Illusion...

~ Ayano's Pov... ~

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I paused for a second to get this all cleared up, "So... Your saying I changed that much, overnight?"

Renji looked at me like I was an alien, "Yeah, You're almost as tall as me, plus... Even your face looks all different, not much, but definitely different compared to yesterday, looks like you've lost weight to be honest."

I kind of understood what he was saying to me, but wasn't this all gradual? Or, shouldn't it be?

I knew I had gotten stronger—hell, I had pushed myself past my limits every single day for weeks. But the way Renji was acting, it was like I had morphed into a completely different person in just a few hours.

I didn't feel any different.

Even after all that training—after pushing my body to its absolute peak—I never felt like I was getting stronger. My endurance improved, sure, but there was never a real, noticeable shift in my strength. I had gone from barely managing 50 pushups to doing 2000 a day, yet I still felt like the same person I was at the start. No extra muscle soreness, no gradual sense of power growing inside me.

And then, last night, when I completed the quest, the system just… unlocked everything.

My gaze snapped to my stats in my mind. The boosts were massive, but they weren't given to me. They were likely the direct result of my training—my blood, sweat, and exhaustion. I felt like the system wasn't granting me this kind of power. It simply let me access the strength I had already earned.

'But, why?'

It's why I felt the same the whole time… I was getting stronger, but my body just wasn't letting me feel it until now...

I think I've finally pieced this all together... I know that my body hadn't changed as drastically as Renji thought it did—it had always been like this, at least when I started training. It seemed like the system just disguised it, making me look the same as before while letting the strength accumulate in the background... Then, last night, it probably removed the limiter. I had...

So now, to everyone else… it looked like I had transformed overnight.

"...Huh," rubbing my chin. "That would technically explain a lot."

Renji raised an eyebrow. "Uh? What does?"

"Nothing," I said quickly, shaking my head. "Just, thinking out loud to myself."

Before Renji could press further, I felt a pair of eyes on me. A sharp, lingering gaze that was just a little too intense to be casual.

I turned my head slightly, catching the blue-haired figure of Sekai just, staring at me.

Our eyes even met as well...

Her expression was pretty much unreadable to me—neither surprised nor particularly interested—but she had been looking long enough for it to mean something, or I'd assume it would.

Then, just as quickly, she turned away, as if dismissing me entirely.

'Ah... Okay then...' I wasn't about to waste time thinking about whatever that was...

"Yo, earth to Ayano?" Renji waved a hand in front of my face.

I blinked, snapping out of my thoughts. "Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm here."

Renji gave me a weird look, like he wasn't sure whether to be concerned or just make fun of me. "You sure? 'Cause you kinda spaced out there."

"Yeah, I'm fine." I rolled my shoulders, feeling an odd lightness in my body. "Just thinking about something."

Renji huffed, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Well, whatever. Just don't start levitating or shooting lasers outta your eyes next, 'cause at this rate, I wouldn't be surprised."

I snorted. "Oh yeah? What would you do if I did?"

"Leave. Immediately."

I laughed, shaking my head. Renji wasn't even joking—he was dead serious.

But even with the back-and-forth, my mind kept drifting back to what I had just realized. If the system had been keeping my strength hidden this entire time, then what else was it holding back? Was there more that was being hidden from me?

'I don't like not knowing about these kinds of things... But, it's nice to see what happens when I train.'

For now, off to home I go...

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~ Third Person Pov ~

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Keiji looked at his wrist, 'Crap. It's almost 5, well I guess next time I won't be taking this way home.' He thought, mentally cursing himself, but not too much. While he was walking, he saw a group of men up ahead talking amongst with each other, with most wearing relatively dark hoodies, some wore mouth masks while the rest were relatively hidden and to themselves.

As he got closer, one of the hooded ones looked at him, quickly touched the tallest of the group to look towards his direction.

'Why do I have a BAD feelin' about this...' Keiji, albeit reluctantly, turned around quickly, as if he had left something, 'I've seen too many incidents like these play out, and I'm not about to become a potential victim.'

Before he could get a few steps off, he heard, "OI!!!"

"Ah, shit!" He cursed under his breath, without wasting a another second, he got ready to sprint, but heard the familiar *PING!* of the system, usually of some quest he needed to complete...

He looked ahead, reading what it said;

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{MAIN QUEST PART 1: Stop ALL the illegal activities in the town area, but first, start with the rooks... [Quest can be done overtime...]

Tasks;

Henchmen: 0 / 2844

Mini-Bosses: 0 / 5

Final Boss: 0 / 1

REWARD; ??????}

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Reading it, he shook his head, 'I guess I've got no choice then, huh?' He turned around. This time, he saw the tallest guy's face, recognizing it immediately, being Yoichi, the same boy he had fought a few weeks ago... 

"Well~ Well~ Look who it is... I guess today's my lucky day. I got to fuck hot chicks, and now I get to pummel your skinny ass into the pavement? No... I'm gonna fucking cripple ya' for what you did that day!" Yoichi smiled. He walked forward, this time, being cautious, getting into a boxing stance.

'Talk about holding a grudge...' Keiji thought. Getting into a boxing stance as well. Yoichi seeing this smiled even more.

"You really wanna try and beat me at my own game!? You better switch to grappling fucktard, or else you might go down easier than I wanted."

Keiji didn't say a word, but he did switch up his stance again...

'The peek-A-boo? Doesn't fucking matter, I'll still beat the shit out of him.' Yoichi thought. He stepped forward, throwing the first punch, a left hook. 

Keiji dodged it, swaying to the right, then seeing another punch and swayed to the left... Yoichi threw multiple punches; hooks, straights, corkscrews, upper-cuts and jabs, yet each time he found his punches caressing air. However, Keiji was dodging with barely any room to spare...

Yoichi immediately backed off, sweating profusely... 'The fuck is up with this guy? I thought he was a grappler... But, none of my punches are actually touching him... Hell, I haven't even fucking grazed him. How the hell is that possible!?' At first he was confident, but now. He was getting wary.

"Hey! What the hell's talking so long Yoichi, stop playin' with that squirt!"

"Yeah, we've got places to be! Hurry the hell up!"

"Would you all. SHUT. THE. HELL. UP!!!" Yoichi shouted, causing the rest behind him to stop talking... Keiji on the other hand was impassive, almost as if he was tired of all this...

"I think I should end this now..." Keiji said. He started to lightly jump in the air, then he started to sway to the left, and to the right, while his leg began moving... Faster, and faster...

'Wha-What!? How the hell are his legs moving that fast!? Is this fucker even human!?'

Fwip~

In an instant Keiji shot forward, clenching his fists,

his body becoming a blur as he closed the distance between them.

Yoichi barely had time to react before—

BAM!

Keiji's fist buried itself into his gut, knocking the wind clean out of him. His feet lifted off the ground for a brief moment, his body doubling over as if he had been hit by a truck.

Yoichi's mind barely registered what had happened before—

CRACK!

A sharp uppercut slammed into his jaw, his head snapping back violently. His body wobbled, knees buckling—

THWACK!

Keiji pivoted, his right fist smashing into Yoichi's temple with a clean cross. The street fighter's body spun midair before crashing onto the pavement with a dull thud.

...

The group behind him stared, eyes all wide, mouths slightly open.

Yoichi—who had been so confident just moments ago—laid absolutely motionless on the ground, unconscious before he even had a chance to fight back properly...

Keiji exhaled. His stance relaxed while he looked down at the fallen opponent, clearly unimpressed, "That's one..." he muttered, then, his gaze lifted toward the rest of the gang, his eyes cold...

"So… Which one of you guys are next?"

The remaining thugs flinched instinctually, exchanging uneasy glances at each other... But, they had their pride, somewhat. They decided to band together.

"He-he can't beat all of us together! Surround him!" One of them shouted.

Keiji cracked his neck, exhaling through his nose as the gang circled him like a pack of rabid dogs. Their confidence wavered, but desperation pushed them forward.

'Six of them left.' His gaze swept across the group. 'One's heavier—slower. Two have knives. One in the back looks like a kicker. The rest? Likely nothing but sloppy brawlers.'

He smiled... "Perfect."

The first idiot lunged—a burly guy with thick arms swinging a wild haymaker straight for Keiji's face. Keiji easily ducked low, stepping into his guard, and drove his elbow into the man's ribs. A sickening crack echoed as the boy's eyes bulged, a pained wheeze escaping his lips before Keiji grabbed his wrist—

POP!

With a ruthless wrench, he dislocated the larger man's shoulder and tossed him aside like garbage.

"two down."

The next two came together—one wielding a knife, the other trying to grab Keiji's arm.

Keiji sidestepped the grab, twisting his body and guiding the knifeman's wrist into his would-be attacker's gut.

SHNK!

The thug gasped, doubling over as the blade barely missed puncturing his stomach, but that was the least of his problems at the moment. Keiji seized the knifeman's wrist, spun on his heel, and snapped his forearm with a brutal armbar twist.

CRACK!

The thug howled, dropping the knife, but Keiji wasn't done. He slammed his knee into the man's jaw, sending him sprawling unconscious. The thug who almost got stabbed stumbled back, eyes wide. Keiji swept his legs out from under him, then brought his heel down on his shin.

SNAP!

A piercing scream followed as the leg bent at an unnatural angle...

"Three down."

The kicker in the back finally made his move, launching a high roundhouse at Keiji's temple. But Keiji stepped inside the arc of the kick, caught the man's leg midair, and—

BOOM!!

—driving him straight into the pavement with a seoi nage (shoulder throw). The impact literally rattling the ground as the thug coughed up blood. His ribs also shattered.

"Four..."

The last two hesitated. Keiji JUST stared them down, his presence suffocating them at this point. Then, one of them—desperate—grabbed a metal pipe from the alley.

"C-C'mon you fucker! I ain't scared!" He said, holding the pipe.

Keiji shook his head, "Bad move." he let him swing. At the last second, he redirected the strike, while also catching the pipe under his arm, clenching it before slamming his fist into the man's elbow joint...

CRACK!

The thug screeched, his arm bending the wrong way... Keiji grabbed the pipe, threw it away and—with one clean motion—smashed his shin into the last guy's kneecap with a low right Muay-Thai axe kick.

CRUNCH!

The final thug collapsed, clutching his mangled knee, "ARRG-RYGHHH!!!!"

Keiji exhaled, cracking his knuckles while the last of them all laid down broken, battered, and equally writhing in pain. None of them were dead of course, but every single one? Hospitalized, for a few months at least...

He spat to the side, 'They'll heal… but next time?' His gaze swept over them, 'They'll know better than to try something like this again...' Keiji grabbed the pipe, snapping it in half and let it clatter to the ground, turning away without another word...

That was until, he saw an unexpected face...

'Oh... Oh no...' Out of anybody in the world that could've spotted him, it was the one his body had liked the most...

"Ka-Katsura?"

PING!!

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SIDE QUEST: Explain to Katsura about what happened here...

REWARD: ??????

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END