Beep... beep... beep...
The ringing tone finally ended.
"Hello, Arata."
"Calling me out of the blue, you want me to go watch your movie, don't you?" Natsume Noriyuki laughed from the other end of the line.
"Exactly. Where are you? I'll come pick you up."
"No need, I've already seen your movie. I'm the one who voiced Freddy in it, remember?"
"If you won't come to see the movie, coming to see me works too." Arata actually had zero intention of letting Natsume watch the movie. If he did show up, what awaited him wouldn't be theater hospitality, but an interrogation room in the Second-Level Dream Realm.
"See you? I just saw you yesterday. You're actually calling to ask if I watched that other video, aren't you?"
"You're pretty smart. Then tell me the truth. Lying to me comes with a hefty price, you know."
"I watched it," Natsume Noriyuki admitted, but then immediately explained, "The moment I saw Makima appear on screen, I immediately clicked out of it. Because I knew you definitely sent me the wrong file."
"You're really that quick-witted?"
"The visual style at the beginning was completely identical to your Dream Realm. And Makima appearing in your dream is definitely not a simple matter. Add to that Makima's recent abnormal behavior, and I could easily guess that this video definitely records the process that led to her current state."
"I'll give you credit for reacting fast. But next time we meet, I'm still going to test you a bit. You'd better prepare yourself in advance."
"Whatever makes you happy. Actually, I also have something to discuss with you."
"What is it?"
"You remember that Baseball Guy from the Moore Family, right?"
"Of course I do."
"He wants the Gluttony Devil's corpse. You can name your price; he's willing to meet whatever you demand."
The appearance of the Gluttony Devil wasn't just known to the heavily victimized residents of Osaka. It had even made direct headlines on global news, letting devil hunters all over the world know about the monster that devastated the city.
However, very few people actually recognized it as the Gluttony Devil. The vast majority simply believed the media reports, which dubbed it the "Behemoth Devil," so they only cared about the death toll in Osaka and only casually discussed the monster in passing.
But those with a discerning eye knew exactly how terrifying the Gluttony Devil truly was. And now, it had been killed.
In the eyes of that small minority, Arata's strength was completely off the charts. As the man who slew the Gluttony Devil, Arata's face was also plastered across the news media. This caused his fame to explode not just in Japan, but also established his reputation among elite devil hunters worldwide.
As a member of the Moore Family, it wasn't surprising that Baseball Guy recognized the Gluttony Devil. After all, their family possessed an extensive Devil Encyclopedia.
However, there was absolutely no way Arata would agree to Baseball Guy's request this time. Giving away the Gluttony Devil's corpse was equivalent to throwing away a massive amount of EXP.
When Arata absorbed a corpse, he didn't just gain the abilities the devil possessed in life. He could also use it to permanently upgrade the power of any of his "Core Devils."
Currently, his Core Devils were the Dream Devil, the Corpse Devil, the Leopard Devil, XXXX, and XXXX. These so-called "Core Devils" were the very first devils Arata had acquired. He had formed permanent contracts with them, allowing him to exert 100% of their base power.
Dream Devil (Cost: Sleep)
Corpse Devil (Cost: Accelerated physical aging)
Leopard Devil (Cost: None)
Absorbing the Gluttony Devil's corpse wouldn't just grant him a portion of its strength. It would also provide a massive amount of EXP that could be used for evolution, allowing his Core Devils to exert 110%, 120%... all the way up to 200% of their base power. The stronger the absorbed devil, the more EXP it yielded. With all the corpses he had collected so far, Arata could already unleash 200% of Freddy's (Dream Devil's) power.
"The Gluttony Devil's corpse isn't with me," Arata flatly refused.
"I already checked everywhere. Other than you, it's impossible for anyone else to have taken the corpse."
"What I mean is, I want you to tell Baseball Guy that the corpse isn't with me, and tell him to drop the idea entirely."
"They aren't idiots. Saying that is equivalent to declaring a breakdown in negotiations."
"Exactly. I'm not some greedy bastard who opens his eyes wide at the sight of cash. Not everything in this world can be bought."
With that, Arata hung up the phone.
On the other end of the line, Natsume Noriyuki let out a long, internal sigh. He smoothed out his facial expression, turned around, and looked at Baseball Guy.
"Arata said he needs to think about it some more."
"Think about it? I can wait, but my sister can't," Baseball Guy said, his tone extremely displeased.
"Maybe the corpse really isn't with him."
"Cut the crap, Natsume. Call him right now and tell him to deliver the Gluttony Devil's corpse immediately, or I'm going to lose my temper!" Baseball Guy grabbed Natsume by the collar and roared angrily.
"Brother, don't lose your temper at our own people. Let's just go kill everyone in Division 4. That will serve as a warning to Arata and make him obediently deliver the Gluttony Devil."
A frail, skinny devil walked out from the dark corners of the room.
Her appearance made Natsume's eyes widen in absolute shock.
The Poppy Devil—who had previously been reduced to a corpse. She had actually come back to life! And she was calling Baseball Guy "brother."
"Then I'll listen to my little sister. Big brother hasn't killed anyone in two days; it's about time I stretched my legs."
After saying that, he threw a punch, knocking Natsume out cold. He then dragged him into a dark little room.
Shortly after, a series of violent thump, thump, thump beating sounds echoed from the darkness.
...
Meanwhile, Division 4's movie screening had come to an end.
Himeno and Arai both gave it a perfect 10/10 rating. They felt Arata was extremely suited to be a director. They promised to watch his next movie, regardless of what it was, and even pre-booked faceless extra roles or voice-acting gigs for the next project.
Denji didn't know how to review it, only saying the visuals were "super intense."
Aki Hayakawa gave a very standard, middle-of-the-road critique, pointing out both the strong points and the flaws.
Reze simply said "It was good," and didn't add anything else.
Still, for Arata's first time as a director, making something like this was already pretty good. At the very least, it was an absolute masterpiece compared to cinematic trainwrecks like The Room.
Power, on the other hand, spouted utter nonsense with a completely straight face. Pretending to be some grand, visionary director, she even had the gall to instruct Arata on how to direct a "better" movie next time.
Quanxi offered "no comment."
Pingtsi actually thought it was fantastic and even gave it a glowing five-star review.
As for the only anomaly, that completely fell on Kobeni.
Halfway through the movie, Kobeni had tried to run away. But she was forcefully dragged back by Denji and Arai. Each of them held down one of her hands, forcing her to watch the horror movie until the very end.
They claimed this was entirely for the sake of "training Kobeni's courage." Kobeni's physical combat skills were actually quite excellent, but she was just too cowardly. If she could just manage to stay fearless in the face of danger during combat, her room for growth would be massive. In terms of strength, she even had the potential to catch up to Aki Hayakawa.
Blegh~
Kobeni was violently throwing up into a nearby trash can. When she arrived, she was rosy-cheeked, dainty, and cute. When leaving, she looked haggard and worn out, wearing a literal mask of agony.
"Arata, did you post your movie online?"
"Yes, it went live on the Dark Web last night at 11 PM. It's already received feedback from tens of thousands of people."
"But the female lead is Asuka Saito. Won't people recognize her?"
"It's fine. At the end of the film, there's a subtitle that reads: 'If you leak this, Freddy will crawl through your internet cable and find you.' Anyone who got scared by the movie will obediently keep their mouths shut."
As the group was chatting and laughing, a bizarre human wall suddenly blocked Division 4's path at the entrance of the theater. They stood perfectly still, their dead eyes locked directly onto Arata and the others.
"What's going on?"
"These people... it looks like they're being controlled."
"Controlled?!"
"Should I make a move?" Quanxi had already gripped the hilt of her sword.
Arata didn't answer, but Himeno quickly interjected, "Don't attack! They're all normal civilians. Let's observe the situation first."
But just as she finished speaking, Quanxi had already vanished, reappearing directly behind the human wall.
[Patreon just got updated with new drops.... (till chapter 170)]
Want to read more??
Checkout my patreon patreon.com/cw/AfrikaanPolarBear Here you can read 50 chapters ahead everyone and also support this fic. Consider subscribing as it'll motivate me and also help this fic.
: )
Thanks you!!!