Hikaru arrived at the designated meeting point exactly as agreed. The site was an abandoned construction project, with not a soul within a three-kilometer radius—the perfect setting for his murderous intent.
Ryunosuke arrived on the scene with an air of casual arrogance. His hands were shoved deep into his pockets, a sprig of foxtail grass between his teeth, and he sported dark sunglasses paired with a sharp black suit. He looked utterly insufferable.
Hikaru's eyes flickered for a brief second before he offered a friendly greeting.
"Hi there! You're the one who invited me, right? My name is Kamiki Hikaru. And yours?"
He spoke as if nothing were amiss, yet his hand was already inching toward the firearm concealed behind his back. He intended to silence this witness forever... anyone who knew his secrets could not be allowed to live.
Ryunosuke spat the grass from his mouth. Still keeping his hands in his pockets, he replied with a challenging smirk.
"I know everything you've done. We can settle this like gentlemen: give me two hundred million, and I'll keep your secrets buried."
Ryunosuke was bluffing, testing to see if the man actually sat on that kind of cash. His real goal was to provoke his opponent, making him lose his cool and strike first.
Hikaru had covered his tracks with clinical precision; there was no evidence for his old crimes, especially with so much time having passed. Ryunosuke hadn't been there, making physical proof nearly impossible to find. His knowledge of Hikaru's sins came from memories of watching Oshi no Ko in a past life—hardly admissible in a court of law.
Because of this, Ryunosuke wanted to bait his opponent into a fresh mistake, such as manifesting clear intent to kill. However, he hadn't expected the man to be armed... As the black muzzle of a pistol was leveled at him, he realized he was in deep trouble.
(Crap, I got too carried away playing around...)
Ryunosuke raised both hands above his head in a gesture of surrender. Inwardly, he was cursing up a storm. Since when was it this easy to get a gun in this world? Where was the justice?
Hikaru aimed the pistol and began to close the distance slowly. Just as he was inches away, a bullet tore through the air from outside the building. It struck the hand holding the gun—or rather, it slammed into the frame of the pistol itself.
Due to the sheer kinetic force, Hikaru dropped to his knees, clutching a hand that had gone completely numb.
The shooter was none other than Asada Shino, peering through a sniper scope from 1,300 meters away.
Chisato emerged from around a corner, tapping a small earpiece to speak to Shino:
"The trajectory was off by 0.6 millimeters. Remember for next time, don't let that happen again~" Chisato chirped playfully.
Shino signaled her acknowledgement; it was her first time taking a shot in the real world, so she wasn't quite adjusted yet. She quickly chambered another round, ready to provide cover at a moment's notice.
Chisato twirled a pair of silver handcuffs around her finger. "Carrying an unlicensed firearm is a serious felony. You're under arrest, Blondie."
Hikaru's eyes narrowed. He lunged to retrieve his fallen pistol.
"Uh-uh-uh! Do I look invisible to you? Trying to grab that right in front of me?" Chisato pouted. She pulled out her own handgun loaded with non-lethal rubber bullets and opened fire.
One of the shots accidentally clipped the fallen pistol, sent it skittering across the floor and tumbling out of the building. It was gone. Hikaru's gaze darkened; he feigned resignation, but his hand was already reaching for a second, hidden weapon...
Believing the threat was neutralized, Chisato started joking with Ryunosuke. "Look, look! My shots hit, didn't they? I'm amazing!"
"Yeah, yeah, you're a regular prodigy," Ryunosuke replied dryly. He took Chisato's gun to check the magazine. Noting the rubber rounds, he muttered, "Do you have to be kind to everyone? That's a dangerous habit."
Chisato puffed out her cheeks. "I don't like killing, even if they're bad people. Isn't it better to let the law handle the punishment?"
Ryunosuke countered resignedly, "If you want to be merciful to an enemy without getting hurt yourself, you need to be on a completely different level of power."
Chisato put her hands on her hips and pointed to herself. "Well, I have that!"
The two continued their banter, completely oblivious to the danger behind them. They hadn't anticipated a second gun. Seeing himself so dismissed, Hikaru's eyes flashed with malice. The moment their backs were turned, he drew his backup piece and fired.
Ryunosuke and Chisato both sensed the danger instinctively.
Chisato was about to spin and return fire, but Ryunosuke lunged, tackling her to the ground. They rolled across the floor, scrambling behind a corner for cover. Unfortunately, a bullet grazed Ryunosuke's left shoulder, and blood began to soak through his jacket.
Seeing the red stain, Chisato realized the games were over. She prepared to move out, but Ryunosuke grabbed her hand. With a rare, serious expression, he asked, "Are you okay?"
Chisato replied firmly, "I'm fine!"
She swapped her rubber bullets for live ammunition—a sign that she was truly furious.
Ryunosuke let go, knowing full well Chisato's legendary ability to dodge bullets.
Chisato stood tall, her expression chillingly focused. Because Hikaru knew there was a sniper outside, he stayed pinned behind a 60-cm thick concrete pillar—impossible for a standard sniper rifle to penetrate.
Shino had fired the moment he moved, but her rounds were useless against the concrete. Even hitting the exact same spot twice did nothing; the $7.62 \times 54R$ rounds from a conventional rifle couldn't bite through that much stone.
Shino hesitated for a second, then packed away her rifle and pulled out... a Barrett M82. The Barrett was massive for a girl of her stature; assembling and mounting it would take a bit of time.
Meanwhile, Chisato walked calmly toward Hikaru. The bullets he fired were dodged with nothing more than a slight tilt of her head.
Hikaru thought he was hallucinating. He fired again and again, but she evaded every single shot.
(This is insane! Is she even human? How can she dodge bullets like that?!!!)
Panic seized him. Hikaru treated his pistol like a machine gun, emptying the entire magazine in a desperate spray.
Chisato calmly raised her own pistol, firing a few precise shots to deflect his bullets mid-air. Bored of dodging, she walked straight up to him.
Cold sweat poured down Hikaru's forehead. He scrambled to slap in a fresh magazine, but as he looked up to aim, the cold muzzle of Chisato's gun was already pressed against his forehead.
Right then, Shino finished assembling the 15-kg Barrett and chambered a $12.7 \times 99$ mm armor-piercing round. This round was capable of punching through a 60-cm concrete pillar and obliterating whatever was behind it. However, seeing through her scope that the situation was under control, she lowered the weapon.
If she hadn't, Hikaru wouldn't have just been shot—he would have been blown to pieces. Getting hit by an armor-piercing round like that is no joke; it's a weapon designed to put holes in tanks.