In the blink of an eye, time passes quickly, my days as a high school student are normal and I live my life as I want. At this moment I feel the call back to that rare room, It's that jet black sphere, when a paralysis immobilizes my whole body. It had started again, as if it was only yesterday but it is now, gantz has a new fucking mission after almost a month...Me, Kishimoto and the dog included, left our apartment.
I, Kei Kurono, am tied to live this...
"Here came others."
"Look, these ones like costumes as cosplayers."
Some spoke. Once again I was here, standing in front of the black sphere a little over a meter in diameter, visible beyond the balcony was the dark sky and the figure of the tokyo tower. I and Kishimoto arrived wearing our black suits, we are holding hands when a crowd of strangers present turned their attention to us. There were already nine people in the room like in the original story that I remember, they are Sei Sakuraoka, the Buddhist priest, an yankee karateka, a fat military maniac, the soldier, two adolescents looking like slackers, Kiyoshi Miyafuji and the random man who dies first. At the site, the new group established a conversation, I was only planning to listen but somehow we also got involved in their talk. The focus of attention is the priest and he answers the doubts of others. The truth be told, I don't care if they die...
You can ask any question you have, I will answer you within my knowledge..."(Buddhist Priest).
"Where are we? At someone's house...?"(1) One of the adolescents asks. He has brown skin, shaved blond hair, and ugly glasses and hat.
"To make it simple, this is the place where we are judged after we die before we go to paradise..." (Buddhist priest).
"..." (1) He looks doubtful.
"What you said...I didn't understand anything..."(2) The other adolescent complained. He is an adolescent of average height and has a fairly slim body.
" Exist those who live in paradise and those who fall into eternal damnation. Death brings us together...and this is where our destinies will be decided" (Buddhist Priest).
"Here we will be judged?" (Kiyoshi). A lean man with glasses joins in the chatter.
"To send us...to heaven or to hell..." (Buddhist Priest).
"I see...and how can we go to heaven...?"(Kiyoshi). He asked another question.
"You must raise a prayer. Namu Amida Butsu...over and over again. Those who recite the chant will go to paradise. Those who don't will fall to hell"(Buddhist Priest).
"Hahaha..." I laugh with utter contempt.
"Young man, you seem to read a lot of manga, Do you have any questions?..." The Buddhist priest talked and looked towards me with accusing eyes.
Here I was again, in the Tokyo Gantz room, here is where the recently deceased are brought by the local cyborg inside a black sphere, , given weapons and gantz suits, and then sent out on missions. Now the mission of the aliens of the buddhist temple has just started, and without more I have to make a decision in the first event. Decision one, intervene in the conversation as a consequence that the group hears my warning and not follow the plot. Decision two, not to intervene in the conversation like the original Kei Kurono, go to the hallway to sneak a fuck with Kishimoto or Sei sakuraoka and follow the plot. Did I even have to think about it?
"Not at all, don't worry about me. Excuse me, please continue" I answer them with naturalness, disguising my real opinion. Fuck them.
Immediately, Kishimoto pulls my arm and whispers in my ear.
"Hey, I've seen that priest before...I think on TV...his name is priest Musou or something like that..." (Kishimoto ). It is some information.
After listening to her, I examine each person in front of me in detail, their appearance, the attitude they transmit, that first impression. I and my girlfriend are together. The black sphere projects rays from its surface to our right, restructuring the body of a person on the site, he is the last one to arrive. Kato arrives in the room, he is wearing sleeping clothes, I guess he had already gone to bed before being transported. Well, It's already midnight.The dog goes out into the hallway.
"What? another one has arrived...I will answer all your questions, young one..." The Buddhist Priest speaks, turning toward Kato, his attitude having an aura of confidence and control that contrasts with the collective fear.
"huh?" (Kato). He says in surprise.
"'Kei-chan, what's going on?" (Kato). He turns to me, bewildered, and asks about the situation in the room.
"Eeh... I don't know..." I lie, looking away to avoid his gaze. Of course I know...
"Do you have any questions, young one? I will give you the answer. You must be very confused about your own death..." (Priest Musou). He talks. The issue is, he couldn't have been more wrong...
"..." (Kato). He makes an expression of lack of context.
"Masaru, were you sleeping?" (Kishimoto). She asks him.
"Kishimoto, yes, I was sleeping....So these are the new ones...Hm?" (Kato). He answered her, nodded and looked at the strangers around the black sphere.
"Yes" I said looking at Sei Sakuraoka carefully.
Sei is a very tall woman with a large bust, slim and fit; she also has long black hair which she wears in a braid. She has a slim waist and thin hips and long slightly slender legs. She was wearing a hoodie over a tank top, and underneath that, she was not wearing a bra. A skull belt adjusted her short skirt, with long socks that went up to her long heel boots.
Now yes, we are all...the new ones and the old ones...this is the tokyo team...
To start the hunt, the group has their own ideas of what is going on, Kato tries to persuade the group but it is useless and his warning is ignored. My busty girlfriend, in his defense, also joins the conversation to back him up, which generated a conflict. The monk, in his fanaticism, sees Kishimoto's intervention as an interruption or a "doubt," and becomes more disparaging, thinking they were delusional. He's just that kind of obstinate, inflexible, closed-minded person. I tried to stay out of it as much as I could, but when I saw my girlfriend being treated that way in front of me, I got dragged into it. Ah, sometimes you have a plan, but reality always imposes itself and forces you to change your actions however how far someone is willing to go is the choice.
Kato and Kishimoto took a step forward toward the center of the room, facing the new group, trying to make them see the seriousness of the situation. I remain standing behind them in my initial position.
"Prayers are useless. This place has nothing to do with Buddhist heaven. None of us here have died yet, we are all still alive! We were gathered here to carry out a hunt. We are all alive but we won't survive if we don't cooperate together..." (Kato). The ex-bodyguard gives his best to make them change their minds, speaking with conviction.
"We've been here before. We know what's going to happen better than you do...believe us..." (Kishimoto). She pleaded with them to listen.
" Under these circumstances, it is not strange that they are going crazy..."(Priest Musou). At the attempt of persuasion of both the man ignores them with disdain, that is his perception.
"Pff...aliens?" "haha how delusional..." (1)(2) The other two adolescents in the new ones laugh at what they say. What a piece of shit attitude they have...
"Listen, It doesn't matter if you think it makes sense or not, we are gathered here because of other people's decisions, all it takes is a little thought. Did you see those people coming for the laser? with today's technology it's not possible to do that...but if you raise the situation that there are aliens living on earth, that means that there is also alien technology on earth and if that probably came into the hands of other people, they could build a machine like that, a machine capable of changing the place just at the moment of death....and use us to fight these same aliens" I speak to everyone present in the room.
"..." (Everyone)
"Haha! charlatans...!" (Priest Musou).
" I have already lived two hunts. In the first one, I was alone against a monstrosity. In the second one, not only did I fight aliens but also members of my own group. Can you imagine that? Otherwise shut the fuck up!" (Kurono). I reply logically and shoot straight, like in the neighborhood where I was raised.
"I believe you..." (Sei).
"Don't be confused! Don't be stupid! I told you this is a place of trial. That's not a man. It is the manifestation of our earthly desires. All who follow him will become a victim of their own lust and descend into hell!!!" Priest Musou points his rosary at me, seeking to discredit me before the others, he speaks with the skill of a ceremonial leader; although the message he preaches is complete manipulation he knows exactly how to guide the group's thoughts. The dog reappears from the hallway and sits with its tongue hanging out.
" You don't have to believe me. If that's what you want to believe, then fine, ha..." I say, shrugging, not bothering to pursue the topic any further, since if I really wanted, I could just use the Gantz suit as evidence but that's not my intention.
After the conversation, Priest Musou and some of the new ones began praying around the black sphere, palms together, kneeling, and reciting 'Namu Amida Butsu'. The skinny guy with glasses started exploring the apartment, trying to open locked doors, using his phone to contact the outside, maybe pondering the black sphere and trying to figure out what was going on on his own. Sei Sakuraoka left the room into the hallway. The soldier just stayed where he was, maintaining a distant attitude. I, along with the dog, Kishimoto, and Kato, sat in a corner near the hallway to discuss what to do next.
"This is getting weird...what do we do?" Kishimoto asked. She looks at us.
"Kei-chan… why did you say that? You only made them more skeptical. Do you really believe it? It sounds crazy… though somehow it kind of makes sense." Kato frowned slightly as he spoke, glancing at me from the corner of his eye.
"Before thinking about the others, we should focus on ourselves and make a plan to face the situation..." I say it, hands resting on my legs, looking at both of them as I speak, making my point.
"Kei, this isn't how we should face this. If we all work together, we'll have a better chance of surviving… that's why I'm saying we need to convince them first..." Kato spoke with his hands slightly raised, as if drawing in the air what he was saying.
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