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Looks like the place he thought was a run-down building was the base of his team in the slums. The girl told him ‘Your subordinates are waiting’, so he could guess he is the boss of the team.
The run-down building doesn’t have the doors that should have been there before, but there are doors made of scrap wood from somewhere, so there’s at least some privacy.
The inside of the rooms that could be peeked inside every now and then had mattresses covered in dirt, stained plastic bottles, and the people were not only thin, they were wearing dirty clothes with holes everywhere that could tear apart at any moment, and they were nervously looking at the man that the girl was bringing along.
You could see fear and disgust from those eyes, so you could tell the position of Lanpeach even if you didn’t want to. And also how terrible of a lifestyle they have.
The man that called himself Lanpeach Kouza and decided to enjoy this dream was internally excited by this dystopia, and purposely took strong steps with his boots like a villain, so that his footsteps could be heard. He was enjoying the sight of everyone being scared as he walked with oozing pressure.
“Oo, what are you looking at, hah?!”
He brought up his shoulders and walked as much like a bad guy as possible. He walked while intimidating the surroundings and hummed in a good mood.
Of course, the man is a normal office worker in reality. He dislikes and fears hurting people, and is also conscientious.
But inside a game, moreover, a dream, he thought that it would be fine to act a bit cruelly to relieve some stress.
The ceiling would crumble and bury the place with rubble, blocking the path, but the girl moved without hesitation every time it happened, so he purposely matched his strides with that of the girl, following slightly behind her.
It is because it is impossible for him to not know the way even though he is Lanpeach after all.
He is being careful to not show an unnatural attitude.
It is a dream, so there’s probably adjustments going on, but he still wanted to enjoy the true experience.
“Uhm…thank you for matching my stride.”
But she must have thought that action was strange. The Lanpeach that girl knows would walk ahead without reservations, and wouldn’t pay any mind to her after all.
But he is matching her stride today.
She did feel something off with the face washing matter of before as well, but she didn’t show it in her face and tried to check what’s going on by disguising it as a thanks.
The man didn’t notice this and just thought for a bit before answering.
“Don’t mind it. I just thought your back figure was cute.”
“Uuh… Thanks?”
The girl found it strange instead of blushing, and checked the face of Lanpeach.
He couldn’t tell her the truth, so he just threw whatever to play it off. It is a cheesy line that would only be allowed by handsome men, but right now he is inside a dream and the cruel villain, Lanpeach.
He thought he could say anything.
He honestly was burning with curiosity to know what was inside those rooms, but he refrained himself with the idea that he has to keep character even if it is inside a dream.
Or more like, what’s the name of this girl? He couldn’t just ask her what her name is.
They are clearly close.
Their ages are far apart to be called a couple, but she is still a pretty girl even if dirty.
It wouldn’t be strange if Lanpeach would keep her close to him.
It is not a memory loss setting.
He either had to think of a way to ask her or wait for someone to call her name. It should be fine to use his scary face to just glare perpetually.
But he felt like he had seen her somewhere before, yet couldn’t remember, so she is probably not a villain like Lanpeach, but a minor role.
The man thought: ‘Oh well, this is a dream anyways’.
They walked through the complicated abandoned building that felt like a dungeon because of the rubble, and finally arrived at the place that looked like the destination.
It was a room with thick metal doors.
They are currently open and there were close to ten men inside.
They have extremely bad countenance, and they are wearing the same thing as Lanpeach.
They had bulletproof vests and what looked like sturdy clothes despite being dirty.
Their hair styles were haphazard and unruly.
Powder of Elements prioritizes reality, so there’s no spiky or weird hair. It costs money to tinker with your hair, so if you are to keep the reality of it, you obviously would end up with unruly hair.
(I wouldn’t want to enter a room with such a scary group if not for this being a dream.)
“Aah~ what was today? What’s with this grouping?”
Lanpeach entered the room while wildly scratching his dread hair and glaring at the men with a displeased expression.
Destination unknown, objective unknown; so he asked in his own way. That method being glaring at them with a displeased face that said ‘don’t go making me do something boring’.
The men in the room grinned at Lanpeach and a man with the physique of a bear spoke.
“Aah, Boss, today is the test of the newbies, right? Testing out how well these guys can perform is the rule of the team, ain’t it?”
He is most likely the number 2.
The other men were smiling and grinning, and pushed out a young man to the front.
A normal boy of around 15-16 years old that has a slightly sharp gaze.
“He doesn’t have the entrance fee, but he said he wanted to join the team no matter what. That’s why we told you that he will be taking a test. What, you didn’t tell him, Chihiro?”
“I did tell him, Tsuyoshi. Lan seems to be a bit tired today.” (Chihiro)
Lanpeach now knows that the girl’s name is Chihiro and the number 2 is Tsuyoshi. He was internally happy about this and memorized them.
Also, this is probably customary bullying.
The young man was thin, most likely from malnutrition. There’s no way he would be a match against Lanpeach.
He would just be beaten up and thrown out of the building.
Lanpeach thought that’s a nasty tradition. He narrowed his eyes and clicked his tongue.
He hates bullying with a passion.
It is true that this is an exam fitting of a team of criminals, but even if it is inside a dream…he felt fuzzy about this.
“Are you really planning on doing this? You thinking of fighting me? You would just be beaten up and thrown out, you know?”
“Yeah, I-I will do this. I-If it can get me in the team.”
He thought the boy would run away if intimidated, but the boy looked back at him as if showing his strong will, and it ended up making Lanpeach falter instead.
The body is that of Lanpeach, but the inside is an old man that hasn’t fought before.
His mental strength is feeble.
“It can’t be helped then. Do your best!”
But this is inside a dream.
‘It doesn’t seem like I will be able to wake up in a good mood, but it can’t be helped’ -is what he thought as he readied his fists.
◇◇
A boy from the slums that doesn’t have cash and doesn’t know his place is just a sacrifice for public execution for the team.
They normally beat them up, and once they are unconscious, they would sneer at them while saying ‘too bad’ and strip them off their possessions and throw them away like trash.
It is occasional entertainment for the team.
That’s how it should have been.
But the team of men that normally raised cheers as Lanpeach showcased his strength and beat up the sacrifice were showing confused expressions.
“…Hey, Lanpeach really seems to be under the weather.”
“Right… He was weird since morning. Speaking of which, there was an underground facility we discovered in the collapse of yesterday, right? He drank a weird potion there. He staggered as if he was drunk after that and fell asleep.” (Chihiro)
“What’s with that? Is he an idiot? Would you normally drink something like that?”
“He drank that as a substitute for alcohol… He seems to not be feeling well since then.” (Chihiro)
What Tsuyoshi and Chihiro were watching was Lanpeach and the young man punching each other.
But Lanpeach would normally intimidate them with his gaze, punch them with brute force, and finish it by force, and yet, it was different today.
He is still the one in the advantage, but it felt as if he hesitated to aim for the openings of the young man, and allowed the young man to punch him.
“Ouch ouch!”
And he looked like he was in a lot of pain.
It is a messy fight as if not used to combat. The young man might even end up winning.
The young man doesn’t look like he is strong at all. His movements are also clumsy.
“I see… So he is not feeling well… That’s worrying.” (Tsuyoshi)
Tsuyoshi watched that state of his and his lips warped into a smile.
The one who was the most flustered within this confusion was Lanpeach.
A punch landed straight into his stomach, and he reflexively ended up kicking the boy with a warped face.
The boy flew away easily and rolled on the ground.
It should be easy with the physique of Lanpeach. He knows that.
He knows, but…
(I don’t see the punches! I am so scared I can’t look at them! You can clearly see them in manga, and yet, I end up getting punched by the time I notice. Could it be that this guy is a physical combat expert?)
He is not.
It is just that Lanpeach…no, the man inside of him, is not used to fighting.
It is impossible for a regular person to see through a punch and deflect it. They can only raise their arms to block the punches.
And so, the way for victory of battle rookies is to just punch away. But the man couldn’t punch that boy with a normal state of mind.
However, it would be pathetic to block as a boss.
And so, it became an equal fight.
There’s no doubt Lanpeach would have lost if he weren’t a lump of muscle.
(Damn it~, this is a dream. I am inside a dream… This dream is way too real, oi!)
He resolved himself and swung his fist with all he had on the young boy that was getting up, his punch landing straight on his head.
A dull sound rang and the young man lost consciousness.
The men would normally cheer here, but they weren’t sure if to praise Lanpeach who just barely clinched a win.
Lanpeach thought this was bad, so he waved his hand violently and shouted in a bad mood.
It is because he also thought this was a bad development.
“This guy is pretty good. He is in. The show is over now. Come on, get out!”
They could tell Lanpeach was under the weather here, so they exited the room.
He was relieved by this and sat on the ground with narrowed eyes.
“What’s going on with the Stats of Lanpeach? Uuh, Status Open. Didn’t work, huh. Window Open. Didn’t work either… 4. Alright, bingo.”
He thought over and over about how he had to look at his Status Board, and then remembered that the shortcut key he set in his PC was 4, so he muttered this and a half-transparent Status Board showed up.
He is a named character, so he looked at it thinking he must be stronger than an original character…but his face gradually warped.
———
Lanpeach Kouza
Experience Points: 864
HP: 36
MP: 0
Endurance: 18
Strength: 20
Dexterity: 11
Agility: 8
Mind: 10
Mana: 0
Inherent Skill: Minor Villain Level 4
Skill: Picking Level 2, Muscle Increase Level 1
———
“Makes sense I would have a hard time even against a newbie…”
There’s not a single battle skill.
He was impressed about how he could be the boss of the team with this, sighed, and furrowed his brows.
“Can’t be helped… [Reset].”
Lanpeach muttered this in the room he is alone in.
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