The reason Selena didn't choose The Promised Neverland was purely based on intuition. She always felt that survival-type missions tended to conceal something far more terrifying beneath the surface. The more beautiful and peaceful something appeared, the more danger it usually hid.
As a young girl who had survived Reincarnation Instances alone from beginning to end, she had long treated this principle as absolute truth.
By comparison, Steins Gate seemed far more peaceful. Even if someone failed there, it would likely be due to confusion or misjudgment rather than sudden, unavoidable death. With Blank's strength, he certainly wouldn't fail without uncovering anything at all. So, in her eyes, Steins Gate was the safer option.
If Arthur had known the true basis of her judgment, he would've immediately said: "As expected from a strong reincarnatior"
Because the dungeon The Promised Neverland was anything but peaceful.
Beneath the surface of that seemingly warm orphanage lay a truth so horrifying it could shatter anyone's sanity. A group of children living carefree, sheltered lives there eventually uncovered a shocking reality: the happiness surrounding them was nothing more than a carefully crafted illusion... one that concealed a sinister hell.
The rumor that children would be "adopted" once they turned twelve was, in truth, a lie. They weren't being adopted at all, they were being sold as livestock, raised like farm animals for slaughter.
The wall they had always been forbidden to cross wasn't meant to protect them from the outside world.
It existed to keep them from seeing the execution grounds—the demons' kitchen.
And the most terrifying revelation of all was this:
The world beyond the orphanage wasn't the human world.
It was a world ruled entirely by monsters known as Demons.
There was simply no place for humans to survive outside.
Ironically, the safest place was actually inside this farm called the "Orphanage." What a despair-inducing truth.
If those Reincarnators who still believed in Mama's gentleness and the warmth of the Orphanage were to learn this reality, who knew how many of them would be scared out of their wits?
Even so, in Arthur's eyes, it was still far simpler than Steins Gate.
One dungeon had tangible monsters you could see and fight. The other dealt with invisible enemies, layered conspiracies, and a worldview built upon obscure, intricate academic theories. Between the two, he would rather face monsters.
After all, he now possessed the strength to remain completely unfazed in front of them.
More importantly, there was another key factor: he wanted Sophia to achieve a high clearance rating as well. And there was simply no room for her to meaningfully intervene in the plot of Steins;Gate.
But The Promised Neverland was different.
The core mission of that dungeon was [Survival].
Rather than confronting the Demons head-on, as long as Sophia could survive flawlessly until the very end, her mission rating would never be low. This wasn't a straightforward apocalyptic world like zombie-type instances where one could just hoard supplies and hide indefinitely.
Reincarnators assigned the role of orphans would have their physical abilities suppressed. They would live under Mama's constant surveillance, surrounded at all times by Demons. To escape their destined slaughter, they would have to rely on intelligence, observation, and psychological warfare against both monsters and watchers alike.
Even in the original storyline, the children only managed to resist through secret training and meticulous preparation under the leadership of the so-called "Big Three." There was no such thing as an effortless victory here.
This was a multiplayer dungeon where participation in the struggle was inevitable.
And that was precisely where the most terrifying element emerged—
Reincarnators could hide their identities within this dungeon.
At the very start, they would be transformed into children and assigned entirely new names. Unless someone chose to reveal themselves, they could completely blend in just by acting like an ordinary orphan.
To this day, many Reincarnators still couldn't understand the purpose of such a redundant setting.
But Arthur… had a very bad premonition about this rule.
Perhaps… this dungeon was even more troublesome than he had expected.
After Arthur filtered the fragments of intelligence that could still be analyzed and gave the two women a concise explanation, the way they looked at him changed almost instantly. Before this, everything had only been guesswork on their part, but now Blank stood right in front of them, inferring so much from such limited clues that it felt almost absurd. So this is what a true genius looks like?
"Any more questions?" Arthur asked calmly.
Selena shook her head. "Since I've entrusted this to you, all I can do now is trust you." Her gaze drifted back to her sister's face, lingering there before she spoke again, voice tightening slightly. "But… even if Sophia doesn't get an S-rank evaluation, it doesn't matter. I only hope you can bring her out safely. Even the lowest evaluation is fine…"
The closer it got to the moment of departure, the more reluctant Selena felt. If only she had brought Sophia into the Reincarnation Space together with her back then…
"Understood." Arthur didn't make any grand promises, without proof, any bold assurance would sound hollow.
"Then we'll—"
"Right." Selena suddenly seemed to recall something and cut herself off. "Blank, you should be a blade user as well, correct?"
Arthur nodded. Even if his abilities originated from the Reincarnation Space, they weren't hollow game skills. The swordsmanship he inherited carried the weight of a master's entire lifetime of experience, and after fully assimilating it, a natural sword aura clung to him whether he revealed it or not. And Selena, nicknamed the White Blade... walked the very same path, so it wasn't strange that she could sense it.
"Then take this."
A sleek, black long-bladed sword materialized in her hand without warning.
"I figured that even if you've cleared SSS-rank twice, you might not have a proper weapon yet," she said. "I happened to keep one of my old blades, this you can use in your floor... But I'll give you an even better one when you get to the floor I'm on. I hope you'll accept it."
The sword was a tachi, distinctly Japanese in design—elegant and lethal.
Arthur accepted it.
One-Cut Killer: Murasame [A]
Any target cut by this blade would be infected with a lethal Curse Poison from the wound, leading to near-instant death. There was no antidote. The effect was terrifyingly powerful, but it came with equally serious drawbacks. The curse could affect the wielder as well. If the blade failed to directly cut flesh, the curse wouldn't trigger. It was also useless against corpses, puppets, or armored constructs.
Arthur recognized it immediately.
"Akame ga Kill…"
Yeah. A very "wholesome," emotionally healing anime.
This was the Imperial Arm wielded by the female protagonist, Akame.
He hadn't expected it to be rated A-rank... but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. A one-hit kill curse was fatal to the overwhelming majority of living beings. Of course, those with extreme power could resist the curse's effects, which capped its ceiling at A-rank rather than something higher.
All things considered, it was a double-edged sword... dangerous to enemies, but just as dangerous to its wielder if mishandled.
But for Arthur, already operating at Grandmaster level, the idea of his own blade turning on him was laughable. That simply wasn't happening.
And in his current situation, this demon blade couldn't have been more suitable.
The "Demons" he was about to face were still, at their core, living organisms—mutated creatures, yes, but only marginally beyond human biology.
Which meant that as long as the blade so much as scratched them…
Their deaths would be guaranteed.
For those monsters Murasame was their natural predator.
"I assume you've already unlocked a personal warehouse, right?"
"It's best to store Murasame there when you're not using it. Even with a scabbard, there's no guarantee accidents won't happen…"
Arthur actually already had a few standard weapons stored in his warehouse, but compared to the demon blade Murasame, they weren't even worth mentioning.
After all, this was an A-grade weapon.
Across all Reincarnators worldwide, there probably weren't even a few hundred weapons at this tier in circulation.
Logically speaking, this blade alone was already more than enough compensation for Arthur. Even with an S-rank evaluation, aside from points, the only guaranteed reward was usually a random B-grade item.
"Oh, right, and these too…"
As she spoke, Selena began pulling out item after item from her warehouse and stuffing them into Arthur's hands.
Super Healing Spray (C-grade)Stamina+ Pills — 10 count (B-grade)
…And more.
Arthur stood there awkwardly, arms gradually filling up.
It honestly felt like she was emptying her entire personal inventory on the spot.
He let out a quiet sigh.
Originally, he'd planned to just run the dungeon casually alongside Sophia, treat it like a routine clear.
But now?
With her placing this much trust, and this many resources, into his hands…
There was no way he could go in with a half-hearted mindset anymore.