Why is my Isekai in the Slice of Life anime was become a Horror Story?

Interlude 1-13: Time to Think and Meet in the Night

Whoosh——

With the sound of water splashing, Kaguya slowly sank into the bath, allowing her body to soak in the hot water.

"Mm…"

After a soft moan, the girl with long black hair stretched a little in the water, then opened her deep red eyes and looked up at the bathroom ceiling.

The first discovery from Takakai and Maki's investigation yesterday was gaining the friendship of... a veteran player girl who was friendly (?), from whom they gathered quite a bit of information, laying the foundation for the next steps involving the player group.

"Ashes of bones... Purple talisman."

Kaguya softly muttered the names of these two items, her expression pensive.

The ashes of bones could prevent the living from becoming part of the monstrous things after death, while also stopping corpses from transforming into monsters and hindering monsters from moving for a period of time. This item was extremely important for the upcoming mission, and what Takakai had gathered from Old Guo was definitely not enough. However, this item was very expensive, and Kaguya only had 100,000 yen to spare. Although she had a black card that she could use freely, there were two issues: one, it might reveal her identity, and two, if her family discovered she had spent a large sum of money, they would definitely take notice.

While the nature of the ashes would prevent her family from knowing what she bought with that money, it could increase their surveillance on her, which was not impossible. As Kaguya had yet to define the boundaries of [Hiding Information] between players and ordinary people, she had not yet decided on any action.

Maki might have a bit more pocket money than her, around 150,000 yen per month, but combined they only had 250,000 yen. According to the information Takakai and Maki gathered, the specially processed ashes were very expensive. A 500g box of them could cost as much as 12 million yen, and it also required a Dusk-level Obsession, making it absolutely impossible to buy with just money.

The other item, the purple talisman, was said to be made from human blood and a special kind of paper obtained from a Dusk-level dungeon. This item was even more expensive. Its use was quite peculiar, and many players called it the "luck burner." To use this item, it had to be burned. During the burning process, the burner would inexplicably receive good luck, ranging from escaping unavoidable dangers to receiving items that were impossible to acquire, or even influencing the actions of the monsters to serve them. There were countless possible effects, but of course, some players died in a terrible manner, only to die easily and peacefully after the talisman was burned. In general, this was a strange item that temporarily increased one's luck.

However, all players who used this item ended up experiencing bad luck once the talisman was completely burned. According to current statistics, this bad luck was likely permanent. Therefore, players referred to this situation as "burning away their own luck," which could be considered quite accurate.

30 million yen plus an Obsession, or it could be exchanged for a good Obsession without needing money... Why was this item so expensive despite its strong side effects? Kaguya rarely showed a troubled expression. She didn't expect that as the daughter of a wealthy family, she would have to worry about money.

Well, instead of worrying about this, it might be better to focus on the next mission.

There were still more than twenty days left to prepare for the second dungeon.

All the items for complex situations had been prepared. According to the information Takakai and Maki gathered, it seemed that only items of a certain size and within carrying limits could be taken into the dungeon by players. Players who tried to bring in cars, tanks, or boats, or at least pretended to bring them in, had all failed. The only player who successfully brought a large item into the dungeon was a person who carried a MK1 cannon from World War II that had been left by his grandfather. He carried the recoil-less cannon on his shoulder like a shoulder-mounted artillery piece and brought it into the dungeon. However, when facing an old lady who only had a pen, he shot three rounds, and amidst the sparks flying everywhere, the player had his skull ripped out by a monster.

In general, the important point isn't about this, the real issue is ensuring that all three of them are in the same dungeon.

Kaguya, Maki, Takakai.

They were players who had once cooperated to complete a mission and had developed a certain synergy in their teamwork. If they could act together in the second mission, their chances of survival would definitely increase significantly. Especially Takakai, Kaguya had confirmed that this man possessed an Obsession or a special ability that could reverse time and start over from the beginning. Although based on the details of him, this ability certainly had some limits and had to be used carefully, there was no doubt that with him in the same mission, even if they encountered surprises and the entire team was wiped out, he could still hope to turn the tide and restart from scratch.

Therefore, it was essential to secure three admission tickets for the Dusk-level mission, and all three of them must participate in the same mission.

But the issue was, admission tickets weren't easy to obtain, especially the Dusk-level tickets... these were extremely hard to come by. Even though Takakai and Maki had tried to seek help from the veteran player Gotoh Hitori, she only said she would try to assist, but judging by her demeanor, it seemed they would still have to give up at least one Obsession.

It was truly troublesome.

Kaguya couldn't help but feel a little headache.

I wonder what the other two are doing right now, Maki and Takakai...

The girl felt the water temperature gradually cool, and while she was thinking, she stood up from the bath, wrapped a towel around her body, covering her slender figure.

.....

At the same time, in a small alley, several delinquent youths with dyed hair in various colors were lying face down on the ground, looking toward Takakai with expressions full of fear, accompanied by a feeling of "Why us?" that made it feel somewhat strange.

"So, you're out of money now?"

Takakai, his face showing clear displeasure, asked.

"We really are, we've getting robbed for the sixth time this month, we've got nothing left! Because we kept getting robbed, our gang went bankrupt and disbanded, so where would the money come from!"

A delinquent, his face bruised and clearly distressed, cried out. Judging by his attitude, he had probably taken quite a few hits recently.

"Tsk, so you were the ones who got robbed..."

Takakai sighed, unhappy. He shrugged his shoulders and turned to leave.

Originally, he had planned to do like the protagonists in novels, find some delinquents to take money from for spending.

But after wandering around for a while, Takakai realized that many people had already done this. It seemed that many players, after gaining extraordinary abilities, came to challenge these delinquents. This made him quite disappointed.

Tonight, as always, there were things everywhere that people couldn't see.

When asking Gotoh Hitori and checking results from a strange website that seemed to be built using an Obsession, Takakai discovered that in the real world, no one like him existed, who could see these things. It seemed that this was just Takakai's illusion, a world that only he could see.

But Takakai felt that, if these strange scenes continued to develop, one day, many people might be able to see them.

Or... by then, it wouldn't just be about "seeing" anymore.

"What's the point of worrying about things that haven't happened yet? I should focus on how to make it through the next month first."

He chuckled bitterly, walked off, pulled out his phone, and replied to a message Maki had sent a minute ago, she saying "I'm going to take a bath" and he rep "Let me join you," then casually wandered around the streets. He happened to pass by a ramen shop. Smelling the fragrance, Takakai felt a bit hungry and stepped inside.

Beep beep—

At this moment, his phone received a reply. Takakai looked down, unlocked the screen, and saw Maki's reply: "Hentai, aho, baka! Shineeeee!" He could almost imagine her tone and expression in his mind.

So Takakai responded, "It's fine, I was just trying my luck by reserving a spot," then looked up at the not-so-large shop in front of him.

And right away, he saw a girl with a black bow happily eating ramen.