Why is my Isekai in the Slice of Life anime was become a Horror Story?

Chapter 41: He Will Always Remember the Feeling of That Moment

For Old Guo, who was called the "Old Devil," he never imagined that he would fall victim to a young man like this, and even worse, it was such a huge fall.

Bam!

Takahashi Takakai, who kept shouting that he would rescue him, punched again, breaking Old Guo's nose at the spot. The nose was almost flattened from the punch.

"It's okay, you're badly injured, but don't worry, I'll get you out!"

After that, Takakai spoke comforting words with great concern, while tightening his fist and throwing another punch.

"Don't worry, I'm here, you will be fine."

Takakai's voice was filled with sincerity, but his punch was full of real power, so strong that one of Old Guo's eye sockets cracked, and his eye immediately filled with blood.

"Come with me, I'll protect you well!"

With a voice still full of genuine emotion, Takakai punched Old Guo on the top of his head, causing him to almost pass out on the spot, his body shaking uncontrollably.

There was no way to escape from him.

As Takakai nearly completely transformed into an abnormal being, his physical capabilities now far surpassed human limits. With Old Guo's superior strength, in front of Takakai, he was nothing more than a weak child.

Crash!

Under Takakai's tremendous strength, Old Guo's face now looked just like the woman from before, beaten to a pulp.

If this continues, I'll be beaten to death on the spot.

Old Guo, in pain, wanted to scream, but as soon as he opened his mouth, Takakai slapped him hard, causing a few of his remaining teeth to fly out in pieces.

"You… bastard…"

In a daze, with his face covered in blood, Old Guo finally seized the opportunity, struggling to pull out a small vial from his coat pocket, opening it and quickly scattering the powder inside onto Takakai.

The very next moment, Takakai was shocked as if electrocuted, his body jolting back a step, freezing in place. Old Guo rolled on the ground and then struggled to stand up. After a brief hesitation, he gritted his teeth and continued scattering more powder toward Takakai.

It was bone ash powder, a very rare Obsession that could temporarily halt the transformation process of the dead into monstrous creatures. For living people like Takakai who were undergoing transformation, it was effective, but not highly potent, and nearly useless against truly monstrous beings.

For players of the Sacrifice Game, this special bone ash powder was incredibly important. In the bloody, terrifying games woven by "Horror story rules," the dead often couldn't rest in peace and were transformed into monstrous dependencies or triggers.

Therefore, items capable of halting the transformation of the dead into such creatures were extremely valuable in Sacrifice Game maps, especially in high-level maps like Dark Night or Red Moon, where the death rate was extremely high and entire teams could easily be wiped out.

Such items could not be wasted. Because of their value, the demand for bone ash powder among veteran players was always high. Old Guo, notorious for regularly targeting other players, was not welcome at stores, and had to source his supplies through unofficial channels, which were both expensive and unreliable.

But now, to survive, he had no other choice.

As it turned out, Old Guo's decision was correct. The amount of powder he had scattered only delayed Takakai for less than three seconds. Without a second round of attacks, he would certainly have been caught by Takakai, this monstrous being, immediately.

He had to escape quickly, stay away from this monster, find a way back to the second floor, and use the wall clock to turn back time.

Being hindered by a dying kid, unable to retrieve the faceless head, losing the most effective Obsession for dealing with the living, this was a serious loss Old Guo could not afford. He had to find a way to fix it, he had to get back what he had lost!

Thinking this, Old Guo staggered to run, pulling out a puppet from his coat pocket and throwing it. The puppet suddenly enlarged, transforming into a corpse with its joints stripped and replaced by wooden structures. It raised its arms and tightly embraced Takakai, who was chasing from behind, preventing him from advancing any further.

Clean!

The sharp scalpel instantly severed the limbs of the blood-and-flesh puppet.

Takahashi Takakai continued chasing after Old Guo, but his speed still couldn't increase.

The ground beneath his feet seemed to be gradually transforming into a swamp.

Bending down, Takakai saw blood-and-flesh puppets decaying in the mud, reaching out their hands to grab his legs, trying to pull him down.

There was no way to escape.

Takakai exerted all his strength to move forward, but still couldn't break free from their grip.

He didn't know if he had forced Old Guo to reveal all his tricks yet.

In order to kill him in the next phase and eliminate this major threat, Takakai had to make him expose all his tricks before he died in this phase, he needed to understand all of his moves.

But now, this guy…

I… the rescue team… I am… Takakai… I…

Takakai's will was nearing its limit, gradually shattering. No matter how strong his spirit was, it couldn't change the fact that he was exhausted.

Old Guo had stopped ahead.

He didn't run far, even stopping within Takakai's sight. Old Guo took out a small crimson key, inserted it into one of the chaotic area's doors, and opened it.

Behind the door, Takakai saw the second-floor hallway.

He wanted to go up to the second floor, where Shijo Maki and the others were!

"A… oh…"

Takakai tried his best to move forward, dragging the blood-and-flesh puppets closer.

No, I can't catch up, this speed isn't enough.

With just my own strength, I can't catch up to him.

I am… the rescue team…

I… the rescue team… I am…

The rescue team… team…

A large hand reached out from the side, grabbing Takakai's shoulder, pulling him out of the blood-and-flesh mess.

Several figures, drenched and wearing rescue team uniforms, stood silently beside Takakai and moved with him.

Yes, I am a member of the rescue team.

We hold hands, moving forward together to save those who need our help.

So, we never face danger alone. We act together, we move forward together.

At this point, Takakai's individual consciousness had almost completely disappeared.

In his delirium, he didn't even know where he was, repeating the goal of Old Guo over and over, constantly reminding himself to save that guy, trying to keep the goal in his mind this way.

It seemed like he heard something.

From the second-floor hallway, there was the terrified scream of a girl, the malicious threats of Old Guo, and the sound of his own footsteps.

His vision suddenly became clear.

.....

In a dimly lit section of the second-floor hallway, Old Guo opened room 208's door and rushed in.

Room 206's door had been destroyed, and there were chaotic bloodstains inside, clearly indicating that the people in there had hurriedly retreated.

In the dim light, Takakai faintly saw Green's shattered face floating in the air before quickly disappearing. It seemed that after his death, this man had transformed into some sort of aberration, and Kaguya, along with the others, had to leave room 206 to avoid it.

Where are they now?

Takakai looked toward the room 208 that Old Guo had just entered.

Those chaotic sounds, were they from a fight?

I am the rescue team... I must go to the first floor...

No, no… I am Takakai, yes, I am Takakai…

I must find them, I can't let him keep causing harm, at least this time, I can't let her die before me...

His feet, which had risen with difficulty, suddenly stopped.

Takakai slowly turned around, stepping out of the rescue team formation.

In his mind, his consciousness was almost split, at times clear, at other times chaotic. He entered the hallway of room 208, then proceeded straight into the living room.

Kaguya and Maki, both with their arms bandaged, were facing Old Guo, who had just barged in. In the kitchen, a cold, lifeless corpse had frozen and stepped out, its blank expression staring intently at Takakai as he entered.

The surrounding sounds were muffled, and Takakai could no longer make out what anyone was saying.

All he could see were sparks flashing repeatedly, and the desperate screams of a man.

The noise around him grew even more chaotic.

Various objects were shredded, and cracks appeared on the walls and floor.

Someone stepped in after him, wearing the same rescue team uniform. Yes, they had come with him, everyone wanted to rescue Old Guo. Yes, they had to save him.

It seemed like something was persistently disturbing him, something cold and strong. Even a group of people working together couldn't control it.

Rip!

The rescue team emblem on his shoulder was torn off.

His disoriented consciousness suddenly snapped back to awareness.

Takahashi Takakai saw Old Guo surrounded by several rescue team members, struggling but unable to escape, and then, together with the rescue team, they were sucked into the water on the ground, completely submerged, leaving only a small, deep red key behind, lying in the puddle.

The cold corpse standing in the living room, after observing him for a moment, slowly turned and walked back to the kitchen.

...

"Kai-kun! Kai-kun!"

Shijo Maki's voice called out beside him.

The surroundings became a little clearer.

Takahashi Takakai opened his eyes and looked at the chaotic living room, which appeared as though it had been hit by a level-10 storm—everything was ruined. He saw Kaguya, who was leaning against the wall in the corner of the room, covered in wounds, and Shijo Maki, who was kneeling on the ground, gradually regaining some consciousness.

"Did… Old Guo… die?"

Takahashi Takakai hoarsely asked.

"He was pulled away by the rescue team and disappeared into the water," Shijo Maki, covered in wounds with a piece of wood still embedded in her shoulder, nodded lightly, looking exhausted.

"This is… your thigh? Is this too high-end for me?"

It seemed like his spirit had improved significantly, and Takahashi Takakai only then noticed that he was lying on Shijo Maki's thigh, which made him laugh a little.

"Because if you hadn't arrived in time, Oba-sama and I wouldn't have been able to deal with that man. He had some very strange abilities, and we couldn't defeat him. To reward your great contribution, I don't mind giving you a thigh pillow… b-but don't get the wrong idea, th-this is just a reward."

Shijo Maki sighed lightly, wiping the blood from her forehead, then looked up, revealing her usual proud demeanor.

"Oh, I'd still rather misunderstand a little."

Takahashi Takakai smiled lightly, feeling the weight of his rescue team uniform, which was becoming heavier. He looked up and stared at Shijo Maki until she blushed a little and turned her head away.

"N-Nani, what are you doing? Staring like that, it's so rude."

Shijo Maki mumbled softly, avoiding his gaze, her face now a little redder than before.

For this girl, giving a person of the opposite sex a thigh pillow wasn't as easy as she made it seem. Just moments ago, she had struggled to pull Takakai's badge off his chest. Seeing his condition so bad, in the destroyed room with no place to rest, she reluctantly decided to give him a pillow.

…At least that's what Shijo Maki told herself to convince her.

But now, seeing his strange expression, she couldn't help but feel her heart race. She began to wonder if the atmosphere was getting a little odd.

How silly. Why am I thinking so much about this?

Just because he knew about me from a previous timeline, knew things I don't, do I need to treat him differently? Should I treat him specially? Clearly, this is just a reward from a superior to a subordinate… yes, a reward… but do superiors actually give their subordinates a thigh pillow like that?

"My time is running out…"

Shijo Maki's tangled thoughts were interrupted by Takahashi Takakai's next words.

Shijo Maki suddenly turned her head toward him, but she noticed that half of his body was starting to show severe burns, as though his entire flesh was about to melt away. The other half of his body was deforming increasingly, as though he was about to turn into someone else.

"What… is going on?"

Kaguya, shielding her injured arm, stood up and cautiously took a step forward, while Maki, shocked, opened her mouth to ask.

"I've entered a place I shouldn't be, cursed severely, so I had to rely on dangerous tools. My time is running out, soon I will die and become a member of the rescue team. When that happens, I'll definitely end up on the first floor,"

Takahashi Takakai explained. He knew that even after death, he would return, but the two girls in front of him couldn't possibly know this, so he chose to maintain the attitude as if he were dying, to leave his instructions. Despite his current physical and mental state, it was clear that he was already in the final stages.

"Why… why like this… you just came back…" Maki's voice trembled, unprepared for the scene unfolding.

"The woman, before acting, destroyed all the clocks on the second floor. If you die here, we won't be able to save you. So, if you have anything left to say, say it now," Kaguya, who stood beside him, had a slight change in her expression but remained calm. She closed her eyes for a moment, then spoke evenly.

"...Yeah, can it be said like that? This so-called game is truly harsh in choosing teammates."

Takahashi Takakai sighed. He had predicted that the woman impersonating Maeda Miwa would act at that moment and had certainly prepared in advance. Furthermore, the absence of any time-reversal phenomenon confirmed his suspicions. She had destroyed all the clocks on the second floor as soon as she appeared, and during the attack, she killed Green and severed Takakai's right hand, even destroying the clocks in the room to ensure Takakai's team couldn't use the time-reversal ability again.

It was easy to figure out. The opponent wasn't foolish—if they knew about the existence of time-reversal, how could they not prepare beforehand? That's why Takakai quickly deduced that he couldn't use conventional methods to chase the opponent, so he opted for a mutually destructive strategy.

In the end, these two troublemakers, whether it was Maeda Miwa or Old Guo, had indeed been dealt with, and Takakai felt much more at ease about that.

For these two, the trump cards had almost been laid bare, but… they were still difficult to deal with. The woman pretending to be Maeda Miwa had two extremely sharp scalpels, a doll with an unclear purpose, and some strange effect or prop that completely replaced someone else.

Old Guo, meanwhile, revealed Obsessions—one had a faceless human head, a flesh doll, strange ash powder, and a blood-stained key, along with weapons like guns and explosives. Takakai, on the other hand, only had a rescue team emblem from the first floor, but this emblem had significant side effects and wasn't much compared to Ultraman's three-minute fighting time.

If only there were a way to seize those Obsessions…

Takakai glanced at the blood-red key lying in the puddle, letting out a quiet sigh.

His consciousness was starting to fade again.

He knew his second round in this game was about to end here.

"Finally, do you have anything else you want to say?"

Maki gently asked.

Takahashi struggled to turn his head, looking at the girl before him, now becoming blurred to the point he couldn't make out her face.

Her voice trembled—had she been crying?

She really was an emotional girl, even though to her, I'm just a stranger she's known for three days.

In this final moment, Takahashi couldn't help but think of a somewhat unpleasant idea.

"Last words... maybe wishes, or a desire?" Takahashi slowly spoke.

"What is it? Whatever it is, if I can do it, I'll try my best to help."

Upon hearing this, Maki quickly responded.

"How should I say it? In my whole life, I've never been kissed by a girl. If I were to die alone like this, it would be so sad. So… if possible, could you kiss me once? I like you, Maki. So if it's a kind and lovely girl like you, I think I'd have no regrets."

Takahashi Takakai tried to lift his left hand, gently touching one side of his face.

"Huh?"

And as expected, he heard a surprised exclamation from Maki.

Haha, I guess I've been a bit bad, but at this point, I'm in such a miserable state—surely a little teasing isn't too much, right?

Takahashi's vision gradually darkened, and he could no longer see anything. He lay silently, preparing for Maki to angrily punch him or push him off her lap.

But in the end, what he heard was a soft voice from the girl after a deep breath.

"I understand, Kai-kun."

Her soft voice seemed to whisper directly into his ear.

No, in fact, the sound was right by his ear. He could vaguely hear her breath, feel its warmth brushing across his disfigured cheek.

The girl bent down, not showing any disgust for his face, which had become terrifying as if dipped in boiling water, and gently whispered into his ear.

"Thank you for liking me, Kai-kun, thank you."

"I wish I could understand you better, I wish we hadn't met in a place like this..."

Then, a gentle sensation brushed across and stopped on Takahashi's lips.

He had lost all sensation, unable to feel the contact.

But in that moment, he truly felt like he could feel it, the warmth from the other person transferring through the air.

It captivated him.