Guh, Kill Me!

"...Yes."

Mikami Yu hesitated for a moment before making his choice.

The next second.

A line of highly animated text, wreathed in blazing flame effects, appeared before him:

[Eight Gates: Yo! Big brother! Are you here to burn your youthful passion too? Looking at that little body of yours... you don't seem like the type who can bear me. Come on, run a hundred laps around the training ground first and let me see what you're made of! (She brushed her thumb across the tip of her nose and flashed a sparkling smile.)]

[A: (Eyes shining, blood boiling) Ooooooh! This is youth! Please let me join too! No matter how exhausting it is, I'll persevere until the very end!]

[B: Rather than running, how about we talk philosophy first? That powerful physique of yours is truly captivating! Let me feel that scorching heat too!]

[C: Please wait! Wouldn't that kind of training destroy you first? I want to observe for a while before deciding.]

"..."

Mikami Yu twitched the corner of his mouth.

Was this what he got for triggering an [Encounter] through the Might Duy father and son...?

He hadn't expected even this personified "Eight Gates" to be so full of youth talk, looking like something was seriously wrong with her head. And these options all seemed rather bizarre too; it felt like choosing any of them might land him in a pitfall.

Still,

after giving it some simple thought, Mikami Yu chose the most reasonable option, A.

[Eight Gates: Oh? Rather than running away, you're approaching me? What a brave big brother! (She grinned, revealing her canine teeth.) But shouting slogans alone won't do. Prove yourself through your actions! Are you prepared?]

On the training ground.

Might Duy released his Eight Gates state, and the violent chakra around him receded like the tide. He panted heavily before saying, "This is how to open the first three gates... Yu. Remember: the body is the vessel, and willpower is the key. Only when the two come together can you break through your limits."

"Now, would you like to try..."

"Just a moment, Uncle Duy."

As Mikami Yu spoke, he jumped down from the tree root under Might Duy's stunned gaze, then began sprinting wildly around the open training ground!

"Hey! Yu! My youthful explanation isn't finished yet..."

Might Duy had only shouted a couple of lines when Might Guy beside him also yelled and chased after him. "Damn it! Yu, you actually snuck off to train extra by yourself! Wait for me! Youth isn't allowed to bloom alone!"

"?"

Might Duy watched the two boys sprinting around the field. He scratched his head, blanking out for several seconds before the blazing flames of youth ignited him as well. Raising both arms, he showed an excited expression.

"Ooooooh—!! Is this the resonance of youthful bonds?! This is incredible! Guy! Yu! Keep it up! Burn! Run a hundred laps around the field! Let youth have no regrets!!"

This training ground was not especially large, but one lap was still three or four hundred meters.

A hundred laps meant over thirty kilometers.

Compared to the ten laps around the village Mikami Yu had been running every day lately, it was not an especially intense workout. The problem was that he had already run ten laps this morning, so his stamina was no longer as abundant as it had been after waking up. Running a hundred laps under these circumstances was no easy matter.

Might Guy, on the other hand, did not seem tired at all. He kept running while howling, as though he would only feel satisfied after roaring out every last bit of his strength. Meanwhile, Duy's cheers from the side were thunderous.

Gradually,

the sun began to tilt westward.

Sweat soaked through Mikami Yu and Might Guy's clothes, then dripped from their hems onto the dry dirt, leaving tiny dark marks. A damp path had already formed around the training ground, reflecting the sunlight.

When they finally completed the last lap.

Mikami Yu staggered several steps from inertia before stopping. Then he collapsed straight onto the ground, lying spread-eagled as his chest heaved violently. He tried to calm the lungs that felt ready to burst, but he did not even have the strength to speak.

Might Guy behind him was not quite as dramatic, but he still braced his hands against his knees and panted heavily.

"Huff... huff..."

As Mikami Yu caught his breath, the text box appeared again:

[Eight Gates: Wow, big brother, you actually ran?]

[Eight Gates: But I really like that decisive personality of yours! This is how it should be—run without regard for anything, make your blood boil, and only then will you be worthy of bearing me! Come on, keep running! Run even faster! Let youth explode! (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧]

[A: Ooooooh! It doesn't matter how many times! Let youth and strength burn together!]

[B: Spare me, my chakra is completely drained... Can we run again tomorrow...?]

[C: Guh, kill me!]

"..."

For a moment, Mikami Yu wanted to choose C.

But reason made him choose B.

As for A... forget it. He did not want to die yet. If he got up and ran another hundred laps in this state, his muscles would probably really dissolve.

Unfortunately...

a certain forbidden technique clearly had no intention of letting him off so easily:

[Eight Gates: (She instantly moved close, her face practically in front of yours, her aura overwhelming.) No! Youth has no tomorrow! It is now! Completely drained? Who are you trying to fool?! I can feel flames still flickering within you. Come, follow me. Take a deep breath—]

[Eight Gates: How is it? Don't you feel a little better? See? I told you that you weren't completely drained. Come on, get up and try opening a gate. It will feel amazing! It'll be like ascending to heaven!]

[Eight Gates has sent you a "Gate of Opening" trial invitation: Accept/Decline]

Mikami Yu finally understood.

No wonder the Gala System had warned him that pursuing "Eight Gates" involved risks... This was plainly treating him like a Japanese person!

If only the pursuit target could be outsourced. Otherwise, Mikami Yu really wanted to outsource "Eight Gates" to Might Guy, have him complete the pursuit mission, and take just thirty percent of the affinity earned...

At that moment.

Might Duy came over and stuffed a Soldier Pill into each of Mikami Yu and Might Guy's mouths, then handed them two bottles of water. Grinning, he said, "Yu, how about it? Are you ready to try opening the first gate of the Eight Gates?"

"...Fuck it, if I die, I die!"

With the atmosphere pushed this far, Mikami Yu gritted his teeth, crushed the Soldier Pill between his teeth, and swallowed it. After resting for a few minutes and waiting for some chakra to recover within his body, he suddenly straightened up and sat back up.

Then, following Might Duy's earlier explanation, he tried to mobilize his chakra and form it into a sharp "drill," driving it toward the Gate of Opening located in his brain!