by L. M. Kerr
"Give me a single reason why I shouldn't lose a bullet in your skull this instant."
Micheal merely smiled,
"Try it."
BANG
Without even a second of hesitation, not taking time to pontificate or brag, Gobel immediately fired the Desert Eagle, aimed directly at Micheal's skull.
WHOOSH
CLANG
"…"
.
Chapter 28: Resolution
Micheal watched everything, calm and collected. The posturing of Gobel, how he moved his Morenkai minions to threaten him, the pulling of a gun...
In that time, his eyes moved only slightly as he positioned himself, waiting.
Finally, the moment he'd prepared for happened.
Gobel fired a bullet at him.
Ever since coming to the First Layer, Micheal had become well aware of the biggest threat to his safety.
It wasn't the Morenkai. It wasn't the dangerous heights or danger from any other normal threats.
No, it was one thing.
Humans with guns.
How do you react to something that moves far, far faster than you do?
It was a question Micheal had considered, many times before during his journey through the 7 Layers.
With his current physique, even as a superhuman that had almost 3 times the strength of a normal human, able to lift 150 pounds like it was 50 lbs (68 kg like it was 23 kg), there was no chance that Micheal could dodge a bullet by relying on physical strength.
He simply could not move that fast. It was impossible. He was well aware of how powerful his physique was and held no illusions to his strength.
If someone fired a gun on him when he was unaware, that bullet would pierce his skull and kill him.
Now, with his Life Orbs, he would be able to come back to life. Because of that, he could play things a bit riskier.
But he only had a limited number of those every day. He couldn't afford to squander them.
Micheal also was highly skilled at using his sixth sense. This ability was something every human had, tied to their soul. Some, like Micheal, were better at recognizing and sensing it than others. Micheal was an expert in that regard, due to his long years of hellish training and existence in the 7 Layers.
While his soul could only be considered normal right now, he still had the ability to sense when people were eyeing him. He could detect if someone was thinking about killing him and avoid fatal attacks, their killing intent projected.
To an extent, the same applied for guns. However, if, say, a sniper was targeting him from afar, Micheal's sixth sense was likely to provide little aid. An attack from such a great distance wouldn't trigger much of anything at all. He would have to rely upon his own reactions and skill.
This led Micheal to reach the conclusion he held in his heart.
'The only way I can handle guns, right now, is to predict them.' Surprise attacks were currently a weakness he couldn't address.
It wasn't entirely unexpected that he had a hole in his defenses. This was, after all, only his second day here. It simply wasn't possible to become invincible on day 1 or 2, not yet.
And thus, Micheal had set everything up in this situation in a specific way.
The way he talked and taunted Gobel, the way he stepped forward and positioned himself, his actions, everything had been precisely planned.
If Gobel decided to go all out and attack him, wasting some of his servants to suicide bomb him, Micheal would almost certainly die at least once, or possibly twice if he couldn't get away in time. Gobel was, after all, a strong B Ranker. A situation like that was a top priority of his to avoid.
So, he had set everything up so that Gobel would choose, of his own volition, to shoot Micheal.
BANG
The bullet flew through the air, searing directly towards Micheal's skull. Its movements were far too fast for Micheal to visibly trace.
However, right before Gobel had pulled the trigger, Micheal had shifted his arm slightly.
His hand was currently tapping the Low-Tier Spatial Ring he had on. The moment he saw Gobel line up to take a shot, Micheal reacted preemptively.
In that single split second window, he withdrew his Steelborn sword from his Low-Tier Spatial Ring, positioned in a place by judging the reaction of Gobel's eyes and hand. He had activated his Grandmaster Sword Mastery at the same moment.
BANG
CLINK
The bullet flew through the air in a split second and, with a resounding echo slammed into his blade... and then split into two, sparks flying.
tink
The two halves of the bullet tumbled along the roof, tinking on it and then fell off the side with a metallic echo. Both pieces were ruptured from the impact, the Sword Energy Micheal had covered his blade in ripping it apart with ease.
"Huh?" Gobel stuttered, staring at Micheal in unadulterated shock. His mute wife next to him flinched, her eyes staring at Micheal full of fear.
BANG
BANG
BANG
The Necrozark didn't waste time trying to talk again, immediately firing three more times. The man reacted quickly to control his disbelief.
Each time, Micheal moved his blade preemptively, positioning it exactly where the man would be aiming before he finished pulling the trigger.
CLINK
CLINK
CLINK
tinktinktink
Three bullets slammed into his precisely positioned blade, and three bullets were split in twain, scattering on the rooftop and flung over the side. While Micheal couldn't react to the bullet itself, he could easily react to the aiming and movements the man made.
'Ouch.' The strain of abruptly moving his arm and holding it up to block each bullet was extremely taxing for Micheal, making his arm sore. He didn't show even a hint of pain or discomfort, however, as he smiled, taking a step forward,
"Gobel, Gobel. I am not an unreasonable man." He smiled calmly, as if he hadn't just been shot at multiple times.
"But if you keep shooting at me, I'm going to start thinking you don't like me."
Gobel's arm shook slightly as he saw such an impossible scene, his breath turning ragged. His hand still pointed the gun at Micheal, trembling. The Necrozark's eyes flickered towards his servants, and then towards the scene where dozens of Morenkai were scattered about dead.
"You've just fired a very loud gun several times, Gobel. Morenkai will start to swarm here soon if we keep making noise. You still want these corpses, don't you?" As Micheal finished speaking, he stopped in front of one of the Abnormals that had shown up and attacked him.
This one had had glowing green legs that greatly enhanced its speed. This Abnormal Morenkai had used its legs to attack, blurringly fast strikes that were incredibly annoying. It was this one that caused a ton of his bones to fully break and his right lung to fail.
The man seemed transfixed. He crossed gazes with Micheal for a moment, staring at him. Finally, after what felt like forever but was only a few seconds, he lowered his gun, glancing at his mute wife for a split second.
That was just the way of this world, right now, Micheal thought, his eyes flashing. The strong had the right to do what they wanted. Micheal wouldn't kill him for shooting at him, not when he set everything up to get that specific reaction. If the man had continued to attack him, however, Micheal would've done everything in his power to kill him.
"What did you say you wanted for those corpses?" The Necrozark's voice was stilted with defeat as he snapped his fingers, calling his servants back towards him.
Micheal smiled.
"3 Repulser Grenades and 2 Close Impact Bombs." He began,
"But that was before you tried to murder me. If you want those corpses now, it'll cost you 5 Repulser Grenades and 3 Close Impact Bombs." His voice boomed out loud, absolute confidence rocking the air. His eyes threatened and brooked no argument as he crossed his arms, holding the Steelborn sword in front of him.
The Ne
crozark Gobel clenched his fists and glared at Micheal. A hint of fear could be seen, however, as they crossed gazes.
"…"
"…"
"…"
A few minutes later, Micheal found himself 5 Repulser Grenades and 3 Close Impact Bombs richer, collectively worth more than 1600 Points.
He had ditched the skyscraper where the bodies were at, his temporary base if he didn't choose to relocate again. Already he had spotted two Morenkai scaling the outside of the building, drawn to the loud gunfire.
'Now… it's time I go hunting, while it's not yet noon. I wonder how many Points I can get before I need to rest?' His eyes flashed. He was strong and capable, but didn't have an infinite amount of energy. He could only hunt so many Morenkai in a day.
'1000 Points more? 2000? Maybe the full 3000?' He smiled grimly.
He was going to find out.
.. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Meanwhile, in a Cluster very far from Micheal, a blond haired teenager was experiencing a very different scene.
"Holy crap! Oh my frickin' gosh! Why are there so many of them?!!"
"!!"
"Why on earth did I have to teleport all the way down to the streets!?"
"MIIIICHEEEEAAAAALLLLL!"
.
Chapter 29: Explore
"MIIIICHEEEEAAAAALLLLL!"
Shin's aggrieved shout did him no favors as he fled from the more than two dozen Morenkai that were chasing him.
He was currently running in one of the most dangerous locations that could be found in the World of Endless Skyscrapers.
The ground level. The streets. The one place you were never supposed to go.
...Several moments before Shin found himself in such a precarious situation...
The ground level looked like a mostly regular street from earth. Doors led into skyscrapers that dominated each block, there were paved roads with street lights that were well lit, sidewalks, all things one would expect to see.
One of the big things that set it apart, however, were the occupants of the sidewalks.
The Morenkai.
These creatures could be seen shambling along the sidewalks, moving passively. They wouldn't enter the road itself of their own volition, instead waiting for crosswalks to cross over. The odd, deridingly human behavior had stupefied Shin when he first saw it.
'What really are these things?'
That thought was washed from his mind, however, as he moved downstairs through the skyscraper he had inhabited, all the way to the ground floor. In this specific skyscraper, he hadn't found any Morenkai on the ground floor.
The ground floor of his skyscraper, unlike all the other floors, was one large, giant room, with several doors leading to various stairwells. There weren't any offices, any chairs, any tables, nothing. It was large and empty, decidedly not how a normal skyscraper would look.
If anything, Shin found that vaguely unsettling. All other parts of the skyscraper seemed to be functionally identical to many high rise buildings from earth. Only this part was so different.
'I set up my base in this skyscraper on purpose. According to Micheal, the Golden Morenkai that I saw was located around here.' Shin's eyes narrowed as he looked around.
The skyscraper he was standing in was a distinctive looking one, a large blue edifice with a dark black border painted at the top. Almost all of the skyscrapers looked a little bit different, none of them painted or built exactly like another. The most unique part of this one was the large white stripe that split directly down the side of it.
It was this distinctive feature that had helped Shin narrow down and find it. He'd memorized the outer appearance and location, so he'd be able to easily find his way back.
'It's not here…' The first thing Shin noticed when he made it to the ground floor was that the special Golden Morenkai wasn't down here.
He sighed.
'Micheal did say that future me only told him it was found around here, in one of the skyscraper ground floors. I guess I'll need to check the others.' Shin's breathing was slightly excited as he looked towards the windows on the sides of the skyscraper.
He could make out several shambling forms, moving back and forth across various sidewalks. Morenkai.
They didn't pay any attention to the interior of this skyscraper, merely moving along about their day, doing whatever it was that Morenkai did. Shin wasn't really sure.
'Well, I need to search the other skyscraper's ground floors. Maybe I can teleport from this one to another?' Shin slowly crept up to one of the windows, trying to avoid attention.
As he reached the edge, he could more distinctly make out the passing Morenkai. Their huge, shambling arms, mostly featureless faces, shambling gait… everything about them was horrifying and absolutely something Shin wanted nothing to do with.
'I need to take the Golden Morenkai out.' He took several deep breaths, gaining control of his emotions. His fists were clenched as he refused to let his fear rule him. If he allowed that, it would be the same thing as giving up on the family that took him in, something he would never do.
'But gosh, why do they have to look so freaky?' He mentally rebuked the Morenkai in his head. They didn't even have the common decency to wear clothes. The thought of having to fight off freaky naked monsters made Shin feel rather depressed.
'Alright. Concentrate.' Shin looked at the skyscraper that stood across the street, his eyes taking on a very faint glow.
He was activating his special Ability. His Warping Phaser Type Ability.
The Ability itself was an incredibly surreal one. When he'd first gained it, he had been completely shocked at what he saw and felt.
The world as he knew it had changed.
He still saw the regular world around him. Or, the decidedly irregular world around him. The World of Endless Skyscrapers was anything but regular.
But, at the same time, Shin saw another world as well, one that was overlaid upon the normal world. A world of translucent lines of energy, like tiny ropes connecting one place to another. These small ropes seemingly held space itself together, keeping reality steady. There were a countless number of these lines, seemingly infinite and everywhere.
When he looked at this overlaid world, his mind somehow adapted to what he was seeing, letting him avoid becoming mentally overloaded.
When Shin teleported, he created his own tiny little translucent line. On one end of the line was him and on the other end of the line was the place where he was teleporting to.
He chose where the line ended up. It was as if he was stretching his senses through his Ability, picking a spot to teleport to. Right now, he was somewhat limited in how far he could place the endpoint. The farther he stretched it, the larger a strain it had on his soul.
The endpoint didn't need to be physically visible for him to teleport to it. When he looked at the overlaid world, the countless translucent lines of energy moved through all surfaces. They couldn't stop in a solid surface, but could bring him through any solid surface with ease. He had also found through testing that he could only teleport to areas where he could fit in the exact position he left in. His body seemed to push aside the air located in the spot he teleported to, freeing up room for him.
Shin 'Phased' along these energy lines, warping through reality from his current location to whatever endpoint he decided upon. If it was an endpoint he couldn't see, he would have no idea what area he was teleporting to beyond the general location, unless he had been there before.
It was an incredible gift and power, an Ability that was magical in nature.
Shin had practiced teleporting as he moved downstairs through his skyscraper. The surreal stretching feeling was one he tried to get used to. It felt especially weird when he moved anywhere that he couldn't see, the disorientation throwing him off for a few seconds after he teleported.
'Here we go.' He shook the stray thoughts from his head as he looked out the window.
'Time to find that Golden Morenkai.'
> .
Chapter 30: Find
As Shin studied the street and the neighboring skyscraper, he stretched his senses forward. In a literal instant, he had formed his own line of energy, pushed all the way across the street. He could feel the countless other lines of energy, the bindings of reality itself, as his own line swam between them.
He frowned, however, as he looked.
'I can't reach all the way to the skyscraper.' After some practice, Shin had grown adept at measuring how far he could teleport. And, right now, he could tell with finality that he couldn't teleport that far.
If he increased his Soul stat, the distance he could teleport would increase. But as it stood right now, he was still rather limited. He found that he could teleport, if he went all out, more than 20 meters.
'But I'm just short of the skyscraper…' He rubbed his chin, his eyes scanning the street.
'Should I just teleport to right outside the door and run in? Or should I go all the way upstairs and cross over the bridge up top?' His mind went over a few scenarios.
If he had to do that for every single skyscraper, his progress would be greatly slowed and his chances of encountering a team of humans up top would be increased. It would be safer, but it would slow him down.
'I think, I think I should just go for it.' He took a few deep breaths as he looked at the skyscraper.
Shin was not immune to fear. The Morenkai were terrifying to look at and even scarier to face in person. The one Morenkai he had encountered earlier while traveling had almost caused him to freeze up in fear.
The creatures were huge. They loomed over you and their sheer presence was enough to make any man feel terror. According to Micheal, the Morenkai could easily rip him apart if it got its hands on him.
'I can't let that fear control me.' He told himself again, nodding sharply as he gathered his courage. This was an opportunity that he needed to seize.
Without hesitating further, Shin made up his mind.
He teleported across the street.
The feeling of teleportation was unique. It was like Shin was stretching forward across the line of energy, but at the same time, reality was stretching back to receive him. The experience was hard to describe in words and took place in an instant, but it was definitely something unique, Shin observed.