Sobbing, the scratching sound of fingernails against the hard wall, and the cracking of the floor under an unbearable weight, all merged into Yuuki’s ears with the night wind.
He leaned over and looked down.
Just one glance, and his heart instantly clenched in pain.
During the time it took him to recover his stamina, a true tide of corpses had already formed.
Looking down, it was a dense, dark mass, like a constantly surging crimson tide under the red moon.
They were climbing up the outer wall, gradually stacking into a small mountain, now almost reaching the third floor.
“Everyone, come over here. We need to discuss this; this can’t go on,” Ryan clapped his hands, gathering everyone.
He scanned them, and a look of disappointment appeared on his face again.
Most people displayed a fearful numbness, their cheek muscles twitching unconsciously, as if deprived of the ability to think.
Only the black-haired young man had his head down, deep in thought, though his trembling hands clutching his clothes betrayed him.
“Discuss what? Let’s fight our way out! With the two of us working together, the current stage of living corpses can’t stop us!” Thomas roared.
“Then what about us? I already agreed to you just now,” the OL beauty asked with a crying voice, looking pitiful.
“I never promised you’d survive. Besides, you only licked a few times, do you really think that thing is gold-plated?” Thomas couldn’t be bothered.
He glared fiercely at the other two.
“Your deposit wasn’t enough, and you, what’s with the pretense? I’m not interested even if you strip naked now.”
“I’ll give you a hundred million dollars when I get back!”
“What good is money to a dead person? Or, based on the deposit you gave earlier, I can chop off your head with one swing, guaranteed painless. It’s better than being gnawed alive by living corpses, isn’t that being trustworthy?”
Rich Guy immediately fell silent, but his slightly plump cheeks twitched even more violently, showing a mix of ferocity and utter subservience.
The housewife, meanwhile, just coughed, completely terrified, constantly glancing at Ryan.
Ryan found it awkward to intervene in this small group’s infighting and quietly glanced at the other three.
The blonde girl’s eyes were still clear and naive, as if she didn’t understand the situation; the black-haired girl tried to maintain her composure, doing her best to hide her helplessness; only the young man named Yuuki frowned slightly, looking like he wanted to speak but dared not.
“The Reincarnation Game doesn’t care about seniority; feel free to speak your mind,” Ryan said, his tone encouraging.
For some reason, he was always very concerned about this young man.
“Uh, I just wanted to remind everyone to hurry. The living corpses aren’t the most critical thing,” Yuuki hesitantly raised his hand and pointed at his wrist.
The watch face was covered in cracks, but the hour hand inside was still moving.
“Keep going.”
“Hmm, it’s 7:30 AM now. The monsters appeared around 4 AM, so we don’t have much time left.”
As soon as he finished speaking, only gasps remained on the rooftop, and everyone’s faces turned a little paler.
That’s right, according to hint 4, gifts would be sent at intervals.
The timing wasn’t fixed, but it was definitely coming soon.
“Ryan, do you want to die with these idiots?” Thomas sounded more agitated, as if he’d been pricked in the backside.
“I, this…”
“Mr. Thomas, with all due respect, your breakthrough won’t help either. As long as the Red Moon doesn’t set, you won’t live much longer.”
Who gave you permission to speak!
He roared, almost pressing against Yuuki’s face, “So, taking you idiots along will help?!”
Ryan didn’t interfere.
Ai’s fingers caressed her axe, and although Yuuki was filled with fear, he stubbornly stared at him.
“Yes, it will. I found a clue while exploring the castle. Maybe we can survive.”
Thomas didn’t look interested; instead, he was full of disdain: “Trying to survive by making up stories? I’ve seen many idiots like you.”
“Yes, it’s a story, but it’s better than nothing.”
“Then tell me.”
“Not now. What if you abandon me?”
Thomas fell silent, only staring at the other person with a dangerous gaze, seeing the young man’s cheeks trembling, unable to even speak clearly.
He was very scared, but was it true or false?
“In the game, everyone has a chance to create miracles. Maybe little brother Yuuki can discover some blind spot. Don’t forget, he’s the only one who killed a monster.” Ryan firmly gripped Thomas’s shoulder and patted it three times gently.
“Regardless of whether it’s true or false, we have to try. And as he said, even if we two break through, we’d only live a few more hours, which is meaningless.”
That made sense.
Thomas snorted and stepped back, but Yuuki didn’t look relieved; this was all part of his plan.
He glanced at the hand on Thomas’s shoulder, and when the hand’s owner turned away, he resumed his fearful and uneasy expression, though now with an added hint of a red-eyed gambler’s stubbornness.
“Little brother Yuuki, I promise we’ll act together. Now, can you tell us?”
“Then I’ll take the liberty.” Yuuki gritted his teeth, raised his hand, and pointed behind him.
“First, we can’t stay here. We need to go to the roof of that building.”
“And then?”
“Then we need to find a way to jump from that building to the city wall. I need to verify that clue.”
“You’re crazy! Cough, cough, cough! You’re not staying in the highest place, but going somewhere lower? Those living corpses will climb up in no time!”
As soon as she finished speaking, the previously silent housewife spoke, screaming while coughing.
When surrounded by a tide of corpses, a normal person would instinctively stay in the highest place.
But this game was counter-intuitive, counter-instinctive.
Yuuki knew exactly what these people were thinking, including Ai and Mai, who couldn’t understand, but he didn’t explain.
“Staying here is a dead end. Don’t forget how we survived the novice guide?”
Facing the novice guide whose head had burst, whether charging through or turning and running, there was a chance of survival.
Only standing foolishly in place guaranteed death.
Of course, that wasn’t the same as the current situation, but in a metaphysical sense, it seemed connected.
“That’s right. The worst choice in the Reincarnation Game is to do nothing. As long as you move, you can always find a glimmer of hope,” Ryan interjected.
As an experienced player, he felt this more deeply and no longer hesitated.
“Yuuki, everyone’s lives are in your hands!”
It sounded like a lot of pressure, but what difference did it make whether he took it or not?
Staying here was a dead end anyway.
Yuuki actually felt no pressure at all.
The team immediately sprang into action.
Even if some didn’t want to leave the safe rooftop, seeing everyone else go, they had no choice but to follow.
There was a five or six-meter gap between the two buildings.
Looking down, it was a dense, dark ‘jam.’ Before everyone could lament, Ryan magically pulled out something like a harpoon gun.
“This is an ‘Evolved Tool: Cable Gun.’ Its maximum range is two hundred meters. You can automatically slide up or down by gripping the rope.”
As expected of an experienced player, he had many trump cards.
Yuuki looked envious.
He had long guessed that the other party must have an escape tool, but he didn’t expect it to be so convenient.
Still, it was good; it would save a lot of time.
Ryan didn’t explain much.
He pulled the trigger, and the spike embedded itself in the opposite rooftop.
Then, gripping the rope with both hands, a jelly-like substance oozed from his fingers, as if he were glued to it.
He didn’t need to exert any force, sliding across at a constant speed as if on an escalator.
Seeing how safe it was, the others followed suit, one by one sliding to the opposite rooftop.
Only Thomas didn’t use it.
For the five or six-meter gap, he simply leaped and landed on the opposite roof.
‘At least peak-level physical strength.’
Yuuki ran with his head down, secretly observing.
He also noticed that most people gently shook their hands after landing; hanging from a bar wasn’t comfortable.
Only the sickly housewife seemed unfazed, running forward with the group after landing.
The floor was suddenly several meters lower.
The tide of corpses surged over, drawn by the scent.
The sound of fingernails scraping against the wall became increasingly clear, like a death knell, making everyone run faster.
“Is this really okay? At this speed, the horde will be climbing up within a minute,” Ai whispered, sounding completely lacking in confidence.
Before, they were at least temporarily safe.
Now, they were completely in crisis.
Besides the two experienced players, the others didn’t even have a chance to fight for their lives.
Yuuki didn’t answer, only glancing ahead.
The city wall was still a few meters lower.
The stone steps on the inner side meant the living corpses wouldn’t even need to climb the wall.
But using the height difference, he finally saw the scene outside the wall.
Outside the wall was a surging mass of living corpses, too many to count, filling a hundred-meter space.
And beyond the sea of corpses—
It was a thick, blood-red mist.