Kiso went into his house first, leaving the rest of us waiting outside. A few seconds later he came back out, a rifle slung casually in his hands.
Adam's eyes narrowed.
> "You… do have a license for that, right?"
He coughed, deadpanned. I'm not one to judge, he thought. I'm not the one who had a manic expression back in my world.
A faint flash crossed his mind — someone being cut apart by a drone's laser.
> {System Name: The Multiversal Gatekeeper}
{System Upgrade: Locked. Two more Gates required to unlock:}
– Status Panel
– Multiversal Teleportation
– Communication Hub
– System Customization
I have to at least remember… I had a system where I could literally buy anything from the store — yes, even guns.
Kiso tilted his head.
> "What do you mean? You don't need a license for this. You don't need it, right? I mean, it's mine."
Manori spun her knife, twisting and rolling it in her fingers until it blurred, like a pair of scissors. It wasn't safe. She smiled anyway, smirking as if the danger was the cool part.
Adam pressed a hand to his stomach.
> "Great. Weapons. Again."
He remembered being stabbed, gutted, bones smashed, brain splattered. Yep. Common sense is functionally fine over here.
Time passed. They reached a massive railing and a ladder that stretched up toward a vast surface. Only now did Adam realize why the sky was so dark — a literal floor blocked the sun above the forest.
Kiso cleared his throat.
> "So anyway… let me explain what you have to do. Ahem."
There wasn't just one cemetery. At the top, a watery glass transported dead to that plance or land. Their job: check if the monsters were maintaining the dead. Somehow, every corpse fell to this place to be buried.
The coffin-house had been a good stop. They grabbed the ladder and began climbing. Three hundred meters. The scenery shifted as they ascended — the town faded into darkness, and floating paintings of strange lands drifted past them.
At the top was a hole. Kiso pulled himself up. Manori and Adam leapt, landing hard on the floor.
> "That was dangerous," Kiso muttered. "Please don't do it again."
Adam exhaled.
> "Yeah. You're right."
Slugging forward, he scanned the place — massive statues of people. Familiar yet not. The only faces he could clearly recall: a girl in a lab coat, and a long-haired young man in a black suit. But these statues were vibrant, colorful, new.
He scratched his head, reaching out to touch a black part of the nearest statue.
> {Regained: 100 CP}
Purple rods of lightning vanished at his touch. He pulled his hand back quickly before the others noticed.
> "So… who are these people?" Adam asked nervously.
Kiso smirked.
> "How would I know?"
Adam frowned.
> "Because they were put here. You work here, man."
Kiso laughed.
> "I'm just joking. Yeah — these people built this place. The wanderers. But the history… I don't quite remember."
They stepped into a large box of pouring glass-like water. Concrete words covered the walls:
> （この世界に選ばれし者が,私たちを救い,すべてと繋がるだろう.）
（その怪物が,私たちを救う.）
（救世主が,すべてを支配するだろう.）
> (This person who will be chosen by the universe will save all of us and connect everything.
The monster will save us all.
The savior will rule us all.)
Adam shivered. Thankfully, I don't understand this type of language.
Kiso raised his hands.
> "Ready?"
The sound of warping waves reflected around them. Cold. Eerie.
Sometimes I wonder why I'm still doing this.
Maybe I've been hypnotized.
Why am I even working here?
Manori just walks straight ahead while I'm grumbling to myself.
No reaction. Just that same blank look.
She heads right into the portal.
We fall onto a purple ground. The sky — or what looks like it — is a blanket of dark clouds. Monsters everywhere. Carrying corpses like they're part of some endless job.
A blob-shaped creature vomits out chunks of concrete, forming new coffin houses for the dead.
I cough, landing rough while Kiso hits the ground smoothly beside me.
> Adam: "Ugh… how long's this place been running again? An era?"
Someone lied to me about the resets being short.
I look around. The monsters keep moving, slow, heavy. A bit of fear crawls up inside me.
> Adam: "Those guys won't attack us, right?"
> Manori: "They don't notice us. That's why they don't attack."
> Kiso: "How racist… does that term apply to monsters too?"
Manori's eyes stay on the creatures. She only says two words —
> "Friendly monsters."
Kiso sighs.
> Kiso: "I could be doing anything else."
> Adam: "Like selling fish? Or maybe bread?"
They glare at each other like sworn enemies, then look away at the same time.
The ground trembles.
Suddenly, the monsters begin to cower — a red, veiny mass bursts out from below, dragging them into a pit of arterial flesh. Screams echo as the hole widens.
One black, humanoid monster is caught. It thrashes, trying to escape, but the red tendrils pull it apart piece by piece.
Kiso raises his rifle and fires.
Smoke. Fire. Sparks. The air burns.
The infected ground sizzles under the heat.
Then — a soft thud.
"This been popping up everywhere..."
A familiar girl lands right on top of me.