The Evil Scientist is Too Competent

Each city had its own renowned martial arts dojos. Some boasted a proud history spanning centuries, emphasizing tradition. Others claimed expertise by incorporating cutting-edge scientific advancements. Some even advertised that they had trained S-Class heroes.

In short, there were plenty of targets.

Galrm pulled his cap low over his face as he appeared before the instructors of other dojos.

He wasn’t targeting the Masters. The reason was simple—most Masters weren’t actually the strongest fighters in their own dojos.

Martial arts weren’t something one simply grew stronger in through years of training. A hundred-year-old elder who had practiced for a century could still be defeated by a champion with just ten years of experience.

Mastery of techniques, physical conditioning, and mental fortitude—these three elements had to be in perfect harmony. It was an art with a short shelf life.

"—You’re Homura from Muguk Jin Kwan, right?"

"...Who are you?"

"Thought so. Fight me."

Galrm took Riore with him as he went around ambushing the strongest fighters from various dojos.

At first, they assumed he was just some thug looking for trouble. But once they exchanged a few blows with Riore, their expressions changed.

Her fundamentals were too polished to be that of a mere street fighter. And layered atop those refined basics were unpredictable, irregular movements.

The moment the instructors recognized her as a skilled martial artist, they threw everything they had into their counterattacks—but by this point, Riore had already grown too strong.

"Kh...!"

"Good. That makes another one down."

"...Are we allowed to be doing this?"

"It’s fine."

Galrm fed the defeated instructors a red pill and left a sizable compensation beside them before vanishing.

When the instructors regained consciousness, for a moment, they thought the entire ordeal had been a dream.

After all, every injury they had sustained had completely vanished without a trace.

But the stacks of cash lying next to them proved that what had happened was real.

The more prideful among them seethed at the thought of being bested by an unknown martial artist. But as they stared at the absurd amount of money left behind, their anger slowly dissipated.

Reporting this? No way. The sum was far too great.

"Haa... haa..."

"Looks like we’ve run out of opponents."

"...You say that, but we haven't even met real monsters yet."

"That’s fine. I plan on gathering them now."

With that, Galrm pulled out his phone and made a call.

Seeing him discreetly step away, Riore tilted her head in curiosity and quietly followed him.

"—Yeah, it’s me. This time, I want to host a tournament..."

"No, expecting me to fund this alone is a bit much—"

"...Go ahead and tell the boss if you want. Hah. With that woman running her mouth, the rumors are already spreading anyway—"

The conversation was filled with cryptic remarks she couldn’t quite understand.

When Galrm returned shortly after, he looked straight at Riore and told her to start conditioning her body.

"A tournament is happening soon."

"A tournament...? There aren’t any scheduled this season."

"Doesn’t matter. I asked for one to be held."

Hearing that, Riore assumed it would be some small-scale event with a prize pool of at most a few thousand dollars.

No matter how rich Galrm seemed, he didn’t strike her as someone wealthy enough to fund an entire large-scale tournament by himself.

And tournaments with that level of prize money rarely attracted high-caliber fighters.

Of course, since it was a special event, it wasn’t impossible for stronger competitors to show up... but still—

"...What the hell is this?"

But all her assumptions were completely shattered.

The tournament Galrm had set up drew the attention of the entire city.

[天下第一 武術大會]

The Tenkaichi Martial Arts Tournament—a ridiculous name for an event that would normally have been dismissed as just another promotional gimmick.

But the moment people saw that the host was Evilus Corporation, that perception changed completely.

Prize °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° Money: $1 Billion.

For anyone who had dedicated their life to the martial path, such an overwhelming reward was impossible to ignore.

****

A prize of $1 billion.

No martial arts tournament in history had ever offered such an absurdly high reward.

Riore knew Galrm was wealthy, but this? To throw away that kind of money on a tournament? If he had that much capital lying around, she would have much preferred he just handed it over to her.

And so, she asked him directly.

Galrm stared at her like she had just said the most ridiculous thing in the world.

"...What nonsense are you spouting? Earn it with your own strength."

He even added, with a bitter expression, that if she didn’t win, he would be in trouble.

He didn’t go into details, muttering something about paying an advance dowry or whatever.

She wasn’t sure what exactly he meant, but one thing was clear—this tournament was pushing even him to his limits.

And yet, he was doing it all just to prove her strength.

"...What a weird guy."

Riore thought back to when she first met Galrm.

Back then, she never would have imagined he was this kind of person.

Quite the opposite—she had thought of him as utterly self-centered, someone who never cared about anyone but himself.

But reality?

Riore was fully aware of how irrational Galrm’s behavior was.

Even parents wouldn’t go this far for their children.

This wasn’t logical. If anything, it was irrational—something more akin to madness...

Wait... could it be that this old man actually likes me?

For a split second, the thought crossed her mind.

She immediately shook her head.

Sure, maybe there was a slight chance of that. But looking at his actions? There was no way in hell she could believe it.

Who in their right mind punches and kicks the person they like right in the stomach?

And even if she were to assign value to herself, she was not worth $1 billion.

That kind of money could buy all the actresses on TV, so why waste it on her?

Ah, whatever.

In the end, Riore stopped thinking about it.

There were more important matters at hand.

"—Here. The tournament roster."

"...Are you really allowed to show me this?"

"Why wouldn’t I be? I’m the organizer. Besides, anyone can check this online."

Indeed, the tournament lineup was publicly available.

It wasn’t like Galrm was leaking confidential information.

Only after hearing that did Riore finally take a proper look at the list.

The names on it were enough to immediately elevate the tournament’s prestige.

Gao Kang—the champion of last year’s tournament, where Riore had only managed to reach the semifinals.

Southern Invincible Monk—a monk who frequently appeared on TV, performing feats of superhuman endurance.

Mr. Powerful—a mysterious fighter who, despite having an alarmingly frail physique, still won his last tournament before disappearing, saying it had become boring.

Truly, a diverse set of challengers.

But among all these names, one in particular grabbed Riore’s attention.

"...Mysterious Martial Artist R."

Yes.

The very same person who eliminated her in the preliminary rounds of the last tournament.

The one who ultimately led her to accept Galrm’s offer.

Riore’s eyes blazed with fierce determination.

"...So they’re participating too?"

"Yeah. What do you think? Perfect, isn’t it?"

The perfect stage.

For her revenge.

For her rebirth.

And more than anything—

"...I get to keep the full prize money, right?"

"If you can win."

"You don’t need to worry about that."

$1 billion.

With that, Riore made her decision.

Now, all that remained was training. And more training.

And finally—

The Tenkaichi Martial Arts Tournament was upon them.

****

"Ack—."

Preliminary Round 1.

The moment Riore realized that her opponent was, once again, the Mysterious Martial Artist R, she let out a quiet groan.

It felt as if a deeply buried trauma was beginning to resurface.

Across the arena, she saw R warming up, so she did the same.

"I can do this, I can do this..."

She would not lose this time.

That resolve was why she had come here.

With her mind made up, Riore stepped onto the stage.

Her opponent recognized her immediately, letting out a teasing snicker.

"Heeeh—you're that kid I insta-killed last time, aren’t you?"

"...It won’t be the same this time."

"Ohh? Well, do your best! This time, Le—wait, no. I got permission to go all out too, you know?"

Go all out? Meaning they weren’t serious last time?

For a brief moment, Riore felt herself waver, but she quickly dismissed the thought.

Even that could be a psychological tactic to shake her.

Right now, what mattered was not losing focus.

All she had to do was give everything she had.

"Alright, are both fighters ready?"

"Huh? Wait, no camera crew for us?"

"The prelims have too many matches, so we’re skipping all recordings—"

"Boooring~."

As R whined at the referee, Riore simply nodded, signaling she was ready.

The moment the referee confirmed both fighters—

—They clashed simultaneously.

"Ugh—!"

"Heeeh—not bad!"

Blocking an incoming kick, Riore went over everything she had learned in her mind.

How to block. How to counterattack. Where to strike.

She had spent years refining a fighting style that outright rejected the martial principles she had once followed—only to reintegrate them in a way that made them stronger.

She would not let it all go to waste.

"Take this, then—!"

The moment an opponent was most vulnerable—

—Was the moment they attacked.

—And the moment their attack landed successfully.

Riore deliberately took R’s strike head-on, using her own body to obscure her counterattack.

A strike from an unseen angle—

What made this possible was the very foundation of her Master’s martial art.

But what had brought her this far—

Was something else entirely.

"Kyah—!"

With a clean, precise kick, Riore sent R flying out of the arena.

Out of bounds. Instant loss.

R scrambled to argue with the referee, but their protests were swiftly dismissed.

Riore had won.

It felt... unreal.

But that was the nature of real fights.

Sometimes, all the preparation, all the effort, exploded in a single moment, even catching the winner off guard.

Slowly, she stepped down from the stage and headed back to her waiting room.

Galrm was standing there, arms crossed, looking utterly indifferent—

As if a mere prelim victory was nothing.

But before she even realized it—

She had hugged him.

"...What are you doing?"

"A—Ah, AAHH—!? Wh-What the hell!?"

Startled, Riore immediately shoved him away, clutching her chest.

Her heart was pounding.

She had no idea why she had done that.

But if there was one thing she did know—

"...I-I won."

"It was just the prelims."

"Couldn’t you at least congratulate me a little?"

At that, Galrm let out a short chuckle and placed his palm atop her head.

"—Well done."

"...H-Hehh—? Th-That’s all?"

As he ruffled her hair, Riore felt an indescribable sense of fulfillment.

So much so that she almost wanted to stay like this forever.

****

Meanwhile...

The Tenkaichi Martial Arts Tournament.

The man who had proposed it—Eight—couldn’t help but voice genuine concern as he looked at Regalia, who had set an insane prize pool.

"Boss, isn’t ten billion dollars a bit much for a tournament prize?"

"It’s a dowry. It’s fine."

"...A dowry...?"

Hearing that, Eight could only let out a hollow laugh.

Regalia’s idea of a dowry was so far beyond his realm of understanding that he had no words left.