Occult Capitalism

by draconicshinx

Summary:

When his best friend Karua disappears, Takumi Sumino goes to the last place she was seen: Daydream, Inc., the pharmaceutical company where she worked. He manages to get hired, but quickly realizes there’s nothing normal about this company. They task their employees with entering darknesses, phenomenon where humans are transported to another world where death is common and surviving takes talent. On top of that, he has to face overbearing bosses, cutthroat coworkers, and a constant threat of contamination lingering from the darknesses he steps into.

It doesn’t help that a particularly sadistic darkness denizen has taken an interest in him. At this point, it might be too much to ask just to make it out of this job alive.

Notes:

Basic concept of this fic is from the light novel Dropped Into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work (which I recommend, it’s very good). This fic will not have any spoilers for the light novel, so you’re good to read even if you’re not caught up.

If you’re not familiar with the light novel, you’ll be finding out things as Takumi does lmao

Chapter 1

Daydream, Inc. A swiftly growing corporation out of Seoul, South Korea with a branch in Tokyo. Though the branch opened ten years ago after devouring a smaller pharmaceutical company based in Japan, it's quickly becoming a powerhouse in the imaginations of Japanese citizens.

After all, they have a cure for male pattern baldness.

Daydream advertises itself as a place where the impossible is made possible. That, they say, is the goal of their corporation, and should be the goal of medicine.

Takumi Sumino always thought that was a bit of a stretch, but his best friend, Karua Kashimiya, was entranced by it.

Takumi and Karua had been inseparable since they were kids. They grew up as next door neighbors, playing together and sticking with each other through middle school, high school, and even college. It was during that last year of college that Karua started talking about Daydream and her desire to work there. If anyone could make it work, Takumi thought at the time, it would be Karua. She was smart, personable, and easy to get along with. She was kind, too, and driven in a way that would make her a great worker for any company. So she applied, right out of college, and got the job. Takumi remembered celebrating with her, cheering her on.

He also remembered the two of them becoming more and more distant the longer she worked there. When he talked to her over the phone or in person, she always looked and sounded tired. She insisted everything was going great every time he asked, but Takumi had to wonder.

Eventually, getting her to agree to a meeting once a month was like pulling teeth.

Then, two years into her employment, she disappeared.

Takumi found out when she stopped replying to his texts around the time of the month they usually meet for dinner or lunch together. He went to her apartment, the one he hadn’t been to in ages, only to find out she moved six months ago and never told him. He even called her mother, as little as he knew the woman, and she told him he was making an issue out of nothing. She blew him off entirely and eventually hung up on him.

For a month, he waited for a response, but got nothing.

He couldn’t go to the police with so little evidence. He knew it looked like he was simply ghosted, like the woman he knew was no longer interested in spending time with him and he had to just accept it.

But Takumi knew Karua, knows Karua. He knows her better than every other person in the world. And every time they got together again, even right before she disappeared, she’d smile in a way that almost looked like her old self and tell him she was really glad she came.

He can’t believe that was fake, that their years together meant nothing. He has to find her and find out the truth.

That’s why Takumi Sumino applies at Daydream, Inc.

Everything changed after she got this job. Somehow, it has to be the catalyst for all this. And if she’s still working here, if she really did ghost him—well, at least he’ll know the truth. If she tells him to leave, he will. But he can’t shake the feeling that something is wrong.

He’ll figure things out. Daydream has to be a clue.

In all honesty, though, he didn’t expect to get past the first interview. Karua excelled in school, while Takumi was painfully average, usually only skating by with her help.

But he passed the first interview. He passed the second. He kept progressing until he got what he was looking for: the letter that he had gotten the job.

He’s starting at the bottom, but that suits him fine. He just needs to lay low for a while, do busy work until he can find out something about Karua. This isn’t his first office job at this point, but it is his nicest.

They even have a special orientation for new hires, held in a hall capable of holding the hundred some odd new employees Takumi has found himself a part of.

Those numbers boggle Takumi’s mind. How fast is this company expanding? Or… is the turnover rate that bad?

His thoughts are cut off by the stage (yes, stage!) set up before the assembly of new employees. A short man in a finely tailored suit walks out to speak in front of the microphone.

“Welcome, one and all, of our new employees! Allow me to be the first to congratulate all of you!” His voice is bombastic, almost like it could echo through the hall without the use of the microphone. He pauses to clap, a gesture quickly taken up by the other new employees until the hall rings with the sound. Once it ends, the man continues.

“I am afraid I have to be quite honest in this situation, however.” He doesn’t sound at all like he’s actually remorseful, but everyone goes near silent, waiting for him to continue. “You see, Daydream, Inc. has one last qualifying test that they require all new employees to take. Don’t worry, though! It’s not the kind of test you can study for. You all just need to do your best!”

Everyone, Takumi included, stares in utter shock. A test? Then… they aren’t actually hired? What about the employment papers Takumi already signed? Before an uproar can begin, the lights all go out. The hall, which Takumi realizes for the first time has no windows, turns completely pitch black.

And then, abruptly, Takumi is somewhere else.

His eyes gradually adjust to the low light until he can see where he is. The hall full of people has transformed into a stone cell, fit with bars in the front. The sole light comes from beyond those bars, but still too far away to see what is outside the cell with any clarity. The walls are carved stone, not bricks, like he’s being held in a cave rather than a true prison cell. It’s unsettling, and something about it feels inhuman, alien. He’s not supposed to be here.

Almost as soon as Takumi can make out his surroundings, he starts to hear voices from outside his cell. Some of the noise is angry yelling, some confused pleading, and others still outright screams of terror. It’s a cacophony that feels far away, somehow, even though it rings in his ears. Part of him wants to join them, to scream that he doesn’t deserve to be in a cell, that he’s done nothing wrong.

But there’s a part of him that tells him to stay silent, too. There’s a horrific recognition deep inside him, one that urges him to be quiet. Don’t draw attention to himself. Wait, and watch.

So Takumi does.

The noises from other people gradually die down, but he still hears sobs and sniffles. Some of them seem to instinctually know that something bad is going to happen. Takumi does, too. It makes him tense, waiting for the worst.

It all makes no sense. Moments ago, he was in orientation for a new job, already well on his way to beginning to figure out where Karua went, and now he feels like he’s in another world, facing complete uncertainty.

Is that what Karua went through? Is this why she’s missing?

That thought lends strength to his limbs, focuses his mind. Right. He has a goal here. This is all for Karua. He can endure this for her.

Especially if it’s something she’s already endured. The thought of that makes him clench his fists.

At that moment, a new, rhythmic noise begins echoing from past the bars of his cell. A heavy chunk, chunk, chunk, with metal clacking against metal. it's coming from multiple directions at once, too, like there’s more than one source. At first, everything goes quiet besides the new sounds, until there’s a loud CLANG.

“Hey, wait, what are you—AUGH, LET ME GO—“

The clanging of chains follows, accompanied by pathetic whimpering. Another voice, on his other side but farther away, screams.

“NO, NO, STOP—“ It’s cut off horrifically by a squelching, snapping sound.

A terrified moan comes from the first voice. “Don’t… don’t struggle! Just don’t struggle!”

Takumi has a good idea of what happened, then.

The two sources of noise get closer and closer to Takumi’s cell, accompanied by the CLANG of what he thinks are cell doors crashing open. He hears whimpers, cries of terror, but, blessedly, no more sounds of people dying.

Finally, the source of the noise comes into view.

The thing can, somewhat generously, be called a suit of armor, though the shape is nothing like a human. It has a squashed, squat body, with tree trunk shaped legs that are the source of the ominous clunking. Long, sinuous arms with three fingers grip his cell door and simply wrench it out, letting it fall to the side. It then reaches in, wraps its long fingers around his chest, and drags him out.

The fingers are surprisingly dexterous and gentle, holding him with care, like he might hold a baby bird. Takumi doesn’t struggle, doesn’t speak, as he’s extracted from the cell. He can tell this creature is not exerting all its strength, and that if it did, well. He might experience what that screaming person did.

The creature lifts him, and, with it's other hand, lifts a metal collar and chain. The collar snaps around his neck with ease, and the creature finally sets him down, still holding the chain. Now that he’s in the hallway outside his cell, Takumi can see it has a third arm, a stubby appendage protruding from the back. These fingers look less deft, but like they have a stronger grip. They’re holding three more chains attached to metal collars on three people.

All three appear to be fellow Daydream employees at the orientation. They’re all wearing suits, at least. One is a tall man with pale hair and glasses. He smiles thinly at Takumi. The second is another man, shorter, with dark hair and haunted eyes. He’s trembling, gripping the chain like a lifeline, and pointedly not looking at anyone. The last is a young woman, probably in her early twenties, with pink hair in elaborate buns and loops. In spite of her age, she’s watching everything with a critical eye and doesn’t seem nearly as afraid as the second man.

Takumi’s chain is transferred to the small hand. He moves to stand beside them just as the creature speaks for the first time.

“FULL GROUP. PLEASE TURN TO LEAVE.” The voice, if you can call it that, is somewhere between a frog’s croak and the bubbling of swamp ooze. Its helm, little more than a pointed dome where a human’s head would be, lifts as it speaks, like a mouth. It exposes the inside, with streaks of black slime connecting the helm with the rest of the body. Whatever it is, it’s not any kind or normal living creature.

The terrified man gives a shriek, his grip on his chain tightening. The other two jerk in surprise, along with Takumi.

It’s hard to comprehend any of this, but he has no choice but to go along with it. They’re a group now, apparently. Takumi turns, letting the chain dangle behind him, and starts slowly walking. The others follow, as well as the horrific suit of armor, whatever it is.

The hallway is long, lined with more cells like the one he’d been transported into, but there is a wooden door at the end. The going is still slow, because the armor’s gait is not fast. All four of them have to stay at the same speed, well under Takumi’s casual pace. As a result, it gives them more time to make sense of a senseless situation.

“You seem surprisingly calm.” The voice comes from the tall man at Takumi’s side. His pale blue eyes peer at Takumi with an odd sort of intensity. It’s unsettling and makes Takumi’s skin crawl. “Did you know this was going to happen?”

“No,” Takumi replies, a little too quickly. Why does he feel like he’s lying? “No, but… someone shouted that we shouldn’t struggle, so…”

“Me! I said it!” the terrified man says, and his voice quavers like he’s about to start crying. “That other guy, it just… just crushed him! It was horrible, inhumane!” He twists the chain in both hands, and this time, tears really do fall from his eyes. “This was supposed to be a cushy, well paying job! This was gonna be my ticket out of being broke! What the hell is going on?!”

Takumi glances back at the armor with alarm, but it doesn’t seem bothered by his outburst. It just keeps walking steadily backwards.

“Thanks for that! It’s why I stayed calm, too,” the young woman adds. If anything, she seems the most strangely calm of all of them. “Since it sounds like we’re going to be in a group together, we should get to know each other. I’m Kako Tsukumo.”

“Takumi Sumino,” Takumi replies automatically.

The terrified man looks back and forth between them before quietly adding, “Gaku Maruko.”

“And I'm Eito Aotsuki,” the tall man says. “All of us are new hires for Daydream, right?” They all nod, with varying levels of exuberance. “Interesting. It’s almost like the company sent us here, somehow. For what purpose? That test they were talking about?”

“What kind of test is this!?” Gaku snaps. “I watched someone die!”

“But you didn’t die, and you saved other people!” Kako points out. “That has to count for something!”

“I don’t care!” Gaku says. “As soon as we’re out of here, I’m quitting! No way in hell I’m sticking it out in a scary place like this!”

“Do you think this is all we’ll have to endure?” Eito asks. “Or will there be more past that door?”

The door is close, now. They’re only a few steps away.

“I think we’re about to find out,” Takumi says.

Before they reach the door itself, one of the suit of armor’s long arms reaches past them, stretching obscenely. It pushes the door open ahead of them and herds them through.

The noise beyond the door hits them like a physical wave. A literal deluge of screams, roars, and cheering washes over them, drowning out anything else. Stone floor gives way to black, sandy earth surrounded by black stone raised easily twenty feet tall. Like the stone inside, there’s no carved bricks, but instead just a sheer wall, towering over them like a natural formation. Takumi can’t tell if it is a natural formation or not, but he doubts it.

On the outside of that wall is stadium seating, full to the brim with creatures that defy logic. Some look like masses of tentacles, others like demons, and some eerily similar to humans but not quite right. Still others Takumi can’t look directly at, his eyes sliding over them. If he tries, he can feel something happening in his brain, a deep pain like something burning away.

He understands, though. This is some kind of horrific audience watching what is happening on the inside of the black stone wall.

Takumi can see that spectacle even more clearly. It’s an open space crawling with monsters. These are more animal-like and obviously less intelligent, but it doesn’t stop them from ripping into screaming humans in familiar suits.

More new Daydream employees, dying in front of their eyes.

No, they’re not done suffering, it seems. The worst is yet to come.

Chapter 2

As Takumi watches, a beast rips the last suit-wearing figure in half and feasts on the innards. Kako gives out a gasp, and Gaku is openly sobbing and cursing. It doesn’t look like any of the previous group of four survived. He doesn’t look very closely at the reddish lumps left in the dirt.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me, you’ve gotta be FUCKING KIDDING ME!” The repeated words sound like a mantra from Gaku at this point. Maybe it’s the only thing keeping him from breaking down entirely.

“Like gladiators in the Coliseum,” Eito says, more speaking aloud than towards any of them. “Barbaric, but hardly beyond our understanding. I suppose even non-human monsters enjoy this sort of entertainment.”

“You can wax philosophical when we’re not the ones about to get torn to—EEP!” Takumi whips around in time to see the armor, forgotten with a worse fate looming ahead of them, reaching for Gaku. Gaku’s eyes look almost impossibly large as he stands rigid, letting the armor take his collar. After that, it goes to each of them, one by one, to remove theirs, too.

Once his own is off, Takumi rubs absently at the place where it had been. At least they won’t face the monsters while chained up. He turns to the armor. It has no eyes, but he can somehow feel that its attention is on him.

“Do we get weapons? To fight monsters with?” Takumi asks. He’d take anything at this point other than bare fists.

“WEAPONS,” it repeats in its odd, gloopy, croaking voice. With one nimble hand, it flicks open its helm and reaches inside. The interior of the armor is full of black, oily ooze. It slowly pulls its hand back out. The sludge clings to it and sloughs off at the last moment . Four daggers are unveiled, all identical. It gives one to each of them.

Takumi turns the blade over in his hands. It’s not terribly long, but the edge looks sharp. It will be useful, but not much protection from the monsters waiting for them. They’re all larger than humans, and something like this won’t give them an advantage.

No wonder the last group didn’t survive.

“These might be better used in ending our suffering now.” The comment comes from Eito. He’s looking at the blade seriously, too, before he raises his eyes to look at Takumi watching him.

“Are you insane?!” Gaku yells. “Just killing ourselves, that’s it. You’re dead! We still gotta find a way out. We’re not shackled anymore. Let’s—“ His voice is cut off with a choke. Takumi follows his gaze and realizes why.

The door they’d come through is now just a barren stretch of black stone wall.

“The door behind us is gone,” Takumi says aloud. “The only way forward is through those monsters.”

“I think we can do it!” Kako says. Unlike the other two, she actually sounds optimistic. “My brother is already an employee at Daydream. If he got hired, there’s gotta be a way to survive!” She gives Takumi a determined smile, and he replies to it with a nod.

“Your brother already works there?!” Gaku grabs her by her shoulders. “Tell me, what advice did he give you? How the fuck did he make it out of this?!”

Kako deflates a little. “He didn’t give me any, actually. He didn’t know I was applying. He explicitly told me not to apply for this job, even though he always talks about how fun it is to work for Daydream.”

Gaku lets her go, his arms dropping limply to his sides. “We’re screwed, aren’t we?”

“If someone has survived this before, there’s gotta be a way for us to do it,” Takumi counters. He looks over the dagger again. Maybe the metal is especially effective against monsters? “We just have to figure it out.”

“It’s true that these don’t look like normal weapons,” Eito agrees. “We might as well struggle against death as long as we can.”

“We can do it! I know we can!” Kako says, thrusting a fist into the air. In the other hand, she has her dagger ready to stab something.

“I can’t believe my rotten luck…” Gaku sobs to himself.

Takumi can’t blame them. Regardless of bravado or ill-placed hope, he knows it’s much more likely that he’s going to watch all three of these people die, if he doesn’t die first. Maybe that is preferable, to be honest.

Without warning, a voice erupts over the arena.

“Laaaaaadies and geeeentlemonsters!” It sounds exactly like the sort of announcer you’d expect to hear at an event like this, if it was more benign and less gory. “Welcome again to the Obsidian Coliseum! Here we’ve got thrills, chills, and hungry beasts to rip apart our fighters if they aren’t quick enough!” There’s a roar of cheering and applause, though neither sound quite right in Takumi’s ears. Probably just because of the source, but it sounds distorted and grating.

“We’ve got another group of fresh mortals for our opening act, ready for the slaughter! Let’s give them a round of applause!” More cheers echo around them from the stands, but they sound more lackluster. Maybe this audience is less interested in inexperienced fighters set on the chopping block. It makes the fear well up in his chest, the feeling of entering an impossible situation with no way available but forward.

“Let’s not waste any more time!” The announcer says with exuberance. “The arena has been cleaned and the sands are ready for more blood! Release the beasts!”

Takumi hadn’t realized the beasts weren’t aware of them until that moment. The arena flashed with a brilliant light, as if illuminating the four of them. The head of every monster in the arena turns towards them, eyes locking in on their prey, before the mad dash towards them begins.

“NO WAYYYYY!” Gaku screeches, holding out his dagger with both hands that shake with terror.

“Stay together!” Takumi shouts. “We can watch each others’ backs! Go for eyes and other tender spots! Don’t give up!” This all seems like obvious platitudes, but the others seem to take it to heart. Kako nods, her expression looking fierce. Gaku is still trembling, but a little less. Eito looks at him with interest and a small smile.

Then, the first beast is upon them.

It’s a lion, but all gray and black, with scales instead of fur. Its face is more like a baboon’s than a cat, with an almost human gleam in it's eyes. It’s faster than the others and arrives on it's own. It lunges at Takumi, jaws wide with enormous incisors on display. He slashes at it with the dagger, missing entirely, but it at least backs off, wary and searching for an opening. Takumi sees when its eyes slide from him to Gaku behind him, a single step changing it's position. Takumi doesn’t quite understand how he can read it's movements like this, see its intent, but it’s clear as day to him. It views Gaku as weaker prey and is going for him first.

“Gaku, move!” Takumi shouts, but when he turns to look at him, he knows it’s useless. Gaku is frozen in terror, staring down the lion monster as it leaps for his throat.

Takumi moves without thinking. He flips the dagger in his grip to stab straight down and leaps into the way of the lion creature. It sees him coming, but not in time. Razor claws dig into his left shoulder, but that’s fine. The blade is in his right hand. It arcs downward, with all the strength he can muster, and plunges into the beast’s eye.

The monster screams. It sounds horrifically human, but Takumi grits his teeth against the sound and the pain. It pushes him backwards to get away, wrenching the dagger out of its eye socket.

Takumi sees a flash of white and black on his left side, and then an explosion of red and more screaming from the monster. It’s side is torn open in a horrible bloody gash, some of it's organs threatening to fall out of it's body. It staggers backwards away from them.

Eito is covered in the monster’s blood, looking at the blade with bemusement.

“Definitely not an ordinary knife,” he tells Takumi. “It cut through that creature’s hide like butter. You gave me the opening, though.”

“And you stopped it from killing me, so I suppose we’re even,” he replies, wincing as he jostles his shoulder. He watches the monster collapse a few yards away, and the other monsters fall upon it immediately to feast.

They’ve won a few moments at least.

“Takumi! You… you really saved me!” Gaku is there in an instant, trying to help Takumi stay standing. “Dude… no one has done that for me before! You were amazing!”

Takumi is, admittedly, only half listening. He’s painfully aware of how bad the gash in his shoulder is. The blood is soaking through the sleeve of his suit jacket, nearly down to his hand already. Does Daydream pay for dry cleaning? He has no idea.

Absently, he swaps the dagger into his left hand, just trying to free his right one to push his bangs out of his eyes, but something unexpected happens first. His blood, soaked through his sleeve, drips onto his hand. It trails down his knuckle and lands as a droplet onto the dagger.

The dagger changes instantaneously. Takumi’s only warning is sudden heat in his hand, and then the blade shoots outward, elongating into a katana with a red blade. It barely misses skewering Gaku, who was moving to try to look at his injury. Instead, he takes a staggering step backwards.

”Wh-what just happened?!” Gaku manages to get out.

“Takumi, you just figured out how to truly unlock these weapons.” Eito’s eyes are practically sparkling as he looks over Takumi’s sword.

Unfortunately, Takumi is mystified. “I have no idea how this happened! I just moved it to my other hand…”

Eito looks him over. “Swap to your other hand… Well.” After a moment, he takes out his own dagger and what looks like a white handkerchief. He wipes off the blood left on the blade before pulling up his sleeve and slicing open his own forearm. Takumi opens his mouth to yell, but is speechless when Eito’s weapon transforms, too. Soon he’s holding a scythe with a red blade rather than a dagger. He swings it with surprising strength and skill.

“This will make fighting easier,” he says. “Takumi and I both have longer range, making killing these monsters more viable.” He looks pointedly at Kako and Gaku. “Our own blood triggers the transformation. All you need are a couple drops.“

“Oh!” Kako uses her dagger to prick the back of her hand. It transforms explosively, changing into what is obviously a long range rifle. “Ohhhh! This isn’t a bladed weapon though…?”

“We can cover you,” Takumi replies. “No, this might be better than a bladed weapon. How good is your aim?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never tried using a gun like this before…” In spite of her words, she picks it up and shoulders it like a pro. She looks through the sight, adjusts her aim, and pulls the trigger. The kickback is enough to rock her whole body, but she doesn’t lose the position.

The head of one monster feasting on the one they injured explodes into blood and brain matter.

“Holy shit,” Gaku breathes in shock.

“Keep doing that,” Takumi tells her. He lifts his sword with his good hand. His shoulder is tender, but it’s no longer bleeding as heavily. If he’s a bit woozy, that’s better than dead. “Gaku?”

“Ack! Alright, alright, please don’t be something close range…” Gaku follow’s Kako’s lead by cutting the back of his hand, just a little. His weapon expands explosively, filling out into a gatling gun. He stares at it in complete shock. “What the hell…?”

“Mid range,” Takumi tells him. “Can you keep an eye on our flanks? And don’t hit us.”

“Dude, you are way too good at this leader shit,” Gaku retorts. “But yeah. As long as I get to stay back here with Kako…”

“We’ll provide cover fire!” Kako says, sounding far more energetic. “Let’s do it, Gaku!”

“O-oh, uh, sure!” Takumi doesn’t have time to unpack the fact that Gaku is blushing while Kako’s eyes are sparkling with determination. The monsters seem to have remembered their true prey and are turning away from the remnants of the dead monsters, mostly stripped clean to the bones.

“Amazing! Have all four combatants figured out how to use their hemoanima weapons? We might be about to see a real show, folks!” The announcer sounds ecstatic, but it only serves to piss Takumi off.

“So they knew how these worked the whole time and let people die,” he says, keeping his eyes on the foe.

“Of course they did,” Eito comments. “They’re handing them out, aren’t they? Seeing whether their ‘fighters’ figure it out is probably half the fun. Ah, we should focus now, Mr. Sumino.” With that, Eito races forward and meets two beasts head on, one some kind of horrific bird with a melting face and the other a bear with far too many eyes. With a single swing of the scythe, both are cut in half.

Takumi doesn’t have time to watch him fight, either. More monsters arrive, and he has to swing his sword, too. He fights slower than Eito, thanks to his injury. The sword is supposed to be wielded with two hands. He knows this instinctively, even though he’s never held a katana in his life. He can still fight with just one hand, but the swings aren’t as powerful. Thankfully, the blade mostly cuts through these monsters like a hot knife through butter. He only struggles with a few with more armored skin. Frequently, though, if he starts to struggle, his adversary’s head explodes with a well-placed shot from Kako. She never misses once, and each blast of her rifle results in a kill. Even Gaku accounts for quite a few monsters himself. More than Takumi expected make it past the combined forces of Takumi and Eito, but Gaku mows them down, screaming all the while. It’s almost louder than his gun.

Takumi quickly loses track of time. His existence narrows only to the monsters in front of him, each falling to his blade in quick succession. He doesn’t count how many he kills, but knows it has to be well into double digits. How many monsters does this place even have? This seems far more than he remembered seeing in the arena originally.

Even that onslaught can’t go on forever. Finally, Takumi kills something that looks like a tiger, if one had six legs, and nothing rushes forward to fill it’s place. Before Eito can swing his scythe down on the last monster before him, Kako seals it's face with a bullet. Gaku has stopped screaming and instead looks pale and sick.

Takumi doesn’t blame him. The living monsters are gone, but the dead bodies surround them. The smell of blood becomes more pungent, now that his brain isn’t blocking out anything that isn’t slaughter. Takumi and Eito are practically dripping with monster blood. Gaku is splattered, too. Only Kako was saved from the worst of it, but even she has stains of it on her white undershirt.

“Truly incredible! These contenders have beaten the odds, working together like a real team to all survive! How long has it been since we’ve seen that, folks? Did anyone make that bet?”

“Bet?” Takumi asks, anger starting to burn through his exhaustion.

“Of course. Betting on outcomes of fights like this is very common. I expect anyone who gambled on us is suddenly finding themselves very rich,” Eito says. There’s a hint of disgust in his voice, and Takumi feels the same. Betting on lives…

He does hear some groans, but there is a lot of cheering as well. The most important thing, though, is that he doesn’t see any signs that there are going to be more beasts to fight. He tries not to let himself relax, but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t dead tired.

“And our plucky contenders have won the usual prize--their freedom! Surely there’s nothing better than that?” The audience is a mix of cheers and boos that makes Takumi scowl. Still, it’s reassuring to hear that they are done with this. The nightmare is over.

“Wait, what’s this? Oh, my! How lucky for our contenders! Someone has decided to offer a sponsorship!”

Takumi’s blood runs cold.

“No, no, I just wanna go home!” Gaku screams. “No more of this!”

“Now, now, contenders, you don’t have to accept the offer!” Gaku jerks at the response. Apparently, the announcer could hear when they yell, at least. “But please at least consider! Our lovely sponsor is waiting for you inside to discuss the terms! Meanwhile, audience, it’s time for a brief intermission!” Once the announcer is done speaking, a suit of armor appears. It’s similar to the one who led them here, but it’s a completely different shape. This one is tall and towering, its back hunched over and looming. It beckons with one long finger and points to an opening in the impenetrable wall, standing out against the dark stone.

“So the doorways really do seem to open spontaneously,” Eito says. “Isn’t that interesting?”

“It’s creepy!” Gaku complains. “Let’s get this over with, I guess. Just tell them no and go home!”

“I kind of want to see what they’re offering,” Kako replies. “You never know, in a strange place like this…”

Takumi is more inclined to agree with Gaku, but he nods regardless and starts taking the first steps towards the new gateway. If nothing else, they have to go this way to leave.

“Stick together,” he says. “Don’t let them divide us up.”

“Strength in numbers,” Eito says with a hum. “Well, let’s see what these creatures have in store for us next.” He and the others quickly catch up with Takumi, and all four enter the darkness beyond the stone doorway together.

Notes:

Sorry no yugamu yet, but he’s on his way!