I Thought This Was a Slice of Life

Shuya thought about it and felt it wouldn't be a problem, so he said, "I should be fine. Just let me know a day in advance once you've decided on the time so I can adjust my schedule."

"OK, it's a deal then."

Aoki Shin said.

Shuya could hear that his voice had been suppressing excitement; clearly, this matter was highly unusual for him.

Shuya asked curiously, "Who exactly did you pick to be this happy?"

"Hahaha, you want to know? Well, I guess I have no choice, I'll tell you then!"

Aoki Shin feigned reluctance, but from his tone, Shuya knew he was actually dying to say it and had no intention of hiding it at all.

Soon, Aoki Shin said proudly:

"He is a world-famous action star, Jackie Chan from Dahua!"

Shuya was shocked: "Holy crap, you really went all out!"

"What's wrong?"

Mai hadn't heard what was being said on the other end of the phone and asked curiously.

But Shuya had no time to answer her, as he was also plunged into astonishment.

Even someone like him who didn't pay much attention to movies had heard of Jackie Chan's reputation.

Every action movie he filmed had become a massive hit across the Earth Federation.

Shuya never expected that a TV series could actually invite such a legendary figure.

When Aoki Shin told Shuya earlier that the station valued this drama highly, he clearly hadn't been lying.

This lineup was truly luxurious.

After Aoki Shin finished showing off, he didn't say much more to Shuya and hung up to get back to work.

After Shuya calmed down, he shared the news with Mai.

"To actually invite Mr. Jackie Chan over, that's amazing!"

Mai-chan's eyes widened in shock, looking very cute.

Their conversation was overheard by their passing coach, who also said in surprise:

"Shu-chan, Mai-chan, is what you're saying true? TV dramas these days are really something else."

The coach remarked casually: "Speaking of big brother Jackie Chan, you kids are too young to know, but those of us from martial arts gyms all remember how shocked we were when we heard he had cultivated 'Qi' at the age of twelve... Sigh, I guess there's no choice but to admit defeat."

He shook his head as he spoke and walked away with a sigh.

Shuya, however, was left completely bewildered by what he said.

Wait, what did you say?

What the hell?

"???"

Shuya felt his worldview was under a massive threat.

Section 51 45 Reshaping Worldviews

Actually, Shuya had long vaguely felt that something was wrong with this world.

Whether it was the unusually large number of martial arts gyms on the streets, the deified Dahua Special Forces, or the Dahua kung fu action movies that people talked about with such relish.

There was also one more thing recently that made him feel something was super off.

And that was himself.

Ever since he started working out, his physical development had been nothing short of insane; his height was already approaching 1.4 meters.

He looked just like a nine or ten-year-old child.

This was far beyond common sense.

He had tested it himself, and his strength was no worse than that of a twelve or thirteen-year-old boy.

Shuya had always comforted himself with the idea that transmigrators were just different.

But after hearing the coach's unintentional exclamation, Shuya felt that all of this...

Perhaps it was different from what he had imagined.

The only thing Shuya could be grateful for at the moment was that he had become stronger, but his hair was still as thick as ever.

He hadn't gone bald.

Ever since he heard the news about "Qi" at the gym, Shuya found the thought terrifying.

If Qigong really existed, could there be demons and monsters in this world?

He had originally thought this was a lighthearted slice-of-life story, but now they were telling him the setting was changing?!

...No, that wasn't right, the setting hadn't changed.

The hints had always been there; it was just that Shuya had been trapped in the common sense of Earth and had never tried to delve into the issue.

"Shuya-kun?"

Shuya's mind was a complete mess, conjuring up all sorts of scenarios.

"Shuya-kun."

Shuya was given a nudge, which finally pulled him out of the abyss of his thoughts.

"Huh?"

He looked left and right, dazed.

"Shuya-kun, let's call it a day. You look a bit tired."

Senior Sister Seisen looked at him with concern.

Shuya looked into her clear eyes and felt healed.

"Sorry, I ran into something today."

"..."

Senior Sister Seisen hesitated for a moment before saying, "If you'd like, why not talk about it? You might feel a bit lighter."

"Oh..." Shuya glanced at her and tentatively asked, "Senior Sister, have you heard of 'Qi'?"

Senior Sister Seisen tilted her head in confusion and said:

"I have. Isn't that common knowledge?"

She actually had!

Shuya hadn't expected to get an answer on his very first inquiry.

Senior Sister Seisen looked at him and smiled: "Shuya-kun has reached that age, hasn't he? Starting to yearn for heroes?"

"What do you mean?"

This time, it was Shuya's turn to ask.

"Ah? Sorry, I just assumed you'd been watching some tokusatsu shows, which is why you suddenly asked about it."

Senior Sister Seisen smiled sheepishly. Well, that smile, tinged with a hint of shyness, was incredibly beautiful.

At her words, Shuya recalled the Kamen Rider-style shows he had occasionally caught glimpses of in this world.

He had always assumed those high-flying fights were just like the shows from his past life—all special effects, all fake.

...Could it be that they were all real?

Seeing him on the verge of a breakdown, Senior Sister Seisen comforted him: "Shuya-kun, please calm down."

"Senior Sister Seisen, are there really that many masters in the world? How come I've never seen any?"

"Not exactly." Senior Sister Seisen said, "True masters of Qigong are very rare nowadays. Most people only know a bit of martial arts; as for those who claim to know Qigong, most are just con artists."

"Why?"

"I don't know about that. I can only say that I've never seen the kind of masters from the movies in real life."

That was a relief...

At least he didn't have to worry about public safety.

In any case, Shuya had never heard of any masters causing trouble. Of course, that might just be because such things were suppressed in the shadows.

But the fact that things remained peaceful was enough to prove that martial arts masters couldn't beat firearms.

The times have changed, my friend.

Afterward, Shuya chatted with Junior Sister Seisen for a while, listened to her play the piano and sing a few songs, and then headed home with his mind full of thoughts.

He brought the matter up with his parents.

Inoue Hikoo shouted, "What is this? Shu-chan, why didn't you ask me sooner? You mean you didn't know all of this was real?"

"Hehe, it's rare for Shu-chan to be ignorant of something."

Hanazawa Sakura also covered her mouth and chuckled.

"Fine."

Shuya twitched the corner of his mouth.

So the whole world knew, and I was the only one who didn't.

Influenced by the common sense of his past life, even though information about martial arts masters had appeared before him as a matter of course since his rebirth, he had simply dismissed it as fraud. He never once considered the possibility of its authenticity.

Other children would have asked their parents upon seeing such things and naturally learned the truth, but Shuya had never asked. He had simply assumed he saw through it all, believing everything was fake and enhanced with special effects.

"How about this, Shu-chan? Come to the office with me tomorrow, and I'll show you some good stuff."

"?"

Inoue Hikoo said mysteriously.

The next morning, Shuya went to the office with Inoue Hikoo; Hanazawa Sakura had other work and didn't join them.

Inoue Hikoo took Shuya into the company's archives, rummaged around, and pulled out a stack of videotapes.

As he prepared to play the video, Inoue Hikoo said to Shuya, "Actually, the final animation my father—your grandfather—worked on before he passed away was about a master swordsman. Back then, he consulted with many ancient schools, which is how he ended up with so much precious footage."

Soon, Shuya was looking at an entirely new world.

Although the image quality was poor, the strength of the various masters was still clearly visible.

There were feats like splitting a massive boulder with a single strike, cutting off the flow of a waterfall with one sword swing, leaping several meters into the air, and rending steel and stone with bare hands.

This kind of superhuman martial prowess left Shuya completely stunned.

Some even managed to manifest energy blasts, shattering wooden pillars from a distance of one or two meters.

But when it came down to it, these things were still within an acceptable range.

At the very least, no one was flying, and no one knew how to wield flying swords.

Ultimately, they still couldn't beat guns and cannons.

Shuya quickly recalibrated his worldview; after all, he had already accepted the fact that he had transmigrated and been reborn, so he could certainly accept the existence of martial arts.

"Dad, do you know any masters like these?"

"I don't."

Inoue Hikoo replied bluntly, "These people are quite mysterious and rare. My father went through a lot of trouble to record this footage back in the day. Well, even though the animation ended up being a total flop, hahahaha."

"Then what about those martial arts gyms outside? Are they all run by masters like these?"

"How could that be? If they had that kind of ability, they'd be fighting in rings or becoming celebrities to make big money."

Inoue Hikoo said, "From what I've heard, those who stay behind to run martial arts gyms are basically small fry, with only a very few having any real skill."