Chapter 107: Day 2, Execution Gun

The next day.

Natsuki Subaru woke from his slumber and gave a big stretch.

"Alright, Natsuki Subaru's path to survival in another world—gloriously serialized!"

Brimming with energy, he sprang up and stood atop the bed, hands on his hips in his pajamas, one arm thrust upward in a bizarre and comical pose as he cheered himself on.

"Oh right—Emilia, Ram!"

Having finished loosening up and now fully awake, Natsuki Subaru finally remembered what had happened the night before.

So he immediately climbed out of bed, put on his shoes, and dashed to the door of Emilia and the other's room.

"Knock knock knock!"

Knocking on the door, twisting the handle, and shouting loudly on top of that—Natsuki Subaru repeated everything he'd done the night before, only to find it was still no use; the door still wouldn't open.

Strange—could he have guessed wrong?

Natsuki Subaru folded his arms and sank into deep thought.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck his mind: what if the door's refusal to open was governed by some kind of rule?

Then was there some condition that hadn't been triggered yet, which was why Emilia and the others still couldn't come out?

And if there was anything he still hadn't done, then it was this—the part where every morning he went down to the first-floor hall to check the intelligence relayed by the Gospel!

Since it was something he'd been planning to do anyway, he might as well head down to the first floor and take a look.

Thinking this, Natsuki Subaru swiftly went downstairs again.

Arriving at the hall, he could see that on the table at its very center, the black Gospel still lay quietly in place, as though it had been waiting for him a long while.

With his heart set on Emilia and Ram, Natsuki Subaru picked up the Gospel without the slightest hesitation.

He flipped to yesterday's page and waited quietly for a little while.

Soon, just like the day before, lines of writing materialized out of thin air upon the blank surface of the paper.

[Day 2]

[You have successfully survived for one day and may receive a reward. Please choose one of the three items below.]

Seeing this, Natsuki Subaru raised an eyebrow.

What's going on… this is completely different from yesterday.

Where was the news he most wanted? Did he really have to finish picking a reward before it would continue?

Perhaps this too was a kind of rule; in any case, picking a reward was no loss to him.

Thinking this, Natsuki Subaru looked down in delight, eager to see just what items were available for him to choose from.

[Item One: Ordinary Handgun]

[Item Two: Ordinary Handgun]

[Item Three: Ordinary Handgun]

The moment Natsuki Subaru made out the contents above, his whole body gave a jolt.

Huh? What's the meaning of this?

All three options were the exact same option.

Then where's the point of choosing, may I ask?

Face darkening, Natsuki Subaru could only pick one at random, after which a detailed description of the item materialized.

[Ordinary Handgun: A local specialty Natsuki Subaru brought over from his hometown, forgotten by him before he even realized it. Though its power is somewhat lacking, under the reinforcement of a certain rule, it may perhaps work an unbelievable miracle.]

"Sounds pretty good?"

Of course, Natsuki Subaru had no other choice anyway, so he tapped it casually and completed his selection.

The next instant, before his incredulous eyes, the phantom image of a handgun abruptly appeared upon the inscribed page of the Gospel.

That phantom slowly rotated, turning bit by bit from illusory to solid, until at last it dropped from midair with a clack onto the page of the Gospel, giving off a light thud of impact.

Having witnessed with his own eyes the miracle of the Gospel creating an object out of nothing, Natsuki Subaru was utterly astonished.

He hurriedly picked up the handgun and examined it closely.

"Hiss… looks familiar, very familiar."

Natsuki Subaru sighed again and again, his expression shifting from the initial wistfulness to something gradually stranger, until at last he was forcibly suppressing the urge to tear the Gospel apart and hurl it to the ground.

It wasn't merely a matter of resemblance; combined with the earlier description of the handgun, which clearly stated it was something he'd brought back from his hometown, Natsuki Subaru was now certain.

This was nothing other than the very handgun he'd brought with him before crossing over!

At first, seeing three items, he'd assumed the whole introduction was just a gimmick—he'd never imagined it was simply the one stolen from him!

Natsuki Subaru let out a furious laugh. So that's how it was.

Last night, in his spare time, he'd even searched a good long while for this, his one and only means of self-defense, never imagining it had long since been hidden away by this Gospel to be handed back to him as a reward.

Was this book even reliable at all?

Natsuki Subaru couldn't help but grow suspicious.

And right at that moment, having essentially collected his reward, he seemed to have at last triggered the condition for the next stage of the plot.

The familiar handwriting belonging to his future self surfaced upon the Gospel.

[Good morning. The fact that you can see these words means that the past you has smoothly made it through the first night.]

[But first, I must throw a bucket of cold water on you—did any Imitation Human enter the mansion? Surely that doubt lingers in your heart.]

[Unfortunately, however, none of the intelligence from the future comes for free—it's the same principle as the Return by Death granted by Satella.]

[Because I revealed the future ahead of time, the past has already changed, so I have no idea what situations you ran into last night.]

[If I could actually communicate with you, perhaps I could even offer some advice, but sadly that's simply impossible; being able to transmit information to you one-sidedly is already the limit.]

[There is, however, one thing that's certain, and that's that you definitely received the reward for surviving one day.]

[The first day's reward is fixed, but it's a good thing—one that concerns your very life and livelihood!]

[It looks like nothing more than an ordinary handgun, but in truth it's not ordinary in the slightest—okay, I just stated the obvious.]

[Perhaps if I tell you this handgun's other name, you'll understand—the "Execution Gun."]

[Its function is exactly what the name implies. This gun comes with buffs like guaranteed-hit and instant-death, but its range is limited to within the mansion only.]

[It's a bit of a pity, but looked at from another angle, within the mansion you're basically invincible. Use this gun to execute the lodgers you let in each night whom you deem suspicious; if the one killed is an Imitation Human, it will revert to its original form.]

[I'm sure you've noticed as well that every night the doors of all the lodgers get sealed shut, but in reality the Imitation Human have the privilege of freely entering and leaving rooms during the night.]

[But don't worry—the Imitation Human will only act against the other human lodgers, and won't harm the master of the mansion.]

[This may sound very strange. Catch the ringleader first to catch the bandits… that's probably what the past you was thinking, right?]

[But in reality, under the constraints of the rules, as long as before nightfall the number of humans in your mansion—including yourself—is greater than the number of Imitation Human, then you are absolutely safe that night. And conversely—you will die!]

In Natsuki Subaru's eyes, after this passage surfaced on the page, it deepened and reddened as though about to drip blood, brimming with the implication of danger and warning.

"This rule…"

Natsuki Subaru recalled his own agonizing hesitation the night before over whether to let Emilia into the mansion, and only now, after the fact, did he break out in a cold sweat from the realization.

Though it was impossible, if he hadn't let Emilia in at that time, and the Ram he'd let in earlier had just so happened to be an Imitation Human—

Then he would have violated this very rule!

With only himself, a single human, in the mansion, equal to the number of Imitation Human, then that very night he would have… died!

Natsuki Subaru lowered his head and clenched his fists. Having lost his Return by Death, he now had only one life, with no more chances for trial and error.

Never before had he felt death loom this close to him… right before his very eyes.

____

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