Amidst the despair consuming the platoon and our enemy, a flicker of hope sparked in my mind. I had discovered a way to end her! But for that, I would need their help one more time. I looked at each of them; they all nodded, determination mixing with the fear on their faces. Let Plan B begin.
At that same moment, a scarlet panel surged before my eyes:
[Quest 1: Eliminate the designated target: UIYIKI][Reward: A System Upgrade]
Uiyiki advanced rapidly toward us, her whip snaking through the air. I stepped back and shouted:
— I need you to hold her! Just for a few seconds! I'm going to grab her face and Decompose its structure!
Everyone heard my request and moved in perfect sync. Uiyiki was already face-to-face with Number 4, her whip raised for the fatal strike, when Number 1 ran desperately to grab her from behind. Meanwhile, Numbers 2 and 3 flanked her sides, trying to close the circle.
I couldn't fail. I opened the translucent panel of the [Armory], my fingers searching the slots until I found the "sheet" I had previously analyzed. I extended my left hand, concentrating all my mental energy to materialize it and create a distraction.
The system emitted a sharp error sound.
[Failed to Recreate Object]
I looked incredulously at my own palm. What did I do wrong? There was no time for doubt; my friends were in real danger. I reached out again, struggling to calm myself and focus.
[Failed to Recreate Object]
Hope began to slip through my fingers. In desperation, I opened my Status panel and stared at the data:
Name: Arata Henjiro | Age: 17
Class: [The Recreator] | Will: 30
Fatigue:85% (Injured feet, severe malnutrition, extreme exhaustion, and hunger).
Eighty-five percent. The problem was obvious: my body was at its physical limit, draining the energy needed for the system to process the Recreation. I reflected amidst the chaos: "What can I do now that my skills have abandoned me?"
The answer was right before my eyes, in my own Skills panel. I couldn't create... but I could still destroy. I didn't need the sheet; I only needed a single touch. I clenched my fists. The fatigue weighed on me like lead, but my Will kept me standing.
I ran toward her. I saw Number 1 holding her while the others locked her arms. I approached and extended my hand:
— DECOMPOSE!
[Do you wish to decompose this !#%&$*?] [Yes] [No]
I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
[ERROR]
In my head, nothing made sense anymore. That was when I lost all hope. The audience of women in the galleries laughed at me, mocking my hand's movement in Uiyiki's face. I could only think of one word: "Why?".
It was clear that I was going to lose. Uiyiki broke free from Numbers 1, 2, and 3—they were far too weak. She pulled a lighter from her jacket, bringing it close to her black whip.
— Inject — she hissed.
The whip exploded into flames. She struck Number 4's face first, and immediately after, shattered Number 3's arm. The struck parts were consumed by 2nd-degree burns, creating instant blisters and red welts.
— Stop, please! Don't hurt them! — I screamed, but I knew she wouldn't listen.
I ran toward the stairs while Number 4 was being beaten and the others retreated, consumed by terror. From above, the laughter of the tyrants echoed:
— ONE OF THEM IS FLEEING!
Uiyiki looked at me with her sadistic smile. Her face was stained with Number 4's blood as she walked toward me. Meanwhile, I prepared my trick. I remembered only one thing about her rubber protection... Glass!
I leaned against the handrail and ordered the system to analyze and decompose the structure. With my other hand free, I screamed mentally: "RECREATE! RECREATE! RECREATE!". Uiyiki laughed at my supposed madness while I simply selected "YES".
[Are you D!23@34 %ϙ the Handr@#?] [Error] [Error] [Error]
The system was finally entering overload. I felt a blue mist heating up my body. I needed to concentrate this mist somewhere. But where? An idea surfaced. I opened my mouth and sucked in all the air around me, along with the error mist. My cheeks puffed up like an oven.
I charged at Uiyiki. As I planned, she reached into her jacket, grabbing a piece of rubber to inject into herself as protection against an attack she couldn't foresee.
I blew all the hot mist into her face. The protective rubber, hit by the system's instability, transformed into a beautiful reflection of myself. Her body, from the waist up, became entirely made of translucent glass.
The error mist had achieved the impossible: it forced an unstable recreation directly over her protection. Uiyiki tried to scream, but her glass lips wouldn't move. The silence in the hall was deafening.
— Now... — my voice came out as a hoarse whisper, my lungs burning.
Number 1, even marked by burns and trembling in pain, understood the signal. With a cry that mixed agony and liberation, he lunged against Uiyiki's vitrified chest.
CRACK.
The sound was like a crystal cathedral collapsing. The impact didn't just break the protection; it shattered Uiyiki's torso into thousands of glittering fragments. But the price was paid. Colliding with the sharp, overheated glass, Number 1 was pierced in dozens of vital spots.
He fell beside the shards of our tormentor. Fresh blood mixed with the bluish glow of the system's remains. I ran to him, ignoring the [Fatigue: 98%] message flashing blood-red.
— Hey... stay with me... — I held his hand.
He smiled, the same smile my mother gave in the hospital.
— Arata... you didn't... stay silent... — he coughed, the light in his eyes fading. — Take... the others...
The system beeped one last time before my vision went completely dark:
[Quest 1: Completed!][Enemy Eliminated][Experience Gained: Level UP!][Skill Unlocked: Organic Matter Decomposition (Incomplete)]
Amidst the end of Number 1, there was someone else who needed his attention. Arata crawled to where Number 4's body lay. The hope of finding him alive died before he even got close.
The young man's face, once full of naive determination, was now an unrecognizable mass of flesh and trauma. The beating with the flame-injected whip hadn't just burned him; the extreme temperature had permanently deformed his face.
Arata tried to scream—a mixture of fury and grief—but the sound died in his throat. A searing pain, stronger than his 98% fatigue, exploded in his face. His improvised "technique" of sucking in the overheated system error mist had taken its toll. As he tried to open his mouth, he felt the skin of his lips crack like dry glass. The mist had burned Arata from the inside out.
The inside of his cheeks, gums, and tongue were raw; a deep 3rd-degree burn wound. The enamel of his front teeth cracked from the sudden temperature change. Blood, mixed with a yellowish fluid, began to ooze from the corners of his mouth, instantly solidifying into ugly scabs.
The system beeped, merciless as ever:
[Warning: Critical User Damage Detected][Condition: Severe Internal Burn (Airways and Oral Cavity)][Penalty: Speech and 'Voice Command Recreation' Skills Temporarily Blocked][Solid Consumption Limitation Activated]
Arata fell to his knees between the bodies of his two friends and the shattered remains of his enemy. He had won Quest 1, but he had lost his voice, his ability to eat, and the innocence of his platoon. He now possessed a new upgrade, but the cost was literally seeing a glimpse of hell.
In the midst of the chaos, I looked at the other two from the platoon and knew we had to get out of there before the women from upstairs arrived. One went to one side of me and the other to the opposite side, carrying me as we climbed the stairs. At the end, I could see the cell door. And the exit, but my thoughts couldn't be selfish. I pointed to the cells of the other survivors from Platoon F.
We reached the door, opening it. Approaching the cell, seeing it had a lock, Number 2 had the keys he took from Uiyiki's body before we went up. We opened the cell and all went together to the hall; the dance floor was already back in place. And at the exit door, a woman could be seen.
The woman was dressed in a suit with chic black pants and beautiful black shoes. On her face, a neutral expression could be seen; she seemed emotionless. She looked at the seven of us along with the new platoon and said:
— Unfortunately, you fucked everything up. You can go back down there and fight, and one of you will come out of here alive. Or... You can die by my hands. But before you decide, who would be the Arata of your group?
My friends point at me, and I think, how can they hand me over so easily?. The woman replies: "Good."
The first one, determined and stupid, shouts against the calm and expressionless woman. Within seconds, the woman placed a hand on the concrete floor and transformed the area around the guy into concrete, crushing him. Blood covered the rest of the group.
I was just a burden my friends were carrying, only able to watch as hell was about to happen again. Looking at her beauty, something unexpected happens. A blue cloud could be seen around her hand and a blue panel in front of her. My system tells me:
[Architect's Eye has been activated.]
Looking at her system, I discovered I wasn't the only one with a system in this Japan. My vision allowed me to read her system, but I needed to be closer. In a moment of hope, I moved. And with just a little movement in my body, I flipped her off.
She looks at my beautiful middle finger, furrowing her brow as if I were a disappointment. Her hand moves again, and just as her fingers touch the ground, I could see the ceiling and imagine what it would be like in heaven. Everyone screamed around me, my group terrified as my head was separated from my body, the concrete around it cutting my head off.
I didn't understand one thing: at that moment, I didn't die instantly. The insufferable system appears in front of me once more.
[Your death was certain; your body and your head will disappear along with your consciousness in a few seconds][10... 9... 8... 7... 5...]
In the middle of the countdown, I had one wish. I wanted to know how my uncle was, and my other request was to be able to see what was written on the woman's panel.
[4... 3...]
Her shoes could be heard by everyone as she approached, crushing each one of them. Only 2 more left to die.
[2...]
When her panel was close to me, my eye once again showed me codes, and among those codes on the panel, I could see only one thing written:
[Special Quest: Kill everyone in front of you. EXCEPT for the person named Arata Henjiro. Use your special skill after his death.][The failure to complete the quest will cause the bearer, Ren Ashi, to die after a few seconds]
[1... 0...]