Chapter 1: Death Game? Not Good! Yukari-nee, Save Me!
"The sun is bright up in the sky~"
"The flowers are smiling down at me~"
"The little bird chirps, 'Good morning, morning, morning'~"
Beside the Human Village, sprawled across a boundless, sun-drenched grassland, a young man was basking in the warmth while humming a cheerful little tune. Suddenly, he paused, a flicker of confusion crossing his face as he glanced around, thinking he'd heard something.
Just as he dismissed it as a trick of the mind, a voice, devoid of all emotion, echoed directly in his head—
[You have been selected as a Death Game player. Do you accept?]
The youth shot upright, his brow furrowed in deep thought. After a long moment, he flopped back onto the grass, his body going limp. A sorrowful wail echoed across the idyllic landscape.
"It's bad enough you didn't give me a system, but a damn Death Game? That's just too much!"
His name was Haruto, a transmigrator from a world he called the Blue Star, who had found himself in Gensokyo four years ago.
The first year had been a blur of aimless wandering, a struggle for survival.
In his second year, armed with his foreknowledge of Gensokyo's inhabitants, he'd successfully managed to get on the good side of some of the more approachable figures, like Fujiwara no Mokou, Kamishirasawa Keine, and even the notoriously money-grubbing Hakurei Reimu.
The third year had brought the most bewildering twist of all: he had inexplicably become the young master of the Yakumo family. He would never forget the sheer, dumbfounded shock on his face when Yakumo Yukari herself had informed him, "You are one of our kind."
During the two years since being brought to the Yakumo residence, Haruto had certainly entertained grand fantasies of a glorious future—punching his way through the Sunflower Field, kicking down the gates of Eientei—and had even worked incredibly hard toward that goal.
However, reality was a cruel mistress.
He was no peerless genius. The moment Yakumo Yukari explained that, as a newly born Boundary Youkai, his power would simply increase slowly over time, he'd completely given up on the grind and embraced a life of dedicated slacking.
And now, just when he had finally settled into a comfortable, lazy routine, he was being drafted into some inexplicable Death Game.
From the name alone, Haruto knew the danger level would be off the charts.
[A response regarding the Death Game is required within one hour.]
The cold, mechanical voice chimed in his mind once more.
Hearing the one-hour countdown, Haruto didn't hesitate for a second. He scrambled to his feet and bolted toward the Yakumo residence.
As for using a Gap to travel? It wasn't that he didn't want to, but his current mastery was pathetic. He could only tear open a small rift to use as a personal storage space, or, at best, emulate his sister by using it as a peeping camera.
He sprinted all the way to the very edge of Gensokyo, to a vast prairie of stunning beauty.
Tearing open the Gap that served as a portal to the Yakumo estate, he stepped through into an ancient yet magnificent manor. Without breaking stride, he charged down the long corridor, heading straight for the main hall.
In the courtyard, a fox youkai was calmly sweeping fallen leaves with a broom. She wore a simple and elegant blue-and-white Taoist robe, and nine fluffy, golden fox tails swayed gently behind her.
Sensing a sudden disturbance, Yakumo Ran looked up. In that same instant, a figure flashed past her like a gust of wind, the draft fluttering the hem of her robes.
'Haruto-sama?' she thought, a hint of surprise in her golden eyes.
Haruto didn't stop to respond. His goal was singular. He made a beeline for Yakumo Yukari's door and, without a hint of ceremony, kicked it wide open.
Bang!
The door slammed violently against the wall.
Yakumo Yukari, who had her head poked into a Gap, engrossed in who-knows-what, jumped in fright. Her entire body trembled as she hastily snapped the portal shut.
"Yukari-nee! Help!" Haruto wailed, rushing in and collapsing to his knees beside her bed in a display of theatrical grief.
Seeing it was only him, Yakumo Yukari let out a sigh of relief. She suppressed the powerful urge to slap him across the room and narrowed her purple eyes.
"What trouble have you caused now?"
"Does me looking for you automatically mean I've caused trouble? That's profiling!" Haruto shot back indignantly.
Yakumo Yukari simply rolled her eyes at him and began to list his recent achievements.
"Two years ago, you stole sunflower seeds from the Sunflower Field. That led to Yuuka showing up at our door and nearly blowing the entire Yakumo residence to kingdom come."
"A year and a half ago, you smashed Reimu's offering box. Right in front of her."
"And three months ago, you brought that princess from Eientei back here without a single word of warning."
"By all that is holy, how can you blame those things on me?" Haruto muttered, looking as if he'd been gravely wronged. "You're the one who told me that as long as I didn't destroy Gensokyo, I could do whatever I wanted! You said you'd keep me safe within its borders!"
Yakumo Yukari's expression suddenly turned ferocious. "I said that, and you immediately went out and did it, didn't you?! And you just had to pick the most troublesome people imaginable. Of all the youkai to provoke, you went after Yuuka."
Haruto pouted, muttering defiantly, "Didn't I solve that myself in the end?"
"And Reimu's offering box? Why on earth would you smash her offering box? Don't you dare tell me you're short on money. Ran dotes on you more than she does on me. Are you telling me you're broke?"
"That wasn't my fault either! It was a complete accident. I just picked it up to have a look, I swear! Who could have predicted that Marisa would suddenly fire a Magic Cannon in our direction?"
"Fine." Yakumo Yukari sat up, her teeth clenched as she smoothed her skirt. She pointed a finger in the direction of Eientei. "We'll say those two incidents weren't your fault, for now. But what about that princess from Eientei? Don't tell me that was an accident, too."
"Why can't it be? How is that my fault? You were the one who took me to Eientei in the first place! Besides, we were just playing games together, nothing else. It's you and Eirin who have the dirty minds!" Haruto retorted, still defiant. "And you were the one laughing the loudest back then! When we got back, you even ran off to tell Ran all about it. If Ran hadn't stopped you with all her might, you probably would have found that Aya woman to get it published in the newspaper and spread it all over Gensokyo!"
At Haruto's detailed recounting, Yakumo Yukari couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt. As Yagokoro Eirin's long-time rival, how could she not feel a surge of satisfaction at seeing her own little brother spirit away the princess the other woman cherished most?
She gave a couple of dry coughs. "Stop spouting nonsense and get to the point. For you to actually call me 'Yukari-nee,' it must be something serious."
Only then did Haruto remember the crisis at hand. He immediately began to recount what had just happened in the most concise terms possible, but when he tried to say the words 'Death Game,'he found they wouldn't come out.'This thing even has a speech filter?'
Haruto's eyes widened. He wanted to try again, but a prickling sensation ran up his spine, a deep-seated warning. In the dark recesses of his mind, a voice seemed to tell him that he could not speak of it.
It was an intuition—the natural sense of crisis that came with being a Boundary Youkai.
But if Yakumo Yukari didn't know what was happening, Haruto felt that with his current strength, entering the Death Game would be less like playing and more like serving himself up on a platter.
Based on his speculation, the "Death Game" was likely something akin to the Reincarnator or Infinite Flow genres from his old world. He'd read enough of those stories to know what to expect. The survivors in those tales were all ruthless, cunning, and quick-witted individuals. The strategists were master manipulators with hearts as black as night.
He was under no illusion that his current IQ and life experience would allow him to outplay veterans like that. If he had another hundred years or so, maybe he could play them like a fiddle based on experience alone.
Of course, that was assuming he didn't spend those hundred years cooped up in the Yakumo residence.
Haruto pulled a pen and paper from his personal Gap and began to write furiously. But whether he tried to write 'Death Game,''Reincarnator,' or'Infinite Flow,' the words simply wouldn't form on the page.
No. It was more accurate to say that anything related to the Death Game could not be revealed by him in any form.
"Yukari-nee, I can't—"
"Shh~"
Yakumo Yukari gently placed a finger over Haruto's lips, her purple eyes narrowing. Under his surprised gaze, she began to make a series of complex calculations with her fingers. After a moment, she spoke.
"A Death Game? Transmigrating through one terrifying instance after another?"
As expected. Living for a long, long time really made a difference.
Amidst his shock, Haruto's panic gave way to excitement. He gave Yakumo Yukari a huge thumbs-up.
"You really know how to divine things, don't you!"
"No." Yakumo Yukari shook her head. "I read your lips. I've read books of this genre in my spare time."
Haruto's mouth twitched. "Then what was with all the finger-pinching?"
"It looks cooler this way."
"Yukari-nee, you weren't like this before."
Haruto was no longer as panicked as before. If Yakumo Yukari still had the presence of mind to joke with him, it proved the situation wasn't completely hopeless.
"So, what should I do? Should I refuse?"
"You should accept."
"..."
Haruto fell silent, then asked weakly, "Can I not accept?"
"This is good for you. And it's good for Gensokyo."
"...Fine."
Hearing the latter half of her sentence, Haruto hesitated for only a moment before agreeing. Though they had only known each other for two years, Yakumo Yukari truly treated him like family and had helped him out of countless messes. He knew better than anyone how important Gensokyo was to her.
"Check if the Death Game allows you to bring people in," Yakumo Yukari said.
"How do I check?"
"Just ask. Trying doesn't cost anything," she said, giving him a pointed look.
Haruto's eyelid twitched. He doubted he'd get a reply, but he asked the empty air anyway.
"Can I bring people into the Death Game with me?"
One second... two seconds... five seconds passed. Just as Haruto was about to give up, the emotionless, mechanical voice sounded once more.
[Yes. However, you must first pass the initial Death Game and officially become a player before you can bring bound individuals into the Death Game.]
Hearing the first part, Haruto was instantly ecstatic, but the second half made his face fall.
Binding was possible. But he had to clear a mission by himself first.
"I choose Yakumo Yukari as my bound target," Haruto declared.
A long moment of silence followed. There was no reply.
"It won't work?" Yakumo Yukari frowned slightly.
"It's possible, but I have to become an official player first. That means clearing one mission on my own," Haruto explained, his expression strange. "I think I should be able to bind someone now, but there's no reaction. Maybe the binding itself has to wait until after I clear it."
He tried again several more times, even attempting to bind Yakumo Ran, but still received no response. Finally, on a whim, he said offhandedly, "Bind Houraisan Kaguya."
[Binding successful.]
"The binding succeeded this time?" Yakumo Yukari asked, looking at his utterly constipated expression with a hint of speechlessness.
Tears streamed down Haruto's face as he nodded vigorously. If this Death Game had a physical form, he would have dragged it out and given it a thorough kneading.
This was just too ridiculous.
He'd shouted to bind Yakumo Yukari and Yakumo Ran so many times with no reaction, yet the moment he mentioned that idiot princess, it worked instantly.
Five minutes later, Haruto arrived at Eientei.
handling the bamboo forest with practiced ease, he came to a familiar room, kicked the door open, and addressed the exhausted-looking girl with dark circles under her eyes sitting in front of a computer.
"Kaguya! Do you want a husb— cough, do you want to go traveling together!"
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