Why is my Isekai in the Slice of Life anime was become a Horror Story?

Chapter 22: Let's Start Again from Here!

Where… is this place?

The last memory remaining was of endless pain, despair so overwhelming it could drive one insane.

And when the pain ended, it felt as though falling endlessly, through an infinite darkness, slipping into some unknown place.

Until the body touched something.

Perhaps it was the ground?

Or maybe just another nightmare?

Until consciousness slowly awoke from the chaos.

Until the eyes opened once more, gazing at the surroundings.

What came into view was a city illuminated by dazzling lights.

Crowds of people bustled on the streets, wearing various types of clothing, with different expressions on their faces.

Cars glided noiselessly, stopping at traffic lights or continuing onward.

Towering billboards emitted colorful lights, creating a faint sense of surreal wonder.

Under the night sky, everything seemed to be in perfect order.

It appeared to be a bustling metropolis, an ordinary, unremarkable big city.

But… there was no sound at all.

Takakai stood in the middle of the city square and heard nothing.

They opened his mouth, smiled, and spoke.

The car headlights shone brightly, flickering—perhaps there was even a honk?

The images on the billboards kept changing—did they make any sound?

Takakai couldn't hear any of it.

This was a silent city.

A city so quiet it was almost dead, devoid of any sound.

What kind of place is this?

Why can't I hear anything?

"Ah…"

In a haze of consciousness, Takakai instinctively let out a sound.

Very clearly, he could immediately hear his own voice.

And so, he realized that he could still hear sound.

It was just the sounds of this city that he couldn't hear—nothing more.

[...]

The people on the streets stopped walking.

Every single car in motion came to a halt in that instant.

Even the figures on the billboards stopped moving, one after another turning their heads to look this way.

"This isn't a city…"

In a whisper, Takakai regained clarity, once more observing his surroundings.

Corpses lay strewn across the ground, their faces frozen in expressions of terror, though the dark red of their blood had already stained the earth.

The bright red gradually colored the sky, as if the heavens were mirroring the ground, spreading red light everywhere.

The city's ruins were engulfed in flames, and amidst the wreckage, there was no longer any sound of struggling life.

Life here had long since ceased.

Everything had already undergone the sacrificial ritual.

Everything had ended long ago.

It was all over long ago.

They were merely… waiting for the next target.

Ting!

A crisp chime rang out from a corner of this desolate city.

Takakai looked up toward the source of the sound and saw a massive clock tower. The dark hands of the clock were slowly moving from the 12 o'clock position toward 1 o'clock.

At that moment, Takakai suddenly felt something being stripped away from his body. It was as if parts of himself—like his fingers, eyes, heart, or veins—no longer fully belonged to him from that point onward.

Ting!!

The second chime sounded, clear and sharp. Takakai raised his hand, gently covering his ears.

He began to understand.

To understand what was happening to him, to grasp what he was about to face.

"Still… 11 chances, huh?"

Before the clock hand reached its final position, he had 11 opportunities to restart his life.

So that's how it is.

Even in death, he could come back.

Even if everything was beyond saving, he could reverse it all and begin anew.

He still had 11 chances. Before that number reached zero, before the clock hand completed its cycle, he had 11 opportunities to overturn everything and start again.

But once he exhausted all those chances, this eerie, illusion-filled city would no longer be an illusion. It would trap him forever, granting no escape, becoming the final grave where everything ended.

Ting!!!

The third chime resonated.

Takakai looked up, observing his surroundings—the people beginning to move again, as if they were still alive. He gazed at the city, an unclear and unknowable place, long dead but pretending it was still living.

"So, the protagonist's so-called cheat ability only activates after dying once, huh?"

Takakai chuckled softly.

He had struggled in despair for a long time.

The ultimate outcome had still been unavoidable destruction.

Yet, in that final moment, he was given a chance to start over.

"What the hell—this type of character progression is so cliché."

"Honestly, I don't like stories about desperate twists of fate like this. But since it's happening to me, I guess I'll roll with it for now."

"After all, even if it's a cruel kind of hope, it's still hope."

It felt like his cheat ability was a bit similar to Subaru's.

But even someone like Subaru didn't have a limit on the number of times they could rewind time. What happens if I use up all my chances? Am I done for?

Of course, that wasn't something to worry about right now.

What he needed to do was to change everything that had happened before.

...

The crimson city gradually faded away.

Everything sank into darkness.

He knew this was the sign—he was about to begin again.

"I don't like stories that are so deep they hurt, nor do I care for narratives that try too hard to be dark and brutal."

Takakai spoke to himself, as if engraving these words into his consciousness.

"Keep it simple, add a bit of lighthearted healing. Wouldn't that be better? Let the bad guys get what they deserve, and the good people reap the rewards they've earned. So what if it's a bit contrived? Wouldn't it make life more comfortable?"

"Damn it, isn't this just Horror Story Rules? Bring it on! I'll create a happy world without tentacles or the madness of this stupid game!!!"

The darkness immediately dissipated.

The familiar, musty scent of dampness spread through the air.

Takakai sat up from the torn bed. Beside him, Kaguya had just opened her eyes and instinctively assumed a defensive stance.

This moment marked the very beginning of the game at Shirokawa Apartment—when everyone had just finished hearing that strange voice. The starting point.

No one had yet used the wall clock.

No one had died, turned into monsters, or been frozen.

"Yo."

Takakai stood up, mimicking the signature Joestar family pose in an awkward display. He turned, tilted his upper body backward, placed one hand at an odd angle near his nose, stretched the other arm outward to point directly at Kaguya, and raised one leg.

"Impressive performance. You're the most promising recruit in this batch. Umu, I've been waiting to say this for ages."

Takakai looked utterly satisfied, fully indulging his inner fanboy desires.

Meanwhile, Kaguya, who moments ago was on high alert, now stared blankly, utterly perplexed by the situation.

Could it be… I've been kidnapped by a lunatic?