Pretending To Be A Boss

"Akasi, care for a chat?"

His breathing and heartbeat grew weaker, and in his near-death state, Akasi frequently saw that girl who had died long ago.

It felt as though time was simultaneously very short and yet very long.

He would surely die soon because of the methods employed by the Miremen.

But as memories flooded in, it was as if the entire world's temporal dimension had shifted.

His consciousness was so involuntary.

All his cells craving survival, in the moment just before death, pushed Akasi's consciousness toward the person who had almost killed him.

In the sea of consciousness, those dialogues appeared like an uninvited guest.

"Ah, what's the interesting story this time? Please, tell me."

"Pfft, no wonder you survived the third cage fight; your ability to learn is really strong. You can even infer other things from one fact." The girl's smile wasn't as hearty as the last time.

Akasi had sustained some minor injuries.

This cage fight saw the emergence of quite a few formidable opponents.

He had to run even faster.

But Number Seven didn't have any injuries, not a single one. Although there was some blood on her face and her hair had become slightly wet and sticky because of it,

Akasi knew from her condition that the blood on Seven's body was all from her enemies.

"Your weapon is this greatsword?"

"Yes. It has a name, unlike me."

"My dagger doesn't have a name."

"Strange, you're not asking me the name of this greatsword."

"A weapon is just a weapon, after all."

"Boring. Seeing how much you care about names, I thought you would name everything."

After saying that, Number Seven fell silent for a while. Akasi didn't speak either.

He just looked out the window, not deliberately posing as someone lonely; many times Akasi was simply thinking when he gazed out the window.

Even though the view was still that of the Evolution Zone.

"If you want to escape one day, perhaps during a mission, you could get away. Escape from the mining area. Don't come back, then at least you'd have seven days of freedom."

Number Seven suddenly spoke again, and Akasi replied:

"Where's the story?"

"No story, I just wanted to tell you a little secret."

"What is it?"

"My weakness. When I swing my greatsword, nothing can withstand it. But I only need one strike to kill my enemy.

When I unleash my strongest blow, the sheer force means I can't turn."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"You could choose to protect my back while we fight together." Number Seven looked at Akasi.

"Okay, I'll remember that," Akasi promised with a smile.

The two of them didn't share a deep friendship, but it felt like they were friends who had known each other from a very long time ago.

Number Seven left as nonchalantly as always.

Akasi didn't try to keep her.

Later, he figured out the pattern of Number Seven's visits.

After every cage fight, as long as he was here, Number Seven would come to check on him.

The fourth cage fight, Akasi encountered a terrifying creature.

It seemed to possess some kind of mind-reading ability, always able to anticipate his attacks.

He won, of course, but it wasn't easy.

When he saw Number Seven again, she was still unharmed.

She grinned mockingly:

"You are so weak. Aren't all of you over there B-grade test subjects?"

"There are occasional troubles, those that counter me."

"Stop making excuses!"

Somehow, Number Seven became stern.

Akasi shrugged, nodded, and gave in.

"You're just too slow. Akasi, you have to run faster."

"I remember. Don't you have a story this time?"

"I do, but I'll tell it when you jump into the last fish tank."

"The last fish tank?"

"Win the cage fight, and you'll change the battlefield. You've already jumped out of four fish tanks, which means, all those people who died at your hands, they were just catfish used for backing.

But will you still be the most valuable fish in the most splendid fish tank? Or are you just another catfish serving as a backdrop for someone else?"

Number Seven patted Akasi's shoulder and said:

"Try to get hurt less next time so we can have a fight."

"Okay, I'll remember that."

The conversation ended with that same line again.

Number Seven still left with her casual air.

Akasi started training even harder. Although there was no evidence that better physical condition would allow one to gain greater strength from the serum, Akasi's thought was simple—

If you run just a little faster, faster than the reaper's pace, you can survive.

He desperately wanted to live, and while he found Number Seven's stories interesting, deep down, Akasi didn't agree with the notion of catfish.

At least he believed that one day he would be able to leave this place.

In the fifth cage fight, Akasi improved quickly, surprising those who had bet on his death.

Human life wasn't valuable in the testing area.

But it held significant entertainment value.

When Akasi met Number Seven again, there was no dialogue.

A terrifying sword qi rushed towards him as Number Seven's opening line.

Akasi barely dodged it.

Wielding such a colossal sword at such an impressive speed, he couldn't imagine what kind of serum had been injected into this girl.

How terrifying was her strength?

The duel between Akasi and Number Seven was very monotonous.