The Public Safety Devil Extermination Special Division vehicles quickly arrived at the scene, police lights flashing. Personnel from various departments moved swiftly, with clear division of labor, beginning to clean up the battlefield.
The two halves of Knife Woman's body were carefully dragged away by professionals.
Amidst the crowd, Arai Hirokazu waved her arms and ran excitedly toward Kobeni.
"Kobeni! The remaining gang members died in such a bizarre way! It was like someone crushed them out of thin air with an invisible force—first their heads, then their whole bodies! They exploded like balloons—pop!"
Arai gestured wildly, face animated, trying to describe everything she had witnessed during the sudden incident.
"Who do you think it was? Miss Makima? Someone else from the Special Division Against Devils? Kobeni? Hey, Kobeni?"
Only then did Arai notice Kobeni wasn't listening. She followed her gaze in confusion.
"By the way… where's Hayakawa Aki-senpai and the others? Weren't they getting noodles here? Where'd they go?"
She looked around.
At that moment, Kobeni's voice trembled.
She pointed at the white paper on the table, her eyes wide with fear.
"Renji Kuroda… Renji hasn't come out yet…"
Kobeni's voice cracked with tears, and she clutched Arai's sleeve tightly.
Inside the white paper, Renji Kuroda was trying to cast magic again—attempting to open space and escape using Skill: Current Severance.
But since entering, the magic had failed. No matter how many times he tried, it just wouldn't work.
"…Strange. Is it malfunctioning? That can't be…"
Renji stared at his hands, frustration and confusion building into a headache.
Then, from behind, Hayakawa Aki spoke. She pointed at the paper on the table.
"Renji, there's new text."
Renji quickly walked over. A line of annotation had appeared below the five questions.
[Note: Cheating is prohibited during the exam!]
Renji clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"Seriously? What a pain…"
In the Chainsaw Man world, devils often had powers based on concepts. Take the War Devil, for example.
As long as I think it is, it is—regardless of whether it truly is.
Fighting them with conventional logic was almost pointless.
Suddenly, Renji felt a warm liquid flowing from his nose. He touched his fingers to it—blood.
At the same time, Hayakawa Aki was also bleeding from her nose. It wouldn't stop.
They looked at each other, and Renji saw shock and unease in Aki's eyes.
Then, the white paper changed again. Another note appeared:
[Note: 45 minutes remaining for this exam.]
Hayakawa Aki didn't hesitate this time. She drew the cursed weapon, Kas, from her back.
"I'm doing it. If we stay here any longer, we'll die."
"Don't use Kas, Hayakawa Aki. If you do, how much lifespan will you have left?"
In the original story, Aki had already used Kas multiple times. Her lifespan was down to less than ten years.
If she used it again now… she'd be left with maybe two.
Renji couldn't accept that.
During his stay at Aki's home, she had always taken good care of her. She was calm, thoughtful, and kind. In everyday life, she showed more virtue than most.
Aki just smiled.
"Whatever the cause—whether it's a devil's power or something else—I think our bodies are being drained in proportion to the exam time. This countdown… is the countdown to our lives."
She pointed at Renji's nosebleed.
"And if we can't get out, having a long lifespan doesn't mean anything."
Her tone was incredibly calm. To avenge his family and kill the Gun Devil, she had already given up on self-preservation long ago.
Renji looked into her steady, composed eyes and suddenly remembered her tragic end in the original story.
Something stirred in his chest.
"I'll help you, Hayakawa Aki. We'll take down the Gun Devil together."
[Ding~ Detected Hayakawa Aki's happy emotion. System rewards: 10 points.]
"Eh…? Ah… mm-hmm. Thank you."
Aki blinked, a little caught off guard. She didn't understand why he said that, but she felt a quiet happiness bloom in his heart.
"Then don't use Kas. Trust me. It's too steep a price. Let's solve the questions. We can escape that way too."
"Answer the questions? Who's supposed to answer them?"
Renji Kuroda picked up the pen and looked at the first question on the white paper.
[Question 1: Have you seen a man?]
Renji tried to write "yes, I have," but the pen tip merely slid across the paper without leaving a single mark. He couldn't write anything at all.
After thinking for a moment, He turned to Hayakawa Aki.
"This place is your examination room—your exam. You're the one who should write. For the first question, you can just answer normally. If you've seen one, write 'yes, I have.' If not, write 'no, I haven't.'"
Hayakawa Aki stood silently for a few seconds, then looked at Renji with mild confusion.
"Trust me. We can get out. Remember the Eternal Devil? The devil I have a contract with is strong."
Aki stepped forward, glanced at the first question, and—without hesitation—wrote: "no, I haven't."
Renji suddenly froze.
Wait a second…
Something felt off.
That question…
Renji's eyes widened as she mentally pieced it together.
"Isn't this question the perfect way to expose whoever was spying on me and Denji during the Eternal Devil incident?"
She remembered Denji's outrageous statement—declaring Renji a man after groping her in the bathroom. It had been absurd… but also oddly convenient.
Now, Himeno, Power, and Denji were also trapped in this white paper space. Denji clearly wasn't the one to consider anymore—he'd been directly involved.
"This isn't a test."
"This is a truth detector. If you lie—you die."
Renji looked at Hayakawa Aki's written response—"no, I haven't"—which meant Aki hadn't been there at the time. That narrowed the suspects down to just Himeno, Power, and—though less likely—Kobeni or Arai Hirokazu.
Then, a memory surfaced—one from a drunken night at Himeno's place. After a few drinks, Himeno had muttered something about wanting to stab Renji with a "purple dildo"—clearly implying Renji was a woman.
At the time, it had sounded like drunk nonsense.
But people often tell the truth when drunk.
"If Himeno really thought I was a woman, then she probably wasn't the one peeking either…" Renji thought to herself.
Just then, Hayakawa Aki's voice interrupted her train of thought.
"Renji, what about the second question?"
Renji blinked, snapping back to the present, and looked down at the page.
[Question 2: Have you seen a man's little man?]
"Oh, this one? Same as the first. Just tell the truth."
Aki nodded and calmly wrote: "no, I haven't."
Renji moved her eyes to the third line.
[Question 3: Do you like a man's body?]
She stared at the words in silent disbelief for a beat.
... patreon Rene_chan