Genocide Reality

“I can’t take it anymore, Aya-chan!”

The overpowering stench of death made me feel suffocated.

In front of my eyes, a female student wearing a white sailor uniform with red bloodstains was crying hysterically.

Her face was splattered with blood, and her glasses were cruelly cracked.

The blood-covered girl held her friend’s lifeless body and repeatedly called her name over and over.

Before long, her cries turned into meaningless screams.

It felt like the end of the world. I couldn’t help but avert my gaze, but the girl’s despairing screams alone were enough to fill me with a sense of hopelessness.

The brown-haired girl who had been moving around earlier, I think her name was Aya Matou?

She may have stepped forward to protect her friend.

And she ended up taking a direct hit from an arrow, right in the front. I, who was nearby, heard the gruesome sound of her skull being shattered.

The brown-haired female student with a thick arrow stuck in her forehead continued to make wheezing sounds like a flute, but she soon breathed her last.

In such a situation, it might be that good-hearted people who try to help end up dying.

Even though the sharp arrowhead pierced through her head almost to the middle, the fact that she didn’t die instantly might have been a stroke of luck.

Either way, we had no doctor and no means of treatment, so there was nothing we could do for the seriously wounded.

I couldn’t help but think about Ryoma Sakamoto, who died from a head wound.

I wondered if it had been a similar situation, with pink cerebral fluid oozing out, indicating that there was no hope.

I never thought that I would actually witness such a sorrowful scene in real life.

Despite witnessing someone’s death right in front of me, I feel strangely disconnected from reality. I, along with everyone else who stands there in a daze, have this sensation as if we’re watching everything from a distance.

It’s as if everything is happening to someone else… No, this kind of thinking is dangerous, I shake my head.

Stay sane, I tell myself, as I can feel myself on the verge of dissociation.

Even as a spectator, I can sense that I’m trying to escape from reality.

Losing a friend, and the girl screaming and shaking her hair and half-crazed, I couldn’t help myself anymore.

No, I’m not going to do anything about it.

I had decided from the beginning not to have any feelings for them. I knew there would be casualties.

I’m just trying to survive.

I can’t afford to care about anyone else right now.

The charisma of the group’s leader, Shuichi Nanami, was tremendous in the face of such a catastrophe.

As we stood there, he strode up to us, took off his uniform jacket, and gently placed it over Aya’s corpse.

Then he pulled up the bloody girl who was clinging to the corpse of her friend, pulling her away from the corpse and suddenly hugged her.

Nanami hugged the despairing girl, tears streamed down from his own eyes as well, and he encouraged her in a voice that sounded as if he was squeezing her.

“Sashiki Ena-san, the pain is the same for everyone. You have to live for Aya Matou, who died protecting you. Stand up and keep going, we’re almost there. Don’t give up!”

Shuichi Nanami can speak hope to a girl who lost her friend in front of her eyes without hesitation and ordered her to move forward.

Shuichi Nanami, in his tearful voice, once again strongly said, “You have to live! and holding Ena’s hand to inspire her, I was almost pulled in as well.

Sashiki Ena, who had been in despair until a moment ago, stood up with a start at the sound of his voice.

She then tried to walk forward as Nanami told her to.

What kind of mental manipulation magic is this? She thinks it will be easier if she listens to Nanami.

Even this line of thinking is dangerous. In my mind, I add, “He’s spewing nonsense.”

Even I, who is careful not to be swept away by my surroundings, find myself in this extreme situation. It’s even more challenging for emotionally-driven teenagers, especially girls.

Everyone moves as Nanami commands.

At the call of Shuichi Nanami, 60 out of 180 students voluntarily joined the dangerous battle group.

I think this is a very high percentage. Moreover, many female students, who are not supposed to like rough work, were mixed in the group.

It’s said that one’s true character is revealed in extreme situations, and the power that Nanami has in gathering people goes beyond mere charisma.

It’s empathy and sympathy at work here, a kind of unique ability.

Although it’s worth noting that most of the girls who joined were already part of Seven Seas’ entourage.

Vice President Nanami, by far the most outstanding man in the school, had a fan club of girls who could not confess their feelings but did not belong to anyone.

But I am amazed at the guts of women to be so devoted to a man that they willingly participate in a death march.

Aside from the 60 members of the battle group, of which I am a member of, half of the other 120 remain in the classroom with the teachers, and the remaining 60 are not organized and are doing as they please.

Currently, the group is divided into three groups: the fighting group of Nanami, the group of teachers and others who stayed behind, and the group of those who are moving around separately.

The battle group now has six casualties, including the just-deceased Aya Matou. Four of them were severely injured and unable to walk, while the number of minor injuries is too numerous to count.

By the way, those who were hit by arrows triggered by traps or turned into living torches by fireballs were all female students.

Among the members of the battle group, it is often girls who seem to have low fighting ability who are forced to walk on the front lines of danger.

If Shuichi Nanami, who is in charge of the leadership of the battle group, is doing this intentionally, he is a great politician, but he is not.

The one who is conspiring to make this happen is Jinguji Tsukasa, who serves as a close aide to Shuichi Nanami and keeps his glasses beaming.

I’ve always had a nickname for him in my mind as “Sly Glasses,” but now he’s showing his true colors.

He has black hair that’s parted into seven-thirds. Silver-rimmed glasses with strong lenses. He wears white gloves, which I wonder where he got them from. The fact that the white gloves are still on even in this situation is proof that he lets someone else do his dirty work.

He was an intellectual who ranked third overall in his class and was a member of the executive committee of the student council. As was the case at school, he is still working closely with Shuichi Nanami during this emergency.

He is short and has a childish face and a well-defined face, though not as well-developed as Nanami’s. His facial expression is soft and he is always smiling calmly. His facial expression is soft and he always smiles calmly. His elegant manner makes him look like a harmless honor student.

However, in reality, he’s devious and can’t be underestimated. His sinister nature isn’t reflected in his appearance but rather in his calculating gaze.

While terms like strategist, wise advisor, or chief of staff might sound flattering, his true nature is more malevolent.

Jinguji is like a cunning shark that exploits Vice President Nanami’s charisma to work behind the scenes and take advantage of the situation.

I can’t help but wonder if someone who doesn’t even flinch when people die in front of them might be a psychopath, going beyond mere callousness.

It’s a saying that one can see the true value of a person in an extreme situation.

I don’t know how true it is, but there are a lot of bad rumors about Sly Glasses Jinguji.

Some say that he framed a student who had a conflict with him and forced him to leave the school, while others say that he has his paws on a female student who is Nanami’s groupie.

There is no proof, but there is no smoke without fire. He is a sly glasses man who would do something like that without a care in the world.

Jinguji looked around at the whole situation and licked his tongue across his glistening red lips.

With a quiet, cold smile on his face, Glasses sees only two kinds of people: those who are useful to him and those who are useless to him.

I notice that he’s willing to put the weaker students at the forefront, using them as trap fodder, and I can’t overlook it.

However, I can’t exactly say it’s wrong, so I’m letting it slide. In these extraordinary circumstances, it might be an unavoidable judgment.

It’s a decision that has to be made in these times of emergency, and so far it’s working. If you want to give it a positive spin, you could say they’re resourceful or even ruthless.

A passionate leader and sly glasses. They make a good team to lead a group.

Either way, I don’t want much to do with it.

“Hey, there’s definitely a trap there! Make sure to shine your light on the ground, confirm, and avoid it.”

“Ah, yes. I’m sorry.”

There was a female student who was very unsteady on her feet. I thought it was a good idea not to leave her to die, so I gave her a warning.

Then Jinguji, who was watching the whole group in the center, warned me in a small but resonant voice.

“Shinjo-kun, don’t get too far ahead. Your role is to be ready for the monsters.”

“But you know…”

“I’m the one in charge of assigning them. If you want, you can take her place in the front.

“Bit…”

“Don’t make that face; it was a joke. If everyone fulfills their roles, things should go smoothly. If you think you can give better directions than me, I’d be willing to let you take over, though.”

“I can’t do that either. I’m sorry.”

I’m not the kind of guy who would volunteer to be the one to step on dangerous traps, and it’s clear that I won’t be taking over for Jinguji in leading the group.

Jinguji’s cold stare made me hurry and I said one more time to the girls in the vanguard, who were serving as trap detectors. “Look carefully for anything strange under your feet, your lives depend on it!” and then back away.

There was nothing more I could do.

Jinguji is right, I can’t risk it for a girl I don’t know.

With Kujo Kumiko, Seki and I at the back of the group, it seems that we are counted as a fighting force to fight the monsters, and it is not yet our turn to be brought forward and used up.

Or maybe the people in Class F are just out of sight, but either way, we have to keep a low profile because we’ll be in trouble if we’re marked by those Sly Glasses.

Oh, shit!

Despite all I said about the danger, the careless schoolgirl is sprawled out on the ground with a sharp blade coming out of the ground and piercing her stomach. No instant death, just not yet.

The trapped girl screams in agony, coughing up blood and vomiting, yet those around her simply move sluggishly to avoid her, making no effort to help.

They’re likely scared to put their hands near the trap’s blades, and they’re probably exhausted, too. Even if they were to rescue her, it’s clear that it would be too late given her condition.

Serious injuries are a death sentence here. When you start thinking you might be the next to die, it’s hard to focus on others.

Already the humanity of this group is wearing out. Everyone just drags their tired feet and paces forward, looking for a safe route without traps.

I keep repeating it to myself, but what Seiki and Jinguzi are doing isn’t necessarily a wrong decision. It was a reality that we had to move forward, even at the cost of our lives.

Even if I were put in charge of the group, I couldn’t say we’d make progress with fewer casualties in a situation where one wrong step could mean death by traps or monsters.

The fact that such a large number of people were able to take organized action in a situation where one wrong move could get them killed by traps or monsters was probably due to the charismatic Nanami’s leadership.

I may grumble about the method of putting less valuable female students and those deemed useless in terms of combat abilities in the front lines, causing them to get injured or killed in booby traps, but I don’t want to become the kind of person who just complains. So, I have no choice but to endure it.

Nanami, who is leading the group, and Jinguji, who is in the center of the group, are doing the right thing in terms of collective action in the face of crisis.

Onward, onward, all of you, onward. If we stop, the situation will only get worse and more people will die.

We have no choice but to go forward, even at our peril.

And if you’re going to use them up, put the weak ones in front who can’t be used in battle, not that they’re wrong, but ….

What is strange, then, is that feeble students without a shred of bravery are standing in front and dying at the behest of Nanami and Jinguji.

If it were me, I would definitely run away when asked to step forward and play the role of trap-steppers.

Do these guys really understand the bad position they are in?

I was horrified to think that maybe they didn’t even realize it.

I may be wrong in my assessment that they are using the useless ones. I think Jinguji is picking out people who don’t know what’s going on, people with weak vitality, and putting them in front of him.

Weak-minded students may be less stressed to do as they are ordered rather than to go against the group under such extreme stress.

Such a method of manipulating the group mind and driving people to their deaths seems to me to be the wickedness of Mao Zedong or Pol Pot fighting guerrillas, to use a poor analogy.

It is frightening to wonder if Nanami, who is leading the group, is really a high school student.

Thinking that way, it’s not the best but a better and correct choice. Still, their methods are too political, and I genuinely despise them.

Even if it’s the right thing to do, the discomfort is undeniable.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks this, but I understand that it can’t be helped for now.

Everyone might not say anything. Even if they ask for better ways or alternative solutions, it’s impossible to provide them.

“Seki, do you remember the route and the location of the traps?”

“Yes, I remember.”

I check with Seki, who is walking beside me.

My smartphone would eventually stop working without power, and I didn’t bring my notebook, so the only way to remember everything was to memorize it all in our heads.

“Look, another monster is coming.”

“I can’t take this anymore….”

Seki is surprisingly strong at his core, even though he sounds like he’s about to cry and makes weak noises, he can still fight with a knife at the ready. Don’t worry, I’ll do your part.

I’ve been given a battle axe, a usable weapon. With determination, I swing my arm and cut through the pig-like creature with a single blow.

As I slashed at the pig from the shoulder, a spray of blood splashed out as if a large blood vessel had been severed. I continue to slash at the belly of the orc, which is standing there moaning like a big, fat man, and tear it open at an angle.

The warm entrails sloshed to the floor, and the screaming orc sank into a pool of his own blood and died.

Thinking that red pig’s blood is overflowing, I strike a final blow to the pig’s head just to be sure. A pinkish liquid, a mixture of fat, blood, and brain tissue splatters from the pig’s head.

But pig’s blood is a lot better than goblin’s sticky green fluid.

I’ve grown accustomed to slaying humanoid creatures. I no longer feel the pain of crushing life with my own hands, or the screams of agony from the creatures I kill.

This is just slaughter. I’ve become indifferent even to the point where I’m witnessing people die, so I have no hesitation in killing pigs.

Kumiko is using a short sword strapped to the end of a mop handle as a spear.

She stabs and kills only the goblins and orcs that come toward her. They are just like me, fighting in a way that they don’t care about anyone but themselves.

In a situation like this, it’s normal not to care about others.

If you fight well, you won’t be noticed by Jinguji and put forward as a trap fodder. I wouldn’t be the only one to die, and that was all that mattered right now.

I hope this is all over soon.

Kumiko can’t afford to fool around anymore, can she?

“I’m good, but the spear won’t last as much.”

“How about switching to one of the short swords that goblins have?”

There are plenty of those lying around, thanks to the goblins.

“It’s not that, it’s just that I’m running out of things to use for the handle.”

“Oh, I see.”

Kumiko has attached numerous pieces of fabric, like the elastic bands and ribbons girls typically have, to create a makeshift spear.

They are not very strong, and she uses them with care, but if they break, she will never be able to replace them.

“Can’t you use any other weapon than a spear?”

“Yes, but not a heavy one.”

The weapons we get are more like what human-like monsters would carry, but they’re mostly crude blades that you either stab with or bludgeon with brute force.

Many of the weapons are too heavy for the slender Kumiko to use.

“I wish usable weapons would just come out of treasure chests. If anyone could ask Vice President Nanami for that, it would be you with your good relationship”

“No, don’t do that, and treasure chests are too dangerous.

As we progress through the dungeon, treasure chests sometimes appear without us noticing.

Sometimes they contained weapons, but more often they contained gold coins or gems.

Diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, topaz, peridot, lapis lazuli….

The girls, who had a keen eye for shiny things, jumped at the treasure chests as if they were in a race, but there were traps set there as well.

A careless girl who opened the treasure chest shouted, “Ouch!” as she fell backward and couldn’t get up.

She then passed out, likely due to being pierced by something like a poison needle upon opening the chest.

Dealing with the injured or poisoned added complications, as it required additional manpower for care.

I won’t say it would be better if she had died, but that’s the harsh reality we face.

After that incident, we decided to leave treasure chests unopened and continued our journey.

Gold and precious stones, no matter how much we want them, are no substitute for safety.

“Kumiko, don’t get too close to that rat.”

“Huh? It’s just a rat. I’m not afraid of rats. Eek!”

As soon as the rat jumped at Kumiko, it swelled up and exploded with a loud bang.

In the underground labyrinth, there were rats that appeared to be chubby, but it was clear they weren’t ordinary rats.

“I’ve seen these explo-rats in a video game. They don’t seem to do much damage, but I guess they can surprise you with a self-destruct and then get caught in a trap when you’re rattled.”

“What a disgusting creature.”

Kumiko, who had been drenched in rat splattered entrails and bits of flesh, uncomfortably wiped the pink intestines of the rat from her face.

Although there seems to be no danger in just blowing herself up right in front of you, you will be left with a mental drain as the small animals continue their unnerving attacks without a break.

But the placement of the traps and the appearance pattern of the monsters. There is a sense of déjà vu.

While I was wondering where I had seen this before, a male student shouted at the front of the group.

I thought it was another crazy person, but it was not.

“Yes, I knew it, this is the world of ‘GenoReal’!”

A fat student with shaggy hair and a face like a potato is screaming in a high-pitched frenzy.

I was surprised to hear this from a male student who had been deemed useless and was being used as a trap walker along with the weak girls.

Oh, so it’s Genocide Reality….

It was a dungeon of Genocide Reality.

The student with the fuzzy head started yelling “Status Open!” I thought it was suspicious… He must have been a gamer like me.

He was trying to find out the possibility that it was a game world, and was trying to find his status.

That’s all well and good, but to notice the resemblance to Genocide Reality before I did in this extreme situation?

He’s a lot smarter than he looks. He’s someone to watch out for.

“Look, everyone, there’s the ‘Abyss Gate’. This is the world of the game ‘GenoReal’.”

The fuzzy head explains to the others, but they think he’s crazy and don’t take him seriously.

That’s right, GenoReal is an old game, and today’s high school students don’t know about it.

However, it’s only natural that no one paid any attention to him, considering the chaos.

Some students suddenly burst into laughter and then ran off to jump into pits as if committing suicide, so it’s likely that they thought he had lost his mind.

I quietly stepped forward and looked at the ‘Abyss Gate’ that the fuzzy head had pointed to.

I hold my torch up to the large crack in the earth and look closely, and see an iron plaque attached to it that reads ‘Entrance to Tartarus’.

(It seems to be true, though I still don’t fully believe it…)

I let out a deep sigh, trying to look nonchalant so that no one would notice.

The entrance to Tartarus, or the Abyss, is the first trap of GenoReal.

It is not a trap, just a big hole in the ground, but if you fall from here, you will fall all the way to the tenth underground floor.

Likely, this legend is based on the idea that if you fall continuously for ten days, you’ll reach the underworld Tartaros. However, it’s quite a stretch to conclude that from just this information.

The abyss is designed to absorb the shock of falling, so you will not die from the damage of falling.

For an experienced player, it is a convenient means of transportation to reach the tenth floor underground at once, but if a beginner falls, he or she will be attacked by a powerful monster and die one hundred percent of the time.

It is a game, and many people die suddenly from this.

To kill the fools who can’t resist jumping into holes, one could call it a trap for first-time victims.

“Trust me, guys, there’s a stairway to the surface just up here. It’s a safe zone, I know it!”

I looked down at the hole that led to the abyss and sighed deeply once more, while the fuzzy-head fussed about it.

I had thought for sure that the layout of the traps looked familiar. I had been careless not to notice.

But who would have thought I was in a game world? Game world, game world… I try to roll the words around in my mouth, but it just doesn’t seem real.

But it’s reasonable to assume so, given the consistency so far. Fuzzy-head is probably right.

I whisper, “Status open”.

No answer… Well, of course not. GenoReal is a game with no quantifiable status.

Released in the United States in 1987, ‘GenoReal’ shattered the conventions of traditional RPGs as a real-time 3D dungeon RPG.

As the title suggests, GenoReal is a pseudo-realistic game in which there is no information such as levels or ability values to indicate the status of the characters, as is usually the case in RPGs.

If I want to know my current situation, I have to check at the Oracle Shrine in the ‘city’ on the surface.

Even then, what I can know is limited to my profession and the rank based on my proficiency as a Fighter, Venture, Priest, or Magician.

Of course, since it’s a game, there should be data with numerical values, but most of the character information is unavailable due to an uncheckable mask data, all to maintain realism.

Instead, there are gauges for health, stamina, mana, hunger, thirst, and sleep.

The logic is simple. If you don’t eat, drink water, or sleep, your stamina runs out, your health decreases, and eventually you die.

In such a simulated but realistic world, all systems are in constant motion. The player lives, adventures, and dies in this world.

It was a revolutionary system at the time, and the most realistic game ever made.

GenoReal was a huge hit in the U.S. and became a worldwide phenomenon, with sequels being created one after another and later becoming an MMO.

It is also a milestone game that had a great impact on subsequent games, but in contrast to the worldwide boom, there was one country where the game did not sell at all.

Our country, Japan.

Of course, GenoReal was highly praised by game connoisseurs in Japan and was ported to Japanese many times, but as the name “Genocide Reality” implies, the difficulty level of this game is extremely high. It falls into the category of “die and retry” games.

The dungeon is full of monsters that attack you with unreadable ferocity, and traps that are designed to kill you the first time you see them.

Of course, this does not mean that non-Japanese players are particularly good. The West has a culture of cheating.

If you died, you could simply reset the game before the auto-save kicked in and return to the previous save point, or you can hack the system itself to make the enemy weaker and the player stronger. Many Westerners are willing to cheat in this way.

Many players in other countries enjoyed playing GenoReal, even though it was a well-known game.

Despite the game’s fame, there are probably few masochistic gamers, even in other countries, who have played GenoReal properly and completed the game to the end.

On the other hand, the Japanese are a people who take even games for fun seriously.

A game with a crazy balance that cannot be completed in a normal way is called a “shitty game” in Japan.

Even though GenoReal was a worldwide boom, it was a game of the old century.

In other words, the only people who know about GenoReal are the super-geeks and retro game lovers like that fuzzy-head and me.

“Maybe I should just shut up….”

What’s wrong?

I tried to act nonchalant, but Seki must have noticed something strange about the way I was staring into the abyss, because he called out to me.

As usual, he has a keen intuition.

For a moment, I thought about telling my only friend, but I decided against it.

They say that a mouth is a curse. It doesn’t help that Seki knows, and it might even put him in a dangerous position.

It is unwise to blow the whistle on what we know about GenoReal, as that fuzzy head (I’ll find out what his name is later) did.

Flaunting your knowledge can get you into trouble. This is not an offline game with many players.

Perhaps the rules of the multiplayer MMO version apply to interpersonal relationships.

If so, there may be rare items that can only be obtained by the first player.

If possible, we do not want others to know the valuable strategy information yet.

I would feel a little uneasy if keeping the information secret would lead to more deaths, but I am sure that the good-natured fuzzy-head will be able to guide the other students.

I’ve decided to secretly advance on my own and gain an advantage in this world, giving myself the upper hand. I’m going to enjoy plenty of cheats.

This is starting to sound like fun.

“What are you smiling about, Shinjo-kun?”

“It’s nothing, let’s get going.”

I hear cheers from the battle group ahead.

I guessed that fuzzy-head was leading the others to find the stairs to the surface.

The light on the surface coming from the stairs is dazzling.

The ‘town’ ahead is a safe zone where monsters are not allowed and negative behavior between players is forbidden.

I reach into my pocket, check the time on my phone, and realize that we’ve only been in the dungeon for about three hours.

In just that short amount of time, we’ve suffered many casualties.