Chapter 61: The Schythe of the Grim Reaper does not Discriminate.

“Haah….”

The sky, tinged with ash gray, was beautiful to the point of nausea. There was no one who could answer why the

world had come to this.

Most of humanity was dead.

TVs and computers were relics of a world long gone.

There were no convenient preserved foods, no cozy sleeping places, and no clothes suitable for the changing seasons.

In such a world, I was still surviving.

“Lucky me.”

What I discovered in a pit I stumbled upon was a shotgun.

A human body was astonishingly frail; without such a weapon, one could hardly venture out for hunting. Even wild

boars, which had once been mere food, would likely kill a bare-handed human with a 99% chance of instant death

upon collision. How fragile life was.

Yet, that fragile life had once ruled this Earth.

It was truly astonishing.

“Hmm….”

Fortunately, the shotgun had no issues functioning at all.

The trigger was just a bit rusty and stiff, but it was still fully operational.

Clack, clack—

Suddenly, the sound of hoofbeats came from the left.

“…Damn.”

The sound wasn’t loud, but I quietly cursed and hid behind a rock.

If what was approaching was just a horse, there was no problem whatsoever.

After all, a horse wouldn’t charge at me for no reason, and besides the shotgun, I also had a rifle I had brought just in case.

However, if the hoofbeats belonged to another person’s mode of transportation, especially one not from my faction,

the situation could get very troublesome.

It would be better if I were the last survivor in this fallen world.

But there were others who had survived alongside me in this world.

And humans, when survival was at stake, could become the most vicious of creatures.

The moment I realized there was no longer a guardian of the law and that survival was not guaranteed, how many

people had fallen to death? My survival was purely by luck.

Clack, clack—

Before long, the hoofbeats were close enough that I could discern what it was if I peeked out from behind the rock.

Should I continue hiding?

A horse is usually a mode of transportation, but in emergencies, it could also serve as food.

Thus, when groups of survivors formed, securing horses was usually the highest priority.

“Could it be them….”

I muttered that fleeting hope, but immediately shook my head.

My coming out here today had been purely my own decision.

More than anything, the direction we were supposed to patrol today was directly opposite this location.

There was absolutely no reason for someone to come riding a horse here.

The odds were 50%. If I succeeded, it would be a windfall, but if I failed, I could die.

Of course, I could just wait for the hoofbeats to pass, but for some reason, I didn’t want to do that.

“Huh….”

I quietly sighed and lifted my head above the rock.

What I saw was—

Clack, clack—

A wild horse with no rider and no saddle.

In other words, the gamble had paid off. A big win at that.

“Ah….”

I steadied my breath and drew my rifle, aiming at the horse.

Of course, I had no intention of shooting it dead.

I simply planned to fire in front of it, startling the horse into stopping. No matter how fast I ran, I could never catch

up to a horse.

As I aimed the rifle far ahead and prepared to pull the trigger—

I found it.

I thought I heard that voice.

“…Huh?”

What was that?

I couldn’t breathe.

Before I knew it, my vision turned crimson and blurred.

As the rifle I had been aiming at the ground fell, a clattering sound echoed.

No, it must have echoed.

I couldn’t hear that sound at all.

With trembling hands, I clutched my chest.

My hands were stained a deep red.

I covered the wound with my hand to stop the bleeding, but it wouldn’t stop at all.

As the blood flowed incessantly, soaking the ground, an indescribable pain flooded in.

“Ugh, ugh….”

But no voice came out.

All I could do was roll on the ground with barely audible gasps.

And then, I died.

[[Ashen City] Aim, Survivor! #NamikaWakatsuki #StarsFlow #AshenCity]

“What was that? What just happened?!”

Kkkk-k-k-k-k-k

Tsubaki, a first-year student of StarsFlow, was now extremely flustered.

Her respected senior Nanase, her beloved peers, and even the cute underclassmen.

Of course, some were missing, but Tsubaki was simply happy to be able to play this game together.

Especially a survival game.

She was eagerly looking forward to moments where they would band together to overcome adversities, something a

novice like Tsubaki could hardly wait for.

So when she heard the sound of hoofbeats earlier, she couldn’t understand the chat messages from “Tsubakiz,”

urging her to hide behind the rock because it was dangerous.

So far, the only ones she had met were her fellow first years, Hikari and Linje.

Hikari, claiming she would confidently survive on her own like a villainess, had gone off alone, while Linje had

suggested gathering resources together before they parted ways.

So, having decided on a meeting place, Tsubaki had walked this far. If she encountered Nanase or her

underclassmen, she thought she could invite them to join her, just like she had with Linje.

With that in mind, Tsubaki hid behind the rock as per the chat’s instructions.

After a moment, she lifted her head to look beyond, spotting a lone horse running.

Upon seeing the horse, the Tsubakiz urged her to shoot at the horse’s front, and without hesitation, Tsubaki aimed

her gun at the path the horse was running.

And in that moment, with a thunderous gunshot, Tsubaki’s character fell forward.

Her remaining HP was drenched in red, and if she didn’t heal within 20 seconds, she would die.

But there was no one around to heal her.

“Are there enemies that can attack with guns in this game?”

  • That can’t be true.
  • Only players can shoot.

Confusing situations and bewildering chat messages.

Clutching her dizzying head, Tsubaki shouted for help in a loud voice to survive.

“Is there anyone who can help me?!”

[Hmm.]

In response to her call, a voice came from behind Tsubaki’s character.

Adjusting the crawling character’s direction, she turned to see a girl character with her face covered by a mask.

The name floating above the mask read [Izumi].

“Ah, Izumi.”

She was the only second-year underclassman with whom Tsubaki had yet to have a personal conversation, but she

hoped this would be a chance to finally talk.

Thinking this, Tsubaki spoke up.

“Izumi, could you heal me? I got shot out of nowhere and collapsed. I don’t know who the enemy is.”

However, Izumi didn’t respond; she merely circled around Tsubaki.

“Ah, maybe she turned off voice chat?”

The Ashen City fundamentally supported voice chat, but players could disable it at any time if they wanted.

Since Tsubaki had heard that Izumi was the type to feel awkward in conversations, she thought it was a plausible

assumption and decided to reach out through general chat.

[Tsubaki: Izumi, could you heal me?]

[Tsubaki: I suddenly got shot and collapsed.]

[Tsubaki: Unfortunately, I don’t know who the enemy is ( ́・w` )]

But still, there was no response from Izumi.

And after a moment—

Bang!

With another gunshot, Tsubaki’s character died.

A message reading [You Died] appeared on the screen.

“Ahhhhh?!”

  • Kkk, so the culprit was Mei-chan after all.
  • Tsubaki-chan is so naive, kkk.
  • Usually, the first person to return to the crime scene is the culprit.

It didn’t take long for Tsubaki to realize the essence of the game Ashen City.

[[Ashen City] or, as a Grim Reaper, I descend #Kainoi Izumi #Stars Flow #Ashen City]

Without hesitation, I pulled the trigger, and with a bang, the character of Namikawa-senpai, who was already down, met her end.

“Th-There’s nothing useful at all…”

  • Killing a senpai who begged for her life, this is quite the spectacle.
  • Chills, kkk.
  • Complaining that there’s nothing useful after killing a passerby, kkk.

“Huh?”

Looking at the chat window, it was just as the Izutomo had said.

[Tsubaki: Izumi, could you heal me?]

[Tsubaki: I suddenly got shot and collapsed.]

[Tsubaki: Unfortunately, I don’t know who the enemy is ( ́・w.`)]

Now that I think about it, I feel like I heard something from Namikawa-senpai earlier.

However, I was too focused on checking Namikawa-senpai’s items to pay attention.

None of the items I was currently using were better, though.

  • Tsubaki-chan seems to know nothing, just let her go, kkk.

“…The Grim Reaper is equal to everyone, right?”

Yeah. After all, I am a lawless person in Ashen City. My goal is to become the Grim Reaper of Ashen City.

No matter how senior they are, death cannot be avoided in front of me.

“Hmm, ah, there are still no people detected.”

My strategy was simple.

Rather than establishing a base, I made a bunch of dummy bases and set up detectors there to hunt down

approaching players.

Well, Namikawa-senpai was truly just a coincidence, but this was my basic strategy.

If I were to guess, Akabane-chan, who shares similar gaming tastes with me, has probably played Ashen City, so I

doubt this strategy would work against her.

But if it’s Kurokami-senpai, who always tries to play fair and square, maybe she would easily fall for it?

And if I’m lucky, Natsune might…

Huh?

“What if Natsune-senpai gets caught in my trap?”

  • You should kill her.
  • You said the Grim Reaper is equal, right?

“OO….”

As the eighth star, I can’t kill Natsune.

However, letting go of an opponent caught in my trap would tarnish the pride of the Grim Reaper.

A perfect dilemma.

While I pondered over a problem that my brain couldn’t solve, the detector began to ring.

[Beeeeeeee]

The detector started to sound.


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