kscans

Chapter 109 - Episode 109

On the rooftop helipad of the condominium where Hayate and Rena lived together, their so-called ‘base’.

"...Hayate, what are you doing?"

Rena called out to Hayate, who was sitting cross-legged in meditation, deep in concentration.

"Rena. I was just doing some image training."

"Why? You don’t have to do it in a place like this."

We were two hundred meters above the ground. The view was amazing. But the wind was strong. It wasn’t a suitable environment for concentration.

Which is why it was perfect.

If I concentrated too hard, I might accidentally send slashes flying into the surroundings.

How should I explain this to Rena? Well, it would be faster to show her.

"I want you to look under my body."

"Under your body... N, no way. Are you floating a little?"

"Yeah. Ever since I received power from Amaterasu-sama, my body started floating when I concentrate. And if I concentrate even more deeply and do combat image training, my real body sometimes performs the techniques I use."

At first, Amaterasu-sama let me do it in her divine realm, but I ended up wrecking the place every time, so now I’m banned.

So I had no choice but to train like this in an environment where I wouldn't concentrate too much.

"I don’t really get it, but I’ll pretend I understand why you’re image training here."

"Thanks."

"Next question. Why did you start doing image training in the first place?"

"Because I’ve been losing a lot lately."

"Losing a lot? You, Hayate? Wait, wasn’t it just Smith-sensei?"

In reality, the only person I’d lost to was Smith-sensei, who was ZeRo, the strongest player in FWO. But I had been defeated by Nagumo Ryunosuke in my dreams.

I had overwhelmingly beaten Ryunosuke in a real-life PvP match, but losing in a dream meant that somewhere in my subconscious, I acknowledged a factor that could lead to defeat. In reality, his combat skills with a one-handed sword were superb, with no openings in his offense or defense. If we fought ten matches normally, without ninja powers or Battle Aura Release, there was a chance I’d lose about three times.

"Are you perhaps counting losses in your image training too?"

"Something like that. I lose to Ryunosuke quite a bit. And to Naoto when he’s in top form."

"What about me!? Do I ever get to beat you, Hayate?"

"Of course."

I also run image training simulations for scenarios where I’m at my worst and my opponent is at their best. If Rena was at one hundred percent and I could only put out twenty five percent of my full power, the result was a loss to her.

Considering the matchup between a greatbow, a weapon with high single shot power but a low rate of fire, and the four-sword style, which relies on a high number of strikes and practically guarantees victory once in close range, she fought well. That just goes to show how skilled Rena is as a greatbow user.

"That makes me a little happy, maybe."

"I want to be able to beat everyone even when my performance is off. That’s how I’ve always trained... But I just can’t see a vision of me beating ZeRo-san, even when I’m at one hundred percent."

No matter how I attacked, he nullified my rotations. Whenever I tried to go on the offensive, he would attack my most vulnerable points, forcing me onto the defensive. I’m pretty sure that even though he’s a civilian, his reflexes are better than a ninja’s.

The average human reaction time is about 0.25 seconds. For example, if an apple is about to fall off a table in front of you, it takes 0.25 seconds for your brain to send a command and your hand to start moving to catch it.

By mastering ninja techniques, you can reduce this delay to 0.16 seconds. And the combat android, which the Shinonome Group created with the help of Amaterasu-sama, has a delay of only 0.05 seconds from receiving a command from the controller to moving. It far surpasses human reaction speed, but if an ordinary person were to use this android, the total delay would be about 0.3 seconds.

What I’m trying to say is that Smith-sensei’s own reaction time, while operating a combat android with ninja-class reflexes, is less than 0.11 seconds. I think this is one of those ‘are you really human?’ cases I sometimes hear about.

"It just means you can’t beat him right now. If you fight Smith-sensei a lot, you’ll win someday, Hayate. I believe that."

"...Could it be that you remembered me saying I wanted to beat ZeRo-san back in our FWO days, and that’s why you negotiated for him to be our teacher this time?"

"Yep! He was scouted by the President of the United States to work at America’s dungeon explorer training institution, and I poached him for Shinonome Academy just for you, Hayate. Y, you should be grateful!"

Wh, whoa. She did all that for me.

"Well, the President did say before that he would fully support your activities, Hayate, and when I actually approached him, he gave his OK right away. And Smith-sensei himself came to Japan on the next flight when I told him you were a student. So it’s not really thanks to me, but more a result of your own achievements, Hayate."

"You didn’t have to explain that part."

"I, I don’t want it to seem like I was deceiving you!"

She’s so earnest. I’m happy she went to such lengths for me.

"Thank you, Rena."

With a heart full of gratitude and the resolve to beat ZeRo-san and show her what I could do, I pulled Rena into a hug.