The awakening of a monster.
===*
Sukuna – and her real-life self, Nanaka Futayado – has restricted most of her senses during her daily life.
The reason for this is to block out as much as possible the vast amount of information that floods in her brain due to her overly sensitive sensory organs.
Although Rinne calls her a “real cheat” as a joke, Sukuna actually transcends a normal human’s limits. But, not all of her functions have been exceptional since she was a child.
To be more specific, her brain’s ability to process information. This part of Nanaka’s brain was extremely underdeveloped back then.
To not be overwhelmed by the amount of information that her senses were indiscriminately flooded in, Nanaka had unconsciously restricted her senses as soon as she was born.
(That was before I could even remember.)
Since then, Nanaka has lived with all of her senses restricted without realizing it.
The frightening thing is that even in her restricted state, Nanaka still possesses much more acute senses compared to ordinary people.
Because she was so far outside the boundaries of human beings, even with the restrictions, Rinne, her parents, and the researchers from the Takajou’s group who examined her thought that this was where Nanaka’s limits were.
(But that’s not true.)
Ever since I was born, I’ve been living with limiters.
I’ve lived my life without knowing what my limits are.
Since I didn’t need it, I lived my life with my suppressed strength.
I wanted to stay beside Rinne, so I acted like a normal person on the outside.
And even after I left Rinne’s side, that act stayed.
The turning point that happened for Nanaka came during the battle against the Golden Knight Gold.
That day, for the first time, Nanaka tried to go beyond the limits of what she currently could, and as a result, she gained a deeper understanding of how to use her “eyes”.
A sense of liberation and ecstasy. The omnipotent feeling of being able to “see” everything.
Nanaka spent a blissful time in the battle with Gold.
And as we all know, Nanaka’s alter ego, Sukuna, successfully defeated the golden knight as a result.
And as she was ruminating on that feeling, Nanaka suddenly thought,
[I wonder if I haven’t fully grasped my power yet?] She thought.
Even though Sukuna’s player avatar was close to level 90, it still didn’t surpass Nanaka’s own physical abilities in real life.
It doesn’t 100% accurately simulate how Sukuna can move in real life.
However, when buffs are added to enhance speed and power, Sukuna’s abilities exceed Nanaka’s physical ability. It’s not like her real-world body is on the same level as the [Hungry Wolf] enhancement level, but she is definitely on the realm of Second Form – [Moroha no Mai] enhancement. {Double-edge dance}
In a virtual space dominated by numerical values called “status,” the one thing that everyone struggles with is controlling an avatar whose physical abilities far exceed those of their real self.
Our human brain cannot keep up with a superhuman battle. However, it is also true that once you get used to it, you can manage it through experience and prediction.
Players who are accustomed to the virtual space are accustomed to controlling avatars that are more powerful than their real selves because they have normal real-life physical abilities. They have plenty of experience with this.
However, for Sukuna, who had extraordinary physical abilities, in reality, physical abilities that exceeded the limits of his real self were a new experience for her.
During the last battle against Gold, she realized that she was bound by her five senses.
And then there was the experience of “physical ability that far exceeds reality” that she gained by activating [Furious Rage], which buffs all physical status by five times.
After these two experiences, she challenged a military simulation at Rinne’s parents’ house the other day.
In order to clear the extremely difficult battle, which required one person to kill 1000 people, Sukuna was using everything she had and finally took control of her limiter.
Just like picking a lock, she removed her restriction one by one, which she placed on her five senses.
To be frank, she doesn’t see the need to try unleashing her limiter here and now.
It might be useless to go that far to defeat Hisui.
(Well, it feels really good somehow.)
Because she wanted to.
Because there’s no reason to stop.
With all her limiter removed, the monstrous Sukuna quietly opened her eyes.
☆
The moment Sukuna opened her closed eyes, all the beings present involuntarily looked up at the sky.
They felt like they were being watched by something, and the chill ran amok inside their stomach.
The feeling dissipated in an instant as if it was just passing through. However, the very few strong entities here all realized, this is not yet over.
(I was wrong… What kind of a joke of an existence you are.)
Arthur, who is on full alert, was sweating her back.
She knew that Sukuna was the cause of the cold she had just felt.
The moment she felt the chill, her hand immediately tried to reach the sword. But even before she could even touch it, once again, she was hit by violent intimidation emanating from Sukuna.
Without even being in Sukuna’s sight, Arthur, who was supposed to be in the blind spot, is forced to stop before she can take a stance.
(The only ones who noticed were Kohaku-dono and Kokuyo-dono. As for my sister, she looks absent-minded. Still, she noticed something.)
Still trapped inside the suffocating feeling of being watched, Arthur wondered how far Sukuna had extended her perception range.
With such precision that she could hear the slightest rustle of clothing and even detect the movement of Arthur’s hand reaching for her sword.
Since they had been no enemies in a radius of about 100 meters in the vicinity, Sukuna’s detection range would be several hundred meters at least.
(Just how much information flooded in… a normal person would be crippled in seconds for what you’re doing.)
For sure, it will not last too long, and As soon as Arthur thought that, the pressure around her suddenly disappeared.
It was a relief to know that it had ended, but Arthur realized that was not the case soon after.
(Hisui’s expression… is that from frustration or fright? I see. Perhaps I was too naive myself.)
This is not a desperate situation, where hundreds of enemies are surrounding Sukuna; this is a one-vs-one match.
As the distance between their match is about 20 meters at the most, there is no need for such a wide area of probing.
In other words, Sukuna has narrowed down her perception, which had been so wide, to focus on Hisui alone.
And the outcome was the expression on Hisui’s face.
Even when Arthur was being probed with many others, she felt such a chill. Then, what kind of feeling does Hisui have when all that pressure is focused on herself.
(This won’t last long at all…)
The current Sukuna has zero chance of losing even if she went against Arthur. And If Arthur’s prediction is correct, even that enormous detection range is most likely a byproduct.
Regardless of what tricks Hisui has up her sleeve, it will definitely be Sukuna who wins. Arthur was so sure that she had already accepted it as a result.
===.
(Wh- What the hell is this feeling?)
Hisui was helplessly frozen in front of Sukuna, who was standing still, without even readying her weapon.
This is not because of the gap in their strength.
Rather, the current Sukuna was full of openings. If one approached and attacked her, one seemed to defeat Sukuna no matter where they attacked.
It’s an alluring temptation, like a fruit dripping with sweet, sweet honey.
However, Hisui’s instincts stopped her from attacking. It was begging her to run away.
All of the gaps she could see were traps. If her master, Kokuyo, is an impenetrable castle wall, then Sukuna is a labyrinth protecting a treasure with countless sweet lures and deadly traps. And Hisui was not foolish enough to jump into one.
However, Hisui was the one who selfishly set this fight up.
(Too scared to make even a single move is humiliating!)
She put all her strength into her hand, gripping the wooden sword and pumping all her power to her legs that were still unmoving.
===.
Sukuna doesn’t know anything about her; all she has is a fragment of information from Kokuyo and rumors circulating in the village that suggest that Hisui is several levels above her. If that is the case, then Hisui has the status advantage.
“…are you scared?”
Seeing Sukuna cutely tilting her head to provoke her, Hisui kicked the earth with all her might to launch herself.
Hisui’s agility status is second to none among her comrades.
In particular, Hisui’s agility value is outstandingly high among oni folk, so much that she is undoubtedly worthy of being called a genius.
(I will go with full speed and breakthrough your fake trap!)
This is the fastest movement that Hisui could take without relying on buffs. In the end, the only thing that mattered in her mind was that she was able to use her full strength to get past Sukuna’s defense.
(The opening is clearly there. Then all I have to do is strike before she could counter!)
“UOOOOOOOOOH!”
A high-speed sword flash roars and attacks from the lowest position.
Even with the blade of a dull wooden sword, her slash was so refined that it seemed like it would cut Sukuna’s body in two.
It was a top-notch attack. Even under the rage and pressure, she still perfectly displayed the skills she had cultivated through training.
‘Sukuna will completely unable to react to this attack. Because I’m too fast for her to even to follow me with her eyes.’
And because Her concentration had been sharpened to the most for the sake of this single attack, Hisui saw Sukuna’s lip move slightly as time seemed to be slowed down.
“S
L
O
W”
Hisui’s body slammed into the ground with a dull, squishy sound.
“GA – HA!?”
A tremendous shock pierced Hisui’s entire body as if the heavens and earth were turned upside down.
Her vision shook, and her consciousness became hazy. It was an impact that was so tremendous as if a bomb had exploded inside her.
(what…just….)
Hisui falls into a state of shock and confusion.
The only thing she could barely tell was that she had been knocked down, probably by a counter.
She also vaguely understood that her attack had failed to hit, as no response was left.
(It was supposed to be a perfect blow.
So, why, why?)
A simple question is floating in Hisui’s mind.
But in battle, such opening won’t be forgiven.
Sukuna checks Hisui’s HP as she slumps to the ground.
The HP gauge of NPCs is normally invisible. However, just like when she fought Kohaku, it seems that the opponent’s HP becomes visible during a PvP-like battle, such as a match or duel.
While reminiscing about this, Sukuna looked at Hisui’s HP gauge, which was completely undamaged by her current blow, and understood the effect of the item called [Substitute Doll].
Sukuna then slowly grabbed Hisui’s head, which had fallen and was not moving, with a happy expression on her face.
“Hee…”
Sukuna lifted her lightly and slammed Hisui back to the ground with all her might.
GASH! The sound of hard objects colliding with each other resounded.
That was the sound of Hisui’s face plunging into the earth, which had cracked from the impact earlier.
However, her HP had not been reduced yet.
She lifts her up again and slams her down.
Still, her HP is still not reduced.
GASH! GONG! DONG! – that was the sound of Hisui’s head colliding with the ground
It was a miserable, horrible, brutal scene.
Sukuna is grinning as she continues her violence, and Hisui, who was at first still trying to resist, is now no longer even twitching.
Even though Hisui’s HP was protected by the substitute doll, her consciousness was blurred, and her heart was broken.
Should one call it fortunate, or should one congratulate her on enduring that much?
And at the eighth blow, finally, the substitute doll popped out of Hisui’s body and burst into flames.
“That’s enough!”
It seems that the decision has now been made since the substitute doll has been destroyed, and Kokuyo’s slightly impatient voice echoed.
Even though Kokuyo said that Hisui wouldn’t die no matter what, she still watched the fight so carefully that she could stop the match at the moment it was ended.
(I guess I didn’t need to use it after all.)
Sukuna, who had won the battle unscathed, sighed.
The complete release of the five senses. It was not meaningless, but it was unnecessary in this battle.
Sukuna herself did it, but she never expected that a single counter would completely crush Hisui.
(I wonder if this is all I can do to accomplish my declaration to let her kiss the ground.)
Sukuna looked at Hisui, who didn’t move an inch even though the match was over, then she wondered if she had gone a little overboard.
Soon after, she noticed that the eyes of the Kokuyo and her student were painted with horror.
Even Kohaku and Arthur’s expressions were a little strained. And for an unknown reason, Himiko was the only one smiling with joy.
(Haah…..)
I’ll have to re-limit my senses. While picking up the motionless Hisui gently, Sukuna sighed inwardly once more.
A note:
Hie~
Tl note:
Hie~ te Nanda yo!
Someone… please bury me into the deepest hole in the earth… yesterday… I FORGOT TO PUSH THE ‘PUBLISH’ BUTTON, NANI THE F**K MYSELF!!!!
And frick… she saw her parents’ death in her unrestricted state, right? Can you imagine seeing your loved ones slowly crushed to death? No wonder she’s broken after that.
And btw, if some questions why I “changed” Sukuna’s real name, I have to explain that there’s some mistranslation on that part. I double-checked with the raw and manga. It’s all read as “Futayado Nanaka,” not “Futayado Nanako” – is it for certain? Yes, it is, since the author even bothers to add furigana in her name.
Right, there’s a manga version of this novel. Maybe someone would translate it? **wink**wink**
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