Kenji glanced at Shin standing beside him and let out a confident chuckle. "Sure, why not? I have absolute faith in our new brother here. But... a fight's no fun without some stakes. Don't you agree, Ryuta?"
Ryuta's smirk widened. "Naturally. But I wonder what kind of wager you're prepared to make? Throwing down a few Reward Points?"
Kenji knew exactly what Ryuta was implying—he was betting that Kenji's squad was too broke to wager anything of real value besides basic Reward Points. And tragically, he was absolutely right.
Their squad was flat broke. Despite their lingering reputation, their only real income was basic points. They had no rare artifacts or high-tier equipment to spare.
So, since Ryuta suggested it, Kenji simply rolled with the punches. "If that's how you want to play it, let's make it three thousand Reward Points. How does that sound?"
Ryuta nodded in agreement. For his prosperous, seventeen-man squad, three thousand points was practically pocket change. But for Kenji's ragtag group of five, it was a massive fortune.
With the captains having set the terms, it was time to consult the fighters themselves. Ryuta leaned in and quietly conferred with a young man on his team, who eagerly nodded with a broad, arrogant smile.
On Kenji and Shin's side, the dynamic was entirely different. Kenji patted Shin on the shoulder and spoke in an incredibly friendly tone.
"Shin, you see that? Business just walked right up to our door. You go up there, knock that guy out, and we split the pot. I'll take five hundred, and you get two thousand five hundred. Deal?"
This generous split shocked the rest of the squad. What captain gave a rookie the lion's share of the payout? Weren't rookies usually treated as expendable cannon fodder? Even if a captain recognized a rookie's potential, they rarely treated them this well right out of the gate.
Shin currently had zero points to his name. Being handed a golden opportunity to make a quick buck naturally delighted him. Besides, Kenji was technically risking three thousand of his own points to set this up. Compensating him with a cut of the winnings was more than fair.
Not to mention, Ryuta was an arrogant, overbearing prick. Shin already found the guy intensely annoying. Getting the chance to slap the smug look off his face was a bonus he couldn't pass up.
The two sides quickly agreed on a time and set the venue: the dueling arena in the ZXC Reincarnator Town.
Ordinarily, running into this kind of drama and having their shopping trip derailed would have put a damper on the squad's mood. But in reality, Kenji's entire team was buzzing with excitement.
Domon Kyouji, who was an absolute battle junkie, leaned in and asked Shin, "How many moves are you going to use? Or are you just going to blast him out of the ring with a pulse of your aura?"
Everyone on the team knew there was absolutely zero chance for Ryuta's rookie to defeat Shin.
According to Kyouji's estimates, if a normal Reincarnator completed main quests—earning roughly a thousand to fifteen hundred points per mission—it would take them thousands of worlds just to reach Shin's current baseline of power.
But seriously, who would still be considered a "rookie" after surviving even a few dozen worlds?
Sure, the Reincarnation Dimension had top-tier lone wolves who had survived dozens of worlds and possessed combat power far beyond the norm. But those guys were apex predators sitting at the very top of the leaderboards, famous throughout the entire Main God Dimension. They certainly weren't the type of people a scrub like Ryuta would dare to randomly challenge.
Ryuta might have a bit of a reputation in this ZXC town—enough to posture against Kenji—but if you threw him into the wider Main God Dimension, he was a nobody. His combat power was vastly inferior to Kyouji's, and his overall ranking was miles behind as well.
The group chatted and laughed, taking Shin back to familiarize him with his new living quarters before leaving him to settle in.
Although every new Reincarnator had the free privilege of creating a companion—a custom human—there was no rush to do so. As Kenji had advised, it was better for Shin to get used to the dimension first. After completing his first actual mission, he could figure out exactly what kind of companion he needed to cover his weaknesses before utilizing that privilege.
A few days passed in the blink of an eye, and the agreed-upon date for the duel finally arrived.
The dueling arenas in the Main God Dimension were completely different from conventional fighting rings, brimming with highly advanced sci-fi aesthetics. Fighters could customize the size of the arena, simulate realistic environmental conditions, and toggle various parameters.
However, all these premium features cost points. Since Shin's wallet was completely empty, he naturally opted for the most basic, bare-bones ring.
He glanced over the options for the basic arena sizes: 5x5, 20x20, and 100x100 meters.
Knowing that he needed to conceal the true depths of his power, Shin figured the best strategy was to force his opponent into the largest possible space. So, as soon as he stepped up to the terminal, Shin locked in the 100x100 meter arena.
In such a vast space, it would be much easier for him to leverage his advantages while maintaining the illusion of a struggle.
It was all about putting on a good show. Shin wasn't an idiot; he perfectly understood the idiom that the nail that sticks out gets hammered down.
Not to mention, Ryuta didn't seem like the sharpest tool in the shed. This time, the fool was practically gifting him two thousand five hundred points. If Shin successfully masked his true strength today, who was to say he couldn't bait Ryuta into handing over another massive payout in the future?
Wasn't that just a sweet deal? It beat the hell out of risking his neck running dangerous missions.
His opponent stepped onto the ring—a hulking brute standing well over six-foot-two. The man's waist was twice as thick as Shin's, easily weighing in at nearly three hundred pounds of solid muscle.
The giant stepped up, respectfully cupping his fists in a traditional martial arts salute. "My name is Takeshi," he rumbled.
Shin nodded. Since the big guy was being polite, it was only right to return the courtesy. "Nice to meet you. I'm Shin," he replied. "Whenever you're ready to start."
Takeshi slammed his massive fists together. "Let's get this started right now!"
Shin appreciated that kind of straightforward, no-nonsense attitude. It meant he could wrap up this fight without any unnecessary drama.
Takeshi charged straight at Shin, raising a massive fist. Given that he outweighed his opponent by double, the giant naturally assumed he could crush the smaller boy with ease.
Shin didn't know what to say, merely letting out a secret, wry smile.
If Shin simply released his Ki to form a passive, automatic barrier, it would be physically impossible for Takeshi to even touch him.
However, under the current circumstances, using a Ki barrier was completely off the table. Flashing that kind of power would instantly expose his true strength, and that was no trivial matter.
If the other Reincarnators caught wind of his actual combat power, his name would instantly skyrocket to the top of the leaderboards. That would strip away his element of surprise, rendering his ability to catch future enemies off guard completely useless. For his new squad, losing that tactical advantage would be a massive detriment.
Now that he was officially a member of this team, it was only right that he put the squad's best interests first.
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