2 weeks since the game descended,
Akira laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling, while Haruka rested on his chest with red, swollen eyelids. It seemed she had fallen asleep while crying.
Akira couldn't bear to leave her alone at that moment, so he brought her to his room to sleep. 'Why did she become so sensitive?' he pondered. 'In a previous life, the first time she killed, she only didn't eat for that day and returned to normal the next.
However that happened after I left her, and she knew the person was a criminal at the time. I tried to convince her that Iwasaki was also a criminal, but she still cried a lot.'
'There's a lot to think through,' he continued. 'First is the Munarilla, which is the cause of system activation in humans. It feels like an organism, but if it is, it should reproduce. So why limit it to a few people?
Even as stupid as humans are, they've found methods to stop reproduction in organisms, so why wouldn't aliens with such advanced technology do it?
The error message said Munarilla can awaken the system in normal people. Maybe this is to encourage players to get strong so that they don't die like the weak humans. I feel like I am on to something. If Munarilla is transferred to normal humans from dead players, then that explains why people are still awakening. Munarilla finds its host on its own.
But this didn't happen in my previous life. There, only when children reached 15 years old were they able to awaken the system. Those who didn't at 15 years old didn't awaken for the rest of their lives.
Why is everything happening differently this time? Maybe my speculations are wrong. I shouldn't dwell on possibilities now. My situation is that I am the closest to the truth about the system, and I am under its control now.
So the best and first course of action I should take is to learn how to use this power on my own, so that if one day the system tries to go against me, I can extract Munarilla from my head. I also have to search for how to do it.
Wait... a minute. Didn't this topic become famous in the last three years of my previous life? People found a way to do it, but I was consumed by regret, so I didn't care about anything at that time. I don't know many details about that.
All I know is the origin of that topic was from India, but it became a secluded country after the disaster due to increasing terrorist attacks. Going there is out of the option.
Maybe I should read some books from there related to the body. All civilizations will have some ancient knowledge about the human body, so maybe they have one too.
Then, about these operators, it's easy to understand. This planet is just a breeding ground for them. Maybe they will sell players as slaves after reaching a certain level but one thing is certain, they will ask us to do something against our will.
As they didn't appear previously, even at S rank, I am guessing they will appear after the S rank version. We should make this power our own by that time.'
He checked the global ranking list in the system. 'There it is, the total number of players is always slightly less than a billion. So they have 1 billion Munarilla on Earth.'
The next day, Haruka woke up normally and saw Akira beneath her. She maintained a poker face, but her cheeks betrayed a slight redness.
However, she remembered killing a human, so she looked at her hands and replayed the blood splashes in her mind again and again. Her hands started to shake as she lowered her head.
Akira turned in his sleep, snapping her out of her trance. She looked at him, her face firm. She knew she had done the right thing. She would regret leaving Akira alone on the path of murder, but she also knew she didn't want it.
She felt the suffering of killing someone, but with how much Akira had changed, he must have killed a lot. She didn't want him to face the same thing again. So she decided to steer him away from that path.
After breakfast, Haruka called Akira to speak alone.
"Why did you call me here? We should go raid some dungeons. We can't waste time at a time like this," said Akira.
"I know, but we can't just do things on a whim either. We need a plan for the future."
"Don't I have one?"
"Yeah, but I don't," said Haruka, feeling bad that she betrayed his trust by saying that. "You didn't tell me yours either. And even if I guessed your plan, I…" She hesitated, holding her arm, and looking down slightly.
"Say it," Akira asked, his expression serious.
"Ki… killing people is suffering. Although that was my first time, so I felt overly sensitive, but I don't want you to follow that path."
"You don't know how cruel those people are, Ruka. Before I woke up that day, Japan was left with one million humans not because of the monsters but because of them."
"What?" Ruka was shocked, giving him a suspicious look.
"I mean in the nightmare."
"But you crushed his head even though it was unnecessary. You are becoming something you shouldn't, Aki," she argued.
'That's bothering her? But I can't tell you the reason. That bastard's skill can transfer his damage to three people he marked previously with a touch. This means, that when you stabbed him, he didn't die, but someone else. Wait…'
"Ruka, immediately call your friends and ask if they and their family are safe," Akira insisted suddenly.
"What? Why?" She took her mobile and called her friends.
A few minutes later, she said, "Everyone seems to be okay. Why did you ask?"
"I was just worried he might have an accomplice, but judging from his behavior, I don't think anyone will work with him."
Ruka became downtrodden. "Is it true that if we left them unattended, the Japanese population would have reduced to one million?"
"That was a nightmare, but there is a high chance."
Ruka didn't expect to hear that. That was just a little over 1% of its population before the system descended. That realization caused her to give up because her estimation was way off and her belief got shaken, but on the other hand, it led Akira to think.
'What happened?' he realized. 'What is it that I actually want? Is it to take revenge… or (He looked at Haruka) to protect? We already killed the two people who made our lives miserable.
The organization itself didn't harm us, so I don't need to actively kill them. They messed with humanity, so all I need to do is help humanity see their true colors and help them.'
"Do you have another solution?" Akira asked, which lit hope in Haruka's eyes as she saw his face turning pleasant.
"Let's talk about it," she said, quickly trying to start an idea so that he would change his views on the future.
"How about we create an organization, but not like others?" she suggested. "For example, from your explanation, once an organization takes a dungeon from bidding, they will only allow people from their organization to enter.
But we will create a system like… pooling, where interested players can pool for bidding. If the bid is unsuccessful, they will get their money back. If we do win, we will allow other players with a certain price to enter.
We can keep our core members at the entrance to the reward room so that no one but we will get those rewards. Even if a pool is not enough to bid, we can bid with our own money and get the profits later by selling entrance tickets."
It was a fine idea, but it would take some effort to get people together. As they wouldn't understand the organizations sucking them dry until later stages, players would feel better joining organizations that give initial benefits.
"That's a fine idea, let's discuss them. Let's do it. We will establish an organization then. I have the perfect situation to attract players' attention. We have 2 weeks before the time comes."
Haruka suddenly became enthusiastically cheerful. "So we are creating an organization?"
"Yes, I understand it will be hard to tackle villains alone, and they might be in player associations too, so we need a powerful organization when the time comes.
This way, even if a major disaster comes, we can unite all players quickly. From now on, we shouldn't act selfishly in front of others, even as the black bear and the white rabbit.
This organization will follow a righteous path like a hero. We can reduce crimes in this way too."
"I am more worried about you," said Haruka sarcastically.
"It's fine, you are strong now. I won't get triggered easily."
'Which means there is a chance,' thought Haruka. 'I shouldn't let anyone get closer to me.'
"Let's go to dungeons," said Akira.
"So, it's back to grinding?" Haruka asked.