My Instant Death Ability is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! - Volume 2 - Chapter 9

Chapter 9 — What Kind of Crappy Game Is This World?! 

Yogiri thought for a bit about how to explain his ability to Rick. He didn’t care if his enemies knew about it, since they were going to die anyway. Their impressions of him didn’t matter. He also didn’t mind if Tomochika knew about it, obviously. Even if she wasn’t fond of it, she understood that it was necessary to protect them so that they could get back to their own world. And not only was it pretty much impossible to hide it from someone who was traveling with him long term, trying to keep it hidden would be a pointless hassle. 

When it came to someone they had only known for a short while, however, things were different. He had already displayed his power, so he couldn’t pretend that it hadn’t happened, but it was hard to know how much he should explain to their new companions. Yogiri knew all too well how people tended to react when they found out exactly what his power was. 

“I have incredibly good luck,” he offered. “In a way, I guess it’s kind of the opposite of Lynel.” 

Claiming that he had good enough luck to cause death seemed pretty absurd, but it was a lot better than confessing he could kill people with his thoughts. 

“Wait, are you saying your luck protected me?” Rick was slowly recovering from his shock. 

“Probably. Why else would she suddenly collapse like that? She was in my way so she probably had a heart attack or something.” 

“A heart attack? That’s absurd. For a Thunderous Blade to meet such an end...” He paused. “Then again, she was imprisoned for a time. I did wonder how they had managed to arrest her, but if she had some sort of congenital condition...” 

Yogiri hadn’t actually expected Rick to believe him. After all, who would buy a story like that? But the swordsman’s face showed that he had fallen deep into thought. 

There was Lynel, who was living proof that some people had extremely bad luck. 

There was Teresa, now dead. 

And then there was the memory of the Teresa he had known before coming here. 

It seemed he was trying to connect those facts in his head somehow. 

“I saved Lynel, by the way,” Tomochika announced happily, as if she had never been worried about him in the first place. 

“Man, even with an Apology Stone stuck to my hand, it doesn’t help if they just cut the hand off, does it?” 

“I guess you’d really be in trouble if you lost both arms then, huh?” 

Lynel seemed to be having trouble getting the remaining Stones out of his pocket, but he finally managed it with Tomochika’s help. 

“Anyway, let’s get out of here,” Yogiri suggested. 

No one objected, of course — with the dozens of bodies scattered about the room in hundreds of pieces, the smell of blood was suffocating. None of them wanted to stay there any longer than they had to. 

Past the door that Teresa had been guarding, they found a descending staircase. After confirming there were no traps, Yogiri led the group down, where they eventually came to a door with more words written on it. 

Once one leaves this floor, they cannot return. 

“I guess this is to force us closer together and make us fight,” Yogiri said thoughtfully. If everyone was to walk around randomly in a tower of this size, they would rarely come across the others. 

“Perhaps it is also a warning. As in, ‘make sure you have finished searching above this floor.’” 

Rick’s idea also had merit, but Yogiri wasn’t keen on the idea of turning around. “Might as well keep going forward at this point,” he said, opening the door. 

A white corridor extended in a straight line ahead of them. The safe zone continued for as far as they could see. 

“Are you sure this is safe?” Tomochika asked, scanning the passage before them restlessly. Yogiri looked down the corridor and saw what looked like a reception desk with a magic doll in a black dress sitting behind it. The puppet looked identical to the one they had seen on the roof. Yogiri remembered the first doll saying that all of them were the same type. 

“Hello. Congratulations on reaching the ninety-eighth floor. The entirety of this floor is a safe zone. As Magic Puppet A explained, any combat in a safe zone will immediately disqualify you.” 

“Does that mean that only the attacker will be disqualified?” Yogiri didn’t particularly care about passing the test, but he was concerned that being disqualified might come back to bite him later on. As long as they followed the rules, it likely wouldn’t be a problem. 

“Correct. Please rest assured you will not be punished for the actions of others. However, the only punishment is the disqualification itself, so I suggest you remain vigilant.” In other words, they might run into those who would willingly disqualify themselves in order to attack them. “Furthermore, there is nothing related to the trial on this floor. If you continue forward, you will find a door to another staircase. However, there are facilities prepared for you here. If you wish, you may rest here before continuing.” 

Looking down the hallway, they could see numerous doors along both walls, which must have led to the rest facilities she had mentioned. 

“Now that we’re in a safe place, I feel like there’s something we should talk about,” Yogiri said. “Wouldn’t it be better if we went on separately?” 

Up until that moment, he had been fine with working together, but if the trial was going to be this malicious, it was time to reevaluate. After all, the room they had just come from would have forced all of them to fight to the death. If there were more rooms like that later on, there would be no way for them to work together. 

“Good point. This trial is much harsher than I expected. But are you sure you can manage?” asked Rick. 

“We’re fine,” Yogiri shrugged. 

“I can just hide in one of these rooms until midnight when my Apology Stones are replenished.” 

“I feel like that’s not going to be enough to get you through, Lynel...” Tomochika seemed concerned, but Yogiri couldn’t care less about Lynel. Of course he wouldn’t feel right letting the guy die in front of his eyes, but if Lynel went off and died on his own, that was nobody else’s responsibility. 

Of course, Yogiri could simply kill all the obstacles in their path. If he did, they might safely reach the bottom without a problem, but he felt no obligation to take care of these strangers. His top priority was Tomochika’s safety. He was more than confident in his ability to protect himself, so with Tomochika as his only responsibility, he figured he could manage. But each person that was added to the group increased the risk exponentially. If Yogiri was trying to keep them all safe, it would hinder his ability to protect his classmate. 

“Understood. I will depart first,” Rick volunteered. 

For someone who was truly aiming to be a Knight, taking a rest so early in the game was out of the question. Points and other items along the way seemed to be first come, first served, so there was an advantage to going ahead as well. 

“Hopefully we won’t come across each other during the trial,” Yogiri offered. 

“I shall pray for that to be true. Good luck.” 

Rick proceeded down the hallway, leaving the three of them behind. 

The Sage Aoi was making her way out of the Forest of Beasts. A plump young man who called himself Daimon Hanakawa was following close behind her. 

“And so that dastardly Rikuto fellow referred to me as a pig. Perhaps you believe I have no right to complain, seeing as he rescued me. But for even those beautiful elf girls to call me a pig was a fair bit too demeaning.” 

Although she had never said she would help him, nor offered to let him come with her, Hanakawa continued to follow close on her heels, rambling the whole way. At first, she hadn’t really cared. Once she left the forest, she would be boarding an airship anyway, so she didn’t mind acting a bit like monster repellant for the boy until then. But once he’d brought up the fact that he knew Yogiri Takatou and Tomochika Dannoura, she couldn’t ignore him anymore. 

“They ordered you to stay in the forest, didn’t they? Are you sure you can just walk out?” 

Hanakawa responded with an unpleasant laugh, annoying enough that Aoi briefly considered killing him on the spot. “Indeed, I thought such a thing might happen! But this particular slave collar was made to lose its effectiveness after three days! One must repeatedly refresh the order of subordination to keep its effects active! I needed only to bear their cruel edict for three days! My intention was to take their heads in their sleep after they had begun to fully trust me. I never imagined they would abandon me to the forest first!” 

“Just to let you know,” Aoi said with a snort, “an item like that won’t work on me.” 

“Of...of course, such a thought never once crossed my mind! I hardly have need of such a device now, anyway!” Hanakawa answered nervously, hurriedly removing and throwing the collar away. His panicked response made it quite clear what he had been planning all along. 

“Well, whatever. I’m going to have to ask you to come with me once we get out of the forest.” 

“Um, excuse me? Actually, err, I’m not all that into tomboyish types. I figured help getting out of this forest would be enough!” 

“I don’t have any reliable information on those two. Since you’ve seen their power for yourself, you might be useful, and if they know who you are then that makes things a lot easier as well.” 

“If that is the case, I will tell you all I know! I have been grumbling about Takatou’s power, thinking that, if forced, I could turn that information into a profit with you. At least, that was my line of thinking, but never with the intention of accompanying you to face them! Besides, I am sure that the moment they see me, they will kill me!” 

“If it’s profit you want, I can pay you well enough. I’m a Sage, so I can get almost anything you ask for.” 

“Then what need is there for me to go with you at all?!” 

“From here, I’m heading to a place called Hanabusa. I want you to tell me about them while we travel.” 

As they were speaking, they finally emerged from the forest. A wide plain stretched out before them. Called the Dragon Plains, it was the very place where the Sage Sion had transported the class of high school students during their school trip. In the middle of the field was their school bus, the back half of which was entirely missing. 

“That’s the vehicle you came here in, right? Looks pretty beat up.” 

There were traces of something passing through it and into the forest beyond, likely the result of some sort of projectile magic. 

“That appears to be the case. Hm...strange, I believe on my way to the forest a few days ago, I saw the corpse of a dragon...” 

“A dragon? You mean that? There’s only a tail there now.” 

Beside the bus was what looked like the end of a tail lying on the ground. It was a pretty strange sight, since there were no creatures living in the area that would be interested in eating a dragon carcass. 

“Well, anyway.” Whatever had happened there, it had nothing to do with her. 

As they approached the circular aircraft that Aoi had anchored nearby, the hatch opened automatically and steps descended from within. 

“Let’s go.” 

“Nooooo! I will definitely, definitely be killed! I don’t want to see those two ever again!” 

Aoi pulled out her knife, threatening the reluctant Hanakawa. 

“Bahahaha! You think such a trinket could harm me?! I am a Healer! Such trifling wounds as that knife might cause would be as nothing, healed in an instant!” 

“Did you not see me fight earlier? I can nullify other people’s powers. Want a demonstration?” 

“Why does everyone I come across have such ridiculous powers?! What kind of crappy game is this world?! It’s like they didn’t even try to balance it!” 

“Well, from my perspective, there’s a certain kind of balance.” 

“But if you can nullify powers, why do you have need of me?!” 

“It’s not like I’m omnipotent. I need to learn about my opponents so that I can decide how to best use my power against them. So hurry up and get in.” 

Forcing the unhappy Hanakawa forward, they boarded the ship. Their destination was the Garula Canyon, the very location where Yogiri and Tomochika had recently found themselves.