KURO POV
Huhu. It’s been a while since I was this excited. Here I am standing on the school rooftop while waiting on Zack. The guy who served me my third impact. In normal days I would have never done this. Let alone giving the time of my life to a normie.
Call it a god complex or whatever, but I have long since forgotten what it means to be normal. For the longest time, I have suppressed it. Afraid of what other people around me would say. What they would think of me if they found out who I truly am?
Shackled freedom.
Inspiration upon inspiration waiting to burst out of its confine, only to be brought down again and again by the fear of being shunned. The fear of being made fun of. The fear of being hurt by other people who could never understand me.
With no reprieve in sight, I thought I would be buried. The spark is lost and forever forgotten. Dreams will just be that. Dreams. However, one day I found out a singular truth that broke my feeble mindset to pieces.
The fact that I am not special.
I am not the first one to come up with these inspirations and freedom of expression. It felt as if I had come to a sort of enlightenment. Some predecessors had struggled way harder than me and came to their conclusion. And most importantly, they acted on it and came out on top.
From then onwards my eyes began to see things and put them into perspective. I began to see the incongruent behavior of the people surrounding me. What they wanted to see and what they wanted to do were different. Again, I am not the only one. There are people around me who suppressed their freedom as much as I did. Sometimes even worse.
That was the second impact. The moment I created my Tonbeeru account to rally these people who are chained.
Their freedom begs to be freed and yet they have no outlet to express their intention. I’m not a god. I can’t save them all, but I can be the hero they need and deserve. All they have to do is just subscribe to my channel and use my code referral link to read 2 chapters ahead in advance. And you too can be saved.
Is that too much in the nose?
I never said this hero’s service is free. Even superheroes gotta eat you know?
Speaking of transactions, here comes the guy who provoked my appetite to seek things that are far beyond what I could have come up with on my own. A precursor of sorts, Zack Nell. The guy has an aura of a class of its own. He is very hard to describe, but if I were to explain it in one sentence then this is what I would say.
We are similar.
I was sure that our path would never intersect but here we are. Running parallel to one another yet busy crossing ideas left and right onto each other like a double helix. His latest ideas have me breaking into goosebumps. There is much to learn from this enigma that is Zack Nell.
“You got the goods?” asked Zack.
“Everything is in here. Complete with the functions and features you requested. What about your side of the deal?” I countered.
“All in this envelope along with the Modelling extension contract.”
“Hehe, you are a shrewd man Zack.”
“So, are you.”
We both began laughing until Elizabeth opened the door and barged into the conversation. “Zack your phone is ringing desuwa. It’s from Kon desuno.”
“Thanks, Eliz. Also, here you go.” Zack handed the briefcase to Elizabeth.
“What’s this desuka?”
“The custom order is here. Try it out and see if it fits.”
“O-ok desuno.” Elizabeth shyly took the briefcase and went to the nearby restroom to try out my creation. Hehe, I can’t wait to find out how it looks on her. I had to call in a couple of favors from my pals to have it ready by today.
“Sup Kon, how’s the badge going? Uh-huh. Do you mean those BOA guys are chasing after you?”
His face briefly morphed into a serious expression. It seemed like Kon and Venti were being chased by a bunch of bad guys. So he can make this sort of face too, huh? The call went on for a bit longer and Kon said he would be coming over to deliver the badge while getting chased by a bunch of BOA members.
BOA, Berserkerz On Air. Aren’t they the famous mid-sized guild with influence over four nearby districts? Being targeted by such a big name, will they be ok?
“Heh, you have a second thought now? Things will get crazier from here on out.” Zack asked me the moment he finished the call.
“Hooo, is that a challenge? I have my pride as an Artist too you know.”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
What’s a little scuffle compared to the life experience that I will obtain from staying with this interesting group of people? Inspiration doesn’t just grow from trees nor does it ever bequeath its blessing to those who stagnate in their comfort zones. Do you want something new? You gotta go search for it and grab it yourself.
Speaking of something new, Elizabeth finally finished wearing it and came over to show the result to us. Whoa. It fits her perfectly well. It’s my latest Magnus Opus yet. Quite impressive, if I do say so myself.
“Zack, H-how does it look, desuka?” Elizabeth shyly asked.
“You are very beautiful, Elizabeth. It fits you perfectly.”
“Oh, Zack….. I-I…”
While Elizabeth is busy blushing with both hands on her cheek, Zack dares to re-enact one of the more famous scenes by taking her hand, bent on one knee, giving a kiss at the back of her hand, and spewing out the Illustrious scripted lines.
“Your beauty. Your purity. They have moved me. From now, till the end of time, I shall pledge my undying loyalty to protect your justice forevermore. May the God above witness this vow of mine and let it be a part of your strength.”
“Ooo…..”
Not bad. Zack can be quite the dashing Casanova when the situation calls for it. The line was delivered smoothly and perfectly too. The atmosphere almost made me feel like I was among the side characters in the 3D cartoon. Such persuasive acting. He certainly has the skills.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth’s face is as red as a tomato, and she is having a slight nosebleed. I think we managed to awaken something deep inside her. But I can understand a bit of what Elizabeth is feeling right now.
I was like that too once, when I commissioned a 3D cartoon scene re-enactment with me as the MC. Ah but alas, in the end, boys with boys are how it should be.
“Alright, the pledge is done. Now it’s time to save Kon.” Zack said while taking out a tissue to wipe Elizabeth’s nose.
“……. Huh? Kon and Venti is in trouble desuka!?”
“Yes! They need us, Elizabeth. Those dastardly villains are chasing after our comrades. We need your justice to shine the light and vanquish those evil-doers!”
“My Justice! Those evil-doers will repent desuwa!”
“Very good, my lady Lizbeth! Hang on tight! We shall go to their rescue!”
“From here? Wait desuno, we are on the 5th floor, my heart is not ready- KYAAAAAAAA!”
With that, Zack grabbed her hand and jumped from the school rooftop into the direction of Taikan district with Elizabeth screaming the whole way down. Thankfully they have already equipped their SpeedGear. And Wow, just look at how he transitioned the grab into a princess carry halfway down the fall.
Huhuhu, Zack you are quite a dangerous man, aren’t you?
----
KON POV
Three guys, all roughly at the age between 18 to 25. Their skill with SpeedGear is roughly on the high E to low D-rank judging by how fast they were at chasing me. I’m comparing them with what I saw on the TV and online videos. Regardless, right now it’s pointless to calculate their combat skill since I’m the lowest of them all. So, I will focus on the battle elsewhere.
I drew in my prana and observed the three people in greater detail. The rotten-teeth guy who first spoke. He has a worn-out SpeedGear, a faded jacket with flakes and tears, and a dirty cuff on his T-shirt. He adopts an amateurish stance with complete reliance on his SpeedGear. This guy is a grunt.
The second guy is also no good. His eyes kept darting around from me and the other guys. He is too anxious to talk. So I rather not push it lest the loudmouth stirs the pacing.
Third guy, oh now we are talking. He is the youngest of the bunch and he is a bit nervous. Straightened back with eyes on the target, me. SpeedGear is relatively clean and new, the same with his outfits. He is pretending to be composed. That grin and twitching hand. Upon a deeper look, I’m 80% sure he tends to hurt someone to get what he wants. Sadistic streak.
I can use this.
I drew my area of intent back and focused it on him creating a social wall surrounding us. A psychological barrier that hinders the other two from butting into the conversation. I can see it affects him as his focus is now completely on me. The other two are now looking at us as if they are a bystander.
Step one is done, now let’s put my acting skills to the test.
“W-what do you want? If it’s the badge you want, you can’t have it.” I faked weakness.
“Heh…Heheh! You can keep your stinking badge to yourself. What I want is what comes out your mouth next.”
He approached me, grabbed a fistful of my hair, and yanked it backward so that I was facing up towards him. I faked crying and tried reaching up to his hand as he used his other hand to grab my chin.
“What commission did Dongu Tinker give you? I want the whole details.”
“I don’t know what you are talking about! Let me go!”
The sadistic pervert licked his lips and punched me in the stomach once. I saw it coming and shifted my body a bit at the moment of contact to absorb the impact. It still hurt a bit, but the play is still going so I acted as though my knees gave up and I couldn’t stand straight. Owie, my hair.
“Urgh! Cough Cough!”
“Tch, one punch, and you buckled down like this. Last chance, I want the details.”
“---a .---”
I whispered a word and held my stomach excruciatingly, provoking him to shout at me to speak louder. But I kept on talking in a whispering voice prompting him to become more annoyed. He finally had enough and decided to lift me and put me on a nearby table before drawing his ears closer to my mouth.
I was tempted to rip it off with my mouth, but I had much better things to do than putting that disgusting thing anywhere near my mouth.
“--- a ----”
“What, speak louder!”
“……..Pathetic snakes.” I whispered.
Well, that got his attention, and would you look at that? His intent fluctuated like crazy, and his heartbeat shot up from anxiousness. A common theme from someone who had something to hide. Isn’t that right, Mr. Iron Vipers?
He took a step back before hardening his face in anger and delivered a kick straight to my stomach once again. That agitated face was a sight to behold. He is so easy to read. Even his front kick to my stomach was done very crudely so that I could simply fake the hit by jumping back with the flow and tumbling back behind the table.
“C-calm down.”
“Oi oi, we still need him alive. Did he just bite off your ear or something?”
“Damn brat. I will mess you up good!”
He approached me again, but this time I was done with playing hostage with them. The reinforcement was approaching swiftly, so I kicked the table in their direction, prompting them to block it before I reversed my SpeedGear rotation and dashed backward.
Using my back, I tackled the window glass, flinging myself away from the 3rd-floor building before they could grab me. However, I’m not worried because I can feel Elizabeth’s presence nearing this side of the building. The moment she saw me breaking through the window, she dashed faster and jumped to catch my falling figure.
“I got you, Kon!”
“Elizabeth! Thank you for the safe-……., what the heck are you wearing?”
Instead of answering, she just blushed a bit before winking at me. What in the world is this?
Why is Elizabeth cosplaying as a character from The Magical Lily of Louvre?