"AAAAAAAH!"
The narrow hallway exploded into chaos.
Maru stumbled backward, her foot catching on a broken chair.Daichi turned too fast and nearly slammed into a table, knocking it sideways with a loud crash.Hikari clutched her backpack tightly, retreating step by step, her breathing uneven.
The old woman-like yokai shrieked again—
"AAAAAAAH!"
Its voice echoed unnaturally through the cramped space.
Its thin arms stretched forward, longer than they should have been, fingers twisting like claws as it lunged toward them.
"RUN!"Daichi shouted.
And they did.
Everyone—
Except one.
A single step forward cut through the panic.
Rishiro.
He exhaled quietly.
"…Seriously?"
The creature rushed him.
Fast.
Violent.
Unpredictable.
Its mouth opened wider than humanly possible as it leaped—
And instead of retreating—
Rishiro moved forward.
No hesitation.
No fear.
He raised his fist.
Simple.
Direct.
Clean.
Thud.
The punch landed squarely on the top of the creature's head.
A dull, almost comedic sound echoed in the hallway.
The yokai froze.
Completely.
Its entire body went stiff.
Its wide eyes spun slightly—
Confused.
Disoriented.
For a brief moment…
It just stood there.
Swaying.
Like its brain had stopped working.
Then—
"AAAAH!"
It shrieked again, stumbling backward in panic.
Its movements lost all coordination.
Scrambling.
Crawling.
It dove suddenly—
Straight beneath the loose floorboards.
The wood creaked as it forced itself through the gap—
Then—
Gone.
Silence.
Heavy.
Awkward.
Unreal.
Everyone stared.
Maru blinked slowly.
"…What."
Daichi turned his head toward Rishiro like he was seeing something illegal.
"…You just punched a yokai."
Hikari adjusted her glasses with slightly shaking hands.
"…It worked."
Rishiro shrugged.
Completely unfazed.
"She was annoying."
Maru pointed aggressively at the floor.
"That thing was chasing us!"
"And you just—"
She paused.
Her brain trying to catch up.
"…punched it?"
Rishiro tilted his head slightly.
"Worked, didn't it?"
Silence.
Again.
Daichi let out a long breath.
"…Okay."
He rubbed his temples.
"So let's talk about the bigger problem."
He pointed upward.
"The sky gave us some kind of quest message."
"There are monsters outside."
"And apparently—"
He hesitated.
"…we have to survive the night."
Maru crossed her arms tightly.
"So what do we do?"
Hikari looked down, thinking.
Carefully.
"If the system gave us an objective…"
She paused.
"…then maybe defeating yokai makes us stronger."
Daichi nodded slowly.
"So basically…"
"We level up by fighting monsters."
Maru groaned loudly.
"Great."
She dragged a hand down her face.
"So the world turned into some kind of RPG."
They continued talking.
Fast.
Messy.
Ideas overlapping.
Weapons.
Barricading doors.
Finding safer places.
Avoiding stronger creatures.
Surviving.
Just surviving.
But one person—
Didn't join the conversation.
Rishiro stood near the broken window.
The cold night air slipped through the cracks, brushing against his face.
Outside—
The city had transformed.
No—
It had revealed its true form.
Yokai roamed freely through the streets.
Some chased screaming figures through alleys.
Others crouched on rooftops, watching.
Waiting.
Shadows moved in ways shadows shouldn't.
The entire city felt alive.
And hostile.
Rishiro watched.
Quietly.
Carefully.
His eyes didn't show fear.
They observed.
Measured.
Understood.
Then—
A faint smile appeared.
Small.
But real.
Inside his mind—
A single thought formed.
This isn't chaos.
It's structured.
Controlled.
Predictable.
A system.
Rules.
Patterns.
Cause and effect.
He watched a yokai leap from one building to another.
Watched how it moved.
How it chose its target.
How it reacted.
A game.
That's what this was.
Not survival.
Not disaster.
A game.
And games—
Could be beaten.
A distant scream echoed through the night.
Sharp.
Fading.
Rishiro's gaze lowered slightly, focusing on the streets below.
His grip tightened around the chainsaw.
Not nervously.
But with anticipation.
Excitement.
Then—
He spoke.
Softly.
Almost like a whisper to himself.
"…The game has just begun."
Behind him—
The others were still talking.
Still trying to understand the world.
Still trying to survive it.
But Rishiro—
He wasn't trying to survive.
He was ready to play.
And somewhere deep inside—
Something responded.
Faint.
Glitching.
Watching.
End of Chapter 12