Chapter 118: No, It's Tsukuyomi
In reality, Natsuya was the only one left standing.
Both Uzui Tengen, who had opened the door, and Sabito, who was on guard behind
them, had collapsed into an instant, unnatural slumber.
It really is a hypnotic Blood Demon Art.
But what was the trigger? The warped door itself? Some colorless, odorless gas
in the air?
No. Sabito hadn't touched the door. And Natsuya's enhanced sense of smell hadn't
picked up any chemical anomalies.
He thought back to the split second Uzui pushed the handle—the faint, melodic
chime of a bell.
"The bell... it's the trigger."
Natsuya understood the mechanic instantly. But he had heard the chime too. Why
was he still awake? Or rather... was he already asleep and just hadn't noticed
the transition yet?
Is it my Breathing Style? Or just my raw stats?
He glanced at his party members. [Body], [Tech], [Mind]. Even his lowest
attribute, [Mind], was several times higher than theirs.
He held his breath, revving Luminary Breathing to its peak, intending to grab
the two of them and bolt out of the tunnel.
However, his eyelids suddenly felt like they were made of lead. A heavy, acidic
exhaustion washed over his vision, blurring the edges of the world.
It's not just the Breathing Style... it's the pure [Mind] stat. I'm just
resisting the status effect longer than them.
This is bad.
"Hehe... what surprising alertness and willpower."
A soft, ethereal voice echoed from all directions, sounding as if it were being
whispered directly into his brain. Natsuya stared into the depths of the tunnel
beyond the door. Although the torches couldn't pierce the supernatural gloom,
his HUD was still on the job.
Aside from a few red markers with low Power Levels—likely brainwashed human
cultists—the entity in the center was blinding.
[Enmu ???] (Lower Moon Two)
[Power Level: 403]
- Body: 326
- Tech: 15
- Mind: 62
[Blood Demon Art: Forced Faint Sleep] [Blood Demon Art: Whisper of Forced
Hypnotic Dazzle] [Blood Demon Art: Symbiotic Fusion]
Confirmed. A Twelve Kizuki. And a top-tier 'Mechanism Boss' at that. Disgusting.
"But even the strongest mental fortress has a breaking point, my dear
swordsman," the voice drifted.
Drowsiness hit Natsuya like a tidal wave. It was relentless, crushing his waning
consciousness. Even with his boosted stats, he was losing the fight against the
"Sleep" debuff. He rubbed his eyes violently, trying to use physical pain to
snap out of it.
But when he opened them again, the dark tunnel was gone.
Blinding light filled his world. Or rather, a roaring inferno.
He was standing in front of the Kokonoe estate from his character backstory.
Massive flames licked at the familiar sliding doors and support beams. The roar
of the fire and the sound of collapsing timber filled his ears. The air was
thick with stinging smoke and searing heat.
A petite figure was curled up by a broken pillar, looking as small and helpless
as a stray puppy. It was a young girl who shared his facial features.
But her body was stained with dark crimson. Her left arm was missing from the
shoulder down.
Fuyuka Kokonoe. His "sister" from the character bio. She was in the final
moments of her life.
"Aniki..."
The figure looked up, her face covered in soot and blood. Her eyes, once bright,
were now clouded by blood loss and agony. Tears cut tracks through the grime on
her cheeks. She reached out with her remaining hand, trembling as she pointed
toward Natsuya.
"Fuyuka hurts... please... save me..."
The flames seemed to grow even more violent.
Natsuya watched the scene in silence.
Who is this kid?
He didn't recognize her at all. In his mind, he was a gamer from 2099. To him,
the most important detail was the lack of a System UI. No nameplates above her
head. No floating subtitles for her dialogue.
His HUD was gone. No status bar in the corner, no skill list.
Where the hell did the game send me?
Natsuya tried to summon the System Menu. He heard the "click" sound effect of
the menu opening, but his vision remained empty. It was as if his five senses
had been overwritten by a local server.
"Aniki... it hurts so much..."
The girl's moans grew weaker. The life was draining from her eyes like a
flickering candle in a storm. She was seconds away from a "Scripted Death."
If this were the real world or if his System were active, Natsuya would have
jumped in to farm medical XP. But here?
Is this a Lucid Dream mechanic? Forced Sleep combined with Dream Construction...
that's a hell of a combo. He mines your subconscious for your most cherished or
painful memories and forces you to relive them.
Wait, if this mob has an infinite-duration 'Hard CC' (Crowd Control) like this,
why is he only Lower Moon Two? There has to be a massive weakness in his logic.
"I don't want to die..."
Natsuya watched the girl's pupils dilate as death approached.
This dream is likely generating a 'Personal Nightmare' based on my character's
lore, Natsuya deduced. Since my 'Background' centers on a dead sister, the Boss
spawned her as the primary psychological anchor.
Enmu.
He enjoys twisting people's hearts for fun? What a toxic playstyle.
Natsuya walked through the fire and stood before the dying girl.
"Aniki... Fuyuka is so cold..."
The girl reached out, her tiny, ice-cold hand trying to grab Natsuya's pant leg.
Natsuya reached toward a burning support beam nearby. With a sharp shhh-t, he
tore a jagged, flaming length of timber from the house. He ignored the "Heat"
and the "Fire" as if they didn't exist. He gave the wood a practiced flick,
shaking off the flames.
In his hand, the charred wood began to condense and reshape itself. Within
seconds, it transformed into a cold, metallic Nichirin Sword.
It was Master Kang the Third.
If it's a dream, belief is the only stat that matters, Natsuya thought.
"Aniki?" The girl stared in confusion at the blade that had appeared out of thin
air.
"It's okay, Fuyuka," Natsuya said. "You won't feel any more pain in a second."
A flash of steel.
The tiny head, wearing a mask of confusion and agony, rolled into the burning
embers. Even in death, her eyes remained wide, unable to comprehend why her
beloved brother had delivered the final blow.
Natsuya looked at the headless corpse as its temperature dropped.
As expected. Killing NPCs in a dream yields zero XP.
The sudden, brutal efficiency of Natsuya's action seemed to exceed the "Dream
Engine's" processing power. The flickering flames around him actually lagged for
a second, freezing in mid-air.
Then, another familiar figure burst through the wreckage of the front gate,
roaring with rage.
"NATSUYA! YOU! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"
It was Kazami Koichi.
To maintain the "Nightmare" trajectory, the dream had automatically spawned the
next most important person in Natsuya's life. The man who had pulled him from
the fire in his backstory.
Now, "Kazami" was here to witness Natsuya's "crime" and cast him into a pit of
guilt. His own Master would judge him.
Natsuya turned around, casually wiping a splash of warm blood from his cheek
with the back of his hand.
"Oh, it's the Old Fossil."
"Is spawning him here supposed to make me feel 'Regret' or 'Sorrow'?"
Before the sentence even finished, Luminary Breathing roared to life in his
veins. Natsuya vanished.
The next micro-second, the sharp Nichirin blade pierced through the old man's
chest, pinning him to the ground.
"Nat... Natsuya... have you gone mad?!" the Master wheezed, coughing up blood
while staring at him with pure disbelief.
Natsuya leaned in. "One logic error, buddy. At this point in the flashback, the
Old Man didn't even know my name yet."
It's just a dream. The details are full of plot holes.
The environment began to shift and warp again, the game engine desperately
trying to generate a new scenario that could crack Natsuya's mental armor.
Natsuya watched his "Master" dissolve into static.
Honestly, even if it's a dream, killing your own friends and family is enough to
make a guy want to cry, Natsuya thought.
Enmu! What do you think a human heart is?!
...Wait. Seriously. I killed the Old Man and I STILL didn't get any XP? This
dungeon is trash.
In Reality.
Enmu, who was busy handing out hypnotic ropes to his human collaborators,
suddenly stiffened. A look of rare, genuine shock crossed his beautiful, demonic
face.
He had total control over the ninja's dream and the fox-boy's dream.
But the third swordsman...
This boy... is he a demon disguised as a human? Why is he speed-running his own
nightmares?!
☆☆☆
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