Amidst the men’s contemptuous and mocking gazes, Natsuki Subaru was sizing them up in return.

They looked to be in their mid-twenties, dressed in shabby clothes, with a wickedness that practically radiated from their faces. They didn’t seem to be Subhumans, but they definitely weren’t good people either.

“Crap, a forced event is happening!”

Facing the men who wore thin smirks, Subaru wiped his face and hurriedly stood up.

Clearly, they were thieves—besides, based on the world setting, there was a possibility of losing not just belongings but even lives.

This was Mission 1: “Repel the Thieves.” The clear condition was the annihilation of the enemies, and the loss condition was Subaru’s death.

A shiver ran down his spine, but Subaru slapped his cheek to ignore it.

The best course of action right now was to stand his ground; hesitating could cost him his life. He had confidence in his decisiveness.

“Besides, I got summoned to another world. If I follow the usual ‘I’m a badass’ pattern, I might actually be super strong in this world. I could feel like gravity is one-tenth of my original world… If I think like that, my body feels lighter! I might actually pull this off!”

“He’s mumbling about something.”

“Looks like he has no clue what’s going on. We should just tell him.”

While Subaru’s spirits were rising, the men reacted coldly.

But Subaru, undeterred by their attitudes, puffed out his chest and proclaimed,

“Hey, being overconfident won’t last long. Just so you know, getting cornered by punks in an alley is the kind of scenario I daydream about. I’ll take you all down, and that’ll be my fuel for tomorrow—experience points, baby!”

“What the hell are you babbling about? I get that you’re mocking us. I’m going to smash you!”

“Now, that’s my line!”

With that declaration, Subaru launched his preemptive strike before the men could move.

He dashed in, throwing a powerful right hook straight at the face of the lead thug, landing a direct hit that caused blood to spurt from the man’s front teeth.

—It felt exhilarating! It hurt more than I expected for the one doing the hitting!

While he had rehearsed this in simulations, it was his first time actually doing it.

The man he punched collapsed to the ground, unmoving. In an emotional outburst, Subaru lunged at another man who had been taken by surprise.

“Take this! A high kick made possible by post-bath stretching!”

“Guh!”

His foot arched perfectly and struck the side of the man’s head, slamming him against the wall and leaving him in agony.

Subaru’s surprisingly successful fighting style was transforming “I’m unbeatable” into confidence within him.

“So I really am strong in this world! My adrenaline is pumping, I’m definitely going to win—!”

With renewed vigor, Subaru turned around, ready to take down the last man, but as he bent down, he saw a glint of a knife in the last man’s hand.

In that instant, his body sank lower, and—

“I’m so sorry! I was completely wrong! Please, just spare my life—!”

He threw himself to the ground, performing a dogeza. It was the greatest yet sincerest gesture of surrender.

The excitement he had just moments before evaporated as he felt the blood drain from his body, desperately rubbing his forehead against the ground to ask for mercy.

Because a blade was just too much. If I get stabbed, that’s the end of me, and I don’t have skills to handle a knife-wielding opponent.

When he realized the two men he thought he’d downed had already recovered, each nursing their bleeding faces and shaking their dizziness off, it hit him harder.

“Wait!? Why did my ‘unbeatable’ attack deal such tiny damage!? What happened to the tropes of being summoned!?”

“What’s with this nonsense? You really think you can just play around with us!?”

His forehead was stomped, scraping against the ground and drawing blood.

Kicks started to rain down on his curled-up body as he became an easy target—a hailstorm of blows.

—Man, this hurts like hell. I might actually die, and I mean it.

The gang showed no mercy. Plus, unlike back in my original world, there’s no guarantee these thugs wouldn’t take my life. The possibility of being painfully killed was very real.

Should I just go all out in a desperate final stand? Before taking damage, that would have made sense, but now, nearing a critical injury, even landing a blow seemed uncertain. Dying right here was equally impossible.

“Don’t move, idiot!”

“Gah! Ouch, ouch, ouch!!”

He tried to get up, but his palms were stomped down now, only producing screams of pain.

He saw the guy with the knife sneering in anger, his face flushed red as he reversed his grip on the weapon.

“I’ll make sure you can’t move and then strip you down. Don’t mess with me!”

“Uhhh, if you’re after money, this is honestly a waste of time. I’m completely broke…!”

“Then anything you have—your worn-out clothes or shoes, doesn’t matter. You’ll become food for the big rats in this alley.”

Oh, so there are rats in this world too, like some low-level monster.

Faced with the gleaming knife that looked ready to slash, such escapist thoughts drifted through his mind.

There were no vivid memories flashing before his eyes. No slow-motion effects distorting the world around him.

It was just like a string snapping, bringing everything to an abrupt end—until that moment.

“Hey, move out of the way!”

A panicked voice echoed in the alley as someone rushed in.

Subaru’s body froze in the same moment that the men looked startled, and he lifted his gaze with what movement he could muster.

A girl dashed past him.

A petite girl with shoulder-length blonde hair swayed as she ran.

Her strong-willed eyes gleamed mischievously, revealing a hint of her canines. Though she had a cheeky look, she could also be adorable for her age.

The girl, dressed in shabby clothes, had just stumbled upon a scene of impending robbery and murder.

Seemingly right on cue, a sliver of hope in Subaru’s heart did a victory dance.

Yes! This was the turning point he had been waiting for! Surely, this girl would have a heroic spirit and save his faint flicker of life before it went out—!

“Wow, this place is wild, but sorry! I’m busy! Stay strong!”

“Wait, what!? Seriously!?!”

But alas, that hope shattered like glass.

The girl exchanged a brief look with Subaru and waved her hand apologetically, barreling into the narrow alley without losing speed, slipping past the men as if they weren’t even there.

She kicked off a board propped against a dead end and gripped the wall’s ledge, disappearing onto the roof in an instant.

As the girl vanished from sight, silence fell over the scene.

She had passed through like a typhoon, leaving everyone, including Subaru, stunned, but one thing remained unchanged: his perilous situation.

“Did that just suck the air out of the situation? Am I somehow changing vibes here!?”

“More like you’ve made it worse. Don’t think you’ll go easily.”

The knife-wielding man’s eyes glinted viciously, and this time, Subaru thought it was truly over.

His hands were still pinned down, and he was just a beat too slow to stand.

Naturally, resignation began to dominate his thoughts.

Was this how it was going to end? Without having done anything in this place?

It was hard to argue he had lived a normal life, but still, facing such a cruel end was just too horrific. If someone were to ask what he did to deserve this, they’d probably say he did nothing at all, leading to a meaningless fate.

It wasn’t pain.

Something else made tears swell in his eyes.

He wasn’t scared of dying or worried about the end; it wasn’t on that level.

He just couldn’t bear to end it all, leaving behind nothing but emptiness.

“—That’s enough, villains!”

The voice suppressed the chaos of the crowd, the men’s crude jeers, and even Subaru’s heavy breathing, resounding through the alley.

 

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