In the dim light, Li Minka's hood was removed, and for a moment, the bright candle flames made it difficult for him to open his eyes. His face, contorted in discomfort, relaxed after some time.
The table before him, which seemed capable of extracting confessions, indicated that this was likely an interrogation room. However, all the instruments of torture had been removed, leaving the room eerily empty and immaculately clean.
Kino sat opposite Li Minka, the orange glow of the candlelight falling on his skin as if it were about to spill forth in radiance.
Kino: "I request an unrestricted dialogue."
A mark of rejection appeared, displaying the following message:
[Rejectionist has initiated an application for unrestricted dialogue.]
Li Minka, his face filled with despair, hung his head, silent and unmoving.
Precisely five seconds later, a new prompt appeared before Kino:
[The restriction remains in effect.]
[The subject is not a Reincarnator, and the unrestricted dialogue does not apply.]
[Or the application has been rejected.]
Kino shrugged, his smile unfaltering: "I have a few questions for you. It's rather troublesome, isn't it, that we cannot speak freely and avoid certain keywords?"
Li Minka gave a dry, hollow laugh, his voice low and tinged with bitterness. "You killed my comrades. I'm going to die at your hands soon. Why should I answer your questions?"
"Correction," Kino replied, his hands folding with a slow, deliberate motion, his thumb twirling between his fingers, his expression warm but unyielding. "It wasn't I who killed your comrades, it was the marauders." He paused, his tone almost mocking. "And how do you know you're certainly going to die? Care to try conversing with me? I request unrestricted dialogue."
[Rejectionist has initiated an application for unrestricted dialogue.]
Li Minka's head remained bowed, but perhaps moved by Kino's words, the usual five-second delay passed, and the screen before them flickered with a change:
[The request has been accepted.]
[The rejectionist may now converse freely with the subject.]
[Should a third party appear, restrictions will be reinstated. Please adhere to the rules.]
Kino clapped his hands together with a lighthearted grin: "See? Much better, isn't it? You cooperate, I accumulate some goodwill in my heart, and your chances of survival increase."
Li Minka's laugh was bitter and full of hopelessness. "Do you really think you'll let me go? I don't believe it..."
"Please," Kino said with a shrug, his expression one of innocent bewilderment. "I'm a Rejectionist. I cannot complete missions, I cannot undergo trials, and there are no rewards for killing reincarnators. Why would I kill you?" He sighed theatrically. "What, in your eyes, am I some twisted, deranged psychopath?"
Li Minka gazed at him with a look that spoke volumes, though his lips remained silent. That stare, heavy with despair and disdain, was an answer in itself.
Kino's smile faded slowly as he took in the look, his voice faltering slightly. "No way, you really think of me like that?"
Before Li Minka could respond, a shadow flitted across the room.
"Clink!" A dagger pierced through his palm, pinning it to the table.
"Ah!! Ahhhhh!!" He screamed in excruciating pain, his body instinctively thrashing. Yet each movement seemed to tear his hand deeper into the wound, blood pouring freely, the pain so intense that it threatened to overwhelm him.
Kino, with a face devoid of emotion, regarded him coolly. "That's rude. You should never judge someone's character before understanding the full picture."
Without warning, Kino's smile returned. "But, I must admit, many people tend to think of me this way, even though I don't entirely agree."
With that, he casually pulled the dagger out.
Li Minka gasped for air, clutching his wounded hand, his face etched with sorrow as he hoarsely murmured, "When you stab someone, does a normal person smile?"
Kino's gaze softened as he considered the question. "You seem to misunderstand. It's in my nature. Even when I don't try to smile, my lips naturally curve upward. So, when you see me smiling, I may not actually be smiling." He thought for a moment before adding, "If I'm not smiling, then you should worry. It means I'm truly angry."
Seeing Li Minka's strained expression, Kino playfully placed his fingers at the corners of his mouth and raised them slightly. "Come on, don't be so grim. Give me a smile~"
Li Minka, terrified that another blow might come if he refused, forced a smile, but the excruciating pain twisted his face into a grotesque mask.
"Ah, you're learning," Kino said, his tone softening slightly as he sensed his first breakthrough in Li Minka's defenses. "As I said earlier, killing you earns no reward. I could let you go, but only if you cooperate. Answer truthfully to every question I ask."
The agony, the manipulative words, the primal desire for survival—Li Minka had become nothing more than a puppet on strings, his will to resist shattered. He whispered hoarsely, "Ask your questions..."
Kino nodded, his tone suddenly serious. "What exactly is the effect of Reincarnation Camouflage?"
Li Minka murmured in reply, his voice trembling: "Reincarnation Camouflage is a unique function used by our teams for reincarnation invasions. It allows us to enter the target world ahead of time, interfering with the Rejectionist's 'countdown,' preventing them from knowing the precise time of our arrival."
Kino's brow furrowed slightly. "I saw earlier that your team's camouflage was rated as C. This suggests that there are other levels. Could you tell me more about them and how to break the camouflage?"
Li Minka nodded, his voice laced with the weight of his knowledge. "Reincarnation Camouflage is classified into five grades: D, C, B, A, and S. Grade D is nullified when the Rejectionist sees the Reincarnator; Grade C, like the one I used, is nullified once the Reincarnator is harmed by the Rejectionist; Grade B, nullified when the Reincarnator is killed; Grade A, nullified when the Reincarnator admits their true identity; and Grade S, never nullified."
Kino thought for a moment before pressing on. "Is the duration of the camouflage fixed?"
Li Minka shook his head. "It's random, without any clear pattern. I've even heard of a team once arriving a year early, easily eliminating a Rejectionist who had let their guard down."
Kino's expression darkened slightly. If that were true, it meant that the countdown on the Rejectionist mark could no longer be relied upon. There was no way of knowing whether the invading Reincarnation team had already used Camouflage to enter the world before the countdown even began.
He pressed on with his line of questioning: "Is the breaking of Reincarnation Camouflage scalable?"
Li Minka nodded, his voice tinged with a resigned understanding. "Yes, it is scalable. For example, a Grade B camouflage can be broken by killing the Reincarnator. But if the Reincarnator admits their identity, the conditions for breaking an A-grade camouflage are met, and the B-grade is also nullified. The same principle applies to other grades."
"Are all your missions focused on fighting Rejectionists?"
"No," Li Minka replied. "Most missions involve traversing various realms—movies, anime, novels, and so on. Only once our team has developed sufficiently do we begin hunting Rejectionists. This is our first such mission."
"How many Reincarnation teams are there in total?"
"I don't know," Li Minka admitted. "I can only tell you that different teams often encounter one another in the same world. Sometimes, we're enemies, other times we cooperate."
Kino's fingers tapped rhythmically on the table as he narrowed his eyes, a calculating glint flashing in them. "Have you ever encountered a Reincarnation team with a physically strong Reincarnator, weapons of mass destruction, and advanced flying machines?"
Li Minka furrowed his brows. "That's typical for a strong team. The last mission I was on was in the world of *One Piece*. We collaborated with a Grade 6 team. As soon as they arrived, they used flying machines to bombard Water 7 with missiles, nearly attracting the attention of a Marine Admiral. Fortunately, their leader was a close-combat specialist who quickly dispatched Franky and ended the mission before the Admiral could arrive. A Grade 6 team would have that kind of setup. Higher-ranked teams definitely would, though I don't know which team you're referring to. And I've only recently joined the Reincarnation world, so I don't know many teams."
Kino nodded thoughtfully. "So, what grade is your team?"