Even here, I noticed Kai’s girls watching me from a distance.

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[Stella POV]

The perfect human.

The perfect human.

The perfect human.

It was a phrase that rang in my ears all throughout my childhood. Isn’t it stupid? It was such a pointless concept. There simply was no perfect human. There can’t be, it’s something that’s both undefined and contradictory.

The project itself only eroded itself as time went on. I was easily the smartest and strongest of the 2nd generation, and the girls and boys of the 3rd generation were a complete joke.

“I haven’t seen you in a while, Giselle.”

“Who are you?”

I’ll destroy every Outcome of the Ideal Human Project.

This is my revenge, Kay Takamiya.

I’ll start with you, Giselle Nguyen~

*

At this school, there was only one way to force someone into a duel, and that was with a {Rank Challenge}. However, you can only duel those ranked above you, furthermore, it’s rather difficult to manipulate your rank at lower levels. That’s why it is important to act weak and vulnerable at all times.

Kai was a good enough tool for this. He effectively shields me from any sort of attention.

But the biggest benefit to {Rank Challenges} is that it effectively hides your intent. Especially for someone like me, I can target Outcomes without appearing out of the ordinary.

I made my way into the arena.

Goodnight, Giselle Nguyen.

…

「You may begin.」

Slowly, I conjured my [Gun of Gluttony].

When fighting Outcomes, there was one major variable you had to consider—they were all super-computers, if there was one thing they could do, it was be able to read the opponent based on physical cues. As such, it was important that you do not show any signs that would allow them to get a grasp of your intentions.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Outcomes of the 1st and 2nd generations also have their immense physical talents to use when they couldn’t read the opponent, but unlike them, the 3rd generation lacked this. Other than Sumire, who was the star of the generation, none of the others would be even close to my physical ability.

I saw Giselle quickly approaching me.

That makes things easier.

I raised my [Gun of Gluttony] to my head.

Eat my [Overclock].

—Bang.

Giselle suddenly stopped and examined the scene. How cute, is this how the 3rd generation fights? They’re way too cautious.

I raised my [Gun of Gluttony] and pointed it toward her head.

Based on her tactic earlier, it was pretty clear that she wanted to get close and use her {Personal Ability}. I didn’t mind that. For such a strategy, it would be a given that they’d bring [Overclock] with them.

Raising her arm, she used [Flashbang].

I turned around and tried to cover my face, but the sharp glare still managed to get to my eyes. The entire scene went white for a moment.

Oh well, that’s no matter.

She would be using [Overclock] to try to close the distance right now.

It wasn’t like I needed to see to be able to shoot her anyway.

—Bang.

I raised my knee.

My [Gun of Gluttony] was able to transfer my [Overclock] to her body. Since I assumed that she’d already be using an [Overclock], both of them together would quickly send her off course.

Her stomach slammed into my knee. Saliva splattered all over the ground.

“You’re a bit stronger than the other people I’ve fought… You’re an Outcome, aren’t you?”

Ah, I guess she’s found me out.

Oh well.

I grabbed her neck and slammed in into the ground. A loud thump echoed through the arena as her body crashed onto the hard, marble-like floor. Her strength was nowhere close to mine.

Suddenly, I felt a shock go through my body.

It was rather painful.

I looked down at Giselle who was grabbing my ankle.

My [Gun of Gluttony] can only steal abilities from others once I know all the conditions related to their ability.

Giselle’s looked a bit more complicated than just a simple electricity power.

Making physical contact was definitely a condition.

It was hard to move with the current travelling through my body, but I leveraged my weight and pushed my elbow down against her collarbone. I could feel the pressure pushing against her neck, but the electricity was making it hard to put in all of my strength.

Sweeping my leg around, I quickly moved my arm up a little.

She was turning up the strength of the electricity—almost indefinitely.

Ah, it was really starting to hurt.

I looked down at her.

Now it was clear what the other condition was.

Showing signs of pain that were different from where I attacked her, her ability also caused pain in herself when using it.

I could hardly move at this point, but it didn’t matter.

I positioned my arm earlier, so I simply conjured my [Gun of Gluttony].

Eat her ability.

—Bang.

All the pain disappeared.

I could feel the residual tingling feeling across my skin, but I now had her power.

She looked up at me.

Before I could use her ability against her, she teleported out of my grasp with [Escape].

Just delaying the inevitable.

“You’ve got my ability, haven’t you? That’s not very fun~”

I was faster than her, stronger than her, and most importantly, had a higher pain tolerance than her.

“It’s over, Giselle.”

“There must be conditions related to your ability too, isn’t that right? There’s a reason why you gave me [Overclock] instead of another ability earlier.”

“I’ve already met all the conditions for my ability.”

Slowly, I made my way toward her.

The cooldown period for [Escape] was too long for her to be able to run away from me.

“Just give up, Giselle. You were a failure of the project.”

“And who are you?”

I flipped up my sleeve.

This was how Outcomes always greeted each other.

“…the second generation… I see.”

I continued to approach her.