Tokyo Colony 1
Falling.
An act of gravity which made all objects fall down, irrespective of their status and worth. Since the dawn of mankind, man's fears have been ingrained inside the human psyche, and falling to death was one of the most primal ones.
So it was needless to say that when I suddenly found myself teleported to about the height of a 50-story building, my reaction was not mild.
"MotherF******"
Nothing but curses came to my mind toward this ridiculous prank that Kenjaku pulled on newcomers. Fck him and fck this Culling Game.
For a few moments I saw the entire Tokyo city, though, or at least a part of it. It's not like I had the time to admire the view before I was on a downfall.
Cold winds of November hit me right as I was on my way to getting flattened on that very hard-looking concrete road down below.
"Damn it… damn it." My heart beat raced faster than when I was running for my life from Mahito. My eyes darted left and right to stop myself, but nothing.
It almost felt deliberate, how far from any buildings I was teleported to grab onto any of them like they do in the movies.
My eyes fell back onto the rapidly approaching ground, and I gritted my teeth.
'Can I tank it?' That was the first question which came to my mind.
With my current level of reinforcement, I won't die. I was certain about that, but…
'That will hurt like a b*tch.'
Most likely both my legs will break, and I'll have to expend more CE on fixing them.
Time seemed to slow down for a second, my mind entering that state of extreme concentration to find a way out until my mind clicked.
[SELF TRADE - I shouted to make my intention as clear as possible.]
"Remove weight and add durability!"
I shouted as quickly as possible before the inevitable collision with the ground.
BOOM….
-x-
Rin Amai was an ordinary young man. His only contact with violence that he had ever seen was in his high school when he hung out with some thugs. And that was it; he never fought anyone, he never had drugs, he never actually broke any law before, other than underage drinking, and that was only because those whom he used to hang out with forced him to do so.
Overall, he was quite an innocent one, if he did say so himself.
So when he found out that he was trapped in what he could only describe as a modern-day battle royale with people with superpowers, he for the first time felt it would have been better if he really had learned how to fight from those guys.
He felt like taking that one step and ending it all. Standing at the edge of the tall building's rooftop, looking down at the increasingly empty roads and populace of Tokyo city, and then recalling what his own fate would be after a few days, it almost sounded like the right idea.
Superpowers, fights, blood, gore, and death. What he hadn't seen so far, things which he only thought were possible in movies and anime, were taking place for real.
It's been more than 10 days since all of this started, the Culling Game. God only knows how he ended up mixed up with all this craziness. However, he for once knew that if things kept going the way they were, then he wouldn't live for very long.
The only reason he survived this madness was because he was currently the lackey of some decently strong rookie hunters, helping them hunt newcomers for points.
His hand trembled upon seeing the height he was standing at. One step and it would all end with much pain.
However.
He couldn't do it. For the last ten days he had been thinking the same, but he couldn't find it in himself to take that one step.
Yes, he was a coward.
Sigh.
"Oi, Amai… what the hell are you doing? Did you find anyone?" came the annoyed voice of one of his tormentors.
Kotaro Hanyu. Alongside her partner, Aiko Haba, they were rookie hunters, hunting the newcomers for points. And he was their lookout.
"No, no… there is no one yet." He spluttered. He was quite afraid of them.
"Then keep looking." She shouted.
"Yes, yes.." Rin immediately took two steps back from the edge of the building and hurriedly put on his binoculars, even if just for appearance's sake. They hadn't found a newbie in the last 3 days.
'It's not like it's up to me, you know. As if someone will drop from the sky if I look hard…. Eh!'
His eyes caught someone really falling from the sky. A boy, if he wasn't wrong.
And he dropped right in the middle of the road. From that height!
Amai narrowed his eyes. Most would die if they dropped from that height, right?
Well, not this guy, it seemed.
Amai's eyes widened, seeing the boy was completely alright. The ground beneath him was shattered where he landed…
"Is that a hero landing?" He muttered in disbelief.
"Huh…? What was that?" Hanyu asked through the walkie-talkie casually as she applied nail polish to her fingers.
"Hanyu!" Amai shouted, coming out of his stupor. This was his chance.
Hanyu, who was getting bored and angry at their lookout, jolted at the shout. She almost dropped her nail polish.
"You bastard, why are you shouting? If I had dropped my nail polish, then I would have killed you." She screamed back.
Nail polish?
Amai had no idea where that came from.
"Forget about that, we got someone."
Hanyu at that paused. The upcoming lecture and beating died down as she snapped her neck toward where she heard the loud crashing sound.
'Remind me again why we are keeping that guy if every person who's going to come is going to make that much noise at their entrance?'
She really wished to fire the boy, but right now wasn't the time.
'Hmph… I'll deal with that little shit after this.' She snorted and, from her place in another building with an open window, threw herself out, free-falling until suddenly her long blonde hair changed into a jet propeller, rocketing herself towards the newcomer.
'Phew, that ought to keep those two off my tail for a while, right?' Amai sighed in relief.
-x-
[Yami POV]
'My goddamn knee. I'm feeling like someone hammered it.' I wished to shout but kept my quiet. With the kind of pain I had suffered in the past, this was honestly nothing.
"I'm never doing a superhero landing ever again." I grumbled and slowly got up, legs wobbling with a literal crackling sound as I moved my knee, but I got up nonetheless.
"At least Self Trade worked, or a cranky knee would have been the least of my concerns." That actually put a grin on my face.
A new facet of my technique which I figured out during training with Maki. And if used correctly, it's pretty cool.
"Alright… so where do I have to go… Awfff~"
Halfway through the sentence, all the air inside my body was knocked out as something came crashing down on me like a boulder.
One second I was standing on solid ground, and the next I was airborne once again. I went soaring like a cannonball all across the street toward a building, creating a human-sized crater there.
Fortunately, or unfortunately for me, the trade from earlier was still active. Meaning my durability was still high and my weight criminally low to tank an attack like that. Hence, the exaggerated flight.
"Who the hell attacks someone the moment he air-drops from the sky? F*cking campers." I complained, removing the trade and digging myself out of the 'Yami'-sized crater I created.
What came into my view was a woman. Black tank top, baggy pants, almost reminded me of Yuki, just not that sexy.
'Wait… is that a rocket attached to her head?'
Nah… must be a cursed technique, turning one's hair into a miniature jet. Well, it's not like I can say I haven't seen worse.
As for Hanyu herself. She was looking at me with a clearly confused expression.
'Did I really hit-kick that hard?' She muttered to herself, checking her own legs to see whether she leveled up or something.
"That's a terrible way to welcome someone, by the way. Name's Akindo Yami, and you might be?" I asked, while my instincts told me talking was pointless. Nonetheless, my default method of resolving conflict for the time being should remain negotiation.
While everyone here is for the points, my requirement goes beyond just that. Killing is avoidable for me if I wish to get strong. However, killing innocents is a bottom line I'm not crossing.
Pop…
Suddenly a familiar-looking Shikigami popped out of thin air beside me.
"Currently you're facing player Hanyu Kotaro with 21 points." Kogane very helpfully explained.
'Twenty-one.'
Well, that didn't sound very innocent now, did it?
"Tch… I hate your type." Suddenly the woman, recently announced as Hanyu, spoke.
"Pardon."
At that she just sneered. "To think you can talk your way out of anything. I hate your kind. Cocky pretty boys." She spat.
'Cocky and pretty boy.'
Me?
Dude, with this attitude I doubt she'll be landing any dates anytime soon.
Swoosh.
Just then suddenly a sound came over. I rotated my head up only to find another man flying towards us. And this one got helicopter hair.
"Darling, you started without me. That's not fair." said a middle-aged-looking man with a moustache.
I felt my blood pressure rising.
'So, I'm the only single one here.'
xXx
A/N : Ah, I wish to create more ways to use his technique, given he doesn't have anything else, and I wasn't planning to make him another Yuji anytime soon. I gave him this.
Explanation in next chapter.
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