Chapter 316: By Hook or by Crook
Though the woman’s face remained in shock even as I split it in two and mana drifted from it, it quickly transford into that of an unfamiliar woman’s, while I swung back with the sword to cut down the man posturing as my father and then my forr colleagues. Only Tabuchi-kun managed to evade the sword with his ghostly movents and retreat to the entrance.
“Why?” [???]
He called out to , but unlike the voice that was familiar until just awhile ago, what called out to was that of a hoarse voice of an old man. He also no longer looked at as a junior looking at his senior and was instead glaring sharply at .
In the illusion just now, I’ve been released from our company, and I was able to reconcile with my old peers, even being recognized by them. My parents were there too. Evidently, it was ant to pacify . Were this during the ti when I’d just gotten to this world, it might have worked, but it’s too late now.
“Why didn’t the illusion work?” [???]
“It did. Everything was exactly as it was in my mory. I was really surprised.” [Ryouma]
However, despite the effectiveness, it just felt unpleasant. It was my first ti seeing my late mother used without consent, and it was not a pleasant feeling.
“!?” [???]
He must have sensed my anger, as the sothing before that looked like Tabuchi-kun twisted its expression before disappearing, then the world changed, and I found myself in a dark long corridor made of stones that slled of the damp air of the forest. It seed as though I’ve been brought back to reality, but…
“It looks like it hasn’t completely disappeared.” [Ryouma]
I still looked like Takebayashi Ryouma, and my weapon was again a business bag, but as long as I know the position and length of my own weapon, I can wield it just fine.
…This mansion was originally built for the first-generation village chief of Corni village, who was related to the feudal lord. It served not only as a private residence but also as a docunt storage room and a eting place. It was later temporarily lent as a base for the developnt of the forest, and facilities such as barracks and warehouses were built around it. However, due to the worsening situation, the base had to be made smaller, and eventually, the facilities centered around the house were integrated, resulting in its current form. The forr village chief’s residence still existed as a separate building at the center of the mansion. It is also the base of the monster I’m to hunt.
“I thought I’d be able to get in if I just remained quiet, but…” [Ryouma]
Well, there’s no point regretting. From I know, the enemy will be very close as soon as I cross the corridor. In fact, when I tried to advance, the scenery changed again. This ti it was the office. My forr workplace. What’s the point of showing this?
“Takebayashi!!” [Section Chief]
“…The section chief?” [Ryouma]
“What’s with that attitude!?” [Section Chief]
The section chief appeared before , but neither of us were even the slightest bit nostalgic about his appearance. My current attitude might be considered bad in my past life, while he was still the sa person that would boil over like a kettle in an instant. The greasy shine of his bald head, his shaking belly upon yelling… The monster did a good job recreating him.
“What are you looking at!? You worthless trash! Stop slacking and get to work already!” [Section Chief]
He yelled and slamd a bundle of docunts on my desk. There was enough to require overti, but that was normal in our office.
“Quit slackin’ and sit down already!” [Section Chief]
He reached out to force to sit down, so I punched him in the stomach, and he collapsed, sounding like so flattened frog.
“How could you punch?” [???]
That sa voice from before called out again, and the section chief disappeared, while the scenery changed again. This ti it was in the hallway of the company, in front of the tea room. Inside the open door, there were two young female employees.
“Ugh, I’m tired. Seriously, that middle-aged Takebayashi is such a pain.” [Female Worker 1]
“I know right! He criticizes our nails and makeup when he doesn’t know anything about that sort of stuff. He’s even worse than the section chief, since at least that guy just keeps quiet.” [Female Worker 2]
“True, true~ It takes ti to put on makeup, and it could smudge, so it shouldn’t be a problem to put it on at work, right?” [Female Worker 1]
Oh, I rember this. It’s not that doing makeup is bad, but I told them it would be better to have a business-appropriate look during work hours. Moreover, doing your makeup 30 minutes after the start of the job, then not returning for two hours is actually spending too much ti. Not to ntion, repeating the sa thing 30 minutes later and again until the end of the day.
“Doesn’t this count as workplace harassnt? Can we fire him if we complain?” [Female Worker 2]
“Yeah, that might be possible.” [Female Worker 1]
“Nope.” [Ryouma]
I stepped forward and cut their heads off.
“How can you cut?” [???]
“How can you…” [???]
The fallen heads asked that like a pair of speakers, then everything disappeared.
I’m the one who should be asking questions here. They don’t attack, they don’t ensnare… The Tabuchi-kun and my mother from earlier still made sense actually, since at least they were trying to trap , but these two just now just pissed off. What is with this harassnt? Why show such things? Though not knowing that makes it creepy too, I guess.
“Hey! Do this too! Be sure to have it finished by tomorrow morning!” [Section Chief]
“Ugh, that person is being scolded by the section chief again. How old is that guy anyway? He’s almost 40 already, isn’t he? Yet he’s still so incompetent. What a waste of life. It’s because all he can do is follow orders that he gets treated like that.” [Officemate 1]
“Does he enjoy that kind of life? I don’t get it.” [Officemate 2]
“We should teach him to be more like us and be more successful. We’ll be inheriting our parents’ companies in the future too, so it’s only fitting that we be able to turn a useless employee into a competent one.” [Officemate 1]
“Nah, it’s not worth it. In the first place, he’s too old, so I doubt he’d be willing to listen. Though just because soone’s young, doesn’t an they’ll listen to what you say either. If we’re going to waste our ti teaching and working, we might as well just pick soone who could produce a decent profit right from the start.” [Officemate 2]
Unpleasant mories poured into my brain like a dam breaking, resonating with the floor, ceiling, and walls, as the undead grew like mushrooms from all over the place. The surrounding scenery changed again.
“Sensei! I don’t want to be in the sa group as Takebayashi-kun!” [Student 1]
“You’re such a nuisance. You make everyone unhappy whenever you’re around.” {Student 2]
“Takebayashi-san, why are you the only one who’s healthy when there are so many people getting sick and leaving? Are you not working properly? Are you just making others work while you slack off? That’s not good, not good at all. So, from this month onwards, you’ll have to work three tis as hard as before.” [Boss]
“Excuse , we received a report from the neighbors. Could you accompany us to the station?” [Police]
“Hey, do you think you’re a human being who can talk to others as equals? Don’t get ahead of yourself.” [Friend]
“Does your life even have any worth?” [Friend 2]
“Takebayashi-kun, people need to experience setbacks. When you’re young, people say you should struggle even if you have to pay for it, right? Setbacks make people ntally and physically stronger. That’s why as your horoom teacher, no matter how hard you work or how good your grades are on tests, I will never approve of you. It’s out of love for you that I crush your young spirit with a heavy heart, turning you away even if you put in three tis the effort. Naturally, you understand, right?” [Teacher]
One mory after another attacked as a storm of abusive language assaulted . It was to the point where the conversations didn’t even connect. Of course, I could still understand the words, but trying to comprehend the unreasonable demands was just too exhausting.
“Annoying.” [Ryouma]
That was all I said in response as I cut off all the humanoid figures approaching . One, two, three, four… There was no need to recognize their faces. Without giving them a chance to speak, I simply eliminated all my enemies as soon as they appeared. I felt the mana and swung my sword in response to the enemy’s movents, and gradually, the surrounding noise grew distant.
The martial arts that were useless in my past life was now helping . Back then, people just used it to mock and ask if I was still in my middle-school-sickness phase, but to be honest, I didn’t really like it. I continued training until death, perhaps because I wanted to imrse myself in the act of moving my body. After all, I could forget all my problems as long as I focused on my training. It was a form of escapism.
“…”
But even as I stop my thoughts, my body doesn’t slow down in the slightest. Soon, the weariness from the illusions ceased, and my movents grew sharper.
“How!?” [???]
“How can you move!?” [???]
“You shouldn’t have been able to do anything!?” [???]
I could hear all sorts of screams, from the hoarse to the childlike to the feminine—all of them were unmistakably the cries of that monster. At last, I understood. It wasn’t showing these things to harass or provoke . Everything until now was a reproduction of all the unpleasant things from my mories. At first, it might have altered them to suit my desires, but everything nonetheless ca from my mories. In other words, the monster was likely reading my thoughts and mories to create its illusions.
If so, then I probably did feel that way in my past life. After all, I really was powerless back then in the sense that I never retaliated no matter how angry I got. The only exception would be when I thought my life was at stake, but otherwise, I never raised my hand against anyone. I didn’t think I could have offered any aningful retort even when soone hurled vulgar abuse at , so I was essentially in a punching bag state.
If the supervisor dumped work on , I quietly worked on it, and if a woman gossiped about in the break room, I would discreetly turn away. It seed like the others believed I wouldn’t retaliate even if they freely spewed insults. So, the monster must’ve read my mories and thought that I would similarly be unable to do anything if he brought up those mories. Did I get that right?
“G-Guu…” [Monster]
“Looks like I’m right.” [Ryouma]
“—!!” [Monster]
“Hmm?” [Ryouma]
When I was sure that I’d gotten it right, the scenery changed again. This ti, it was the dojo where I spent my childhood. My father appeared in his martial arts uniform and wielded a wooden sword. He appeared at the center and silently swung down with his word. It was a strike aid at the top of my head, just like when I cut down that sothing resembling my mother.
I imdiately deflected it and took a step, only to find a hilt right against my throat, so I took half a step back to open up my body, and as our arms passed each other, found our blades on each others throats, only for it to be swatted away at the last mont.
“This won’t do.” [Ryouma]
The movents were exactly those of my father, as they existed in my mories. In other words, it ant that he was using the sa techniques, the sa forms as .
“Is that all?” [Father]
Amidst the swordplay, I could hear my father’s disappointed mutter, just like those days, and my father grew in size. No, I’d rely returned to my form when I was a child. I was dressed in a gi and had a wooden sword in hand.
My father wore a face as though he was teaching out of duty. He seed fed up. Considering how this was recreated from my mories, perhaps he did have such an expression on him back then.
“An overly accurate reenactnt.” [Ryouma]
I softly received the sword thrust towards my heart, deftly unwound it in a circular motion to break it apart, and then slid the blade smoothly towards his neck. The sensation of the blade passing through flesh and neck bones without resistance, yet decisively, lingered as my father’s figure disappeared.
Being overwheld at the dojo was rely a story from my childhood. If the power dynamics of that ti were faithfully recreated, I would have been defeated without even realizing the state of the hallucination. I’ve been training and fighting for more than 20 years after my father passed, so what I felt was really just discomfort. He couldn’t possibly pose a threat.
“Alright, you’ve pestered enough. Show your face!” [Ryouma]
With all my strength, I swung down my sword at the dojo wall, and the scenery returned to reality. In front of was the door leading to the main building. I could catch a glimpse of what lay beyond the door through the deep sword scars engraved on its surface, but of course, it was unnecessary.
The door opened with a rough sound to reveal a spacious hall. In the back could be found an emaciated old man resembling a skeleton, while a mix of familiar and unfamiliar faces, a multitude of undead, stood ready to serve and confront.
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