Chapter 352: Break into Night

———Lynda———

<5: 21 pm>

“Hello there. Looks like you were roughed up quite badly.” The shady doctor remarked as he stood there behind the bread display.

“Just heal me up already.” I grumbled while walking into the operating room.

“Coming right up!” He said before following me there as I lay down. “Hmm… More dislocated bones? Are you trying to be a rubber man?”

“Putting a bit too much force into an attack, I ain’t trying to replicate anything.” I had to make that clear before his imagination runs wild.

“Whatever, just close your eyes and let me do my magic, it won’t take long since you’re not profusely bleeding out.” He cheerfully remarked before doing his thing. It’s not very painful and it won’t take long at all. “It’s been a while since you got injured this badly, what got you so fired up today?”

“It’s just been a while since I did a serious dungeon run. I just want to test my limits.” I explained. I have been doing a lot of training and not a lot of serious battles lately. “What about you? I rarely ever see you outside this place, and you are clearly very strong, senior.”

“Are we really that close now?” He teasingly said.

“And here I thought you would appreciate some respect, weirdo.” I replied with a sigh. Not a whole lot of people remember him as a rival to that popular student of the same year, I need to do a bit of digging since it has been… what, two to three years? I was never big into gossip about the seniors.

“Heh. Anyway, I guess I’ll explain my situation, it’s special but not that special anyway.” He began explaining. “I do enter the dungeon a few times myself, but usually late at night where very few people would be down there. Most of my strength came from before the Eclipse. My friends and I were tangled up in an incident, you see. The kind that if we were to break our silence on would mean our deaths, at least until the masquerade drops.”

“…Well that’s scary.” I remarked in regards to how they’re kept silent this whole time about it. “Why is that? It’s not like anyone would believe you guys, right?”

“It’s more than that. It’s also about what would happen if the story broke out. It’s a rather complicated situation that might cause panic or raise the interest of unsavory people. When it comes to incidents that expose regular humans to these mysteries they are far from ordinary.” He explained. Quite vague, but I guess maybe he just doesn't want to recount it anyway? “Obviously that doesn’t matter now that the general public has been exposed to it. No old heads will try to silence me over the matter any more, but this explanation should be more than enough.”

“...How long ago was this?” I asked, feeling a bit curious.

“Four years and counting. There are other incidents as well, but the one I was thrown into was quite long ago.” He answered.

“Is…” I was going to ask about that big incident, but I’m pretty sure he wasn’t there for that, so I clamped up and had to change the topic mid-sentence. “Is this a frequent thing?”

“Depends on what you meant by frequent. It’s more of a one in a million or so. Certainly enough chance for a few dozen people to experience genuine supernaturals every generation, not counting the Mage Remnants, of course.” He starts yapping as the operation continues. “Those who were exposed to it tended to keep that revelation to their grave for various reasons. Holding on to what makes them special, to not cause panic, perhaps a vow, or any other circumstances that could lead to such silence. It’s more than just the ancients not wanting it to be exposed. As long as it is localized, it’s technically fine, but walls have ears and words spread like the wind, the chance of it becoming public knowledge heavily increases the more people are exposed and it becomes harder to manage.”

“...Say, how scary are these ancient folks?” I asked since he should be more familiar with them with how he has explained things so far. I have a rough idea of how scary, but more testimony should help form it better.

“Like a spark against the inferno. Nothing can compare.” He answered. “Best to think of them as unreachable stars rather than any sort of goalpost.”

“...Is that literal?” I asked. I can’t comprehend their strengths in the slightest, so I can never be sure of the gap.

“Perhaps. Probably a more apt comparison than a droplet of water against an entire ocean, at least.” He speaks with some confidence.

“That still sounds so absurd…” I pointed out. The gap between two people can never be that large even if it’s a literal infant against the strongest person in the world.

“It’s just how it is.” He calmly said. “Now then…”

*Crack* *Snap*

“Gah! The hell are you doing!?” I screamed out in pain thanks to whatever the hell he’s doing right now!

“Relax, we’re almost done.” He calmly said like this isn’t bothering the hell out of me. There’s no anesthesia so can’t he be more gentle!? Or at least use some magic, surely pain-dulling spells exist? “There we go. Don’t move around just yet, let me observe your condition for a minute or two.”

“Ugh… Do you have x-ray vision or something?” I asked after groaning out in pain.

“I wouldn’t quite call it that. More of the generally enhanced perception you get from mastering mana and growing stronger. Nothing unique to me.” He answered. “Hmm… Everything is setting back in nicely… Alright, you can move.”

“It’s really hard to believe that you are even remotely qualified to be a doctor.” I remarked as I stood up. Still some lingering pain, but at least I’m not at risk of my body falling apart. “Anyway, the cost?”

“Let’s go talk about that on the counter.” He said before leading me out of the room and started putting the numbers down. “There, you can afford it, right?”

“Obviously.” I answered before paying. It’s still very cheap for how effective it is. Thankfully the fact that this place is shady as hell not many people came here to get healed compared to the one in the guild or just the hospital. Also, this place is so small and manned by one person, so he genuinely can’t attract that many customers anyway.

“Do you want to buy some bread on the way out?” He asked with a smile.

“Nah, I’m leaving. See you later.” I said before turning around and walking out of the clinic. I can’t say I like the idea of hanging around with that guy for too long, if only because the vibes feel off.

…For a second I thought it was going to rain, the clouds looked quite dark. Maybe it’s just because it’s late and I’m tired as hell. I should go back home and get some rest.

I was in the dungeon for way longer than I thought I would. I didn’t get much as I would like with over a hundred floors and counting.

Hmm… Maybe I should just dump this at the guild in case I fell asleep before the usual trading time. I could really use an early rest.

———Karra———

<10: 56 pm>

“Hmm…” I grumbled to myself as I continued walking in the dead of night.

“Who’s this? Never seen a pretty face like her around here.” An average scoundrel said. Of course an average night in a place like this would be filled with harassers like that.

I simply choose to ignore him while walking towards my destination. As long as he doesn’t do anything funny then it’s not worth my attention.

As for the location, it should be in this alleyway. No one is around to guard it like she said.

Let me get all the equipment ready first before doing anything else…

“Hey, this is the right place, right?” I asked just so I don’t make a fool out of myself.

“<Indeed. I hope you don’t mess up.>” She said through the earring. I sure wouldn’t.

I make sure to look around before starting the operation. I can’t start off with getting ambushed or someone interrupting the intro. I can’t speak up right now, but I can start the surprise stream and see how well the experiment is gonna go.

“We’re live.” That’s all I said before walking into the alley with all the cameras set up.

*Bang* *Crash*

“What!? Enemy attack!?” Someone shouted out as I broke through the secret entrance and down into the lair of villains. This is far from the only entrance.

Had to break it to them, using this sealed off laboratory as a hideout, modifying it enough to be livable and act as a place for criminals to hang out, making it hard for them to be discovered.

This one seemed to be in good shape compared to the one near our town that looked like it was part of a horror movie, perhaps the scientists left before it could even be discovered and left behind signs of struggles.

{what the huh?}

{wtf is this}

{this a party?}

Some regular chatters are still active at this time, why am I not surprised?

*Bang* *Evade*

“Get her!” Someone yelled out after shooting a gun at me, only for it to miss.

*Bang* *Dash* *Strike* *Evade* *Swing* *Bash* *Slash*

A brief skirmish with the people near this area doesn’t take long. None of them can hope to hold a candle to me. All of them were incapacitated in only a few seconds.

“Alright late-night chatters. We’re doing something different today.” I announced with a slightly smug tone. “I’m raiding a criminal base right now. I was bored of doing mild stuff like dungeon diving, so…”

“Intruder! Get her!” Someone yelled out as multiple footsteps could be heard. There are quite a lot of people here, no doubt many that are raring to abuse their magic for havoc. So far the casting speed is so slow none of them can even throw a speck of fire.

{For realsie?}

{Damn this chick going nuts!}

{blood blood blood!}

{dis a movie!}

“Come get me asshole!” I shouted out with a wide grin on my face. Let’s see if they’ll last even a minute!

———Rizi———

<11: 03 pm>

“<Check her channel she has gone nuts!>” Seemi said, sounding genuinely flabbergasted while answering my question.

“Can’t you share her stream here, at least?” I asked, feeling like that would make it easier to commentate over.

“<Ah. Right.>” She said, calming down a bit before sharing it in the group chat.

It showed Kara beating the crap out of someone while she’s… where the hell is she?

“What is she doing?” I asked, feeling confused.

“<Oh, you guys are watching it too?>” Idea chimed in as they joined the voice call. “<I guess she wants to try a new style of content.>”

“By… beating people up?” I asked, still confused as to why she’s doing this. I would say she is someone who doesn’t have much to worry about based on her location and other factors, but this seems quite brazen regardless.

“<Something about it being a criminal hideout, I believe.>” Idea explained. So they also caught this stream when it first started… It actually started only a few minutes ago. “<It’s going to be a fun watch. I just hope she doesn’t end up killing too many people. I can already tell the gap in power is absurd.>”

“<Thankfully we have an expert on board.>” Seemi remarked in regards to Idea joining us. With Kara preoccupied and Lrem probably having her beauty sleep, they are the only one that is very familiar with the whole idea of battling. I certainly wouldn’t consider myself as someone experienced in battling, handling mana with grace or whatever.

“<It’s going to be hard to provide commentary on such a one-sided fight, you know?>” Idea said in a way that probably involved them having a subtly smug grin.

She is genuinely moving so quickly even with the state of the art drones that it’s going to take rewatching the stream to fully comprehend all of her actions. Seeing it live like this felt like going through the moment.

It doesn’t help that being so late at night makes my mind fuzzy. At least I don’t have anything important to do tomorrow, so I can watch this sudden spectacle for a while, even if the conclusion is foregone.