The bastard who got hit with a reckless 0.2-second pork stir-fry domain expansion had his head smashed in.
So that's how it is, huh? Maybe every item is only as good as the way you use it.
If you're in the middle of a fight and pork stir-fry suddenly gets jammed into your head, your brain's bound to short-circuit.
"Why is this thing so powerful?"
I was surprised for a different reason.
The iron marbles Silver Wolf usually threw didn't pack this much force.
Not enough to smash a head open like that.
At most, they'd cave the skull in and leave blood pouring out.
But the slingshot Silver Wolf fired had literally shattered the bastard's skull.
"Silver Wolf!!! You're growing again in the face of danger?!!!"
Damn it.
Was Silver Wolf the protagonist and I wasn't?
Was I really just the sidekick all along?
Maybe the real protagonist was Silver Wolf after all.
The title should've been something like, "The regression-born illegal orphan I picked up and took care of."
Silver Wolf looked at me.
She spat out the gum she'd been chewing and stared at the two people trembling outside.
"...I'm going to kill them."
Mm-hm. Our Silver Wolf was growing into a fine Neon City citizen.
This big brother feels like crying.
As she spun the sling, a faint blue light flowed through it.
Just looking at it made me feel like I'd be screwed the moment it hit.
The two-man team that had brought in a Rank 7 fixer must've sensed it too, because they were already preparing to run without even looking back.
But the iron pellet Silver Wolf launched, tracing a blue arc through the air, was faster.
Pshk! Pshk!
When it struck their bodies, it punched two small holes straight through them.
The pair, now with matching holes above their chests, collapsed.
"Adrian, are you okay?"
"Silver Wolf noona... I think I'm going to die."
"...You're talking nonsense, so you look fine."
Well, if she's stronger and prettier than me, then she's noona.
I'm always ready to practice the strong bullying the weak.
"Come on."
"...Don't you think that pose is kind of weird?"
Silver Wolf was much shorter than me.
So when she hooked an arm around my shoulder like that, it looked more like I was being dragged along than supported.
"Hup! I can walk on my own."
If I braced myself and stood up with some spirit, I could walk by myself.
Honestly, it was embarrassing too.
"Adrian."
"Yeah? What is it?"
"...Never mind."
Maybe she understood that feeling, because Silver Wolf just watched me from behind.
2.
We got home.
After looting the pockets of the Rank 7 fixer and the two Rank 8 bastards, we'd made a pretty decent haul.
The Rank 7 guy must've carried cash around a lot, because he had 2.2 million credit points on him, and the two Rank 8s had 300,000 and 400,000 credit points each.
Nice.
We'd made more than twice what we got from taking quests at the pawnshop.
"Why do you keep looking at me like that?"
"Ah, no. It's not that..."
The problem was Silver Wolf.
She was pretending to play a game, but she kept sneaking glances at me.
"It's fine. If it hadn't been for you today, I would've died."
"...Really?"
"Yeah. You saved me."
The mood was awkward.
I stepped out onto the balcony for a moment to be alone and lit a cigarette.
I was weak.
No joke, I was really weak.
If I summoned my future self with a Temporal Prism, I honestly wasn't even sure I'd get a normal LV.9 version.
"Status window, don't you have anything else? Like some broken starter trait or something?"
The status window stayed silent.
When it didn't answer, I got embarrassed and clutched my head.
"Aaaagh!!! I'm!!! Weak!!!"
I dropped to my knees, grabbed my head, and screamed.
For some reason, it felt like that was what I was supposed to do.
Just how badly was the power balance in this world broken?
There was only a one-rank difference, but the gap was absurd.
Even dozens of Rank 8s couldn't beat a single Rank 7. I'd heard there were other planets too, but if I couldn't even handle one Rank 7 here, I'd be a total loser forever.
"But how am I supposed to get stronger..."
I couldn't get stronger through gacha.
Even if I only pulled one-stars, all I could do was create a little variable.
It wouldn't be the decisive move that turned the battle around.
Even today, before Silver Wolf got hit by that bastard, I'd been debating whether to pull out the ring in my pocket and use it.
It was unfair.
It was seriously fucking unfair.
This was a world that needed to be normalized. How could it be this harsh to someone who was both a regressor and a possessor?
On top of that, I still didn't know the exact conditions.
The monster that suddenly appeared in our house when I used the cartridge.
I didn't know anything, so for now I'd call her "that crazy bitch."
The conditions for that crazy bitch to appear and kill me?
I didn't know.
Could I even say for certain that it was because of the cartridge?
I didn't know.
Why the hell was that crazy bitch killing a pathetic weakling like Adrian Servet?
I didn't know.
And if I died to that woman, I'd be burning through a loop.
Maybe if I approached it that way, I could figure out the exact conditions...
- At present, due to ■■■ ■■, ■■ death ■■ penalty cannot be applied.
This line that had appeared in the ending and the status window.
It was obviously suspicious.
I had no idea what the first five characters were, but just seeing the "de" and "pe" in the back made it easy enough to guess.
Death penalty.
This fucked-up endless regression had a penalty attached to it too.
I didn't know what was preventing the penalty from being applied, but as long as my save point and starting point were fixed to the outskirts of Neon City, full of lunatics, there was no way around it.
I still didn't know how the save point worked either.
I really knew nothing.
With all my pent-up rage, I shouted toward the sky.
"Heaven!"
"I!"
"Have lived in Neon City!"
"For four months!"
"And I'm still!"
"Rank 8!"
"I'm both a possessor and a regressor!"
"Fuckiiiiing—!!"
Every time I mentioned regression, a red window popped up, but people probably just thought it was the ranting of a lunatic and let it slide, because no penalty dropped down.
"Heh, heh... whatever. I'll just do some gacha."
I'd been sad just a moment ago.
But the moment I thought about gacha, I felt better.
Was I bipolar?
Over the past while, I'd also cleared a few achievements.
And since killing that Rank 7 fixer had earned me 20 Pt, it was worth trying once.
[Unconvincing Magic Pigeon]
- Grade: ★★☆☆☆
- First Effect: When you take it out of your pocket and throw it toward the sky, it works. It twists the gaze and minds of everyone nearby, fixing all their attention on the pigeon for exactly 3 seconds.
- Source: 「Elation」 ■■
- Note: Single-use. If you use it while shouting, "Ah! Over there!" it might be even more effective?
"Your mother."
Elation and Harmony.
These two bastards were the biggest problem.
"Elation, I don't know who the hell you are, but if I go find you with a knife and kill you, that's legal, right? Huh?"
Three seconds of fixed attention.
This was basically the same as the Eye-Catching Sticker.
"Shiiiiit!!! Fuck!!! Seriously!!!"
There was no dopamine in something someone else pulled for me.
It only meant something if I pulled it myself and got something good.
That was why I wasn't even letting Silver Wolf do the pulls.
Was I the problem?
"Someday!!! I swear!!!"
I'd hunt down those scammers who only delivered trash and kill them.
Wash your neck and wait. Once I get through about ten more loops, I'll be strong enough.
Even if Adrian Servet, a one-star by nature, could never surpass Silver Wolf, a natural five-star, forever.
I'd see everything through to the end.
So give me something already!!!
If this kept up, I was seriously going to turn into a glass cannon!!!
How many times did I have to shout at the sky and make a racket?
I kept going until the neighbors yelled, "Can you shut that damn dog up?!"
Expectations only lead to betrayal.
As I sighed, remembering our teacher's famous line, I felt a gaze.
"...What the hell."
It felt like something somewhere was looking at me.
Instinctively unpleasant. Slimy.
"Don't tell me that crazy bitch again...!"
Just because I was yelling did she come out?!
This really was a crazy bitch!
I realized something was different in less than ten seconds.
Overwhelming. Goosebumps ran all over my body.
I could feel a presence pressing down on the world.
- Only wise life can know joy, so stones and stars cannot comprehend the humor of life.
"...Shit, what now?"
A message from the status window appeared.
The status window, splattered in brilliant red, looked ridiculous.
- A contest of equals! A game that passes the time! The result of a fun that leaves no winner!
"Status window, I'm sorry... I won't talk nonsense anymore, so please go back to normal..."
Was it sulking because I'd been saying all that?
I'm a little scared!
- A conversation that makes you burst out laughing, a misunderstanding born of coincidence, seek the song that makes your heart soar.
"Seriously, what is wrong with you?"
I felt like a bug standing before a human.
This was fundamentally different from that woman.
What was looking at me right now...
What the hell was it?
- Behold the palace minister who speaks sweet lies and pursues 'elation'!
I looked up at the sky.
Way up there, above the heavens...
There was a god with a huge black cloak covering the world, and a ridiculous circus-like shape as it fluttered masks and trump cards all around.
"...Should I bite my tongue and kill myself right now?"
I'm screwed!
Was this secretly a xianxia novel?
Even if I lived for a thousand years, I didn't think I could beat that thing.
Laughter echoed down.
A fanfare announced the start of the stage.
Weird sounds of people laughing wildly, along with applause and cheers, rang out.
I feel like I'm losing my mind!!!
Stop laughing already!!!
As I clamped my hands over my ears and looked up at the sky, the others seemed to notice something was wrong too. Silver Wolf came out with a flustered expression, and everyone looked up at the sky.
Silver Wolf ran up to me and shouted something.
I couldn't hear her voice.
Her words were drowned out by the laughter.
"...Shut up."
Everyone else was the same.
Since they could hear the laughter too, they were all covering their ears.
Blood ran from my nose.
Blood leaked from my eyes.
Thick blood dripped from my ears.
I didn't know what that thing was, but it felt like I'd directly faced something I absolutely should never have faced.
"Shut... uuuup—!!!"
I shouted at the sky.
Even with blood streaming from my eyes, I stared straight at the clown above the heavens.
Plop
And then, silence.
As if all of this had been a dream, the clown vanished.
========
▶ Achievement unlocked (!)
- You have received the gaze of the Aeon of Elation.
- You ascend to the Path of Elation.
========
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