Chapter 468: The Game Begins Again

A simple sentence exploded like thunder in his ears, detonating in his heart.

Kamikawa Mitsu stood frozen, struck dumb by those few words.

I am Him…

His mind held only that one phrase, echoing endlessly.

He could not return to himself for a long time.

He had speculated that He and the other player truly existed, Shenzhi their terror—not merely in power, but in their nearly unsolvable strategies.

Thus, he had wondered who they might be.

He had guessed too many identities—even considered whether they might be Hongjun, more terrifying than the Three Pure Ones, or Pangu from the primordial age.

He had speculated about great figures.

He had also speculated about ordinary ones, wondering whether He and the other player were merely anonymous members of the masses, hidden among them.

He had not forgotten the ancient Chinese saying: The greatest concealment hides in plain sight.

He and the other player, the two most invincible beings in the world, if they wished to hide, plain sight was the very place they would never be found.

Perhaps He and the other player were, in the Initial World, nothing more than an ordinary office worker, a student, or even a shut-in.

Kamikawa Mitsu had even considered whether one of them might be… his sister—Kamikawa Chie.

Kamikawa Mitsu remembered every detail of Kamikawa Chie’s uncannily prophetic mouth.

If among all ordinary people on Earth one was truly extraordinary, it was not the child prodigies who entered high school at seven or took the college entrance exam at twelve— it was Kamikawa Chie.

She was just an utterly ordinary high school girl.

Yet she possessed a mouth that made anything she said come true, with one hundred percent accuracy.

Kamikawa Mitsu still remembered how her prophetic words had not only foretold his own schemes, but even casual jokes of hers had come true.

A few days ago, Kamikawa Chie visited a supermarket where Kamikawa Mitsu held shares and saw a display of lottery drinks—similar to the Chinese-style “open cap, win a free bottle” promotions.

Kamikawa Mitsu had told her there was no need to buy them; the odds were low and the drinks tasted bad.

Kamikawa Chie replied, “What if I win? Maybe this one bottle will get me first prize—a three-day hot spring trip to Mount Fuji.”

And then…

Kamikawa Chie won.

Kamikawa Mitsu stared, dumbfounded—she bought the drink, opened it, and won first prize.

It was precisely because Kamikawa Chie went on her three-day Mount Fuji hot spring trip with Rikui and the others that Kamikawa Mitsu entered this world of mysterious mist.

“You’re saying I’m… the player? Him?”

Kamikawa Mitsu finally snapped back, his gaze fixed on the white skull, his deep eyes flickering with light, as if trying to see every motion, every change, to determine whether the skull was lying.

“Yes.”

The white skull spoke plainly.

At that moment, the black skull spoke: “You are Him. We have no reason to deceive you, for you will know eventually.”

Hm?

Kamikawa Mitsu turned sharply to look at the black skull.

Before he could ask, the black skull said: “Myself and the Holy Spirit remain here because of you—you caused us to wait here for your arrival.”

The white skull continued: “Myself and the Departed abandoned our bodies, shed our Dao, and guarded this altar, waiting solely for you. When you come, this game will begin anew.”

The black skull wept blood, its droplets floating around it, spinning endlessly—strange and eerie—as it stared at Kamikawa Mitsu.

“At first I didn’t understand why you made us stay here. Now I faintly understand—you didn’t gamble with reincarnation, nor with your power, but threw yourself into reincarnation.

This game, meant for two players, cannot continue without you.

The other player waits for you, waits for you to return and resume play—and so the game has halted.

These years without you became the most peaceful era: without the game, all beings finally gained control over their own fates, no longer mere pawns.

This game was meant to resume after your return.

But you entered reincarnation—you are not Him, yet you are Him. The one waiting to play is you, yet you are not Him. It is contradictory, yet perfectly natural.

The game must continue, and you must play it—you are not Him, yet you are Him.

The game must be played, but this game must be replaced. The unfinished game was overturned because of your reincarnation; a new game must begin.”

The white skull’s fire glowed softly at that moment: “Rather than continue a game already destined to lose, begin a new one. A new game means new hope. You are truly you.”

Kamikawa Mitsu fell silent, hearing their ambiguous yet strangely clear words.

He half-understood.

But at least he grasped one thing.

He was Him—one of the two greatest Muhouheishou in the world.

“He left hope behind, yet departed himself.”

Suddenly, the black skull sighed softly:

“The inevitable loss was reversed, but He is gone. Now you are Him, yet not Him. Even though He started a new game, bringing new hope, this game is now played by you—who are Him yet not Him. Is there still hope?”

The white skull now spoke: “Whether there is hope or not, we have staked everything. I believe in Him, and I believe in the Him now before me.”

In those final words, the white skull looked at Kamikawa Mitsu.

Though Kamikawa Mitsu was no longer Him, the First Holy Spirit saw His shadow in him.

That calmness, that composure, that expression in his brows—Kamikawa Mitsu’s very demeanor now mirrored Him perfectly.

He was the world’s greatest executioner, turning countless beings into pawns and killing them.

Who could have imagined such a terrifying being possessed the demeanor of a composed, mature young man?

No arrogance, no supreme dominance, no refined nobility, no merciful benevolence—only an ordinary yet extraordinary calmness and steadiness.

“You wish to know Him? Enter reincarnation, and you may learn all.”

The black skull’s hollow eye sockets glanced toward the stone archway behind it on the altar.

Its meaning was unmistakable.

That stone archway was reincarnation—the legendary gateway where the dead are reborn—Reincarnation!

The dead enter reincarnation, reborn into a new life—and yet it looked so simple, without any grandeur or mystical effects, utterly ordinary.

Kamikawa Mitsu did not immediately step toward reincarnation.

He did not know if this was a trap—perhaps the two skulls were deceiving him.

The two skulls noticed this, and did not urge him. They merely said calmly:

“Whether you enter or not is your choice. We will not force you. After all, you are no longer the Him we knew—we cannot burden you with the weight of the game.”

Kamikawa Mitsu looked at the black skull that had spoken.

“Can you answer me one question?”

“What question?”

“What is this game? Why do you gamble with all living beings?”

The black skull was the Departed, the former player—no one knew the reason for the game better than he.

…