what if she's saying is true, I might definitely go out.
Well, what would I do if I go out? Simple.
I'll continue to try and use her to manipulate them—but only if she's willing to do it. I'm not manipulating her,
Because I don't want anything to go wrong.
Duh... I'm only fooling myself there is nothing called welling or whatever
These 8 kids are really strong… and I almost forgot the other one—the Chinese kid, the 10th.
They'll be of help in the future when we kill the Demon King. As if.
Another plan is to get info.
We must use our powers to communicate with each other.
They may have already started doing that. From what I've seen, David and Yosuke are really sharp.
The way they sit tells a lot.
David crosses his legs and just keeps watching everything, quiet and observant.
Meanwhile...
Yosuke sits with his legs wide open, leaning straight but keeps mirroring people when he talks—which means they're both sharp and smart.
So I'm guessing they're already using signs to communicate, and probably know more about the guards and security than the others.
Right now, they're likely trying to figure out a way to manipulate the guards.
If they manage to do that, it's going to make things a lot easier.
The guards will just live their lives, unaware.
But the problem is… if the manipulation doesn't work, they'll end up being suspected.
If they get reported, there's a high chance of a death penalty.
So we have to watch out.
Now here comes the hard one.
Yosuke is definitely training on something huge.
Since lightning is lightning—we all know there are some shocks that occur due to ionization—even that counts as lightning.
He's probably going to use that like a gun and train his accuracy.
Or maybe he's training how to set something on fire using his lightning skills.
That would be really effective for breaking engines from far away—you control the lightning, no contact at all, and you blow it up.
Creating lightning with lightning doesn't have to be flashy. It's always low-key.
What bothers me are Taeyang and Dante. Why aren't they doing anything?
From her impression and how she acts, I can clearly see that they're not making any valuable effort.
This girl sees and questions everything—a lot.
Either they've lost hope… or they just don't want to live anymore.
Why is that?
I better get to know them soon.
Then as planned, when I met her again, I asked, "Please be my spy."
She really overreacted to that. Like, I get it—she's an otaku, that's one thing—but why does it feel like I just asked her to marry me?
Her reactions said it all. She covered her face, it turned red,
she said she would love it and that she'd be a very good fit.
I started wondering—did she hear me wrong? But yeah, otaku mentality… that's good. I love it.
So yeah, she told me what she knows about them all.
As I said, Yosuke-kun is working on something,
The same goes for David. But Taeyang and Dante said they don't care, and that the others can do whatever they want.
The Chinese guy said that they clearly hate being desperate,
But
They're willing to reach out to the rankers so they could all be placed in the same room and be given mana.
They even said, "You guys have no chance of
succeeding—most likely, you'll die."
So when we get to know each other better, those four will be easy targets.
The first thing I did was invite her to my room.
I told her, "You know nothing about me, and I know nothing about you. We're currently having this relationship secretly."
"So yeah, we're gonna be a spy and X-family. Good."
"Be serious about it."
"I am, honey, I am."
Then I claim to her I'll contact David using Japanese names I know will fit in.
I'll make him contact us all in his room, or someone else's room.
After that, we'll be able to see their plan.
"Your job is helping me get to know the Chinese so I can at least manipulate them. You hear me now?"
She accepted it.
After that, we got ready for the manipulation stuff because I already knew what the David would say.
The first thing is he'll try to motivate us. After a while, he'll ask about our powers and begin training each of us.
Then we'll do some exercises to grow stronger.
He'll ask Mei and Jian to teach us martial arts, and he'll negotiate with them, saying he'll give them their freedom.
"They can do whatever they want together," he'll say, "because I won't be returning your wall. You don't need to contact the upper rankers.
In exchange, just teach them meditation."
Finally, the real blow is that he'll contact me, saying he needs to know how to circulate mana and use it efficiently.
That's what he does.
Well, it doesn't matter to me even if he does something else.
He clearly won't do the worst.
She said she accepted it and that she'll be careful.
I told her one last thing: "From here on out, I can talk to you through mental psychic ability.
Call my name.
When I say yes, we are connected. You can talk to me just like how you form thoughts in your mind.
So don't draw unnecessary attention when trying to speak to me, okay?"
She said, "Got it."
Then I said, "Time for me to play another character.
It's laughable if it turns out how I expected… but this isn't the only outcome I planned for.
So yeah, whatever he does, it'll all work out in my favor—except if he betrays us."
---
The next day, I went out.
They were all told to walk to the ground. As they got moving, my door opened and Lyra said, "Wait… was that foot always open or…?"
Then they saw me.
"Who is that?" someone said.
I walked downstairs, acting like my original self—the silent one.
I passed them all without a word. The Ethiopian kid laughed and said, "What was your name?"
I looked straight at him but didn't say a word. As I turned away, he smiled and said, "You're the 9th, aren't you?"
Everyone was shocked.
"You're the ninth?"
Dante said, "Wait, wait… that same damn fast guy who reflected the swords at our entrance?"
"Broo, I'd like you to teach me how to use magic with reflexes like that."
Taeyang said, "LOL, give me a break. Just let him enjoy the morning sun."
Eventually, everyone approached me.
I said, "Huh… my name… it's Kurai… okay, Kurai Adegaki."
we got to talking.
Dante said, "Let me show you what I can do."
He channeled mana into his body
Then flames began to flow all over him—his eyes were literally burning with fire.
He said, "Attack me."
I ran fast toward him—and he struck the ground.
A huge fire blast slashed in the direction I came from,
But I backflipped and rolled to another side.
The moment I landed—not on my feet, but on my hands—he punched the air.
His fists were burning with fire, and the flames sent his punches flying toward me.
"Damn, that's good, bro," I said.
Then he asked, "But whenever I do some kicks or swing around like you did, the fire disappears. Why?"
I said, "That's mostly because you're a mage-type magician, not a combat one.
But it's okay—you just do your acrobatic skills.
Eventually, the moment you strike your opponent, they'll be set on fire.
Try it on something."
He tested it on a stone—and it caught fire. Literally.
What surprised me was that the fire lasted longer on the stone, as if it didn't matter what it touched—it could burn anything.
Then the Korean kid said, "What about mine?"
I said, "Sure, show me what you got."
Then he said, "Shadow Magic: 1000 Ravens!" and fell backward, disappearing into the shadows.Then he said, "Shadow Magic: 1000 Ravens!" and fell backward, disappearing into the shadows.
The ravens attacked me instantly. The moment they made contact, they exploded.
I avoided most of them, but many were clashing with each other.
He clearly wasn't fully controlling them.
I was getting warmed up when he suddenly jumped b
ehind me, attacking from my own shadow.
But he was weak and slow—so I caught his hand and said, "That's enough. You're really something else."
He replied, "I know, right? It was really hard getting used to using shadows to travel around. It's not easy."
I said, "So you sink into one shadow and travel to another by yourself—that's why it took you time to get behind me."
He nodded. "I can't breathe much in there. It's a world full of nothing but shadows.
I call it Shadow Void.
I struggle to move from one shadow to another, and I don't have much breath."
I told him, "If you're not physically fit and haven't mastered your breath control, don't use it. You could die.
Try training yourself in breath-holding and shadow manipulation.
That way, when you get in there, you won't need to do what you're doing now to get out.
Just manipulate the shadows directly—and run wild."
He said, "Yeah, you're right. I better do better than this."
Then the girl, Rim, said, "You guys enjoying this place or just acting like it?"
I said, "A man is a man—even if it's hell, we're still gonna laugh harder than normal.
Giving up is never an option."
I lay on the ground and covered my face.
Yosuke-kun and David were talking about me.
"Having him around is something totally unexpected," David said.
Then Yosuke said, "He makes things more lively in his own way somehow.
And he doesn't bother with others—you go to him, not the other way around.
That's how he is. And he seems perfectly relaxed too—it just shows his confidence.
Whether we trust him with our plan or not, that's something each of us needs to decide.
In my case, I say we wait a while. There's a reason they kept him locked up until now.
And it gets worse when you see that he was dead last in the rank—until that explosion that turned everything off.
He must be reckless."
Then David said, "If he's reckless, do you think they'd let him out?
Besides, look at him—acting all casual and gloomy.
That only shows how he never cared about anything in his life.
I kinda say let him know about the plan—it won't hurt to gain another ally."
As everything progressed nicely, I stood up and said, "Where are the couples?"
They said, "They always stay over there and talk."
I said, "I'll go check on them."
I got to the area—it was a bit of a hill from where I stood, and they were down below.
I said, "Haven't seen you for a while. Hey there, lovebirds."
Mei said, "Get the hell out of my face."
"Even after I saved your boyfriend?"
Then she paused. "Oh… I remember. You're the 9th.
So you saved him when we landed.
I thank you for that. I'm really sorry—I didn't know it was you."
She was actually more mature and serious when it mattered most.
"It's okay. Don't sweat it."
"How should I repay you?"
"Tonight, you'll get an offer."
"Accept the offer. It'll come from David.
It'll be an interesting one—but try not to get excited.
Don't act like you wanted it so badly, okay?
Play mighty, as you are. You and Jian."
"Yeah."
"Accept the offer, but give a low-key high five to David."
Jian. "You sure it's okay to talk about something like this?
What if they're recording and hear everything?
By the way,
what was your name?"
"It's fine, bro. Forget about the AI and the system.
My name is Kurai Adegaki.
Call me Kurai—don't get too formal, got it bro?"
"Got it. Still, everything depends on the offer."
"Well, this and that are still two different things, I get it—but I'm telling you not to get too excited for a reason."
"Well, if you say that, I have no choice but to wait and see."
I enjoyed the time with everyone,
I met Lyra for the second time, as an introduction—but considered it more like the real second one.
Rim was nice as well.
I said, "Where is that noble guy? I guess his name was Rowan?"
They said, "He left. They took him. We all know this is a kingdom where light magic dominates. That's why they took him."
I said, "That's kinda awesome."
They said, "Yeah, he gets to be free and continue his life."
Then I said, "If we're fated for it, then it doesn't matter where we are.
If not—then it's not."
I'm talkin' about life and death here
Just like that,
My first Sunday in this world outside went by with silly chats and the deep comfort of the sun.
That alone made me even more excited than usual.
I got to work.
I called Room 69 using the AI and a voice changer and said,
"Good evening, Mr. David Nathaniem."
He said, "Who's there? Who is talking?"—and he was shocked as hell.
I said, "It's okay. I'm currently very far away. I'm calling you from the Sakura Land.
We are from the Head Department of Treasury and Mystery Uncovers.
We never thought we'd get a signal out of the Demon Land made by our own technology."
"What the heck what are you saying I don't care why now tell me."
"Why me, out of everyone?
Why contact me?" and "how?"
We replied, "We have no choice in why you or him or whoever.
It happens randomly.
The servers connect randomly—and you just happened to be there.
Now tell us your situation."
"Give me a reason why I should believe you."
I said, "So… is there no one there who speaks Japanese? We're Japanese, after all."
Then I used Lyra's voice as a fake overlay—making it sound like I wasn't the only one on the call.
The audio was perfectly engineered with 8D sound.
"Yeah… well, next to my room, which I can't cross into, there's a Japanese guy."
I "Really? That's cool, that's cool."
"Can you tell me your AI tag? It should be the same as your room number."
He said, "69."
So I said, "Then next to you is 70. Tell me your code."
He told the AI his code—and the system, just as scripted, responded:
> "System hijack complete. User, please insert your voice."
He said, "What the heck?!"
Then the AI said,
> "Voice has been recorded. Please state your command."
I said, "Open the room next to me."
At that moment, Yosuke-kun was working out.
The wall slid open.
They saw each other and screamed—but luckily, it was a soundproof wall.
David said, "Yo, Yosuke-kun, talk to this guy in Japanese."
"This guy said he hacked the AI system from a faraway land called Sakura Land.
He's already using it to control the AI and
told me to confirm that you speak Japanese, bro."
Check him out bruh.
「君の名前は?」
「俺の名前はケンジ・アカシ.**財務・謎解き省（DOTMD）**の職員だ.」
ヨウスケくん:「それで,なんで俺たちを助けようとしてるんだ?」
ケンジ:「単純だよ.発見して,それを報告する.それだけ.
心配するな.ネットに公開したりはしない.報告先は八つの王国の上層部だ.」
「だから直接的に君たちを救うことはできないが...今この瞬間は,助けることはできる.」
「実はもう,アクセス可能なAIのサーバーはすべて追跡して制御下に置いた.
ここから先は,自分たちのやりたいようにやっていい.
もうAIカメラは怖くない.警戒すべきは人間の目だけだ.」
「でもな,旧システムには関わるな.
あれはもう地下に潜っているし,正直言って君たちがそこに行く理由はない.だから,安全にやれ.」
「わかっ
たな?」
「はい,理解しました.」
**Translation**
"What's your name?"
"My name is Kenji Akashi.
I'm a worker in the Department of Treasury and Mystery Discovers, or DOTMD for short."
Yosuke-kun: "Well, what's your motive for helping us?"
Kenji: "Simple—to discover, then report our progress.
Don't worry though—we're not posting anything online or public.
We're reporting to the higher-ups in the Eight Kingdoms.
So no, we can't save you directly... but we can help you."
"At this very moment,
we've already tracked down every server in the AI network we could reach and gained control over them.
From here on out, you guys can do whatever you want.
The only thing you need to fear now is the human eye—not the AI cams."
"But still, don't get tangled up in the old system. It's basically underground now.
And honestly,
I don't see any reason why you guys would go underground... so keep it safe."
"Got that?"
"Yes. I
get it now."
Yosuke-kun said, "He's perfectly fluent, so yeah, I believe him.
Anyway, how did you open the wall?"
I asked it to.
Then he said, "Open this one as well,"
They opened the next wall—right into Dante's room while he was sleeping.
The moment he woke up, he said,
"Knock the damn door, guys!
Why can't you… wait… ghoooost… no—THE DAMN WALL IS OPENED?
But how?!
Three rooms at that!"
He laughed.
They said, "Let's open the other wall,"
when they did, the Korean guy saw it and said,
"Damn guys! You scared me!"—with a shocked face.
After that, they opened the next door—Rim screamed,
"Get out, perverts!"
But they said, "Nah, it's okay, it's okay—let's move on."
Then they opened another wall and found Jian meditating.
He looked up and said,
"Is this the offer from David? How did he know
What the heck?"—his eyes wide open, just like everyone else's.
Five rooms were now connected. That meant something.
David said, "What are you waiting for? Let's go see Mei."
The moment the wall to Mei's room opened,
she was also meditating—but jumped out of happiness and hugged Jian.
She said, "How?!"
David replied, "Fancy meeting you here."
Mei said, "Ohhhh… you. Yeah, right."
She remembered what I told her—not to get overexcited.
Then he opened the next wall—Lyra faked her happiness and excitement and hugged Rim.
Finally, they opened my wall—
And what they saw was heaven.
My room was filled with DVDs, USBs, screens, manga, manhwa, and novels—all neatly ordered on shelves.
They all screamed, "Woooow!"
The moment they walked in and saw me.
I had my headset on —was low-key vibing to phonk music playing in the background while playing RPG games.
Then they said,
"Here we are—TO HEAVEN!"
Dante jumped on my head and shouted,
"Here we are, boy! You're the best!"
(To be continued)