Chapter 304 Searching for the Correct Path That Could Break the Deadlock

The trial being carried out by the players continued according to the ritual performance.

But every player participating had already realized, to varying degrees, that this was useless. All of them had noticed that the Instance itself showed absolutely no signs of changing because of their actions.

Were they missing a condition?

Or had the entire direction been wrong from the very beginning?

None of the players spoke up about it aloud. Nobody interrupted the trial still taking place before them.

Even though they had already discovered this was ineffective, rituals were the sort of thing best completed once started—as long as no abnormal changes occurred midway through. Abruptly stopping halfway could instead trigger undesirable consequences.

So the actors continued their performance, meticulously finishing this staged trial to the very end.

And the specters of the victims observing from the sidelines quickly dissipated after the trial concluded, vanishing without a trace as though they had never appeared at all.

{The situation's off. Are we missing some kind of intel? We definitely summoned the victims' projections over here, but they had absolutely no reaction at all. We acted so seriously too, and we didn't even get applause? Red Moon-level Aberrations have terrible manners!}

{Could it be that the entire approach itself is wrong? I mean, even if those victims really are an important part of this Instance's structure, there's no way some random trial would actually let these Aberrations rest in peace, right? This is still a Red Moon-level Instance. Even if it's nominally been downgraded to Dark Night-level, these things are still Red Moon-level in essence. How could Aberrations at this level possibly be that easy to lay to rest?}

{No matter what, at least one thing's certain—our method is definitely flawed. If we can't determine exactly where the problem lies, then this entire joint operation is probably going to end as a complete waste of effort.}

After Takamagahara's information had been provided by Mai, the players merely pretended on the surface to scratch their heads in frustration, acting like they had no ideas left. In reality, they had been continuously communicating through their mental links the entire time.

Honestly, every single one of these players was an acting master.

If Takumi had not been able to hear the voices coming through the mental link, then judging solely from their outward behavior and expressions, he would never have guessed what these people were actually thinking beneath the surface.

Perhaps one of the prerequisites for becoming an outstanding player… was possessing superb acting skills.

However, although the players were discussing it heatedly, Takumi already knew the answer to the question they were searching for.

{Only by putting "Alice" on trial can all of this truly end.}

Takumi said directly to Mai through the mental link.

{Are you sure? If that's really the case, then this is basically no different from a dead end.}

Mai's voice did not sound all that surprised. Clearly, she had already thought through the possible situations and prepared herself for them, so what Takumi was saying now had been within her expectations from the start—even if it was the worst kind, the kind she least wanted to see.

Alice.

A monster that was not the same as a true Aberration, yet could no longer be considered human either. A creature caught somewhere between the two.

Ever since they had entered Fujihana Middle School, this monster had become the nightmare every player had to face, a nightmare they could not possibly avoid no matter what. Even now, when that monster had finally been locked inside a cage and could no longer hurt anyone, she was still causing trouble for everyone.

To end this Instance, they had to release the imprisoned Alice again. And considering that Alice had now been divided into four different Obsession Items, they might even have to put those four Obsession Items back together, find some way to restore them into one whole, and create a complete Alice before the basic conditions for the trial could be met.

But releasing Alice, to be honest, was not much different from suicide. Her illusion ability was almost impossible for players to resist. And as long as Alice appeared in this Instance again, the Surface Layer of the Instance would very likely descend once more, causing all their previous efforts to go up in smoke and everything to return to the way it had been at the very beginning.

"Whew…"

Takumi took a deep breath.

They had to keep Alice under control. They had to make sure that the moment Alice descended, she would immediately be in a controlled state.

And the only method he could think of to accomplish that was to seal Alice inside his own body. Only his willpower could clash head-on with Alice. Only he had the ability to act as Alice's [vessel] and suppress her.

But if he really did that, then without question, Hirano Sōsuke, the core obsession of this Instance, would immediately appear and kill him on the spot.

An obsession was ultimately nothing more than the residue left behind by a living person. No matter how much an Aberration seemed like a living human, its essence determined that it was still an inhuman thing that rigidly obeyed its own rules of action. So the moment Takumi sealed Alice inside his body and caused Alice's aura to show through him, Hirano Sōsuke would kill him without the slightest hesitation. There would be no communicating with him, no talking to him. No matter how much sense Takumi made, there would be no way to reason with him.

On top of that, Hirano Sōsuke's own rules included one extremely extreme condition: no hostile intent may be produced. That intent even included Takumi's attempt to sprinkle blood on his handgun. Any action carrying the intent to seize it would trigger a merciless counterattack, to the point that Takumi could not even get close to him.

If they did not release Alice, the ritual could not succeed.

If they released Alice, Fujihana Middle School's Surface Layer would reappear, making the ritual impossible to carry out.

If they released Alice and successfully captured her, Hirano Sōsuke would appear and blow the entire situation apart with three shots.

If they released Alice, captured her, and then tried to force the ritual through, Hirano Sōsuke would directly transform into the god of Aberration martial violence, his momentum surging, strength multiplying, killing killing killing killing killing killing killing his way through the entire scene, mincing every player who tried to stop him or fight him into pieces, using that Aberration-corrupted handgun of his, now as terrifying as a hand cannon, to become the supreme god-tier unruly civilian and blast everything to rubble.

Fuck. They had clearly found the correct route to clear the Instance, only to get stuck here of all places?

What should they do?

Takumi frowned deeply.

In this situation, what exactly were they supposed to do?

What method could let them capture Alice while also pacifying Hirano Sōsuke, suppressing both problems at once?

Use Obsession Items?

Since there were so many Red Moon-level players present, maybe their Obsession Items could work?

{I'm afraid not. In front of a Red Moon-level core obsession, the Obsession Items we players can bring out are, at most, on the same level as it. And this thing has home-field advantage. Add in that preemptive rule trait of his, and carelessly using Obsession Items would only cause the power of this Instance's core obsession to spread outside the Instance. If things go badly, everyone in an entire block, or even half a city, could be wiped out.}

Mai quickly gave her answer to that question. Judging from the complicated look on her face as she replied, something similar had probably happened before. Most likely, some player had tried to force a confrontation using a Red Moon-level Obsession Item, only for it to cause an extremely tragic and unnecessary mass casualty event.

Tch. So the idea of relying on high-level players to brute-force a clear would not work here.

Then what else was there?

What other method could break the current deadlock?

Takumi had to admit that, deep down, he was still somewhat anxious.

Even though he knew that such emotion was meaningless, and even though he could suppress it, this situation—seeing the dawn of victory only to get stuck because of some small issue he had failed to notice at the start—was truly frustrating.

{Don't rush, Takumi-kun. This is exactly when you can't rush. Take it slowly and think carefully about what method could actually work. We can try breaking the big problem into smaller problems first, then solve them one by one.}

Maki's voice sounded at that moment. The girl's gentle voice rang out through the mental link that belonged only to her and him, carrying her emotions along with it.

Although he had not revealed any abnormal emotion through the mental link, Maki, who understood Takumi extremely well, had already guessed the small emotions hidden in his heart and immediately began communicating with him alone.

Without waiting for Takumi to answer, Maki continued speaking. {The first problem is how to catch the monster called Alice after releasing those four Obsession Items, right?}

After falling silent and thinking for a moment, Takumi gave Maki a very certain answer. {This problem… isn't too difficult. Mai-san has an Obsession Item that can see through illusions. As long as she watches me the entire time while I take out the Obsession Items, I have a way to hold them in place and ensure Alice cannot escape from my hands.}

Pfft—~

The Alice his mind had conjured, sitting behind him, let out a quiet laugh, seemingly amused by how overly optimistic Takumi was being.

{Then the next problem is this: after ensuring those Obsession Items can't escape, how are you going to fuse those four Obsession Items together? How will you ensure they are judged as a single, unified "Alice"?}

Maki continued asking.

{That… I obtained an Obsession Item with fusion capabilities from the Surface Layer of Fujihana Middle School. I can try using it to fuse those Obsession Items together. Although those four Obsession Items possess Aberration powers, they still fundamentally count as "parts of a human body" in nature. That Obsession Item should theoretically be able to alter them.}

This time, Takumi thought for much longer before giving his answer.

He did not mention his plan to use himself as fusion material. After all, that was only the last resort after confirming there was no other way to fuse the Obsession Items. Because if things went badly, Takumi himself might end up finished after the trial was over. And if that forced another rollback and reset everything from the beginning again, that would be disgustingly miserable.

{Then the final problem lies with the core obsession itself—"Hirano Sōsuke." You need to ensure that this core obsession will not interrupt the ritual. In other words, you need to sever the activation condition of his rules and interrupt the conditions under which those rules take effect. Takumi-kun, where do you think those rule conditions can be altered from?}

Maki asked the final question, guiding Takumi's thoughts step by step.

Sever the activation conditions of the rules.

The power of Horror Stories manifested through different rules. Therefore, as long as the conditions were not met, the Horror Story's power would absolutely be unable to take effect.

Hirano Sōsuke's rules… reacted toward things carrying Alice's aura while possessing a living body, and also toward living humans who harbored feelings of worship or obsession toward Alice.

To sever the activation conditions of his rules, he could not be allowed to sense Alice's aura.

If they used an Obsession Item that blocked aura detection… no, impossible. This was its home ground. Obsession Items capable of blocking the perception of a Red Moon-level core obsession practically did not exist. And even if one did exist, it would at most function for one or two minutes, perhaps only a few dozen seconds. Even if the courtroom trial ritual were simplified as much as possible, it would still require at least an hour or so. No Obsession Item could possibly last that long.

If preventing him from sensing Alice's aura was impossible, then…

Frowning, Takumi lowered his head and looked toward his black watch, staring at the various Obsession Items inside it.

Then his gaze stopped on those white flowers and those red candles.

Hirano Sōsuke had always been mourning those dead students. He wanted to remember the people who had died. He had never managed to walk away from that place. To him, he was still one of the members of that school, still one of those miserable, pitiful, tortured Bad Students.

Which meant…

Takumi's gaze froze.

He looked toward that mass of red flesh—the lump of flesh from Class 24 of Fujihana Middle School's third year. A twisted mass of flesh that could not rest in peace, formed from the fused remains of countless Bad Students who had been tortured and killed.

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