"There's even a foreigner!"
The other five people looked at Saiki with his unusual hair and eye color, somewhat surprised.
[That probably isn't important, right!]
"Yeah, makes sense. We should introduce ourselves first!"
The somewhat frail man wearing glasses spoke first: "My name is Su Sheng. I've participated in a horror game once."
The man leaning against a tree also walked over and said: "I'm Li Ming. I haven't participated in a horror game before."
The man in shorts threw away his instant noodles and said nervously: "I… I'm Zhao Gao. I haven't participated in a horror game either."
Loli: "Just call me Yao Yao. I've participated in a horror game once."
Big-sister type: "Akiyuki. I've participated in a horror game once."
After everyone finished introducing themselves, they all turned their eyes in unison toward Saiki, who hadn't spoken yet.
[Saiki Kusuo. First time participating in a horror game.]
After the introductions, no one spoke for a moment. The mood felt somewhat heavy.
[What's wrong?]
Saiki looked completely puzzled. They finished introductions but still weren't moving. What were they standing around for?
"Um, you don't know what kind of instance we've entered, do you?"
Su Sheng beside him pushed up his glasses with his middle finger as a reminder.
[I know. Beginner's Village, right!]
"No!"
"It's Beginner's Village — Modified!"
At this moment Su Sheng spoke in a grave tone, and beside him there seemed to be a "!?" surprise symbol.
[Is there something special about that?]
"Of course there is!"
Zhao Gao: "This map is very dangerous, and didn't you see that he just had a !? symbol? That means he realizes how serious this is!"
(So you can see that symbol too.)
"I heard that this Beginner's Village — Modified is a new map, but not a single player who entered it has ever come out alive."
Yao Yao, who was explaining from the side, couldn't help trembling.
[Even so, we can't just stay here. Let's head to the village first!]
"That makes sense."
Saiki saw the others pointing and gesturing at empty air. To an outsider it would look like they had something wrong with their heads, but in reality they each had a system.
Yes, every person who enters a horror game has a system, but that system only issues the main quest and instance tasks, simply explaining what needs to be done now. It has no other use.
But Saiki's was different. His system… could talk.
Saiki glanced over. The grown-up system had taken human form, lying on his head, leisurely tugging at his hair.
(Actually better if it didn't.)
Putting that aside, it probably had some other functions, but to Saiki they were likely of little use.
"So let's go early. Head to Beginner's Village first. Look, there's a light over there."
Everyone looked toward the light.
Originally the area had been surrounded by a patch of forest, like they were deep in the woods, but now the nearby trees gradually parted to form a path.
The group walked down it uneasily until they exited the entire forest and came onto a mountain road. The forest that had opened up behind them closed again, and a thick fog enveloped it.
The forest from earlier had vanished in an instant.
Saiki looked up at the sky. The sun was already slowly setting behind the mountains. In about another hour, it would be completely dark.
Ahead was a mountain path resembling a mountain village, with three branching roads.
Zhao Gao: "What do we do? There are three paths. Which one do we take!"
"I think we should split up."
Su Sheng pressed a finger to his chin and suggested: "It's already getting dark now. We don't know how long until full night, and if we don't find the village, nighttime will be very dangerous.
We should split into three groups, two people per path. Whoever finds the village first comes back here in half an hour to wait for the others. That would be better!"
(This guy's brain must be broken.)
"Mm, that's a good idea. As expected from someone who's done a horror game before."
Yao Yao: "Then we'll follow your lead!"
Zhao Gao gave a thumbs-up in agreement from the side, and the others nodded slightly too.
Only the black long straight big-sister type Akiyuki and Saiki remained silent.
Hearing everyone's approval, Su Sheng unconsciously raised his chin in a leader-like pose.
Su Sheng [Perfect. Next, these two beauties will respect me because of my experience, admire me, fall in love with me, and be unable to resist me!]
(In a horror game and still in the mood to think about this. What a talent.)
"Mm, alright then. Let's start…"
Just as everyone was about to follow through, Akiyuki spoke up and interrupted: "I think it's best not to split up like that. It's too dangerous."
"But if we take the wrong path, it'll waste a lot of time."
Facing the others' questions, Akiyuki didn't reply. She simply turned to look at Saiki: "What do you think!"
Saiki didn't waste words. He didn't want to waste time on taking wrong paths either, so he agreed:
[I also think we shouldn't split up. It's better to stick together. In horror movies, the people who split up always end up literally "splitting up."]
The ones who had just agreed now heard Saiki and suddenly looked enlightened, as if it made sense.
"In such a dangerous situation, still wanting to split up to search. I don't even know how we'd die. It's truly foolish behavior."
Akiyuki crossed her arms beside them, looking somewhat disdainfully at the man whose plan had almost gotten the whole group wiped out.
The system sat on Saiki's head, hands cupping her cheeks: "This woman has a bit of brains. As expected from someone who's done a horror game."
[Mm, yeah. Or rather, this is just normal thinking. Compared to the others who've done horror games, they're really lacking.]
"But we can't completely blame him."
The system floated in front of Saiki to explain: "In horror games there's always some tense and terrifying atmosphere, plus the rules here seem to mess with people's thinking and make them a bit aggressive or prone to weird ideas."
[So it's that classic horror-movie plot device where everyone's intelligence drops.]
Saiki sighed. No wonder so many people died in this game. Forget the difficulty; if it makes people's minds run wild and causes intelligence drops, then it's way too…
"Then what do you suggest we do!"
Su Sheng couldn't stand Akiyuki's disdainful look, and seeing Saiki sigh, he thought Saiki was mocking him too, so he glared fiercely at Saiki.
"So what are you planning to do, Sai!ki!"
(You're crazy. Why glare at me? I wasn't the one who scolded you.)
Saiki calmly walked to the fork where the three paths met, then pushed aside the weeds covering half of a signpost.
The signpost pointing to the middle path read "Beginner's Village" with an arrow →. Saiki even kindly dusted it off for everyone to see clearly.
[Just take this one.]
Su Sheng: …
"Wait, there was a signpost there all along? Then why didn't you say so earlier!"
[You didn't ask, and isn't it pretty obvious?]
Saiki grabbed the top of the signpost with both hands, putting on an innocent face.
In fact he really was quite innocent. Getting yelled at for no reason, but Saiki didn't want to argue with anyone, so he said nothing more.
"Fine, then let's get going!"
(That phrasing sounds weird.)
Su Sheng walked to the front, planning to take the lead. After all, he had already participated in a horror game once.
Akiyuki: "I think someone else should lead."
Her words drew no objections. Originally no one minded him leading, but after that display of "wisdom," everyone had a bit less faith in him.
Yao Yao nodded and smiled sweetly at Akiyuki: "I agree. Then big sister, you lead the way."
Akiyuki shook her head after hearing that, then slowly pointed her finger at Saiki and said simply:
"Him. Better."
(Yare yare daze.)
"…"