It felt as if only a second had passed before his hazy consciousness reconvened. Moreover, there was none of the grogginess of just waking from a dream. He was incredibly lucid, his mind perfectly calm. No fear, no anxiety, no sense of crisis. It was as if all irrelevant emotions had been temporarily stripped away.
Fumiya Jin opened his eyes.
He found himself floating in an endless, absolute darkness. Within this darkness, no light or stars could be seen. The only source of light was himself—his body had become translucent, much like the human conception of a soul, and it emitted a faint white glow.
Also worth mentioning was the countdown still present above his head: 109... 108... 107...
[Settlement beginning. Evaluating player's instance performance... Evaluation complete.]
[Overall Score: S (Maximum possible score for this instance).]
[Evaluation Basis: Swiftly analyzed the situation and, from a completely dominant position, single-handedly facilitated a win-win cooperation, achieving a two-person survival outcome.]
Hearing this, Fumiya Jin sighed faintly.
In his past life, he hadn't watched much mainstream anime, but he had dabbled in webnovels. When he first entered this game, he wasn't entirely sure, but seeing this evaluation system confirmed it completely. This was one of those death games where you had to play over and over, where only by getting stronger could you survive.
In a game like this, the settlement rewards were of the utmost importance. After all, the rewards gained each time could be a lifeline in the next instance. And since his score had reached the maximum, the rewards shouldn't be too bad... right?
[Player Level Up: Lv0 → Lv1. Congratulations on becoming an official player.]
[As per game rules, players who complete the trial instance and become official players will have the opportunity to choose a class.]
[★S-Rank Bonus Reward 1: An additional hidden special class, suitable for the player, has been made available for selection (These types of classes are generally only available to veteran players who meet specific conditions).]
[Three suitable classes have been selected for you:]
[1. Assassin: A master of assassination skilled in stealth, concealment, danger avoidance, and trap making. Possesses sharper insight and perception regarding unknown dangers.]
[2. Hunter: Possessing sharp senses, an expert in long-range combat who excels at locking onto and tracking targets. Can easily master various ranged weapons such as bows, crossbows, and firearms.]
[3. Diviner: Uses tools like cards to perform divination, predict the future, seek fortune, and avoid calamity. Can provide some rather unstable support abilities. A class full of possibilities, with the only drawback being its complete lack of reliability.]
[4. ★Special Class—Degenerate Tachi Main: A mysterious being wielding a long blade, possessing terrifying burst power capable of even slicing through space and dimensions. However, despite such immense strength, it is often criticized for its obsessive dedication to certain actions.]
[Player, please make your choice...]
"I choose 4."
With almost no hesitation, Fumiya Jin made his choice the instant the prompt finished.
In truth, when he first heard the three initial classes, he had felt a flicker of indecision. But the moment he heard the name of the fourth class... there was no other option.
He was a gamer. He was born a Tachi main!
Assassination? Tracking? Divination? Don't understand. I play Tachi.
Besides, it was a special hidden class obtained from an S-rank reward; it was bound to have some extraordinary aspects. Hesitating now would make him a fool.
[Class selected: Degenerate Tachi Main.]
[Acquired basic class skill: Drawing Slash (White Quality): Draw your weapon at extreme speed and slash forward. The force is greater than a normal slash. Can only be used when the weapon is sheathed.]
[★S-Rank Bonus Reward 2: An additional core passive trait has been unlocked:]
[★Core Trait—Unity of Action and Conviction (Gold): By performing actions that align with the class's characteristics and adhering to the Way of the Tachi Main, the weapon in your hands will become sharper.]
[★S-Rank Bonus Reward 3: The standard-issue basic weapon has been upgraded to a special weapon.]
[You have obtained a special class weapon: A Very Cool Tachi (Unknown Grade).]
[Weapon Description: Very cool and hard to break. Otherwise, completely useless.]
Following the prompt, a tachi materialized out of thin air, floating before Fumiya Jin. This tachi wasn't the exaggerated odachi type from Monster Hunter, but a normal, single-handed sword.
The moment Fumiya Jin saw it, two words popped into his mind: So cool.
Unlike real-world swords with fittings and scabbards made of wood, silk cord, leather, and metal, this tachi's scabbard and hilt seemed carved from the finest white jade, adorned with incredibly intricate and complex gilded engravings. It didn't look like a weapon for combat at all, but rather a decorative piece of art meant for display in a museum.
Fumiya Jin reached out his hand...
He touched the tachi.
It was cool to the touch, yet smooth and lustrous—truly the feel of jade.
He gripped the hilt and slowly drew it...
As the blade left the scabbard, Fumiya Jin was slightly taken aback. The blade's material was also lustrous and translucent, but it was no longer white jade. It was like glass, or perhaps colorless crystal—completely transparent.
But its transparency didn't mean there was nothing there. As Fumiya Jin looked at the blade, he seemed to see countless tiny cherry blossom petals fluttering and falling within it...
Was this... an illusion?
[Rewards distributed. Settlement will end shortly.]
[The game terminal provided to official players has also been issued. Players may explore it at their leisure.]
[The next game will begin in 3 days at the latest. The Samsara Game looks forward to your return.]
Hearing this distinctly farewell-like prompt, Fumiya Jin raised an eyebrow and looked up at the countdown.
Just as I thought...
5...
4...
3...
2...
1...
...
A strong, musty smell filled his nostrils, making him quite uncomfortable. But Fumiya Jin, having just woken up, felt a sense of relief. 'Well, at least it's better than the smell of blood.'
He opened his eyes. Under the dim yellow light of a bulb was a cramped basement, with damp, musty walls, a dilapidated wooden bed beneath him, and large bags of compressed food and drinking water by the bedside.
He seemed to be holding something in his hand. Looking down, he saw it was a stun gun.
He turned to look at the basement's exit stairs... the sandbags blocking the door were still neatly stacked, showing no signs of having been opened.
'So it really is some kind of supernatural power, able to just drag people into a different dimension,' Fumiya Jin muttered.
He slowly raised his head and glanced at the numbers above it. 248217... 248216...
A rough calculation showed it was close to three days, not much different from the deadline mentioned in the prompt.
'So, strictly speaking, this isn't a death countdown, but a countdown to how long a person has left in a certain space,' Fumiya Jin said to himself. 'It's just that for a normal person, the time they leave this world is basically their time of death. That's why I couldn't figure this out before.'
'Oh right, the game prompt also mentioned a player terminal, what's that...'
As Fumiya Jin said this, an interface suddenly appeared in his mind...
'A terminal in my mind... It can even do party matchmaking? But it seems I've only unlocked one teammate slot?'
...
...
"Nijika?"
"Nijika??"
"Nijika???"
The blonde girl stared blankly, her head propped on her hand, showing no reaction. It wasn't until the blue-haired girl across from her called out several times that she snapped out of it as if waking from a dream.
"Eh?"
In her daze, the hand supporting her small head suddenly gave way. Her head drooped to the side, and her entire body lost its balance...
*Thud...*
"Ouch!"
The girl fell off her chair with a cry of pain.
The blue-haired girl, slightly startled, hurried over to help Nijika up.
"Sorry..." Nijika said, getting to her feet and rubbing her head.
"You're not yourself... Didn't you sleep well?" The blue-haired girl's expression was as cool as ever, but a hint of concern showed deep in her eyes. "Stayed up all night practicing drums?"
"No, it's not that, I was... uh..." Nijika started to say something, but the words caught in her throat.
The matter of the Samsara Game was too bizarre. If she told Ryo, would it drag her into danger too?
Nijika's mouth hung open for a few seconds before she finally shook her head. "Okay, yeah, I just practiced a little extra..."
Ryo Yamada shot Nijika a look. "The performance date is set, but we still have a little over a week. And at your skill level, it's no problem."
"Alright, I know..." Nijika scratched her head, forcing a relaxed smile. But a trace of bitterness welled up inside her...
The performance... huh...
Yeah, it was the band's long-awaited debut performance, and she had prepared thoroughly for it.
But now... it felt as if she was suddenly not in the mood for it at all.
It seemed there were more important things to do than perform.
_____
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