Chapter 3

Chapter 3 is the third chapter of the Dead Mount Death Play manga.

Synopsis
In his free time, Takumi Kuruya writes a text record reflecting on what took place in the forty minute period before Misaki Sakimiya wakes.

After introducing himself, Takumi begins with Clarissa Kuraki and her subordinates confronting the Corpse God—whom they think is Polka Shinoyama—as he kneels over Misaki's corpse. In addition to the strange, elaborate circles and large skeletal hand hovering in the air, another circular design is visible underneath Misaki's body.

While Clarissa's subordinates hold the Corpse God at gunpoint and bladepoint, Clarissa calmly asks "Polka Shinoyama" what he is doing. Takumi's drone wobbles mid-air by the Corpse God's head; she asks Takumi what is going on, and Takumi replies via headset that he has not been able to control the drone for some time.

The Corpse God announces that he is going to 'fix' Misaki right then and there. Misaki's blood slinks into the gaping hole in her abdomen following his proclamation and, while Clarissa's subordinates shudder in shock, Clarissa murmurs that none of this is "special effects" after all.

With the wound rapidly healing, and with the circle underneath Misaki's body starting to fade, the Corpse God remarks "I think she'll wake up soon" as he gets to his feet. Two bony blades materialize on either side of him, each wielded by a disembodied skeletal hand; thus flanked, he asks "what" Clarissa's group is meant to be.

Clarissa identifies the woman wielding a sword as "Misaki-chan's friend," explaining that she intends to avenge Misaki's death by taking over her contract. When Clarissa wonders if Misaki is still alive, the Corpse God says that he just fixed her body—but that he can 'easily' return her to life "with some resurrection magic."

This statement is met with resounding blank confusion, which confuses the Corpse God in turn: since his dead host was familiar with "revive" and "arise"-type magical spells, he thought spells were common knowledge here. Clarissa's "video games" response fails to alleviate his confusion, so he asks her if people who use 'magic' or 'spiritual' energy exist. Clarissa denies they do, nor has she heard of the Byandy Empire or the Kingdom of Nyanild.

There is a long pause. The Corpse God vanishes the large skeletal hand with a glance and tries to pass it off as a 'mass hallucination', a claim that fools no one. Switching tactics, he summons several blades with his magic—a clear offensive threat that Clarissa's subordinates respond to accordingly. Where Misaki's friend steps in front of Clarissa, a bald man aims his handgun at the Corpse God and accuses him of being a monster.

The large skeletal hand from before slams him to the ground and pins him in place.

Steely-eyed, Corpse God states that he had not realized (at first) how fragile their kind is. A tense silence follows, which Clarissa breaks by requesting a moment to think. That the Corpse God grants her request comes as a surprise to Takumi, who wonders whether his calm confidence belies some sort of plan; in reality, the Corpse God has no plan whatsoever.

A siren wails in the near distance, distracting everyone from the situation at hand. Takumi reports that a fire has broken out in the Shakuzawa Building, and a subordinate hands Clarissa a tablet displaying a live camera feed from one of Takumi's drones: footage of large plumes of smoke billowing from a building, and three children visible in one of the building's windows. Staring at the children's faces, Clarissa says that while she is worried for them, this is a job for the firefighters to handle.

She is so focused on the video feed that she does not notice the tripedal eyeball spying on the tablet from her right shoulder. Three of her subordinates, however, do, and Misaki's friend slashes the eyeball with her sword—which she then points at the Corpse God. Clarissa signals for her to stand down and readily explains the situation for the Corpse god's benefit: the Shakuzawa Building houses an unauthorized daycare center on behalf of parents with 'unsavory' jobs, i.e. mothers who work at nightclubs or fathers involved with the mafia.

The Corpse God, remembering the charred corpses of children dear to him, demands the building's location. When asked why he cares, he says no child should have to endure the pain of burning—a pain he knows intimately. At the intensity in his gaze, CLarissa orders Takumi to show him the way.

Takumi reluctantly does as bid, piloting his drone at top speed toward the Shakuzawa Building with the Corpse God following at a magically-augmented pace to match. Once at the site, the Corpse God amplifies his Evil Eye with magic to detect the children's life-forces inside the building; once he finds them, he has the large skeletal hand launch him into the air at one of the balconies. On the streets below, the rubberneckers ask each other if they saw something 'fly inside' just then.

Through the thick smoke, the Corpse God spots four children and an adult caretaker huddled on the floor, coughing and struggling to breathe. Watching over them are the spirits of the children's spirits, whom the Corpse God asks for help. Mwanehile, one of the rubberneckers cries out in shock at the sight of two black humanoid skeletons standing by the window, the closest cradling a little girl in his arms.

The girl opens her eyes and recognizes the skeleton as her father, seeing him as he was in life. The skeletal spirit passes her through the window to the large skeletal hands waiting outside, which soon lower the children and their caretaker to the waiting emergency workers on the ground.

With everyone safe, social media attention turns to the supernatural sightings in the aftermath. Takumi, confronted with photographs of both the skeletons and skeletal hands on Twitter, can only sigh and wonder why "this guy" would so brazenly use his powers in front of bystanders. He further questions "this guy's" inconsistent ethics, given that he treated Misaki's life like a toy yet bothered to save the children's lives. Concluding that "this guy" is fundamentally different to humans in some way, Takumi warns Clarissa against "messing" with him in any form.

Clarissa acknowledges his warning via headset but requests that he return with "Polka" as soon as possible, as she thinks Misaki will soon wake. Mildly surprised, Takumi agrees.

The chapter then picks up where Chapter 2 left off: with Clarissa confirming Misaki is dead due to her lack of pulse. While Misaki's friends 'welcome her back', the Corpse God audibly wonders how one finds peace in a developed country that still suffers from fires and other disasters. Clarissa, standing next to him, asks what his ideal 'peace' is; at his questioning glance, she informs him that—in her opinion—one needs money to achieve any type of peace.

When she inquires into his dream and intentions while staying in Shinjuku, the Corpse God responds that he wants to use his necromancy to make money. Enough money, he clarifies, to afford him the power and place needed to live in interrupted peace and quiet.

With a smile, Clarissa introduces herself as "Lisa Kuraki," her subordinates as members of a freelance agency she heads, and formally offers him her services as an intermediary—as he is evidently not their target "Polka Shinoyama" despite having his body. To start, she will assign him "competent people" to help him acclimate to life in Shinjuku—namely Misaki and Takumi.

Misaki and Takumi are mutually taken aback. Not for the first time, Takumi wonders how things could have possibly ended up this way.

Trivia

 * Chapter 39 reveals that Urai, a Youtoukorou bartender, was present for the events in this chapter.
 * The Yen Press release of this chapter technically refers to the Byandy Empire and the Kingdom of Nyanild as the 'empire of Byad#rig' and the 'Kingdom of Nwyandil'. Their latest spellings are nonetheless used in this article's chapter summary.