The Player hiding within the Shinomiya family was a veteran who had already participated in 8 missions, accumulating 2 clearances of Dim Night-level instances and 6 clearances of Twilight-level instances.
Among the entire Player community in the Tokyo District, being able to clear a Dim Night-level instance twice was already an existence as rare as a phoenix feather or a unicorn horn. Above him, there were fewer than 5 Players who possessed more Dim Night-level instance clearances than he did. Moreover, he hadn't entered the Dim Night-level instances out of necessity; rather, he had proactively gone to clear them before the Sacrificial Game's targeting reached its limit. Excluding him, there were at most only 3 other Players in the Tokyo District who could achieve this step.
precisely because of this, the man held a certain degree of arrogance in his heart. He always felt that his level was quite good within the Player community, making him a member of the backbone group second only to that highest tier of Players. However, despite this, his usual actions remained very cautious. After all, no one knew which newcomer might get lucky and obtain an exceptionally powerful Obsession Item.
The man rarely conflicted with other Players. He had been lurking within the Shinomiya family the whole time, utilizing the Shinomiya family's wealth to lead a life of debauchery, enjoying an affluent material life of drunkenness and dreams every month. It was only the matter of Kaguya and Maki becoming Players that gave the man a slight sense of crisis, forcing him to take action.
However, even so, the man actually didn't wish to reach the point of truly slaughtering each other. Even after that secret big shot gave him that anomalous room card which could directly modify identity information, he only intended to alter the thinking of Kaguya and Gao Hai, ensuring these two would never threaten him. In his view, there was nothing wrong with doing this; he was merely ensuring that the Shinomiya family, which had effectively become his backyard, wouldn't be taken away. He was just maintaining the safety of his property. But these two damned brats didn't seem to intend to communicate properly with him.
Since that was the case, there was no need to continue talking.
Schwing—
A sharp dagger stabbed straight out.
The man, suddenly erupting with ultra-high speed surpassing the limits of the human body, swung his blade, intending to pierce directly through Kaguya's eyeball.
Clang!
Amidst the ringing sound in the next moment, the young girl waved her hand in a strike, blocking the man's attack with a sharp scalpel. Using equally powerful strength, she deflected the swinging direction of this blade.
At the same time, the man had already retreated violently, pulling back a distance of more than ten meters with the agility of a monkey, revealing a somewhat regretful expression as he looked at his opponent.
She didn't choose to dodge, but used an Obsession Item to counter, huh? What a pity.
Thinking this, the man looked down at the unremarkable little dagger in his hand.
Of course, this was an Obsession Item, and it was the Obsession Item the man would inevitably prioritize using whenever he needed to confront other Players.
This thing seemed to be just a small dagger, and usually, it seemed no different from a normal dagger when used. But as long as it was used to launch an attack against a human, this thing would reveal its anomalous side.
As long as the opponent tried to dodge the attack, the man could immediately hit the location he wanted to hit.
As long as the enemy tried to resist the attack physically, the man could immediately sever the opponent's body joints.
The only counter-strategy was to use the power of an Obsession Item to fight back; only in this way could the dagger's own anomalous power be canceled out. But firstly, the strength of Players was mostly uneven, and they didn't necessarily have an Obsession Item on hand that could contend with the man's dagger. Secondly, when two Players engaged in initial combat, they were often in a state of testing each other psychologically and wouldn't launch a fierce attack immediately. Under such circumstances, the man's dagger could display a considerable advantage, easily resolving the enemy.
However, this time, his opponent happened to choose that single, effective method of counteraction.
Coincidence?
The man frowned tight, secretly fishing out his second Obsession Item from his waist and gripping it in his palm.
Whoosh—
The instant the sound of wind rang out, Kaguya Shinomiya's figure had already arrived in front of the man.
The dagger and the scalpel collided continuously within a few seconds.
Within a breath's time, the man discovered with horror that his speed and technique were actually inferior to the other party's. After exchanging blows for less than a few rounds, he was easily suppressed.
Not far away, Gao Hai had already sat down on the ground next to Huangguang Shinomiya to watch the show.
Kaguya's speed increased once again at this moment. Her dark red pupils were as terrifying as a predator's in the darkness. The blade in her hand swung out, rotated, and easily broke through the man's stance, slicing open a wound on one of his arms.
"Gu! Damn it..."
The man roared in anger and retreated successively. While struggling to resist Kaguya's attacks, he revealed an anxious expression and looked around, seemingly looking for a route to escape.
"Are you looking for this thing?"
Gao Hai's voice rang out from not far away at this moment.
The man's expression froze abruptly. He turned his head to look at Gao Hai, and at the black toy marble Gao Hai was holding in his hand.
Why? How does this guy...
The man didn't have time to voice his question before a blood-colored light flashed across his wrist.
When he realized what had happened, Kaguya had already grabbed his severed hand and pocketed that Obsession Item, which he had brought out from a Dim Night-level instance with great difficulty.
"You... Urgh, ahhh! Why do you guys..."
Amidst spurting fresh blood, the man clutched his severed hand and retreated, sweating profusely. He couldn't understand why his teleportation Obsession Item was in the other party's hand.
This Obsession Item was a pair of marbles played with by children. If one was thrown out, that marble would move on its own, gradually distancing itself from the other marble. Then, as long as the time was controlled within one minute, the man holding the other marble could teleport to the side of that constantly distancing marble at any time. It was a very practical teleportation tool. However, if the two marbles were not reunited within one minute after throwing one out, this thing would immediately go out of control and summon an anomaly to hunt down the person holding the marble. Therefore, it also contained considerable danger.
But the key to the problem right now wasn't this.
The problem this man couldn't figure out at this moment was why Gao Hai was holding the marble he had secretly thrown out—the one he had mixed with blood and dropped on the ground, which theoretically shouldn't have been discovered.
As for why Gao Hai discovered it, this actually had nothing to do with keen observation skills. The man's feint just now had been very convincing; Gao Hai hadn't seen when he dropped the marble on the ground. He simply knew that the other party would throw a marble.
Because there existed Chika Fujiwara, a young girl who had experienced that one month where Gao Hai failed to return to the real world, and who had witnessed the battle between Kaguya, Maki, and this man.
Therefore, what this man looked like, what abilities he had, and what Obsession Items were in his hands—all these things had already been fully spoiled by Chika to Gao Hai and Kaguya.
In the loop Chika Fujiwara had experienced, that man utilized the combination of the dagger and marble to cause significant injury to both Kaguya and Maki, forcing the two girls to carefully probe and confirm the abilities of their opponent's Obsession Items. That battle could be said to have been fraught with crisis; one careless moment could have resulted in casualties. Although they ultimately achieved victory, the group paid a price for it. Thus, the memory was fresh in the girl's mind, and it was impossible for her to hide such a thing and not tell her teammates.
After obtaining this spoiler, the current Kaguya and Gao Hai naturally had a crystal-clear understanding of what methods this guy would use. So, under that strike where the enemy rose up to attack, she chose to use the scalpel to counterattack without the slightest hesitation. And even though he hadn't spotted any anomaly, after Gao Hai determined that the other party should have started using the marble Obsession Item, he immediately began a careful search, and very quickly found the thing he wanted to find.
A battle that might originally have held some suspense no longer held any suspense after one side copied the answers in advance.
"If you honestly speak the name of the person instructing you from behind the scenes, perhaps you still have a chance to live."
Seeing the man sitting on the ground with a pale face while clutching his severed arm, Gao Hai stood up and spoke unhurriedly.
"...It was Koikawa-san. It was Koikawa-san who instructed me from behind to attack you guys."
The man, who was beginning to feel somewhat dizzy due to excessive blood loss, retreated a few more steps and spoke hurriedly.
"Do you think we look easy to deceive? Or is it that you actually can't wait to die?"
Kaguya's voice was piercingly cold.
"It really was Koikawa-san. He and Aoyama Nanami plotted it together from behind..."
Fine beads of sweat seeped out on the man's forehead, yet he still stubbornly insisted.
"Since we are asking, we definitely have a way to confirm whether what you say is true or false. You confirm that this is what you want to say in the end?"
Gao Hai, somewhat impatient, waved his hand and spoke casually, while Kaguya had already tightened her grip on the scalpel, charging forward fiercely.
Damn it, do they really have a way to detect lies, or are they spouting nonsense?
Knowing his condition was becoming worse and worse, the man took a deep breath. In the end, he decided to speak the information he knew about that big shot.
Even knowing that his life would likely meet its end after speaking it, at the very least, he had to survive this current period before talking about what came later.
Thinking this, the man discovered that his body seemed somewhat out of control. As if being manipulated, he took out a third Obsession Item from his waist on his own accord—a dirty notebook stained with fresh blood and sludge.
This was the man's other mental-type Obsession Item. It could make the reader believe implicitly in the content he wrote down by having others read it. It was by relying on this Obsession Item that the man had been able to hide within the Shinomiya family for more than half a year without being seen through.
This thing was basically impossible to use in combat because for it to take effect, at least 100 words of content had to be written, and it required the reader to finish reading the content on this note from beginning to end to take effect. So, the man had absolutely no need to take it out during a battle.
Why... is my body...
C... Could it be... How is this possible...
Bang!
The doubts in the man's heart had just arisen when they were terminated forever.
In front of him, Kaguya Shinomiya lowered the handgun, frowning as she looked at this man whose head she had blown apart with a single shot. She reached out and grabbed the notebook in the other party's hand, yanking it into her own hand.
The man's action of pulling out the notebook just now did not exist in the previous loop understood through communication with Gao Hai and Chika. Therefore, this was a variable. Uncertain whether this variable was safe or dangerous, Kaguya cleanly and decisively abandoned the interrogation, directly blowing his head off with one shot.
Compared to intelligence, safety was still more important.
Searching the other marble from the opponent's corpse, adding the dagger and the notebook, Kaguya tossed them all to Gao Hai to be suppressed into the watch space.
Then, arranging her clothes and patting the dust off her body, Kaguya slowly arrived in front of Huangguang Shinomiya, who had already fallen silent.
"The current you, are you really still a member of the Shinomiya family?"
Huangguang, whose face was ashen, seemed to have lost the will to resist. He simply looked at Kaguya and asked slowly, seeming to want to confirm something.
"What do you think is the reason you can still be alive right now?"
Kaguya did not directly answer Huangguang's question. She simply replied coldly, though the expression on her face appeared somewhat complex.
"...I understand. From today onwards, the Shinomiya clan will be Kaguya Shinomiya's servants. In the future, no matter what you... no matter what requirements you have, we will do our utmost to realize them for you, Respected... Family Head."
Bending his waist deeply, pressing his head against the ground.
Situated in the tattered villa, Huangguang Shinomiya performed a very standard [dogeza] obeisance toward Kaguya.
Kaguya stood motionless in place, accepting this bow from her biological brother expressionlessly. It wasn't until the other party maintained the kneeling and kowtowing posture toward her for about half a minute that she said the words, "You may rise." From the expression on Kaguya's face and her actions, it wasn't hard to see that she had completely ceased to regard her brother as blood family, and merely viewed him as a servant who could be dismissed or even killed at any time.
Gao Hai had walked to the corpse of that Player by this time. Unsurprisingly, Koikawa-san, the manager of the Tokyo Player market, had appeared. After greeting Gao Hai politely, he disappeared with that Player's corpse.
Presumably, he also observed the battle here through bugs this time, right? Just how many bug anomalies formed by anomalous power does this player have for observation? Could it be that for him, the entire Tokyo area has no blind spots?
Thinking this, Gao Hai turned his head to look at Kaguya, discovering that this young girl, who always kept a straight face and remained expressionless, was revealing a smile toward Huangguang Shinomiya.
"Well then, from now on, as long as I am still here, it will always be like this."
Kaguya, speaking in a low voice to Huangguang, relaxed her entire person completely, revealing an unprecedentedly relaxed demeanor.
Turning around, she no longer looked at Huangguang Shinomiya, who sat on the ground with a look of decadence.
Walking forward toward Gao Hai, Kaguya's calm voice spread gradually through the messy mansion.
"Goodbye, Brother. Wishing you a good dream tonight."
"And goodbye, the me who was once weak, who dared not resist and could not resist."
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