How should I put it… Aoto now only felt that this system was too user-friendly!
It even clearly marked the rules of use, making them easy to understand at a glance.
—Is this… the legendary system cheat…
Aoto vigorously slapped his face, wanting to see if he was dreaming, but the stinging sensation on his cheek and the virtual screen that hadn’t disappeared from his sight told him—he wasn’t dreaming.
He genuinely had a cheat Aoto felt a smile emerge on his face, following the slight upturn of his lips.
The unease that had lingered in his heart since transmigrating to an unfamiliar environment and era had somewhat dissipated.
—I have to fight an opponent for more than 10 seconds to copy their talent… So… when I fought that second-in-command of the Benevolence and Righteousness Gang just now, the fight time did indeed exceed 10 seconds…
—Self-awakening of talents…
Aoto was most concerned about the last rule of use: reaching certain conditions, such as a change in mindset, can lead to the self-awakening of new talents.
—New talents awaken when certain conditions are met… That statement is too vague…
After some thought, he realized that simply thinking about it wouldn’t lead to any conclusions, so he decided to stop thinking and focused on the talent he currently possessed:
[Current Talents:
Night Vision]
The entry for “Night Vision” in the system interface glowed with golden light.
Presumably, this was what point 4 of the usage rules referred to: when a talent is active, its entry in the system interface will glow.
Aoto was currently in a dim environment, so the Night Vision talent activated automatically.
Aoto currently only had this one talent—a talent he had just acquired after cutting down the second-in-command of the “Benevolence and Righteousness Gang” with a single stroke.
Looking at this single, newly copied talent, Aoto’s mood was somewhat subtle.
His only current talent was just copied from someone else—this meant that his current body had no special talents before, it was just a pure, ordinary person.
However, after some self-reconciliation, Aoto felt relieved: the system’s usage guide also stated that not everyone has special talents; the vast majority of people are ordinary, with nothing special about them.
His current body just happened to be an ordinary body with nothing special about it.
Aoto began to seriously examine the talent he had just copied.
It had to be said—”Night Vision” was extremely practical.
In this era, streetlights naturally didn’t exist; unless one went to a “sleepless city” like Yoshiwara, it was almost impossible to move an inch at night without a lantern.
At this moment, Aoto was on a secluded path, surrounded by tightly closed houses and shops; his only light source was the lantern in his hand.
Despite the dim light, Aoto could still see everything around him clearly, as if it were daytime.
This should be the effect this talent brought him—the ability to see clearly even in pitch-black darkness.
Whoosh!
Just then, a cold wind swept by.
This sudden gust of cold wind seeped into the gaps of Aoto’s clothes, making him shiver involuntarily.
“So cold…” Aoto tightened the lapels of his haori.
[Note: Haori: A type of jacket worn over a kimono]
According to Kitsutachibana Aoto’s memories, today was January 12th, the height of winter.
Feeling that it was getting colder around him, Aoto breathed warm air onto his hands, then picked up the lantern and stood up: “Let’s go home quickly…”
With the “Night Vision” talent, Aoto actually didn’t need a lantern for illumination at all.
Just as Aoto was pondering whether to extinguish the flame in the lantern
—Clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack—!
The sound of straw sandals scraping against the ground suddenly came from Aoto’s right side!
Aoto instinctively looked in the direction of the sound.
He saw three samurai, wearing straw hats, hurrying towards him!
As Aoto’s gaze fell upon these three, they happened to be reaching for the swords at their waists.
With three consecutive clangs of swords being drawn, these three men held their blades, their aura menacing!
Looking at these three samurai charging at him with drawn swords, Aoto’s expression changed dramatically.
These men were extremely fast; in the blink of an eye, the one at the very front—a Fat Man—had already rushed in front of Aoto.
“Tachibana Aoto!
You Kokuzoku who worships and flatters barbarians!” the fat man shouted, swinging his sword at Aoto’s face, “Die!
Heaven’s Punishment!”
The fat man’s sword was already coming down; Aoto had no time to draw his own.
An ordinary person in such a situation would probably be too scared to even move.
But Aoto—happened not to be such an ordinary person.
In his previous life, he graduated from the Police Academy as a top student, first in his class!
The “awareness” cultivated over years of Police Academy life revived at this moment!
A sharp glint flashed in Aoto’s eyes.
Although he didn’t have time to draw his sword, he still had the most primitive weapon.
Aoto let go of the lantern in his hand, raised his arms, used his left hand to grab the man’s sword-wielding right hand, and his right hand to grasp the man’s left shoulder, employing his specialty from his previous life—grappling!
Aoto’s ability to graduate first in his class from the Police Academy in his previous life meant that his scores in all courses were naturally outstanding.
Especially in physical education classes, which taught police baton techniques and other skills, Aoto’s performance was unmatched.
Not only that, Aoto’s biggest hobby in his previous life was fitness and exercise.
While studying at the Police Academy, Aoto was a well-known “muscle monster” in the school; when he flexed his arm, his bicep was larger than a baby’s head.
In addition to fitness and exercise, Aoto also had a strong interest in unarmed combat.
He had dabbled in many types of unarmed combat, with his most proficient being grappling and free combat.
Aoto originally intended to use grappling to disarm the fat man and throw him to the ground, but to his surprise—he couldn’t move the fat man at all.
—The strength of this body… is too weak!
His combat techniques from his previous life could be perfectly reproduced, but his physical strength could not.
His new body, though of decent height at a full 1.75 meters, suffered from severe muscle deficiency, was too thin, weighing only about 120 pounds, and was completely outmatched by the fat man in terms of raw strength!
Unable to take down the fat man or disarm him, he found himself in a stalemate, locked in a struggle with him.
At this moment, the fat man’s other two companions arrived.
Aoto’s two hands were currently occupied grappling with the fat man; he had no third or fourth hand to deal with the other two enemies.
So Aoto made a decisive move, pushing forward with all his might to shove the large fat man in front of him away, then quickly retreated several steps.
Although Aoto had retreated as fast as he possibly could, his left thigh was still grazed by someone’s incoming sword, the fabric on his leg was cut open, and a thin wound appeared on his skin.
He had no time to attend to his wound now.
After increasing the distance between himself and the three uninvited guests, Aoto seized the opportunity to draw his sword.
If others are unarmed, you use police equipment; if others have weapons, you use a gun.
In short, always use a weapon whenever and wherever possible, and try to use a stronger weapon than the assailant.
Never be foolish enough to engage in hand-to-hand combat; when facing criminals, there’s no need to talk about martial ethics—a senior from Aoto’s Police Academy once told him this earnestly in his previous life.
After hearing his senior’s heartfelt words, Aoto pursued the matter at the time, asking “Then, senior, what if the criminal has a gun?”
“We once dispatched an armored vehicle to engage in a shootout with a certain armed criminal,” the senior replied in a serious tone.
—If only I had a gun and an armored vehicle right now…!
Aoto clutched the sword in his hand, regretfully recalling his senior’s earnest teachings.
Aoto’s grappling technique, which had instantly subdued the fat man, and the gleaming sword in Aoto’s hand, stunned the three uninvited guests.
The three of them held their swords, playing a “four-person dance” with Aoto, none daring to step forward.
If they didn’t come forward, Aoto naturally wouldn’t be so foolish as to charge in actively.
If he had the physique of his previous life, then there would still be hope of confronting these three.
Through the brief skirmish with the fat man just now, Aoto had already realized: trying to go head-to-head with these three with his current frail body… was like showing off a broadsword in your pants pocket—it’s just barely enough.
Only at this moment did Aoto finally have the leisure and inclination to examine the appearances of the three—but he saw nothing.
All three wore straw hats with very deep brims, which concealed their upper faces, allowing only their lower faces to be seen.
—Who are these people?
Why did they suddenly draw their swords and charge at me?
Are they enemies of the original owner of this body?
—What should I do now?
One against three, even if I win, I’m afraid I’ll suffer considerable injuries…
Aoto racked his brain for a way to escape his current predicament.
A few drops of cold sweat seeped from his forehead, then trickled down his nose and cheeks.
Just as Aoto was pondering how to break out of his current predicament, voices that, to Aoto at that moment, were nothing short of heavenly music, rang out:
“Hey!
What’s going on?
Why is it so noisy?”
“Ah ah ah—!
There are samurai fighting!
They’ve all drawn their swords!”
“Samurai fighting?”
“Samurai fighting!
Let’s go take a look!”
…
The sounds of Aoto’s fight with the three uninvited guests had awakened the surrounding residents.
Many particularly bold people ran out to join the commotion.
With people approaching, the three samurai exchanged glances for a moment, then the fat man sheathed his sword: “Retreat!”
With that, the fat man was the first to quickly leave, hand on his sword.
And as he left, the fat man didn’t forget to turn his head and shout at Aoto:
“Tachibana Aoto!
You Kokuzoku who worships and flatters barbarians, just you wait!
We will surely cut you down one day!”
******
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