“H-Hey, what’s wrong, Mister Nakamura?” the nurse asked, as she tilted her head.Before the nurse could turn her head behind her back, I pulled her attention back at me and prolonged the conversation. But the talk immediately went south. Talking to people was one thing. But a woman asking for attention? Man, that was something else.It was a bar raised to the highest level, hoping to drag me down to the ground.“What lovely weather we’re having, right?” I said, and immediately bit back my words. How can I be so stupid? Why would I even bring up the weather, when the window was literally behind the nurse. And that was the place where Hina grappled herself on the weirdly-looking, deformed rock.Just as the nurse agreed to my statement and prepared her body to gyrate behind her, I pulled her shoulders close to mine. Our eyes met accidentally, as my hands wrapped around her waist. The nurse wanted to free herself from my arms, but her body refused to obey her commands. Soon, we both star
“You might not notice, but you’ve snuck around with me since day one!” I said, and brought a chair for the two of us to sit in. Hina complied and sat beside the empty chair as I continued my sentences. “It doesn’t look like it, but you’re the only one who pushes me forward. Do you remember how I fought the Wyvern from the hybrid portal?”Hina shook her head. “No…”“I wanted to save those people not because of charity. It’s all because of you. When I came face to face with the Wyvern, I knew I was about to lose. But I didn’t. I didn’t let the Wyvern win. If I die from the monster, who would cook you a decent meal? You can’t even cook rice, Hina.”“HEY!” Hina cried, but I carried on.“I mean, I wanted to save them and all. But that’s not my point. My point is that you’re my moral compass. I don’t want to give you a world where portals exist. And a lot of people died because of me, which is why I understand what you’re feeling right now. If there’s anyone who could understand your feeli
I didn’t expect anything from Vulcan’s training ground. This place was meant to be a smith, so why would a sniper range be in an artisan room? As it turned out, the portal changed within the owner’s shop. And for Vulcan, the smith had morphed as well.When I entered the place, my eyes quickly glided at the walls surrounding the room. The training grounds were as big as a mansion where it could fit an entire zoo inside. And when I glared at my fore, training dummies greeted my eyes. Those were going to be my training partners for today, which were made of stacked hays and cottons for their clothing. From afar, those figures looked like scarecrows. But when I trundled forward, the training targets, which I had assumed were puppets, had monstrous and distorted features incomparable from Hina’s golems.When I came face to face with the hellish marionettes, every cell inside my body yelled for me to run away. I wanted to, but what was the point of entering this place if I would be afraid o
When the bullet ran into the dummy, it didn’t explode. Instead, the shot pierced through the figure and created a hole right off its body. The hole continued onward until my bullet found a formidable surface that could stop the bullet’s momentum. I didn’t know how or when that would happen, but it wasn’t my concern. All I knew and learned from this attempt was that physical bullets had the ability to pierce through anything as long as I had higher levels and my bullets were stronger than the ones it could hit.But I couldn’t determine how high level I should be so my bullets would pierce through my enemies. Although I got what it meant, sometimes, the levels weren’t enough to gauge the bullet’s power and the monster. However, that didn’t matter for now. This ability wasn’t reliable. Even so, if I compared the magical bullet to the physical one, the physical shell dealt the most damage. It may not have the splash damage from the arcanic shots, the physical shell penetrated the physical
It might have already been a couple of hours until the first time I went here and trained. And I had already fired a thousand bullets since the last time I remembered. However, none of the shots I let out hit my targets. Every time my bullet flew towards my target practice, they would hit the wall instead of the dummies. I swore to god that those bullets should have hit my dummies. But it didn’t. No matter how hard I tried and aimed my scope at the figurines, none of them hit.I didn’t know what to do until then. And when I checked for the time, it was already midnight. I forgot that my body needed rest, since I had been wandering outside and visited Hina. Although seeing her rejuvenated my mind, my body had told me otherwise.But before I could leave this place, I wanted to try one last thing. I didn’t have to master all of these obstacles. All I had to do was to familiarise myself and do a run-through about what I could improve before training my abilities hardcore. According to Oc
“Welcome to the real training grounds, kid. I specially designed this place for you. I know that you need to train yourself and your sniper, so here we go!” After saying those words, Vulcan introduced me to the newly improved training site. It was the same place as before, but there were some features that I didn’t recognise. The place that I saw earlier wasn’t the real deal. This was. We were still inside a training hall, but the place became gargantuan. The floor was still made of marble. However, the room now had a second floor. That upper level differed from the others, especially the entire training course and the little corners became something more than just tiny spaces. It could even fit ten mice, enough to make a horde. According to Vulcan, the entire training field was built in with fascinating designs. The two of us could modify the site if we wished to train on a flat floor or in whacky terrain. Nevertheless, any challenge could be good to me. But, first and foremost, I
There were one hundred dummies clustered in this room, and this training room had two floors. Everything surrounding this building was distorted. None of them aligned. But instead of whining about the environment, I had to deal with it and come up with a plan to achieve my goal. But how could I even put a dent on those dummies if they moved as fast as a fucking famished hyena? The answer was simple. First, I had to try what I could and hit them like I usually did. With that in mind, I held my sniper and aimed elsewhere. For starters, I put my line of sight in front of me. There was a bloody mannequin before me, which should probably be a freebie. After all, every hit counts. And if I managed to hit one, that would be nine instead of ten for a meal. When the time kicked in, I finally pulled the trigger and fired what was in front of me. For a second, I glimpsed at the puppet dashing right before my eyes. However, the occurrence was something more than what I had initially expected.
“That’s enough, kid. You did well for today. But, sadly, you’re not allowed to eat dinner,” Vulcan uttered, as he opened the door leading to the training area’s exit. “Why? I’m the one who paid for our meal! It came from my hard earned money!” I cried, sounding desperate in front of an old man. “I know. But I made this training session for you. If you want to eat, go eat. But don’t use this place.” “If I can’t use this place, who else would?! I’m your guest, goddammit!” I cursed, as my stomach grumbled. “Nobody except for you.” After we ended our conversation, Vulcan and I headed outside the training area. He told me that I was free to use this place whenever I liked. However, the old man also told me that I needed to look out for my health. “Your mind might want to train, but your body wouldn’t.” Those thoughts echoed inside my head, as I hit the sack without crunching anything inside my mouth. When tomorrow came, I went to the main hall and saw capsules of some sort and a dece
Aoi Two’s Perspective (not the original Aoi, but the other one who lived in a different yet similar life.) __________________________________ I forgot the last time I tasted good food. How many days had it been since the time I had been luring and fighting these beasts? Two months? No. Two months were short in my calendar. If I had to guess it right, I was up here for eight months fighting and evading these monsters. I fed myself with arcane from my surroundings and made it my nutrition. Although magic particles were different from real nourishments, it was enough to keep me functional. And my body was still in top shape. I also forced myself to sleep only for an hour and wake up dodging those projectiles for the umpteenth time. There was nothing inside my mind but evading these ambushes, hoping I could, at least, strike back with my rifle. But the time never arrived. The lizards weren’t the only creatures present in my vicinity. There were more of them. If I had to name a few, t
Aoi Two’s Perspective (not the original Aoi, but the other one who lived in a different yet similar life.)__________________________________I temporarily lent my power to the Crimson Guild in exchange for my monthly salary enough to pay for the hospital fees and our daily living. There was nothing wrong about it. So I told Hina about our current situation and encouraged her to attend the school we were once going to. But I refused the scholarship and dropped out of university. College life should be something that everyone desires to have, especially us students. But for me, I wanted to see Hina’s parents live for another day. Hence, the approval of being an adventurer in a guild.But I didn’t apply for being a regular adventurer. Regular adventurers were tasked to defeat a certain number of portals in return they will be given cheques and salaries from it. The more portals defeated, the larger amount of cash will be rewarded. As long as the adventurer was talented enough to survive
Volume 3 - Epilogue Aoi Two’s Perspective (not the original Aoi, but the other one who lived in a different yet similar life.) __________________________________ As far as I remembered, my parents died when I was little. When I was six years old. I didn’t need money, a lavish life, or things that I could call mine. There was only one thing I wanted, and that was my parents. I wanted them to live. But with one sudden moment, my wish turned around and burned me alive. My parents were killed by monsters, not humans. The fiend was around a hundred feet tall, and the village we were living in took the invasion. They were reptiles. These monsters had the shape of a dragon, which was technically a lizard with wings. According to the internet, unidentified beasts kept appearing from nowhere, and there were others who fought against them. Those individuals were not the police officers. I believed they were called guilds. And as I glanced around me, the news and other people claimed that t
Aoi’s PerspectiveAoi one or the ORIGINAL MAIN CHARACTER OF THE STORY (not the different one)Author’s note: This Aoi is also calling himself as Aoi one, and the other Aoi will be Aoi two (It is to avoid confusion. Thank you.)_____________________“That’s why I need to become stronger. And you’re not strong enough! Even though we’re the only ones who have this system, you didn’t try to break your own wall and learn more about it! There could’ve been portals that you could eliminate to gain more levels, and yet you chose to idle around and did nothing about it!” What did he mean when this motherfucker told me I wasn’t strong enough?! I trained with Vulcan, which Akai killed. Did he not think of that?!”“Your face is telling me that you met with Vulcan… That you trained with him. But did you learn anything from those sessions besides aiming your gun properly? Because it’s the only thing you have if you plan on comparing yourself to me!” Aoi two, or should I say, this doppelganger adde
Hina’s Perspective_____________________“It’s okay… Don’t cry. There, there…. It’s going to be okay… It’s going to be alright….”And then, I said the words. “I forgive you… I forgive you, Aoi… You don’t have to cry anymore… It’s going to be okay…”I said the words Aoi wanted to hear. Even though he was Obsidian, the face of my brother carved itself on the man beside me. It was as if Aoi two was a dog barking and biting people left and right only to realise he needed someone’s help… He needed my help. And now he had faced his fear and listened to the words Aoi two wanted to hear, his ears calmed down. His ears discerned what was important.‘But what now? What are we going to do now?’ I thought, and looked at the downcasted face of Aoi two. As if knowing the question inside my head, Aoi two returned my gaze and uttered, “I know… you are confused. But we don’t have much time now. As soon as I fought Aoi in this world, the entities behind these portals were already high on alert. And I
Hina’s Perspective _____________________ “Come with me.” With one phrase, the masked man offered his hand to me. He used his other hand to lift Aoi’s body and cast a spell that changed our surroundings. “I’ll show you something.” Obsidian showed no signs of hostility. And the voice behind the masked man soothed my ears as if it was some sort of music with perfect beat and lyrics. I gazed at the man’s hand, wondering if I should take it. I had seen something like this before. But something was off. And at the same time, there was a peculiar feeling of calm and genuineness. He almost reminded me of my brother. In spite of these feelings twirling inside my mind, I shook my head and answered, “I don’t… want to... I won’t leave…. My brother! You… Want… to kill him… I’ll…. Stay by…. His side…. Until you… can kill me…” There was a chance that the masked man wanted to pull me apart from Aoi. And I never wanted that to happen. The moment the masked man heard my words for the umpteenth ti
Hina’s Perspective_____________________All my life, Aoi did nothing but help me with my problems, regardless if it involved him or me. As long as he noticed, which he always did, my brother would rush towards me and help. Aoi really forced himself so hard until he could see me smile. And even though I pushed him countless times, he continued crawling his way back in my arms. I could still remember those days when we were together, especially when these portals hadn’t shown up. Life was simple back then. If only Aoi’s parents didn’t die, maybe he could’ve lived the life he deserved. But his life was taken away by a murderer and the portal. And now, we were given the chance to confront the man who stole his life away. But even so, we couldn’t defeat him. I… couldn’t do a thing. Aoi did everything he could to stop the madman from hurting everyone, despite knowing none of the strangers, but he failed. And the only thing I could do was to watch him suffer.Maybe if I trained hard enoug
As I glanced on my side, Hina still wanted to fight. She stood up and used the rock beside him, but her legs kept shaking as if an earthquake struck us. But the ground remained still. There was no earthquake. And when I appraised her status, my system described her with a fatigue ailment in addition to her drained mana right beside his health bar.[Iron Maiden has been deactivated. Obsidian is too powerful to be compressed!]Those were the words that marked our doom. The moment Obsidian broke free from the [Iron Maiden] all hope was lost. I had no idea how to win now, especially when my sister was on the ground. She couldn’t me right now. But Hina had already assisted me until her body fell on the ground. Although she desperately forced herself to move and stand with the help of a rock, Hina couldn’t cast any more magic and would remain sluggish until she could recover her mana. Obsidian stood on the other side of the map, unscathed and unbothered from the spell. The [Iron Maiden] wa
Time wasn’t on our side. Obsidian tried hitting us with his sniper, but Hina continued lifting me up and creating walls in front of me. It was as if she was reading my movements. When the masked man pulled the trigger and launched a set of bullets in my direction, I went to the side despite having no platform for me to step on. But I trusted my sister. By the time I jumped above ground, I trusted my instincts and rolled on the side. Like I had said, there was no ground to catch me when I fell. But as soon as I gyrated my body, a floor made of soil immediately materialised and cushioned my feet. The next thing I knew, I tumbled to the side and evaded almost every bullet coming in my way. The shells that I couldn’t dodge still didn’t hit me. The moment those leads from the masked man could take me out, Hina summoned a wall in front of me and protected my face.I didn’t have the time to thank my sister and carried onwards with the fight. Time was also our enemy. So when I found an open