At first, they clearly showed a hostile attitude.
Well, that’s only natural.
I am, after all, an outsider, and to them, everyone except themselves is an enemy.
Gugugugung.
“Hi? I liked the welcome so much that I came to visit.”
So, I prepared myself as best as I could and opened the door.
As I opened the door and spoke confidently, numerous villains began to stare at me.
“……”
There were clearly many people, but most of them weren’t saying anything.
They just stared at me, an intruder, like I was some foreign object.
‘…Uh-oh, am I in trouble?’
10, 20, 30… No, I couldn’t count them all.
There were too many to count.
– Older Brother, run away quickly!!
Following Narin’s words, I tried to sneak back, but the iron door had already closed long ago.
“Hey~? Who sent me this? I thought it was an invitation.”
No one spoke, which made me feel awkward, but I hid my nervousness and put on a relaxed smile.
‘The attention is way more intense than I thought.’
‘Honestly, beating all of them is beyond my abilities.’
‘Damn, I should’ve just listened to Narin. I’m really gonna die here.’
Calculations were spinning wildly in my head.
“[Newbie? Newbie?]”
“[Looks like a new toy…]”
“[This time it’s an Asian? Asians are soft and tender…!]”
The villains didn’t even respond to my words and just started chatting among themselves.
Judging by their tone and eyes, they seemed to have already decided what to do.
-…Older Brother? Are they really talking about you right now?
Seems like it.
“Looks like they’re planning to gang up on me.”
They started to circle around me, with my back to the door.
In that case, the only thing to do here is…
Bang!
First strike wins!
I pulled out my gun without giving them a chance to react and shot one of them in the head.
I aimed for someone who looked like a leader and seemed capable of thinking.
“One down! Who’s next, you bastards!”
-O, Older Brother! Older Brother!!
I planned to take out as many as I could while the other prisoners were still stunned.
But.
-That guy’s not dead yet!!
“[Ouch…]”
Hearing that, I had no choice but to change my plan.
“[This brat, not even scared, just shoots me in the head…]”
The guy was sitting calmly where he had been standing, holding the back of his head.
The bullet had hit something hard and was severely deformed.
“Physical enhancement type.”
“[Physical enhancement? Ah, the Eastern way of classifying abilities. I think I’ve heard of it before.]”
Judging by the hardness, he was a physical enhancement ability user whose body couldn’t be pierced by bullets.
A natural enemy for someone like me who mainly uses firearms.
‘No matter how many bullets I put in his head, it won’t work.’
Moreover, the abilities of ability users are weakened due to the influence of the Mystic Trace somewhere on the 6th floor.
Even though physical enhancement types should have their strength reduced, if he still has this level of toughness…
‘…At least A-rank. Or higher.’
I think I picked the wrong guy to make an example of.
“[Ugh, my head is still ringing… Kids these days have no manners… Hey, kid? Can’t you speak English?]”
“[Boss, should we handle this?]”
“[Nah, don’t touch my prey. You brats just suck your thumbs. This one’s mine.]”
Judging by his tone, he seemed to have been in Tartarus for a while.
That means his combat sense is guaranteed, so if things go south, it’s going to be a long time before I can fix it.
‘…No choice.’
I’ll just have to fight back as much as I can.
And if there’s a chance, I’ll run away.
“…Ms. Narin, no, Narin.”
-..Huh?
“Hold on, I’m going to mute the sound. I need to focus.”
-What? Older Brother, wait…
Click.
Narin is a skilled hacker, but she’s not good at combat.
It’s better to mute the sound and focus rather than risk getting distracted.
I adjusted my bat.
Then I quickly approached him.
‘If guns don’t work.’
Whoosh-
‘Then I’ll use a bat!’
I swung the bat.
Bang!!
The baseball bat echoed like a gunshot.
Of course, it was natural. I had made it into something like a gun that doesn’t shoot.
The inspiration was a nail gun, a tool used in construction that shoots nails.
The strong force used by nail guns to drive nails.
That force is usually generated by compressed air, gas, or gunpowder, and I applied that idea to the bat Akaoni uses.
‘Sigh… Not bad, but my hand is numb.’
Even with protective gear to reduce recoil, my hand was more numb than I expected.
The stronger the weapon, the more drawbacks it has.
“[Ugh! You use some strange weapons, kid?]”
“It hit you properly, and you’re still standing?”
“[Pfft! Cute brat!!]”
“Annoying brat.”
I threw smoke bombs around and charged at him.
Whoosh-
First, recharge my energy…
‘Now!’
Bang!
“[Why do you keep aiming for the head?]”
I swung with all my might at his head, but he easily blocked it by raising his arm.
“[Is it my turn now?]”
“You talk too much, old man.”
I released the tension in my slightly trembling hand and dropped the bat, then activated my ability.
Whoosh-
Through the knowledge in my head, a shotgun formed at my fingertips.
A shotgun that would be effective in close combat.
Click.
Then, I aimed the barrel right in front of him so he couldn’t dodge.
Baaaaang!!!!
“[Ugh…!!!]”
I pulled the trigger of the shotgun.
“[This brat, he’s been aiming for my head…!]”
“If I want to win, this is the only way, what can I do?”
He started staggering, probably because he had taken quite a bit of damage.
No matter how much he enhanced his body, shaking his brain, one of his weak points, multiple times should have done some damage.
“[Boss! Are you okay? Should we help…!]”
“[Stay still! You brats!!]”
He staggered and started glaring at me intensely with unfocused eyes.
“[…And don’t even think about throwing that damn grenade.]”
“Looks like you have a deep friendship with your cellmates, huh?”
I smirked and jingled the grenade in my hand.
Of course, I had no intention of setting it off.
‘He might withstand it, and given the distance, I could get hurt too.’
And trying to reduce their numbers might just provoke the others and make things worse.
Right now, it’s safer to keep it one-on-one.
Deal with him, then find a chance to escape.
“[Huff!]”
Then, a straight punch came at me.
Bam!
I could easily dodge it because of its slow speed, but the sound from the wall made me tense up again.
“Phew, tough guy!”
“[I told you to put away the grenade, brat.]”
‘If that hit me, I’d be a goner…’
The wall, made of all sorts of rare materials to imprison inmates, didn’t have a scratch, but if it had hit me, I’d be a goner.
‘Maybe I’d turn into minced meat, or maybe even minced meat…’
Whatever it is, it’s a chilling thought, so I hope that future doesn’t come true.
‘Get a grip.’
I’ve come this far, it’d be a shame to die now.
I picked up my bat again.
*
A few minutes later.
“[Ugh…]”
Drip. Drip…
I looked at the guy who was barely standing, dripping with blood.
‘…I really thought I was going to die.’
It’s a good thing I focused on attacking his head quickly at the beginning, otherwise it would’ve been a much tougher fight.
‘Not a complete victory, though.’
His arrogance, the variables of my ability, and his insistence on a one-on-one fight.
If these various factors hadn’t overlapped, winning wouldn’t have been easy.
“……”
‘By the way, those guys have been quiet the whole time.’
Considering how they were talking about me being soft and a toy earlier, they’re surprisingly well-behaved.
They got a bit busy when he was being pushed back, but now that the outcome is almost certain, they’re not doing anything.
‘What’s going on? Are they expecting a comeback?’
They don’t seem that naive, though.
Maybe they’re just thinking, ‘This time the top dog is going down.’
Given that it’s the survival of the fittest on the 6th floor, they might be more indifferent to death than the outside world.
Anyway, now that they’re not doing anything, it’s my chance.
Click.
-…You!! Older Brother!!
I turned the sound back on the communicator, and Narin’s voice came through.
“Ah, Narin, can you hear me? Sorry, but can you find an escape route right now…?”
-In front, in front!!
Narin’s voice was full of panic.
Wondering why, I looked up.
“My, my, our leader doesn’t look so good.”
“[B, Boss…]”
Suddenly, an old man was standing crookedly in front of the guy I had just been fighting.
“…Damn.”
No matter how much of a non-physical type I am, there’s no way I wouldn’t have noticed or seen an old man walking up.
And there’s no way an ordinary old man would be on the 6th floor of Tartarus.
Plus, they called him Boss.
‘This is a cliché overload of someone who’s obviously strong…’
Cold sweat naturally dripped down.
‘Can I survive this?’
Half of my mana was gone from the last fight.
The weapon was also in bad shape from hitting so many hard things.
“Hmm? You are…”
‘I need to run, but is there a way…?’
Just as I thought I was screwed, the old man’s eyes met mine.
He started scanning my clothes with his eyes…
“..!! Damn you, you rotten brat!!”
Whack!!!
“[Aaaah!!!]”
He opened his eyes wide and smacked the groaning guy’s head hard.
“..?”
“[…??]”
“Can’t you tell by his appearance and clothes, you rotten things!! He’s not a toy, he’s a guest!!”
“[…Huh?]”
In the midst of everyone’s confusion, the old man started calling me a guest…
“Louder with the voice!!!!!!!”
“Kyaaaaaaah!!!!!!!!”
And that’s how we got to this situation.
“……”
So, really, why is this happening?
