"H-Hanyu?"
Amai, who had been cowering in the back, stared in complete shock.
In his eyes, that powerful woman had died before she could even touch the other man. From his perspective, all he saw was the man stomp once and raise a finger, and then Hanyu collapsed, never moving again.
His legs shook wildly. He wanted to run, yet could not move, and the muscles on his face twitched so badly that he could not even force out a flattering smile.
"Announcement! A player has added a new rule to the Culling Game!"
Just then, two small golden bugs appeared beside Nitta and Amai, shouting loudly. They looked like tiny insects with pure white angel-like wings, yet their tails ended in little heart shapes like a succubus.
They were the nominal administrators of the Culling Game, the Kogane, the "system tools" every player possessed.
"Rule 9 has now been added to the Culling Game!"
Ignoring the scene entirely, both Kogane loudly announced the new rule.
"Players may freely view the names, points, current colony, and number of added rules proposed by other players!"
Clearly, this rule was meant to help whoever proposed it easily locate other strong players.
"Eh? Someone already gathered one hundred points this fast? It's only noon!" Nitta's face filled with disbelief as she exclaimed.
According to Rule 6, players could spend one hundred points to add a new rule through the administrators, as long as it did not threaten the continuation of the game or conflict with previous rules.
She had expected that in this battle royale atmosphere, some people would go on killing sprees, whether to survive or simply because they enjoyed slaughter.
But less than a day had passed since the Culling Game began.
One hundred points meant that person had killed at least twenty sorcerers or one hundred ordinary people, depending on the targets.
Not far away, Amai already felt death closing in on him.
"Have it list the players," Mukuro said calmly from beside Nitta, instructing her to command the Kogane.
"Yes... Eh? Why isn't Fushiguro-san listed...?"
Only now did Nitta notice something strange.
The woman on the ground was dead, so naturally her Kogane would disappear, yet among those present, there were only the two belonging to herself and Amai.
And how had Fushiguro-san walked in from behind her?
Could it be that the ultimate physique granted by Heavenly Restriction could even completely ignore the Culling Game itself?
"No need to worry about that. Ask it."
"Yes!"
Nitta quickly followed his words, and as soon as she spoke, the little golden bug opened a virtual screen before them like a projected display.
At the very top were two players whose scores had already exceeded one hundred.
Rank Two. Tokyo No. 2 Colony. Hajime Kashimo. 100 points. Rules added: 1.
(Image)
Rank One. Tokyo No. 1 Colony. Hiromi Higuruma. 102 points. Rules added: 0.
(Image)
"What a terrifying person..."
Even after adding a new rule and losing one hundred points, Kashimo still ranked second. His strength and the sheer scale of his slaughter made Nitta shiver.
"Then let's go meet Hiromi Higuruma first."
They were currently inside Tokyo No. 1 Colony, and only Higuruma had over one hundred points that could be of real use.
Mukuro's objective was clear.
"Oh right. You too."
With a stomp, a pebble jumped into Mukuro's hand, then he looked toward Amai, who still stood frozen in place, not daring to move an inch.
"Um... Let me come with you! I may be useless, but I'm great at running errands... Right! Aren't you looking for Hiromi Higuruma? I know where he is!"
That emotionless gaze felt like a freezing wind brushing across Amai's face.
The trembling in his legs worsened as he felt like the Grim Reaper's scythe was already pressed against his neck. Driven by fear of death, he forced the words out, broken and shaky, trying his best to show how useful he could be.
It had always been like this. He only wanted to live, only wanted to avoid being bullied for no reason.
He just wanted to survive. What had he done wrong?
"Fushiguro-san, please wait a moment. This person may not be beyond saving," Nitta said, stepping in before Mukuro could act.
Even if he had been with that woman, from their earlier conversation it seemed he had wanted to ignore her actions, only to be discovered.
Clearly, he was just a coward afraid of death, not someone truly rotten.
"As you wish." Mukuro gave a short reply, and with his approval, Nitta turned back to Amai.
"What's your name?"
"Ri... Rin Amai..." he answered weakly.
After the brief exchange, Nitta used the Kogane to search his name and, as expected, found him far down the list.
Tokyo No. 1 Colony. Rin Amai. 0 points. Rules added: 0.
A complete background character, forced to follow bad people, yet had barely done anything himself.
"Then let's go. Lead us to Higuruma." Mukuro tightened his hand slightly, crushing the small stone in his palm into powder.
"Yes!"
Having escaped death at the last moment, Amai suddenly felt strength return to his legs, and even his voice carried a bit of spirit.
"Wait... What is this? Who killed my woman?!"
Suddenly, accompanied by the faint sound of spinning blades, a middle-aged man flew over from the sky. The tied-up hair on his head was connected to a propeller, and the spinning motion of his hair allowed him to fly through the air.
In his hands, he carried two men in suits. They were the Window personnel who had entered earlier.
When he saw Hanyu lying dead on the ground, veins bulged on his forehead, and he glared murderously at Amai as he shouted.
He had gone out to cripple others and bring them back so he and his woman could share the points. Yet after only ten minutes, they were now separated by life and death.
"Haba... N-no! He's that Hanyu woman's man! They've been hunting new players this whole time!" Amai instinctively tried to flatter him, but suddenly remembered he had already switched sides.
If that man could kill Hanyu instantly, then he should not be weaker than Haba either.
This was the gamble Amai was making with his life.
"Damn you... Amai, you bastard! You betrayed us?!"
Furious, Haba prepared to toss the two suited men upward into the blades on his head, shredding them into bloody meat and turning them into points.
"Fushiguro-san, they—"
Nitta had just begun to speak when Mukuro was already gone, leaving only two deep footprints in the ground.
"Are you trying to insult me?"
Looking up into the sky, Mukuro had stepped through the air and appeared before Haba in an instant.
Trying to harm juniors of the jujutsu world right in front of him was nothing short of a slap to his face.
"You are—"
Splat!
Before the man could finish speaking, his propeller-topped head exploded completely. Red and white matter scattered like rain.
One glance was enough to tell he was an awakened-type player. Mukuro had not even considered merely crippling him.
Such tiny points were worthless to him.
**
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