Living Normally In An Abnormal World

Chapter 76: From Escape to Conflict

After the inspection, on the day of the event.

The villain arrives, cheers, and shakes hands with the participants.

The game begins.

The villain and the other escapees start running away in unison. As planned, they check the hiding spots that couldn’t be inspected beforehand.

Usable, not usable, not usable.

OK, got it, let’s rest.

The villain heads to the pre-determined resting spot, which is on the roof of a two-story building.

As expected, I thought the cameraman would ask me something, so I looked up at the sky.

It’s a beautiful day, the weather is perfect.

“You’re here!”

“You’re not a hunter. What do you want?”

“Prepare yourself!”

However, my relaxation was short-lived, as a man appeared at my resting spot and suddenly attacked me with a right straight punch. I quickly stood up and used my right palm to deflect the punch, maintaining its momentum. The attacker, on the unstable roof, couldn’t control his momentum and lost his balance.

“Be careful.”

I said that in one breath, but to the viewers, my movements seemed completely safe and practiced.

“…”

The man who stood up assumed a fighting stance.

I thought to myself, “There’s no use talking to him, I might as well hit him.”

The tense standoff between the man and me continued for a few seconds without any movement.

I decided to run away, from the roof!

The man chased after me.

“…”

I didn’t say anything, I didn’t explain.

I didn’t try to appeal to the man’s conscience or convince him.

It was clear from the man’s eyes that he wasn’t listening. If he was going to do this, I wish he had asked me beforehand or at least said something.

After running for a while, I arrived at a square.

There, I assumed a fighting stance.

As the man caught up, I readied myself again.

“I’m sorry.”

As I glared at the man, I thought, “If you’re going to apologize, don’t challenge me in the first place.”

“I see.”

“!?”

I decided to stop waiting for the man’s move and instead moved to attack. I threw a right punch at his face, expecting him to dodge.

“Wha–!”

The man dodged the punch, grabbed my arm, and performed a back throw without losing momentum. I jumped as I was being thrown, adding more force to the back throw. I should have landed on my back, but instead, I landed in a strange bridge-like position, preventing my back from touching the ground.

Then, I grabbed the man’s arm with my left hand and rotated horizontally. The man couldn’t escape, and we rotated together.

After a few rotations, I applied an armbar, and asked the man,

“What now?”

“Don’t underestimate me—”

“!”

Amazingly, the man stood up by pushing his limits.

I was surprised, having applied the technique. If I didn’t create some distance immediately, I might get counterattacked.

“I’m glad you’re so aggressive.”

“…”

“Shh!”

The man released a mid-level roundhouse kick with his left foot. The attack connected with my body.

“Guh!”

At the same time, a shock ran through the man’s face, and he arched his back.

I had indeed taken the hit, but I didn’t just use my stomach to block the roundhouse kick; I also pulled back one leg to suppress the impact. Then, I delivered a slap to the man’s face with my right hand.

I didn’t let this opportunity pass; I immediately tried to regain my footing and delivered another slap to the man’s face.

My mindset at that moment was, “Fists are still not a good idea.”

A man’s face is his life, but without hesitation, I attacked his face, which, to a woman, would be an act of devilry.

“Don’t mess with me! Come at me with your fists!”

“…”

The man seemed dissatisfied. He said those words forcefully, and I changed my slap into a punch. I did this to honor the man’s resolve.

Then, I released a serious right corkscrew blow, aiming for the man’s vital spot, the water moon.

“Guh!”

His defense was penetrated, and the blow landed perfectly on the water moon. The man fell forward, kneeling.

I tried to subdue him immediately, but there was a figure in front of me. I left the man there and ran away.

“Wait!”

But I didn’t wait. This game was tag, not a fight.

So, I created some distance between the man and me.

After a few minutes,

I was walking.

I was grumbling to myself about what had happened, keeping my hands in my pockets and walking with an air of resentment.

(That strike was a direct hit, and he must have been caught.)

As I thought that, I turned left at the T-junction.

“Shyaa!”

“Hmm? Guh!”

Another surprise attack, and this time, I was ambushed.

It wasn’t a hunter, but maybe a hunter would have been better. The man from before hadn’t been caught.

I couldn’t avoid the man, as I hadn’t seen him. The man’s right straight punch connected with my face. I was sent flying, rolling on the ground a few times, and ending up on my back.

“You…”

“Let’s have round two.”

“Be prepared.”

I stood up from my back without using my hands, and then I ran at a low posture, sneaking into the man’s guard. I released a body blow, but it wasn’t over with just one.

I kept punching, punch after punch.

I kept up the onslaught, not giving the man any openings. All he could do was defend. I had plenty of stamina, and I was slowly wearing him down.

The man continued to block the heavy and fast punches, but the more he blocked, the faster and heavier they became. He tried to create some distance by backing up, but for some reason, one of his feet wouldn’t move, and he lost his balance.

I looked and saw that I was stepping on his foot, preventing him from escaping or creating distance. The man ended up on his back, and I took the mount position, pinning his arms with my knees, leaving him no way to defend his face.

“Do you want to continue?”

I asked, holding the man’s neck with my left hand and pulling his right arm, ready to attack at any moment.

“!”

But suddenly, I looked around and saw that the hunters were approaching from a distance. I couldn’t be caught, so I immediately ran away.

The man, who had been taken down again, escaped in a different direction from me.

(It’s about time…)

The man was chasing me.

He was using the smartphone provided by the program to constantly track my location and set up ambushes and surprise attacks.

However, he lost to my strength and speed, both in a straight fight and in a surprise attack. But he couldn’t give up. He hadn’t lost yet, because he was still in a position to fight.

So, until he was completely defeated, he couldn’t be considered a loser.

The man chased me into a narrow alley. He waited for me at the spot where I would likely exit.

I confirmed my position and predicted that I was walking at a steady pace, just like when the surprise attack had succeeded earlier.

(Glauzer will be out of the alley in a few seconds. That’s my target!)

The man assumed a fighting stance.

3… 2… 1… Now!

… What?

The man’s prediction was wrong, and his punch missed.

Then, the man saw me on all fours, looking up at him.

And the man lost consciousness.

“When did this become a fight instead of a game of tag?”

“I don’t know about that. But if I had to say something…”

“Grauzer is so strong!!”

After the program, the audience rushed towards me, and I was thinking that they were going to complain about the broadcast accident, but most of them said they enjoyed it.

Running away, fighting, and settling the score at the same time.

It’s like having your cake and eating it too.

Even the noble group, who were watching, seemed to have a good impression, and they thanked me for the new stimulation.

I’m sure I’ll be fighting again.

Also, I didn’t receive any complaints from the person I fought, and instead, I received a letter of gratitude. They even wrote that they wanted me to fight them again, but I politely declined.

Then,

“Yuuto.”

“Yes.”

“You moved well.”

“Thanks!”

Everyone seemed to be okay with what happened.

And, without saying, the game of fighting was added to the game we played with Satoshi later.