Chapter 21: Your Rider is Jungling

For the longest time, people have treated absurd urban legends as nothing more than conversation starters, tools to break the ice during idle chat. Few ever believed any of those so-called legends held a shred of truth.

Ōno Nao, the top enforcer of the Yasha Gang, particularly scoffed at such horror stories and urban myths. In his eyes, some were fabricated by bored individuals purely to scare people, while others were likely concocted by someone trying to hide something.

Take, for instance, the eerie tale about a certain port warehouse that circulated widely in Nagazora City years ago. In reality, that story was nothing more than a fabrication by a gang engaged in underground dealings, designed to divert attention. The purpose was to allow their underlings, disguised as urban legend explorers, to operate without attracting police scrutiny while they went about their business in remote corners of the city late at night, ensuring their transactions could proceed smoothly.

Today, Ōno Nao was patrolling his gang's territory with a few subordinates, as usual. Ever since ME Corp's President Raiden Ryoma stepped down and new leadership took over, the survival environment for Nagazora City's gangs had shifted. Capitalizing on this turmoil, the Yasha Gang had managed to profit handsomely. Consequently, Ōno Nao needed to keep watch over their turf to prevent any incidents.

As they passed through a rather dimly lit area, Ōno Nao suddenly felt that something wasn't quite right...

"Boss?"

One of his underlings behind him looked quizzically at his boss, who had abruptly stopped walking.

"...It's nothing."

Ōno Nao frowned. Although this place looked secluded and dark, the nearby paths were frequently used by Yasha Gang members. There shouldn't be any unexpected trouble.

He figured it was probably due to the late nights recently, leaving him mentally fatigued. He'd need to get some proper rest in a few days.

Pushing the nagging feeling aside, Ōno Nao led his men forward. However, the group hadn't walked much farther before they spotted the figure of a woman with a strikingly beautiful back standing in a corner ahead.

"...Boss... something's wrong."

Unlike the thugs in third-rate movies who lose all higher brain function at the sight of a beautiful woman, the subordinates following Ōno Nao eyed the figure in the corner with nervous tension.

These were not ordinary street punks; they were specially trained fighters who had experienced bloody combat. It could be said that each of them had a life or two on their hands.

"...Hey!"

One of them mustered some courage and called out to the figure.

The figure slowly turned around. By the relatively bright moonlight filtering down from the sky, they saw the woman's face. She was indeed very beautiful, but her complexion was abnormally pale—a pallor that simply didn't belong on a living person.

"Ah!!!"

"Ha! Ha! Ha!"

Ōno Nao felt like he was running faster than he ever did in high school. Just moments ago, right before his eyes, that thing—clearly not human—had torn his subordinates apart, one by one, with its bare hands!

Even when he drew his pistol and fired, the bullets failed to even break the creature's skin!

If he had previously scoffed at so-called urban legends and ghost stories, Ōno Nao now profoundly understood the meaning of "it's better to believe such things exist than to believe they don't."

Suddenly, Ōno Nao heard footsteps—heavy footsteps, so heavy they reminded him of his past life working as a dockhand laborer.

He looked over, somewhat incredulous, and saw the monster he thought he had left far behind. It was now approaching him at a leisurely pace, somehow having acquired a black iron scythe.

Perhaps that's the Grim Reaper's scythe, he thought dimly.

Ōno Nao felt a terror unlike anything he had ever experienced. A grown man nearly two meters tall was now paralyzed on the ground like a landed fish, flailing desperately but unable to even stand up.

Tears streamed from the corners of his eyes, snot ran from his nostrils, and drool dribbled from his mouth. He was an utterly wretched sight, completely stripped of his former "big boss" demeanor.

This was the raw, primal fear of death and the unknown.

Just as Ōno Nao believed he was about to meet his end, he suddenly heard the sound of a motor. Then, an electric scooter, traveling at an unknown, breakneck speed, shot out from the side and slammed into the monster, sending it flying.

A young man in a yellow delivery uniform stepped off the miraculously undamaged scooter... Wait! How did the scooter go from extreme speed to a dead stop in an instant? Was that even scientific?

The monster, which had been smashed into a wall, crawled out from the broken stones, its expression still blank.

The delivery guy, however, showed little surprise at the scene unfolding before him. In a remarkably calm tone, he said, "Spiritual Power Erosion? How unlucky."

He continued, "If your innate talent was good enough, you wouldn't have been susceptible to erosion. If it was too poor, you wouldn't even unconsciously absorb spiritual power. It's precisely those with mediocre talent, caught in the middle, who end up suffering like this."

"Allow me to send you on your way, then."

With that, the young man reached up and removed a small, golden cross pendant from his neck. What seemed like a mere decorative trinket suddenly floated into the air and transformed into a golden flying sword.

The golden sword then shot forward like a streak of light, decapitating the monster in a single, instantaneous flash.

...It died just like that! So easily! The monster whose skin couldn't be pierced by pistol bullets was killed so simply!

The delivery guy casually beckoned, and the flying sword reverted back into the cross pendant, which he placed back around his neck.

Suddenly, a notification sound chimed. "You have a new order. Please note, the customer used the Expedited Delivery service. Please proceed immediately to the merchant to pick up the meal!"

"Ah! Looks like it's a bit far. I need to hurry!"

The delivery guy quickly hopped onto his scooter and sped away, vanishing like the wind. From Ōno Nao's observation, the guy probably broke 100 kph in just one or two seconds.

Ōno Nao stared blankly at the rapidly departing figure. After a long moment, the dazed look in his eyes gradually hardened into resolve, as if he had made some kind of internal decision.

Kiana yawned and opened her apartment door, only to see the familiar yellow-clad figure standing outside. She couldn't help but complain.

"Are you seriously not deliberately camping my orders?"

"...Your delivery. Please sign."

Xin Yu looked at Kiana with a strange expression. He actually wanted to ask her the same thing—was she deliberately ordering specifically from him?

This was the fourth time this week.