Chapter 25: "This is Castration"
“Aaah… guh…”
The larger delinquent, knocked to the ground by Shoot, had dislocated his jaw, unable to speak.
(Wh-what kind of power is this!? More importantly, when that kid said ‘I’ll kill you’, I really thought I was going to die… What was that? He must have killed someone before… !?)
The delinquent’s body trembled with fear as he recalled the terrifying power. It felt like he'd had a scythe pressed against his throat. They only now realized that their target was a terrifying monster. They were trapped; there was no escape.
“S-senior’s down!?”
“No way!? He weighs over 100kg…?”
“Is that kid really a middle schooler!?”
The other delinquents were unsettled by the leader’s easy defeat, but they reminded themselves that their weapons still gave them an advantage.
“Don’t get cocky!!”
One delinquent swung his bat, charging at Shoot. Shoot sighed wearily but his eyes sharpened as he saw the delinquent throw the bat. He could easily dodge it, but he chose to take the hit.
“Take this, you little brat!!”
The delinquents attacked with bats and pipes. For five, ten seconds, the beating continued, but Shoot didn't cry out in pain or even grimace. In fact, the attackers were starting to tire.
“They’re experienced fighters. I didn’t expect them to throw their weapons.”
Shoot muttered inwardly. He could have predicted their actions with “Precognitive Vision,” but he didn't bother; he was completely toying with them.
Bored, Shoot caught a pipe with one hand, stopping a delinquent.
“…” (WHAP—)
He struck the pipe with his other fist.
CRACK!!
The pipe snapped in two. The delinquents froze. Shoot’s punch was too fast to see. If it had hit the delinquent’s wrist instead of the pipe, it would have been crushed.
GRAB! “Gugh… !?”
Shoot grabbed the delinquent’s chest, easily lifting him and throwing him like a javelin.
“Gyaaaaaaaaaaah—(THUD!) Gah…!”
The delinquent, unable to break his fall, crashed to the ground, convulsing. The remaining delinquents trembled with fear.
“Th-that’s not human…?”
“M-monster…!”
Some backed away, some collapsed, others struggled to hold their weapons. Their earlier bravado was gone.
“N-no way! We have to run!!”
“Run where!? Where are we!?”
“Find the exit!”
As the delinquents scattered, Shoot used lightning magic (at a stun gun level) to paralyze them.
“““““Ugh!? (N-numb…) (It hurts!?) (I can’t move!?) (H-help…)”””””
It was like a paralyzing spell in a game. Shoot, with a look of disdain, stood before a fallen delinquent.
“Ah… what…?”
The delinquent, unsure what would happen, looked up at Shoot. Shoot grabbed his collar, lifted him high, and slammed him to the ground.
THUD! “Guh… !?”
Shoot ensured the delinquent hit his back to avoid instant death. It was still a severe blow, causing him to gasp for air.
THUD! CRUNCH, THUD! “Guh!” “Ogh!”
The beating continued. Shoot dragged the delinquent up by the collar and slammed him to the ground repeatedly. His movements were like an insect struggling against insecticide.
“Kukuku…hahaha…”
Shoot chuckled. He found immense satisfaction in tormenting those he considered scum.
“P-please… stop…”
The delinquent, unable to endure the repeated impacts, convulsed, foaming at the mouth, and passed out.
“This is it! I wanted to treat scum like you as weak enemies in a game! This is so good, so good!!”
Shoot laughed uncontrollably. To the delinquents, it sounded like the laughter of a demon. The delinquent had several broken ribs and vertebrae; he wouldn't be able to get up, even if he regained consciousness.
Satisfied, Shoot moved to his next victim.
He picked up the fallen delinquents one by one, repeatedly slamming them to the ground until they were unconscious, their bones broken, foaming at the mouth.
Watching their comrades suffer, the remaining delinquents trembled, fearing the same fate.
“H-help!” “I’m sorry!” “I won’t do it again!” “P-please don’t kill me!” “No, no!!”
The notorious delinquents, who had often defied adults and bullied students, were begging for their lives before a single boy.
“U-aaah…!”
“I-I told you to stop!”
“W-what could we do!? The leader wanted to crush him after seeing us all beat up!”
Those who had been beaten before were paralyzed by fear. They trembled violently when Shoot looked at them.
“You thought bringing so many friends would give you a chance for revenge? All your buddies got beaten up, so what do you think now? Huh? What do you think?”
Shoot smiled cruelly, looking down on the three remaining delinquents, who could only tremble.
“We were wrong… We won’t do it again, we promise, please forgive us!”
“Huh? You brought all your friends, even smiling menacingly. You clearly planned to do the same to me, right? You intended to crush me from the start.”
“N-no, that’s not true! Our seniors told us to get you! They saw us get beaten up and wanted revenge!”
The blond frantically explained. The others nodded in agreement.
“You’re lying.”
Shoot dismissed their words as lies.
“N-no, it’s not a lie!?”
“See? You’re contradicting yourself.”
Pointing, Shoot accused them, not out of certainty but pure guesswork. He was conducting a witch hunt, assuming their words were lies and excuses.
“P-please believe us!”
“That’s right! I was bullied at school. No matter how many times I told the teachers, no one believed me. I was always reminded how unjust it was. And now you’re experiencing the same injustice, do you understand?”
Shoot continued, his tone strange. The delinquents were completely bewildered. Their words were actually lies; as Shoot had pointed out, they’d asked their seniors to get him.
(Hm…? Skill ‘Discernment’: I can see through lies?)
Acquiring a new skill by inadvertently recognizing their lies. But this wasn’t the other world. Shoot wondered about this.
(Will I gain skills by doing things here too? Lucky me.)
He turned back to the delinquents, grabbing the blond's arm.
“Eh…? Wh-what are you doing?”
“I told you repeatedly. I’ll break your limbs, making sure you can never go out again—”
CRUNCH… “~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!!!”
Without warning, he twisted the arm, shattering the bones. The blond delinquent screamed.
“Aaah! Aaaaaah!!”
But the torture didn't end there. Shoot mercilessly stomped on the blond’s leg, crushing the bones.
“Gyaaaaaaaaaah…”
The blond delinquent, his arm and leg broken, was looked down upon with disdain. The other two wondered why he was doing this.
“Why? This is ‘castration.’ To prevent scum like you from hurting anyone ever again, I’ll break your limbs, making you unable to walk or hold anything, ensuring you never leave the house.”
Hearing Shoot’s statement, all the delinquents froze in horror.