Mob
Kousei No Ore Demo Boukensha Ni Nareba Riajuu Ni Naremasuka: Chapter #53
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
Episode 53:
Hey, You Know That Scary Story About The Cursed Card? (2)
"What......?"
The rescue
caller is running away? No
way,......, is it the Hound Master?! No,
it doesn't matter even if it's not! Anyway,
we must hurry!
"Let's
head there right away! No, Yuki,
you can go ahead of us! We will
catch up with you soon."
"Yes!"
Yuki left
the scene, and I contacted Anna and Oribe.
"This is
Kitagawa, we've spotted the presence of the rescue caller. It appears they are
being chased by another adventurer!"
"! Copy that! Where is the location?"
"......
wait a second."
I
responded, comparing the information from my Link with Yuki to the map app on
my phone.
"It's
9-6 on map 4! Moving
southwest!"
"Roger
that! I'm on my way! ......If by any chance it is the Hound
Master, please avoid combat if at all possible. If necessary, evacuate
immediately......"
"......Got
it."
I hesitated
for a moment, then nodded.
Only the
user and their cards can escape with the emergency evacuation magic item.....
Anna was
saying that in the event of an emergency, we should abandon the person
requesting rescue and run away.
I nodded my
head in agreement, but I wasn't sure if I could actually abandon the caller and
flee immediately.
However, if
that situation actually happened, I might have run away without a second
thought...
I didn't
know what I would do until that time came.
『Master, I'm
about to make contact with them. ...... Do you want me to transform into
werewolf form?』
『......No,
don't.』
I thought
about Yuki's suggestion for a moment and rejected it.
By
transforming into werewolf form, Yuki can dramatically increase her combat
power, but at the same time, there was the disadvantage of not being able to
use some of the [Advanced Ninjutsu].
Not all of
them would become unusable, but some particularly useful techniques, such as
the art of transformation and the clone technique, would become unusable.
This was
the reason why I did not have Yuki transform in the battle against Sunahara.
The
werewolf form of the lycanthrope was an ability to discard all of the human
form's dexterity and devote it to melee combat.
『Anyway,
it's time to use synchronization.』
『Yes!』
I closed my
eyes and overlapped myself with Yuki. When I opened my eyes, I was Yuki and
Yuki was me.
I ran
across the winding path at a speed that could overtake even a racing car with
ease.
Neither
obstacles nor high structures mattered to this body. I can run just like it was
even ground.
This was
not only due to the high capability of this body, but also to the power of
[Advanced Ninjutsu].
The art of
transformation and the various jutsu are not the only ninjutsu. The taijutsu1 in
which one can draw out their full extent of agility was also a clear example of
ninjutsu.
At that
moment, a faint voice reached Yuki's ears,
----Haa-haa-haa,
what's the matter with you! Suddenly
attacking......!
A young
woman's voice. This must be the one who called for help. I felt something
familiar about that voice, but that sense of déjà vu was dispelled when I heard
the next voice,
---- Haha,
great shot. It's a waste indeed, to just taking cards and kill. At least I
should have a taste once,.......
A tingle
bubbled up my spine. Thoughts spun rapidly.
....Take
cards and kill?! Hey, this
guy, no way..... ?!
I sped up
my pace and ran through the path like the wind.
What I saw
at the corner was a woman who looked like the rescue caller lying on the ground
and a young man with blonde hair pinning her.
Before the
lizardman and boar orc standing beside them could look back at me, Yuki's right
foot slipped past and kicked the man hard.
It was an
all-out blow that utilized the momentum of running. The man, who flew like a
bullet, bounded around the walls and floor like a pinball, and finally came to
a halt, after he slammed into a wall as if crucified.
"...Gah!?"
A beat
later, the man's monster cards vomited blood violently. The lizardmen Lost
directly, and the boar orc fell to its knees.
Even the
lizardmen and boar orc, with their superior vitality and sturdiness, seemed
unable to take all of the damage that would have killed a man many times over.
Still, one remained, which was to be expected.
“Ah,
gah… wha, t!?”
Ignoring
the man's voice of confusion, I turned to the woman who was being attacked.
In terms of
time, I shouldn't have the luxury......, but when I looked at the woman's
face, I was so astonished that I almost
unintentionally released the synchro.
"H,
uh?"
The
woman's, no, the girl's mouth was open and she looked flustered... I knew her face well.
......Shinomiya-san! What are you doing here?!
I was about
to ask that question, but then I stopped myself.
Right now,
I have to deal with this man first.
When I
turned around, I saw the man had recovered from his confusion and was glaring
at me with hatred.
He was
about 20 years old...... He had short, faded blond hair, piercings, and tattoos
on his arms,......at first glance, he gave the impression of a playboy. That
lighter atmosphere was too different compared to the master's presence that I
felt from that Anubis.
So, he's not
the Hound Master after all. The cards he uses are lizardman and boar orc.
But there is
a good chance that he is an associate of the Hound Master. A colleague? A
subordinate? ...... Is he a low-level guy, considering the fact that a rescue
call was sent as well as his thoughtlessness?
I thought
for a moment and decided to transform Yuki into werewolf form.
[Advanced
Ninjutsu] will be harder to use, but if the Hound User adheres to using
dog-type cards, then......!
My heart
beat so strongly that it hurt, and energy swelled from within so much that my
body felt like it was going to burst. It was no illusion, and the body expanded
rapidly to prove it. The skeleton deformed with a rumbling sound, and rustling,
glossy fur covered the entire body.......
"Ugh,
gu......!"
The synchro
Link was about to be broken by this inhuman sensation, but I desperately tried
to hold it together.
After
enduring the sensation of trudging through a raging storm which lasted for a
brief seconds, but felt like several minutes, I suddenly felt a sense of
exhilaration as if the weather had cleared up.
The
transformation was complete. Synchronization was also stable.
I asked the
man, who was astonished by the sudden transformation,
"......Oi,
what the hell are you doing?"
"Ah,
wha...... a lycanthrope, no way?!"
At my
question, no, at the sight of a lycanthrope, the man was clearly shaken, making
me more confident.
As I thought,
this guy knows Hound Master......!
What should I
ask next? Think of questions that will elicit as much information as possible
and will not raise any doubts...
"......Were
there ever any orders to do this?"
How about
that! There has been no sexual victimization
of any of the previous victims. So this is most likely this guy's sole
initiative! From the
perspective of the Hound Master who was so excellent at covering his tracks,
there is no way they would condone such an act that could lead to this kind of
identification!
"Ah,
no...!"
The man was
now in a state of complete panic.
"I'm
sorry! I was watching for the target to dive
into the dungeon as you said, but it turned out that she is an amazing type of
woman, so I.....!"
......!!!
I see, this
guy was acting as a lookout!
Perhaps the
setup was for a lowly guy like this guy to report back to the Hound Mater as to
which dungeon the target entered.
Good, it
seems that this guy is not very smart, is he?
To begin
with, when a rescue call was sent and other adventurers were on their way to
the rescue, the fact that he was leisurely trying to rape her showed that he
was a pretty stupid guy.
..... No,
well maybe he doesn't realize that a rescue request has been sent out?
Rescue
requests issued by the license can also be rejected.
The alarm
sound was quite loud, so if it rings late at night, it would normally be
annoying, and people who have no intention of going to any rescue in the first
place, tend to keep turning it off all the time. I also turned it off before I
went to bed or while I was at school, although sometimes I forgot to turn it
off.
But still,
he was an idiot.
Above all,
when he doesn't have a gremlin ready to go like the Hound Master, there was no
point in discussing it.
But it
would be understandable that if this guy was just a lookout, they wouldn't
distribute gremlins to such lowly lackeys......
Convinced
that this guy was an idiot, I decided to ask a more in-depth question,
" ......
Don't mess around! Tell me
what order I gave you!"
However,
the moment I asked that question, the man's complexion changed.
".....
Huh? Me2? You, are a guy?! You're
not that person?!"
"!?"
The man
became alarmed at once and took out a card from his pocket.
The Hound
Mater is a woman......?!
"Come! Anubis!"
"Wha-?!"
This guy also
has Anubis! No way! How much leeway do they have to hand
out B-rank card to such a lowly underling?!
But what
appeared was unmistakably Anubis, and the man grinned like a victorious man.
"...Tsk!"
I clicked
my tongue and jumped out from the corner where I was hiding.
In fact, I
had already arrived here during our conversation so far.
"Shinomiya-san!"
“Marocchi!?
Why are you here!?”
I grabbed
the astonished girl without answering any questions and put her on Dragonet.
If a fight
with a B-rank card broke out, she would be caught in the middle of it. As
expected, I couldn't afford to fight while protecting her.
However,
the situation changed further here.
"---Senpai!"
"I heard about the situation through my badge, you did a great job!”
"Anna! Oribe!"
The two who
had split up had come together.
And they
were on opposite sides of me, with the man in between us.
The timing
and position could not be a coincidence.
They were
hiding because they had heard the conversation between the man and me, which
was being relayed via the badges!
"Wha!"
The man,
who suddenly found himself in a predicament with his escape route blocked,
looked anxiously at Anna and the others while comparing them with me.
Behind him
were three C-rank cards: an Elf, a Pegasus, and a Tsuchigumo. In front, there
was a Lycanthrope and a Dragonet.
"......
Anubis! Kick that lycanthrope over there as
fast as you can and help me escape!"
Naturally,
the man chose my side. The only way for this guy to escape under the
circumstances was to force his way through our meager side.
.......But.
"Anubis! What are you doing, hurry up!"
For some
reason, the Anubis didn't move. It calmly looked between us and the man who was
its master......
"......Unavoidable,
huh?"
With a
small mutter, it leapt for the man's head.
""!
! ! ! ?""
We could do
nothing but watch in disbelief as the man's head flew through the air with an
expression of not knowing what was happening.
It was a
sight that even experienced adventurers, or rather the most experienced adventurers,
could not believe themselves......
I felt the
world I had believed to be absolute was crumbling away with a resounding crash.
No way......! A card should not be able to harm its
own master no matter what ......
Is it
actually not this guy's card? No,
I did see this guy summon it with my own eyes. Did the real master remotely
summon it as he did it? That is
also impossible. A card can only be summoned at hand, not from a distance.
The man's
head fell to the ground in front of my confused eyes. At that moment, Anubis
and the Boar Orc, whose existence had been totally forgotten, spurted blood
from their necks and became Lost.
Feedback of
damages to the cards. It was proof that these two cards were the man's cards.
"......Kya,
kyaaaaaaaaa!!"
Then a
high-pitched scream cut through the silence. The screamer was Shinomiya-san.
Unlike me,
Anna, and Oribe, she was just a regular high school girl. It was understandable
that she panicked at the sudden bloodshed.
But we had
no time to comfort her.
The scene
before our eyes betrayed the belief we had in the absolute safety of monster
cards....., and none of us could say anything.
Eventually,
Anna whispered to herself,
"......
Cursed, card."
It was an
urban legend that had been circulating for some time.
A strange
card I got in a dungeon one day. A strange card that had somehow slipped into
my pocket. A super-cheap card that a mysterious woman on a street corner forced
me to buy. ......
The
introductions to the stories vary, but the process and the ending were all the
same:
Those who
acquire the cursed card are struck with various misfortunes, and in the end,
they are killed by the card .......
This urban
legend, which came to be spread along with the adventurer boom, was said to
have been born out of a vague fear of dungeons and cards, both of which were
unknown.
But what if
it wasn't a silly urban legend, but a true story?
Among the
stories about cursed cards, there was one about a man who was manipulated by
the card to become a killer who attacked his family and acquaintances......
Being
manipulated by cards... that was a feeling I remember myself...
"No......!"
I shook off
the doubts that had crossed my mind.
However,
Renge and Suzuka's cards are exactly like cursed cards...
"......
Hey! W, wha, what is this?! C,
could it be, you guys did this?!"
Then,
adventurers who had also come in response to the rescue requests arrived.
As they
stared at us with horror, I thought to myself, ‘I think I'm going to be in a
lot of trouble now......’ as if it were someone else's problem.
[Tips] Rumors
of Cursed Cards
--This is
an excerpt from a certain occult thread:
This is a
story about a friend of a friend of mine. He was an adventurer, and one day,
while he was exploring a dungeon, he found a card that was lying on the ground.
The card, which seemed to have been dropped by another adventurer, was a C-rank
card with no owner registration, so he thought it was a good thing and decided
to take it. The card was a little different from ordinary cards and a little
creepy, but for him, who only had a D-rank card, the card became his mainstay.
A while
after he started using the card, strange things started happening around him.
Every few days or so, he would have a day when he couldn't remember what he was
doing. The day after the day he couldn't remember, something bad would happen.
Like finding the body of a stray cat that had been tortured and killed in the
vicinity of his house. He got scared and went to the hospital, but there was
nothing wrong with him physically. It was decided that it was probably a
psychological thing.
In the
meantime, more and more days went by in which he had no memory of what had
happened. The number of dead animals around his house also increased.
Eventually, rumors began to circulate that he was the one killing animals in
the neighborhood. While I thought it couldn't be true, I was worried about what
I was doing on the days I couldn't remember, so I decided to take videos of
myself.
Sometime in
the morning, after a day I had no memory of, I looked at the video and saw
myself...... killing a stray cat and eating it raw. That was when I heard a
voice from the card. It said, "You noticed,...... but it's too
late......."
I
immediately tried to throw it away, but as I did so, I lost consciousness. I've
been unconscious for about a month now. Hey, what should I do...?
***
Notes:
1 Taijutsu is a traditional Japanese martial art that focuses on unarmed combat and physical fitness.↩
2 Ore (俺): A masculine way to say ‘me’ or ‘I’ ↩
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