This was a twisted world.
Most people, and even devils, harbored dreams of their own.
Yet, the more powerful a devil was, the simpler and more mundane their dream tended to be.
The Chainsaw Devil, Pochita, a being feared by countless demons, dreamed merely of a warm embrace.
The Control Devil, Makima, who wielded an almost terrifying amount of authority, desired nothing more than to be treated and to live as an equal with others.
As the protagonist of this world, Denji's dream was simply to eat jam-spread bread every day, wash himself clean, and sleep in a comfortable bed.
As for Kobeni, her current dream was to own a small car, and her next goal was to resign from the Public Safety Devil Hunters so she could attend university.
Being a Devil Hunter was simply too dangerous.
Fighting on the absolute front lines against devils meant that death could claim you at any given moment.
As a Devil Hunter, only two fates awaited you.
You either resigned to live a safe life among the civilian population, or you waited for the inevitable, unknown day when death would arrive.
Yet, even civilian Devil Hunters weren't entirely safe. This time, the one who had devoured a flesh piece of the Gun Devil was the Eternity Devil.
At the Morino Hotel, several civilian Devil Hunters had already lost their lives before Special Division 4 even received the assignment.
A group of six figures was currently exploring the interior of the hotel.
At the very beginning, a bizarre creature had appeared, an ugly, severed head walking on just two feet.
As the Blood Fiend, Power always favored the simplest form of violence; with a swift swing of her blood-scythe, she sliced the grotesque head apart.
But immediately after, everyone noticed a glaring problem.
They were trapped on the eighth floor of the hotel.
The hands of every clock were eternally frozen at 8:18. Every window led not to the outside world, but back into the exact same room.
As the most experienced Devil Hunter among the group of six, Himeno was the first to realize something was wrong.
"Kobeni!" she called out. "Stand right there and don't move! Give me a peace sign!"
"Eeeek?!" Kobeni stammered, wiping away her sweat. She was terrified, but she submissively held up a two-finger V-sign next to her cheek, looking rather endearingly strained in her nervousness.
Himeno dashed down the stairs at full speed. When she reached the next floor, Kobeni was still standing right there, holding up the peace sign.
Gritting her teeth, Himeno turned around and bolted upstairs instead.
Bounding up the steps, she found Kobeni still standing in the exact same spot, peace sign still raised.
Kobeni realized the anomaly too. Her entire body trembled uncontrollably, and beads of sweat rolled down her flushed face.
"Hey, we're completely trapped here!" Himeno finally confirmed with absolute certainty.
"But we haven't even caught a glimpse of the devil yet!" Kobeni whimpered in terror.
The hotel had plunged into an infinite loop.
Just last night, she had formed a contract with a strange devil who had literally fallen from the sky, though she didn't even know what his abilities were yet.
But no matter how powerful he might be, they still needed to locate the devil's physical core first.
Inside the hotel room, the six of them were either standing or sitting.
It was now a proven fact that they couldn't escape this place simply by walking out.
Denji, being entirely carefree, simply collapsed onto the bed, pulled up the duvet, and began snoring loudly.
Meanwhile, Power was spouting utterly nonsensical rants like, "Since this place is so bizarre, I have decided to research the Nobel Prize right here! Once we get out, I shall rely on my Nobel Prize to run for Prime Minister!"
In reality, she was just an idiot.
Throwing herself onto the bed, Power fell fast asleep just like Denji, muttering incoherent dream-talk about her Nobel Prize.
The most reliable person in Special Division 4 was undoubtedly Aki Hayakawa. The young man, his hair tied up in a short topknot, stepped out of the room to continue searching for a way out.
Time ticked away, drop by drop.
Kobeni curled up in the corner of the room, tightly burying her face in her knees.
"What do we do? Am I going to die here? But I don't want to die yet..." she kept rocking and whispering to herself in a continuous trance.
"Hey, Kobeni, what are you muttering over there?" Himeno approached her.
Kobeni lifted her head, her eyes brimming with glistening tears. "I'm scared of dying..."
"Relax. Aki went out to look for clues, didn't he? Besides, everybody dies eventually." She pulled a cigarette from her coat; it was her very last one.
"But, but..." Kobeni whimpered, her voice dropping into a barely audible mumble as she pouted, "The small car Mr. Demon promised me hasn't been delivered yet..."
"I went through all the trouble of making a contract. If I die here, it's such a massive waste... He explicitly promised it would be today."
Himeno pressed a hand to her forehead, utterly bewildered by the bizarre trajectory of Kobeni's logic.
"Is there seriously nothing else in your life more worth looking forward to than that?" she asked, dumbfounded.
Kobeni's head shook violently like a bobblehead.
"No," she replied with absolute conviction.
"What's the name of the devil you contracted with anyway?" Himeno lit her cigarette, taking a deeply satisfying drag.
"A contracted devil's name is supposed to be a secret, right?" Kobeni buried her face back into the gap between her knees, her voice sounding muffled, like a foolish ostrich burying its head in the sand to fool itself.
"I already told you, we're partners!" Himeno patted her shoulder roughly in a boisterous manner. "Look at me, my contract is with the Ghost Devil. It's incredibly powerful, you know."
"Though it's true I can't do anything about our current predicament either..."
Kobeni lifted her head again, resting her chin on her knees.
"It's the Moon Demon," she whispered.
"That's a devil I've never heard of before. Is it strong?" Himeno inquired.
"I don't know," Kobeni shook her head. "But he feels quite dependable. Um, he looks like he's read a great deal of books, and his appearance is much more refined than normal devils. His aura is somewhat... kindly?"
"Pfft—cough, cough!" Himeno violently choked on her smoke.
Waving her hands in rapid succession, she couldn't help but burst into laughter. "Hahaha! A devil who has read a lot of books? And kindly? Are those descriptions that should even remotely be associated with a devil?"
She reached out and pressed her hand against Kobeni's forehead; sure enough, it felt burning hot.
Himeno sighed, suspecting the poor girl had simply been driven mad by sheer terror. After all, Kobeni was already timid to a fault.
"I don't know," Kobeni mumbled, burying her head deeply once again like an ostrich, her voice shrinking to the faint buzz of a mosquito. "I haven't even gotten to attend university yet..."
Himeno let out another sigh, adopting a mock-serious expression as she teased, "Well, if it's a well-read devil, he might be exceptionally intelligent. Maybe he can figure out a way to help us escape."
"Why don't you try calling him out?" Himeno giggled.
"Really?" Kobeni murmured, half-doubting but desperate enough to try. She called out tentatively, "Mr. Demon?"
Her voice was incredibly soft, falling into the quiet room without seemingly causing the slightest ripple.
Yet, in the very next fraction of a second, the entire hotel suddenly vibrated violently.
"Is it an earthquake?!" Himeno gasped in shock, quickly rising to her feet to wake the two sleeping idiots.
But the tremor ceased just as abruptly as it had begun.
Immediately afterward, throughout every single corridor and room on the eighth floor of the hotel, a serene, placid voice resonated perfectly in unison.
"I am here."
The voice penetrated through the fabric of the infinite loop, delivering its answer.
"Mr. Demon!"
Kobeni's eyes instantly ignited with a brilliant, dazzling light. She immediately looked left and right, desperately trying to locate that elegant, four-armed figure clad in traditional robes.
She clenched her hands into tight fists against her chest, her eyes widening slightly in a mixture of intense nervousness and breathless anticipation.
"Can you take us out of here?" she inquired softly.
The air fell silent for a fleeting moment. Then, the answering voice echoed once more, though this time, it carried the distinct trace of an amused chuckle.
"I can, and I cannot."
"Because for this particular riddle, you must ask yourself."
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