Please tell me your “name”.

That was the first thing I heard when I recovered from the intense pain.

Didn’t Ame already know my name?

…

…What were his motives?

“I believe you already know my name.” I said, resting my gaze on the shadowy figure in front of me.

Indeed. But, that is not the answer I’m looking for. I would like you to tell me your name.

Suspicious.

I needed to be careful of what I say to him.

…

But, for now, there was no point in lying about something he already knew.

“Kurose Mikage.” I answered, without any uncertainty in my voice.

The chamber was silent for a brief moment.

Now, Kurose-kun, I would like you to close your eyes. Create an image of what you look like.

My name.

My looks.

Those were things that Ame already knew about.

Then, for what purposes did he ask those questions?

It was almost as if he was seeking “confirmation” for something.

…

Unless…

No no, that won’t do. I will need you to imagine yourself as you are.

I cleared the image of my cram-school teacher that I had in mind.

Yes, Ame knew.

Both how I looked and what I was thinking about.

…

I erased all the lingering thoughts I had.

“This is quite a long process. Quite…redundant if I could say, don’t you think?”

Ame laughed, sending chills down my spine.

Oh, do not worry, Kurose-kun. Nothing is redundant here.

I narrowed my eyes as he spoke, but then gave him a smile.

“In that case, I shall do as instructed.”

I closed my eyes, and created a small image of what I looked like.

Now, take a look at the selections in front of you.

I opened my eyes, and then stepped back slightly in shock.

In front of me now, were five projections of people wearing fantasy-like gear.

Five pairs of icy, silver eyes.

Dark, navy-blue hair.

…

Five images of me.

Midnight black robe. Flaming rubies as decorations. Staff that pulsated with an eerie-red light.

The “Mage”.

Ivy-green, hooded hunting outfit. Long scarf that trailed behind his mighty form. Deadly-looking bow that seemed to have been created by the roots of the Earth.

The “Archer”.

Blood red keikogi*. A face hidden in the shadows. Twin daggers that radiated with bloodlust.

The “Rogue”.

Snow-white gown. A crown of crystal-like feathers. Scepter that captured the brilliance of the sunlit skies.

The “Cleric”.

And, the last.

The main character of any fantasy story.

Golden armor. Pure red cape. Giant winged sword.

The “Warrior”.

It is your turn now, Kurose-kun, to make a choice.

Which one will you choose…

——————-

“Over here.”

Yuri waved one hand in the air, signaling for me to join her.

I dashed in front of her, swinging my sword at the snake that was targeting her as I passed by.

“Purge.” I whispered, as the blade sliced across the monster’s neck.

The HP of the monster decreased.

“Let’s go!”

I did not pause to wait for her, but I could hear her footsteps echoing a short distance behind.

We had to keep going, no breaks allowed.

We dashed down the path in front of us, ignoring the angry hisses of the monster.

One right turn.

Two right turns.

A left.

And then, we found ourselves at the next intersection.

“I will take the path furthest to the right.” Yuri said, as she passed by me, heading toward that path.

“Understood.”

I wasted no time in getting myself on to the path directly ahead.

Baiting complete.

Splitting complete.

Commencing step three…

We waited.

…

sssss…

A new monster appeared seconds after I stepped on to my path.

Nearby, Yuri was confronting the monster that was chasing us before.

“Akimori-san, take path three!”

Upon hearing my voice, she swung once at the monster, before dashing back to my side.

Remaining time: 00:25:03

We continued on.

One intersection.

Bait. Split. Wait. Attack. Exit.

Two intersections.

Yuri used triple-play to execute one of the snake’s heads.

Three intersections.

I secretly healed her.

Four intersections.

I drank a large “HP potion” to make it seem as if I was taking some damage.

Five intersections. Six intersections. Seven intersections…

We kept going, and never once looked back.

Remaining time: 00:13:57

Almost there.

Almost…

Then, we hit a dead-end.

———————

Click.

The front door of the Kurose residence opened, revealing the form of a young man in his mid twenties.

“Sai?” a female voice called, as the young man bent down to remove his shoes.

“I’m home, Okaa-san.” he answered, as he set his briefcase to the side.

“Welcome home, Sai. You must be tired from all the late nights you’ve had recently…here, I will make you some midnight snacks.”

Mrs. Kurose hurried him toward the dinning room.

“Is Mikage already asleep?” Sai asked, as they passed by the staircase.

“I think he just got into bed a few minutes ago. It will be exam time soon…He said he wanted to go to Todai, just like you, but I’m worried that he’s pushing himself too hard.”

“Haha, he still has a few years left to prepare himself. But, with his capabilities, I don’t think that will matter much either way.”

His mother gave him a light slap on the shoulder.

“Shush. Mikage’s still a child, he can’t possibly compare to you.”

Sai chuckled slightly.

“Well, that was not what I meant…either way, I want to say goodnight to him first, since I will be gone early in the morning again.”

“Heavens, they are working you to the bone! You need to rest a little too…your father and I are both worried about your health.” Mrs. Kurose complained, watching her eldest son walk up the stairs.

“Yes, I understand.” he replied, as he slowly disappeared from her sight.

Sai walked silently toward his younger brother’s room, stopping in front of the door.

Raising his hand, he gave it three light knocks.

“Mikage, are you still awake?” he said quietly, but loud enough so that the person inside could hear.

“…Nii-san?”

“Yes. I just wanted to say goodnight. I will be out early this week, so I won’t be seeing you tomorrow again.”

“…Is there still no progress on the case?”

“Unfortunately so. But, my team and I will be getting to the bottom of it soon. I promise that I’ll protect you and this family.”

“…Haha, but before that, you should take care of your own health.”

Sai let out a soft chuckle.

“Roger, ‘Mikage Okaa-san’.” he joked, as leaned with his back against the door.

“…Of course. I’ve always got your best interests in mind, ‘Son’.”

Sai smiled.

A few moments of silence passed by.

Then, he turned toward the door one last time.

“Good night, Mikage.”

“…Good night, Nii-san.”

And with that, he headed downstairs for the night.

…

…

…

“Sound track has been fully played. Please reverse the sound track to play it again.”

Oblivious to the members of the Kurose household, the CD player in Mikage’s room proceeded to come to a complete stop.

Click.

The night continued on.

———————

“A dead-end?

Yuri shifted her grip on her sword, surveying her surroundings.

I shook my head.

“No. Not a dead-end.”

I walked up to the walls in front of us, tracing each block with my hands.

Yuri observed my movements calmly.

“…It doesn’t happen to be one of those hidden door-types, right.”

My fingers found their mark.

“It is exactly that.”

Placing both hands around the block, I paused.

“You should step back a little. It will get a bit messy here, based on my experiences last time.”

Yuri nodded, retreating to a spot a good distance away from the walls.

I refocused my attention on the task in front of me. With a swift tug of my hands, the block became disconnected from the rest of the wall, leaving a gaping hole right in the middle.

“Watch out!”

I shouted at Yuri as I ran for cover, just as the grey surfaces around us crumpled into a pile of ruin, shaking the whole dungeon as the blocks fell.

Lifting one side of my trench coat, I made a shield around me and Yuri, fending off the numerous flying debris.

The timer in the sky ticked by.

Remaining time: 00:09:18

The dust settled, revealing the path laid out ahead.

Huge, blood-red spikes hung from the unseen ceiling.

Fiery red stones decorated the walls, blinking in and out like rhythmic heartbeats.

Lava spanned the entirely of the ground beneath, bubbling as if it was beckoning us into its depths.

And, in the midst of it all, was a single suspension bridge.

One that seemed to stretch on endlessly, into the distance.

“Let’s go.”

I brushed the dust off my trench coat composedly.

Then, we began to head toward the bridge.

First step.

“Woah.”

I caught Yuri by the waist as she swayed to the side lightly, the planks beneath her feet creaking as if they were about to collapse.

Our eyes met unintentionally.

…

I looked away.

“Be careful.” I said simply, releasing my hold on her slowly so that she could regain her balance.

I could feel her gaze on my back.

“Thank you.” she said, as I began to lead the way across the planks.

“You are wel-“

I did not get to finish my sentence.

“Foolish mortals, how dare you enter my realm during my days of slumber.”

We both looked toward the voice.

In front of us, a good distance away, stood a beautiful woman in a flowing purple robe.

“Answer me, humans, what bring you here, uninvited, to my domain?”

One strand of her hair rose above her head…hissing at us.

Ivy-green snakes for hair.

Beauty beyond comprehension.

…

Medusa. The last boss of this maze.

“We are here to find the exit of this labyrinth.” I answered calmly, as Yuri slowly placed one hand on her sword.

Medusa narrowed her eyes, the snakes on her head hissing loudly.

“Exit? There is no exit.”

She laughed as she answered, mocking my objective.

“Oh. In that case, we will just have to make one ourselves.”

As I said that, I gave her my most charming smile in reply.

Right away, Medusa stopped laughing. Staring at us with ice-cold eyes, she raised one hand to the sky.

“Arrogant male human, I will give you one last chance to turn back. Return to where you have come from.”

I continued to smile.

“I refuse.”

“Then, begone!”

The spikes from the ceiling began to descend on to us, smashing into the bridge and taking the planks along.

The bridge gave one last creak before it began to crumble, the planks behind us dropping thousands of feet below into the boiling lava.

“Akimori-san!” I shouted, as I withdrew my sword, struggling to remain upright.

“Understood.” she replied, as she withdrew her own weapon.

We began to dash toward Medusa, away from the falling planks.

“Helios: Blight.”

The fiery flames below us exploded into the air, reaching for us like millions of little hands.

“Shield: Elemental Blade.”

I sliced through the flames, now able to do physical damage to the magic with my immunity skill.

Yuri too, was able to fend off the attacks.

“Cage: Chains of Hell.”

Medusa launched another attack at us.

As we dashed toward her, the planks below our feet turned into thousands of dark, twisted vines, trapping us in our spots.

Yuri narrowed her eyes.

“Dance: Unforgiving Winds.”

As soon as she spoke, the vines ensnarling us broke into tiny pieces.

An intermediate endurance and agility buff.

Amazing for someone of her level.

Medusa shrieked, as she watched two of her attack fail.

She raised her hand once more, but…

“Fury: Sengoku Delusion.”

I activated my skill first.

It was one that would make me her primary target.

“Switch.”

Yuri followed up on my attack, aiming for Medusa’s neck.

I quickly activated purge and regis. A buff for her and a debuff for me.

Her attack hit its mark.

[Medusa]

HP: 99, 100.

As expected of a boss monster. Even with a 300% stat boost, a low level player still can’t do much.

But, that doesn’t really matter.

I never planned to fight this monster, after all.

“Fall back!”

I took over, letting Yuri jump to the rear as I swung my sword at the monster.

“Decay: Eventual Demise.”

“Hades: Book of Ashes III.”

My opponent and I activated our skills at the same time.

The snakes on top of her head expanded in size, until they detached themselves from her head, crashing heavily onto the planks.

“Tch.”

I picked up Yuri with my arms, leaping over the giant heads, landing on the other side of Medusa.

“You cannot run away from me!!!” Medusa screamed, as she and the snakes raced after us, hissing in rage.

…

Yes I can. I’m just slowing down so that Yuri won’t get suspicious of me.

The bridge was now half-gone, and about to be completely demolished.

Yuri leap down onto the spot next to me lightly, and we continued on without a pause.

“STOPPPPPPP!!!!”

As Medusa screamed in fury, she launched another set of spells at us.

Yuri was hit with a side-blow.

I stayed behind so I could secretly heal her.

“…The path is ending soon.” she said, as she dodged along the way.

I moved into the course of one of the attacks.

My HP decreased by almost nothing. But, with the skill I activated earlier, “Decay”, it continued to go down.

It would seem like I was taking “damage” as well.

“I wasn’t joking when I said that we are going to create our own exit.”

We were less than five steps away from the end of the path.

“The only condition for me last time, was getting past the boss monster. And then…”

I raised my sword high into the air.

“I smashed my own way out.”

I brought my sword down on the wall in front of me, watching as it perished into blinding light.

———————

Ring. Ring.

“Sorry, Okaa-san. I’ll need to step out for a moment to answer a call.”

“Don’t stay out for too long!”

Sai nodded in agreement, as he quickly grabbed his cellphone and headed outside.

Looking down at the screen, a caller ID was displayed.

Baka Shiro

xxx-xxx-xxxx

He sighed.

“What is it, Kyoushiro?”

The caller on the other end took a deep breath, his voice fractured by the noises surrounding him.

“Chief Kurose, we have a serious problem.” his subordinate shouted, his voice shaking in fright.

Sai shifted the phone slightly away from his ear, a little put off by the chaos on his subordinate’s end.

“Calm down, and report your current situation.” he directed steadily.

“Yessir!” Kyoushiro puffed, getting everything he wanted to say out at once, “I’m with the Fifth Division and the SIF at the Shibuya scrambled crossing. We are now stationed in front of a medium-height building called…let me check…the ‘Shokugun’. It seems to be some sort of a night club. And, right at this moment, we are looping off the area. The First Division is-”

“What exactly is the emergency, Kyoushiro?”

Kyoushiro stopped talking, and cleared his throat.

“My deepest apologies, Chief Kurose…Are you by any chance, close to a television?”

“…Which channel.”

“Channel 72. We are on air right now.”

Sai returned to the house swiftly, turning on the television in the living room without a pause in his movements.

“Breaking news: Tonight, we are currently in front of the famous night club, “Shokugun”, located in the Shibuya scrambled crossing. The police have currently began to create a safety zone near the premises, blocking off the curious onlookers that are gathered here…”

“Sai? Why is the television on…”

Mrs. Kurose stopped in the middle of her sentence, as she watched the scene on the screen unfold.

“The Serial Investigations Force has commenced a shouting match with an anonymous individual on the rooftop of the building. Let’s zoom in on the person in question…”

The camera shifted upwards, revealing the blurry figure of a simply-dressed man standing on the railings of the rooftop.

“SIR, WE NEED YOU TO COOPERATE WITH US, AND TAKE THE STAIRS BACK DOWN TO THE GROUND FLOOR.” the SIF officers shouted, as the camera zoomed in on them.

“STOP!!! I CAN’T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!” the unknown person shouted back, at nobody in particular.

“SIR, DO NOT PANIC. WE WILL BE GETTING YOU DOWN TO SAFETY SOON. WE WANT YOU TO CALM DOWN, AND THINK RATIONALLY…”

“STOP, DON’T COME NEAR ME! DON’T BOTHER ME ANYMORE! I’M NEXT, I KNOW IT.”

“Just what is going on!?” the reporter cut in, as the camera crew swung back and forth between the two parties, trying to keep up.

“SIR, WE WANT YOU TO REMAIN IN YOUR SPOT. WE CAN HELP YOU WITH YOUR TROUBLES, JUST WAI-”

“DONTCOMENEARMEDONTCOMENEARMEDONTCOMENEARME!!!”

He took a step closer to the edge of the rooftop, standing half in empty air.

“Sir, please step back. We will not harm you, please-”

“My wife is dead. My daughter is dead. My one-year old son is dead. My parents, my best friend…everyone I loved is dead.”

His words earned a wave of silence from below.

With a pained smile, he continued.

“I thought I could forget about all this. Live on. For them. But…I can’t take it anymore. I can’t go to that place every night, and take part in that damned ‘survival game’. Killing someone else to live. I can’t watch another family member cry because of me anymore. It’s over. I am done.”

“…Division Six, report your status. Over.”

“…This is Division Six. We are preparing to engage the target in approximately one minute. Over.”

“…This is Division Four. We are prepared to provide backup in case the target is sporting lethal weapons. Over.”

“…Roger. This is Division Five. We have created a safety zone around this area. Ready for commencement. Over.”

“…Division Five, where are the nets? Why haven’t they arrived yet? Over.”

“…The reinforcements that were bringing the nets are not replying to our calls. We do not know what happened to them. Headquarters not responding either. Over.”

“…Mother f***…”

“…Division One here. We are taking the balcony paths up toward the target. The target has not noticed yet so far. Over.”

“…Division Two and Three reporting for duty. We are both currently on crowd control and standby. Ready for action at the command. Over.”

The camera crew picked up on the exchange between the forces, as the SIF attempted to gather the motives of the target.

“I won’t let them get me. I will end this myself before they get me. But, I want the whole world to hear my words…”

The Sixth Division stationed themselves outside the door to the rooftop silently.

At the same time, the First Division had hidden themselves a short distance below the target’s location.

“…This is Division Six. We are breaking through in five…four…three…two…”

But, before they could finish their countdown, the man began to fall forward, screaming, into the gasping crowd below.

“GAAAHHHHH!!!”

“GET SOME SORT OF CUSHION UP, QUICKLY!!!”

The sixth division dashed onto the rooftop, followed by the fourth division, a second too late.

“PREPARE TO CATCH HIM IF WE MUST, HURRY!!! WE-”

“THE COLOSSEUM! FIND HIM…FIND KUROOOO!!!!”

The police and the onlookers could only look on in horror as the man fell helplessly into the concrete surface below.

…

Splat.

The last thing that was broadcasted before everything went to chaos, was the silvery-tint of the expanding pool of wine-red blood, illuminated by the eerie glow of the moon.

And…

It was then, that everyone knew.

Things were beginning to change.

The death of the unknown man, and his last words…

Had become an omen of the beginning of the end.

To be continued…

Floor Five- End.

-----------

Keikogi: A uniform used in martial arts.