Several minutes passed since Shoot and the delinquents had been transported to the other space. All the delinquents, nearly ten of them, had suffered greatly.

“It… hurts… ugh…” “My arms… legs… I can’t move…” “My fingers… all… bent… in weird directions…” “Help…!” “D-demon… he’s a demon…”

One had all his toes broken, another had his fingers crushed, another had his leg tendons severed, another had bones protruding from his arms and legs, and another’s hands were unusable because of severed tendons.

Shoot had systematically broken all their limbs. Despite this, they remained conscious—or rather, unfortunately. They were all in excruciating pain from their injuries.

“Whew~. Took a while with ten people. I think I broke everyone properly.”

Nodding with satisfaction, Shoot approached the larger delinquent. He’d learned from the three delinquents he'd previously encountered that this man was the leader.

“…!” “…!”

“Ah, you can’t talk? Oh well. I’m not going to kill you. I don’t hate you enough to kill you. I just think you’re annoying and unnecessary.”

“…”

The larger delinquent, unable to move, stared at Shoot with terrified eyes.

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to keep you locked up. I’ll leave you all in front of a hospital. You’ll probably be in a wheelchair for several months, so have fun with that.”

Finally, Shoot addressed them all.

“If you show up in front of me after your injuries heal… I’ll do the same thing again. Whether you extorted money or hurt people—I’ll break you.

If you don’t want that, stay home after you recover. Then you won’t have to suffer like this again.”

The delinquents’ faces fell; their torment wasn’t over.

“You can tell someone about this, the hospital staff, the police.

If they believe the words of scum like you, that is.”

A person who remained unfazed by being beaten with a pipe, someone who effortlessly lifted a high schooler and threw him like a javelin, someone who kidnapped them to another space. These were incredible claims.

The fact that the witnesses were delinquents further undermined their credibility. Adults wouldn't easily believe them, regardless of how many witnesses there were.

“If they don’t believe you, that’s… ‘injustice’, isn’t it?”

Shoot sneered, looking down at them.

———

Having finished with the delinquents, Shoot teleported them to a hospital and left them there.

“Good. A nice warm-up before my revenge on Nakazato. I’ve gotten the hang of controlling my strength. I can really make them suffer without killing them.”

He nodded contentedly, returning to his usual route to school. The delinquents were hospitalized, diagnosed with injuries requiring months of rehabilitation, and would be confined to wheelchairs.

After recovering, they stayed home, fearing Shoot. Their families said they lived in constant fear. No one believed their story.

Shoot had expected to be late due to his time in the other space, but his phone showed that little time had passed. Time seemed to stop in other spaces, as well as other worlds. It wasn’t a complete stop; time slowed significantly, roughly ten minutes having passed.

Knowing that he was running short on time, he took the train to school, foregoing "Spatial Transfer." He wanted to see people’s reactions to his changed appearance.

“Wow… there’s a super handsome guy.” “He’s in a uniform, so he’s a high schooler?” “Wait, isn’t that the uniform from that prestigious private middle school?” “Eh!? That kid’s a middle schooler? You can’t tell!” “His clothes are way too big. Maybe he’s a transfer student who ordered the wrong size?”

Curious eyes were on Shoot on the train, mostly women, some visibly captivated by his appearance.

(I’m getting attention… I really do look handsome now.)

Shoot had never attracted this kind of attention before, finding it both novel and unsettling.

The attention intensified as he approached the station, especially once other middle schoolers boarded; everyone was surprised to see him.

“Eh, who’s this guy?” “Have I ever seen him before?” “He looks like a transfer student.” “His clothes are way too big.” “But he’s handsome, isn’t he?”

The curious and suspicious stares continued as he left the station, walked towards school, and passed through the school gates. Even the teacher on gate duty looked at him questioningly.

(I haven’t seen anyone I know… my classmates. It’s almost time for school, so they’re probably already in class. Heh… I wonder what their reaction will be.)

Excited, Shoot entered the school building, preparing to change into his indoor shoes, when he noticed something in his locker. Several crumpled pieces of paper, candy wrappers, and discarded chewing gum were stuffed inside.

“…This school really is full of trash.”

His indoor shoes had several holes, seemingly made by tacks, and defamatory graffiti was written on them. Among them was the phrase, "Stalker."

“So that’s it. Some people believed Itakura’s lies and did this.”

It seemed like two weeks ago to Shoot, but it had been only three days in the real world. Itakura, in league with Nakazato, had spread the lie that Shoot stalked and confessed to her. This had spread throughout the school, particularly among the male students, making them resent Shoot.

“They accused me of stalking… without any evidence…”

Shoot was even more enraged by this human cruelty. People, when judging the truth, prioritize the source of information. Since Itakura was at the top of the school's hierarchy and extremely popular, everyone believed her.

Unaware of the psychological factors at play, Shoot’s rage intensified as he threw away the trash from his locker and, using gym shoes from his bag, headed towards his classroom.

“Today, I’m the only one who will feel satisfied.”