This Humble One, Reincarnation Stream Player

"Okay, okay. I'll do my best."

"I'm counting on you." Yuki tossed the walkie-talkie back to Mai Sakurajima, took out a sheet of white paper, and spread it over the pile of explosives. With a few quick strokes, he sketched the building's layout.

Of course, it wasn't as accurate as a computer drawing, but Mai and Yuki had walked through the unfinished building twice. After surveying it in person, she could roughly identify the spots marked with circles on Yuki's drawing.

"Activate your Ego Trait. Plant explosives here, here, and here, then run the fuse to the second building. Detonate them when I give the signal."

"Wait, I've never done any demolition work! And when am I supposed to plant all these explosives?" Sweat beaded on the girl's forehead. She usually just went to school and acted. When had she ever dealt with something this specialized?

"The blast holes and materials are already here. The workers even laid the cables. Just put the explosives where I marked, insert the detonators, and connect the cables." Yuki had wanted to do it himself, but there were some things he simply couldn't do. Transcendental power had long since moved beyond the realm of knowledge.

"The second problem is even simpler. Think about what your Trait can do."

Listening to the sound of the helicopter blades, Mai froze for a moment, then understood.

Her Trait would let her plant explosives right under the enemy's noses. The building was pitch-black, the blast holes in the walls hadn't been made by them, and her Trait could even make people overlook what she'd done. Unless they concentrated, they'd have a hard time noticing her.

"Li Dan and I will draw their attention. Go ahead and do it, but remember: you must hide where I told you before you detonate them."

Yuki did some rough calculations. There were enough explosives here to blow up two buildings. Even if they detonated everything here, they'd still need to plant another fifty kilograms of TNT. That would take some real labor.

But what else could he do? Only Mai could handle it. As long as her Trait was active, she could do more than blow up buildings. She could dance in a bunny suit with explosives in her hands right in front of the enemy, and it wouldn't matter.

"Oh, and if there's time, throw all the workers' mattresses in there, too."

Yuki pointed at the empty elevator shaft, grabbed his sword, and climbed upstairs. He didn't even have time to explain. Only then did Mai raise her hand.

"Wait..."

She didn't finish. The man was already gone. Mai pressed her lips together. She wasn't going to say she couldn't do it. There was no point. She had to succeed.

I just want to ask how you're going to get out of this alive.

Mai took a deep breath. There was no point asking anything now. She just had to follow orders and do everything she could.

The gunshots were getting closer. She bit down on the drawing Yuki had left behind, deftly tore open the packaging, then took off her jacket and stuffed it with the blocks of TNT. She turned and ran.

They were on the second floor. The construction crew had already drilled blast holes in the load-bearing pillars and left the detonation cables on the ground. All she had to do was follow Yuki's drawing and do some manual labor.

She had barely stuffed in a few blocks and inserted the detonators before the sound of dogs barking filled the building.

There was almost no time to think. Several Blackback police dogs, each over a meter long, charged inside and stopped less than a meter from Mai. They tilted their heads as if wondering why they'd run in.

Then, a blindingly bright flashlight beam swept inside. SWAT officers carrying assault rifles appeared at the top of the stairs. They scanned the floor with thermal night-vision goggles and signaled to one another.

"Clear."

"Target spotted upstairs."

"Cover each other. Leave two to secure this floor. Squads Two and Three, intercept the other group of suspects."

"Go, go, go!"

The sound of combat boots faded into the distance. Mai stood frozen in place. For a moment, even her heart had stopped beating. The fully automatic weapons could have turned her into a sieve. This was far scarier than what had happened in the subway.

But they can't see me. Is this the power of the supernatural?

Mai glanced at the two armed enemies standing guard at the stairwell. They searched their surroundings like blind men, unable to see the girl five meters away or notice the explosives planted in the holes in the load-bearing pillars.

Whew—

Suddenly, she felt more confident as she handled the explosives right under the enemy's noses.

Nineteen minutes left. She had to finish, no matter what!

It had begun.

Yuki could already hear the footsteps of a large number of SWAT officers pouring into the building. The bang, bang of gunfire hadn't stopped once. Li Dan was killing them. Every shot was a headshot, and his Chaos Item had no ammunition limit. Its penetrating power was incredible, too. Anyone who ran into him would be killed instantly.

Extremely dangerous—at least a full level above Thomas.

Yuki had long since realized that the two veteran players weren't on the same level. If Li Dan had a weakness, it was that his attacks were too straightforward. Against enemies with massive bodies and lots of health, Thomas's Chainsaw Sword would be more useful. But who could say Li Dan didn't have other trump cards?

"But the stronger he is, the better. He can draw more enemies away, giving Hayasaka Ai and the others time to crawl through the underground tunnels and into the Parking Lot."

Yuki's thoughts were clear. There were two battlefields: inside the building and outside it.

He'd drawn some enemies into Building A, while Li Dan held most of the pursuers at bay on the eastern side of the village. Once the two of them had drawn enough aggro, Hayasaka Ai would hack into their communications and send only a handful of enemies to search the underground Parking Lot, where there were no suspects. That would leave them a sliver of hope.

But being the secondary damage dealer wasn't easy, either.

The heavy footsteps were still coming from upstairs. There was no need to ask—they must have rappelled down from the helicopter, then started searching their way down.

Fully armed and unafraid of death. If this had been the first night, I wouldn't have had the slightest chance of surviving.

Yuki stopped. He held his sword upright in his left hand and slowly lowered his body.

Physical Enhancement. Full power.

Magic power crackled like an electric arc as his Reinforcement Magecraft surged at full output. That was the biggest advantage of reaching the Mastery level: the concept of reinforcement could extend from objects to the human body. Glowing markings appeared across Yuki's skin.

They looked like tattoos, or veins, but in truth they were Magic Circuits.

In an instant, a feeling unlike anything he'd ever experienced flooded Yuki's body. It was as if he'd broken free of the limits of flesh and blood, and he couldn't wait to experience this supernatural power.

Bang—

The moment the footsteps stopped above the stairs, he shot forward. It felt as though he had springs under his feet. He leaped several meters in an instant.

Speed.

Rounding the corner, he saw several people in black uniforms blocking the stairs upstairs. There was a large shield at the front. It looked a lot like Rainbow Six.

As if time had slowed, he saw a pistol appear behind the shield. More red laser dots tracked toward him with the barrels. Yuki didn't think. He leaped sideways, hearing bullets ting, ting against the bricks behind him.

Reflexes.

He pushed off the wall, springing away like a gecko. Before the ballistic shield could turn, he had already darted around behind it, landing right in the middle of the group. For an instant, the scene froze.

Their guns were still pointed at the wall. They could only lower their heads instinctively and see the man crouched in the middle of their formation, leaning forward, a sword in his right hand.

"Spread out!"

Some tried to aim, some tried to retreat, and others turned around, but in the cramped stairwell they blocked one another's lines of fire. Or perhaps they simply couldn't understand how a human could leap past more than a dozen steps in two bounds.

But whatever they thought, as the sword rang out with a clang, a bright flash of steel lit the dim red stairwell.

Swish—

The blade, already reinforced by magecraft, cleaved through a ballistic plate, nearly splitting its wearer in two. Yuki kicked him forward, drew his sword, and leaned back as an assault rifle swept past his face. Its muzzle erupted in bright flames.

Rat-tat-tat-tat.

An ally screamed, but the shooter didn't care. He tried to lower his gun, only to see another flash of steel. His gun-holding hands dropped away from his body.

Yuki had severed his hands. He tapped the tip of his sword against the floor and sprang upright with a twist of his hips. In the corner of his eye, he saw the SWAT officers on the stairs divided into two groups. The three in the back were riddled with dozens of rifle rounds, rolling across the floor.

Thanks.

Yuki made use of these "people's" lack of any concept of friendly fire. He saw a SWAT officer with severed hands get knocked aside by a large shield, then watched a pistol turn toward him.

But before the shield guy could pull the trigger, Yuki—already back in balance—drove upward, knocked the gun aside, and thrust his sword cleanly into the man's neck.

Ghk, ghk...

With his throat pierced, the shield guy let out a strangled, leaking gasp. The blade twisted, shredding his spine, and he slumped to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

Still had strength to spare.

Yuki grabbed the back strap of his body armor and strained. To his surprise, he hurled the burly man—gear and all, weighing over two hundred pounds—into the air, knocking down the last officer who was raising his gun.

Before the two could separate, Yuki pushed off the stairs, like a horse leaping over a swallow, and drove both men into the wall with his knee.

Thud!

The bricks cracked in several places. Then his blade swept sideways, severed two heads, and buried itself deep in the wall.

Gunshots sounded in the distance. Footsteps continued above and below. Yuki's expression didn't change as he pulled out his sword and swung it with the momentum, leaving a long trail of blood across the five corpses.

For all the reasons above—

Within seven steps, a sword was faster!

Chapter 31: Detonation!! (4K)

Set up the battlefield, then engage the enemy in stages.

Wearing a bulletproof vest, Yuki ran with his head down along the corridor. He'd built up an intelligence advantage early on, and a map of the building's layout seemed to fill his mind.

He listened to the approaching footsteps and thought calmly.

There wouldn't be many enemies dropped onto the roof by helicopter. The building's complex layout would be enough to split them into squads of a few people each. Then he could use the supernatural strength granted by Reinforcement Magecraft to fight short, close-range battles.

His skill was still incomplete. He couldn't challenge a Heroic Spirit with nothing but his flesh and blood like a certain teacher, but it was more than enough to deal with elite soldiers in complex terrain.

"So this is the power of the supernatural!"

Yuki grinned, looking a little frightening. The sheer thrill of the experience filled him with excitement and made his killing intent even stronger.

Four on the right.

He heard the sound of combat boots hitting the floor. He rose onto his toes, as silent as a cat. While running, he twisted his wrist and used the back of his sword to flip a bag of cement out from a corner. Then he took a light step and darted into the room beside him.

Rat-tat-tat-tat.

When the bag of cement flew across the corridor, the four SWAT officers immediately stopped and raised their guns, shredding it in midair. As cement dust spread, everyone turned to look toward the corner of the corridor.

If the target dared show his face, they'd put several holes in him right there. But just a second later, the team leader at the front heard a muffled thunk and instinctively turned around.

A long sword came flying from who knew where, piercing the neck of the last officer and pinning him to the wall. His body convulsed as blood sprayed. Then a hand firmly grasped the hilt.

"Turn around! He's behind—"

Before the others could react, Yuki had already come around through the side room. He drew his sword, ducked beneath the gun barrel turning toward him, and slashed the throat of the SWAT officer in front of him with a reverse grip.

Pfft.

A head separated from its body. Yuki grabbed the headless corpse by the chest and used it as a shield against the incoming bullets. Listening to their dull impacts against the armor plates on its back, he slipped his left hand beneath the corpse's arm and drew its pistol.

Bang, bang, bang!

Cement dust filled the corridor. He didn't need to aim. He simply pulled the trigger. The nine-millimeter bullets couldn't pierce the body armor, but they knocked the remaining two men onto their backs.

Once they were down, they wouldn't get back up.

Without the slightest hesitation, Yuki tossed the corpse aside and hurried forward. The blade dragging along the floor cut open the third man's throat. Then he dropped to both knees, pinned the last man—who had just started to get up—by the chest, held down his gun with one hand, and drove his sword through his head.

Whew, whew.

Yuki saw the corpse's eyes staring up at him, still full of confusion. A bloodstained sword was embedded right in the middle of its forehead.

Unlike the monsters in the Ancient Castle, these enemies were indeed deceptive. But Yuki didn't have time to dwell on philosophical questions like whether he was killing people.

The sound of combat boots on the floor reached his ears again. He glanced at his watch, feeling the concept of reinforcement begin to unravel.

"It's 9:48. I can keep this up for five more minutes. That's the limit."

Yuki knew that Mastery-level Reinforcement Magecraft wasn't enough, especially since he couldn't keep it at full power for long. Without this supernatural strength, no matter how complex the terrain was, the world would return to the Truth that guns were faster than swords.

That wasn't all. The gunfire outside the building was gradually thinning out. There was no need to ask—Li Dan had found some way to temporarily shake off his pursuers. It didn't matter that he'd left the fight. Now the enemy's attention was focused entirely on the building.

"Fortunately, I picked a battlefield that favored me. Fortunately, I didn't pin my hopes on you."

As blood sprayed, he pulled out his sword and, at the same time, ripped a flashbang off the corpse's waist. He pulled the pin and tossed it.

A search team of more than a dozen people was moving along the wall. They had just reached the corner when they saw a round object fly toward them.

Bang!

Blinding light filled their vision, and their heads rang. Amid the dizzying confusion, the muffled thuds of blades sinking into flesh rang out one after another.

Pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft.

Yuki's blade rose and fell. He stabbed through heads and chests and slashed throats, like a cold-blooded butcher who never needed a second strike.

After killing five in a row, he stopped. A crowd of SWAT officers came charging up the eastern staircase, their laser sights covering him in a dense web of red dots.

Shit.

Yuki leaned back and quickly ducked into a room. Then he heard gunfire, loud as popping beans.

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat...

Sparks bloomed across the walls. The men who had just recovered from the flashbang were riddled with bullets by their own allies.