Chapter 62: It’s Wrong to Kill Others in a Survival game.

The first detector to go off was the outpost positioned in the center of the Misty Forest area at the northeastern end.

Since the detector kept ringing non-stop, there were two possible scenarios.

The first was that someone was cluelessly searching through my dummy outpost.

The second was that they were deliberately setting off the detector to lure me in and ambush me.

If I had to guess, the first scenario was more likely.

Ashen City is generally a niche game, with a much higher proportion of male players among its narrow user base.

Considering that all players on our server were female, the simple probability leaned towards the first scenario.

“Hm…”

No, there was no need to worry.

I am the Grim Reaper of this Ashen City.

Even if they were lying in wait, hoping to ambush me, so what?

The Grim Reaper is simply the one who harvests the lives of such fools.

“Let’s go, Bucephalus.”

I entered the command to summon my steed, Bucephalus, who could pierce through even a tempest.

I then reattached the saddle I had removed earlier to hunt down Namikawa-senpai and mounted him once more.

[Neigh!]

With a powerful cry, Bucephalus began to gallop.

• So why is Mei-chan being so serious by herself?
• Because she’s the self-proclaimed Grim Reaper of Ashen City.
• Honestly, all I see is her getting herself knocked out by accident.

I wouldn’t be swayed by these slanderous comments in the chat.

Wait for me, intruder.

The Grim Reaper’s scythe has set out to pierce through your neck.

“I’ll… show you the difference in skill.”

• Mei-chan sounds like she’s got a major chūnibyō complex. ・Quiet.

I moved forward in silence.

Before I knew it, the center of the Misty Forest, where my dummy outpost was located, was right in front of me.

The detector was still ringing.

This meant that even if someone was hiding to ambush me, I had the advantage.

Of course, I was fully aware of the structure of the dummy outpost I had built.

The worst-case scenario I’d feared—that they’d lure me in only to draw me away from my dummy outpost and nullify

my advantage as I approached the center of the forest—had not happened.

“Hoo…”

I quietly took out my sniper rifle and expanded my view with the scope.

As expected, just as I had initially predicted, the other player was cluelessly searching through my dummy outpost.

And her name was…

[Ayaka]

It was my fellow rookie, Utsumi.

“Thank goodness… it’s not Natsune-senpai.”

I could kill her without hesitation.

• ??
• Mei-chan, are you a psychopath?
• Prioritizing a senior over a fellow rookie
• So this is what the second-generation bond is worth?

“Ashen City… is this kind of game…”

In a cutthroat survival competition where cold-blooded killers fought to survive, someone too weak-hearted to act

without hesitation wouldn’t last long.

That’s why, to survive, I’d even become a demon…

[Hello, Izumi…]

Squelch!

“…Huh?”

A disturbing sound of flesh tearing rang out as my character fell to the ground, bleeding.

• ??? What just happened? Hahahahaha

The chat, too, was thrown into chaos at the sudden turn of events.

Some were laughing, others were trying to understand the situation, and some were in shock.

The main reason for their confusion was that I, who had been approaching cautiously, suddenly collapsed.

However, my reason for being startled was different from theirs.

Ashen City was a survival competition where you couldn’t live if you were weak-hearted.

Knowing this, I wasn’t shocked by the fact that my character had collapsed.

What surprised me was that, despite meticulously checking my surroundings, I hadn’t sensed a presence before falling.

“This… can’t be…”

I controlled my character, crawling on the ground, and slowly looked back.

And there stood—

[Nekoto]

It was Aki.

“Aki…”

[To think you’d already set up so many dummy outposts… you really surprised me.]

Speaking in her usual indifferent tone, Aki dropped an item in front of me.

It was the detectors I’d hidden stealthily at each dummy outpost.

Until now, the detectors had only gone off this one time, yet she had retrieved them all.

Which meant…

“C-could it be… with a signal jammer…”

[Yes. Correct…]

My detectors were still low-level, so even a single signal jammer could easily neutralize them.

In other words, Aki had used a signal jammer to thoroughly search all my dummy outposts.

“But how…?”

So far, the only one I’d encountered was Namikawa-senpai.

And that was by chance, so my strategy wouldn’t have been exposed at all.

Aki shouldn’t have had any information about me, so how did she predict my playstyle and wait for me here?

[I wasn’t specifically waiting for you, Izumi.]

“…Huh?”

[I just thought there’d probably be someone using a strategy like this. So, I made a signal jammer first. You just happened to fall into my trap…]

“D-don’t tell me, Aki, do you also play Ashen City…?”

[Yes. I started playing as soon as it was released. I even tried multiplayer and watched a lot of videos.]

“Kugh…”

[You killed Tsuba-chan earlier, didn’t you? I figured you’d know that line. The only one who has the right to fire a gun is…]

“…only those who are prepared to be shot themselves.”

[Exactly. Then… farewell.]

Bang! With the sound of a gunshot, the bullet Aki fired pierced through my character’s head.

And the message [You Died] appeared on my screen.

It was my complete defeat.

-The Grim Reaper (gets killed) -Grim Reaper loses to a cat -The Grim Reaper is weak lol

The chat was filled with mocking messages from Izutomo fans.

My resolve to dominate with overwhelming skill had crumbled right from the start.

But—

“This… this is war, Aki!”

Provoked to the end, I couldn’t let it end here.

My mind was now filled with a burning determination.

[[Ashen City] Let’s find a good place to settle this. #AkiNekoto #StarsFlow #AshenCity]

Nekoto, who had fired a bullet into Izumi’s head without hesitation, quietly stretched.

“Good thing I didn’t discard this…”

-Premonition of foresight -Did she even predict this?

“Well, I figured at least one person would try something like this…”

The equipment Nekoto was using reduced her footsteps when walking and could render her invisible—a cloaking coat.

It was heavy and drastically slowed her movement just by equipping it, and there were clear counters, so it wasn’t a

popular item. However, when ambushing someone who lacked information, it was an item that demonstrated the

true meaning of a one-hit kill.

“Now, to ditch this…”

Determining there was no further need for it, Nekoto discarded the cloaking coat without hesitation.

“Nothing worth picking up…”

Izumi had chosen a survival strategy focused on killing other players from the start, so she had few items besides her

weapons.

Nekoto hadn’t expected much, knowing this, but still, it was a bit disappointing.

“Guess I’d better head back to the outpost and start getting ready.”

-Ready for what?

“Of course… preparing for war…”

There was no way that Izumi, who had set out to hunt other players from the start, would take this lying down.

She would surely throw everything she had into a full assault.

And Nekoto wasn’t foolish enough to sit idly by, knowing this.

-The Great Nekoto-Izumi War

• “A mess from the very start, lol.”

In truth, there was an option to collaborate with Izumi, but Nekoto’s instincts told her otherwise.

It would definitely be more fun this way.

And as if to prove her instinct was correct, the chat was filled with cheers from the viewers.

[[Ashen City] Descending as the Grim Reaper #KainoIzumi #StarsFlow #AshenCity]

• “If it’s war, then what exactly are you planning?”

“…Well, I’m not sure.”

Honestly, I hadn’t thought that far ahead.

All I had was the desire to take down Aki in a head-on fight.

But let’s think this through.

Even though Aki is a colleague, it’s hard to say we’re close, right?

Among our peers, Aki is probably the one I talk to the least.

And yet here I am, declaring war and preparing to fight.

From Aki’s perspective, it must feel like some distant coworker suddenly latching onto her…

Aki had the justification of avenging Namikawa-senpai, so it made sense for her.

Moreover, Ashen City allows for unlimited respawns even after death, so the concept of “war” doesn’t hold much

weight here.

Maybe declaring war isn’t necessary after all?

The biggest difference between humans and beasts is reason.

Rather than acting out of a fleeting impulse, thinking rationally is more beneficial in the long run.

This is no different in this situation.

Thinking “you killed me, so I’ll kill you” is too one-dimensional.

Considering the distance between Aki and me, and the system of this game…

“Y-yeah, maybe let’s call off the war…”

This is definitely the most rational choice.

And it’s absolutely not because I’m scared of losing to Aki…

• “Then, what’s your next plan?”

“Uh… well, since my strategy’s already exposed, and everything I set up has been taken…”

The dummy outpost strategy I had prepared was, to be honest, a bit of an easy farming tactic.

The plan was to invest all my initial resources into weapons and detectors, then use the remaining materials to build

flashy-looking outposts to lure people in, only to ambush and kill them to advance in the game.

Even if it got exposed, as long as I’d managed to gather materials from player kills by that time, no one would be able

to stop me.

But now, my strategy is known, and after being killed by Aki, my progress has been halted.

…Well, one could argue that focusing on killing others in a survival game is a strange tactic, but that’s just how Ashen City works.

Anyway, my original strategy now has a low chance of success and low returns.

“So I guess… I’ll just play normally from now on…”

• “Boring.”
• “Aren’t you ready to make the whole world your enemy?”

“No way… that’s ridiculous.”

Ignoring the clamoring comments from the Izutomo fans, I focused on gathering materials.

The goal? Building my own house!

I’m going to build a big, beautiful house.

“Yeah, I mean… killing others in a survival game where the goal is to survive never made sense in the first place…”

• ???

Bang!

“…Huh?”

And once again, I was dead.