To snap Yuuki Asuna out of her lovestruck spiral and get to the point, Hojo Yoru could only explain—rarely serious for once.
"I didn't do anything weird to your gym clothes. Stop imagining I'm that repressed."
Asuna came back to herself, noncommittal.
"O… okay."
Hojo tilted his head.
"Why do I get the feeling you're relieved… but also kind of disappointed?"
"W-Who's disappointed?!" Asuna exploded, cheeks flaming. "Stop saying perverted nonsense!"
Watching her turn beet-red again, Hojo decided he'd teased this pure-hearted girl enough. Satisfied, he sat down, opened his laptop, and pointed at the screen.
"This is intel from the Ghoul Countermeasure Bureau."
Asuna picked up the laptop and set it on her pale thighs, carefully reading the file. Her brows knit.
"A construction site that stopped halfway because the funding chain collapsed…? Don't tell me we're going again in the middle of the night…"
Hojo replied bluntly.
"No kidding. Go tell the ghouls to start eating people in broad daylight—then we can go in daylight too. What do you think this is, a school trip? Picking a sunny day with clear skies?"
Asuna couldn't refute him. She sighed.
She really did hate places like that—dark, eerie. Especially after Hojo told her ghosts actually existed in this world, she'd been even more scared.
But if it was an operation, then it was an operation.
"I… what do I need to do?"
Hojo took out a handgun and handed it to her, sounding casual.
"This is a bureau-issued firearm. It's loaded with special rounds that can punch through RC-cell defenses."
"Huh? You want me to use it?"
Asuna accepted the handgun hesitantly.
"But you fight up close, and my aim is basically nonexistent. What if I accidentally hit you—"
"Doesn't matter," Hojo waved it off. "Shoot however you want. Even if you hit me, it's fine."
He said it so nonchalantly that Asuna didn't even know what expression she was supposed to make.
"Ghouls feel pain. I don't. Even if you spray wildly and tag both me and the ghoul, we still come out ahead."
Asuna stared.
There was… a tactic like that?
So he wasn't trusting her marksmanship—he was trusting his own pain tolerance?
Seriously… this guy's willpower was so strong it bordered on deranged.
"Then what about my ability?"
"Your Silver Chariot?"
"I've told you a hundred times—my ability is called the Throne of Swords!"
"Sure, sure. Sword Chariot."
Hojo sounded like he didn't want to waste time on naming disputes and cut straight to it.
"Tonight's plan is simple. If we run into ghouls, shoot if you want, use your ability if you want—do whatever you think is right. Don't try to 'coordinate' with me. The stat gap between us is too big; you can't even force a workable sync. So I'll adjust down to you."
Asuna didn't argue. She nodded obediently.
"Okay. I understand."
Asuna was competitive by nature, but trying to posture on something this obvious would just be idiocy.
"Whew…"
She took a deep breath to steady her nerves, then looked at Hojo with determination.
"Don't worry. Tonight, I'll give it everything I've got."
Hojo's expression turned complicated.
"Next time, don't say lines that are that easy to misunderstand, okay, Miss Asuna?"
…
Late that night—nearly midnight—inside the construction site.
"Oh, don't be in such a hurry."
A woman dressed flashily—tight skirt, heavy makeup—was half-resisting, half-encouraging as she pushed at the man beside her. The man reeked of alcohol, wearing a lecherous grin that didn't even bother hiding its intent.
"You're really something," he laughed. "First time doing hostess work and you're already going out, and you even brought me somewhere this exciting. Next time I come, I'm picking you again."
As he spoke, he pinned her against the wall, kissing sloppily while fumbling at his belt.
"I can't wait. Forget going inside—let's do it right here."
"Too bad."
In that instant, the hostess's smile twisted—from sultry and inviting into a murderous snarl. Her eyes turned into black-and-red kakugan.
"There won't be a next time."
The ghoul—disguised as a hostess—grabbed the man by the throat, licked her lips, ready to feed.
And then—
BANG!
A huge impact sounded in the distance. The hostess-ghoul flinched so hard her whole body jolted. When she looked over, she saw a figure rising through the slowly settling dust—
A teenage boy in a black tracksuit, handsome as hell, landing in the most textbook superhero pose imaginable. He rose from a kneel with deliberate calm.
"A dove…? No—another ghoul?"
She froze for a beat, then her expression sharpened into wariness.
She didn't know how high he'd jumped from, but the sound alone told her everything: his strength and physical capacity were above hers.
Had she run into one of those monsters who enjoyed cannibalizing their own kind?
"Y-You—"
"Hold on," Hojo said, lifting a hand to stop her. "Shut up for a second."
Instead of paying her any attention, he glanced up at the sky as if waiting for something.
About ten seconds passed.
And then the hostess-ghoul saw something so absurd she almost wondered if the booze in the man's blood had somehow infected her too—because this looked like a hallucination.
"Ugh—this is so hard…"
A cute girl in a white tracksuit—flaxen hair tied into a high ponytail—was descending on a metal longsword, feet planted on the blade like a platform.
On paper it sounded graceful.
In reality, her arms were flung out, her body wobbling desperately as she fought to keep her balance. Less "cool and heroic," more "little kid on a balance beam"—the kind of clumsy that was honestly adorable.
"You're slow," Hojo complained.
Asuna finally made it down and rolled her eyes at him.
"Of course you're fast—you just jumped. If I slip and fall from twenty meters up, I'm dead. Even taking an elevator wouldn't beat your freefall!"
This was a new technique Asuna had developed—on Hojo's suggestion.
Sword-riding flight…
At her current speed and responsiveness, it was less "flight" and more "sword-riding crawl."
Even so, pulling it off in this short a time still proved just how insane her reflexes and balance were.
"D-Don't come closer!"
The hostess-ghoul didn't understand what she was seeing, but she clenched her jaw and yanked the drunk man in front of her as a human shield, bluffing with shaky ferocity.
"Come any closer and I'll kill this human!"
What she didn't expect—
was Hojo Yoru smiling like her threat was the least interesting thing he'd heard all day.
"Go ahead," he said lightly.
"Honestly… no one cares."
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 120)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 100)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 100)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter89)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter86)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter63)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter75)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 53
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 57
From Junkman to Wasteland 35
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 26
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