Pretending To Be A Boss

The silver-haired reaper moved at an astonishing speed, a speed so fast that within the previous cage battles, it drove the other test subjects to despair.

But in the fight with Number Seven, Akasi felt fear for the first time.

This immense gap in combat power was like moving from what was thought to be a vast lake to an endless sea in the blink of an eye.

Akasi had talents surpassing those of a normal Grade A test subject, and coupled with his own efforts, his speed was an insoluble riddle among those Grade B test subjects.

Only, he didn't know that Number Seven was not from a branch facility; she was an SS-class test subject from headquarters.

To Akasi, who took pride in his speed, in Number Seven's eyes, it was merely outside the range of slow.

Thinking that speed alone could suppress, was nothing but a pipe dream.

As for other abilities, the gap between Akasi and Number Seven was even more pronounced.

The outcome of the battle was obvious.

In their previous encounters, they, young boys and girls, spent time together with the minutes quietly passing by, chatting about this and that.

Even though it was in a place without any sense of style to speak of.

But those were memories that felt beautiful upon recollection, after all.

This time was different.

This time's scene involved a girl carrying a huge sword, hoisting a boy by his neck.

There was no tenderness to speak of; Number Seven looked coldly at Akasi, as if the previous conversations were nothing but deceitful probes.

A few minutes into the battle, Akasi had already been beaten to the point of having no strength to fight back.

"You're too slow, Akasi. You could be faster. Otherwise, who could you protect in the world outside the fish tank?"

"You want to get out, don't you? After every battle, you come here to gaze out, just like those catfish, you also think you can jump out of the fish tank, right?"

Number Seven's tone was mocking and contemptuous.

"So weak, you know? Soon you will be put in a 'fish tank' with me, do you think, with your strength compared to mine, which one of us is the pathetic catfish? Hahaha..."

While mocking Akasi, the bloodied Akasi couldn't budge.

He could only feel the absolute disparity in power.

"How boring, you're always talking about leaving this place, but you're simply unworthy of it. Your will to live is just as weak as everyone else's."

With a light flick, Akasi's body was thrown against the reinforced glass, blood painting the outside world red.

Akasi's consciousness blurred and he passed out.

The medical technology in the Evolution Zone was very advanced, particularly for purely flesh wounds like these.

Before the sixth cage fight, Akasi had already recovered.

He became somewhat reticent.

The person he thought was his friend would likely be his strongest enemy in the cage fights to come soon.

It turned out that everything had been just a cruel amusement for Number Seven.

Akasi felt increasingly upset.

Because in this world there existed beings who, no matter how hard you tried, could not be defeated.

The gap between him and Number Seven was exactly so.

He suddenly understood why Number Seven was unwilling to tell him her name.

The person without a future, it turned out, was not Number Seven, but himself.

However, Akasi didn't become disheartened. His training in speed became even more diligent.

Despite the insurmountable gap between him and Number Seven, there was one thing she was right about.

Perhaps his own will to survive wasn't as strong as he thought.

Perhaps because the enemies in each cage fight had been too weak, he lacked a sense of crisis?

Akasi began to train himself desperately.

By the time of the sixth cage fight, he could already sense his limit.

Who among those who had survived the previous battles was not a battle-hardened monster with life-and-death experiences?

The only one who survived was Akasi.

Dragging his exhausted and broken body, Akasi went to the place he used to frequent.

It had become a habit; only by gazing at the world outside the window did Akasi feel the meaning of his massacre of those test subjects.

To survive.

Number Seven was there, too, looking the same as ever, unscathed and covered in the blood of her enemies.

She watched Akasi leisurely and said,

"Healing up pretty fast, aren't you? Care for a story?"

Akasi didn't know what face to make and could only look at Number Seven in silence.

"Don't look at me like that, knowing the gap in our strengths in advance can at least buffer your despair. It'd be really tragic to be full of hope and then get killed by me."

After pondering for a moment, Akasi shook his head and said,

"I am still full of hope now."

"Hmm? Did I hit your head too hard? Or did you hold back when we fought?"

"No, I'm indeed no match for you, but I can't convince myself to just wait for death because there are people stronger than me here."

"Quite optimistic. That's a funny joke, even more interesting than my story, so I won't beat you up. But I have an interesting fact to tell you, our showdown will take place next time, in the seventh battle in the cage.

Though I think highly of you and hope you'll be different from the others, bringing me some fun, you should know that in the seventh cage battle, your strength is only mid-tier.

Akasi, you need to be faster, or you won't even get the chance to see me."

Number Seven left again, probably bored since Akasi didn't ask her to tell a story.

The seventh cage battle was a long way off, taking a full half-year to come around.

During that half-year, Akasi visited the place where he used to chat with Number Seven several times.

Interestingly enough, Number Seven always appeared. Even though Akasi wasn't the strongest subject, she took a special interest in him alone.

It made their relationship very strange.

Knowing this woman had a ninety-nine percent chance of killing him in the cage battle, Akasi still found it hard to dislike her whenever she acted friendly.

It wasn't closeness, but rather a sense of familiarity.

Maybe, a very long time ago, they knew each other. If you bring up past lives, reincarnation, and such.

On the last afternoon before the cage battle, Akasi arrived at their usual spot as he always did.

Number Seven said,

"Care for a story?"

"You always say that, but you never tell one."

"Outside the fish tank, there's a pond. When you think you can swim freely in the vast world, you'll find you're just in a bigger fish tank. Whether a catfish or a sardine, in the end, we're all just food for the master."

"Can't we master our own fates?"

"If the bomb in our spine explodes, even the strongest will die. So there's no need to think about it. Your only role is to play the fiercest, most malicious fish."

"So, from the beginning, this story was about us?"

"You're not too dull, are you?"

"Right, Akasi. If you manage to survive, I'll tell you my name."

Akasi gave a bitter smile.

Ever since he had been beaten up by Number Seven, he found it difficult to smile in her presence.

Now that they were about to fight, it felt almost as if they were back to the days of exchanging stories with a nod of acknowledgment.

"I will try everything to survive."

"Whether you live or die isn't up to you. One final story before we go— the life of a fish can be arranged. Each of us has our own script."

"Where's my script heading? Is it to tomorrow?"

"I can't tell you just yet. I'm leaving now, see you tomorrow."

Number Seven still left nonchalantly, sometimes making Akasi wonder if this girl ever really existed.

...

...

The monsters in the seventh trial were hard to assemble in the same numbers as in past trials, even with several subjects from other test areas coming over.

But they still formed a group of just over twenty fighters.

Akasi's strength was indeed only average among these people.

That was Akasi's first time experiencing a genuine battle of adversity.

In this battle, Akasi finally understood the meaning of that story.

(There will be more tonight, I'm going to rest now, will start updating again at five, should be done by around eight.)