DensityGodbyToraAKR
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MM - Chapter 60 - A FIRST FOR EVERYTHING
🕑 Added 2025-01-17 15:32:33 +0000 UTCOut of habit, Raine scanned the booth to make sure they hadn’t left anything. He opened the door for the girls and the three of them filed out to find the mayor waiting patiently in the luxuriously decorated hallway.
These booths are supposed to be anonymous, but obviously that's not the case. Romaxillions always had a stalwart reputation of defending their patrons’ identities. I doubt they’ll reveal mine any time soon. When I make a real splash, all bets are off. I’ll have to entice them with something so valuable they wouldn’t dare betray me.
The mayor dipped his head, “Cha-ahem, Expert KongRu. Your winnings.” A tight-stream communication zipped to his watch and Raine gave it the signal to display the details to his optic nerves. For defeating the previous champion, he’d earned a large house in one of the nicer parts of town, two gyms, and two dojos. Additionally, there was a paltry one-point-nine million credits.
He must have bankrupted himself fighting DyingNight. I should have made him include his virtual assets.
Raine sent the details to Celeste. She reviewed it, then looked up at him uncomprehendingly. He grunted a laugh, “You deal with this. Let me know if you have any issues.”
Her expression twisted and her words were tight with forced politeness, “Managing assets? I was hoping to join you in ZionLine.”
Raine frowned, remembering her reputation from the past all too well. He reminded himself that the family betrayal which pushed her down that dark path hadn’t happened yet. If he guided her in the right direction, there was nothing for him to fear, “What level are you?”
“Zero.” Her gaze fell to the floor as she trailed off.
Raine harrumphed, “Not a chance then. The stuff I’m fighting would kill you with a look.”
Mel chimed in, raising her hand, “Oh, I’m level zero too! Are you still in Mirror Lake Town?” Her exuberance faded in a flash. Her arm dropped and her shoulders slumped, “I can't play though. Some jerkface broke my headset.”
Seeing an opportunity to ingratiate herself, Celeste was quick to grab Mel’s hands in hers, “I have a spare headset if you want to use it, and yes, I’m still in Mirror Lake Town. My… house isn't a great place right now. Do you have access to a hyperlink?”
“Yes!” Mel jumped at the chance, her adorableness so blinding Celeste flinched. “I mean, the hotel I’m at doe-urk!” Celeste jerked her to the side of the hallway where they continued the conversation in hushed tones.
Raine sent a quick message to Morty, then faced the mayor fully, “I have a few minutes. What was on your mind earlier?”
“Thank you, Expert KongRu! I know there are two gyms now in your possession. I can assure you that Dimitrey’s disciples are quite loyal to him. I wouldn’t be surprised if both those locations were trashed, or even burnt down by the time you get there. If you’re interested, I could send over the corpus to keep an eye on things.”
“I don’t care about any of that,” Raine waved his hand as if dispelling a foul odor, “Just tell me what you want.”
Unused to Raine’s straightforward nature, the mayor stumbled over his words, “Uhh, well… I was hoping you would be interested in taking on a more official role as instructor in some of the city's more affluent dojos. And I assure you, the city would bend over backwards to meet any reasonable demands your master may have for allowing their teachings to be passed on.”
The mayor held his breath while Raine appraised his expression. The man didn’t appear to be lying, but politicians were more adept at the practice than anyone. Trusting his words without seeing his sincerity was out of the equation. On the other hand, there might be some worthwhile recruits hidden in obscurity among the city's dojos and he wouldn’t have long to poach them.
“I’ll take a look tomorrow. No promises.”
“Thank you very much, Expert KongRu! If it pleases you, Galant’s Gym is our most premier establishment with state of the art equipment, facilities, and staff.”
Raine wasn’t interested in what the mayor would consider state of the art, but he had to start somewhere, “Very well. I’ll begin my tour there.”
“You are most kind. I won’t take more of your time,” with a deeper bow than before, the man scurried off, rounding a corner out of sight.
The girls were waiting to the side, Mel quivering with excitement while Celeste wore a too-smug grin. Raine narrowed his eyes at them, then headed for the exit, “What did you two decide?”
They fell in line with him, drawing every eye as they navigated the short distance to the escalators. Mel jumped at the chance to speak, “The servers are still offline for a couple hours so we’re going to take a nap, meet up at the hotel, then play all night!”
Raine snorted, “Unnecessary.”
Their questions came at the same time, “What?”
“Why?”
Because after this content update, you'll be able to play while sleeping. Verbally, Raine responded with a simple, “You’ll find out soon.”
Mel once again spoke before Celeste, “O-oh. Okay. Well, I trust you.” She beamed up at him with one of her signature, overpowering smiles.
Celeste held in a snarl. [Opportunistic hussy sure is quick when she needs to be!]
“Does that mean you’re okay with me putting off organizing these assets until tomorrow?” Celeste angled to walk a little closer and her bare arm brushing against his suit.
“That's fine. You can meet me at Galant’s Gym in the morning.”
“Yes, master,” she drawled, “I don't have anything else in the whole world that might take my attention from waiting on you hand and foot.” [Can't let him suspect I know how much he made tonight.]
Mel hid a shit-eating grin behind a hand. Raine rolled his eyes at Celeste’s nonsense, “Cancel your other obligations. Or don't. If you want the benefits of working with me, you'll be where I tell you, when I tell you.”
She pulled her lips to the side as if in thought, “Hmm. I'm not averse to the benefits a champion can provide. You mentioned something about more credits than I could possibly imagine. You're going to have to offer more than words this time.”
Raine accessed his watch and sent her five million, “Consider it a sign-on bonus for what you told me earlier. Show me what you're capable of for a month, and we'll negotiate a salary.”
“That's more like it,” she purred, then leaned forward so she could see Mel around him, “I'll leave first and get the headsets. See you soon.” Celeste veered to the side toward a separate exit ramp, waving over her shoulder.
Mel called after her with a return wave, “Great! You're the best. No, you're Celeste the best! Bestest Celestest? That's not good enough either.” With the object of her praise out of sight, Mel squeezed Raine's arm, “You should be nicer to her.”
“If you say so,” his shrug earned him a scrunched face and a glimpse of her protruding tongue as it stuck out of her mouth.
***
The trip back to Mel's hotel was refreshing. Raine hadn’t felt truly at ease since waking up in his old, weak body. The launch of ZionLine, gaining an edge and keeping it, while struggling with imperfect ten year old memories and poverty had kept his stress levels tapped out, which wasn’t a bad thing. He thrived on the chaos and intensity.
Better yet, he wasn't weak anymore. His current physical body was certainly still inferior to his past self, but his brains improved functionality more than made up the difference. Anyone short of a grandmaster foolish enough to come looking for trouble would find it in spades. Froust—a man he never managed to beat in the past—had learned that the hard way. Others would certainly follow.
Personal strength aside, Raine had another reason for being over the moon. Mel’s constant cheer and goofiness were a level more exaggerated than he remembered from the past. Likely because this time, her cafe hadn’t been completely robbed from her.
A block away, she turned to him with a serious look, pink hair flying, “I don’t want to work for you.” She stated bluntly, a hint of fear in her eyes.
“Okay,” Raine easily agreed, curious where she was going with this.
“I… you’re not mad?” She tilted her head, searching his face for answers.
“Nope. Why would I be mad that you’re doing what you want? I assume you have a plan.”
She nodded vigorously, her excited grin creeping back, “I want to play ZionLine full time and make enough to rebuild dad’s cafe exactly as it was. I could probably get close with the creds I have now, but I don’t want to be broke again. It’s not a stupid idea is it?” She crossed her fingers, arms, and even her eyes, making a face that had him choking with laughter.
“No, not at all. It’s a great idea. You’ll make more this way than you would with the old cafe. You can design it from the ground up to support ZL,” Raine lowered his voice conspiratorially, leaning close enough that her breath caught, “My job offer was going to be in ZL anyway. You know, in case you change your mind.”
The hovoursine smoothly glided to a stop and Raine pulled away. He didn’t miss the disappointment on her face as he got out and walked around the long flying car. She stepped out slowly when he opened her door and took her hand. Raine’s eyes roamed over every deep shadow as he walked her to the door. She snuck repeated glances at his face, an unusual silence hanging over her.
They locked eyes and she nearly jumped out of her skin, eliciting a bark of laughter from Raine, “What’s gotten into you? If it’s about the job, I really don’t mind either way. I’d only be disappointed if you end up doing something you don’t want to do.”
She shook her head fiercely, “No, it’s not that. I-I’m nervous about… fighting! Yah, fighting in Zio-ZL. It was really painful last time. Do you have any tips?”
“Thousands, but nothing’s as important as being brave. If you can’t bring yourself to face your enemy and watch their every move, you might as well give up. I wouldn’t worry about that if I was you. I know you have what it takes.”
She did fine in the past. I know she can do it.
Somehow, Mel felt like she could feel his faith in her and the strength of it caused her eyes to moisten. [Face my fears. Be brave. Can someone like me really do that? I’m such a weenie that I’m terrified right now! Is this situation any different than facing down a monster? I made it through the tutorial, so I can make it through this, too! Don’t be a cant-aloupe, Melbell, be a can-alope!]
They reached the doors and Mel spun to face him. Raine’s brows hiked to his hairline when she grabbed his lapels and pulled herself up to kiss him. Her lips were hard, nervousness pulling her mouth tight. Raine leaned back, cupped her cheeks in his hands and started over. Slowly and methodically, he leaned down. Her eyes grew wider the closer he got, and when their lips met again, it was perfect.
She pulled away this time, blinking up at him with heated breaths, “H-ho-how about a more practical lesson? M-maybe you could show me one of your stances?”
[Ohmygosh that sounded so much worse out loud! I’m going to diiiiie.]
Raine’s face was stone as he refused to laugh, “I can think of one. I have to warn you though. It's a very… hard stance.”
Her heart skipped a full three beats as his words registered. Without making a sound, she grabbed his hand and pulled him inside. Raine, not satisfied with the pace of her short legs, scooped her into his arms. She squealed, the sound striking an instinctive chord in him that demanded his feet move even faster.
They reached the elevator in a flash, oblivious to the many eyes watching them. With her arms around his neck, Raine had no memory of the elevator ride or stumbling to her room, but he would never forget what came next.
***
Raine excused himself in time for Mel to clean up before Celeste arrived. He entered a regular taxi, an unquenchable smile plastered on his face.
Unfortunately, a short message from Morty dispelled his superlative mood, “Master, as you suspected, there are seven armored vehicles stationed two blocks from the house.”
“Perfect. You can come, but don't interfere unless I tell you to,” Raine rerouted his taxi, eagerly falling back into the mindset of a warrior.
“Are you sure? Thermal puts their numbers at over forty.”
“Positive. I've been itching for a decent fight since I woke up,” by the time Raine pulled up in front of the black, tinted vehicles, his mental state was perfectly primed for the release of internal force. His fitness wasn't quite ready to fully disable his mental limiters, but it was close.
Exiting, he stood in the middle of the street with his hands behind his back. Four doors on seven vehicles opened at once. Men and women wearing cheap suits piled out. They spread out in a fan-shaped formation.
Their leader—a man with a clean-shaven head—eyed Raine critically, “Mr. KongRu. Come quietly and I'm sure we can reach an equitable arrangement.”
Raine smiled softly, having examined each of their movements as they left their vehicles, “I'm afraid you're unqualified to make that claim. If Juan Pauel Luu Rahn were here in person, then I'd at least be willing to talk.”
Impressively, the man's face remained impassive as Raine easily guessed who sent them, “I wasn't asking, Mr. KongRu. You'll be joining us one way or another.”
Raine shook his head and slowly moved toward the man. All fifty of them bristled, growing more tense with each step he took, “Sadly for you, I'm new to town and need to set an example to those who come knocking at my door.”
As one, his assailants reached for weapons and Raine exploded into action. Internal force sent his body heat skyrocketing. He arrived before their leader as the man's hand reached the club at his belt. Raine's shou-dao strike caught him in the chest, the movement too quick for a current-day class three martial to stop. Despite wearing armor, his heart ruptured inside his chest. The sudden increase in pressure through his veins caused blood to gush from his eyes and nose.
Raine didn't see the results of his strike, he was already onto the third martial by the time the first realized he was dead. He ducked under the woman's machete, his reverse knife-hand chop blasted into the base of her skull. Fueled by internal force, the blow turned her brain to jelly and severed her spine.
She fell like a puppet whose strings had been cut. The next four died just as swiftly, their mundane weapons and abysmal speed leaving them helpless against his perfected body control and technique. From the corner of his eye, Raine spotted a flash of dark metal and his instincts screamed danger. He dove as an extremely illegal pistol released a high-pitched whine.
The flechette round (A buzzsaw shaped projectile) tore through air, cloth, flesh, and an armored car with deplorable ease. It finally stopped inside a nearby duracrete building after punching through several walls.
Sliding across the ground, Raine grabbed someone's leg and used it to redirect his momentum toward the gunman. A slap to the ground threw his weight two meters into the air, dodging the next shot. Nobody tried to get in his way as he reached the man. All of their expressions held horror that one of theirs had a weapon that would leave their entire city facing unimaginable consequences.
The gun shifted, allowing Raine to see straight down its barrel. His focus crystalized on the man’s fingers squeezing the trigger. All distractions faded away to nothing. Flesh twitched, and Raine sidestepped. His mastery over the martial technique was lacking compared to his use of it in ZionLine but it was close enough. He moved so fast he vanished from normal sight, appearing three steps to the side.
The gun whined as it released a flechette at four thousand meters per second, (over ten times faster than some old-age bullets.) While Raine could move his body faster than a normal person could imagine, the laws of physics could not be completely denied. His clothes trailed behind and the corner of his new jacket was struck.
The force yanked at his body, spinning him in a circle. He bent his knees as gravity brought him low. Fingers dug painfully into the ceraphalt street to slow his wild rotation. Leaning entirely on battle-honed instincts, Raine leaped. He spun through the air, his foot connecting with the side of the gunman’s head. The other half of his skull shattered, spraying gore across the ground.
The pistol clattered to the street. He didn’t dare touch the weapon. None of them did. Already, its appearance guaranteed that a grandmaster would be paying their insignificant city a visit. There wasn’t a sane person alive who wanted to consign their entire family to death by allowing its metal to graze their fingers.
“Morty, contact the mayor and the corpus,” Raine’s voice was dripping with threat as he returned his attention to the terrified assailants surrounding him, “Tell them I’ve killed the traitors of humanity. The VRVod of their execution will be arriving momentarily.”
Comments
Tristan
Can't aloupe loool
guillaume nguyen
If there are illegal guns, there should be legal ones too. Sure, they might not be useful agaisnt martials, but gun blazing has a romance ^^ We might even get some sci-fi ones too ^^
ImmerFertig
Damn, I am going to use this gun. Ah the traitor of humanity model, sorry you hate your life and family so much. Enjoy!
