The heavy claws of the B-Rank Shadow Panther—or as Shin'ya's chaotic brain instantly dubbed it, Shadow Kitty—slashed through the twilight air with lethal velocity.
Shin'ya didn't panic. His body simply reacted. He snapped his center of gravity downward, bringing the dark blade of the Ketsugai up in a rigid, flawless defensive arc.
CLANG!
The impact rang out through the trees, a shower of dark sparks flying as the beast's razor-sharp claws ground against the legendary metal. The sheer force pushed Shin'ya back, but he used the momentum to cleanly jump backward, creating distance.
The moment the panther's paws hit the dirt, its physical form melted directly into the earth. It slipped into its own shadow, vanishing from sight.
Oh, so we have the exact same kit.
Shin'ya thought, his eyes narrowing as he tracked a subtle, shifting patch of darkness ripping across the forest floor.
He didn't move. He just watched the traveling silhouette. The very millisecond the darkness hitched, pausing for a fraction of a breath, Shin'ya's muscle memory exploded. He lunged forward, bringing the Ketsugai down in a brutal, crushing vertical slash.
REEECHHHH!
Just as the panther erupted out of the earth to ambush him, the dark blade bit deep. It wasn't a lethal blow, but a clean, shallow wound tore open across the beast's front left leg. The mutated feline roared in agony, snapping its jaws forward in a desperate attempt to sink its teeth into Shin'ya's throat.
Shadow Slip
Shin'ya's form dissolved into the dirt, entirely bypassing the snapping jaws. He materialized directly behind the panther's blind spot and instantly channeled his stamina into a low, horizontal Shadow Slash. The dark, crescent wave cleaved cleanly through the air, severing one of the monster's legs.
The Shadow Kitty collapsed into the dirt, heavily crippled, but it wasn't done yet.
Sensing its own demise, the panther unleashed its final, desperate Trump Card. It didn't lunge physically. Instead, the raw shadow energy around its body violently condensed, manifesting a massive, spectral set of jaws out of thin air—looking exactly like a hyper-realistic, dark-type Crunch attack from Pokémon.
Shin'ya twisted his body to dodge, but the phantom jaws snapped shut with terrifying velocity.
RIP!
"Tch...!" Shin'ya winced as a sharp pain flared through his left arm. The spectral bite had torn a mildly deep cut right through his hoodie and into his forearm, blood instantly staining the gray fabric.
Anger flashed through his eyes. "Alright, playtime's over."
Before the phantom jaws could dissipate, Shin'ya unleashed another rapid Shadow Slash, cleanly severing a second leg to pin the thrashing beast to the earth. In a single, blurred motion, he closed the distance, reversed his grip on the Ketsugai, and drove the black blade straight down through the center of the panther's chest.
The beast gave one final, muffled gurgle before its violet eyes lost their glow, its massive body going completely limp.
Silence returned to the Whispering Woods.
Shin'ya smoothly sheathed the Ketsugai, casually dusting off his hands. "All done. This kitty is dead."
He turned on his heel, taking three confident steps back toward the path, before completely freezing in place. A horrible, realization-fueled dread washed over his face. He slowly turned around, staring blankly at the massive, bleeding corpse of the B-rank monster.
Suddenly, he threw his hands in the air and screamed at the top of his lungs toward the sky.
"Alright, alright, I killed it! BUT HOW THE HELL AM I GONNA PROVE I KILLED IT?!"
His voice echoed uselessly through the trees. "Every single damn isekai has the MC do the quest, but we never see how he actually gets his fucking compensation! Am I supposed to carry a two-ton mutated cat back to the city on my shoulders?! Who designed this system?!"
After a solid minute of furious venting, Shin'ya forced himself to calm down. He took a deep breath, his inner anime nerd mode forcefully activating to look at the problem logically. He looked at his currently sheathed Ketsugai, then down at his own shadow, and finally back at the dead panther.
An inventory system... storage magic... shadow manipulation... "Can I...?" Shin'ya muttered, rubbing his chin. He walked over to the corpse. "Well, there's absolutely nothing wrong with trying it out."
A while later, back at the Oakhaven Adventurer's Guild Central Branch.
The tavern side was just as noisy as before, but the receptionist smiled politely the moment he saw the 14-year-old walk back through the front doors.
"Oh, hi, Shin'ya! Can I help you in any way?"
Shin'ya stopped at the counter, clearing his throat. His left sleeve was torn and slightly bloodied, but his face was perfectly calm. "Well, I have completed the quest. Now I want my compensation."
The receptionist blinked, momentarily thrown off. "Oh, you did? So quickly? Which one was it?"
Instead of answering verbally, Shin'ya casually drew the Ketsugai just an inch out of its sheath. He struck the hilt downward, channeling a heavy pulse of unknown energy from the Ketsugai straight into his own shadow on the floor. Instantly, the patch of darkness beneath his boots expanded, turning into a pitch-black, liquid-like vortex.
To the absolute horror of the receptionist, Shin'ya casually plunged his entire arm deep into his own shadow, rummaging around like he was looking for keys in a messy backpack.
After a minute or two of awkward pulling, Shin'ya grunted, hauling a massive, bloodied, two-legged mutated Shadow Panther directly out of the floorboards, letting it slam onto the guild floor with a heavy, wet THUD.
Shin'ya casually pointed his eyes at the massive corpse, looking up at the desk. "The mutated Shadow Panther quest's compensation, please."
The polite smile completely froze on the receptionist's face. His eyes went completely wide, his complexion draining into a ghostly white as he stared at the B-rank disaster area sitting in the middle of his clean lobby.
"M-Mr. Shin'ya..." the receptionist stammered, his voice cracking with pure terror. "I-I'm coming back with your compensation in... in just a moment!"
The man practically bolted from his stool, tearing into the back room behind the counter. Within seconds, Shin'ya could hear the frantic, muffled sounds of the receptionist screaming at someone—likely a high-ranking supervisor—about an unrankable rookie throwing boss monsters out of his pants.
A few minutes later, the receptionist practically stumbled back out, holding a decently large, heavily reinforced leather pouch—clanking loudly with the weight of roughly 45,000 gold coins.
With a terrified, trembling smile plastered over his pale face, he slid the heavy pouch over.
"W-Well, Sir Arata... here is your compensation," the receptionist squeaked out, his hands shaking violently as he pointed at the counter. "And... and Sir, may I please have a look at your Adventurer's Card? W-We need to make some... minor adjustments."
For a split second, something inside Shin'ya snapped. The sheer, exhausting absurdity of the receptionist's terrified behavior triggered a hidden switch in his brain. His face went entirely blank, his eyes losing all color as his expression shifted into a deadpan, chilling gaze that perfectly mirrored Yuki's terrifying demeanor.
"What?" Shin'ya said, his tone dropping into a completely flat, cold whisper.
The receptionist practically jumped out of his skin. Shaking his head, Shin'ya let out a tired sigh, letting the Yuki-mode fade. He kicked the dead shadow panther slightly to the side and handed over his metallic card.
"I'm coming back as soon as possible, Mr. Arata!" the man gasped, snatching the card with shaky fingers and sprinting back into the office like his life depended on it.
Shin'ya stood there, lazily leaning against the counter. He finally took a look around the tavern hall and realized the entire building had gone dead silent. Dozens of veteran, battle-hardened adventurers were standing near the tables, their faces completely pale, staring at him like he was a walking calamity.
Shin'ya didn't give them much interest, turning his head back toward the empty hallway. But then, a sudden realization hit his brain, and his eyes widened.
Wait a minute... He just went from calling me just 'Shin'ya' to calling me 'Sir Arata' with honorifics? And what did he mean by adjustments? Wait... don't tell me...
[To Be Continued]