The music stopped the moment he reached oliver, the atmosphere returning to normal.
Oliver took a deep breath to calm his out of control heart.
Hiro let him, he knew why oliver was reacting like that thanks to his system.
[Target is in range, debuff has been inflicted]
[ terror inflicted!]
[Target's stats are reduced by 20%]
[Target's thinking capabilities have been slightly reduced]
'This skill is strong. But not right now. The effects would increase on higher level but right now, its practically useless against stronger foes.'
[The strength of the debuffs depends on the overall power of targets]
After oliver calmed down, he guided hiro into the subway. It was mostly empty with only few people around, oliver guided him to the side and in a hidden corner where he opened a hidden cabinet with a lever in it.
He pulled the lever then closed the cabinet. They soon went into the special needs washrooms and oliver opened the door in the corner labeled "under repairs".
To Hiro's surprise, there was another door inside it. Oliver opened the door revealing stairs going deep underground.
As they walked down the stairs, he explained the kind of place dead zone was, its history and the the match he's supposed to take part in.
Hiro was reluctant at first but oliver told him that he didn't need to kill, he only needs to stay low and get out after around ten fighters are down.
If he gets in a confrontation, he can knock tgem out, that counts as well.
Before reaching the bottom, oliver passed him a mask. It wasn't special in design, a plain white man that covered the upper part of his face.
Hiro wore it, tying it tightly around his head and got out of the stairwell and what he saw truly shocked him.
It was a ginormous stadium. It seemed to have been inspired by Roman collasium and it was packed full of people.
All of them wore black suits and a blank mask that covered their whole face.
Hiro looked around more carefully and noticed that there were people in different attires as well.
'Those must be the sponsors and their fighters, wonder if oliver knows some of them.'
His eyes suddenly stopped as they met a pair of gray eyes. The owner of those eyes was average in height, had a slim and athletic build and their outfit consisted of a black hoodie, sky blue Jean and a pair of white sports shoes.
Their face was covered by a circular black mask with red scar like markings.
It had a small diagonal scar on the forehead, a pair of long scars that went from the corners of the eye holes to the bottom of the mask and a scar that stretched from where the corner of the mouth should be to the ear.
As hiro studied them, he was also being studied by the black masked individual. But that didn't last long as oliver grabbed Hiro's shoulder and took him inside a room labeled NO. 99.
It wasn't anything special, few benches and lockers. It was similar to a school's locker room.
"Your match is the first one.... shit. It's too much for me."
Oliver said, grabbing the side of his head and falling on the bench.
"You're just a kid. I-I can't-"
He was cut off as hiro placed a firm hand on his shoulder, making oliver look at him.
"It's okay, oliver. I was the one who made this choice. And don't worry, I'm not planning on dying so soon."
With that said, I sat down next to him, giving him time to calm down. With a heavy exhale, oliver calmed his nerves and started giving a detailed explanation of the fighters.
xxxxx
Hiroki stood in the arena with other fighters. He had scanned through his opponents and only few were worth notice.
[Name: Carlos rudger
LV: 13
Title: slaughterer
Age:32
HP: 2100/2100
MP: 230/230
STR:108
SPD:46
END:70
SEN:32
INT:23
Grade: dormant ]
Name: Carmella roth
LV: 11
Title: Man eater
Age:29
HP: 1,440/1,440
MP: 300/300
STR:46
SPD:83
END:48
SEN:28
INT:30
Grade: dormant ]
[Name: kakeru misato
LV: 17
Title: Hunter
Age:39
HP: 3,000/3,000
MP: 590/590
STR:118
SPD:96
END: 100
SEN:72
INT: 59
Grade: dormant ]
And a few more, but after the preparation hiro had done, he can most definitely win if he played it smart.
{LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!!! TONIGHT WE PRESENT TO YOU OUR SPECIALITY!!!}
A female voice echoed through the entire arena as the announcers booth lit up revealing a woman with long black hair, wearing a black business suit and a red fox mask.
{A FREE FOR ALL BATTLE ROYALE WITH NO RULES WHATSOEVER TO DECIDE WHO IS THE PRAY AND WHO IS THE APEX PREDATOR!!! WE WELCOME YOU ALL TO THE FOOD CHAIN!!!!}
The audience went wild after that intro and soon, with the sound of a buzzer, all hell broke loose. Fighters that were once calm and vigilant became mindless monsters trying to rip each other apart.
Hiro stood away from the chaos that was happening before ducking as a metal bat swung over him. Before the assailant could react, hiro turned around and landed a right hook straight to his jaw, instantly knocking him out.
'I was worried for nothing, these guys aren't even close to a average syndicate member. I suppose I'll need to increase my training so my body becomes accustom to its new stats so even if I lose the system, my body would still remain strong.'
He thought, glancing at the adjustment he made to his stats and skills.
[Name: Hiro yamazaki
LV: 25(09/2500)
Title: Holy spawn
Origin: ---
Age:16
HP: 4770/4770
MP: 1,410/1,410
SP: 100%
STR:120(+)
SPD:113 (+)
END:140 (+)
SEN:134.5 (+)
INT:141 (+)
Grade: Awakened
Enchantment token: +0 rare ,+0 uncommon, +0 common
Experience token: 9 uncommon
Awakening token: 0
Fortune token: 1
Rejuvenation token: 0
Credits: 12,550 ]
[SKILLS
Perfect copy LV: max
Wind's touch LV: 9(841/900)
Gamer's mind LV: max
muscle burst LV: 4(386/400)
Gaia's blessing LV: 8(395/800)
Mana hypersensitivity LV: 6(498/600)
Vitality weave LV: 8(468/800)
Danger detection LV: 6(592/600)
Resilience LV: 8(795/800)
Adaptability LV: 9(724/900)
Eyes of deduction LV: 5(338/500)
Mana enhancement LV: 4(377/400)
Mana guide(basics) LV: 7(589/700)
Mana molding LV: 4(297/400)
Cooking LV: 1(0/100)
Weapon handling LV: 6(559/600)
Shadow steps LV: 1(0/100)
Feather spring LV: 5(357/500)
Camouflage LV: 1(17/100)
Conversion LV: 1(0/100)
Melodious voice LV: 1(4/100)
Soothing aura LV: 1(19/100)
Bloodlust LV: 2(21/200)
Legend's vault: max ]
He had used up all of his enhancement tokens and even spent credits to increase his stats. Even though he didn't require them to handle these guys, they will come in handy in the long run.
'Five minutes have passed, just need to wait out the next five to get out of here.... or should I? With these stats, I can win this whole thing. Then, should I continue?'
Hiro thought, arrogance and overconfidence seeping into his mind. Tho deep in thoughts, he didn't let his guard down and moved to side as a punch missed him by a hairs length.
Hiro spun, grabbed the extended arm and executed a shoulder throw, slamming him in the concrete floor. He then followed up with a punch straight to his face to knock him out but stopped at the man's shout.
"I-I GIVE UP!!!"
Hiro retracted his hand and instinctively checked his status.
[Name: kazuki hamada
LV: 13(387/1300)
Title: trickster
Age:28
HP: 1,440/1680
MP: 1,470/1,470
STR:55
SPD:43
END:56
SEN:83
INT:147
Grade: dormant ]
'Someone who uses his brain huh. He must have sensed the gap in our stats and decided to quit.'
Hiro thought, turning around and moving towards a different part of arena as the location he was at was starting to get exposed.
'Wait. I thought surrender wasn't-!!'
He didn't make it far as his [danger detection] activated. He tried to dodge but it was too late.
BANG!
Sound of a gun fire reverberated throughout the stadium as a hot searing pain ran through Hiro's system. A bullet went right through his calf, making him stumble and fall to knees.
He turned to see who it was and to his shock, it was kazuki, his mask was blue in color with green markings. It covered the lower half of his face but hiro can feel his smile through it.
"HAHAHAHA!!! YOU DUMBASS! JUST BECAUSE I SAID I SURRENDER, DID YOU ACTUALLY THINK I REALLY WOULD!?!? IN THIS PLACE THERE'S EITHER VICTORY OR DEATH AND YOU DECIDED TO LET ME LIVE!?!? YOU STUPID FOOL!!!! HAHAHAHA!!!!"
He yelled while walking towards hiro, causing the others other fighters to start laughing aswell. Which was something they shouldn't have.
Hiro's breathing quickened, the nightmare he saw began to play in his head over and over again. Kazuki reached and pointed his gun at the kneeling combatant.
Hiro began to hear it. Those words, the words that stuck to him like a curse.
'If you can't handle them civilly.'
"So long, fool."
Kazuki said, pulling back the trigger, ready to blow his brains out.... but suddenly.
'THEN JUST KILL THEM ALL!!!'
[Charge up activated]
CRUNCH!
SPLURT!
SPLAT!
In the blink of an eye, hiro's punch landed on kazuki's face before he could even react and the moment, his skull caved in before exploding, bone shards, blood and brain matter flew everywhere.
Hiro came to his senses and saw the headless body still standing for a few seconds before falling backwards.
"....what....have I...."
His eyes didn't leave the body. He raised his hand shakily and saw the pieces of brain still stuck to his hand and That was the final straw.
"Agh....Ahhh...AGHHHHHHHHHHH I KILLED HIM!!!!! I KILLED HIM!!!!!"
He began shouting while taking frantic steps backwards while griping his hair as tears streamed down his face.
[Player's mentality has shattered!]
[Player is going through a forced ascension!]
[Warning! Player's body is yet not ready!]
[Warning!....Player has failed in ascending. Player's grade has been currupted]
[Grade: Fallen]