As the screen lit up again, the arena shimmered with a volatile, unpredictable energy. The maze of mind and mirror dissolved into a singular arena—a room of absolute neutrality. No illusions, no projections. Just two chairs and a table, as if this were a casual meeting rather than a fight to the psychic death.
The audience, having just watched the revelation of Johan's death wish and Yuuichi's cunning twist, held their breath. No punches had been thrown. No blood had been spilled. Yet the stakes had never felt higher.
In this moment of eerie calm, a voice echoed:
"You now sit at the final table. One will rise. One will fall."
Inside the Mind-Space Arena
Yuuichi sat down first, his eyes calm but scanning Johan's every microexpression. Johan took the other seat slowly, folding his hands neatly in his lap.
"You think you've outplayed me," Johan began, his voice soft as silk. "But this isn't a game you can win."
"Then it's a good thing I stopped playing a long time ago," Yuuichi answered. "This is war."
They were no longer talking with words alone. Behind their eyes, memories collided.
Johan projected a vision: a young boy on a balcony, watching his twin sister smile for the first time before she was taken away. The feeling of abandonment sharpened into a dagger of guilt and identity loss.
Yuuichi countered with his own vision: a dark room, the smell of blood and betrayal hanging thick. Friends turning on each other, his own emotions suppressed until only survival remained. He sharpened his guilt into resolve, shaping it into strategy.
Johan leaned forward. "You think controlling others gives your life purpose. But what happens when there's no one left to deceive?"
Yuuichi leaned forward too. "Then I deceive myself. Because even a lie can be hope in the right hands."
The table between them turned to glass, revealing underneath it their darkest fears. Johan's showed a mirror—himself with no name, no identity, disappearing into nothingness. Yuuichi's revealed the people he failed to save, all wearing his smile.
Audience Reactions: Unfiltered
Dazai (Bungou Stray Dogs Universe): "They both carry suicide in their hearts... but only one wants to win."
Tomura Shigaraki (My Hero Academia Universe): "If destruction had a mind, it would look like Johan. If manipulation had a soul, it would look like Yuuichi."
Kiyotaka Ayanokoji (Classroom of the Elite): "He's a different breed from me... Yuuichi takes joy in the chaos. I merely endure it."
Killua Zoldyck (Hunter x Hunter): "They're scary. Scarier than Illumi. Scarier than anyone I've seen."
Kaiji (Kaiji Universe): "Yuuichi... he gambles with lives like I gamble with money. But his pot is always filled with souls."
Levi Ackerman (Attack on Titan): "No blade can cut what they're fighting with."
The Bet Screen Shifts
The arena might've been calm, but outside it, chaos unfolded in multiversal betting hubs. The stakes kept rising. Two more universes had joined the chaos.
New Universe 3: Crimson Paradox
Bettor Name: Scarlet Vane
Betting On: Yuuichi Katagiri
Wager: Her soul's connection to time
Potential Win: Control over past probabilities across universes
Loss: Permanently frozen in time, unable to interact
New Universe 4: Realm of Fractured Fates
Bettor Name: Orion Null
Betting On: Johan Liebert
Wager: His ability to reincarnate
Potential Win: Infinite new lives with awareness preserved
Loss: Permanent oblivion
Current Multiversal Pot: 13,210,000 soul-credits
High-Stakes Bets Update:
L (Death Note Universe): "Still betting on Johan. If he wins, it proves logic has limits."
Tenji (Tomodachi Game): "Yuuichi will find a way. He always does. I'm wagering the last part of my mind still untouched by him."
Combat Continues: War of Wills
Yuuichi shifted in his seat.
"I understand why you want to disappear. You're the sum of everyone's worst decisions. But I can't let you win."
Johan smiled. "Then let's finish this. One lie. One truth. Let's see which one survives."
The table dissolved. They stood again, facing each other. The final trial began: a mirror room with thousands of versions of themselves, each representing a path not taken. Yuuichi stared at a version of himself who chose friendship over lies. Johan saw himself living peacefully with his sister.
"I see it," Johan whispered. "The person I could've been."
"And I see what I lost to become this," Yuuichi murmured.
Suddenly, Johan lunged forward—not with fists, but with a wave of mental pressure, forcing Yuuichi to relive every betrayal, every moment he manipulated those closest to him.
Yuuichi fell to his knees but smiled through the pain. "You can't break me. I already broke myself."
He reached out, touching Johan's forehead.
And in that moment, Johan saw what Yuuichi saw—hope.
The hope of still having something to fight for. Something more than oblivion.
Judgment Descends
The room began to fracture. One would be declared the victor. The other, punished. Yet the system hesitated. For the first time, it couldn't determine who won by mental defeat.
So it triggered a final test.
"Kill your mirror self."
Yuuichi raised his hand toward the kind, smiling version of himself.
Johan stared at the peaceful boy with his sister.
They both hesitated.
Then, Yuuichi spoke, "I need to live to protect what I believe in."
He crushed the mirror.
Johan smiled sadly and lowered his hand.
"Maybe it's time to end the story."
The mirror embraced him. And he vanished.
The system made its choice.
Yuuichi Katagiri stood alone in the silence, breathing heavily.
And then the arena went dark once more.