The [Rescue Team Badge] should have vanished.
As an Obsession, it was tied to Shirakawa Apartments—meant to disappear when the dungeon collapsed, freeing the trapped rescuers.
But Lin Xusheng's blessing had warped its fate. By exploiting Old Guo's transformation, Takakai had forced the Obsession to remain, turning a dangerous artifact into a near-harmless powerhouse.
Worse (or better?), its original dungeon's destruction had altered its nature.
In Fujika Academy, Takakai had used it to absorb Howard's Obsession, then Hirano Sousuke's remnants, feeding it Crimson Moon-level corruption until its strength became unquantifiable.
If, back then, Hirano's gun could suppress it…
Now? Not even Hachiya Chiyo could shut it down.
Touyama Akira, the player before Takakai, was a puppet of multiple runaway Obsessions—their powers balanced in chaos, warping him into this chainsaw-wielding abomination.
So Takakai clamped the [Rescue Team Badge] onto his chest.
Time to disrupt that balance.
A damp rescue uniform materialized over Touyama's blood-soaked body.
[Ugh… GAAAAAH—!]
The man convulsed, bones snapping and reforming, muscles tearing and stitching. He slammed into the wall, freeing Takakai from his pin.
No hesitation.
Takakai swallowed two pills, his shredded flesh knitting, then lunged—
—splashing [Everflowing Blood] into Touyama's face—
—grabbing for the chainsaw.
[Hrrrk—!]
Touyama rammed the wall again, Takakai crushed between him and concrete, ribs fracturing.
"Cough—!"
Spitting blood, Takakai dug his regenerating fingers into the chainsaw's grip, stabbing a [Scalpel] into Touyama's hand—
—lopping off a finger.
[GYAAAAAAAA—!]
The giant thrashed, smashing Takakai into every surface—walls, ceiling, floor—
—but Takakai held on, sawing off another finger.
The [Scalpel], a Twilight-grade Obsession, struggled against the Crimson Moon's corruption, barely making progress.
No matter.
Takakai dismissed the bloodied blade, summoning a fresh one.
Around them, ghostly infants wailed, plucking chunks of flesh from Takakai's body.
He ignored them, focused solely on the chainsaw.
Three fingers gone.
Touyama's grip faltered, his movements slowing—
—but the first severed finger was already regenerating, snapping back toward the weapon.
Fast healing. But not fast enough.
Takakai jammed his hand into Touyama's palm, exploiting the size difference to seize the chainsaw's handle.
Agony.
Frostbite and fire, blades and saw teeth, grinding through every nerve.
A madman's voicescreeched in his skull, demanding hekill, destroy, devour—
"Who the hell's funeral are you howling for?"
Deadpan, Takakai yanked the chainsaw free.
Silence.
The laughing infantssank into the blood.
The singing spectersfaded into mist.
The flood of goredried up, vanishing without a trace.
The orphanage reverted—mostly.
Something had broken irreparably, its corruption spreading unseen.
VRRRRMMMM—!
The bloodstained chainsawthrummed in Takakai's grip, fighting him, begging to be freed.
But it couldn't escape.
"Heh. This your big play? Pathetic."
THUD.
Takakai planted the chainsaw into the floor, flipping off the air with his free hand.
Battered, bleeding, barely standing—
—he grinned, knowing the KP was watching, seething.
This elaborate death trap?
Shattered.
[Ugh… nngh…]
Touyama collapsed, his body shrinking from 2.1 meters to a gaunt 1.75m, the bloody sack mask dissolving to reveal a hollow-eyed, broken man.
He trembled, unable to speak, limbs twitching uselessly.
Months as Alice's doll, then possessed by Obsessions, had shattered his mind.
Even [Everflowing Blood] couldn't fully repair him—not quickly.
Yet…
When Takakai had grabbed the chainsaw, Touyama had let go.
"Can you move?"
Takakai swallowed another pill, watching as Touyama feebly peeled off the [Rescue Team Badge], pressing it back into his hands.
Then—
—with herculean effort—the man tapped his own stomach.
Takakai understood.
The [Scalpel] flashed, slicing Touyama open—
—and retrieving two Obsessions:
A [Bloody Tape Measure] (Dusk-grade)
Space-warping: Lock onto a target, adjust distance by extending/retracting.
Curse: Each use inflicts lacerations, worsening until death.
A [Small Pencil] (Crimson Moon-grade)
Intelligence-type: Draws truths of Remnants when exposed to their energy.
Curse:
Requires user's blood as ink.
Forces empathy with the Remnant's death trauma.
Corrupts the mind over time.
Takakai barked a laugh.
"So you delivered it to me yourself, huh?"
He pressed the pencil to the wall, ignoring the pain as it drank his blood.
Loneliness. Despair. Unfulfilled longing.
Hachiya Chiyo's final moments flooded his mind—
—as his hand sketched her portrait, uncovering critical clues.
Time was short.
Leaving Touyama unconscious but stable, Takakai moved on.
Meanwhile…
Two puppies—a golden retriever and a husky—scurried through the blackened halls, reaching a storage room door.
Hayasaka's fading memories guided them to a ventilation duct.
They squeezed inside, CLATTERING through the metal until—
CRASH—!
—they tumbled into an autopsy room.
But this place was wrong.
Black-and-white freezers.
Floating dissection tools.
Walls smoother than glass.
Fractured ground revealing kaleidoscopic voids beneath.
The world was glitching, breaking apart.
The husky—Kaguya—paused, overwhelmed.
But the retriever—Hayasaka, now more dog than human—raced forward, driven only by instinct.
Find Master. Find Master. Find Master—
Kaguya snapped at her tail, stopping her—
—because one room remained untouched by the chaos.
Warm light spilled from its doorway.
Inside, figures—adults and children—sat around a table, smiling gently.
An empty chair waited among them.
As if someone had yet to come home.