Reincarnated Into Anime World

"Hey, let's fight, woodpecker." The man spoke with a smile, "Your answer - is it a yes? Or is it a yes?"

More than his words, I was more interested in his powers. Now, I don't believe that I'm the only one who can manipulate blood. The red man was a prime example of the superb manipulation of bloody chains.

But encountering one so soon was undoubtedly out of my expectations. I've only been in this prison for three days, killed some people, and got into many fights. But another blood manipulating person?

He swiped his arms against each other, and a long gash emerged as blood flowed out unnaturally from his wounds.

"Branch of sin - crow craw."

Branch of sin? Is this what this blood manipulation is called here? Sounds so chuuni, but it doesn't sound too bad.

"Don't get distracted, kid!" Two scythe-like blades emerged from his forearms as he immediately reached in front of me and swung his arms.

'Fast!' It was the first thought that came to my mind. I didn't even get a chance to register what was happening when I moved back as fast as possible.

I dodged his cuts, though bȧrėly. Two minor scratches appeared on my forearms, with blood dripping out of them.

His gaze hardened as his smile grew wider, "You dodged that? Not bad for a newbie. A new deadman, huh? This is getting more and more fun."

The man crouched down slightly as he did a pose that would have the greatest acceleration speed.

"How long are you planning on not activating your branch of sin when you're already bleeding?"

"I'm bȧrėly bleeding~." I smiled as I got into position as well, "Make me bleed more~."

No, wait. That sounds so wrong on so many levels.

"Hahaha! I'm 'Crow' - Senji Kiyomasa." The man, Senji, laughed as he dashed towards me, "Come on and play with me, woodpecker!"

But before I could launch my own attack, a wild Shiro with shining eyes stomped on the poor man and forced him to the ground.

"What the...?!"

But Senji didn't complete his sentence as Shiro laid on him, causing him to blush uncontrollably.

"Don't bully Fuutarou! I protect him!"

"What the..." Seeing the sight before me, all my battle intent just went down the drain. Which buff dude blushes so hard when in physical contact with a girl?!

"A-A-A-A woman?!" Senji pushed Shiro off his body as he backed away, as though he had just met something completely inconceivable. .

"Don't bully-" Shiro was about to repeat her statement before Senji interrupted her flusteredly.

"I...I get it! Jeez..." Removing his cloak, he handed it to Shiro, "...Argh! Just put this on, lady!"

Lady?

"Why?"

"W-W-Why?!" Senji stuttered uncontrollably as his blush intensified, "Full-body tights are way too risque, you know?!"

Now that he mentioned it, Shiro's body was pretty well-developed. I don't know how old she was since I've only been ȧssuming her age to be the same as mine, but there was no way that she was just a fourteen-year-old.

Shouko's...ahem...wasn't that big too.

If it was anybody else, I would have taken the time to appreciate the sight that accompanied me basically every day in this prison, but Shiro was Shiro.

She might not be a loli, but she follows the rules of one.

You can only pamper and treat them as cute pets. You can never ŀėwd them.

"It's fine, Shiro. You can get off him."

"If Fuutarou says so..."

Hm...? A new scent has entered the room. The smell of...humans.

Bang! Bang!

Two gunshots rang out, and a blood-red chain appeared to intercept one of the bullets. The other one was (un)fortunate enough to meet its target - Senji.

Seeing the bullet hit Senji without him reacting, I noted that it wasn't a bullet at all. It was a tranquilizer from the look of Senji's drowsy expression.

"Y-You bastards...A tranquilizer? Don't interfere with my fight..."

Yep. My guess was confirmed, though...

"What do you guys want from us? Surely, this ward G should be an open secret to the higher-ups of this place, right?"

The ten people in masks ignored me and continued firing the tranquilizer darts, though none of them managed to penetrate my five-layer chains.

"You guys sure have a lot of guts attacking someone you know you guys can't win against." More blood gathered around me as two scythe-like blades formed on my forearm with the five chains circling me, "I don't plan on going down quietly!"

How on Earth did they manage to shoot me through five layers of defenses?

[A/N: I need it for the plot.]

"Fuutarou! Fuuta..." Shiro's voice slowly faded as I closed my eyes.

∞

I woke up to a machine beeping. It sounded like an alarm clock, and if I could, I would have smashed whatever machine was making that sound.

Unfortunately, I was currently bound up to the table with a big spherical thingy just on top of my head.

"It's your pre-entrance medical check. It's a good thing that you aren't moving much; it makes things a lot easier for us." A familiar voice entered my ears as I turned in his direction as much as I could, "Fuutarou-kun."

"Tsunenaga Tamaki," I smirked as I laid back down on the table. I could use my blood manipulation, no, my Branch of Sin to break out of these binds easily, but for now, I plan on listening to whatever this guy had to say before killing him.

"As expected, my guts were right; you couldn't be trusted."

"Please, don't say that." Tamaki smiled, "Against people like you, we need to resort to all sorts of tricks to collect you in this very place."

"So I was framed by you because I had abilities that I didn't even know I had until now?" I snorted, "How very fun."

"But that isn't that big of a problem right now. What's important is that you will be taking part in tomorrow's experiment."

Experiment? If it is anything like Shiro's childhood, I'm immediately killing my way out of here.

"Tomorrow at 2200 hours, you're going to star in a show. Codenamed <woodpecker>, you, Fuutarou-kun. Codenamed <crow>, Senji Kiyomasa. A battle between two users of the Branch of Sin."

"Show? Then I would ȧssume there are rewards, yes?"

"Experiments like this are daily life in here. If you win, we'll give you CP and candy. And if you keep winning, you might eventually meet the person of your dreams."

This guy doesn't seem to know that Shiro was the red man? Interesting...how did Shiro get rid of the detection of her split personalities? Alter Shiro sure is troublesome, being both physically and mentally superior to Shiro.

"You don't seem happy to finally meet the murderer of your friends?"

"Sometimes, hidden anger is much deadlier than an open anger, Tamaki-san..." Lying through my teeth, I closed my eyes. Since their "experiment" was just a show, I wasn't too worried about anything else happening. The scientists seem to place very high importance on the "experiment", so they wouldn't risk harming me and their data results.

"Get on the stage on tomorrow's Carnival Corpse." Tamaki evilly smiled as he talked, leaning down towards me, "I'm sure that you'll have so much fun that you might just die."

Should I just kill him now?

There were various cons and pros to this action, with the cons mainly being unable to get the candy that would cure the poison consistently being injected into my bloodstream. It should also mean that I have to kill Shiro since, while the goal wasn't explicitly stated, killing the red man (Shiro) feels like the end goal of this trial and would hence remove me from the risk of dying from the poison.

The pros? I don't have to endure his ever-so-punchable and irritating face. And that's about it.

And it's pretty apparent which choice would bring me the greatest benefit.

"Fine."

During the time I was strapped down, they didn't do much towards me apart from taking some of my blood.

Carnival Corpse was the greatest form of entertainment in all of Deadman Wonderland.

The Ferris wheel, the roller coaster, the obstacle course, and many other entertainment facilities around the island didn't bring in as much profit and joy as Carnival Corpse.

The reason? Because of a special group of people - the Deadmans.

People infected with the Branch of Sin, appearing directly after the great Tokyo earthquake. The Carnival Corpse is a giant experiment designed to fully exhibit their abilities.

Winning earns me a lot of CP and candy, but losing would cost me a body part. Usually, it would be an eye or a limb, or some organ. But if I am unlucky, then the heart would be taken from me, essentially causing me to "die" and fail my trial.

High-risk high-reward gladiator battle-styled that I was forced to participate in - this was the Carnival Corpse.

∞

A bright light shone above me as the entire venue was revealed - a cage.

How fitting that old the Deadman's codenames were all related to birds, and here we are, fighting each other in a cage.

While the emcee announced their usual stuff, I took a good look at my surroundings. A tree, a cage, a light bulb at the top, and an empty audience hall.

Unlike a typical arena, this place's audiences didn't, and wouldn't, come in their physical bodies. Security and secrecy were how they operated all their businesses anyway. Instead, they were replaced by floating holograms with an avatar to represent themselves and stand out in the crowd.

"What are you so scared about?"

"Your eyes must have a problem. Perhaps you wouldn't need them anymore after this match since your eyes can't differentiate fear and excitement." I retorted. Following Senji's actions, I cut myself on my forearms as a stream of blood flowed outwards and upwards.

"Heh."

"READY...FIGHT!!"

Immediately, two loud ringing sounds appeared as four scythe-blades crashed against each other.

"I never thought about this, but you can copy my abilities, huh? So that's your Branch of Sin. What do you plan to name it?"

"You talk a lot for someone who wants to fight." A sweep underneath caught Senji slightly off guard, but it wasn't anything he had to panic over. Senji calmly recollected his bearings as he positioned himself somewhat further than our range could go.

While we might seem even to the audience, I knew that I was slightly disadvantaged. After all, I was merely copying what I saw and not actually internalizing it into my own move.

Senji probably realized it as well, which was why he was now making a move that I hadn't seen before.

Regardless, I didn't worry too much about it. This Branch of Sin was never my strong point, after all.

Planning to end the fight in this chapter, the blood on my arms slowly melted as they flowed to my tail bone, forming a few "tails" of my own. More blood moved to form "claws" on my fingertips as chains also started to form around me.

If I could look at the mirror, I would probably praise myself for looking this dashing.

"Senji, no hard feelings." I accelerated towards him, aiming to close the gap between us. To my surprise, Senji's scythes actually reached longer and further away from him. However, that also ensured that he couldn't immediately swing back his scythes as his center of gravity had slightly shifted.

Furthermore, my chains and tails wrapped around his scythes and pushed me even faster towards Senji while simultaneously restraining him at the same place.

BANG!

My knee smashed against his face with all the force behind my velocity. But before Senji could try and recover from that deadly blow, I landed on my feet and spun around with a spinning side kick and hit him at his side, throwing him towards the giant tree.

A crater was formed together with the presence of a dust cloud. After 5 seconds had passed, no reaction could be seen from the laying Senji.

It seems like this was a win for me as the audience started reacting. Some cheered, others jeered, but I didn't care for them as I walked out of the open cage door. You're a surprisingly pure person and all, but...

Goodnight, Senji.

I pray that you do not get your heart taken away from you.

Literally.

*****************

"W-What an unexpected turn of events! 'Crow' Senji can not stand! The overwhelming winner of this Carnival Corpse is a fourteen-year-old rookie - Woodpecker!"

In my new cell, I looked at the television which was displaying my match. Beside it, a trophy and a bouquet of flowers were placed on top of a table. A huge 1 million CP plastic sign lay peacefully beside the table, representing my victory and dominance.

Am I one step closer to my goal? I have no idea.

"Ooh, my, my, my. You're so full of opportunities, keeping your door unlocked." The door to my room suddenly opened as a woman(?) entered, "Well! You're much cuter than I thought you would be!"

Behind her(?), three other people peeked through from behind the door - a young, pretty girl, an old man with a visor googles, and a rather chubby man whose side of his mouth was sewn shut.

"And you are...?"

"We're residents of the G ward, of course. We came to greet our new comrade." The man(?) spoke.

Doing a striking pose, he introduced everybody, starting from himself(?).

"I'm Chaplin Sukegawa - the light that brightens the darkness of Deadman Wonderland. I'll make your senses sparkle as well~♥!" He wore some rather...extreme outfit, showing off every part of his body apart from his ċhėst and...a garter belt? Is he gay?

"Call this ugly fatass Masu." Pointing towards the fat man who was currently chewing on something, Chaplin continued, "He eats anything from bras to missiles, so his mouth has been split open."

The second girl was quivering in her boots as her eyes wandered around my room nervously. Her name was Takami Minatsuki, and she kept apologizing for every small thing.

The last man towered everyone else in the room, and apparently, he had not slept in 32 years. Wow, talk about sleepless nights.

"Etto...just to confirm, all of you are Deadmen, right?"

"Ding ding! You're correct! But there will be no prizes for you, though." Chaplin cheered as he struck another pose, "Now! We're going to have a welcoming party just for you, little boy! Buy us a few drinks with your brilliant winnings! That's what a real man would do!"

"Yeah...no. I have already spent it all on candies just in case I would ever need it, so I have no extra CP to spare. Plus, I'm just a little 'kid', so I have no need to be a 'real man' and treat all of you."

"How unfortunate..." Chaplin sighed dramatically, and he struck another pose as sparkles appeared in his background as he talked, "But it matters not! If you're not treating us, then I'm sure the rest wouldn't mind forking out a bit of CP for this celebration."

"Good. You followed my daughter's words." The old man suddenly spoke as he pointed towards his visor goggles, "Stocking up on candies is good."

"Don't mind him, Fuutarou~!" Chaplin twirled, "The old man is always like this. For now, let's head towards the restaurant!"

∞

"And now, for our new comrade -"

"CHEERS!"

Well, only Chaplin and Masu cheered loudly. The old man merely lifted his glass while Takami trembled a little as she cheered.

Observing them as we ate, I realized that they really didn't want to attack me, unlike the psycho Senji. Each of them was equally eccentric, but none of them seemed to want to kill me.

On the way here, I took note of ward G's structure and facilities. Ward G was like a giant set of gears, with each layer of gear being used for a specific purpose like entertainment, rooms, or storage.

Basically, it was the exact same thing as the other 6 wards, only slightly more luxurious. On the bad side, everything was also more expensive, and there was only one way of getting CP to afford everything - the Carnival Corpse.

"The ordered extra side of steaks."

A robot rolled up to us, holding a tray filled with said steak, but before anything could happen, Masu had already taken a huge bite out of the robot. Yes, not the food, but the robot.

"Whoa..." This was intense. Strange people all around me...

"All right, guys. Let's put the feasting to a stop for a while," Chaplin clapped his hands to gather our attention as a television appeared from the ground, "It's time for the 'Too bad, too sad' show!"

Appearing on the screen was none other than my defeated opponent -Senji.

"He's so sėnsɨtɨvė to women, but I can't seem to get a rise out of him," Chaplin commented as he pouted. I have no distinct hate for anybody, so as long as their orientation doesn't come to me, I'm fine with that.

All I can say is poor Senji. Or maybe he's lucky since Chaplin doesn't fluster Senji?

Apart from Senji being strapped in a chair, a woman also appeared next to him with a...gacha machine.

The three wheels spun fast, and Senji stopped it after some time, revealing three symbols of eyes with the words "right" underneath them.

What are the chances of that happening?

"The right eye it is."

This...is a punishment for losing. That damn fake lawyer already told me about this, but watching it with my own eyes is different from hearing about it.

"I'm not feeling too well from the dishes; you guys can continue eating first." Smiling, I stood up as I left.

"What a pity." Chaplin said as he picked up a plate and started eating again once Senji's eye removal process started, "The food here is worth its price, you know?"

I didn't reply to that, nor did I know how to do so.

∞

"System, when does this thing end?"

I waited for a while, but as expected, there was no reply. I never considered myself to have a very strong mind. Reincarnation changes your body, but not your mind.

However, as someone who has suffered for one lifetime before thriving in another, my mental strength is at least stronger than an average human. But alongside these deadmen?

I cannot stomach seeing someone's eye being taken out.

Sigh...

[Responding to Host...]

[Evaluating mental health...]

[Mission(s) in the Trial of Horror and Blood]

[1. Get rid of the Wretched Egg]

Wretched Egg, huh? I would ȧssume that's alter Shiro, or something equivalent to that.

But as expected...if it was just killing people, transferring me straight to Deadman Wonderland would have sufficed. But they told me to get rid of Wretched Egg, which meant Shiro was already a target for me from young.

Since I didn't kill her, the trial moved to Phase 2 - the fight that killed all my classmates. I failed once again, thus forcing me back to Phase 1.

If I couldn't kill based on strength, I needed to kill based on emotion.

"Shiro..."

"You called, Fuutarou?" Popping out of nowhere, Shiro jumped up and landed on my stomach, her soft mittens on my ċhėst.

"...hello, Shiro."

Shiro tilted her head and muttered, "Fuutarou is acting weird today..."

"What is your wish?"

*****************

A/N: A longer chapter. I initially ended at the word "Literally", but as I continued writing, I couldn't find a way to end the chapter properly, so I decided to add it here.

Sigh, I haven't written anything in 10 weeks now. School really sucks~ I'm so fkin stressed...someone get me out of this hellhole...

If you want to support me or/and want chapters in advance, link:

patréon..com/spirits_everywhere. We are currently 8 chapters ahead~