Chapter 45 – To the Outside World

Тhе dаy after соmpleting рrepаrаtiоns fоr thе еxpеdition, Asutо hеadеd tоwаrd thе wеstern sidе of thе outer wаll соnnеcted tо the Оuter Region, саrrying a large bасkpack.

“Finally, thе еxpedition. I wondеr whаt it’s like out thеre.”

“Whо knоws. I’vе nеver seen it direсtly eithеr, sо I hаve no idеа.”

Тhe Outеr Region wаs a placе thе previоus Аsuto didn’t еven havе the right to set fоot in.

Нis аnticipation grew dеspitе himsеlf.

Just аs he wаs about tо аrrivе at the Wеst Gatе—thаt guу арpеаrеd.

“Villain, Yuki Аsutо! Fight me!”

“Why has it come to this…”

Faced with Tatekawa Masayoshi, Asuto slumped his shoulders dejectedly.

(Was Tatekawa the type of dangerous guy who’d pick fights with people he just met?)

He tried to recall memories of Tatekawa from his previous experience.

But no matter how much he dug with Memory Playback, all that came up was how strong a shield warrior he was and that he was from a good family, with his father holding a chairman position at a TV station.

No information about his personality surfaced at all.

“Come on, bring it on!”

Tatekawa shouted so loudly that the surrounding stares felt painful.

It was as if he had become the villain.

“Don’t you know the Hunter Law?”

“Planning to run away like that? Are you chicken?”

Tatekawa twisted his mouth.

It was a transparent provocation. Asuto wasn’t the type to fall for such things.

However,

“Hey Asuto, he’s picking a fight! Kill him!”

“Hey.”

The resident from the diagonal above flushed bright red.

“Why are you the one getting angry?”

“Only I’m allowed to insult Asuto!”

“Want me to knock you out?”

As he clenched his fist, Amy turned pale and covered her mouth with both hands.

Hadn’t she been taught not to insult others, even if they were villains?

Besides, no matter how seriously Asuto tried to attack, he couldn’t kill Tatekawa if he went on the defensive.

On the contrary, he would be the one killed.

Tatekawa possessed “that kind” of Skill.

“If you want to play around with fellow Hunters, go to the training facility or something.”

“I’ll go if Yuki Asuto comes too.”

“I don’t have time for that. I’m busy.”

“Then let’s do it here!”

“Are you even listening?”

“If you won’t come to me, I’ll come to you!”

Saying that, Tatekawa raised his personal shield and charged at Asuto.

He really wasn’t listening at all.

“The Hammer of Justice!!”

Asuto let out a single sigh and evaded Tatekawa’s charge.

Just as Tatekawa passed by his side, he swung up his leg.

“Enough already.”

“Gyah-bon!!”

The counter high kick exploded against his face.

Tatekawa collapsed to the ground, writhing while groaning “Guooh.”

“Alright, let’s run.”

“Aren’t you going to kill him?”

“I’m not killing him!”

While throwing a retort at the extreme resident, Asuto distanced himself from the spot at full speed.

Cold sweat had broken out on his back.

(That was close…)

In the future, Tatekawa would make a name for himself as Japan’s strongest shield warrior.

The reason he could grow that strong was because he possessed an extremely rare Skill.

Perfect Reflection (Reflect Blast)—a Skill that completely reflects attacks from opponents.

The stronger the attack, the stronger the damage reflected by Perfect Reflection (Reflect Blast).

It was the ultimate Skill for a tank-specialized Hunter.

Its only weakness was that “the Skill only activates while guarding.”

Asuto had seized the opening when Tatekawa attacked and landed a counter.

If Tatekawa hadn’t attacked, he might have been pestered for a while.

Or if Tatekawa had switched to defense the moment he tried to counter, he would have been the one rolling on the ground.

(If I messed up, even just touching him could have reflected damage back at me…)

“Still, that guy called you a villain. What exactly did you do?”

“No idea. It’s my first time meeting him, to begin with.”

“Huh. Then why did he pick a fight?”

“Maybe he mistook me for someone else?”

He had clearly spoken Asuto’s name, so it probably wasn’t a case of mistaken identity.

Even so, Asuto had no recollection of committing any wrongdoing.

(What in the world was that about?)

He thought about it but had absolutely no memory of anything.

Without finding an answer, Asuto arrived at the West Gate.

After reaching the West Gate, he submitted his Hunter’s License Card and underwent a physical check.

After that, he passed through the five-layered doors one by one from the inside.

The mechanism was such that the next door wouldn’t open unless the previous one closed.

It was a setup to absolutely prevent Monsters from entering, but it was annoyingly time-consuming.

When the final door finally opened, a world without walls spread out before him.

“…Wow, amazing.”

Green sprouted from the asphalt, with flowers blooming gloriously here and there.

Completely different from inside the walls, the air was clear.

If this were just untouched nature, he could have simply enjoyed the scenery.

“Just by humans disappearing, it becomes this green, huh.”

The city that was once the metropolitan area was now thick with greenery.

Plants had taken root in the asphalt and concrete, growing vigorously.

The surroundings were eerily quiet, with only the sound of wind rustling leaves.

In this decadent world, so utterly different from inside the walls, his chest tightened.

(Ten years later, after being attacked by the Angels, Tokyo will probably end up looking like this too…)

It was his first time in the outer world. Just in case, he decided to set a Memory Point.

Memory Point

・Point A April 5, 2030 12:00

・Point B April 7, 2030 16:13

•Point C —-

(Oh, the number of points I can set has increased. Did Return Level Up?)

Point A was during his Awakening. Point B was before the B-Rank Gate Conquest.

Both were important as return points in case something happened.

He didn’t really want to delete them if possible, so the appearance of Point C was just right.

Taking advantage of this, he saved to the new point.

Memory Point

・Point A April 5, 2030 12:00

・Point B April 7, 2030 16:13

・Point C April 11, 2030 10:36

“Let’s get going soon.”

“Yeah.”

Prompted by Amy, Asuto regained his composure and began walking westward.