Suddenly, a familiar broadcast voice came from above, and Matsusaka Shintaro was startled.
"Trial rules are being drawn, please remain calm..."
The elevator suddenly shuddered, stuck between floors, and the numbers on the screen went out abruptly. He was stunned for a second, reached out to press the emergency button, but there was no response.
"This round of trials is..."
"The rules are as follows: One participant plays the ’ghost,’ the remaining one hundred and fifty-eight participants play ’humans,’ the ’ghost’ wins by accumulating enough points, ’humans’ win by surviving within the allotted time."
The broadcast paused for a moment, and under Matsusaka Shintaro’s astonished gaze, the walls on either side of the elevator suddenly flipped open, revealing a row of racks. The left side was filled with cold weapons like knives, hammers, swords, axes, while the right side featured hot weapons like submachine guns, grenades, and stun grenades, all set against an electronic screen background.
In the center hung an exquisite hunting dog mask, its black and white fur looking silky smooth. Fushimi Roku reached out, took it down, and checked it carefully. There was no electronic device inside, just a simple leather cover.
"This... what’s this for?"
Matsusaka Shintaro had a bad feeling: "The trial... isn’t it supposed to be conducted in the trial area? Why’s the trial broadcast happening in the elevator..."
Before he could figure it out, the broadcast sounded once more:
"The time limit is two hours, with no restrictions on the area."
At the moment the electronic voice fell, the screen suddenly lit up, displaying ’Identity Drawing in Progress.’ After a dramatic beeping slot machine sound, a line of black text appeared:
"Participant Fushimi Roku is the ’ghost’"
"Please earn enough points within two hours"
"You will be eliminated if points are insufficient"
Fushimi Roku thought it was the Aum Truth Sect playing tricks, probably planning to pull a ’thought you escaped the trial field but you’re still in it’ scenario, a common plot twist in TV shows.
Matsusaka Shintaro looked terrified, muttering incessantly, ’We’re doomed, we’re dead, what do we do, I’m still a virgin...’
Fushimi Roku ignored him, put on the mask, chose two swords, a folding submachine gun, two grenades and two stun grenades, deciding not to take a rifle, opting for light and easy mobility.
Since the Aum Truth Sect wanted to play, he didn’t mind playing along.
The elevator shook and started ascending once more, and the numbers on the screen lit up.
Matsusaka Shintaro was sweating profusely, clasped his hands together, closed his eyes, and envisioned the scene: when the elevator doors open, a group of soldiers waiting with guns ready to shoot them down - that was his imagined most merciful death.
"Namo Guru Vajra Throne..."
"May all heretical paths turn to white bones..."
He knelt on the floor, mumbling words.
Inside the Seven Sins Temple.
A burst of exclamations rose, the speaker next to the small TV emitted static, and Moriyama Yasurou, along with other participants, looked up together.
The previously dark TV screens lit up again, and the four giant screens standing in the center also displayed images, camera angles capturing the faces of the sect’s key members. They lived in the core area known as the World’s Navel, decorated luxuriously, each wearing a look of shock, paused in their activities.
The broadcast announced the trial rules, declaring to all participants in the Seven Sins Temple:
"The time limit is two hours, with no restrictions on the area."
The celebrities and politicians from all fields stared blankly at the TV in front of them, the same sect elites who had once hosted them now also reduced to trial participants.
On the screen, their ugly behaviors were fully exposed — counting ill-gotten gains, abusing believers to indulge their animalistic desires, or participating in lewd gatherings in large rooms... Asahara Shoko was prominently among them, shouting in the observation hall, calling armed followers to gather core members and cleanse traitors!
Four or five seconds later, the camera shifted direction, focusing on an elevator door.
Someone was taking the elevator upstairs.
Asahara Shoko firmly believed that whoever was in the elevator now was the "ghost," so he ordered seven believers with rifles to guard the elevator door, to shoot on sight without mercy. Simultaneously, to avoid becoming a target for machine guns in the hall, he quickly left the observation area and headed to the auditorium to gather his subordinates.
There were 1 sect hierarch, 13 core high officials, 12 mainstays, 128 diehard believers residing in the World’s Navel, evenly split between male and female, responsible for serving, guarding, and daily cleaning.
Asahara Shoko entered the auditorium, several core members had gathered, as well as believers armed with real guns. Feeling reassured, he sat sternly at the long table, prepared to make a call to hold the designer accountable.
Before he could dial, the broadcast sounded again:
"The ’ghost’ is now in action."
Moriyama Yasurou fixed their gaze on the TV screen, feeling an inexplicable pressure from the ding sound of the elevator door in the black-and-white footage.
"Unfortunately," A-7 beside her said, "someone got the spot before you."
As soon as he spoke, there was a ding, the elevator door opened slowly, and seven believers simultaneously pulled their triggers, unloading bullets into the elevator.
The crackling sounded like endless firecrackers.
After a minute of continuous firing, as the smoke filled the air, everyone focused carefully. The elevator cabin was empty, its walls riddled with bullet holes.
One of the believers approached and peered inside the elevator.
The next second, a flash of a blade, a head flew horizontally.
On numerous small TV screens, a figure appeared simultaneously, moving so quickly the image blurred. The remaining six believers tried to fire, but before they could pull the triggers, six muffled thuds rang as one, the blade flashing again, heads fell one after another, rolling like pumpkins.
On the screen, the man wearing a dog-headed mask shook off the blood from his long sword, six pillars of blood gushed skywards behind him, headless bodies collapsed to the ground simultaneously.
Everyone’s breath hitched, the Seven Sins Temple fell utterly silent.