Chapter 1180

<Episode 1180> 1180. Day 15

[Great Luck (Lv. Master) has been activated.]

After entering the mountains, Great Luck was triggered.

My body turned on its own without my control. Though I was confused, I entrusted myself to the Great Luck skill. Great Luck is fortune—it won’t do anything harmful to me.

“Gender! Where are we going?! Shouldn’t we head deeper into the mountain?!”

Morii Masahiro said. I replied irritably. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling to have my body moving on its own.

“Just follow me for now.”

As I ran, I thought.

The thing that saved us in our moment of crisis was an earthquake. It was bad luck for the villagers but good luck for us.

‘This was fortune… but Great Luck didn’t activate. That earthquake must’ve been from the original story.’

Though I don’t remember the details of the original story.

After running through the mountain for about 15 minutes, we arrived at a large traditional Japanese mansion. There’s also a hospital located not far from this mansion.

“This place… it’s the Kaminoyama Mansion, isn’t it?”

Morii Masahiro wiped his sweat as he spoke.

“Kaminoyama. The Gender of that shrine maiden, right? Is this her house?”

“It’s the main house. The shrine maiden, Kaminoyama Kagura, lives at the shrine. Looks like you didn’t come here prepared.”

We just followed where Great Luck led us.

“…Shouldn’t we just head down the mountain instead?”

Wada Kyoushiro suggested. It wasn’t a bad idea. Our original plan was to descend the mountain.

“I think I understand what Yoojin is thinking,” Nakagami Lisa said with a smile. Everyone’s gaze turned toward her. Her open smile felt strange in this situation, and their gazes were filled with caution.

“We’re in the worst-case scenario right now. The villagers are hunting us to kill, and we have nothing. Descending the mountain in this state? To me, it looks like suicide. You should’ve already felt how massive this mountain is when we came up.”

“But Nakagami-senpai, if we go down the mountain, we’ll find a road, and following the road will eventually lead us to a city.”

“Wada. The problem is getting down the mountain. This mountain is dangerous. There’s a cliff on one side, and I’ve heard wild animals appear here too. Even if we’re lucky enough to make it down, what if the villagers are waiting for us at the bottom?”

“…Are you and Gender suggesting we stay in this village?”

“That’s not it. I agree with descending the mountain. The issue is that we have nothing. We need tools. Food is essential, and since we might encounter the villagers… we’ll need weapons too.”

Nakagami Lisa’s gaze shifted toward the mansion. Everyone else’s gaze naturally followed hers.

Tools, food, weapons.

The things we want should be inside that mansion.

“…Isn’t it dangerous? If the shrine maiden is behind the villagers, and this is her main house, the security must be tight….”

Wada Kyoushiro worried.

“The danger remains the same either way. Running away from the mountain with empty hands is risky. Most importantly, we don’t know the terrain of this mountain at all. At the very least, we need to secure food.”

That was Morii Masahiro’s statement.

“…I’ve been trying to use my smartphone since a while ago, but there’s no signal. No internet, no calls. They’ve been interfering with phone signals in this village. We can’t rely on outside help. We have to survive on our own. For that, we need weapons.”

Hudo Jun said coldly. He wasn’t afraid of the villagers. He remained calm.


It didn’t seem like a man.

The Circle members exchanged opinions and decided democratically. They agreed to raid the mansion.

They climbed over the estate’s wall.

Though it was quite high, it wasn’t insurmountable.

The mansion was silent. They vaguely expected security guards patrolling, but their prediction was wrong—there wasn’t a single guard inside.

Tatatatak!

The sound of hurried footsteps came from outside the mansion.

“Wake everyone up! Emergency situation!”

“Yes, sir!”

“We need to search the mountain! Prepare the hunting dogs!”

“Understood!”

“Block the road below the village! Request external manpower—we’ll need more people!”

The shouting of a middle-aged man echoed into the interior of the mansion. It was a voice they’d heard somewhere before.

“…Shimada Police Chief.”

Morii Masahiro muttered as he identified the owner of the voice.

We only moved after the commotion outside had faded away.

Lights turned on inside the mansion. The noise had woken them up. Fortunately, the main gate remained closed.

I, walking at the front, spoke in a low voice.

“The people of this village are trying to kill us. I don’t know why they want to kill us, but they definitely want us dead.”

Because we killed them first? Absolutely not. Even if I hadn’t acted first, they would have tried to kill us.

“So, we’ll kill them too. If you’re going to spout nonsense about not killing people, then do nothing at all.”

A door beside me opened. A woman in her forties stepped out. Judging by her clothes and disheveled appearance, she appeared to be a servant of the mansion. Before she could scream, I grabbed her neck and snapped it.

Crack.

She died instantly. I pushed the body back into the room and closed the door.

My back felt hot. The eyes of the Circle members watching me carried a slight trace of fear.

“…Did she really need to die?”

“Mr. Morii, what did I say earlier?”

“…Sorry.”

“That woman was about to scream when she saw us. What would’ve happened next? Obviously, the villagers would’ve rushed in and we’d be dead.”

“Yeah. To live, we must kill… This village is hell.”

Afterward, we encountered a few more people. Though I took the lead, there were times when I couldn’t handle it alone. In those moments, Nakagami Lisa or Hagawa Ryoko stepped in to help.

We successfully took control of the mansion after killing what seemed to be its elderly owner.

We gathered necessary supplies for our mountain escape without hesitation, along with food from the kitchen. We also picked up swords as weapons—dozens of katanas were stored in one of the rooms, likely the owner’s hobby. I quickly ran over and grabbed the most ornate one.

“In manga, legendary swords are always hidden, but that’s not how it works in reality. The sword owner isn’t an idiot—they wouldn’t hide a good sword in some corner.”

With the sword in hand, I looked toward the annex of the mansion. It was the only place we hadn’t entered yet. There was no real need to go in; we already had everything we needed.

‘But it’s intriguing.’

The annex had no windows. Its surroundings were sealed off with concrete, and the entrance was a heavy iron door.

I told the busy Circle members I’d be back shortly and stood alone in front of the annex.

I gripped the handle of the iron door. It was already open—no need for the key found in the owner’s room.

A faint white light seeped through the slightly ajar door. Feeling a bit startled, I pushed the iron door wide open.

Clangclangclang.

Inside was a small factory. Machines were running, producing something. The ceiling was bright and clean—it was clear hygiene was strictly maintained.

And at the center sat a man cloaked in black, staring at the machines. His face was hidden under a black cloth.

When he saw me, he seemed surprised and pulled something from his coat.

Red pills, Blood Orbs—and not just one. Six of them.

He lifted the cloth covering his face and swallowed all the pills at once.

Drip. Dripdrip.

Blood tears fell to the floor. Then his body began to twitch.

‘No… Not his whole body… His muscles are twitching.’


The guy charges at me. His acceleration was insane.

“Still, not beyond human levels.”

His vein-popping hand lunges for my head. He seems to want to grab and crush it.

I duck and swing my blade. My sword was faster than his hand.

Swoosh.

His head is cut off and flies through the air. Blood gushes from his severed neck, reaching the ceiling. His blood pressure was way too high.

Even without its head, the body doesn’t stop. I sidestep and slash again, cutting off his shoulder. The tough muscle mass gives way smoothly.

“Truly a legendary sword.”

I look at the fallen corpse. Blood continues to spurt fountain-like from the severed shoulder.

“There’s a scar on the neck… he didn’t speak a word… did they remove his vocal cords to make him mute?”

Leaving the body behind, I turn to look at the machine. It keeps running even without an operator.

In the first machine, powders of various kinds are being mixed. There are over six types – five white powders and one bright red powder.

The well-mixed powder turns pink before moving on to the next machine.

Liquid is added and it hardens. Then it’s boiled until all the liquid evaporates. This process repeats several times.

“…This isn’t water, is it?”

Next, the powder is formed into round lumps and hardened. This completes the creation of the Blood Pill.

“Surprisingly easy to make, huh?”

However, that wasn’t the end.

The completed Blood Pills are divided into two categories at the inspection station.

I can’t see any difference between them at a glance.

“The ones on the right are fewer in number. Are they defective products?”

I decide to taste them.

With my perfect recovery ability, eating one won’t kill me instantly.

First, I take what looks like the successful Blood Pill from the left pile and put it in my mouth.

Thump!

My heart pounds fiercely. Energy surges through my body, my mind becomes clear, and my senses sharpen. Confidence wells up within me. I feel like I can do anything.

“…It’s a drug.”

Then I eat one from the right pile.

Strength surges through my body. My vision turns red. Drip drip. Tears of blood run down my cheeks.

“So the fewer ones are the real Blood Pills.”

I grab a handful of the Blood Pills and stuff them into my pocket. They might be useful later.

Moving to the back of the machines, I see stacked crates. I slash one open with my sword. The Blood Pills are wrapped in luxurious packaging.

“They’re selling these. Must be making quite a profit.”

There will be many who want this. Yakuza, maybe even the Japanese government secretly buying these Blood Pills. The temporary enhancement they provide would be coveted by anyone.

“There’s a door. Is this where the materials come in?”

The door leads underground. As I enter the basement, I let out a hollow laugh. The passage is filled with powders.

“It’s drugs.”

At the end of the passage is another door. When I open it and step inside, the stench of blood assaults my nose. But it’s not a messy place. It’s cold and clean. I turn my head slightly.

Inside the machine are the bodies of Takana Hiroshi, Gonza, Sakurai, and others from the village I killed. The machine seems to preserve the corpses from rotting.

“Not just preservation… they’re also extracting blood here. And that machine beside it… it separates flesh and bones from the corpses.”

The separated flesh and organs are boiled in cauldrons with blood. The bones are crushed into powder.

“I don’t know about the powder… but the flesh, bones, and organs must be one of the ingredients for the Blood Pills.”

I recall the taste of the Blood Pill I ate earlier. There was no taste at all. Unbelievable that human beings were involved.

“…The Blood Pills have no taste. Are humans really being ground up?”

“There’s a middle step. We extract essence from the corpses and mix it with the secret medicine of the Kaminoyama family, then turn it into powder. After that, we mix it with five types of drugs to create the Blood Pills. However, the success rate of manufacturing Blood Pills is only 15%. 85% end up as defective during the process of forming and hardening the powder. We’ve tried improving it over the past five years… but failed.”

I turn my head.

A giant man over 2 meters tall wearing a doctor’s coat stares at me emotionlessly.

“Who are you?”

“Kaminoyama Kazuto. The hospital director.”