A city dyed in blood.
A deserted city, no different from before.
The pain and torment endured in that dark room had now completely vanished, as if it had all been nothing but a dream.
But that description only applied to those who hadn't experienced it firsthand. For Takakai, who had personally suffered through that execution, the agony had been all too real. He knew with absolute certainty that this was no dream. Because once he left this blood-soaked city and returned to the real world, he would have to face that terrifying hellscape again—likely dying in new and inventive ways before being sent back here once more.
Come to think of it, how many times had he come to this city now? The fifth time, maybe?
Takakai reached up and touched his face, then his stomach and chest. After confirming that the wounds that had been carved into him were gone, he let out a slow breath and unceremoniously plopped down onto the ground.
"Never thought I'd get to personally experience what it feels like to be the guy who 'failed the dive.'"
The memory of his face being split down the middle, then torn apart like a loaf of bread—complete with strands of flesh stretching like melted cheese—made him shudder in discomfort.
And once again, it had been a situation where death was denied to him. Just what the hell was up with that Alice? She casually stitched together a flesh doll and could trap a person's consciousness inside it, granting them a twisted form of immortality? Was this an ability she had before death, or something she gained after becoming an ayakashi? No, more importantly—was she even an ayakashi at all? She could hold conversations, set traps, scheme, and wield supernatural powers without restraint. None of the usual limitations that bound ayakashi seemed to apply to her. She was clearly something different.
Especially that sadistic, twisted personality of hers. She felt more like a living person than a ghost…
Lost in thought, Takakai raised his hand and stared at his palm.
Right now, it was perfectly clean—nothing marred its surface.
But he remembered. When he had been ensnared by Alice's inhuman allure, he had suddenly felt his palm grow damp. At the time, he had assumed it was sweat. But now, he realized the truth: Alice had slipped the bloodstained pen into his hand.
Everything after that—Alice killing Shigeno Rika, showing him the bloodied pen—had all been an illusion. She had already killed the girl by then. He had been doomed the moment he triggered the rules.
So why hadn't he died immediately? Why had the execution only commenced after he noticed the pen in his hand?
Was it just Alice's sadistic whims?
After all, Alice had activated his Blessing effect. Once she possessed Miko, Takakai had sensed something off through Hilda's Blessing. He could say with certainty that Alice's personality was utterly antisocial, twisted beyond any normal human's capacity for cruelty.
But there was another possibility—that beneath the seemingly chaotic events, there was still some kind of rule at work.
If that were the case… perhaps Alice needed him to know the origin of the item and realize he was holding a game-clear item before she could execute him. Or maybe, for Alice to carry out an execution, her victim had to fully comprehend what was happening? But then, what about Shigeno Rika? She had been killed outright, and her candle had been extinguished by some power of Alice's. Wait—could it be related to identity? Shigeno Rika was already a Bad Student, so killing her required no rules—Alice could act freely. But Takakai's identity was Teacher, so she had to follow the Alice Game's procedures?
Several possibilities crossed his mind, but without enough information to connect the dots, he could only file them away for now.
Either way, he needed to plan carefully for the next loop.
With that thought, Takakai turned his head and looked at the fissure in the ground behind him.
"There are more of them now."
Amid the roaring flames, new figures had appeared.
Li Youcai and Xu Jiazhen—his old acquaintances—were still burning. Then there were Anthony Twan, that mayor, and a bunch of American politicians and journalists, fifteen in total, all burning together. Followed by Vern himself, researchers from the facility, soldiers, and some of the exploration team members—over thirty people.
Oh, and Petey. That man was in the flames too. Though his circumstances had involved coercion, it didn't change the fact that he was, at his core, a scumbag who cared more for wealth than human lives. The only time he resembled a decent person was in front of his friend Wilbur. To the tourists and employees? A straight-up monster.
56 people.
That was the current tally of fuel burning in the blood-soaked city.
Takakai figured there should've been more—General Shegela, for one, definitely deserved a spot. But perhaps only those who retained some semblance of self-awareness could be dragged into this fiery hell. Nutty Putty Cave had been operational for years, after all. Some of the worst might've already had their souls scattered before Takakai even breached the dungeon.
The cooldown for his rewind ability had now shortened to 41 days. After that time, his watch would automatically regain one charge. Since over a month had already passed outside the dungeon, plus the time spent inside, Takakai only needed to wait two more days to regain a rewind.
Two days? But my first run in [Fujika Middle School] only lasted a little over an hour before I bit it.
A headache crept in—though it was more annoyance than fear. After all, even if he hadn't found a way to clear the dungeon yet, he had discovered several survival strategies. For example, stashing the candle inside his watch from the start would prevent The Very Bad Wolf from attacking him at all, freeing up a hand for more important tasks.
And—yep, there it is.
Looking up, Takakai watched as objects slowly descended from the sky.
First, several dozen candles.
He hadn't smeared his blood on these, but since he had stored them in his watch's space, they were now considered his possessions, dropping right in front of him.
Which meant the students who'd had their candles stolen would now activate immediately at the dungeon's start.
Next, a bloodstained ram's head mask.
Yep, the mask that granted him the [Teacher] identity had been pulled in too. Takakai remembered how it gradually fused with flesh—likely during that process, it had come into contact with his blood, marking it as his.
Too bad there's no "Honor Student" badge. Guess that thing was just a one-time identity converter.
And then—Wait, the Joint Blood Puppet?!
Takakai stared blankly at the recovered Relic.
In the Nutty Putty Cave dungeon, he had given this Relic to Maki and Kaguya. But during an attack at the research base, they had been forced to discard it to escape an ayakashi's pursuit, losing it for good.
Now, it was back.
Somehow, the watch's power had retrieved it from wherever it had been lost.
"Any Relic that's touched my blood can be reclaimed… and it can even recover ones that were lost after being stored? That's just broken."
Shaking his head in disbelief, Takakai turned his attention to the next Relic.
A white stuffed lamb.
Yes, the exact same one Alice had used to store his organs and brain in the first loop.
"This thing's a Relic? And it's the one that held my corpse? Does that mean I'm carrying my own ashes into the dungeon? Wait, no—I wasn't dead yet. At most, it's a flesh suit. Which means I could technically go V-tuber with it? Though the market's kinda oversaturated these days…"
After a few half-hearted quips, Takakai picked up the lamb and quickly grasped its function.
Effect:Substitution.
Because it had absorbed Takakai's blood, the doll could be recognized as him. If he suffered a fatal attack, he could force the doll to take his place. Crucially, this was a conscious substitution. Even in a situation like Alice turning him into a living doll, as long as he remained aware, he could swap his flesh with the doll's and emerge unscathed.
Usage Limit:One substitution per doll. After being used, the doll would enter a rampant state. As for what that entailed… he couldn't tell. Maybe it sent coordinates to Alice? It seemed that after being used, the doll could track the player.
"No player would pass up an effect like this… but using it means Alice can hunt you down? What a nasty Relic."
Sighing, Takakai examined the last two dolls and a cleaver.
Yep, the watch had pulled in three dolls—one that held his flesh, and two others stained by his blood during his self-detonation. The cleaver was the one Alice had used to carve him up. All of them had been yoinked by the black watch.
The only word that came to mind was "bullshit."
The cleaver was about half a meter long—a heavy, bloodstained blade meant for splitting wood. Through his senses, Takakai determined that it wasn't just unnaturally sharp—it had a specific lethality against the ayakashi in Fujika Middle School. Whether student, teacher, or something else, this cleaver could dismember them and drastically slow their regeneration. It was a specialized Relic designed for this dungeon.
Maybe this was the very blade used to carry out the repeated massacres here?
As for the two dolls stained by his explosion…
There's a living presence inside them.
One was a rabbit doll labeled [Touyama Akira], the other a brown bear doll labeled [Kuma Mai]. Both carried traces of living humans within.
And not just any humans—players. Powerful ones, far beyond the average. Even after prolonged torment, their presence remained unmistakable.
These two dolls contained players who had at least cleared Dusk-class dungeons. Maybe even… Crimson Moon-class?
If he could restore them—if he could turn them back from living dolls into humans, if they retained their sanity and were willing to cooperate—then he wouldn't be fighting alone anymore. No longer would he be stuck carrying dead weight through a Crimson Moon-class dungeon.
Players who got captured by Alice in a place like Fujika Middle School couldn't be bottom-feeders barely scraping by in Twilight-class dungeons.
So if he could truly free these two…
DONG—
The first toll of the bell rang out.
Takakai set the dolls down and looked up at the bloodied city.
Time to make a wish.
After multiple deaths, he had learned that each time he arrived here, he could make one wish to this city. As long as the wish was reasonable and within his capacity to endure, there was a chance it would be granted.
So what should he wish for?
Suppress the dungeon's corruption effect on Dusk-class Relics? No, that was pointless, and the cost would be too high.
Reveal Alice's true nature? As much as he wanted to know, that was unrealistic. Even if possible, the price would be unbearable.
He needed to consider what he most urgently needed right now.
What did he need…?
He already knew the black umbrella was dangerous, so he wouldn't use it in the second loop—reducing the risk of Miko being possessed. That gave him an advantage in reconnaissance. He also knew how to bypass the candle issue, meaning no one would need to trigger the ayakashi students early, keeping enemy numbers manageable. Add the ram mask, and he could avoid most of the first loop's pitfalls.
So what was left?
Closing his eyes, Takakai quickly arrived at the answer.
"I need direction."
He couldn't afford to wander the school like a headless chicken.
Alice seemed capable of influencing the entire building, making information gathering perilous. He needed to know—where should he go? How could he pierce through the layers of deception and find the true path?
This wish would be a one-time expenditure, and the cost would be steep. So he had to phrase it carefully, minimizing the difficulty of fulfillment.
Thus, what he needed was—
[The location of something that can guide me toward the correct investigative path.]
After careful deliberation, Takakai settled on this silent plea.
DONG—
The second bell tolled.
And in that moment, he felt a response from some unseen force.
The black watch had gained a new function.
Function:Once per dungeon, he could expend 3 rewind charges (a quarter of his total) to receive a direction. Whatever lay in that direction would aid his investigation—a core Relic, a clue, something crucial to dismantling the dungeon.
DONG—
The third bell tolled.
In the far, far distance, Takakai could faintly sense Maki and Kaguya's presence.
The watch's power could still be used—he could let Kaguya retain her memories or unlock telepathic communication with Maki. But that was meaningless now. He wouldn't waste resources on it.
Time to move forward.
With that thought, Takakai closed his eyes and felt a sudden, intense sensation of falling.
Darkness swallowed everything.
And when it receded, he opened his eyes to find himself seated at a desk in a classroom, surrounded by unconscious students.
This was Fujika Middle School, 2nd Year Class 1-5, on the fifth floor. He was back.
Back at the beginning.
Not as far back as he'd hoped—he hadn't returned to the moment Miko first arrived at his home. But this starting point wasn't bad.
"Nn…"
Beside him, Miko let out a soft groan as she slowly woke.
She heard footsteps.
Someone walked past her desk—and picked something up from it.
And… why does it smell so bad? Like something rotting. And why did she suddenly feel so cold?
Wait, where am I? I remember finally escaping with Takakai-san, so why—
"You brats. You useless little failures. Is the classroom a place for sleeping?"
A voice, icy and sharp, cut through the room.
"How dare you sleep at your age? Your teacher is speaking! What do you think you're doing, slumping over like this?"
All the girls jolted awake at the chill in the air, blinking in confusion before spotting the rule sheets on their desks.
No candles. Every desk was missing its candle.
Then, they heard a light cough.
Looking up, they saw a man in a rescue team uniform, wearing a ram's head mask, standing at the lectern with his arms crossed. The mask tilted slightly, as if peering down at them with disdain.
Once he had their attention, he rapped his knuckles against the desk and declared, utterly deadpan:
"In summary—you've all been kidnapped."