Death means corpses. The end of life.
What Minato Namikaze saw was an endless field of corpses.
It was like he had suddenly left the Hidden Leaf Village and stepped into a terrifying battlefield under the night sky. What lay before him was a mound of corpses.
These corpses were stacked in the darkness—men and women, shinobi and civilians alike—all with expressions of unrest.
The eerie design of the underworld-like setting amplified the spine-chilling effect, creating an atmosphere that awakened a primal fear of death.
Even someone like Minato Namikaze, who had been through many battles, completed countless missions, and had taken lives, still felt deeply disturbed by what he saw.
Perhaps the Minato who would later fight in the Third Great Ninja War could remain calm in a sea of corpses. But right now, with two years to go before that war begins, this scene was still far too intense for him.
Everything felt real. The setting, the atmosphere. Even knowing it was fake, Minato's heart trembled.
"Is this what it will look like when the ninja world goes to war?"
For a moment, Minato stood there, lost in thought—showing just how immersive the game was.
But in horror games , standing still in a creepy environment usually leads to trouble.
And sure enough, while Minato was caught in his thoughts, the corpses began to move.
To be precise, the corpses behind him started moving.
Suddenly, a hand reached out and grabbed Minato's ankle.
Though he sensed something was wrong and instinctively wanted to react, his body couldn't keep up with his mind.
Classic case of: Brain says "Move!" Body says, "No, you don't."
Minato's movements were restricted as soon as he was grabbed.
Struggling reflexively, he slashed a few times with his kunai, but then more corpses grabbed him and began to drag him down.
With mouths agape and reeking breath, hollow black eyes fixed on him, the corpses clawed at him frantically—as if they wanted to drag him into the depths of some horrific hell.
In the next moment, as Minato's face twisted in tension and resolve, the female wraith from before appeared.
She emerged right in front of him, staring with venomous eyes, reaching toward him.
The moment her sharp, icy fingers made contact with his skin, Minato felt his consciousness plummet. A sharp pain—not too strong, but not mild either—stabbed through his head.
Everything went black.
Then, blood-red words written in crimson appeared before him:
For a second, Minato's brain buzzed. He couldn't process it.
When he came to, he found himself back in the familiar three-path choice menu.
A stunned expression came over his face: "What just happened? Did I… die?"
Even as he spoke, his head still rang. The sensation of death had come so swiftly and vividly that it left him disoriented.
His limbs felt stiff, his body cold. The aftertaste of that near-death experience lingered.
It was just too real—so much so that even an elite jōnin like Minato Namikaze couldn't tell illusion from reality.
Uchiha Kei watched his close friend's dazed reaction and realized Minato had truly been shaken. If even Minato was affected , then others would definitely have emotional responses worth exploiting.
Still, too much realism could backfire. If this had been Lord Third or the old war hawk Danzo, Kei might have thought the realism still wasn't enough.
But giving his friend psychological trauma? That wouldn't do.
He didn't want to turn the Hidden Leaf's future Yellow Flash into a Yellow Chicken.
So Kei spoke up immediately: "That was just the game simulating death. It wasn't real. Once you die, you respawn at the last key checkpoint, like you saw just now."
"Minato, are you alright? If it felt too real, I can lower the realism setting."
Hearing that, Minato finally snapped out of it. He took a deep breath.
"Yeah, that experience was seriously awful. Even knowing it was fake… that 'death' hit hard."
"But don't lower the realism. As a jōnin of the Hidden Leaf, I'll face situations far worse than this. If I can't handle even a simulation, I'll just end up dead on a real battlefield."
Minato spoke with grave sincerity. Though the Third Great Ninja War was still two years away, war wasn't something that erupted overnight. It built up from long-standing tensions.
As a jōnin, a rising star of the next generation, Minato had access to a lot of classified intel. He could already feel the impending storm brewing in the ninja world.
War would break out again soon—he was sure of it.
To Minato, this game experience, crafted by his close friend, was a rare opportunity. He had no reason to ask Kei to dial it down.
"Kei, if possible, can you make it *more* realistic? The closer to reality, the better."
Hearing that request, Uchiha Kei was dumbfounded. He didn't even know what to say.
He had been worried about traumatizing Minato by making the game too real… but here Minato was, asking for more.
In that instant, Kei felt like he was back in his previous life—watching players fill out difficulty feedback surveys for his carefully designed nightmare mode.
Every box checked: "Very Easy."
"Next time, make it even easier." Read full story at 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⁂𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖⁂𝕟𝕖𝕥
That's the ultimate insult to a game designer who takes pride in delivering challenge and psychological torment!
In silence, Uchiha Kei pushed the game's realism setting to the max.
No more holding back!
Minato, get ready to experience the *true* greatness of full-immersion virtual reality!
Uchiha Kei wore a satisfied smile.