Ch.135Legal Affair? (4)

FWABABABAT-!!!

Thumbs-Up Man ran forward and immediately took his stance.

‘This is…..!’

Yes. It was the basic stance of the Thousand-Thought One-Heart Style, a sword technique passed down through the Saito family.

FWOOSHAAAAAH-!!

Thumbs-Up Man swung his sword horizontally with great force. With that single strike, the horde of monkeys before him was cleaved apart.

“URYAAAAH!!!!”

Taking advantage of the disruption in the monkeys’ formation, Tina leaped forward and delivered a flying kick.

BWOOOOORK-!!

With one kick, a monkey’s head was completely shattered.

Well…damn. Is that even possible? It’s not like I didn’t have such thoughts. But well…this is an otaku fantasy world after all. If I nitpicked every little thing, I’d be the one exhausting myself.

Anyway, thanks to those two breaking their formation, an opening appeared on our side as well.

“Eri! Hold on tight!”

I shouted toward Eri.

“Okay!!”

Eri immediately embraced me tightly.

“HYAAH!!!!!”

As I swung my wooden sword, a monkey’s body collapsed into a bloody mess.

SWIIISH-!!

The monkeys formed a line and swung their swords at me.

CLAAAAAANG-!!

I could have dodged and burrowed inside their formation, but Eri might get hurt that way. I chose to play it safe and defend first.

“Stance of Scorching Heat…..!”

I immediately concentrated my breathing into my arms, temporarily enhancing my arm strength.

CHIIIIIK-!!

An enormous amount of steam erupted from my arms.

“KIEEEEEEEK!!!!!”

Right after, I swung my sword with tremendous force.

CLAAAAAAAAANG-!!!

In the face of overwhelming power, even defense was meaningless. With one swing, the stance of the sword-wielding monkeys crumbled.

“WOOOOOOOOH!!!!”

Using my enhanced strength, I delivered a lightning-fast strike.

FWABABABABAT-!!!!!

In an instant, the monkeys fell, slashed by my sword, scattering blood.

Anyway, that’s how we dealt with the monkey horde.

“KIEEEEEK!!”

“KIEEEK!!”

The enraged monkeys immediately climbed over trees, trying to pounce on us.

“Yeah!! Come on!!!”

I shouted boldly. How many chances in life would I get to engage in a bloody battle with monkeys? I should enjoy this opportunity to the fullest.

That’s when it happened.

“Ah….hello there. Heh heh.”

An old man with a bushy beard walked toward us. In his hand…he held a baseball bat glistening with blood. Yeah. Fuck, he was clearly not normal.

“KIEEK?!”

“KIEEEK!!!”

The moment they saw the old man, the monkeys immediately began to flee.

A few seconds later, all traces of the monkeys completely disappeared from the surroundings.

“Katakana. Do you know him?”

I asked Kana.

“Who are you calling Katakana!!! Don’t give me weird nicknames!!”

Kana shouted loudly, but still climbed down from the tree.

“I don’t know. Who is he?”

Kana looked at the old man with wary eyes. She had clearly realized that the old man was not ordinary.

“No cameras…I see? No cameraman waiting in the distance? Ahahahahah!!!”

The old man laughed heartily.

I don’t understand what he’s talking about. But I sensed one thing. This bastard…wasn’t just ordinarily crazy.

“Ah. You must be out for a walk. Well then….”

I tried to make a quick exit.

Thwip-!

At that moment, the old man quickly stepped in front of me, blocking my path. Shit…he cut off my escape route!!

“Shota…I’m scared.”

Eri hugged me tightly.

Yeah. I’m scared too. His eyes were clear but…lifeless. He was the very embodiment of a clear-eyed madman.

Anyway, even though our escape route was momentarily blocked, we weren’t inferior in physical abilities. We could just make a run for it.

However, our cyber-psycho Kana had an extremely aggressive personality.

“What are you doing on the Saito family’s private property? Please leave. Now.”

Kana spoke with visible discomfort.

Stop…!!!

“Ahahah! So it’s private property. But…you didn’t come here to talk about legal matters, did you? You came to film, right?”

The old man calmly responded to Kana’s words.

“What do you mean…filming….”

Kana spoke as if dumbfounded.

“It is filming, isn’t it? I don’t watch much television…but you’re all celebrities, aren’t you? Such handsome men and beautiful women! Ahahahaha!!”

The old man burst into maniacal laughter.

Fuck…..I’m so scared!

“Hey…let’s all run. This is really dangerous.”

My crazy-person radar was hitting the red zone. This guy was extremely dangerous.

“Beautiful women…..”

But Tina and Eri were strangely blushing. Was being called beautiful women that pleasing to them?

“Handsome men…..”

Thumbs-Up Man had fallen for the compliment!!!

“Seriously. What are you talking about? You crazy person.”

Kana was still angry. She’s consistent, I’ll give her that. She’s fully committed to her angry character.

“Ahah! That concept!!! It’s like one of those hidden camera shows, right? ‘I’m Just a Natural Person’ has really evolved!!”

The old man laughed heartily.

“UAHAHAHAHAHAH!”

But…his laughter continued for over 30 seconds.

“KUHEHEHEHEHEK!!”

The old man even shed tears while laughing.

“I’ve been…waiting for 3 years! Really….”

The old man said while wiping his tears.

“Come on. Let’s go! I’ll show you properly!!! How a natural person lives!!!”

The old man tried to drag us along.

“Really!! Stop it!!”

Kana immediately swung her sword.

CLAAAANG-!!

But Kana’s strike didn’t leave even a scratch on the old man’s body.

The sword Kana swung definitely struck the old man’s head. But…..the old man didn’t even flinch.

“He’s tough…!”

Kana seemed surprised. She clearly hadn’t expected her sword strike to be ineffective.

I immediately activated Flash Insight.

And I realized something unusual.

‘I can’t see…any weak points….’

The characteristic weak point lines that appear when using Flash Insight didn’t show up.

No. Weak points existed. But…the lines were extremely thin. Moreover, they were constantly moving. It would be extremely difficult to take him down with Flash Insight.

“My, you all look quite tired.”

At that moment, the old man looked at our group.

SWIIISH-!!

Belatedly, we noticed something unusual. A thick fog had settled around our feet.

‘The incense…!’

The old man had led us to a position where he had already lit incense.

No matter how skilled a swordsman might be, they couldn’t train their lungs and throat. Inhaling poisonous gas was dangerous.

Moreover, I had just taken a breath to use Flash Insight. Yes. I had already inhaled the gas.

“I’m sleepy….!”

Eri collapsed with a thud. Eri, who had previously been drugged with sleeping powder in her mesil tea…fell asleep due to the sleeping gas! This is karma!!!

“Ugh….what a vile trick….!”

Even the great Saito Kana was helpless. Kana fell face-first onto the ground.

Thud-!

Thumbs-Up Man gave a thumbs-up even as he collapsed. That guy…coolly acknowledged with a thumbs-up that he had fallen into a trap. How broad-minded he is as a man….!!

“Hmm? You have good immunity. You’re still not asleep.”

The old man looked at me with interested eyes.

But…..it was only a matter of time. My eyelids were descending like meteors at an incredible speed. It was like the primordial eye Nibiru!!

“You…are a formidable opponent.”

I said with a smile. I could tell just from how he shrugged off Kana’s sword strike.

If that was the case…..defeating him might convert into stat points. It was an opportunity for growth.

“When I wake up…..let’s settle this.”

With those final words, I collapsed face-first onto the ground.

And so, my consciousness faded to black.

———

I don’t know how much time had passed. I immediately opened my eyes.

“Ugh….damn.”

Unfamiliar space, unfamiliar ceiling. Fuck. Textbook kidnapping.

“Shota. You’re safe.”

Eri woke up around the same time.

“Shota…..hard and good….”

Tina was sleep-talking with a suggestive smile. I gave Eri a subtle look.

“Tina. Wake up.”

Eri gently stroked Tina’s head.

“Huh….okay!”

Tina finally opened her eyes.

“Where are we?”

Thumbs-Up Man and Kana also woke up in succession. Surprisingly, we weren’t bound. But…our phones and weapons had been confiscated.

However, there was a clock in this unfamiliar space. About 10 minutes had passed. If that clock was correct, that is.

“Oh my. You must be tired coming all this way for filming?”

At that moment, the old man returned, covered in blood.

“Fuck!! Fucking psycho!!!”

I shouted loudly without thinking. This……is like a scene from a slasher movie!!!

“Now. Let’s have lunch together. Curious about what a natural person eats? Heheheheh. You’ll be surprised at how delicious it is.”

The old man smiled and brought out a plate.

And the old man focused on one spot.

In a corner of the wall, there was a corpse, already dried up and half-skeletal. The corpse had a box perched on its shoulder. On the cardboard box, katakana was written with a marker pen.

‘Camera’

“I see…so that corpse is supposed to be the cameraman.”

I muttered.

“No, Shota. How did you come up with that idea?”

Kana asked.

“It’s obvious. That guy…is delusional. He firmly believes that we’re a television crew who came to film him, a natural person….”

Slasher movies featuring psychopaths were quite a favorite genre when I was in my previous world.

It was predictable. The thought process of crazy people.

“Corpse….ugh….”

Eri, the only normal person, seemed to feel nauseous.

Me? I was surprisingly indifferent. Just thought, oh, it’s a corpse…

Somehow…the existence of the corpse itself felt familiar. I can’t explain it exactly. Anyway.

The corpse was draped with half-decayed clothing. Hiking gear.

“Recently, there have been reports of hikers going missing near the forest…..I was too careless. I just thought they had fallen victim to the beasts here….”

Kana clicked her tongue.

Who would have thought…that such a psychopath would be hiding in the Saito family’s private property. It was definitely a heart-pounding adventure.

“Here!! Monkey brain stew, my daily specialty!!”

The old man brought out the dish with a bright smile.

Severed monkey heads…with the top of the skulls opened. Steam was rising from them, as if they had just been boiled.

“This is super nutritious!!! Come on!! Each of you have some!!!”

The old man smiled as he scooped up the pudding-like brain of a monkey with a spoon.

“First….the famous idol what’s-her-name should eat first!!!!”

And he offered the spoon to Eri. Apparently, he had the concept that Eri was an idol. Well, she is my personal idol, I guess.

No. That’s not the issue. Eri was about to be forced to eat this horrific dish!!

“No!!!”

Eri struggled, tears streaming down her face. However, Eri’s body remained powerless. The effects of the sleeping gas were still lingering.

“Eri….I’ll….somehow…!”

Tina also tried to move her body, but she too seemed unable to muster any strength.

“Ugh….!”

The others were in the same situation.

I also realized that my body felt strangely heavy.

But…..I had to protect Eri.

“HUUUUUUP…..!!”

I desperately initiated my breathing technique. Due to my poor condition, the breathing wasn’t gathering well. However, I desperately continued my breathing.

CHIIIIIIK-!!!!

I circulated the breath throughout my body, imagining expelling the accumulated poison. I desperately visualized this image.

WHOOOOSH-!!!!

The image training was effective. My body’s condition began to rapidly return to normal.

‘Past Life Warrior’s Resilience’

The description of the passive skill I had learned before appeared in the corner of my vision. It was a passive that granted resistance to all types of status ailments and elemental attributes. That was probably one reason why I was more functional than the others.

FAAAH-!!!

I immediately rose to my feet and stood in front of Eri to shield her.

TAT-!!

I immediately struck the old man’s hand, causing him to drop the spoon.

“What….!”

The old man seemed quite surprised.

TUCK-!!!

I grabbed the spoon and swung it with all my might toward the old man’s brow.

BAAAAK-!!!

With a clear sound, the spoon plunged into the old man’s forehead.

“UGAAAAH!!!!”

The old man immediately clutched his head and collapsed.

The spoon hero had arrived.