Chapter 5: "Mission Complete"
Click. Click.
The sound of the trigger being pulled was crisp, and deeply awkward.
Kaito sheepishly lowered the empty, common-grade firearm, meeting Abola's murderous gaze with a nonchalant shrug.
"I didn't expect you to be so cautious. You didn't even give me any bullets."
Only then did Abola's heart begin to pound with retroactive terror. It hammered so violently in his chest that his vision started to go dark.
"You… You actually…"
He hadn't known the gun was empty. It had been an instinctual decision made by his experienced bodyguard, a veteran precaution. But seeing Kaito pull the trigger without a shred of hesitation had shocked both of them.
Now, their hands instinctively moved toward their own waists.
Thump!
All Abola saw was the young man move with the agility of a leopard. In a sudden explosion of motion, he stepped onto the polished marble table and launched himself forward.
The movement was completely unexpected. One second he was shrugging with a wry smile as if he'd just made a bad joke, and the next he had erupted into violence.
A sudden, primal fear seized Abola's heart. He felt like prey being targeted by a predator, a feeling he hadn't experienced since he was a boy and had been stalked by a wild beast in the mountains.
CRACK!
Beneath his clothes, Kaito's muscles were already coiled like springs. As he vaulted off the table, his center of gravity remained perfectly stable. Using his forward momentum, his fist slammed into the throat of the bodyguard on the left.
The sound of bone snapping was sickeningly clear. The cartilage in the human throat is incredibly fragile. Kaito could feel it shatter under his knuckles, the pulpy fragments piercing the windpipe, larynx, and blood vessels. The force was so great that the bodyguard's cervical vertebrae bulged backward.
BANG!
The bodyguard on the right had already drawn his pistol and fired at Kaito.
But after shattering his target's throat, Kaito had immediately ducked behind the man's large frame. The bullet only grazed the shoulder of the not-yet-dead bodyguard before embedding itself in the wall.
Kaito shoved the tall bodyguard—who was now gurgling, choking on his own agony and the terror of suffocation—forward. As the man stumbled, Kaito shadowed him, low to the ground like an agile monkey.
He moved as if he had rehearsed these actions a thousand times in his dreams. He had never been in a real life-or-death battle like this before, yet when his fist had crushed the man's throat, he felt no hesitation, no revulsion.
It was as if… he had fantasized about doing it countless times.
BANG! BANG!
The remaining bodyguard, Owen, fired several more shots, but his line of sight was blocked by his partner's body. Panic began to set in.
The next moment, a searing pain shot through his knee, and his entire body buckled.
Kaito had stomped down viciously on Owen's knee joint. The sound of it breaking made Abola flinch instinctively, and it was followed by the bodyguard's agonized scream.
Owen was experienced. He already knew how dangerous Kaito was. The excruciating pain of his reversed knee forced him to his knees. But in doing so, he could finally see Kaito, who was hiding behind his partner, Lev's, massive body.
Gritting his teeth against the pain, Owen raised his pistol and pulled the trigger.
THWACK!
Kaito's left hand shot out, jamming itself under the trigger guard and physically blocking it from being pulled.
Owen's eyes widened in shock. He tried to wrestle the gun away, but the young man's slender-looking hand was impossibly strong. No matter how hard he struggled, he couldn't break the weapon free.
Kaito looked down at the kneeling bodyguard with an expression of pure disappointment.
"The strength of a normal man, the mind of a normal man… Heh."
If it were him, he would have fired without hesitation, shooting right through his partner's body to hit the target. Not like Owen, who had tried to avoid hitting his friend, completely negating the advantage of having a firearm.
Of course, the root of the problem was that these two bodyguards were simply weak—little more than ordinary men with slightly stronger builds.
Kaito suddenly surged forward, kicking Owen squarely in the face. The burst of pain caused him to finally release his grip on the gun.
"Ghhh…"
At that moment, the first bodyguard, Lev, was still gurgling on the floor. His face had turned a deep purple from lack of oxygen, and his body began to tremble and convulse.
Kaito spun the captured pistol in his hand.
[Light Handgun]
[Quality: White (Common)]
[Description: A mass-produced, light handgun. Uses conventional ammunition.]
[Effect: Average rate of fire, low stopping power.]
[Note: Cannot be taken out of this world (Insufficient Item Data).]
He racked the slide. The weapon was similar to a modern handgun from his world, but it used a round, pellet-style ammunition that was significantly less powerful than modern bullets.
Of course, at close range, it was more than enough to kill a normal person.
Kaito aimed the pistol at the wailing bodyguard, whose knee was bent backward and nose was clearly broken, and shot him in the forehead.
BANG!
[You have killed Bodyguard Owen. You have gained 50 Dimensional Points.]
Just then, the convulsing bodyguard on the floor fell silent.
[You have killed Bodyguard Lev. You have gained 50 Dimensional Points.]
Kaito felt no discomfort, no nausea from killing for the first time. He walked back to the table and aimed the gun at Abola.
Abola's face was as white as a sheet, the cigar in his mouth all but extinguished.
"No… don't kill me…"
He still couldn't understand. He had hired Mercenary Tao to kill Magee. Why had the assassin who showed up attacked him instead?
Kaito gestured with the gun. "The money?"
"Money?"
Abola didn't register the question at first. The meeting room was soundproofed to ensure privacy for his shadier business dealings. He never imagined that feature would become the source of his current misery.
He stared at the white smoke curling from the black barrel of the gun and finally came to his senses. He struggled to his feet and retrieved a briefcase from behind his desk.
"This… this is the one hundred million… for the contract."
Knowing Mercenary Tao's reputation, Abola had prepared the full payment in advance. He just never expected someone else to show up.
Kaito opened the case.
[Large-denomination Banknotes]
[Quality: Special Item]
[Description: High-value currency, only valid in the Dragon Ball world and its derivatives.]
[Effect: Possesses significant purchasing power.]
[Note: Cannot be taken out of this world.]
Kaito picked up the briefcase and turned to leave.
Abola let out a sigh of relief. He had lost the money, but at least this terrifying menace was finally leaving. He didn't notice that Kaito, now at the door, had turned and aimed the gun at him again.
BANG!
[You have killed the tycoon Abola. You have gained 50 Dimensional Points.]
[Side Quest: Assassination Contract has failed.]
[Milestone Update: Genocider (3/100)]
The target was still alive, but the client had been killed first. The side quest had naturally failed, but Kaito didn't care. There was no penalty for failure.
He blew the smoke from the gun's barrel, then searched the office. This time, he actually found something a little more special.
[Precious Gemstone]
[Quality: Special Item]
[Description: A ruby of exceptionally large size and extremely high purity.]
[Effect: Considered highly valuable in most worldviews. Can also be used as a magical component.]
The egg-sized ruby was not marked as being unable to be taken from this world. Kaito weighed it in his hand, then placed it in the [Inventory] provided by the system. The [Inventory] had 10 slots and could only store items that could be brought out of the current world.
Kaito noticed that the clothes he had been wearing in his own world were now stored here, taking up one slot. The gemstone took up another slot by itself. He guessed the inventory had some kind of stacking mechanic, but 10 slots was still not a lot of space. When he mentally tried to store other items, a prompt appeared, warning him of a size limit.
After a thorough search, Kaito packed the 100 million Zeni, along with several property deeds and bank bonds he found, into the briefcase.
Then, he calmly walked out of the luxurious meeting room.
It was some time before the company secretary realized Abola hadn't been seen for a while. Her discovery was followed by horrified screams.
By then, Kaito had already returned to the inn where the taxi driver was waiting. He leaned against the side of the cartoonishly small vehicle and called out to the driver, who was smoking by the door.
"Sir, I think we can head back now."
"Mission complete."