Something flashed in Seiji's eyes.
"Brother…" Shika looked at him.
"The more players one kills, the more powerful this so-called Sin Activation will be, and the more difficult it will be to withstand… this will definitely include ourselves," Seiji stated as he touched the mask on his face. "If we do as he tells us to, our masks will finally be activated in the end, which will probably be terrible for us. But even so, I will choose to kill all the other players to make them leave so that I can save them—that's what he wants to see.
"However, he's wrong. I'm not the noble type who will sacrifice myself and my companions to save others I don't even know. Plus, acting exactly as the enemy wants, sacrificing myself to save others, is the most idiotic thing in the world!"
The important part was to think and figure out what the correct path was here.
"No matter how this dream was created, this is still only a dream," Seiji stated out loud calmly. "This means that all the other so-called players are just dreaming. Making them quit the game actually means to have them wake up. And, this doesn't have to be achieved only through the game's setting of killing them. Targeting their mental spirits or souls or giving them a sufficient amount of stimulation should also be possible…
"Isn't that right, Yomi?" Seiji asked his bonded female spirit.
Yomi answered with a chuckle.
"That's correct. Nice idea," she praised him.
"I've only learned the most basic soul attack spell. It's probably insufficient with only this spell. I need your help," Seiji requested.
He had only recently begun learning about the soul, so he didn't have much knowledge yet. He had just barely managed to learn [Beginner-level Soul Attack].
Seiji didn't have the opportunity to use this spell back at the Bloodwine Ritual tournament. It seemed like it would be useful here. However, Seiji was worried if that spell wouldn't be too weak against the other players.
"Rather than having me help out, you might as well have Shinobu-chan try," Yomi told him.
"Shinobu-chan?" Seiji was surprised to hear this.
"Although she's still really weak, this is only a dream. She'll be able to use her skills with your Mana's support. It'll be perfect as light exercise for her."
"Will it really be fine? Will this hurt her in any way?"
"There's some minor risk, but it's worthwhile. It's just like how human children need to take risks about falling while growing up and learning how to walk."
"I see… What exactly should I do?"
Yomi told him the method.
After Seiji learned the method, he talked it over with Shinobu. She was highly motivated about being able to help her master.
When Isamu Seima saw the crow-masked person again, he almost wanted to rush right over.
Isamu felt that this crow-masked person was the host, or one of the hosts, of this slaughter game. Isamu wanted to ask just how he could quit this game!
But, would it really be possible to obtain the answer simply by rushing over and pointing his gun?
That would be impossible… the crow-masked person was just like a game administrator for an MMORPG. Even if a player had the strongest weapon in the game, that still wouldn't allow the player to threaten a game administrator! It might even bring great trouble upon the player.
Isamu ended up hesitating and didn't act on his impulse.
The crow-masked person talked to the two powerful players for a while. Isamu was unable to hear them clearly, but it didn't seem to be about introducing the game's rules.
Then, a wolf-masked man suddenly arrived and attacked the two players with an assault rifle. Black mist then appeared and transformed into a huge claw that caught the wolf-masked man!
This was the crow-masked person's power.
It was so easy to capture an assault rifle-wielding player, so it would obviously be far easier to deal with Isamu, who only had a handgun.
Isamu felt quite lucky that he didn't go rushing over there. Yet, the next instant, black mist suddenly appeared right next to him!
Before he could even react, a huge claw grabbed him into the darkness!
Isamu was unable to even move or make a sound. Yet, he was still miraculously able to breathe and hear things.
Was he going to be squeezed to death?
He hadn't experienced such a death in the game so far. If he was going to die, he wanted the claw to hurry up.
Isamu silently waited for death.
However, his head started aching a while later, as if something dark and cold was being forcefully injected into his brain through the mask. It was as if thousands of icy cold needles were piercing into his head. It was incredibly painful!
Isamu did his best to struggle as his consciousness became hazy. He saw many scattered scenes and heard cacophonous sounds, as well as smelled a stink which was sticky and bloody…
He was going to die.
He wasn't merely going to die in the game, he was going to die for real!
Isamu was no longer capable of thinking. However, his instinct to survive told him that if he allowed himself to sink into the darkness, he would never come back again.
'No no no no no no no!!!
'I still have so many fun video games that I haven't beaten yet! There's some upcoming new games that I was really looking forward to playing! I still haven't returned the game I borrowed from my friend! I still haven't confessed to the girl that I like! I still haven't properly paid back my parents for raising me! I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die…'
His desire to live transformed into a strong will to survive. This managed to protect his mental spirit.
His pain increased even more. Yet, Isamu's mind actually became clearer. It was as if he was someone swept overboard on the ocean and was now furiously struggling on the surface of the water for each and every breath.
Then, the pain gradually decreased.
His vision slowly returned to normal. The cacophonous sounds faded and the bloody smell vanished.
He finally woke up again.
"What exactly happened…?" Isamu muttered to himself as he experienced a wondrous sensation.
He could feel that he had now obtained extraordinary power!
However, this newfound power wasn't very strong yet. He instinctively understood that he would need to strengthen himself by killing more players.
'Then let's go kill some people!!'
Isamu was nearly overcome by a sudden urge to kill. He then immediately saw two game players...
The angry demon-masked boy and strange smile-masked girl.
Isamu was rendered speechless.
The angry demon-masked boy raised his hand and seemed like he was about to attack.
"I surrender!" Isamu decisively shouted that as he raised both of his hands.
The angry demon masked boy—Seiji stopped when he saw this unexpected action.
"Surrender?"
"Yeah, I surrender. If you want, you can take my weapon." Isamu handed over his gun. "Could we please talk?"
Isamu's sudden urge to kill speedily cooled down now that he was faced with these two powerful individuals. He managed to regain his calm.
He preferred to talk to reasonable players rather than fighting.
"Of course we can talk." Seiji was quite happy to talk to someone who wasn't berserk.
Soul Society's information on this game indicated that the great majority of ordinary people pulled into this dream would enter a berserk state where their desire to kill was greatly enhanced. It would be almost impossible for such people to normally think and communicate. Only a very few were able to retain their sense of self in this dream.
Even Spiritual Ability users would be affected by this dream's enhanced berserk state. Only those powerful enough or those with resolute will would be able to maintain their calm.
"I saw you talking to the crow-masked person earlier. Could I ask what you talked about?" Isamu inquired.
Of course, the crow-masked person was Itsuki Kamitani.
"Some things that weren't so fun... to summarize, the more people you kill in here, the more dangerous it will become for you." Seiji looked at Isamu. "Do you like playing this game?"
"Not at all! I was dragged into this hellish place for no apparent reason. I've been here several times already and have no idea how to stop having this nightmare." Isamu sighed. "Do you guys know how to stop this?"
"You're talking about not being pulled into this dream anymore, right? I apologize, I don't know how to stop this dream, either… Although I can have you immediately quit this particular game for tonight." Seiji raised his hand. "It will only take an instant. It won't hurt... probably."