You’re Telling Me This Is a Slice-of-Life?

Huff, huff, huff.

Both of their breaths were slightly ragged, and neither showed any expression. The split-second “internal conflict” just now had sent their heart rates soaring past 160, but unlike ordinary people, the two had already regained their composure in mere moments.

So it was her.

Yuuki wasn’t surprised. In fact, among the new players, the one he wanted most as a teammate was Hayasaka Ai—the all-purpose maid meticulously trained by the Shinomiya Group.

Her intelligence, combat skills, and even acting ability were top-tier. She had fooled two veteran players into thinking that the bulky black guy was the best new player. Of course, if Yuuki hadn’t been a transmigrator, he wouldn’t have known about Hayasaka Ai’s true capabilities either.

No wonder she could juggle four different personas and deceive multiple geniuses at once. This was different from Sakurajima Mai—Hayasaka’s personas were specifically crafted as adaptations to her environment.

That brief flash of killing intent… it seemed she had already slipped into character.

“So this is what ‘Don’t go alone’ really meant—our perception is being distorted by the moonlight.” Yuuki was the first to break the silence. His gaze drifted downward, landing on the “petal” extending from the axe blade. “Your acting was impeccable, no worse than that big-name actress.”

That petal looked familiar. Was it a fragment from the shattered head earlier? It seemed he wasn’t the only one who had gained something during the tutorial.

“You weren’t bad yourself. I’d love to know which kendo club trained someone like you—it’s easy to strike, but retracting the blade is another story.” Hayasaka Ai had shed her bubbly gyaru demeanor entirely. She was back in her maid persona, only this time, a sharp, dangerous edge had been added to her usual precision and efficiency.

Due to the unexpected skirmish, their cards were already on the table. There was no need to keep acting.

Yuuki remained silent, his posture unchanged, only shifting his gaze slightly upward. Hayasaka Ai also refrained from looking up, merely licking her lips lightly.

In the next instant, both of them leaped backward at the same time.

Boom!

A black shadow crashed down between them, smashing the floorboards into a spray of splinters.

The failed ambush left the Licker momentarily confused. It wrenched its massive claw from the broken floor, swatted away three flying scalpels slicing through the wood dust, then twisted its head around instantly.

The blonde girl showed no expression. With one hand gripping her axe, she lunged forward. Before the Licker could even fully turn, she brought the weapon down toward its head.

“Don’t let its tongue touch you!”

A low shout suddenly rang in her ears. Hayasaka Ai had originally planned to block with her arm, but she instinctively dodged instead. From the corner of her eye, she caught a blur sweeping past her face—Yuuki’s right hand slashing down in a full arc.

Squelch.

Her battle axe cleaved into the creature’s shoulder, sending a spray of blood into the air. The Licker let out a guttural snarl, raising its right arm to slash at the girl’s waist. But by then, Yuuki had already closed in from the side.

He gripped his sword with both hands, faint arcs of electricity crackling along the blade.

Synchronization—Reinforcement—Slash!

The enhanced blade reached the pinnacle of sharpness and durability. It cut through muscle, severed bone, and sent an entire arm spiraling away. Seizing the opportunity, Hayasaka Ai stepped forward again, leveling her axe for a clean strike at its neck.

Swish—

Flesh parted. The Licker instinctively reared back, then kicked off the ground, launching itself toward the wall. Just before it could merge into the surface, three scalpels embedded themselves in its back.

“Tch, got away again.”

Yuuki narrowed his eyes, counting silently to two before turning toward the girl, who was panting slightly while bracing herself against her knees. “You okay? You were pretty reckless back there. Not scared of that monster?”

Hayasaka Ai’s counterattack had been even more decisive than his—a boldness bordering on madness.

“Of course I’m scared. But that’s exactly why I have to wear the mask of the brave. Humans are creatures that constantly switch between different personas, aren’t they?” She spoke with an air of meaning before flicking her axe, leaving a thin streak of blood on the wall. “How did you know its tongue was dangerous? I could’ve split its head open with that last strike.”

To be honest, Yuuki wasn’t entirely sure. This Licker already had supernatural elements mixed in—there was no guarantee it was the same as the original version. But he wasn’t about to take that gamble.

This wasn’t some Resident Evil world. If he got infected with the T-virus here, he was as good as dead—there’d be no miracle cure.

And now, he finally understood why Hayasaka Ai had felt so unfamiliar.

She wasn’t the maid. She wasn’t the girl-next-door. She wasn’t the crossdressing butler.

This was yet another persona—one crafted for this game. A player persona.

Yuuki didn’t dwell on the identity crisis. The stronger Hayasaka Ai was, the better. He simply nodded and tapped his temple.

“Instinct. If something like that, with such little offensive power, is being used for an attack, then there’s something off about it. By the way, why didn’t you use that petal earlier?”

“This?” Hayasaka Ai raised her axe slightly, revealing the slender tendrils wrapped around the handle like steel wires. She hesitated for a moment before answering, “Because using a Chaos Artifact comes with a price. I wasn’t confident in a one-hit kill.”

Price? Chaos Artifact?

Yuuki blinked. His draw had given him a skill—not an item like this. And judging by the name alone, Chaos Artifact sounded incredibly dangerous.

But now wasn’t the time for intelligence analysis.

“If my guess is right, that wasn’t the only one.”

“Huh? What makes you think that?”

“Because I had contact with it earlier—I cut off part of its right index finger.”

Yuuki gestured to the severed arm still twitching on the ground. Its five claws flexed reflexively. “If it doesn’t have some kind of hyper-regeneration skill, then that means the one we just fought isn’t the same one I encountered before.”

A heavy silence filled the dimly lit corridor.

Hayasaka Ai’s eye twitched slightly before she muttered under her breath, “So this Reincarnation Game doesn’t give a damn about whether its players survive or not.”

Yuuki nodded faintly. He had already realized this from the tutorial—there were no friendly fire restrictions, no difficulty settings, no safety measures for new players.

That “rest period” was an illusion. Just as Hint Three had said: Time will continue to slip away, just like your life and hope.

“We wasted too much time under the illusion of safety, while the difficulty was quietly ramping up. And considering our gains, we might have triggered some kind of mutation.”

“High risk, high reward… but high rewards bring even greater risks?” Hayasaka Ai’s gaze flickered.

“Possibly. But we don’t have the luxury of regret. We need to move—now.”

Yuuki lifted his head, letting the grim expression on his face stand out against the cold moonlight.

“Hasaka-san, do you trust me?”

“I do. I’ve met many experts across different fields, and you give me the same feeling.” She answered without hesitation. She had no other choice.

“Good. Then follow me.”

Yuuki nodded in satisfaction. Now wasn’t the time for wasted words. He turned and dashed toward the other side of the stairwell, taking the steps two at a time.

The entrance to the basement lay ahead, unbarred by any doors. As soon as Yuuki stepped inside, a musty stench hit him, prompting him to cover his nose and mouth.

The corridor stretched five meters high, lined on both sides with doorless rooms. There were no windows, making the space feel stiflingly enclosed. Piles of miscellaneous debris filled the area, preventing it from feeling truly empty.

Even though they were several meters underground—despite the complete absence of windows—crimson moonlight still seeped through the ceiling, draping everything in a dim, blood-red shroud.

[All-pervasive—no, even without an opening, it would find a way to seep through. But just as I expected, its glow had dimmed significantly.]

Yuuki finally cracked a smile—only to be nudged by Hayasaka Ai’s elbow.

“This isn’t a great place to fight those things, is it?”

Professional. She immediately realized that Lickers were agile-type monsters—this kind of cluttered environment suited them perfectly.

“The basement should have another level. Let’s head deeper.”

“How do you kn—” Hayasaka Ai froze mid-sentence, spotting a wooden sign on the wall marking the basement’s second level. Her eyes flickered with realization. “You want to avoid the moonlight?”

“Mhm. The Blood Moon’s gift’s should, naturally, be used beneath its light. That goes without saying.”

“You’re guessing?”

“No. I counted just now.”

Yuuki didn’t elaborate further. Back-to-back with Hayasaka Ai, they continued down the basement corridor. Her doubts wouldn’t last long.

Clatter.

The sound of something toppling over echoed through the hallway, followed by a low, rhythmic tapping—thud, thud, thud. Their gazes instinctively lifted, pinpointing the source. The noise was unmistakable—the sound of something crawling.

“They’re here.”

Yuuki had been right. If it were the previous monsters, they wouldn’t have made a fuss. They would have silently crept up to their prey, not even giving them the chance to blink.

Yuuki said nothing. He simply quickened his pace, ears twitching slightly.

Thud, thud, thud—

The chaotic noise mixed with its own echoes, making it impossible to pinpoint the creatures’ exact location. He could only estimate—they were still keeping some distance.

Ten meters. Twenty meters. Thirty.

By the dim wall sconces, Yuuki could already see the other end of the basement—an arched stone doorway leading to a deeper level. The worn stone steps disappeared into the darkness below.

Tap.

He stopped abruptly. Hayasaka Ai, who had been walking backward, bumped into his back.

She didn’t know why he stopped, but she sensed that something was off.

[There’s no way the monster’s just escorting us to the lower level, right?]

The same thought flashed through Yuuki’s mind. He snapped his head up—just in time to catch sight of something lurking in the shadows.

It was motionless, like it was hibernating. The dim moonlight blurred its outline, making it easy to mistake for a ceiling beam. But the moment Yuuki’s gaze landed on it, it moved. A single arm, long and jagged, reached out of the darkness—four clawed fingers glinting dully in the crimson glow.

[Shit, I was right.]

“Scatter!”

Boom!!

Stone exploded in the middle of the corridor.

Luckily, his warning came in time. Both of them dove to the sides just before the impact. Yuuki hit the ground hard, and as the stench of blood and rot washed over him, he yanked a ragged cloth from the pile beside him.

Synchronization—Reinforcement.

The novice-level reinforcement magic wasn’t anything special—it had a cooldown and strict requirements for the material and size of the object. Hardening steel and hardening fabric weren’t remotely comparable.

But even this minor power was enough to save Yuuki’s life. The tattered cloth stiffened like a sheet of metal, and with a sharp crack, claws punctured through it. That single second bought him just enough time to roll aside.

It took a full second to pierce?

Thud—

A few shattered stones pelted his face. Yuuki saw the Licker’s foot slam down right where he had just been lying. Its head twisted unnaturally, revealing a grotesquely long tongue dripping with saliva.

Swish.

A flash of silver.

A blade, already poised, sliced through the air—cleaving the tongue clean in half. Yuuki kicked off the ground, flipping upright, both hands gripping his sword as he twisted his body into a horizontal slash.

The blade cut deep into flesh.

But the Licker was even faster. It leapt to the ceiling just in time, its calf taking only a shallow wound. Unfazed by pain, it clung to the ceiling, circling him like a crocodile stalking prey in murky waters.

Twenty percent slower than before.

Yuuki didn’t look up. He didn’t stand still, either. Two quick strides took him into an adjacent room—just enough to force another Licker with a severed arm out of hiding.

Then, he shoved Hayasaka Ai hard in the back.

“Run!”

Hesitation was not an option.

Both of them took off, sprinting at full speed. Their legs felt like they were turning into spinning wheels of fire.

This time, the Lickers weren’t holding back.

Thud, thud, thud—

The relentless tapping of claws on stone was like a death knell chasing them down the corridor. One of the monsters lagged slightly behind due to its missing arm, but the sheer bloodthirst radiating from it made it impossible to let their guard down.

Through the arched doorway—Yuuki caught sight of the staircase leading further underground. The steps, about three or four meters wide, were flanked by thick walls. Every twenty steps, a small landing jutted out.

And at the first landing—there, the crimson moonlight faded to its limit. Beyond that point, only the dim glow of wall sconces remained.

No time to think.

The two Lickers lunged after them, their massive bodies nearly filling the entire doorway. One of them lashed out its mangled tongue—just centimeters from Hayasaka Ai’s back.

A chill crawled up her spine.

She leapt down the stairs two or three steps at a time, sticking close behind Yuuki—

Then, a low, guttural growl.

“Turn around! Full power!!”

Her brain barely had time to register the command. Her body moved on sheer survival instinct.

Adrenaline surged.

She saw the Lickers—pushing off the walls, springing forward. Their raw speed far surpassed any human, and there was barely any room for them to maneuver.

Boom.

The force of their leap cracked the stone steps at the boundary. Their tensed legs coiled like springs, promising a devastating impact—

I won’t make it—no, huh?

Their jump was weaker than before. They only made it about five meters—landing right in front of her.

She didn’t know why. She didn’t need to.

She swung.

And activated her Chaos Artifact.

【Frontal Lobe Fragment】

Splurt！

The axe bit into the Licker’s raised arm, embedding deep into the bone. Not a fatal wound—

But from the gash, a flower bloomed.

A single petal, trembling, then growing, thickening—like it had been fed by blood.

From thumb-sized to arm-thick in an instant.

Then, a grotesque bloom unfurled, splitting apart, a mass of writhing petals slicing into flesh.

A sharp pain stabbed through Hayasaka Ai’s skull, like her mind was fracturing into pieces. She had no energy left to deal with the one-armed Licker crawling along the wall, its maw opening wide—

“Duck!”

A roar.

Yuuki lunged forward, right hand clamping onto his sword hilt.

Synchronization. Start.

With a metallic shing, the blade left its sheath.

Sharper. Stronger than Damascus steel.

With a single, whip-like motion—

The sword lashed forward.

It split through flesh.

Carved through muscle.

Buried into the creature’s chest—

One slash.

Two halves.

Blood rained down!