1.40 – Three options? That really reminds me of a VN

Holy shit, I just killed another person. You’re a killer, Nathan.

He stopped and chuckled the legendary line from the weird vampire movies played in his mind. At least the feeling of disgust has receded, somewhat. He couldn’t feel disgusted when that goofy line was playing in his head.

He quickly dusted off his newfound suit and tried to squeeze out as much blood as he could, and then he stepped back out into the hallways, merging into the small crowd, although most of the Onis were already out, searching.

He went out of the building completely, and then he found himself in a forest just like he had expected. The Onis were goddamn everywhere.

There was a plaque nearby. It said Mount Tanzava. Honestly, he had no idea where that was, but he wasn’t knocked out for that long. Surely they couldn’t be far enough that Vermillion Strike couldn’t reach him eventually. But with no idea how to get back into Tokyo even, he would have to hide here.

I have to blend in until rescue comes around. Running would just make me an easy target…

Nathan realized that he could learn more. It made his skin crawl when he imagined the danger that he would definitely have to go through. But it was a simple fact that he was wholly unprepared for his survival and for the completion of the quest, both strength-wise but also information-wise.

He wasn’t sure whether Koharu was still here, and talking to her was probably a quick way to get revealed, but simply absorbing information that the others would say would be better than nothing at least. When would he get a chance like this again?

He rolled his shoulders, pretending to just stretch, but he stored the momentum. In actuality, the Onis were everywhere he looked, and there was forest all around. The name ‘Mount Tanzava’ definitely seemed to imply his location as well, because the view was spectacular.

Never before had he seen so much nature all around; it was breathtaking. Even Mount Fuji was not that far away, visible in the distance, its snow-capped peak a beacon. If only he had learned more about the geography of Japan. But then again, who was supposed to predict that he would find himself in Tokyo one day, under such circumstances?

The Onis, almost as if on call, all began walking back towards the building. Nathan, for a second, considered running, thinking that they might have identified him somehow already, but once the first of the Onis passed him without saying a word, Nathan sighed and turned, following the small crowd that went back inside. From the outside, the building was beautiful: wooden beams with a wooden roof and white walls and classic Japanese windows, just the kind that one would expect to find in a mountain settlement like this.

From above the single-floor building, a giant tree with pink leaves hovered over every Oni that went into the hallway. A sakura, just like the one he had first seen once he got here. Although this one was a bit more crooked and had far fewer leaves, or maybe it was simply because Spring was not that far from its end now. He could see no fruit, at least.

Nathan, doing his damn best not to turn anyone’s attention to himself, joined somewhere in the middle of the crowd and followed. They went through the same hall that he lured the Oni guard from before, but continued straight, emerging in a small garden surrounded by walls. Well, small was underselling it. The building itself was quite large, and there must have been at least fifty of the Onis who gathered into a crowd here. All of them gathered in neat lines and kneeled. Nathan did the same.

Are there people with psychic powers? If there are, I’m sooo done. I must stick out like a sore thumb with all of the stress I’m feeling right now.

He tried not to panic, failing all the same. Worst of all, there would be no way to know the answer to his question unless somebody picked him out. Out of the five main heroines, all of them had physical powers, but there were psychics in My Superhero Life. The difference was that they weren’t usually that important to the story. How do you showcase cool effects of psychic powers in a video game, after all? That stuff was better left to things like TV shows and books.

Focusing on his breathing, he managed to calm himself, at least enough to not get any side glances from his now new-found colleagues. There was a very small podium in front of them, tall, like a step, maybe? Large enough to fit at least ten people standing side to side. Was that where the boss would come?

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Nathan scanned the other Onis all around him and noticed why all of them came here. They had an earpiece. Nathan must have smashed the earpiece of his victim when he crushed his skull. Too late to go and grab it now then.

Finally, when even more Onis came to the small garden, there was silence, which was deafening. He couldn’t even hear the sounds of breathing of the others.

A minute passed; then another; then 5, 10, 20. Nathan managed to analyze every flower around the buildings. Every difference between the Oni, which were honestly more varied in body structure and small quirks than he would have thought. He even saw one with clawed hands, which made him shudder and confirmed his suspicions that some of them were superhuman.

When he could barely take it any longer, finally the door in front of him opened and three people stepped outside. One of them was Koharu. She looked exactly the same as when he saw her earlier: black hair, beautiful eyes, slender figure, and the black costume of the Red Lily.

However, there was another Red Lily woman, and Nathan recognized her as well.

Warning! A hero of story importance nearby.