“This guy…”
The thug stared blankly at the broken knife, finally realizing he seemed to have picked the wrong target.
“Uh… alright, we forgive you!” Cold sweat beaded on the thug’s forehead.
Lingering fear made him pull back the broken blade.
“N-next time watch where you’re walking.
D-don’t go bumping into people again.”
Not even daring to retrieve the tip of the knife from the ground, the three thugs—the knife guy, the huge one, and the short one—scrambled out of the alley as fast as they could, practically tripping over themselves.
“Sigh…”
For some reason, Subaru felt incredibly tired.
Maybe it was mental exhaustion, or maybe he still hadn’t fully processed his current situation.
Last night, he had awakened his Viltrumite bloodline, gaining the superpowers he had eagerly awaited for seventeen years.
Just as he was getting ready to be trained by his father and work toward becoming a superhero like him, he was transported to another world.
Barely ten minutes after landing, he had sent someone flying again.
Speaking of which, the people in this other world seemed to have a bit of a temper.
Pulling out a knife over the slightest disagreement…
“Aghhh!
My arm!
I-it’s sprained again!”
“Move, move, out of the way!
You guys are seriously blocking the path!”
Someone let out a desperate shout and dashed into the alley.
The thug, who was just about to make it out of the alley, was unfortunately sent flying again by the newcomer… Hit twice in one minute.
Chin was probably going to be bedridden for at least a couple of weeks to recover.
Who was Chin?
That was the name Subaru had just given the trio: Ton, Chin, and Kan.
Just like the stunned Ton, Chin, and Kan looking up from the ground, Subaru didn’t move his body either; he merely raised his gaze.
A petite girl with shoulder-length blonde hair swaying behind her dashed past his eyes.
She had strong-willed red eyes and a playful snaggletooth.
Her first impression was one of pride, but her features made her smile far cuter than the average person’s.
Ah, finally met a cute girl.
Now this is standard isekai plot progression.
“Hey!
Coming through!”
The blonde girl didn’t even pause to look at the four people in the alley.
With a few quick changes in direction, she effortlessly slipped past them, leaving a breeze in her wake.
She sprinted straight for the dead end of the alley, kicked off a wooden board leaning against it, and easily caught the top of the wall.
Like an agile swallow, she vanished over the rooftops in the blink of an eye.
With the girl gone, a heavy silence fell over the scene.
“Um…” Subaru hesitated for a moment, then reached out to the thug on the ground.
“Chin, you okay?”
“Huh?!” Chin’s attitude was awful, completely belying the fact that he was just writhing on the ground in agony.
He accepted Subaru’s goodwill anyway, letting the boy pull him up.
“And who the hell is Chin?!”
“Doesn’t matter, doesn’t matter.” Subaru gave a light pull, and Chin lifted off the ground as if he were weightless.
Thankfully, Subaru’s control over his strength was a bit better this time, and Chin wasn’t hurt.
“Well, see ya.
Once I make some money, I’ll pay for your medical bills.”
Subaru waved his arm, bidding farewell to the Ton, Chin, and Kan trio.
After the trio left, Subaru stared at the broken knife tip on the ground, lost in thought.
Come to think of it, just how strong was his current physique?
Thinking back to Chin’s desperate strike just now—a man in his twenties swinging a sharp weapon with all his might hadn’t even scratched his skin.
It made Subaru marvel at the wonders of Viltrumite biology.
Back when Subaru was a shut-in, he used to practice swinging a wooden sword.
While he was nowhere near his superhuman dad, his arm strength was greater than an average person’s, with a single-handed grip strength of around thirty-five kilograms.
But after awakening his Viltrumite bloodline, he didn’t have a clear grasp of his own power.
So—
Subaru picked up the knife tip, sat down on the alley steps, took off his jacket, and pointed the shard at his own forearm.
He was only testing his physical durability, but… this really looked like some unhinged emo girl about to carve herself up.
Three, two, one… After a three-second countdown, Subaru pressed the knife tip down.
The razor-sharp edge didn’t leave a single scratch on Subaru’s skin until he gradually increased the pressure…
Harder, harder…
Snap!
The metal tip couldn’t withstand Subaru’s immense strength and shattered to pieces.
Only then did a faint white mark finally appear on his skin.
Crappy knife… Still a bit unsatisfied, Subaru grabbed the remaining metal fragments and pressed them against his skin—
“—Please stop that.
Don’t hurt yourself anymore!”
A voice like silver bells rang pleasantly in his ears.
Subaru snapped his head up toward the entrance of the alley.
Standing there was a beautiful girl.
She had waist-length silver hair styled with braids, and her intelligent, blue-purple eyes were fixed right on him.
Her soft features were a blend of striking beauty and youthful innocence, exuding a dangerous charm born from an inexplicable sense of nobility.
She was about a head shorter than Subaru, roughly 160 centimeters tall.
Her white-based outfit lacked flashy decorations, but its simple design only heightened her presence.
The only striking feature was the robe draped over her shoulders, embroidered with a complex bird totem that added an air of majesty.
“Uh, wait!
You’ve got it all wrong, it’s not what you think!” Subaru frantically dropped the knife shards like a kid caught doing something bad, waving his hands at the silver-haired girl.
The girl seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, but in the next breath, her expression turned stern again.
“Then could you please return what you stole from me?”
“Huh?”
“Please.
It’s very important to me.
I can let anything else go, but I absolutely cannot lose that.”
“You seem like a good person, so could you please just hand it over honestly?” The girl earnestly held her hand out to Subaru.
“It wasn’t me!” Seeing how serious she was, Subaru hurried to explain, pointing toward the dead end of the alley.
“The thief you’re looking for is a girl, right?
She already hopped the wall and got away.”
“So, the thief is on the other side of the alley?
I have to hurry and catch up to her, then.” The girl furrowed her brow, turned her back to Subaru, and took a step toward the exit.
But then—
“Your arm is hurt, right?
Don’t move, I’ll heal it for you.” The girl suddenly doubled back, walking briskly up to Subaru.
Without giving him a chance to object, she grabbed his forearm and pressed her other hand over his wound, a soft, glowing light emanating from her palm.
“Honestly, how could you hurt yourself like that…”
Is this… magic?
That’s amazing.
Even though the “wound” was already on the verge of healing itself anyway.
“Um, thank you very much,” Subaru said.
Having his arm grabbed by a beautiful girl was enough to make any self-respecting otaku lose their cool, Subaru Natsuki included.
“But I really wasn’t self-harming… it’s definitely not what you think.”
Subaru looked into the girl’s blue-purple eyes, as clear and brilliant as the most precious gemstones.
The core otaku inside him was already turning slightly red at the ears.
He felt entirely unnatural.
“Anyway, you should really hurry up and chase after that thief… right?”
“Wait!” The girl seemed to notice something.
“You know the girl who stole my insignia, don’t you?”
“Sorry to get your hopes up, but I don’t know her at all.”
“You feel guilty so you won’t look me in the eye.
Are you lying to me right now?” The girl seemed to mistake Subaru’s bashfulness for a guilty conscience, pressing him with rapid-fire questions.
Before Subaru could even answer, an androgynous voice echoed in the alley, right on the heels of the girl’s words.
“That’s just a normal reaction for a boy, you know?
I don’t sense any signs of lying from him.”