kscans

Chapter 57 - 57

"I've ordered him to protect me with his life. Too bad for you."

The president of the Shinonome Group had provided a vast sum of money to ensure nothing happened to his daughter, Rena. Hayate, having received those funds, used them without hesitation to create the strongest equipment currently available. Added to that was Rena's own skill, honed through real-world training and enough practice to become a top-ranked player in the game.

Rena possessed the strongest long-range attack power.

But Hayate easily defended against her assault.

"I don't know much about this FWO, but your gear looks stronger than the other guys I see on the streams. Even so, you can't beat my Hayate."

"Hayate isn't yours!"

"Tch, you're so noisy. He's my tool now."

Slightly irritated with Rena, David gave a deliberate, clear command, seeking to inflict psychological damage on her.

"Hayate, defeat that woman. But don't kill her. Sh.e.'.s. g.o.i.n.g. t.o. b.e. m.i.n.e. t.o.o."

Expressionless, Hayate began to walk toward Rena.

"H, hey, Hayate... Stop it. This is a joke, right?"

When Saionji Hisato had treated Rena like a prize for PVP, Hayate had gotten angry for her. But now, he silently approached, obeying David's command.

That was what tormented Rena.

It made her realize that Hayate's will truly wasn't coming back.

She had come this far to save Hayate, the one who had saved her from the despair of having her own consciousness erased, but Rena cursed her own powerlessness, her inability to do anything for him.

She had held a faint hope that if she just called out to him, Hayate would return to normal. She had even considered the possibility that he was just pretending to be brainwashed for some reason.

But it seemed those were nothing more than baseless hopes.

Rena dropped her bow to the ground. She had no will to fight anymore.

From the depths of her despair, tears began to flow naturally.

Havate, ordered not to kill, recognized Rena's loss of fighting spirit and stopped walking just before he reached her.

"What, you're not even going to resist?"

David looked bored, but he was satisfied that Rena's spirit was broken.

Brainwashing becomes easier when emotions fluctuate wildly. Since he had a plan to use Rena to extract a large sum of money from the Shinonome Group, he was about to give the order to capture her first.

But Rena moved before he could.

"Hayate, I'm sorry I couldn't save you."

If she was captured and brainwashed, this time she would truly cease to be herself. Believing this was the end, Rena forced a kiss on Hayate.

"H, hey! What are you doing!? Get away from him! That woman is going to be mine!"

David ordered Hayate to move away from Rena.

"...No."

"Huh?"

"Rena is my girlfriend. I won't hand her over to someone like you."

Holding Rena in his arms, Hayate turned his body to glare at David.

"H, Hayate? Your consciousness... it's back?"

"Yeah. Sorry, Rena. I made you worry."

"Impossible! Th, th, this is my device! It completely rewrites the neural codes in the brain! It's nothing like mind control! Th, there's no way he could have come back!"

"Honestly, it was pretty bad. My consciousness was still there, but I couldn't move my body the way I wanted. If you hadn't come to help me, Rena, I might have really been done for."

As he said this, Hayate's arms tightened around Rena.

"No, no, no, no, that's impossible! There's absolutely no way anyone could retain their consciousness with that device! Wh, wh, what in the world are you!?"

"I'm a regular FWO streamer. I can just use a little ninjutsu."

"Huh?"

"Also, I love Rena very much. It's partly my fault for not training enough, but you're the root of all this. You, the one who caused Rena to cry..."

A murderous aura poured from Hayate.

"I will never forgive you."

It was an pressure so intense it could immobilize even a trained ninja.

An ordinary person like David couldn't possibly withstand it. He foamed at the mouth, collapsed on the spot, and continued to tremble violently.

"Wh, what did you do?"

"I intimidated him and showed him a little illusion. I feel like punching him, but right now I don't want to leave your side more than anything."

Saying that, Hayate pulled Rena's body even closer.

"I'm sorry, I let my guard down. I thought I could escape anytime. And I knew you were safe, Rena, so I just..."

"No, it's okay now. I'm so happy you came back to me, Hayate."

"I'm happy to be back, too. Seeing you and hearing your voice wasn't enough. I was wondering what I'd do if I was ordered to hurt you. But thanks to your kiss, I was able to get control of my body back. Thank you so much."

"Hehe. You're welcome. So, this makes us even now, okay?"

"Even?"

"You know. For when you saved me when I was a trophy."

"I don't really think of that as a debt or anything."

"It's fine! Now I can stand tall and say I'm your equal, Hayate. I can be confident that it's okay for me to be by your side."

Rena had long been a passionate fan of Hayate. At first, she just wanted him to notice her, but eventually, that feeling changed into a resolve to become a partner who could fight alongside him.

But after being saved by Hayate, even when they fought together, she had felt that they weren't quite equals.

"So, I look forward to working with you from now on. Hayate."

"Yeah. Same here, Rena."