The darkness that had enveloped everything was gradually dispersing.
Takumi's consciousness returned to clarity. He opened his eyes and lifted his head.
"A familiar ceiling…"
He could not help murmuring.
A sense of disorientation.
At this moment, what Takumi felt was an overwhelmingly intense sense of disorientation.
Red Nut Grey Cave—he had spent far too long inside that instance. Especially during the second run, during the period when he was executed by the core Obsession Item—after that prolonged torment, so long that even his capacity for thought was nearly worn away by pain, Takumi felt an extreme sense of unfamiliarity toward the bustling real world.
This was really bad.
Takumi let out a long breath.
This was really… very bad…
Only after finally realizing that he had already exited the instance did Takumi's entire body nearly slump limp in his seat.
This feeling of relief was wonderful—like suddenly realizing that he was, in fact, still alive.
With thoughts surging through his mind, Takumi lowered his head and looked at the clothes he was wearing.
Mm, it was the casual outfit he had been wearing before entering the instance.
Inside the instance, Takumi had actually taken this outfit off long ago. Yet it seemed that as he returned to reality, he had reverted to the state he was in when he first entered the instance—fully dressed and ready to act—except that the clothes were now badly damaged. Perhaps after being discarded, they had suffered some wear during the process of the instance's collapse and destruction?
With that thought in mind, Takumi turned his head and saw Maki sitting beside him. She had also just opened her eyes, her expression looking thoroughly exhausted.
"Just woke up?" Takumi asked.
"Mm…" Maki nodded lightly. She glanced around with a somewhat dazed expression, then seemed to finally come back to her senses.
"We… made it out of there alive."
There was an indescribable emotion in the girl's voice.
"Yes. We successfully survived our second game."
Sitting across from them, Kaguya opened her eyes as well and spoke in a low voice.
They survived.
At this moment, the three people sitting in this small private compartment finally grasped the reality before them.
"This is really exhausting… Even though all the physical fatigue and injuries were healed after leaving the instance, the mental exhaustion just won't go away."
Maki muttered, slumped in her seat without any regard for appearances, much like Takumi.
"And there isn't even any reward to speak of. The game we cleared was, in reality, a Dark Night-level instance—on top of that, a dual-core instance at the upper limit of Dark Night difficulty—but the Sacrifice Game still treats it as Dusk-level. It gives us no rewards at all, just qualification to participate in Dark Night-level missions. What the hell is that even good for?"
Takumi shook his head as well, his expression looking thoroughly displeased.
This instance was simply far too punishing. At the very beginning, it had been advertised as a Dusk-level instance that newcomers could treat like a sightseeing trip. Yet once they entered, the difficulty skyrocketed, directly turning into a Dark Night-level instance at the upper limit. And after finally clearing this utterly unreasonable, high-difficulty instance, there was actually no reward?!
This lunatic Sacrifice Game even judged that the instance was still Dusk-level. As a result, Takumi and the other two, despite clearing it, were only recognized as having passed a second Dusk-level instance. Moreover, because the settlement results—one S rating, two A ratings—were identical to those of the Shirakawa Apartments instance, none of the three were able to obtain any enhancement rewards from the game this time.
Wasn't that ridiculously unfair?
Takumi really wanted to shout his protest out loud.
But the Sacrifice Game was the kind of bastard game that completely ignored player feedback, a game where the planners only cared about their own amusement and never treated players as people. No matter how much Takumi protested, the rules of the game would not change. In the end, he could only helplessly set the matter aside for the time being.
"Although we weren't able to obtain new enhancements to further improve our chances of survival, at the very least, this time we once again gained the power of a blessing."
Kaguya spoke softly at this moment. A layer of dark crimson cold light suddenly veiled her eyes, and her entire presence changed in that instant. Even the surrounding air inexplicably grew much colder, as though some eerie entity had descended.
Seeing Kaguya in this state, both Takumi and Maki were momentarily taken aback. But immediately afterward, as the two of them sensed the power of the blessing, their eyes underwent the same change as well. In an instant, all three people in the private compartment had red eyes, and the temperature even showed signs of plunging straight toward below zero.
"This thing… could it be the legendary Berserk Rampage?"
Feeling this peculiar power, Takumi could not help murmuring.
At this very moment, what the three of them were experiencing was the power of Hedda's blessing.
This was a rather simple and brutally direct blessing. It massively increased strength, speed, and neural reaction, while reducing all forms of damage—whether conventional damage such as blades, clubs, firearms, or explosives, or all kinds of terrifying aberrant damage—to a very low level. For example, if Takumi were originally hit by a handgun, the bullet would pierce his skin and remain inside his body. But after activating the power of this blessing, the bullet would at most leave a shallow mark on his skin.
Activating and maintaining this blessing directly consumed the user's physical stamina and mental strength. Therefore, if the degree of use could not be properly controlled, the holder of the blessing might very well lose all ability to act and pass out after using it, and it was even possible to suffer sudden death on the spot. It had to be used with great caution.
The second effect of Hedda's blessing was the ability to identify "abnormal people", making it a rather eerie blessing.
After obtaining this blessing, when the holder encounters people who exhibit severe abnormalities compared to normal individuals—such as cannibalistic tendencies, necrophilia, or dissociative identity disorder—the holder will sense it and realize that this person is "abnormal." This blessing is similar to the good-and-evil perception found in the little girl's blessing from the Shirakawa Apartments. Both are always-active passive abilities, though this one appears to have a much narrower range of application. Takumi thought it over for quite a while but still could not think of any situation in everyday circumstances where this blessing would be particularly useful, so he temporarily set it aside.
There was no doubt that Hedda's blessing was extremely practical. Leaving everything else aside, the first effect alone was already very powerful. Based on the strength of the blessing as perceived by the three of them, in an emergency it would be entirely possible to activate it and escape from pursuit by aberrant horror entities. As for human-type enemies, it would be even easier—once this blessing was activated, it was essentially a massacre. The only real issue lay in the consumption. According to the trio's estimates, Maki could sustain the use of this blessing for at most three minutes, Takumi for five minutes, while Kaguya's body had innate limitations. Even with the blessing's enhancement, she was inferior to both Takumi and Maki, and would likely reach her limit after about one and a half to two minutes of continuous use.
"Very good. Looks like the gains this time are quite decent," Maki said, the corner of her mouth curving into a slight smile after carefully confirming the power of the blessing.
"Indeed. But from the looks of it, neither Maki nor I obtained a second blessing. In other words, Andres's blessing went to you, right, Takumi?"
Kaguya nodded as well, then turned her gaze toward Takumi and asked with a hint of curiosity.
"Yes… that should be the case. I can already feel Andres's blessing. This blessing is… ah?"
He sensed the power of that blessing.
A peculiar blessing carrying a trace of warmth, one that linked his own existence with that of another.
At that very moment, Maki's eyes widened as well. She looked at Takumi with an expression of utter disbelief, her cheeks almost instantly flushed with a deep blush.
Andres's blessing possessed only a single ability: spatial movement.
The cooldown time was approximately twenty-four hours—that is to say, it could be used once per day. After activating it, Takumi could instantly move to Maki's side, or instantly move Maki to his own side. As for any spacetime distance involved, from the current observation, unless they were separated into different Instances, this blessing had no restrictions whatsoever and could be activated anytime, anywhere.
As for why this blessing specifically designated Takumi and Maki, the reason was very simple: because they harbored mutual affection. The heartfelt fondness that Maki and Takumi felt for one another was precisely the key that activated this blessing.
It was almost as if… it were a confession…
Maki's cheeks were practically as red as an apple. After sensing the power of the blessing being transmitted from Takumi's side, she understood that the affection she had stubbornly kept hidden out of tsundere pride, refusing to express it to him, had now been conveyed to him without reservation—just like the warmth he was transmitting toward her.
This kind of feeling…
'This feeling that belonged only to me and Takumi-kun…'
Trembling slightly, Maki lifted her head, wanting to say something.
Then she sensed a second connection—at that very moment crossing the distance of space, linking Takumi with someone who was not present here.
Eh?
Maki froze.
Takumi did not speak either.
The power of the blessing seemed to stall briefly as well, as if it did not quite understand why such a situation had arisen. But very quickly, the power of the blessing still carried on dutifully, continuing its operation—connecting Takumi's heart with that of another girl who shared mutual affection with him, and granting them the extraordinary power to move to one another's side.
"What's wrong with you two?"
Kaguya, who felt nothing at all, saw Takumi and Maki first reveal expressions of joy. Then, the joy on Maki's face suddenly turned into a shy, awkward bashfulness. After that, the two of them froze at the same time, staring blankly—Maki in particular looked as if she had been petrified. The rapid succession of drastic expression changes was truly bewildering.
Then, expressionless, Maki turned her head and looked toward Takumi at the side, whose forehead had begun to bead with sweat.
"Hey, Takumi-kun, do you have anything you want to say?"
The girl's presence, at this moment, was like a blazing flame.
"Th-this, this I…"
Takumi took a step back, retreating to the side of the private room, his back pressing against the wall. For a moment, he had absolutely no idea what he should say.
'H-Hey, hey, hey—what kind of blessing is this? A harem blessing? A wing blessing? Isn't it way too early to get an ability like this now? I haven't even settled things with a single one yet!'
Looking at the extremely unfriendly expression on the girl in front of him, Takumi stood there with his mouth open, his mind racing as he tried to find a way to break the deadlock before him.
Buzz—
Then, before he could think of a solution, a white light abruptly appeared at that very moment, and a girl landed just like that in Takumi's arms.
"Hehe, found you, Takumi~"
Likewise disheveled, Chika wrapped an arm around Takumi's neck, resting her head against his chest as she let out a delighted laugh.
The power of the blessing was activated.
Takumi had not expected that this new blessing, which belonged solely to him, could actually be seized under circumstances where the female party possessed a strong will—taking the initiative to activate the blessing and directly teleport herself to Takumi's side, instantly throwing the situation into even greater chaos.
"What are you doing, you idiot? Hurry up and get off Takumi-kun!"
As expected, after roughly two seconds of stunned silence, Maki lunged forward, grabbing Chika by the shoulders and trying to pull her down.
"Waaah, don't pull! My clothes will tear!"
"I don't care about that—get down right now, you idiot!"
"No way! It was you, Shijō-san, who said yourself that you and Takumi aren't boyfriend and girlfriend!"
"I-I-I—waaah, I don't care anymore! Get down right now! Don't cling to Takumi-kun!"
Chaos.
Two women and one man, tangled together in noisy confusion.
Takumi wore a complicated expression, unsure whether he should be so happy it sent him over the moon, or instead feel nothing but trouble.
Maki was so angry that tears streamed down her face. She clung tightly to Chika, refusing to let go—so much so that she ended up falling into Takumi's arms herself without even noticing.
As for Kaguya…
Kaguya did nothing at all.
She simply sat there without moving at all.
Her mind, when faced with a scene that completely defied common sense, fell straight into a crash state.
Who am I? Where am I? Why do I have to witness such a shameless scene? And moreover, the three people in that scene are, respectively, my distant relatives and my only friend at school.
There must be something wrong with this kind of development, right?
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I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
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