Chapter 2
Chapter 2
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: First Hunt
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School was skipped again today.
I was restless with the thought that I needed to get stronger as quickly as possible, and at this age, hanging around with kids felt off anyway.
The original owner of this body, Shin Noda, wasn't the type to diligently go to school either, so there were no issues.
I walked through the city streets.
It was morning, so the roads were quiet.
A gentle spring breeze made it pleasant for walking.
One year until enrollment at the Academy.
To pass the entrance exam and survive the main story, I needed to build up my power.
[Kill F-rank Awakeners weaker than you one by one and steal their strength. Time is short. Hunt whatever you come across.]
Laura's brutal words.
“That doesn't mean I can go around killing innocent people to get stronger.”
I couldn't agree to such an extreme method.
[How frustrating.]
To use the 'Inheritance' skill, I had to kill monsters or Awakeners.
It didn't apply to regular people since they lacked a mana source.
Dungeons were strictly managed by guilds or management agencies, so individuals couldn't enter.
Occasionally, when they were short on manpower, they'd hire outsiders as day laborers, but even then, they used Academy graduates.
So, monsters were out of the question.
‘People...’
Forget whether an E-rank like me could even kill other Awakeners—it was also a question of whether I could do it mentally.
As a modern person, I'd never even caught a chicken.
If I saw someone writhing in pain, I probably couldn't finish them off.
Laura spoke in a voice full of anger, as if frustrated by my weakness.
[Then just kill someone who deserves to die.]
“Do you think I can easily find guys like that? And how am I supposed to judge who deserves it?”
That's when I heard sirens.
Looking closely, police cars were gathered at the nearby middle school athletic field.
Hold on.
‘That's the middle school I attend.’
I slipped into the athletic field and eavesdropped on the police.
It was chaotic with teachers and students who had escaped the school, so no one paid attention to me.
“When are the Heroes arriving?”
“They just left. The closest one is ‘Iron Fist,’ but it'll take 20 minutes.”
“Damn it. Didn't the hostage-taker say they'd kill one every five minutes!”
A female officer ran up and reported to a middle-aged policeman.
“Confirmed. The hostage-taker is ‘Fire Man.’ Wanted for arson and murder—a criminal Awakener! Rank is C!”
“Damn. ‘Iron Fist’ is C-rank too, isn't he? This hostage negotiation's going to drag on.”
It seemed a hostage situation was unfolding.
Not my place to get involved.
I quietly slipped away.
As I headed back to the street, Laura stopped me.
[What are you doing! Isn't this the kind of heroic opportunity you humans love? Go kill that Fire Man or whatever right now.]
“Sorry, but I'm E-rank. What am I supposed to do against someone two ranks higher? Plus, there are hostages. No way.”
[Don't worry. I'm not just some fairy chattering on the sidelines. I'll dispel all activation-type magic, so go be a hero.]
‘What did she just say...?’
Dispel.
Advanced magic that blocks spell activation.
Laura could use it while parasitizing someone else's body?
I needed to be even more wary of Laura.
She was far more dangerous than I thought.
“But what if the opponent doesn't use magic and uses skills instead?”
[You idiot. What you call skills are just deformed magic. If it's activation-type, I'll block magic or skills for sure. Go!]
I took a deep breath.
“Fine. Let's do this.”
I pulled a robe from my bag and draped it over myself.
Of course, it wasn't an ordinary robe.
One of the fortuitous encounters available at this point.
Hermit's Leather.
How I obtained it: By giving money to a homeless man in the subway and fulfilling his request.
It wasn't difficult.
<[I'm cut off now, but I heard my son became an Olympic national team member. I'd love to know if he won a medal. Could you tell me?]>
I searched on my smartphone and told him.
His son had won Olympic gold.
Moved, he gave me the 'Hermit's Leather' he claimed to have used in his youth as thanks.
------------<Item>------------
◈ Name
Hermit's Leather
◈ Rank
--- S
◈ Stats
Agility 200
◈ Description
A robe made from a hermit's leather. It possesses special powers.
◈ Effect
Cannot specify information on the wearer.
--------------------------------
Ironically, in the game, this item had no real use.
The playable protagonist never needed to infiltrate anywhere with it.
It was like an Easter egg.
Now that it was reality.
For someone like me who didn't want their identity exposed, it was the perfect item.
Laura urgently tried to stop me.
[Why hide your identity? Reveal yourself boldly and kill the villain. Become a hero.]
“Why do you keep pushing the hero thing?”
[W-Well. Heroes are praised even if they kill hundreds or thousands. Becoming a hero is the fastest way to raise your status.]
“First off, heroes in this world follow a no-kill principle. And I don't like the spotlight. Non-negotiable.”
I pulled a kitchen knife from my bag.
It looked pathetically shabby once I held it.
Could I win with this?
I recalled the back entrance to the school from Shin Noda's memories and sneaked in that way.
Given the nickname ‘Fire Man,’ he was probably an intelligence-focused wizard-type Awakener.
With Laura sealing his skills, I'd have a huge advantage in stats.
Even so, he was solidly C-rank.
The rank gap meant his strength or agility were likely on par with mine.
Best to ambush and cut his throat in one go.
Pinpointing ‘Fire Man’s’ location was easy.
Follow the screams and shouts.
That was where the hostage-taker was.
Third-year Class 2.
An excited voice came from there.
I crouched and focused my hearing to gauge the situation inside.
“Hahaha. Is this the guy, Jong-gak? Looks like a punk.”
“T-That's...”
“If you're not sure, I'll just kill them all?”
“N-No, that's him! The others...”
“It's been about five minutes anyway. Let's kill one.”
‘Fire Man’ seemed about to kill a student.
I carefully slid open the classroom's sliding door and crept in.
The scene inside differed slightly from what I'd imagined.
Desks were all pushed to the back, and all students except one were on their knees.
‘Fire Man’ was a sleazy-looking middle-aged man.
He reached toward the yellow-haired student kneeling before him, about to spew fire.
An inexplicable throbbing from my flesh.
Come to think of it, that yellow hair... Shin Noda's friend.
A total stranger to me.
Yet, for some reason, it pissed me off.
My body trembled with rage.
My heart pounded wildly.
I gathered my momentum, knife forward, and charged.
‘Fire Man’ noticed my presence and turned, trying to use his ability.
Of course, nothing happened.
“Wh-What...!”
Stab.
The kitchen knife sank into the rib below his armpit.
I twisted it inside his body while pressing his throat with my other hand.
My heated body cooled as I saw a life struggling desperately to survive.
‘What have I done...’
A moment's hesitation.
‘Fire Man’ seized the chance and kicked my stomach with his leg. I flew back.
It was so sudden I dropped the knife.
It stayed embedded in his side.
‘Damn.’
I'd lost my weapon.
“What the hell are you?!”
He blocked the blood spurting from his side with one hand and reached toward me with the other.
No ability manifested.
His distorting expression.
Laura was handling her part well.
“Why, why! My power won't work! Damn it!”
I raised my fists into a boxing stance and approached.
I'd done boxing for about a year back in the day.
‘Fire Man’ backed away as I closed the distance.
He hadn't realized I was E-rank.
Good.
“W-Wait. Timeout. I've got my reasons. You don't seem like a Hero, and that fat kid over there? Shin Jong-gak. He asked for help. Said he was bullied at school, wanted to die, begged to be saved.”
Bullshit.
You were about to kill my friend without any such sense of justice.
That was pure madness.
Just evil desire to kill the weak.
“You're just making excuses because you want to kill.”
Even I was surprised by my raspy, cracked voice.
‘Hermit's Leather’ seemed to distort my voice too.
“Spare me. I haven't killed anyone yet! I'll leave like this, and we can part on good terms. Yeah? You're not a Hero. I'll forgive the stab.”
I kept advancing.
Almost in range.
He was backed up to the piled desks at the rear—no more room to retreat.
Even a cornered rat bites the cat.
‘Fire Man’ hardened his expression and yanked out the kitchen knife from his side.
“Gaaah!”
He gasped roughly and pointed the knife at me.
His body trembled visibly.
He clearly wasn't normal.
I didn't rush in recklessly.
‘Fire Man’ was already wounded with heavy bleeding.
Dragging it out meant my victory.
Thud.
A dull impact to my head.
My legs buckled, and I collapsed.
“Ugh.”
In my blurry vision, the fat kid called Shin Jong-gak held a chair.
‘Damn it. Did that guy hit me from behind?’
My head spun; my mind was a mess.
“Hahaha. Good job, Jong-gak. Wanna debut as a Villain while we're at it?”
“Th-That’s...”
‘Fire Man’ approached me with the kitchen knife.
“Hey, punk. Shouldn't have messed around. Acting like you're somebody when you're not even a Hero.”
Laura's urgent cry echoed in my head.
[Shin Noda! Snap out of it! You'll die like this!]
‘Fire Man’ gripped the knife reverse and swung down at me.
[How did such a weakling become the inheritor? Is this the end for the Dragonkin...!]
‘Dying this pathetically to a mere C-rank?’
I'd been the first in the world to fully clear this game.
I couldn't die like this.
With superhuman will, I rolled aside to dodge the knife.
Then I exerted telekinesis on his eyes.
“Grahhh!”
‘Fire Man’ clutched his eyes and screamed.
I'd barely used any physical force, but my head throbbed.
Definitely the backlash from using telekinesis with F-rank intelligence.
I jumped right up.
My legs shook.
Fueled by the thought that collapsing here meant death, I eyed ‘Fire Man.’
He writhed awkwardly in pain.
I grabbed the back of his neck, slammed it down, and punched his wounded side.
He howled from the agony and dropped the knife.
“Gaaah! Jong-gak, help!”
I snatched the dropped kitchen knife and pointed it at Shin Jong-gak.
“U-Ugh...”
Terrified, he shrank back.
“Stay still. Cross this line, and there's no going back for you.”
Confirming Shin Jong-gak's will completely broken, I slashed ‘Fire Man’s’ nape as he twitched on the floor.
A pool of blood formed on the classroom floor.
A red gem emerged from his chest.
[That's it. Touch the gem.]
I did as Laura said.
Red energy flowed from the gem into me.
A translucent message appeared before my eyes.
-------------<Inheritance>-------------
[Strength 024 permanently increased]
[Agility 008 permanently increased]
[Intelligence 047 permanently increased]
[Luck 032 permanently increased]
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My dazed mind from the head blow cleared up.
My exhausted body recovered; strength surged.
About five seconds passed.
The gem, drained of red energy and turned transparent, shattered.
Blue flames erupted across ‘Fire Man’s’ body.
The flames devoured him instantly, leaving only ashes.
['Fire Man.' A death befitting the name.]
I let out a small sigh and looked around.
Shin Jong-gak shrank back with a squeak.
I'd killed a person.
No overwhelming guilt, surprisingly.
It was kill or be killed.
Now that it was done, I worried about the police or Heroes.
Even Villains aside, private sanctions were a crime.
I was now arrest-worthy too.
Soon, Hero ‘Iron Fist’ would lead the police in.
I needed to muddy the investigation a bit.
I grabbed a Post-it from the teacher's desk and wrote ‘Hostage-Taker’ with a pen.
I placed it on the ashes.
With feigned hatred, I said,
“Death is all I can give to those who abuse their powers.”
Acting like someone deeply hurt by Awakeners, now hating them.
Staging it as principled private justice.
The students' eyes focused on me.
‘Ugh. Embarrassing.’
It was necessary to escape now and for the future.
Suspects would likely be recent victims of Awakeners.
One female student approached and bowed her head.
“Th-Thank you.”
Others followed one by one.
“Thank you for saving us.”
“...”
I hadn't done it to save them specifically.
But receiving their gratitude felt strangely good.
This was my first hunt.