Chapter 1

For the very first time in my life, I was standing on the brink of death.

It all started over something trivial.

Whether I had given someone a glare in a downtown alley or not—some utterly meaningless thing like that.

Normally, I would have just bowed apologetically and let it go, but I was a little different that day.

To explain, the sheer frustration had piled up endlessly because my boss had blamed me unreasonably earlier that day just because of a subordinate who was only good at cutting corners, the female coworker I had a crush on had witnessed it, and to top it all off, I was forced to bow on my knees in front of all the employees even though I did nothing wrong.

So, instead of shrinking away from the intimidating man, I actually talked back to him.

As a result—

I was dragged off to a deserted park at night and beaten to a pulp.

There were two couples around, but when they saw me bleeding, they scattered like rats leaving a sinking ship.

“Hey!”

“Gofh…!”

My bones might have been broken from being beaten so much.

Still, the man didn’t stop.

“Die, you bastard!”

“Buhah…!”

I had already cried and apologized multiple times because of the sheer pain.

Yet the man still wouldn’t stop.

“Drop dead, damn you!”

“S-Save m—agh…!”

Therefore, what happened to the man afterward could only be described as getting what he deserved.

Having my jaw dislocated while getting beaten made it impossible even to scream, so I endured the pain all over my body and desperately tried to run.

I ran with all my might on battered, wobbly legs.

But the man chased after me persistently.

My legs got tangled, and I collapsed onto the ground.

“I’m seriously going to kill you!”

“…!”

He was genuinely going to kill me. The moment I thought that, I noticed a softball-sized stone lying right within reach.

I grabbed it and hurled it recklessly at the man.

Thud.

A dull sound echoed as the man fell backward, sprawling out flat on his back.

He didn’t even twitch.

“D-Did I d-do it…?”

I meant to ask if I had done it, but my mouth wouldn’t move properly, so I couldn’t pronounce the words.

There was no guarantee the man wouldn’t wake up at any second.

I poured strength into my trembling limbs and tried to stand up… exactly at that moment.

Tetetetetetette-n!

A cheerful sound effect that felt completely out of place with the current situation resounded inside my head.

“W-What in the…”

What was that sound?

Where did it come from?

Then, an electronic voice played.

‘By killing Goda Shinichi, Onitsuka Yamato’s level has increased by 1.’

“Eh…?”

Killed…?

‘Max HP increased by 2, Max MP increased by 2, Strength increased by 1, Defense increased by 1, and Agility increased by 1.’

I looked around, but I couldn’t tell where the sound was coming from.

Even when I covered my ears, the voice kept ringing out as if it were speaking directly into my mind.

‘Onitsuka Yamato has learned the spell Ku-fu-i-ka.’

“Wha…?”

This made no sense.

What on earth was this voice I was hearing right now?

It said I killed him, but…?

Staggering as I stood up, I looked down at the man.

It looked like he might be bleeding from the head, but it was too dark to tell for sure.

…Anyway, I needed to get away from here.

Thinking that, but still bothered by the mysterious voice that said ‘Onitsuka Yamato has killed Goda Shinichi,’ I walked close to the fallen man’s face and squatted down.

I held my hand over the man’s mouth and then pressed it against his neck.

‘…H-He’s n-not brea—’

The man wasn’t breathing, and his pulse had stopped, too.

He had completely turned into a corpse.

…I stood frozen in front of the man’s dead body for a moment, but the sound of a siren coming from somewhere brought me back to my senses. Dragging my battered body, I immediately fled the scene.

Returning to my apartment, I collapsed straight onto my bed.

I wanted to go to the hospital, but it was only a matter of time before that man’s dead body was found.

When that happened, the police would undoubtedly launch a thorough investigation to find the killer.

From my perspective, it was self-defense, but there was no guarantee it wouldn’t be considered excessive force.

If things came to that, I would instantly transform from a victim into a criminal.

That was why going to the hospital felt dangerous.

About ten minutes later, when the pounding of my chest calmed down, I used my own hands to push my dislocated jaw back into place.

“Agaaa… gah!”

It hurt like hell, but at least that gave me some peace of mind.

Now I just had to hope my ribs weren’t broken.

“It hurts, hurts… Damn it. That guy really beat the crap out of me…”

When I went to the bathroom, I took off my bloodstained dress shirt and stripped down to bare skin.

Reddish-purple blotches covered my entire body reflected in the mirror.

Gazing at them, I once again realized that what had happened to me was real.

“Damn it, everything’s a mess because of that guy… Damn it.”

Lacking the physical and mental energy to take a bath, I just washed my blood-spattered face and collapsed onto the bed naked once more.

And then, I fell into a sleep as deep as death.