Chapter 310 The Moment of Return, and a True Red Moon-Level Blessing

The embrace in his arms felt especially warm at this moment.

Lowering his head, Takumi held the trembling Maki tightly. He hugged her for a long while before finally letting go.

Maki, however, kept her eyes tightly shut and continued holding onto him for quite some time before finally releasing a long breath of relief and slowly loosening her grip.

"Alright, alright. Didn't I come back safe and sound? I'm fine. Everything's fine."

Seeing the faint redness around her eyes, Takumi lowered his head and spoke softly.

"Idiot..."

Realizing she had completely lost control of her expression management, Maki merely muttered a quiet complaint. She lightly smacked Takumi's chest, rubbed her eyes, and walked off to one side.

After that came Chika, who had been silently waiting nearby.

Takumi pulled her into his arms as well. The girl wrapped her arms around his waist, and the two remained like that for quite some time.

Only then did he hear her quietly mumble: "Thank goodness..."

And immediately afterward, she went limp in his arms.

Takumi nearly thought she had fainted and jumped in alarm, hurriedly checking her condition.

Only to see her lift her head and stick out her tongue at him.

The tiny prank left Takumi both amused and exasperated.

Of course, on the surface he cooperatively put on a thoroughly fooled expression, allowing Chika to revel in her victory for a moment and easing some of the anxiety she had been carrying inside.

He could tell that both Maki and Chika had been terrified by this sudden turn of events.

Especially after learning that Takumi had rewound three times and only managed to clear the Instance after enduring four entire loops. The process had been extraordinarily dangerous, and neither girl could hide her unease and worry.

In the end, Takumi had to spend a long time comforting them before things finally settled down.

Not long afterward, a call from Kumagai Mai was forwarded through Aoyama Nanami. She informed Takumi that his information had been kept well concealed and that he did not need to worry about leaks in the near future. Even so, she advised him to remain cautious in daily life and strongly recommended that he not reveal the new Blessing he had obtained so casually.

Before long, several visitors came to check on him after his return: Kogawa Shu, the player-market manager of the Tokyo district, as well as Aoyama Nanami and Gotō Hitori.

Of the three, Kogawa Shu proposed providing Takumi's team with additional Dusk-level and Dark Night-level Instance tickets and even gifting them Obsession Items. It was obvious he had taken notice of Takumi's potential and intended to invest in him.

Nanami and Bocchi—who had apparently been dragged along—were mainly there to make sure Takumi was alright.

At one point, Takumi considered telling Gotō Hitori about Kita Ikuyo.

But seeing that the girl could barely force out a single sentence from beginning to end, he ultimately decided against it. Instead, he simply asked for the phone numbers of both Nanami and Hitori, planning to find a better opportunity to discuss the matter later.

There had been no contact from Miko yet.

After all, neither of them had exchanged phone numbers.

Still, Takumi was certain that the next few days would be anything but pleasant for her.

Nearly her entire class had vanished, yet everyone around her remained completely indifferent to it.

Experiencing something like that firsthand was far more terrifying than words could describe.

Then again, with her personality, no matter how difficult things became, she would probably manage to recover eventually.

She really was an incredibly strong girl.

Though no matter how strong someone was, what she had experienced was simply too cruel and unfortunate.

One other thing worth mentioning was that Kaguya never came specifically to check on him.

After confirming that Takumi had returned safely, she left immediately.

He had no idea what was going on, but it was obvious from the way she departed that she was in a tremendous hurry. She had probably run into some sort of trouble herself.

Still, those issues could wait until later.

For Takumi, the most urgent matter right now was...

Changing clothes.

Taking a shower.

And then getting some sleep.

Although his clothes hadn't been damaged much this time, they were still covered in dust and blood. More importantly, now that everything had finally settled, an overwhelming wave of exhaustion had come crashing down on him.

On top of that, there was the mental fatigue from absorbing Alice and struggling against her consciousness.

It was simply too much to resist.

Both Maki and Chika had offered to let him stay at their homes temporarily, but Takumi declined. Instead, he chose a nearby hotel, rented a room, and immediately collapsed into bed.

Only after sleeping for several hours did he finally open his eyes again.

And the moment he woke up, he sensed a change within himself.

A Blessing.

A power completely devoid of filth or evil.

A Blessing containing nothing but the most sincere, genuine, and beautiful goodwill had thoroughly permeated and merged with both his body and consciousness.

This was Hirano Sōsuke's Blessing.

Sitting up on the bed, Takumi extended his hand.

A standard-issue black pistol instantly appeared in his grasp.

He removed the magazine.

There were ten rounds inside.

Sliding the magazine back into place, he disengaged the safety, chambered a round, aimed at the wall beside him, and pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened.

Naturally, no bullet was fired.

Because a bullet would only actually leave the barrel when he genuinely intended to activate the weapon.

This pistol was the physical manifestation of Hirano Sōsuke's Blessing.

After the Rescue Team Badge granted by Kyosei's Blessing, this was the second Obsession Blessing Takumi had obtained that came with a tangible item as its reward.

To be honest, the power of this Blessing was truly terrifying.

As a Blessing granted by a Red Moon-level core obsession, the pistol possessed two completely different operating modes.

The first mode functioned as a normal handgun, intended for fighting enemies with physical bodies.

In this mode, the pistol had no ammunition limit.

It seemed capable of drawing power directly from the surrounding air, and the denser the Aberration aura in the area, the greater its destructive power became.

In other words, it was a true infinite-ammunition handgun.

Furthermore, it inherited Sōsuke's Precision trait when using firearms.

That meant that as long as Takumi had aimed at a target—meaning he had seen what they looked like and knew where they were—then any bullet fired from this gun would strike any part of that target's body that he desired.

Even if the muzzle was not pointed at them at all.

As for its destructive power...

Takumi opened the window and looked down at the street below.

After a moment's thought, he decided that wasn't a good idea.

So he raised his gaze toward the sky instead.

Several kilometers away, he spotted a bird soaring through the air.

He locked onto it with his vision.

Bang!

Casually, Takumi fired a shot at the floor.

A relatively muted gunshot echoed through the room.

At the same instant, the bird several kilometers away exploded into a cloud of blood and feathers before plummeting toward the ground.

Even across several kilometers, the pistol could still hit its target virtually the moment it was fired.

And this level of power...

Even in its ordinary form, without any Aberration aura enhancing it, its destructive force was probably comparable to that of a rocket launcher.

But beyond this normal mode, the pistol also possessed a special mode specifically designed for dealing with Aberrations.

Takumi referred to it as Judgment Mode.

It was the most fitting name he could think of.

To activate this mode, he had to satisfy its firing conditions.

The pistol possessed six firing rules in total.

Meeting any one of them was enough to fire the weapon.

However, the more conditions that were fulfilled, the more powerful the shot became.

And when the sixth rule was satisfied, the increase in power became astonishing.

The six firing rules were:

[1. Know the appearance of the target Aberration.

[2. Know the target Aberration's life story before death.

[3. Know the Horror Story rules possessed by the target Aberration.

[4. Arrive at the location where the target died as a human, or at the core location where it resides as an Aberration (directly targeting its Obsession Item also qualifies).

[5. Be currently affected by the target Aberration's Horror Story rules.

[6. The chosen target harmed innocent people who held no grudge against it while it was still alive.

Fulfilling any one of these six rules granted the pistol permission to fire.

Once that condition was met, Takumi could use the gun to shoot any Aberration he had designated as his target.

Once fired, the bullet would inevitably hit its target.

No matter what kind of rules the Aberration possessed, it could not avoid being struck by the bullet.

And once hit, it would be sealed.

It would enter a state in which it could no longer act, and all Horror Story rules associated with it would immediately cease functioning.

In practical terms, it was equivalent to outright banning the thing from the Instance.

Against a Dusk-level Aberration, even satisfying only a single condition would allow one bullet to seal it for several days.

If all six conditions were fulfilled, the seal could even last for years.

Naturally, against Dark Night-level or Red Moon-level Aberrations—or entities on the level of core obsessions—the effect was greatly reduced.

However, the reason the pistol's magazine contained ten rounds was precisely because, when used against Aberrations, it could fire all ten shots.

In other words, when facing a core obsession or an exceptionally powerful Aberration, Takumi was not limited to a single shot.

He could stack multiple shots together and use their combined effect to seal the target.

Take Hedda, for example—one of the core obsessions of the Red Nut Grey Cave.

Takumi knew what the Aberration looked like, and he knew its rules: anyone entering the cave would be killed, and anyone entering the base would trigger a massacre.

If he used the pistol while currently under the influence of Hedda's power, he would probably need to expend four bullets and stack their effects in order to seal her.

The resulting seal would last roughly twenty-four hours.

If he fired at her while inside the Great Rift, he could probably seal her directly for two or three days.

Of course, because Hedda had been entirely a victim during her lifetime, the most important sixth rule could never be triggered.

Otherwise, Takumi could probably seal her for nearly a week with a single shot.

Sealing a Dark Night-level core obsession for an entire day without the user paying any price whatsoever...

If Mai ever found out about that, her expression would probably be priceless.

After all, she had sacrificed one of her eyes to install the Bronze Eye, yet even that could only restrain an Aberration for a few dozen minutes at most. Worse, excessive use would trigger backlash.

Takumi was certain that he alone had received this Blessing.

This had been Sōsuke's decision before finally passing on.

The Blessing had only been granted after Takumi took possession of the pistol he left behind.

It was a gift meant solely for him.

And beyond that, Sōsuke's Blessing included three additional effects.

The second effect was something Takumi decided to call Undying.

Or perhaps Battle Continuation would be an equally fitting name.

Its effect was simple.

As long as Takumi's consciousness still existed, he could continue functioning even after sustaining fatal injuries.

And once the Blessing's duration expired, he would be fully revived at full health.

Even if he were vaporized by extreme heat, chopped into minced meat, or dissolved in a pool of acid, he would still not die.

He could even continue acting under those circumstances, controlling his own dust, chunks of flesh, or dissolved remains.

As long as his consciousness could withstand the shock of being torn apart and reduced to pieces, he truly would not die.

And when the Blessing's effect ended, he would revive on the spot, completely restored and entirely unharmed, with no lasting aftereffects whatsoever.

Needless to say, this Blessing was terrifying as well.

Compared to the Judgment Pistol, however, its limitation was very clear.

Once activated, the Blessing required a full three days—seventy-two hours—to recover and recharge.

In other words, within an Instance, it was effectively a one-time resurrection item.

After all, under normal circumstances, nobody stayed inside an Instance for three entire days.

The third effect of Sōsuke's Blessing was something quite unusual.

At a glance, it was obviously a Blessing with remarkable survival potential.

Takumi felt that Reconnaissance was the most appropriate name for it.

In essence, it was a passive ability.

However, it had a specific activation condition and functioned as a special Blessing that interacted with Horror Story rules.

Whenever Takumi entered an area affected by an Aberration and had already conducted some degree of investigation there, if he later encountered an attack from that Aberration within the area—and if there existed any location capable of avoiding the Aberration itself or circumventing its rule-based abilities—

Then Takumi would immediately know exactly where that place was.

To use a previous Instance as an example:

Back during the first loop of the Shirakawa Apartments Instance, when Takumi was surrounded by those terrifying porcelain dolls and slowly scalded to death with boiling water, if he had possessed this Blessing at the time, then even if his mind had already been contaminated and he viewed those dolls as "adorable children," he would have immediately noticed the tall cabinet in the hallway and instinctively thought:

If I hide on top of that cabinet, I won't be in danger.

This effect ignored Takumi's mental state entirely.

Even if he were asleep or unconscious, the Blessing could forcibly awaken him and inform him where the safe location was.

However, there was a prerequisite for activating the Blessing:

Takumi had to have seen the area beforehand.

Using Shirakawa Apartments as an example, he would have needed to notice the tall cabinets at some point before the Blessing could mark their location for him when he encountered the porcelain dolls.

In other words, the Blessing's effectiveness depended on Takumi's own level of awareness and knowledge.

If he knew absolutely nothing about his surroundings, then the Blessing would be unable to function.

Even so, the power of this Blessing was already extraordinarily strong.

After all, human observation has limits.

And Aberrations almost always possess some degree of mental contamination.

Even if someone had previously identified the location of a "safe zone" during their investigation, it would still be difficult to find it immediately once danger actually struck.

With this Blessing, however, Takumi could skip that entire process.

He would simply know what he needed to do in order to survive safely.

Finally came Sōsuke's fourth Blessing effect.

It was also the most straightforward and unadorned of the four—a pure enhancement-type Blessing that directly increased Takumi's attributes.

The Blessing further improved Takumi's physical abilities.

The increase itself was not particularly large, but because his physical capabilities had already reached superhuman levels, the resulting enhancement was still remarkably powerful.

In addition, his willpower—which was already comparable to, or even greater than, that of Red Moon-level players—received a slight additional boost.

This was probably because his base attributes had already become so high that the Blessing itself could no longer improve them by much.

Lastly, there were firearm-related skills.

Takumi directly inherited all of Sōsuke's proficiency with handguns, including usage, maintenance, and upkeep.

One could say that he had instantly become an expert marksman.

"...So this is the Blessing of a Red Moon-level core obsession?"

Feeling the vigorous power surging through his body, Takumi even experienced the absurd illusion that he might be able to go fight Thanos.

And then—

Hm?

What's this feeling?

There was another Blessing.

Its power was far weaker than the others, so faint that Takumi had failed to notice it at first.

This Blessing belonged to a forgotten child.

A child no one had cared about.

After Takumi finally shattered that ugly Aberration shell and brought her out from the darkness in which she had been trapped, she had left him this gift.

It was a Blessing from Alice herself.

Not the Aberration.

But the human Alice.

"..."

Silently, Takumi extended a hand.

A door materialized in the air before him.

He opened it and stepped inside.

Beyond the doorway was a small white room.

There were various snacks inside.

The very snacks her parents used to buy for her during the warm days she still remembered fondly.

The foods she believed tasted the best in the world.

There was also a small bed.

Far too small for Takumi, yet perfectly sized for the child she had once been.

Soft.

Warm.

Comfortable.

Cute stuffed animals were scattered around the room as well—little rabbits, little sheep, little ducks, and more.

This was the home preserved within her memories.

Her bedroom.

The place where she had once lived a peaceful and comfortable life.

And now that place had become the manifestation of her Blessing.

Whenever Takumi opened this door and stepped inside, then closed it behind him, he would enter an isolated space existing somewhere between an Instance and the real world.

There, he could rest in complete peace.

No Aberration would ever be able to attack him while he remained within it.

The maximum duration this room can remain after being summoned is... five hours.

Once used, it enters a cooldown period of ten days before it can be summoned again. After all, that child was not the same entity as the Aberration Alice. Compared to her, her power was far weaker. Being able to grant Takumi a blessing like this was already the limit of what she could do.

"This really is..."

Not knowing what else to say, Takumi stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him. He watched as the door vanished without a trace right before his eyes.

Knock, knock, knock—

At that moment, he heard someone knocking. Then, with a soft click, the door opened directly, and Chika's pink hair immediately appeared before him.

"Takumi, we're coming in~"

With a cheerful grin, Chika squeezed through the doorway first. Behind her came Maki, carrying a lunchbox. Her face was slightly red, and she seemed a little nervous.

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