!"
Chapter Twelve: Everyone Has Their Own Plans (Second Update)
You think I'm a Khorne? Actually, I'm a Tzeentch old man!
Seeing the demon's weaknesses was only a prerequisite for him to leave the main force; the real key was his ability to counter any move and adapt to changing circumstances.
Upon discovering that the player's head had been attached to a demon's body, Yuki had already begun plotting how to overcome the odds and how to play the fool to prey on the weak.
Admittedly, the demons have become increasingly cunning, posing a significant threat that even seasoned players with experience in more than three dungeons would find difficult to deal with.
"But if we make good use of the favorable conditions, victory can be achieved in an instant."
Yuki wanted to laugh, but he was also keenly aware that now was not the time to be happy. He simply covered his eyes and, through the demon's words, finally understood what the basics of this bloodline skill were.
The Demon Eye? It's come at just the right time.
But how did the player's head end up on the demon's body? Is it just a form of enhancement?
With too few clues, Yuki didn't know the reason and didn't have time to think about it carefully.
He turned his head and saw Shiina Hiyori huddled by the window, staring at him with a look that was both frightened and curious.
The blood-soaked youth stood atop the remains of a demon. He didn't seem as powerful as expected, yet he exuded an unwavering confidence that he would win every battle.
Yuki offered no explanation, and a second later, he gently tossed his head.
"What are you standing there for? Hurry up and go!"
Still on the wrong path, based on previous experience, a second Human Centipede could appear at any time, so who dares to delay?
Hiyori great enthusiasm, only to run into the boy with uneven eyes who rushed out of the opposite ward. The two exchanged a glance and instinctively looked to their left.
Bang bang bang--
The fire door was deformed from the impact, and countless arms emerged from the gaps below, waving incessantly, as if trying to stop the players from leaving.
"Keep up!"
Yuki slashed down several crawling demons, killing them all with a single blow, then headed towards the stairwell, moving at a slow pace, as if waiting for the two people behind him.
Boom!
The fire door was smashed open, revealing a pile of headless monsters behind it, which then surged in like a floodgate being opened.
Without needing Yuki's prompting, Shiina Hiyori and Zhang Qing immediately ran at breakneck speed, stepping over rivers of blood and corpses, and in a flash, they were ahead of Yuki.
"Mr. Thomas, hurry up!" Shiina Hiyori ran a few steps, turned around to wait, but saw Yuki calmly continuing to move forward at a steady pace, and was immediately at a loss.
He wasn't too tired to walk, nor was he unaware of the thrashing of the Corpse Mountain, Blood Sea behind him. He was observing the boy running headlong, watching him push open the door leading to the stairwell.
The blood that had accumulated in the corridor seemed to hit an invisible barrier and did not gush out when the door was opened, but the boy jumped in anyway.
It really is a spatial barrier!
Just as the densely packed arms were a few meters away from his back, he suddenly accelerated, grabbed Shiina Hiyori legs were trembling, and leaped out of the corridor.
Bang.
The stairwell door closed. It was just a thin wooden door, but hundreds and thousands of arms were pounding on it. They had no heads, yet they emitted sharp roars.
Hiyori plopped down on the ground, her face pale as she stared at the stairwell door only two or three meters away. After a couple of seconds, she snapped back to reality.
"They can't break through?"
"Of course, even though we're so close, there's a huge chasm in the space." Yuki leaned against the stair railing, feeling exhausted, aching, and confused.
For some reason, he found a certain amusement in these headless demons banging on the door, much like their fanatical fans. His mind became a jumbled mess, with all sorts of strange thoughts popping into his head.
"Where's Zhang Qing?" Hiyori quickly stood up and instinctively hid behind Yuki.
What you see is anything but funny; it's downright horrifying.
"He disappeared in a flash, of course you can't blame him." Yuki turned his head and glanced at the Black Hole stairwell, revealing a gentle smile. "But you're different, at least you knew to stop and wait for me."
"I... I just felt that without you, there would be no point in running away. Besides, you just saved me, so I can't just run away." Hiyori lowered her head, her fingers clenching the hem of her skirt.
She was very honest, explaining her thoughts from both a rational and emotional perspective, which was exactly Yuki wanted.
Those who constantly talk about repaying kindness are too hypocritical; only those who remain calm and composed while retaining human compassion can be trusted with a trustworthy person.
That last wait meant that Shiina Hiyori had passed the final test.
"That's enough. If I'm not mistaken, you'll receive a reward and unlock special features. Let me analyze it for you." Yuki turned and walked into the staircase, then looked back at the girl above.
"What are you standing there for? Follow me."
The tone was no longer cold, nor was it particularly gentle, but it was no different from when Miss Rabbit spoke, making it sound extremely genuine.
These details did not escape Hiyori's notice; she realized the change in their relationship and took Lightness step forward.
"Yes, Mr. Thomas."
"You can just call me Yuki in private from now on," the man added, then glanced at his character panel as he walked away.
Number of times Deep into the Wrong Path: 2/4
Shiina Hiyori's analysis is correct. Hint 5 is calculated based on players on the same floor and will not be affected by the other two teams. This alone determines that it is impossible for everyone to act together.
The more people there are, the more likely accidents will occur. Like experienced players, they don't want to be dragged down by a newbie's mistake, and they don't want someone with ulterior motives to change their reference point and make it impossible to identify abnormal floors.
As Yuki passed the corner of the stairs, he saw the words '8F' posted on the wall below. Then the stairs continued down into complete darkness, as if extending into Abyss Grade.
Then, on the eighth-floor platform was a lobby with two staircases on each side. He glanced at the bloody footprints on the ground; the boy with the uneven eyes had gone to the left.
"What problems can you observe?" Under the negative state of the Distortion Kaleidoscope, Yuki's mind was a bit chaotic, so he simply left the question to Shiina Hiyori.
"Uh, Zhang Qing went to the left, then chose a door to go through, which got him to the eighth floor, but he couldn't come back."
"Why?"
"Because Zhang Qing will definitely be scared after he calms down, and he will definitely come back to find us. Since he didn't come out, we can Repulsion this is a one-way passage." The girl stroked her cheek and then clapped her hands lightly.
"Also, each group encountered different enemies, so at least they didn't leave through a river of blood. But that means I don't know which side Mr. Tyrant and Mr. Curly's teams went to."
One of the three teams would arrive safely without experiencing combat. Hiyori glanced at Yuki, who was deep in thought, and whispered:
"Thoma, no, Mr. Yuki, you don't want to join them?"
"That's right." Yuki nodded decisively.
"But if there had been a few experienced players, you wouldn't have been in such danger just now..."
Hiyori's gentle voice suddenly stopped as she recalled several details she had observed earlier.
The veteran players were holding back, as if anyone who used their full strength would be in danger.
Yes, like Mr. Yuki, who revealed his true colors and became easy targets for manipulation, which is why he pretended to be very powerful.
She was speechless, unable to understand whether the dungeon or the players were the biggest threat, yet she deeply felt the cruelty of the Reincarnation Game —everyone was an enemy except herself.
"That's not all. Remember the question I posed earlier?"
Hiyori remembered, of course. Yuki had told her to reread all the clues, and now, as she approached the eighth floor, she suddenly had an idea.
"You mean hint six?"
[Tip 6: Except for a few players, all remaining players must leave the hospital together.]
The word "individual" is very interesting. Does it mean he needs to stay in the hospital after 48 hours, or needs to leave alone, or that he can only leave alone? Each interpretation is completely different.
Who is this player? Are there any more specific clues?
No one knows the answer, but given the impossibility of mutual trust among players, even if this person knew it was them and that it would be harmless to the team, they would never reveal it.
"No wonder everyone avoids talking about Hint Six, no wonder they immediately came up with other ideas after discovering that conventional methods didn't work." Hiyori sighed softly, even feeling somewhat useless.
If the pattern she finds is simple and efficient, the crisis will only erupt when the team reaches the first floor.
"Don't blame yourself. In terms of performance, I'm more like those individual players. Even if I wanted to, they wouldn't dare to act with me," Yuki said with a wry smile, slowly stretching his shoulders. "I noticed the sixth clue a long time ago, but no matter how I looked, I couldn't find anything unusual."
They've been observing all along? That's really insidious.
Shiina Hiyori mentally scoffed, then analyzed a few more clues. "It's possible this player died on the first exploration, or maybe they were too good at acting and hid themselves, or maybe..."
"It's also possible that the clues we heard were consistent, and he himself didn't know anything until he left the hospital."
With the side effects of the Distortion Kaleidoscope worn off, Yuki felt his intelligence returning. He slowly shook his head. "Regardless of the possibility, the fewer people around you, the easier it is to control them and the less likely you are to be betrayed. But the third possibility is the most troublesome."
Shiina Hiyori fell silent. If other players were intelligent enough, like Yuki, to analyze the last possibility, regardless of its truth, things would definitely become troublesome.
Individual players? Remaining players?
If I'm the only one left, wouldn't that achieve both goals?
"No, that's unlikely. Only extreme egoists wouldn't choose that..."
"The first rule of the Reincarnation Game is: don't make judgments based on preconceived notions," Yuki interrupted her, his eyes deep.
"Any player could be an extreme egoist."
Inside the stairwell, a curly-haired man in a white lab coat raised his hands, showing no signs of a fight.
His group was the luckiest; they actually went to the right floor. Looking back, the ward was still noisy, exactly the same as the starting point on the ninth floor, so of course no fight would break out.
But right at the entrance to the staircase, before he could even reach the eighth floor, Curly crushed the Walkie-talkie, and then a huge revolver was pressed against his head.
"What do you mean?" Hayasaka Ai remained as icy as ever, her finger on the trigger, while the 'good-natured' Mai Sakurajima looked around helplessly, wondering why they had suddenly started fighting amongst themselves.
Curly wasn't scared at all; he even used his shoe to crush the wreckage of the Walkie-talkie.
"Forget about Miss Rabbit, don't you understand why I did this?" The young man spread his hands, as if he had breathed a sigh of relief.
This saved a lot of effort, as there was no need to go up to the eighth floor to meet up with everyone and look for an opportunity to escape.
"Because of hint six?" Hayasaka Ai answered without hesitation.
"That's right, there are many interpretations to this, and the uncertainty is too great." The young man showed some appreciation, slowly turned the revolver aside with his hand, and let out a long sigh:
"If there really is a wolf among us, then most likely it is—"
"It's Thomas."
Chapter Thirteen: Huh, the game's become more generous? (First Update)
Just as Yuki had anticipated, the story took a dramatic turn after Shiina Hiyori's conventional methods proved ineffective.
Every veteran player who has survived to this day is not stupid; they have all started to consider their own survival, which highlights the contradiction in hint six.
If there is Sekiro among the players, regardless of its mission objective, it poses a threat to everyone, and after a little consideration, forming a bond is the most likely outcome.
He was very strong, and then he specifically picked two newcomers when forming the teams, so that he could do whatever he wanted without being restricted.
Hayasaka Ai moved the gun away; there was no point in arguing.
Thomas might be a wolf, but what's his connection to Yuki Sorajima?
"And what about the Tyrant? He's just as suspicious."
"That's right, but this person has strong leadership skills. Wolves usually don't show off. Of course, I might have been fooled." Curly shrugged, his gaze towards Hayasaka Ai growing increasingly admiring. She seemed like an ice sculpture, but was actually quite intelligent.
As for the rabbit, it's quite ordinary; it still looks innocent and foolish.
And what about you?
The gun seemed to be raised again, so Curly quickly took a half step back and forced a dry laugh, saying, "The fact that I'm teaming up with you already shows my stance."
Experienced players are not easily fooled, and the two sides appear to be evenly matched, making the situation highly suspect.
"And what about us?" Hayasaka Ai asked again.