kscans

Chapter 33 - To You Who Shares the Same Pain...

A life-or-death battle on Earth. I dodged Takeo’s charge, leaving his back wide open.

"Lightning Palm Strike!"

I struck Takeo’s back, sending a jolt of lightning from my palm. Against a normal person, this would have been the end, but Takeo had ‘Pain Perception Block.’ He spun around, swinging his right fist in a backhand motion. I retreated to evade it.

"Ha! That didn’t hurt one bit!" Takeo declared. "My body’s invincible!"

With that, he charged at me again.

His fists were fast; I dodged them by a hair’s breadth. I had no intention of trying to block those punches. The difference in our strength was too great. If I tried to defend, my arm would surely break. My only option was to evade.

When he threw a punch, I placed my palm on his fist and unleashed another jolt of lightning. Then, I immediately leaped away.

Takeo swung his arm wildly.

"It’s not working! None of your attacks are! Just hurry up and die!"

He came at me again.

I kept repeating the pattern: evade and strike with lightning. Evade and strike. As I dodged a left hook, my foot landed on a small stone. I stumbled, my posture broken, and Takeo’s right fist came flying in.

Evasion was impossible. I channeled electricity into my left arm, reinforcing it, and blocked.

Takeo’s heavy blow connected. I was sent flying into a wall. I immediately checked my body. It hurt, but I could still move without any major issues. My left arm wasn’t broken, but a dull ache pulsed through it.

Even a slight movement of my hand sent a jolt of pain up my arm. I probably had a hairline fracture.

Takeo slowly approached.

"...It’s over. See ya."

He raised his right fist high.

In that instant, I activated my lightning magic in my right hand.

"Lightning Wave!"

A diffuse wave of lightning shot out, striking several points on Takeo’s body.

He looked surprised for a moment, but when the light faded, he could still move.

Takeo smirked.

"Too bad. For a second there, I thought I was gonna be burnt to a crisp, but I’m just a little scorched. It probably hurts like hell, but with ‘Pain Perception Block,’ I don’t feel a thing. Thanks for the useless effort."

He raised his right fist again.

But that fist never fell.

Suddenly, Takeo’s knees hit the ground, and his arms went limp at his sides. He looked shocked, trying to move his body, but it wouldn’t budge.

As he stared in confusion, I spoke.

"...Can’t move, can you? My attacks weren’t meant to damage you. They were to build up an electrical charge inside your body. You know that the human body runs on electrical signals, right? So if you disrupt them, of course you can’t move."

"...That last strike was to make all the stored lightning detonate inside you at once, scrambling those signals. It was a gamble, but it worked. I’ve tested it on monsters in the other world, so I knew it had a chance."

I said this as I walked toward him.

I’d read about disrupting electrical signals in a manga and tried it out while hunting once. It took time, but when the monster finally became paralyzed, I was thrilled that it worked. I never thought I’d use it like this.

With that thought, I silently pointed my right index finger at Takeo.

It was cloaked in lightning.

Seeing this, Takeo’s face changed.

"...Hey, wait. A-Are you going to kill me? You didn’t actually take what I said about killing you seriously, did you? That was obviously a joke! I just wanted to rough you up a bit and get you to cooperate with me, that’s all."

Takeo’s eyes welled with tears.

I knew he was lying. I’d been in life-or-death battles for a long time now; I could tell whether someone had true killing intent or not.

And all I felt from Takeo was the overwhelming aura of someone fully intending to kill his opponent.

"...Takeo, do you know why I fought you this way?" I asked.

He shook his head. I continued.

"...It’s so I could kill you without making you suffer. Honestly, I have plenty of ways to kill you, but all of them would be painful. Even if you can’t feel pain, it would take a heavy toll on your mind. So I decided to immobilize you and give you a quick, clean death. Consider it my final act of mercy... as your former classmate."

With those final words, I began to condense the lightning.

Takeo’s face twisted further in fear.

"W-Wait! I told you, it was a joke! You need to learn how to take a joke! C-Come on, I’m begging you. Please."

The lightning continued to condense, ignoring his pleas.

Then, Takeo’s expression shifted from fear to rage.

"...Y-You murderer! Do you even know what that makes you?! Murderers are the scum of the earth! The garbage of society! You don’t deserve to exist!"

As Takeo spat his final, furious words, I met his gaze with a cold stare.

"So be it."

As I spoke, a beam of lightning shot from my finger and pierced Takeo’s heart.

His face frozen in anger, his eyes wide open, he died. His body reverted from that of a bodybuilder to its original form.

After gathering the thugs’ corpses, I planned to move Takeo’s body to the side of the road.

I didn’t care about the thugs, but I wanted Takeo, at least, to have a proper funeral.

But that wish would not be granted. Suddenly, Takeo’s body began to crystallize, a frost-like substance spreading up from his feet.

No, it wasn’t ice. It wasn’t cold to the touch, and when I analyzed it, I realized it was crystal. The crystallization continued without stopping, covering his entire body... and then it shattered.

Nothing was left behind. Even the crystal fragments evaporated and vanished.

Why? How? The questions raced through my mind, but the sound of distant sirens brought me back to my senses.

The sound grew steadily closer. The police would be here soon. I had to act fast. Reinforcing my body with lightning, I used Matter Conversion to turn a stone into an iron whip, which I used to bind the four thugs’ bodies together. I hoisted them onto my back and leaped upward. The covered shopping arcade once had a semicircular roof, but now it was riddled with holes. I flew toward one large enough for a person to fit through.

I landed on the roof and set down the bodies.

I immediately jumped back down to clean up the scene below, trying to erase the debris and bloodstains. But it would take too long, and I couldn’t remove them completely. I tried to analyze and create concrete to cover it up.

But the material didn't contain any iron. Panicked, I poured a wide burst of Matter Conversion magic into the surroundings.

I mixed iron and copper to create a color close to concrete, swallowing the rubble and churning up the bloodstains, completely erasing the evidence.

The sirens were right outside. I leaped back up to the roof where the bodies were.

Landing silently, I looked down. A patrol car had stopped, and several police officers were getting out. I held my breath, covered the lower half of my face, and watched.

The police scanned the area with flashlights, searching for something.

One of the officers spoke.

"This is the place where the mugging was reported, right?"

A man who seemed to be his superior replied.

"...Should be. There have been a lot of muggings around here lately. They might have moved to another spot. Get on the radio and request reinforced patrols. We’ll sweep the immediate area."

The officers complied, splitting up to begin their search. One returned to the patrol car while the others fanned out, flashlights in hand. I was confident they wouldn’t find me up here, but I couldn’t just leave the bodies.

I hoisted the four corpses again and moved across the rooftop with stealthy steps, then jumped to the roof of the building across the street. I made a slight noise as I landed.

I immediately dropped flat and looked down, but no one seemed to have noticed. Relieved, I picked up the bodies again and continued moving, leaping from rooftop to rooftop.

Once I reached a country road, I broke into a full sprint.

Near a forest, I set the bodies down. I used Matter Conversion to reshape the thick iron bindings into an oil drum and stuffed the four corpses inside. I sealed the lid, created an air hole, and channeled fire magic through it.

The flames roared to life inside, incinerating the bodies. After a while, once I confirmed they had been reduced to bone, I changed the drum into a hammer, smashed the bones into powder, and buried them deep in the earth.

I crushed the bones so stray dogs wouldn’t dig them up. Even though I’d grown used to killing, I was horrified by my own actions. I left the scene and returned home.

I immediately started reading the book. I scanned every page, searching for an explanation as to why Takeo had turned into crystal. And then I found the passage.

If one dies in the other world, or on Earth, the body will turn to crystal and shatter, leaving nothing behind. This phenomenon occurred when my elder brother died of an illness. I have concluded that this is likely the price for the abilities (skills) one obtains upon going to the other world. So it was written.

‘My elder brother,’ which meant the author of this particular entry must have been the younger sibling. That made sense; a dead man can’t write. Just then, a memory surfaced.

My grandfather’s funeral, held without a body.

Before he died, he was out walking in the mountains with his hunting buddies when he fell from a cliff. The hunters spotted my grandfather at the bottom.

But the cliff was too steep to descend, so they went back down the mountain to get the rest of their group. By the time they returned with help and the police, my grandfather’s body was gone. All that remained was his hunting rifle.

There were traces of blood at the scene, confirming a body had been there. The official conclusion was that a bear had carried it off, as bears are known to scavenge carcasses. Thinking about it now, if my grandfather had obtained skills in the other world, then when he died, he must have turned to crystal and vanished. Which meant that when I die, I’ll disappear without a trace, too.

Lost in these thoughts, I numbly crawled into my futon.

My careless thoughts and actions had led to this. I tried to close my eyes and sleep, but Takeo’s face kept appearing in my mind, making sleep impossible.

Before I knew it, morning had arrived.

I had spent the night tossing and turning, waking up repeatedly. I was exhausted.

I washed my face and ate a single anpan for breakfast before turning on the TV.

Given what happened yesterday, I was worried it might be on the news.

The news didn't mention the mugging. It seemed nothing had been found. Just as I breathed a sigh of relief, a different segment came on.

Please Find Our Missing Son.

On the screen were a slightly overweight woman and a thin but sturdily built man. I knew them both.

The camera cut to the host.

"These are the parents of Takeo Wada, who has been missing. He has not returned home since last night. They have contacted the police and a search is underway, but his whereabouts are still unknown. We will now hear a message from his parents."

The camera switched back to them.

The woman spoke.

"Takeo, just because you lost your job, please don’t despair. Your life is just beginning. I’m sure you’ll find a good company, and you’ll meet good people. So please, just come home. sniffle."

She wiped her tears. Next, the man spoke.

"Takeo, I don’t know what you’re thinking about yourself right now, but I can tell you this: you are my son and your mother’s son. No matter what anyone else says, your mother and I are on your side. So please, don’t worry, and come back home."

His eyes were brimming with tears, but he didn't wipe them away, staring straight ahead.

Watching them, I began to cry. I wanted to tell them the truth, right then and there.

But if I told them about another world and skills, they’d just tell me to stop messing around. And even if I could take them to the other world, what then? If word of this got out to the public, people would undoubtedly try to exploit the other world or abuse their new skills.

People just like Takeo. I could already see it causing needless conflict not just in the other world, but on Earth, too, leading to disaster. I had to prevent that at all costs.

I sell things from the other world to shady people, but they value secrecy above all else. Besides, I sell them at illegal auctions; they would never expose themselves. Doing so would mean their own ruin.

I felt completely drained.

I wondered what to do next. It wasn’t my first time killing someone. I had killed bandits in the other world.

But there, it was common sense, a normal course of action. It was a world of kill or be killed; show mercy, and you’re the one who dies. But Earth was different. Even if someone tried to kill you, and you acted in self-defense, you would be branded a murderer for the rest of your life.

That was the kind of world this was. And in this world, I had killed someone—a former classmate. Even if I had steeled myself for it at the time, a lingering unease remained. With these thoughts weighing on me, I decided to go to the other world.

I wanted to rest today, but Bardos didn't know what had happened on Earth.

If I disappeared for a whole day, he might get suspicious. Forcing myself to switch gears, I went to the other world.

As I arrived in the cabin, a voice called out.

"Shinsuke?"

I turned to see Tina standing in the doorway.

"Tina, what are you doing here?" I asked.

"Yesterday, Leona and Bardos were sparring, so they couldn’t work. I thought I’d ask you, so I’ve been looking for you since yesterday afternoon."

"...But I couldn’t find you, and you didn’t come back here. I was worried, so I was waiting at your house. Then I felt magical energy coming from this place and came to check. Shinsuke, what on earth have you been doing?"

Hearing her words, I thought, This is it.

I faced Tina.

"Tina, listen carefully. I’m a human from another world."

Tina’s eyes widened in shock.

I had resolved to tell her the truth.