Outside the window, the sun had slipped below the distant horizon before anyone noticed, and stars had risen in the night sky.
"They really do treat legendary heroes well, and the girl who showed us here was so cute!"
Watching the maid leave, Motoyasu Kitamura sat on the soft bed in the luxurious guest room and spoke with an excited expression.
The other three studied their respective weapons intently while checking the status screens floating before their eyes. Ye Uchiha sat silently on the sofa, and all four chose to ignore him.
"You know, this really does feel like a game!"
Naofumi Iwatani made that observation as he examined the skill tree on his status screen, which looked like something commonly used in online games.
Motoyasu Kitamura said smugly, "Isn't it a game? It's exactly like Jade Online."
"Huh? What game is that?"
"You don't know it? It's super famous."
Itsuki Kawasumi said, "What are you talking about? This is clearly Dimension Wave."
Motoyasu Kitamura retorted loudly, "What the hell kind of game is that? I've never even heard of it."
"No, it's a VRMMO. This world's setting is definitely from a game, though." Ren Amaki, leaning against a wardrobe, immediately interrupted to correct them.
Naofumi Iwatani, who had started the conversation, could only watch the three argue endlessly with a bewildered expression.
They're all talking about different kinds of games, but they seem to know something about this world. So why am I the only hero who doesn't know anything?
Virtual reality games? Aren't those things you only find in science fiction?
"Hey, ninja guy over there. What about you?" Motoyasu Kitamura asked.
"Me?"
Ye Uchiha opened his eyes and said slowly, "The games you're talking about don't exist in my world. It's a world where ninjas dominate warfare. And the ninjas you mentioned earlier are completely different from the ones I'm talking about. Ninjas are war machines."
"Huh? There's a limit to how far you can take a joke. Sure, ninjas show up as a class in some fantasy games, but aren't weapons of war supposed to be tanks, missiles, and things like that?"
The other three looked equally convinced, regarding Ye Uchiha as though he suffered from a severe case of delusions of grandeur.
"It seems the five of us come from different worlds. In mine, war never ends, and ninjas wield extraordinary ninjutsu and elemental techniques. If I count all the nobles, ninjas, and civilians I've killed, the total is probably close to a hundred thousand."
An ominous, blood-red pattern of three tomoe appeared in his black eyes. The four felt as though they were sitting on needles, their hearts pounding with dread as if some primordial beast had fixed its gaze on them.
Ye Uchiha did not tell them the secret of his transmigration. Instead, he revealed some information about the Shinobi World in hopes of earning their trust. Though the four were so weak that he could kill them with a single glance, they were still this world's heroes and had plenty of room to grow.
"Nearly a hundred thousand?!"
His answer filled all four with boundless dread and fear. In the peaceful times they came from, even a few dozen deaths would make major headlines, let alone deaths numbering in the tens of thousands.
A murderous fiend?!
An executioner?!
No, even those titles aren't enough. He should be called a "God of Slaughter" instead!
As for whether he was lying, that terrifying presence pressing down on them until they could barely breathe, along with those eerie, ominous blood-red eyes, could not possibly be faked. Even if he had not killed a hundred thousand, he must have killed hundreds or thousands at the very least.
Seeing their expressions, Ye Uchiha sighed softly, deactivated his Sharingan, and said, "We're companions for now. You don't need to be nervous."
"Haha, you sure like to joke around. How could we possibly be scared? We're all companions here."
Motoyasu Kitamura laughed awkwardly, trying to ease the heavy atmosphere. Beside him, Naofumi Iwatani and the other two hurriedly nodded as if to agree.
"By the way, what's the deal with those eyes of yours? A superpower, or Mystic Eyes?"
"This is the Uchiha Clan's unique kekkei genkai-the Sharingan. You can think of it as a bloodline ability. It grants perception and hypnosis, and can copy any ninjutsu other than kekkei genkai."
"Oh, hypnosis?!" Motoyasu Kitamura let out a string of excited cries, staring at Ye Uchiha's eyes with envy and jealousy, wishing he had a pair of Sharingan himself.
With eyes like those, no matter how many girlfriends I had or how many girls I was seeing at once, none of them would ever come at me with a cleaver, right?
"Give it up. Only descendants of the Uchiha can possess the Sharingan."
Ye Uchiha spoke flatly, as though he had seen right through Motoyasu Kitamura's dirty thoughts.
"Hehe..."
Motoyasu Kitamura smiled sheepishly, while the other three stared at him as though he were a scumbag.
"Wait, it's not what you're thinking!" Motoyasu Kitamura hurriedly waved his hands, trying to explain.
But the truth was obvious, and the three had no intention of believing his explanation.
After some further discussion, the four suddenly discovered that they seemed to come from different versions of Japan in different worlds.
"So, apart from Ye, the four of us all come from different worlds' Japans?" That was the conclusion they reached.
"On my way home from school, I unfortunately got caught up in a murder case that had already caused an uproar across the city."
As though emphasizing something, Ren Amaki continued, "I remember saving the childhood friend who was with me and managing to subdue the suspect..."
Ren Amaki unconsciously rubbed his side as he explained what had happened.
"Then, when I came to my senses, I was already in this world."
"Mm-hmm, I see. Stepping in to save your childhood friend's life-that's a pretty cool scene."
Hearing Naofumi Iwatani's praise, Ren Amaki put on a smug smile, trying to look cool.
"My turn next."
Motoyasu Kitamura pointed at himself and said flippantly, "Well, I had a lot of girlfriends."
His handsome, dashing looks and the considerate air of a friendly older boy next door naturally appealed to girls.
"There was just a tiny little problem..."
"Don't tell me you got stabbed for dating several girls at once?"
Ren Amaki asked in a suspicious, faintly contemptuous tone. Motoyasu Kitamura blinked rapidly and nodded.
"Man... girls are scary!"
Hearing his remark, the three once again gave him disgusted looks as though he were human trash.
Itsuki Kawasumi placed a hand over his chest and spoke. "Next, it's my turn. I was crossing a crosswalk on my way home from cram school... when a big truck suddenly made a sharp turn at full throttle and came straight at me. After that..."
"..." ×4
He probably got hit head-on... What a tragic way to go.
The other three looked at Itsuki Kawasumi with pity, silently sharing that thought.
Naofumi Iwatani raised his hand and said, "I was in a library, reading a book I'd never seen before. When I suddenly came to my senses, I found myself in another world."
The other three gave Naofumi Iwatani unusually cold looks.
"This guy... has a shield..."
"So... was it the same on your end, Motoyasu?"
"Yeah..."
The three began whispering among themselves in hushed voices, gradually leaving Naofumi Iwatani feeling excluded and distinctly uncomfortable.
Before you continue