"Generating Character Card."
"ID: Kanzaki Rei (modifiable)""Level: Lv.1""Strength: 14""Constitution: 12?""Spirit: 11""Perception: 10"
Staring at the character panel floating in front of him, Kanzaki Rei felt completely dazed.
All he'd done was fill out a survey.
And for that, he'd been selected by some kind of hellish game.
Are these so-called gods recruiting people this casually now?Even pyramid scheme scammers at least ask about your family background.
"The instance will open in one hour. Players, please make your preparations."
The mechanical voice rang out again. A countdown timer appeared on the panel.
"Sending a guy with ALS into a dungeon… isn't that a little inhumane?" Rei muttered, speechless.
He didn't even have a few months left to live. This outing had been meant for something entirely different—choosing his own grave.
He'd already decided on the specs.
Spacious. South-facing. Ideally with a nineteen-year-old high school girl living next door.
"The player has already signed a betting agreement and must obey all game rules."
The system's tone was cold and absolute.
"What betting agreement?" Rei frowned.
He looked back at the survey form—and froze.
It had completely changed.
"Name: Betting Agreement""Type: Item""Quality: ???""Effect: The user's clearance rewards will automatically be replaced with rewards related to their wish until the wish is fulfilled. The user will be forcibly converted into a Player. Before the wish is fulfilled, each clearance evaluation must not fall below Rank A. Failure will result in erasure.""Remarks: What kid cries every day? What gambler loses every time?"
"…What exactly did I wish for again?"
Rei scratched his head, then remembered.
Good health and a long life.
A pretty damn rude wish, considering he was terminally ill.
"Fine." He sighed.
Better a quick end than waiting around to rot. Erasure was at least faster than dying inch by inch.
One hour.
What could you do in an hour?
Watch a movie. Eat a lavish meal. Write a will. Go on a final bender.
Rei did none of that.
He simply turned on his car stereo and played Bohemian Rhapsody.
Then he watched the countdown reach zero.
"Instance Name: Bloody Restaurant""Instance Type: Newbie Trial""Number of Players: Solo""Mission Objective: Survive for 72 hours"
As the system notification sounded, black flames erupted out of nowhere, swallowing him whole. He vanished from the car in an instant.
When Rei regained consciousness, dizziness fading, he found himself standing at the entrance of a residential complex. A letter had appeared in his hand.
He looked up at the gate.
The sign reading "Brocade Prosperity Gardens" was covered in flaking rust. The stone pillars were worn down by years of erosion.
He looked deeper inside.
The buildings were still there, standing where they should be—but when he tried to focus, everything blurred. No matter how hard he stared, he couldn't make out any details.
At the same time, a sharp pain stabbed into his brain.
"Warning. Sanity decreasing."
The system's alert sounded.
Rei immediately looked away.
If I'm not even allowed to look… entering is definitely not an option.
He raised the envelope in his hand.
The clue for his next move had to be inside.
Rei tore it open. Inside was a folded A4 sheet.
It was a notice.
"Dear Human Citizen:
We regret to inform you that you have been unemployed for two months. Please proceed to the designated location for an interview as instructed. Failure to pass the interview will result in the loss of your citizen status and entry into the Processing Procedure.
—Municipal Employment Security and Promotion Office."
"No job, no citizenship," Rei muttered. "This hell game really keeps up with current affairs."
Then he froze.
Human citizen?
That meant something else existed.
Non-human citizens.
And when paired with something called a Processing Procedure…
The implications were chilling the longer he thought about them.
"…Interesting." Rei felt a spark of excitement.
This was it. The kind of world he wanted. Something abnormal, non-everyday, fundamentally wrong.
He flipped the notice over.
A map was printed on the back.
Five red markers in total.
One was a five-pointed star. The other four were simple dots.
No need to guess—the star was the designated location.
As for the other four, they were probably optional objectives, side quests, or future tasks.
A more impulsive player might have gone to check those first.
But Rei wasn't that kind of person.
He went straight for the heart.
Following the map, he moved through the streets.
There wasn't a single pedestrian in sight. No animals. Every building was sealed tight, doors and windows shut.
Yet Rei felt it constantly.
Hidden gazes.
From the cracks in doors he couldn't see clearly. From the shadows between buildings. Shapes shifting, stirring, waiting.
"I can't stay outside for long."
His instincts screamed danger. He quickened his pace.
After half an hour of brisk walking through dead silence, he finally arrived.
A small three-story Western-style building.
There were no other structures within a hundred meters.
And the sense of being watched vanished the moment he entered the area.
Rei looked up.
Bloody Restaurant.
His pupils shrank.
The sign wasn't painted.
It was assembled.
The long strokes of each character were made of arms.The shorter strokes were fingers.
They were nailed into the wooden board with rusted iron spikes—still twitching, writhing, snapping lightly, as if welcoming him inside.
"Warning. Sanity decreasing."
The system warned him again.
Rei immediately lowered his head, refusing to look any longer.
"What exactly is sanity?" he asked, deliberately changing the subject.
"A hidden attribute. When sanity falls below certain thresholds, symptoms such as reduced intelligence, mental disorientation, unconsciousness, or temporary insanity may occur."
"And if sanity hits zero?"
"Permanent insanity or—"
The rest was drowned out by static.
"So… the lunatics in mental hospitals," Rei joked, "they're all players whose sanity dropped to zero, right?"
The system did not respond.
Rei exhaled slowly and stepped into the restaurant.
Behind him—
Snap. Snap. Snap.
A series of crisp sounds rang out.
Fingers snapping.
Whether they were welcoming a new coworker or celebrating something else, he couldn't tell.
Inside, Rei was surprised.
Instead of the hellscape he'd expected, the lobby was spotless and brightly lit. The decor was elegant, grand even.
A faint, refined fragrance filled the air.
Light piano music played somewhere nearby.
Though he couldn't see a pianist.
"Hello?" Rei called out.
"We are not open for business yet. Please come back later."
A calm, indifferent voice answered.
Rei looked up.
At some point, a woman had appeared on the second floor.
She wore a high-collared inner blouse beneath a white wool coat. Her hair was coiled into a dignified bun. Her face carried the serene, reassuring beauty of a noblewoman stepped straight out of a Taishō-era drama.
A teardrop-shaped sapphire rested against her pale neck, slipping into a shadowed valley that seemed impossibly deep.
A woman like this—any man would fall in love at first sight.
And yet, Rei felt only a faint chill crawl up his spine.
"I'm here for an interview." He raised the notice in his hand.
"The city hall keeps dumping trash on me," the woman frowned.
He felt nothing at her assessment.
He'd heard worse.
"I'm the owner of this restaurant. Tsukasa Shiyuki," she said coolly. "There are three positions available. Which one are you applying for?"
"May I ask what those positions are?" Rei asked politely.
"Delivery. Kitchen assistant. Server."
Of the three, server sounded safest.
Kitchens meant blood and violence. Delivery meant venturing outside this place.
The fact that he'd made it here safely was probably just plot protection.
Still, judging by Bloody Restaurant's decor, its clientele would be either extremely wealthy—or worse.
Regular rich people were bad enough.
The rich in a world like this? A nightmare.
"Boss," Rei said after a moment's thought, "I'll do whatever you assign me. With your judgment, the position you choose will surely suit me best."
"…Interesting." Shiyuki's lips curved slightly. "A piece of trash with a bit of brains."
Her sudden, radiant smile dazzled him, leaving his vision swimming.
Rei immediately steadied his breathing, forcing the agitation down.
Just a smile almost got me.
Dangerous.
She's definitely not human.
"Then you'll do delivery," Shiyuki said.
Her smile vanished as abruptly as it had appeared, replaced by icy indifference—as if the warmth had never existed.
"Yes, boss." Rei nodded.
Fine. He'd done delivery work before. He had experience.
"Gyūma. Take him to handover."
Shiyuki turned and descended the stairs, disappearing around the corridor corner step by step.
"Yes, boss."
A muffled voice answered.
From a corner of the hall, a creature trotted out.
It had the body of a horse.
And the head of a bull.
Its horns gleamed with an oily black sheen.
Yes.
A literal ox-horse.
"What are you staring at?" it snapped. "Never seen an ox-horse before?"
"Sorry," Rei said quickly, pulling his gaze back. "I've just never seen such a handsome ox-horse before. I didn't react in time."
The ox-horse snorted loudly.
"Good eye. I forgive you."
It was obvious—it was very pleased.
"The boss was right," Gyūma said, lifting a foreleg and patting Rei on the shoulder. "For a human, you're pretty smart."
"Work hard, human," it continued, lips peeling back to reveal jagged, saw-like teeth.
"And don't make me eat you."