Chapter Five: Realism? I Have a Status Bar!

“So, even if I tell you I have no intention of joining ‘Bishamon,’ you’re not going to let me walk away, are you? After all, bringing all these little thugs with you doesn’t look like much of a farewell party.”

The black-haired boy smiled gently, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. The streetlight glinted off the lenses, and Akira Tooyama felt an inexplicable chill run through him.

But in the world of the yakuza, it’s essential to keep up appearances even in defeat. Besides, with so many people surrounding him, what could this kid possibly do? Did he think this was some kind of unbeatable video game?

“Two choices, Kyo.”

Akira Tooyama habitually rubbed his buzz cut, his tone decisive.

“First, you leave your legs behind. That way, we can be sure you won’t become an enemy in the future.

Or, if that’s too much for you… then rejoin ‘Red Sand,’ and the brothers will treat you just like before. How about it?”

After a brief silence, Kyo Hakudo let out a deep sigh of regret.

“Ah… This is exactly why I knew dealing with someone like you—a fool who doesn’t know he’s a fool—would end up like this.”

Akira Tooyama’s smile didn’t waver, but the veins on his forehead bulged with anger.

“…What did you say?!”

Kyo Hakudo ignored his outburst, calmly brushing the stray hair from his face and smoothing it back.

“Young as you are, you think you’ve mastered the so-called ‘rules of the underworld’—nothing more than the law of the jungle, by any means necessary. Then you sneer at the arrangements handed down by the old-timers in the organization, thinking they’re stuck in the past and out of touch. Tell me, didn’t Hideki Tooyama worry about his retirement when he sent you to take Tokyo?”

He methodically stuffed his glasses and light-colored jacket into his backpack, tossing it into the corner of the alley.

As the bag hit the ground, the corners of Kyo Hakudo’s mouth curled into a dangerous, almost feral smile.

The ‘Red Sand’ members who had been closing in felt the aura around this supposedly well-mannered college student shift abruptly—turning him into something menacing, something predatory.

A suffocating pressure spread through their hearts, sending chills down their spines.

“…I’ll take that as a refusal.

What the hell are you all standing around for? Kill him! Let’s see if his knife is sharper than his tongue!”

Akira Tooyama’s composure barely held for the first half of his sentence, but by the end, his fury was barely contained.

Kyo Hakudo loosened and clenched his fists, relaxing the muscles in his hands.

He watched the encroaching thugs, already noting the weapons in their hands.

Most of them wielded knives and daggers.

That was the wisdom of street fights in the underworld—if you can bring a weapon, never fight barehanded.

According to that world-renowned Muay Thai champion, “Between an unarmed fighter and one with a weapon stands an insurmountable wall.”

Unlike in anime or games, in real combat, an opponent with a knife is never a disposable grunt—each one demands your full, undivided attention. Each is a deadly threat.

Simply put:

If a world-class boxing champion faces a mugger with a blade, the best strategy is only one—run.

If they can’t catch you, they can’t cut you.

But for Kyo Hakudo, now surrounded by dozens of armed assailants…

“Who said I play by reality’s rules?”

A sly smile flickered at the corners of the black-haired boy’s lips as he muttered inwardly.

“Intellect, show me my status.”

In the next instant, a neural signal projected information only he could see onto his retina.

“Current status:
Name: Kyo Hakudo
Age: 16
Height | Weight: 182 cm | 80 kg
Physical Condition: 98.26% (Sleep recommended)
Strength: 3.0 (Operational state: 6.8)
Agility: 3.3 (Operational state: 6.5)
Constitution: 8.0 (Inner power enhancement: constant)
[The above stats reference 250,646 human males aged 25, with an average value of 1]
Talent: Dimensional Salvaging
(Standard line: 2 units, Length x2 line: 1 unit, Length x3 line: 1 unit, Line condensation cooldown: 3 months/6 months
Effect: The ability to fish for random items from the sea of light spheres representing infinite dimensions. The size of the sphere reflects the world’s energy level. For powerful gains, you must synthesize longer lines. However, as it takes 6 months to form a standard line, the investment-return ratio must be carefully balanced.)
Skills:
Jeet Kune Do lv5, Motomoto-ryu Practical Boxing lv4, Competitive Judo lv2,
‘Dragonblood Secret Art’ lv2 (Dragonblood Bath: none)

Knowledge: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Law, Geography, History of Japan…”

Seeing these stats, Kyo Hakudo felt a deep, inexpressible satisfaction.

All of this—every drop of sweat and blood—was his hard-won reward.

Kyo Hakudo, a transmigrant whose fate was sealed with a death sentence from the very first day he arrived in this world.

From the moment that clay Bodhisattva fortune-teller decreed his destiny, he hadn’t dared to let his guard down for an instant.

The fortune-teller’s prophecy was so vague, he had no idea where the danger would come from.

A world war? A biological catastrophe? An astronomical disaster from the cosmos?

All unknowns.

But Kyo Hakudo knew this: whatever the threat, the strong always have a better chance to survive than the weak.

And in human society, “strength” is nothing but money, power, and skill.

So, over these eight years, this boy who had once been ordinary—he could scarcely believe it himself. Driven by the looming threat of a grim future, he’d come this far.

It had been a struggle bordering on madness.

But the limits of human ability are real.

Ordinarily, even with the soul of an adult, a child could never, by sixteen, possess assets exceeding fifty million dollars, score above seventy-five on national deviation tests, hold a reservation at Tokyo University, and rank among the nation’s top martial artists.

Physical development, intellectual growth—there are always limits.

Even in the narrow world of martial arts, the strongest are mostly men past thirty.

Reality presses down on a restless soul—no matter how hard you try, you’re still just an exceptional human, nothing more.

Fortunately, his “talent” had not let him down.

During his second dimensional salvage at eight and a half, he gained cutting-edge biotech from Feiteng Corporation in a high-tech world, which restructured his brain cells into a biological supercomputer.

This allowed him to control his body with high efficiency, create a game-like status panel, and free himself from rote memorization.

At fifteen, on his ninth salvage, he obtained the ‘Dragonblood Secret Art’ of the Immortal Dragon Sect from a high-fantasy world. Although progress was slow without dragon’s blood or spiritual energy, the art itself represented the dawn of something beyond humanity.

“With inner power, my stats increase as expected. Even without special moves, just using inner power more often raises my proficiency.”

Kyo Hakudo felt a certain satisfaction.

And in the very next instant, the knives flashed toward him!