Touhou: Dragged Into A Death Game, I Summoned Kaguya! — Chapter 203

Chapter 203: Creating Yama! Shiki:???

Haruto’s expression twisted into something delightfully strange as the stern, unyielding figure of Shikieiki Yamaxanadu surfaced in his mind. If the supreme judge of Gensokyo actually descended into this horror instance and crossed paths with this delusional organization, the look on her face would be nothing short of a masterpiece.

Kaguya and Youmu exchanged highly subtle glances. They had already deduced that this underground organization’s ultimate ambition was to artificially construct a true deity, but neither of them had expected this so-called god to be the King of Hell herself.

Kaguya leaned over, playfully nudging Youmu’s ribs with her elbow. “Say, Youmu… I remember Haruto knows that famously strict Yama from Gensokyo, right? Just how close are they?”

Youmu hesitated, her silver hair swaying as she carefully weighed her words. “I am not entirely privy to the exact nature of Haruto-sama’s friendship with Lord Shiki. However, I have heard Lord Shiki mention that they engage in private dealings. And it seems… to be quite deep.”

Kaguya arched a delicate eyebrow, a mischievous glint dancing in her dark eyes. “Not shallow, huh? So you’re saying it goes very deep?”

“At least from what I have personally observed, that is indeed the case,” Youmu replied, nodding with absolute, innocent sincerity.

Overhearing this exchange, Kaguya’s interest peaked. She strolled right up to the battered Sharp-Eyed Man, peering down at him with an amused smirk.

“This Lord Yama you keep blabbering about… you mean the actual King Yama? The supreme judge of the Underworld?”

“Yes… that is exactly right!” Seeing Haruto temporarily lower his brick, the Sharp-Eyed Man mistakenly assumed the trio was awestruck by his faction’s glorious vision. A sliver of arrogant confidence crept back into his trembling voice.

“This is a grand undertaking that completely transcends the mundane! It is a magnificent, world-reshaping feat! If you let me go right now and offer up those ghost artifacts as tribute, I can personally recommend you to join the outer layer of our ranks.”

“The outer layer?” Kaguya repeated, the corners of her lips twitching before she completely lost her composure. She burst into a fit of giggles, shooting a glance back at Haruto, who merely offered a dry, helpless shrug.

Misinterpreting her laughter as disdain for the low-ranking status, the Sharp-Eyed Man hurriedly scrambled to explain himself.

“Do not look down on the outer layer! When the God Weaver’s ultimate ideal is fully realized and our Lord Yama is born into this world, our organization will become the absolute foundation of the new Underworld! If you join us now, you will practically be guaranteed a secure, iron-clad government position!”

“Pfft—haha! I can’t take it anymore! I really can’t hold it in!” Kaguya completely lost her regal bearing. She spun around, practically throwing herself onto Haruto as she hugged him, slapping his back repeatedly as she wheezed with laughter.

“What the hell is this? Exhausting all their resources just to artificially pile together a King Yama? And they think they’ll become the founding members of the Underworld with guaranteed government benefits? Oh, my sides! With that Yama’s insanely strict personality, how could she possibly allow something as corrupt as a secure nepotism job to exist?!”

She continued to laugh hysterically for a long minute, eventually letting go of Haruto to wipe a stray tear of mirth from her eye. “Honestly, if there really was a back door to exploit in her court, the only person she’d ever leave it open for is Haruto.”

The Sharp-Eyed Man sat slumped on the ground, completely utterly bewildered. He couldn’t comprehend a single word of their conversation.

Ignoring the man’s confusion, Haruto casually reached his hand into a spatial Gap. He pulled out a heavy, ornate command token, crouched down, and dangled it right in front of the Sharp-Eyed Man’s bruised face.

“Take a good look. Do you recognize this?”

The Sharp-Eyed Man squinted, studying the complex carvings on the token for a long moment before slowly shaking his head.

“Fine. Then you’re clearly not one of our own.”

Haruto smoothly pocketed the token. In a synchronized, almost choreographed motion, both he and Kaguya reached back into their respective Gaps and pulled out fresh, heavy bricks.

The Sharp-Eyed Man’s blood ran cold. A sudden, terrifying realization washed over him. Without even taking a second to think, he frantically began emptying his pockets, desperately pulling out every ghost artifact he had on his person.

“Wait! This is an Invisibility Talisman—pfft!”

Before the man could even finish his desperate plea, a thick, solid brick slammed directly into the bridge of his nose.

For the next three minutes, the dimly lit area in front of the vendor stall transformed into a horrific display of violence. The air was filled with agonizing screams, heavy, muffled thuds that sounded suspiciously like someone aggressively kicking a soccer ball, and the sharp cracks of solid bricks shattering one after another against human bone.

By the time the two immortal beings finally ceased their assault, the man on the ground was completely unrecognizable. His face and body had swollen up to comical proportions. He lay curled in a fetal position, violently gasping for air, his eyes swollen completely shut.

“Yeah, that’s about enough.” Haruto casually brushed the brick dust off his hands, tossing the remaining half of his weapon into the nearby shadows.

He was certainly no saint.

Since this pathetic scammer had the audacity to try and steal his hard-earned items, openly threatened him, and even promised to bring a hit squad to murder him later, Haruto naturally felt obligated to give him a proper, warm reception.

If you march into the mountains to hunt a tiger, you had better be prepared to be mauled to death.

Kaguya clearly shared the exact same sentiment. The immortal princess dusted off her elegant skirt, looking utterly refreshed and completely devoid of any psychological burden.

“Let’s go,” Haruto said, turning his back on the groaning lump of flesh.

He had technically kept his promise. He hadn’t killed the man outright. However, given the horrific extent of his current injuries, even if the scammer miraculously managed to avoid every single roaming ghost on his way back to safety, he was still highly likely to succumb to massive internal bleeding.

Kaguya tossed her own shattered brick aside, her curiosity piqued. “What was that shiny little trinket you pulled out just now?”

“A command token.” Haruto reached into the Gap and retrieved the heavy medallion once more, tossing it lightly in his palm. “Shiki gave it to me.”

Kaguya leaned in, her dark eyes locking onto the large, imposing character for ‘Shiki’ engraved on the metal. She then looked up at Haruto’s face, letting out a long, exaggerated hiss of realization. Her eyes sparkled with wicked excitement.

“Oh my god… you actually did go through that Yama’s back door! Tell me, was it comfortable?”

“Back door my ass!” Haruto barked, instantly recognizing the filthy double entendre laced in her words. He reached out and delivered a sharp, punishing flick directly to the center of her forehead.

“Ow!”

“What back door? Do I look like that kind of person to you?” Haruto rolled his eyes, utterly speechless at her shamelessness. “If I’m going to rely on anything, it’ll be my own genuine efforts. I enter fair and square, straight through the front door.”

He paused, sighing heavily. “Besides, why on earth would I go slave away for Shiki for absolutely no reason? Isn’t it infinitely better to just stay home, sleep in, and eat good food?”

Kaguya rubbed her forehead, nodding in solemn agreement. “True. If you went off to work at Shiki’s place, then whenever Eirin catches me reading manga and tries to confiscate it, I wouldn’t be able to use you as my scapegoat and claim you left them in my room.”

Hearing her blatantly admit to using him as a meat shield, Haruto shot her a deeply resentful glare. He tossed the Yama’s token back into the Gap in disgust.

Undeterred, Kaguya leaned in closer, her tone shifting to a conspiratorial whisper. “Then… do you want to take Eirin as your master instead? You have absolutely no idea how many countless geniuses would kill to be her disciple. Although she publicly declared ages ago that she wouldn’t take any more students, if you ask nicely, and I give a little strategic push from the sidelines… Eirin will definitely break her own rules and let you go through her back door.”

Haruto refused decisively, not even needing a second to think about it.

Absolutely not. Being forced to participate in these life-and-death horror instances every few days was already an excessive, borderline abusive amount of exercise. Before he was forcibly drafted into this miserable Death Game, he would usually just be waking up from a nap around this time of day.

While these bizarre instances were undeniably interesting, and exploring them alongside Kaguya felt more like playing a cooperative video game than actual survival, it was still mentally exhausting. He genuinely felt like he had used his brain more in this short period than he had in the entire past year combined.

Once they finally cleared this mess and returned to Gensokyo, it was going to be an extended, uninterrupted break time.

It was infinitely better to just slack off, play video games, and casually visit the other factions whenever he felt bored.

The trio casually made their way toward the towering entrance of the Grand Performance Area. As they approached, Haruto noticed a small crowd of seven or eight people already gathered in front of a large, freshly erected wooden sign.

Haruto found this slightly surprising. When he had been generously handing out survival clues disguised as fortune-telling earlier that afternoon, he hadn’t explicitly told anyone that the Grand Performance Area might open its doors tonight.

Even if these players had managed to piece the clues together on their own and planned a night expedition, logically, they shouldn’t have arrived here earlier than his own group.

Haruto casually scanned the tense crowd, his eyes landing on a few familiar faces. One of the gathered teams was the exact same group of players he had encountered during the chaotic Extreme Imitator game that afternoon.

He had absolutely no impression of the other team standing nearby.

Strolling up to the group with his hands tucked casually into his pockets, Haruto asked directly, “Why is everyone just standing around? Why isn’t anyone going in?”

Hearing his sudden voice, the tense players flinched, spinning around in alarm. However, the moment they realized it was Haruto, the collective tension in the air instantly evaporated. The Woman with the High Ponytail let out a heavy, visible sigh of relief and quickly stepped forward to explain.

“The main doors aren’t open yet.” She gestured toward the large wooden sign planted firmly by the entrance. “It says here that the Grand Performance Area’s official operating hours are strictly from 8:30 PM until midnight.”

Haruto glanced down at his watch.

It was currently 8:16 PM.

While they waited, a player from the high ponytail woman’s team leaned over, quietly whispering to the unfamiliar team about the terrifying exploits Haruto’s trio had pulled off that morning.

Almost immediately, the looks in the other players’ eyes shifted into something incredibly complex. There was a flash of genuine surprise, a healthy dose of wariness, but overwhelmingly… there was deep joy.

The way the entire crowd looked at Haruto instantly became significantly friendlier. Their gazes were practically shining with the desperate, unspoken expectation of being hard-carried through the upcoming nightmare.

After all, this was the very first night the ominous Grand Performance Area was opening its doors, and absolutely no one knew what horrific, lethal dangers awaited them inside. Having a terrifying expert present—someone who could literally play an official, high-ranking Circus member to death without breaking a sweat—was more reassuring than any protective artifact in the world.