Strange Game - Anime Mashup

Compared to the cheerful pair walking ahead, Lin Ye and Fujibayashi Kyou trailed behind in silence.

Fujibayashi Kyou, unaccustomed to the quiet, decided to break it.

"I don't know where you work yet," she said.

"Sobu High School," Lin Ye replied, omitting the fact that he was still a high school sophomore. Neither Nanase Ren nor he had mentioned his true status. Despite his youthful face, Lin Ye felt no need to clarify further.

"Ah," Kyou murmured, assuming he was a teacher.

"I wonder," Lin Ye began, "would you mind if I asked a rather personal question?"

Kyou hesitated, then bluntly replied, "I mind."

Lin Ye smirked. "Well, maybe I'll ask Ms. Fujibayashi Ryou instead."

"Don't you dare involve her," she said sharply, stepping in front of him to block his path. Their eyes met in a moment of tense confrontation.

"Fine," she relented with a sigh. "Ask. What's your question?"

"If I've been intrusive, I apologize," Lin Ye prefaced carefully.

Her gaze hardened. "Get to the point."

"Do you or your sister have feelings for anyone?" he asked bluntly.

Kyou's expression darkened. Her fists clenched, a faint creaking sound emanating as she tightened her grip.

"You're treading on thin ice," she said icily.

Lin Ye raised his hands in mock surrender. "No offense meant. You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"No," she answered curtly. "But let me warn you—don't go near Ryou. If you so much as try, I'll make you regret it."

"And if it's you I'm interested in?" Lin Ye teased, raising an eyebrow.

"I'll beat you up every time I see you," she retorted, swinging her fist through the air with a whooshing sound.

Lin Ye chuckled at her fiery response. "Just like the character I remember," he mused to himself.

Before Kyou could retort further, her sister's voice called out.

"Kyou, what are you doing back there?"

"Coming!" Kyou turned, her long purple hair trailing behind her in a graceful arc. As she walked away, she shot Lin Ye one last warning glare.

Lin Ye watched her retreating figure with a smile. "Her fiery personality is quite something," he thought.

The four eventually parted ways. The Fujibayashi sisters reached their rented home first.

"Ren, bring Lin Ye next time," Ryou said. "Sorry we couldn't host you today; the house is still a mess."

"It's fine! We'll visit next time, Ryou. Let me know if you need help settling in. I've been in Chiba a bit longer, so I can show you around," Nanase Ren replied warmly.

The two friends exchanged goodbyes before Lin Ye escorted Nanase Ren home.

"Lin-kun, you don't need to walk me all the way. I can do it alone," Nanase Ren said hesitantly.

"Afraid I'll attack you?" Lin Ye teased.

Nanase Ren's face turned red as she shook her head furiously. "No, it's just… your place is far from mine. It'll be late by the time you return."

"Simple solution," Lin Ye said.

"What solution?" she asked, intrigued.

"I'll stay at your place tonight," he replied nonchalantly.

Nanase Ren froze in shock before hurriedly refusing. "No, absolutely not!"

"I promise I won't do anything," Lin Ye said earnestly.

"I don't trust that. All men say that, and then…" Nanase Ren trailed off, flustered.

"Sounds like you've had experience," Lin Ye teased.

"From books! Just books! Anyway, no. You can stay at a hotel—I'll pay," she insisted.

"Together?" he joked.

"You at the hotel, me at my apartment!" she clarified, blushing furiously.

Lin Ye sighed, feigning disappointment.

They settled on a plan to meet again the day after tomorrow. After escorting Nanase Ren to her apartment building, Lin Ye refrained from asking to come up, much to her relief—and slight guilt.

"Maybe next time, I'll invite him up," she thought, watching him disappear down the street.

Entering her apartment, she gasped in horror at the sight of lingerie strewn across the floor. She scrambled to collect it, berating herself. "Next time, I'll double-check before going out!"

Later that night, Lin Ye returned to his own apartment. After washing up, he sat at his desk, jotting down notes.

"The strange game 'Bus Route 18' connects to the Chiba Station fire accident," he wrote. "Could the fire have been more than it seemed?"

He paused, reflecting on the day's events. With a faint smile, he added: "Two surprises today. I wonder what other unexpected encounters await."

Once could be a coincidence, but twice was not necessarily the case. Lin Ye had a hunch that he would also encounter a strange game related to the 'Chiba Station Fire Accident' in the future.

"It is necessary to investigate the truth behind the 'Chiba Station Fire Accident' and search for relevant information," he thought.

Lin Ye picked up a gel pen and wrote in his notebook's schedule.

He had a good memory, but he preferred writing down important things in a notebook to help arrange his time more efficiently.

He had an appointment with Nanase Ren the day after tomorrow and didn't have time then, so he decided to do it tomorrow.

"Tomorrow, I'll go to the Chiba Fire Department and the Chiba Police Station to search for detailed investigation reports of the fire accident."

Lin Ye made up his mind to find the information as soon as possible. Understanding the details of the accident would help him in dealing with the tasks and copies arranged by the strange game in the future.

"Da da da…" The gel pen tapped lightly on the table, making a crisp sound.

"Nanase Ren also did not receive an invitation to the 'strange game'. For now, we can conclude that participants in regular tasks in reality are not invited to become a 'player'."

The total number of players in the strange game was smaller than expected.

There were seven passengers on bus No. 18, including him, and only two of them survived. Even so, Nanase Ren was not invited. Compared to Hoshino Ai and Kuroda Hikari in the love hotel, Nanase Ren's contribution on the bus was definitely higher.

The wound was sutured strangely, the fever subsided strangely, and Nanase Ren put in most of her strength.

Therefore, there didn't seem to be a correlation between participation, contribution, and invitation qualification.

Player qualifications were currently only related to the mission types of strange games.

"Rustle, rustle..."

Lin Ye recorded today's bus experience and reviewed whether he could survive without the ability to stop time.

"The game with the little boy was difficult. It's pure luck, or the little boy was lenient."

But in that round, some passengers would inevitably die.

Projects that rely purely on luck are actually the most unsafe.

Without time-stopping, Lin Ye didn't think he could have successfully made it through safely.

The strange games of the future would surely be more complex, more difficult, and more dangerous. Lin Ye was actually looking forward to it even more.

A new life and a new beginning. In this mixed world of the second dimension, he wanted to experience more surprises, happiness, and excitement.

The strange game would definitely satisfy his little wish.

Today's summary was over.

But the notification sound for task completion hadn't come yet.

Wasn't surviving on bus No. 18 enough?

The time had passed midnight.

At this moment, a familiar mechanical sound rang out.

[Ding]

[The carrier of the strange aura, Nanase Ren, is confirmed to be safe]

[The actual routine tasks have been completed.]

[Reward 1: 1500 game points. (Blessing 'point split' is in effect)]

[Reward 2: 150 Experience Points]

[Reward 3: Random white-quality item x2]

[Your current experience is 250/200. You can currently use experience to upgrade your game character level]

[Please ask whether to upgrade]

"Upgrade."

As Lin Ye finished his words, a new reminder sounded.

[Congratulations on upgrading your game level to LV1]

[You get 1 free point]

[Unlock equipment props function: When you obtain an equipment in the game, you will be able to view relevant information]

[Unlock the backpack function. You currently have 5 backpack slots]

[Your strange game has just begun]

[We hope you have a happy gaming experience!]

…

Equipment function unlocked? Backpack bar?

Lin Ye looked at his game character panel. His level had become LV1, with experience at 50/300.

"The next level upgrade requires 100 more experience points than before? I currently need 250 more experience points to upgrade to level 2."

Each level increase would grant him 1 free point. He had a total of 8 free points, which Lin Ye hadn't used yet.

"Let's try the backpack bar function."

Then he realized something. The gel pen in his hand had disappeared.

"It has already appeared in the backpack column, occupying one slot. I'll try to see if multiple similar items can be placed in the same backpack slot."

Lin Ye found the books. Ten books fit easily.

Next, Lin Ye stuffed all his clothes and pants together and successfully put them into an empty space. However, the next item of clothing he placed ended up in a second empty space.

Lin Ye tried experimenting many times, such as stuffing books into clothes and trying to place them in the same slot, but failed.

After repeated experiments, Lin Ye gained a general understanding.

"Items of a similar nature can be stacked together and placed in the same slot, but I don't know if there's an upper limit on the size and weight."

He suspected there were limits, but the amount of clothes and books he had for experiments was too small to be sure. Further experimentation would be necessary.

"After a slot is used, items of the same type cannot be placed in the same slot again."

"If I take them out…"

Soon, all the clothes appeared on the bed.

Lin Ye understood how the removal worked.

No matter what, unlocking the backpack feature provided great convenience—he could carry items with him, such as dangerous ones, and store them in the backpack.

"Equipments from the game… I haven't even extracted my three white-quality items yet!"

"Extract."

Lin Ye flipped to the email section of the panel, saw two emails, and chose to extract them.

[Congratulations on obtaining Alloy Dagger x1, quality: white.]

[Congratulations on winning 100,000 yen, quality: white.]

[Congratulations on obtaining a gas mask x1, quality: white.]

White is the lowest quality for equipment items, followed by blue, purple, orange, and gold. Gold is the best, and skill quality is also differentiated by the same color to determine its quality and rarity.

"My superpower should count as a skill at this point, and its quality should be at least gold!"

Lin Ye smiled, but it was a pity that the superpower "Time Stop" didn't appear in the panel.

One hundred thousand yen could be spent, and the alloy dagger and gas mask were items that could also be bought in reality, so they weren't considered particularly valuable.

"It's better to have them than not," he thought.

Lin Ye casually put the gas mask and alloy dagger into the backpack.

He opened the drawer and placed the notebook inside when he suddenly noticed an object wrapped in cloth.

"This is…"

Lin Ye remembered.

It was the mysterious black bead he had removed from the man's forehead during the attack at Hoshino Ai's concert.

He opened the fabric and pulled out the black bead.

In an instant, relevant information appeared in his field of vision.

"This is really an item from the strange game."