Chapter 3: I’m sendo (2)

‘What is this monster…?’

I stared down at the monster charging at me, a bewildered expression on my face.

It was certainly short.

Overall, it wasn’t a particularly large monster.

From a distance, it looked like it would only reach my waist at most.

However, given the monster’s appearance and the weapon it held, I couldn’t afford to let my guard down.

‘Isn’t this a bit dangerous…?’

It had already spotted me.

Being behind the counter, I couldn’t just run away.

A monster with an appearance I’d never seen in my life was openly bipedal, and on top of that, it was charging at me, blatantly revealing its hostility.

My thoughts didn’t linger.

I saw the club swinging towards me.

If I were a normal human, I would have been struck down without a chance to react.

Yes, if I were a normal human, that is.

‘Why is it so slow?’

It was slow.

Objectively speaking, the monster was indeed charging quite fast.

Yet, to me, it seemed incredibly slow.

At this speed, not reacting would be illogical.

‘I probably shouldn’t hit it too hard…?’

Instinctively, I felt that even a slight amount of force would cause the monster’s body to explode and dirty the cafe floor, so I drained the strength from my arm and extended my hand towards the charging monster as if reaching out.

– Kraaarak?!

The monster, which had jumped and charged, was hit squarely by a fist that had merely been extended.

Contrary to my expectation that it would at least be knocked out, the result was horrific.

*Splish!*

The moment the monster’s head connected with my fist, it burst open like a watermelon.

Shards of bone and brain matter splattered across the floor.

*Thud!*

The monster, with only the remnants of its head dangling, fell to the floor.

“Ah.”

I hadn’t intended to do this much.

I looked down at the monster with its head exploded, cold sweat trickling down me.

‘Surely I don’t have to clean this up, do I…?’

Even as I thought that to myself, I found myself dumbfounded.

Regardless, a life had been instantly ended by my fist.

Even if the opponent charged at me and effectively died naturally, didn’t I still kill it?

Even if I hadn’t killed it, a monster that somewhat resembled a human had its head burst open and died right before my eyes, yet I wasn’t particularly agitated internally.

I was often told I was calm, but this was beyond that; my mind felt strangely at ease.

‘Is this also because of the stat cheat?’

Should I call this a good thing…?

Not being greatly confused was, in the current situation, rather fortunate.

As I looked down at the monster’s corpse with a complicated expression, I sensed another presence from the door.

More monsters than before were walking inside.

– Grarak? Grararaak!

– Grarak!

Perhaps enraged by their comrade’s death, the monsters began to rampage.

Then, they each raised the weapons in their hands and charged at me.

“Aish…”

Should I fight?

It would be natural to run away here, but…

I didn’t particularly want to run.

More than anything, I needed to confirm how much power I currently possessed.

Anyway, I was the only one in this store, and it didn’t seem like anyone would be coming in right away.

‘Shall I give it a try?’

Having decided, I stepped out from behind the counter.

As soon as I came out, I was confronted by the monsters charging at me.

First, a light hit.

Having roughly learned how to control my strength while working at the logistics center earlier, adjusting my power wasn’t a big problem.

I merely threw a punch, thinking this much would probably be fine.

However, I had overlooked something.

This was a fist with such monstrous power that merely extending it slightly had caused a monster’s head to explode upon impact.

What would happen if I deliberately swung a fist with such power?

The answer was clear.

*THWOOM!*

The shockwave emanating from my fist crushed the first charging monster whole, then continued unimpeded, shattering the cafe wall.

I gaped, staring at the perfectly circular hole punched through the wall.

“Crazy…”

This is a stat cheat…?

As I stared blankly, unable to believe what I had done, I felt something poke my back.

‘Huh?’

Feeling something blunt tapping my back, I turned around to see a monster with a horrified expression stumbling backward.

In the monster’s hand was a crude dagger.

“Ah… so it stabbed me?”

But despite being stabbed, it hadn’t pierced my body.

‘Whoa, that was close… Where did it get that?’

Even though I had gained a stat cheat, bladed weapons still seemed dangerous.

I thought that no matter how tough my body was, sharp objects would still be a problem.

However, a normal person would have been trivially killed by a stab in the back, yet even when caught off guard and stabbed from behind, the knife didn’t penetrate even 1mm.

Perhaps only the clothes I was wearing were torn by the knife.

– Grrrk, Grarak?

The monster looked terrified, seemingly realizing that despite stabbing with all its might, the blade wouldn’t penetrate.

“Will this work too?”

I lightly flicked my finger.

– Grarak?!

*Whoosh! CRASH!*

Then, the nearby monster was hit by the impact fired from my finger, sent flying, and embedded itself in the wall.

I didn’t need to check; it was probably instantly dead.

– Grarak! Grkiiiik!!

The remaining monster shrieked and fled out of the cafe.

Letting it escape would be a problem in itself, so I reached out to grab it, but then lowered my hand.

‘Someone else will catch it, I guess…’

A hero would have been dispatched anyway.

And this much was enough for confirmation…

“…Just how strong have I become?”

This was beyond simply becoming stronger.

These were physical abilities straight out of a movie or anime, weren’t they…?

‘In games, no matter how strong your stats get, only the damage dealt changes…’

In games, having a high Strength stat didn’t mean stronger environmental impact or more severe after-effects.

However, when the overwhelming stats from the cheat became reality, it showed an absurd display.

“Hoo…”

As I felt the situation had ended and let out a sigh, something round caught my eye in the corner of my vision.

That’s right.

‘CCTV…?!’

Now that I thought about it, there was a CCTV.

That meant everything I had just done was recorded on it.

‘Uh… shit…’

This looks like a big problem…

Is there a way to erase it?

It would be fortunate if the boss didn’t check the CCTV, but if they turned it on to see what happened in the store, they’d be able to see me catching monsters and accidentally breaking the wall, wouldn’t they?

‘Uh…’

I might not be able to hide it…?

*Thump-thump*

“Ah…”

While I was contemplating, looking at the CCTV, someone entered the cafe.

It was a woman with long, lime-green hair, wearing a tight-fitting suit that revealed her figure.

Just by her attire, she looked like a hero.

She entered, looked around, then spotted me and spoke.

“Are you alright? I came immediately after seeing a monstrous creature appear here. Ah, I am A-rank Hero Kinesis. You can rest assured now.”

“Ah, yes…”

“Where is the enemy…?”

Kinesis, muttering and looking around, stiffened her expression.

“Did you perhaps do this?”

“Ah, no… I’m an unawakened person…”

“Ah… I apologize. Did someone else arrive here first?”

“Yes… well, these monsters suddenly came into the cafe, and I thought I was going to die right here…”

I pointed to the wall I had just broken.

“Someone broke through that wall over there, dealt with all the monsters, and then left…”

“…”

Despite hearing my explanation, Kinesis looked at me with a strange gaze, as if still suspecting me.

Even if she looked at me like that, I had nothing more to say.

It’s true that I was identified as unawakened…

If she’s annoyed, she should blame this world that made me unawakened…

I was categorized as unawakened in the tests, so I can’t just say I have superpowers now, can I?

****

No, wait a minute…

‘Should I have just said I did it instead?!’

Oh, this is crazy.

Was this a misjudgment?

I was desperate to hide it, thinking I didn’t know what would happen if it was revealed I could wield such power, but now that I think about it, it might have been better to just say I had strong superpowers and resolved this situation.

Or not?

Upon further thought, it might not necessarily be better.

After all, if I revealed that I killed the monster, it would become even more problematic later if my unawakened status was revealed during the cleanup of this incident.

It might be better to forcibly pass myself off as a normal person.

But for that to work, this woman shouldn’t suspect me…

“…Understood. Please evacuate under the guidance of the hero outside. This place is dangerous.”

“Yes… um… thank you…”

“And… could you perhaps describe the person who just came in here?”

“Ah…”

This wasn’t a normal question.

It was a question with a double meaning.

A question designed so that if I answered correctly, she’d get information about the person who saved me, and if I answered strangely, she’d be certain it was me.

She was very explicitly saying she suspected me.

I answered as naturally as possible to avoid suspicion.

“Um… I don’t really remember well… it happened so fast… I couldn’t get a good look.”

“…”

Her gaze of suspicion deepened.

Why are you looking at me like that…?

To a normal person, it might look exactly like that, why not?

“…Understood for now. This place is dangerous, so please evacuate first.”

“Yes…”

Ah, seriously, what should I do about that?

I need to figure out how to erase the CCTV footage, and also how to dispel that woman’s suspicion.

Ah, really…

I swallowed my tears inwardly and evacuated.

Continuing to ponder what to do.