MTLNOVEL Chapter 2 - Miss, Your Head Has Bloomed
Gulp.
Yuuki instinctively swallowed, feeling his head buzzing as his expression shifted rapidly in a matter of seconds.
Confusion. Disbelief. Rage…
As that grating countdown echoed in his ears, it was as if an invisible hand had clenched around his heart. Blood surged to his brain, and his thoughts became both chaotic and razor-sharp.
Why now, of all times? Could it be that Sakurajima Mai was truly abnormal? Was even thinking about her enough to trigger unpredictable consequences?
Yuuki had all but confirmed that this world posed no danger, fully prepared to embark on a new life. But now, as if struck by a sledgehammer, his instincts screamed in anger.
Yet a second later, reason reasserted itself.
“So what I saw back then wasn’t an illusion?!”
Who wrote it?
Why remind me?
Why now?
Yuuki’s bewilderment wasn’t the usual “Who am I? Where am I?” existential crisis. It was a creeping, suffocating dread.
His mind felt as though it had been soaked in the waters of oblivion, leaving no memory behind. He forced himself to cast aside the question, and then—
A strange sense of relief washed over him.
Whatever the reason, hadn’t he spent years preparing for this very moment?
The patience, the training, the relentless search through his past-life memories… How many childhood sweethearts had he missed along the way? If this was all just some grand delusion, wouldn’t that be a colossal waste?
[Weird. I don’t even know if I should consider myself lucky or screwed.]
His heartbeat gradually steadied—at the very least, this proved he wasn’t just paranoid. Like an overachieving student grinding through endless practice exams, whether he could solve the problem or not was secondary. What mattered was that, when the real test arrived, he was mentally prepared.
【Please open the door, rendezvous with your teammates, and complete the beginner tutorial.】
【Afterward, players will unlock their personal interface.】
【Countdown commencing: 10, 9, 8…】
The strange voice echoed again, and countless past scenarios Yuuki had rehearsed flooded his mind. The gears in his head, previously sluggish, began turning at full speed.
“Reincarnation game? Players? Something like a dungeon-crawling scenario with infinite loop mechanics? But why is there no mission prompt?”
“Open the door and meet the others? Is this a rookie test? The real game only begins after passing this phase? What happens if I don’t open it?”
By the time the countdown reached 4, a multitude of questions had surfaced in his mind. But none of them could be answered, because the voice had already vanished—leaving no intention of clarifying anything.
Casting a glance down the seemingly endless corridor, Yuuki turned the doorknob without hesitation and pushed inward.
General Rule #1: In a game, it’s best to follow the system’s instructions.
Creak—
The wooden door groaned on its hinges as Yuuki stepped inside, squinting slightly against the glow of the wall-mounted lamps.
Another corridor. Grey carpeting, greenish walls—almost identical to the previous one. The only difference was that this one contained things.
There were no windows. Six wooden doors lined the hallway, evenly spaced. A wooden staircase at the midpoint led both upstairs and down. Turning back, he saw the open doorway he had entered through—beyond it, the same monotonous corridor he had left.
A villa? A castle?
A slight twitch flickered at the corner of Yuuki’s eye. Now that the countdown had stopped, a breath of relief slipped from his lips.
He was certain he had made the right choice. And yet, the scene before him made his expression subtly complicated.
[This isn’t quite how I imagined it.]
Over the years, he had simulated countless survival scenarios—apocalypses, supernatural invasions, even being thrown into some sort of death game. But looking back at that bizarre minute he just experienced, he realized something was… off.
[No established template. At least, it’s not something like Infinity Terror… Could it be one of those ‘rule-based horror’ scenarios? That’s impossible to prepare for.]
His head still buzzed. Absently, he lifted a foot, stepping onto the soft carpet. The sensation of fabric underfoot brought him back to reality, and his gaze sharpened.
There was no turning back now. No matter what kind of game this was, no matter if all his years of preparation had been wasted—
I just want to survive!
The corridor showed no immediate signs of supernatural interference. At least, in terms of physics, it obeyed the same rules as reality. Fully focused, Yuuki padded down the carpeted hall, soon reaching the central staircase.
“Up or down? At least five landings… this place is at least five stories high. Seems like a castle or a large building.”
Making a quick assessment, he cast a glance downward—then abruptly looked up. A crimson glow flickered in the dim lighting.
Within the shadows cast by the wall-mounted lamps, that sliver of red stood out vividly. Yuuki’s tense expression finally relaxed a little.
Then, as if triggered by his gaze, the eerie voice spoke again.
【Player, you have fifteen minutes remaining.】
[Whew… I thought I’d have to search blindly. So there are hints. But fifteen minutes? Does it really take that long to go upstairs?]
He lifted his foot onto the wooden steps—then suddenly froze.
Thud.
The impact of his shoe against the stair rang out—a dull, muffled sound. Yet when it entered his ears, it split into two distinct thud-thud echoes. In the dead silence of the corridor, it was unnervingly clear.
[…Someone else is here?]
Muscles tensing instinctively, Yuuki wasn’t particularly surprised. The system had mentioned teammates—meaning he wasn’t alone in this building.
Teammates? Or dungeon monsters?
After a brief moment of thought, he slid his right hand into his coat pocket, pressing his back against the wall. Moving on the balls of his feet, he crept upward, rounding the corner just in time to glimpse a dark figure ascending ahead of him.
The upper half of their body was swallowed by shadows, but he could see light blue jeans and white sneakers.
As if sensing his presence, the figure’s legs paused. A white sneaker twisted, turning in his direction.
“Who’s there?!”
The voice wasn’t Japanese—it sounded like Spanish. But somehow, Yuuki understood it perfectly.
That wasn’t surprising. If time and space could be altered at will, ensuring players could communicate was trivial.
Still, he remained silent. Trusting any living being right now was out of the question.
“Are you a hostage too? Oh, thank god! I thought I was the only one here.”
Hearing no response, the voice turned frantic, laced with a faint sob. The girl began rushing downward, speaking breathlessly.
“Did you hear that weird voice just now? Talking about some bullshit game? Get me out of here! I’ll pay you whatever you want once we escape!”
She rounded the corner, finally catching sight of Yuuki. Her gaze landed on the black-haired youth—only to see him hastily retreating down the way he came.
Her teary voice instantly turned irritated.
“Hey! Why are you backing away?!”
Yuuki really was backing away—several times faster than he had climbed up. In the blink of an eye, he had returned to the hallway, his head tilted upward as he swallowed hard.
“Miss, when you heard that strange voice earlier… what did you do?”
“What do you mean, what did I do? I ran, obviously! Kept running and ended up here. Why are you staying so far away? Get over here!”
The girl was still chasing after him, her voice turning shrill with hysteria—completely at odds with her sweet tone.
“…I see. You didn’t follow the instructions.”
Standing beneath the lamp’s glow, Yuuki’s crimson eyes reflected the approaching figure.
She had a slender figure, clad in a cartoon-printed T-shirt and jeans, accentuating the curves typical of Western physiques.
But as his gaze moved upward—
The sight was gruesome.
Her pale neck was like a flowerpot, but where a beautiful head should have been, everything had completely come apart—like a cartoon drawing torn to shreds by some mischievous child. Skull and muscle fanned out like petals, and a mouth, now split across three of these “petals,” writhed, its saliva dripping uncontrollably onto the floor.
From an angle she herself couldn’t see, the pooling saliva had already formed a spreading puddle, seeping outward, thick with the stench of blood. A foul odor surged through the air.
“Miss, your head has bloomed.”
Yuuki’s lips twitched slightly as he mouthed the words soundlessly.