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

Chapter 17: The Next Identity

Boom boom boom——

The sound of flowing water in the cave had transformed from a rushing stream into a raging flood.

A massive amount of rainwater mixed with mud surged forward, sweeping along railings, signs, trash, and even branches, pillows, fishnet stockings, and all sorts of bizarre debris, surging like a frenzied torrent through the entire cave.

In such violent currents, an ordinary person would be completely unable to stand firm and would easily be swept away.

Wang Gui was almost immediately knocked down as the water rose, but fortunately, Takakai reacted swiftly and grabbed him.

As for Fujiwara Chika, though she also couldn't maintain her footing, her reaction was incredibly quick—she instantly clung onto Takakai's shoulders, practically hanging onto him entirely.

Takakai, however, remained firmly planted in the rushing water, showing no signs of being swept away.

The enhancements from Blessing and S-Buff had pushed his body beyond human limits. The current was powerful, but it was still not enough to shake him.

Why was the world of the security staff the correct escape route?

This question repeated over and over in Takakai's mind, refusing to be suppressed.

The mission required them to reach the [true surface], but what exactly did "true" mean? Takakai had pondered this many times and concluded that this place contained countless false surfaces—only one of them was the real ground, the only place where escape was possible.

Following this train of thought, the true surface should exist in the timeline of the latest stage.

But if that were the case, why was the world in which the security staff existed the designated escape route?

Big Slide had been sealed in an ordinary manner.

Although the security rules contained many strange points, they still indicated that during the period when these rules were in effect, security personnel could enter and exit Nutty Dutty Cave safely. This meant that at that time, the real disaster that activated the power of the Horror Story Rules had not yet occurred.

Why was the surface at that time considered "true"?

Could it be that the condition for the "true surface" was actually based on someone's perspective?

A string of questions surfaced in Takakai's mind, but he couldn't immediately find an answer.

And now was not the time to dwell on them.

Because the tourists—those who had just risen from the water—were now closing in step by step.

The bloated figures in rescue team uniforms, crawling out from the collapsed crevice behind, were also approaching.

Takakai had been locked onto by something strange—something that had never appeared before.

The malice radiating from it was incredibly intense.

Although it seemed to be separated by some kind of barrier that prevented it from directly exerting power on him, the sheer intensity of its malice, transmitted through Blessing alone, already made Takakai feel that it far surpassed the monstrous parents from the Shirakawa apartment complex.

It seemed that precisely because this thing was watching him, his existence had been marked, making him more easily detectable by the bizarre entities within this cave.

But… it still wasn't time to despair and give up.

Snap——

The black umbrella suddenly opened, spreading over Takakai and partially covering Wang Gui and Chika.

This was an Obsession in the form of a black umbrella, "generously sponsored" by the Female Mask Gang.

Its effect was incredibly simple: as long as the umbrella was opened, all traces of the person beneath it would be concealed.

Whether human or anomalous, no one could easily detect the umbrella holder. Unless there was physical contact, it was almost impossible to recognize their presence.

Of course, this item couldn't block Blessing, as the emotions of the person holding the umbrella were not concealed. That was why, when Takakai had previously encountered a player from the Female Mask Gang, he was able to detect the hidden figure that would have otherwise been completely untraceable.

At this moment, the entities that had been advancing toward Takakai all abruptly froze, unable to determine his exact location.

"Let's go, we need to leave this place."

As he spoke, Takakai took a step forward, struggling against the rushing water.

"Takahashi-kun, where do we go next? Can we escape from here?"

Clinging onto Takakai's back and fighting against the fierce current, Chika asked.

"We can't. The world of this rescue team is a closed loop. As soon as we leave the cave, the scenario will reset, forcing us to take on the role of rescue workers and return here to carry out the rescue mission all over again. There is absolutely no way out."

Takakai shook his head, rejecting Chika's question, and handed her the rescue team's rule sheet.

She took it, trying to steady herself in the raging waters to read its contents.

To maintain her balance, Chika pressed even closer against Takakai, to the point that something soft almost completely drowned out the sensation on his back.

Unfortunately, Takakai was in no mood to enjoy any of it at the moment.

Although the black umbrella had hidden him from the tourists, the presence of Chika and Wang Gui still drew their attention. As Takakai led the two forward, the surrounding entities continued to gather, closing in on them.

However, it seemed that the rescue team uniforms had a certain special property, preventing the completely transformed monster-like tourists from actually touching them, instead merely trailing silently behind.

"The rescue team's rules... are related to the rules of explorers. But why is it all water here? Clearly, there was no flood when we were below. If that's the case, then the timelines don't match up, right?"

Chika quickly finished reading the rescue team's rules and leaned close to Takakai, asking in a whisper.

"Who knows? The clues are disorganized and fragmented; I can't come to a conclusion right away. Maybe the rescue team entered the cave twice for rescue operations? We might just be in one of those times. But anyway, the one thing that can be certain right now is… this rescue team identity can't help us break out of the dungeon."

Takakai spoke as he continued forward, glancing back.

At this point, he noticed that the bloated rescue team members were drawing closer.

Unlike the vaguely wandering tourists, the entities crawling up from the Big Slide seemed somewhat immune to the black umbrella's cloaking ability, locking onto his position.

Of course, it could also be that they were targeting Wang Gui and Chika, who were still clinging to him.

Now, the three of them had reached the stone forest path area, while the water level in the cave had risen to their thighs, making it increasingly difficult to move.

But the rescue team members behind them didn't slow down; the distance between the two groups was steadily shrinking.

"We need to change clothes. We need to switch to something other than the rescue team or explorer uniforms, but we absolutely cannot wear tourist clothing."

Takakai spoke while scanning the surroundings.

Although the rules emphasized not paying attention to the things in the water when the flood rose, the current situation made it extremely difficult to return to solid ground safely. Takakai had no choice but to consider changing their identities right here.

Although the tourist clothing had disappeared, becoming white shadows standing still in the water, Takakai still saw some clothes floating on the surface during their journey.

The things that could be considered for a change included... staff uniforms, tourist attire... No, he couldn't determine what the staff uniform looked like.

So far, he had never seen anyone playing the role of "staff," and the tourist identity was too dangerous—based on what was known, tourists were the primary targets.

"Try wearing the yellow striped outfit."

Chika spoke up, revealing information she hadn't mentioned before because she wasn't sure.

"After wearing the security uniform, I briefly saw a few people wearing yellow striped outfits, including one who looked quite a bit like Kaguya-san. Maybe this yellow striped outfit has some effect, or at least it might help us encounter Kaguya-san again."

The distance between them and the rescue team members was shrinking rapidly.

Takakai gritted his teeth, grabbed Wang Gui's shoulder, took a deep breath, bent his knees, and with a powerful shove, threw Wang Gui a few meters away, making him land in a wider area of the stone forest path.

"Run! They're not targeting you anymore! Quickly get back to the surface to trigger the reset! That way, you'll be safe!"

Takakai shouted at Wang Gui and quickly pulled a yellow striped uniform out of the water.

Is this it?

In a moment of confusion, Takakai saw the uniform seemingly transform, appearing as just a simple yellow t-shirt and yellow pants.

Ah, that's right.

The yellow striped outfits shouldn't exist at this time.

But as Takakai looked more closely, he realized this was indeed the yellow striped uniform.

The uniform shouldn't have appeared at this time, but it still had.

Takakai didn't have time to think about the reason behind this. He quickly tossed the uniform to Chika and helped her climb onto a higher platform in the stone forest path.

When Takakai turned back, intending to look for a second yellow striped uniform, a rescue team member had already approached him.

Drowned.

This was Takakai's first impression of them.

Its thick uniform had become swollen, and he could vaguely see something like mucus leaking from the seams of the rescue team uniform.

Its head had also swollen, and its eyes were nearly pushed out of their sockets. The grotesque face reminded Takakai of the Pale Lady, and he immediately realized that all these rescue team members had probably drowned underwater.

A fat hand reached out towards Takakai.

Right after that, the hand was severed.

Fresh blood dripped from the small scissors.

With its severed hand, the grotesque entity reached out with another hand, but it too was cut off by Takakai. Then came the head, and finally, the two legs.

Unlike the previous time when the scalpel sliced through monsters and they quickly regenerated, this time the monster did not regenerate immediately but was actually cut into several pieces, and with the strong current of the water, it was swept back toward the big slide.

Blood Scissors.

This was another trophy from the Female Mask Gang, one of the two Obsessions Takakai's group had obtained from that group of players.

Its function was very simple: it could sever living creatures. From fingers to thighs, to the head, and even entire bodies, even things that seemed impossible to be cut by such small scissors could be easily severed by the Blood Scissors.

Initially, Takakai thought this item was simply a weapon to attack players.

But after actually using it, Takakai realized the true function of the Blood Scissors.

It could sever tangible monsters, and more importantly, it prevented them from easily healing their wounds, forcing them to remain in a dismembered state for a period of time.

As long as it wasn't creatures like Mr. Refrigerator, who could take lives from a distance, tangible creatures that had to make direct contact with the body to activate their monstrous powers could be weakened by the Blood Scissors, temporarily controlled, and their strength reduced.

However, this item carried a very high risk of losing control. Even Takakai, after using it, had to immediately reset it in his watch.

The swollen rescue team members hadn't gotten close yet; they were still some distance away.

Takakai didn't hesitate. He immediately started searching through the water and quickly found the second yellow striped uniform he needed.

With a surprised expression, Takakai reached into the water and grabbed the uniform.

Good, as long as he changed into this, he could...

Boom—

A pale hand reached out from the water and grabbed Takakai's arm.

Before Takakai had a chance to react, with a powerful force, he was immediately dragged straight into the water.