(Found inscribed on the inside covers of the obsidian notebook)
These are the core tenets that govern this Death Note, a unique iteration crafted by the Shinigami King. It is a tool of greater potential and greater peril than its common counterparts. Heed them well, for ignorance of the rules is no defense against their consequences.
I. The human whose name is written in this note shall die.
II. This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person's face in their mind when writing his/her name. This is to prevent people who share the same name from being affected.
III. If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the person's name, it will happen.1
IV. If the cause of death is not specified, the person will simply die of a heart attack.2
V. After writing the cause of death, details of the death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seco3nds.
VI. The Rule of Ambiguity: Unlike a standard Death Note, this note allows for a kill to be executed if the user possesses either the subject's full name or a clear image of their face in their mind.
- If a name is written without a face in mind, all individuals with that name will die.
- If a kill is attempted using only a face, without knowledge of the name, the user must be absolutely certain of the subject's uniqueness. If there is any ambiguity (e.g., an identical twin, an impersonator, or a simple misidentification), the death will fail, and one year of the user's remaining lifespan will be forfeit as payment for the attempt.
VII. The Rule of Exchange: The user may acquire a single, significant secret from the intended victim. To do so, the user must specify a cause of death that induces extreme physical pain or psychological terror. A simple heart attack will reveal nothing. The more profound the suffering specified, the more fundamental the secret revealed, which will appear as written text on the page opposite the victim's name after their death.
VIII. The Rule of Influence: The user may specify a complex psychological state or a powerful, singular emotion for the victim to experience in the moments leading up to their death. This state, if severe enough to be considered a plausible cause of a fatal medical event (e.g., shock, terror-induced cardiac arrest), will be listed as the official cause of death on any subsequent autopsy.
IX. The Rule of Deferred Judgment: A victim's time of death can be set for any date and time up to one solar year from the moment their name is written. However, the further into the future the death is set, the less control the user has over the specific details. A death set within 24 hours can be controlled to the second. A death set months away may only be specified as a general "fatal accident," with the specific circumstances becoming a matter of chance.
X. The Rule of Echoes: Upon a victim's death, the user may choose to see a fleeting, sensory glimpse of the final 40 seconds of the victim's life. This is not a perfect video, but a jumble of sounds, sights, and feelings as the victim experienced them.
XI. The Rule of Temperament: If the user writes a name while in a state of extreme emotional duress (e.g., rage, fear, grief) rather than cold calculation, the specified death will fail. The victim will instead die of a heart attack, but the moment of their death will be marked by a chaotic, unpredictable event in their immediate vicinity (a power outage, a freak accident, a sudden riot, etc.), reflecting the user's own inner turmoil.
XII. The Rule of Correction: A name written in the Death Note may be nullified by being crossed out with a single, horizontal line. This action is only possible within 60 seconds of the name being written. A name, once corrected, can never again be written in this Death Note by the same user. The victim becomes permanently immune to its power from that user.
XIII. The Rule of the Page: A page torn from this Death Note retains the full power of the note. However, once a name is written on the torn page and a death is carried out, the page will crumble into a fine, non-terrestrial dust and vanish.
XIV. The Rule of the Scribe: The human who touches this Death Note can recognize the image and voice of its original Shinigami owner, even if they have not seen them before.
XV. The Rule of Succession: If the user of this Death Note dies, the ownership of the note passes to the first human who touches it thereafter, provided they do so within 365 days of the previous owner's death.
XVI. The Rule of Sacrifice: The user of this Death Note may, at any time, trade half of their remaining lifespan in exchange for the Shinigami Eyes, which allow them to see the name and remaining lifespan of any human by looking at their face. The original Shinigami owner of the note is obligated to perform this transaction if requested.
XVII. The Rule of Blindness: A user with the Shinigami Eyes cannot see the lifespan of another individual who possesses a Death Note, including their own. They will only see the individual's name.
XVIII. The Rule of Sanctuary: The Shinigami owner of this Death Note is forbidden from revealing the location, name, or existence of any other Death Note or its user to the human who currently possesses their note. Their knowledge is for them alone.
XIX. The Rule of the Instrument: This Death Note can be written on with any marking tool (pen, pencil, blood, etc.). However, the note itself cannot be destroyed by any conventional human means. It will not burn, it cannot be shredded, and it will not dissolve.
XX. The Rule of the Void: All humans who use this Death Note can go to neither Heaven nor Hell. Upon their death, their soul shall be delivered to the Shinigami Realm to face the judgment of its King, who may find them worthy of oblivion, or of a new, more interesting fate.