The sudden appearance of the man had unquestionably caught everyone off guard.
As the core of the Fujihana Middle School area Instance, Hirano Sōsuke's presence within this Instance could practically be described as nonexistent. Before this guy abruptly appeared, no one had expected to encounter him here so suddenly. And the version they encountered was clearly one with extremely low friendliness—a horrifying form that came out with the intention to kill from the very beginning. It could be said that nobody present was remotely prepared for this.
But even if they had not been prepared, there was still one thing everyone understood clearly.
They absolutely could not panic. They could not run.
The core Obsession of a Red Moon-level Instance was a terrifying existence no player could fight head-on. But if one panicked and fled after encountering the core Obsession, then the only possible ending would be a miserable death.
The reason was simple enough. Once the core Obsession of a Red Moon-level Instance appeared before you in a hostile state, it meant you had already touched upon part of its operational rules. At that point, no matter how you ran, you could never truly escape. Facing it head-on instead actually gave you a chance to discover flaws within the rules and survive successfully.
Mai, who had the fastest reaction speed on the field, had already rapidly moved in front of Takumi and Miko and charged straight toward the handgun-wielding man. Yet the man completely ignored her, merely expressionlessly turning the muzzle toward Miko's direction and preparing to pull the trigger again.
So the one who triggered the death rule was that little girl? Tch, looks like her so-called super perception really is something special.
At the instant that thought flashed through his mind, the man's finger was already about to pull the trigger.
Then, Mai's descending palm slammed violently into the man's arm, forcibly knocking the position of the gun aside. Immediately afterward, her arm smashed heavily into his chest, sending the man crashing to the ground on the spot, striking the stage with a violent impact.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out in that instant.
One of the rescue team members rushed out to shield Miko's side, only to have his body blown apart by a single shot, vanishing on the spot.
Even though the muzzle had no longer been aimed at Miko herself, after the man pulled the trigger, the bullet still emerged out of nowhere and shot directly toward Miko's head. If Takumi had not promptly sacrificed Rescue Team Member Tanaka, that shot might have killed her instantly.
"Stopping him from aiming is useless! Once he fires, the bullet will still come out even if you block the muzzle!"
Takumi shouted the warning as he climbed back to his feet. The wound that had nearly split him in half at the waist had already mostly healed. Honestly, the Rescue Team Badge really was absurdly useful. As long as the injury was not instantly fatal, it could basically heal Takumi back up after a short while. But now was not the time to marvel at that. At top speed, he directly charged toward Hirano Sōsuke.
His target was the handgun the man was holding. Takumi was absolutely certain that this handgun was Hirano Sōsuke—that it was the Fujihana Middle School Instance's core Obsession Item. As long as he could grab it and shove it into the watch's storage space, then even if the Instance core itself would not disappear or be suppressed after losing its Obsession Item, at the very least they could seize the thing from him and add a genuine Red Moon-level Obsession Item to the player team's arsenal.
Still, it could only be said that the idea was beautiful. In practice, before Takumi could even truly close the distance, the man had already risen effortlessly in a posture that completely ignored gravity itself. With a flick of his arm, he sent Mai flying dozens of meters away, where she crashed into the seats below, smashing through rows of chairs that exploded upward into the air.
Then the man expressionlessly turned his head toward Takumi and raised the handgun.
Bang!
After the gunshot rang out, a second rescue team member staggered and collapsed to the ground, seemingly unable to stand back up for the time being.
Takumi himself had not seen the bullet's trajectory at all.
Even after activating Hedda's Blessing and enhancing his vision to its absolute limit, he still could not see the path of that bullet.
If he had not summoned a second rescue team member to bail him out, Takumi probably would not even have known where the bullet had come from before dying.
In other words, once selected as the target, no matter what the victim themselves did, it was impossible to dodge the bullet?
After a brief moment of shock, Takumi suddenly accelerated, intending to use the interval between the opponent's shots to close the distance again—only to immediately hear a second "Bang!" ring out.
Wait, he didn't even pull the trigger that time!?
A girl's figure suddenly flashed past Takumi's side, then collapsed to the ground.
Takumi only had time to hear Maki say through the mental link, {Be extremely careful}, before he saw that "Gotō No. 1" had already fallen. Half her chest cavity and most of her abdomen had been completely blown apart.
And from the moment this man appeared until now, less than a few seconds had passed in total.
Bang!
The third gunshot came almost immediately after the second one.
The man's finger on the gun hadn't even visibly moved.
This time, it was Mai who managed to rush back in time. Despite the blood still dripping from the corner of her mouth, she grabbed Takumi's arm and yanked him violently to the side.
"You can't show hostility! Don't try to attack him or take his things! Any hostility will trigger his attacks!"
Mai shouted loudly, though she clearly didn't look to be in good condition herself.
She had obviously sensed something through her Blessing. Hearing her words, Takumi realized something as well and carefully used his own Blessing to perceive the situation. What he discovered was that this "Hirano Sōsuke" barely possessed any malice at all. It seemed more like he was simply carrying out some kind of automatic defensive response against the hostility of others.
The handgun rose again, aiming toward Takumi and Mai.
After a brief pause, however, the man lowered the gun once more. Ignoring both of them entirely, he no longer attempted to attack.
As long as they no longer harbored any thoughts carrying "aggression," the core of the Instance would completely ignore the players. All that could be said was that this Obsession truly was something uniquely individual and unusual.
But the problem was that the death rule Miko had triggered was clearly different from Takumi's and the others'. After pausing for a moment, the man slowly aimed the handgun at Miko once again.
She was still sitting on the floor, utterly stunned by how everything had happened within only a few seconds, her mind completely blank, not knowing what she should do.
Damn it, at this distance there's probably no way to save her...
Takumi had already pushed himself up and charged forward under the enhancement of his Blessing, but deep down, he already had a bad feeling.
Mai, however, did not immediately follow after him. She had sensed something else appearing. Turning her head, she saw one nurse after another, along with patients, emerging from around the stage and the edges of the seating area.
The moment she saw them, her pupils contracted sharply as she realized that the most dangerous moment had already arrived.
Every Aberration in the entire hospital had likely gathered here now.
This core Obsession alone had already pushed them into a situation where they couldn't fight back within only a few seconds. And now all of these things were joining in as well...
Should she overload this place directly and let the eyeball lose control?
In that split second, Kumagai Mai had already begun considering the worst-case scenario.
Meanwhile, the man's finger had already lightly settled onto the trigger.
He was about to pull it.
"I-I'm not Alice!"
But right after that came Miko's voice. Having finally reacted, she shouted first, forcing herself to speak through the terror of death looming over her.
The movement of the man's hand stopped.
"I'm not Alice! I-I'm someone Alice hurt! I'm a victim! We're all victims! Every single person here is a victim hurt by Alice! Please protect us! Please protect all of us! Officer, only you can help us! Only you can protect us now!"
At that moment, the girl screamed with all her strength, so hard that her voice had nearly gone hoarse.
The Aberrations were already drawing closer and closer.
Among them were the administrators who had previously been torn to pieces, now fully restored as they reappeared among the guards and nurses. There were doctors as well, along with patients who had already been completely transformed. Included among them were Miko's classmates.
And walking at the very front of all those things was the hospital director with that vicious, twisted expression on his face.
The muzzle of the gun that had been aimed at Miko slowly lowered.
At that moment, the girl saw countless scenes.
Takumi saw them as well—the scenes from many years ago, memories belonging to that man himself.
[It's alright. Leave it to me. Even if I'm the only one left, I'll still help all of you. I'll still protect all of you.]
[If she truly is Alice... if she truly is the Alice from Fujihana Middle School... then perhaps this was always part of my fate.]
[Teacher, back then you saved my life. Now that you've chosen to turn away from everything, then let me be the one to act instead. My life should have ended many years ago anyway, so this time, let me be the one to stand up for those who have no power to protect themselves.]
Standing before that man were people who had lost their families, their loved ones, the people most important to them, only to suffer even more harm because society as a whole had become obsessed with Alice, leaving them unable to obtain justice.
They were already covered in wounds. Yet no matter who they begged for help, all they received in return was hatred, ridicule, and even crueler harm.
Things like this should never have happened in the first place.
And so the man's voice was quiet, yet incomparably resolute.
He put on the police uniform he had worn for over twenty years.
Then he brought along a handgun—a handgun he had always maintained with the utmost care, and maintained very well.
And just like that, he walked alone toward the noisy, bustling concert event.
Toward that lone journey that, for him, felt like destiny itself.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang—
Every nurse. Every guard. Every patient.
Every Aberration charging at them in that instant exploded apart immediately, blasted into shattered fragments on the spot.
The man wearing that filthy police uniform riddled with tears holstered the handgun once more. Expressionless, he turned around and walked away directly without even glancing at Takumi and the others.
His body passed straight through the wall behind the stage and disappeared.
Only then did Miko finally begin gasping for air. Only then did the overwhelming sense of escaping death hit her all at once, leaving her completely limp in Takumi's arms, unable to move at all.
"W-We're safe now?"
The girl asked blankly, looking as though her mind was still completely dazed.
"For now, yeah. We're safe for now. You did really well just now. Seriously, really well."
Takumi simply supported the girl and let out a light laugh before giving her a thumbs-up in encouragement.
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