Yamiyo no Hotaru

Chapter 100

　"D*mn it all!"

　I shouted as I sprinted forward. While shouting, I thrust my spear toward the grinning face of a flat-faced creature that leaped out in front of me. I tore through flesh, crushing its bones.

　"Tch!"

　Without hesitation, I swung my spear, striking down the monster and leaving its lifeless body behind without a second glance. I kept sprinting through the seemingly endless corridor.

　"Huff... huff... D*mmit! There's no end!"

　Gasping for breath, sweat dripping down my forehead, but still, I didn't stop running. I couldn't stop. If I stopped even for a moment, certain death awaited me.

　...Behind me, countless voices echoed, closing in.

　"...!"

　Immediately, the sliding screen next to me was forcefully pulled open. Something white flew out. I slid my body to avoid the clutches of that sinister hand at the last moment. Then, instinctively, I turned around.

　It was a cat's paw. A gigantic cat's paw. It growled unhappily, scratching its claws everywhere along the corridor, searching for the prey it had missed.

　"Tch, they're coming from the front too...!?"

　If I turned to face the noise, I could see countless shadows approaching from the other side of the seemingly endless corridor.

　There was a man wearing a Noh mask. A kappa in a tuxedo with a wide smile. A Kazukiarai wearing a kimono, sobbing uncontrollably. A Kejoro wielding a kitchen knife, screaming wildly. A Soroban-Bōzu running while playing the abacus. An ittan-momen and Jinmenken (Human-faced dog). Abura-sumashi and various other incomprehensible creatures, all filling the corridor and advancing toward me.

　"What's going on here...!!"

　'Meowww!!'

　Smirking at the chaotic figures approaching from the front, I turned to the growling sound behind me.

　A Maneki-neko had bitten and seized the neck of a baboon that had persistently been chasing after me. It stared at me intently while still holding onto the struggling baboon. As soon as the baboon was slammed onto the floor, its neck snapped, and it ceased to breathe.

　'Meow~'

　With a single cry, the Maneki-neko that had caught a fish instead of a dorayaki stared at me with emotionless, large eyes. Our gazes met, and there was a brief moment of silence.

　And then... immediately, the cat revealed a grotesque smile, tossing away the lifeless baboon and even the large cloth it had been carrying. It charged toward me.

　"You b*stard...!!"

　I was dumbfounded, but quickly understood the situation and spat out the words. There were no more choices.

　"It's a risky gamble...!!"

　In an instant, I made up my mind and reached for one of the countless sliding screens. I swallowed my saliva. Now, will a demon (oni) or a snake appear...!!

　"Sh*tty luck! How did it come to this...!!?"

　I shouted as I jumped into the pitch-black darkness beyond the pulled-back screen. I vomited in the midst of the monster's guts.

　And I wondered. How did things end up in this worst-case scenario where I had no choice but to reset my save data in this damn game?

　I recalled the series of events that led me to this point...