Chapter 142: Encountering an Acquaintance
As Haruto strolled along, he casually began picking up the colorful, squishy 'meatballs' that littered the path. Kaguya, her mind already racing with the delightful chaos these creatures could cause back in Gensokyo, eagerly joined in.
Watching the two of them happily gather the strange lifeforms one by one, Yotsuya Miko and the others wore complicated expressions. They wisely chose to say nothing, simply following in silence.
The meatballs came in a rainbow of colors—pink, red, green, black… as long as it looked remotely cute, Haruto and Kaguya tossed it into a Gap. Before long, they had collected a full spectrum of hues.
Even after they had finally walked out of the dense mist, Haruto still felt like his collection was incomplete.
Suddenly, the distinct sounds of intense combat, punctuated by the sharp screeches of insects, echoed from just beyond the fog bank.
In an instant, Youmu was on high alert, her hand already gripping the hilt of her Roukanken.
Everyone's gaze snapped toward the source of the noise.
About a hundred meters away, a ten-person team was locked in a fierce battle with two bizarrely shaped insects. The creatures were massive, standing about half the height of a man. Their carapaces gleamed with a metallic black sheen, and their forelimbs were shaped like a pair of razor-sharp scythes, making them look like monstrous, oversized praying mantises.
This team was clearly well-trained.
Three members formed a frontline, their heavy shields absorbing the crushing blows from the giant mantises' scythes. Behind them, four others wielded specialized weapons, their precise stabs darting through the gaps in the shield wall to target the insects' joints and compound eyes. Two more players moved with fluid grace on the flanks, their role to distract and provide support. Their movements were clean and efficient, their coordination seamless; they were obviously battle-hardened veterans.
They weren't using any supernatural artifacts. Against this kind of purely physical, mutated creature, there was simply no need.
"They're so impressive," Yotsuya Miko murmured in sincere admiration. She watched the flanking members closely, mentally dissecting their guerrilla tactics and positioning to learn from them.
Haruto's gaze, however, fell upon the person who appeared to be in command. He recognized him immediately—it was the rookie from the Mermaid Instance. Back then, aside from Haruto's own group, he was the only survivor out of more than a dozen players.
"What are you looking at?" Kaguya asked, following his line of sight. She scrutinized the commander but saw nothing particularly special about him.
"Doesn't he look familiar to you?" Haruto prompted.
"...Hmm? Oh! I remember now!" Kaguya's face lit up with excitement. "Isn't that the guy from the mermaid world? I can't believe it, the world is so small!"
She recalled how he had been trembling with fear back then, blindly following their lead. His only real merit had been his obedience; whatever they did, he copied, and in the end, he had managed to clear the instance alongside them. To think that he was not only still alive but had also joined an organization and climbed the ranks to a command position was quite the surprise.
Haruto's eyes scanned the team again, his gaze finally settling on a young man in a black trench coat who was sitting leisurely on a stone bench not far from the battle. He looked even younger than their acquaintance, perhaps a sophomore or junior in college.
To be able to sit so calmly on the sidelines in a situation like this, there were only two possibilities.
Either his strength was so pitiful he was useless in a fight.
Or, he was the true core of this team.
Haruto leaned toward the latter.
As if sensing their presence, the black-clad student glanced over, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. He clearly hadn't expected anyone to emerge alive from the direction of the fog. He offered Haruto's group a slight curl of his lips before shifting his body, revealing a massive greatsword leaning against the bench beside him.
'A provocation?' Haruto wondered.
The distance was too great to discern the young man's intent from his expression alone, so he turned to Kaguya.
She shook her head; she couldn't tell either, but the glint in her eyes showed she was already itching for a fight.
Haruto, on the other hand, remained unbothered. If the other party truly wanted to bare their teeth, he'd simply unleash Youmu. Still, to be safe, he turned to Lin Xuelao.
If Yotsuya Miko's Yin-Yang Eyes were specialized for spirits and ghosts, then Lin Xuelao's perception was tailored for the living. She could clearly sense a person's good or ill will, and to some extent, even read their surface thoughts.
"He's fine," Lin Xuelao said, gently shaking her head. "I don't sense any malice from him. He seems… excited?"
Haruto was momentarily stunned. No malice, but excitement?
He thought for a moment, then looked back at the black-clad student. The young man had now turned sideways, thrusting the greatsword into the ground beside him. He rested one hand on the hilt, his gaze fixed sharply on his own teammates, as if striking a carefully constructed pose.
'Alright,'Haruto thought with dawning certainty.'This guy's a chuunibyou. He's just trying to show off.'
At that exact moment, the battle suddenly shifted.
A third giant mantis burst from a nearby building, its scythe-like arm slashing directly at one of the flanking team members.
Just as the blade was about to find its mark—
Clang!
The black-clad student appeared on the battlefield like a bolt of lightning. Before anyone could even register his movement, the greatsword in his hand had severed the new mantis's forelimbs, splattering green ichor everywhere.
After saving his teammate, the young man slung the greatsword over his shoulder in what he clearly thought was a cool pose and waved to the others. "You all step back. Leave these little bugs to me."
His team seemed completely accustomed to this behavior. They obediently retreated five or six meters, giving him ample space to perform.
The acquaintance Haruto recognized even played along, shouting with gusto, "The boss is awesome!"
The black-clad student nodded with satisfaction, then turned to face the two remaining mantises. He first pushed his bangs out of his eyes with both hands, then pointed his sword at the creatures with one.
"Come on, little bugs! Let me show you what real strength is!"
As if provoked, the giant mantises charged at him simultaneously.
The young man remained perfectly calm. He sidestepped the first one's attack, landed a spinning kick squarely on the second bug's head, and used the recoil to launch himself into the air.
The greatsword drew a shining arc through the sky.
"Sky-Splitting Slash!" he shouted, announcing his move with dramatic flair.
The massive blade descended with a terrifying whistle, cleaving one of the giant mantises clean in half.
He landed without pausing. Using the greatsword planted in the ground as a pivot, he swung his leg in a horizontal sweep, then pulled the blade free in a powerful upward thrust just as the last mantis raised its head, piercing its vital spot with pinpoint accuracy.
The entire sequence of movements was smooth and fluid. Though it was clearly padded with many unnecessary, showy actions, his skill was undeniably impressive.
After sheathing his sword, the black-clad student stood with his back to everyone, holding the final pose for a full three seconds, obviously waiting for applause.
His team members cooperatively obliged, their clapping indicating they were long used to their boss's theatrical style.
At that moment, the young man secretly glanced out of the corner of his eye toward Haruto's group. Seeing the surprised expressions on the faces of Yotsuya Miko and Lin Xuelao, he couldn't help but feel a surge of smug satisfaction.
However, when his gaze swept over the other three, his heart skipped a beat. Haruto, Kaguya, and Youmu looked completely indifferent—no, it was worse than indifference. Their gazes were subtly unsettling.
'Did I miss something? Did I do something that made me look foolish?' he panicked internally.
Showing off was the most important thing in life.
Looking foolish? Absolutely not.
The black-clad student forced himself to remain calm, maintaining the dignified air of a master. Slinging the greatsword back over his shoulder, he began to walk slowly toward Haruto and the others. Only then did the rest of his team notice the distant group of onlookers.
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