Chapter 59: The First Recipient of Bone Break (Full)
"Well now, you all look rather busy."
A calm voice sliced through the night air. Funahiki Gyō, who was just getting the hang of piloting the massive titan mecha, froze for a fraction of a second. His head swiveled toward the source of the sound.
A flicker of shock, then outright disbelief, flashed across his eyes. But within moments, the expression melted away, replaced by that familiar, greasy smile that always seemed plastered on his face.
"Ah! If it isn't my dear partner—Mr. Rovel! It has been too long." He feigned a warm surprise, his voice dripping with false sincerity. "You suddenly dropped off the map, I was starting to think something terrible had happened. It's wonderful to see you're alright."
Funahiki Gyō played the part of an ignorant friend, his tone oozing a friendliness that felt entirely out of place.
"Thanks to you, I had a very enlightening 'exchange' with the good people from Anti-Entropy," Rovel replied, his voice placid, yet every word was laced with ice. "So, I've come to return the favor. Think of it as a grand gift."
The air crackled, the false cordiality evaporating in an instant. The atmosphere grew taut as Funahiki Gyō's bodyguards, sensing the shift, moved to encircle Rovel, their hands drifting toward their weapons.
"A grand gift from Mr. Rovel?" Funahiki Gyō's smile widened, a predatory glint in his eyes. "Then I'm certainly eager to see what kind of magnificent present you could possibly offer me."
He manipulated the controls, and the titan mecha took a heavy, thudding step forward. Under the pale moonlight, the machine's colossal shadow fell over Rovel, engulfing him completely.
"Then you'd better be ready to catch it." A faint, knowing smile touched the corner of Rovel's lips. He brought his hands to his waist, cupping them together as if holding an invisible sphere.
Funahiki Gyō stared at the posture, and a snort of derision escaped him. "Pfft, what is this supposed to be? The Kamehameha?"
He couldn't hold it in any longer and burst into a fit of loud, obnoxious laughter. His bodyguards, taking their cue from their boss, joined in, their mocking chuckles echoing in the clearing. To them, Rovel looked like a pathetic clown putting on a desperate, final act.
However, in the next second, two words slipped from Rovel's mouth, quiet yet carrying an immense weight.
"Inch Force..."
Instantly, a torrent of internal energy condensed between his palms. A sphere of pure light materialized, pulsing with power and growing larger with each passing moment.
The laughter died in their throats. Every single one of them stared, their eyes wide with a dawning horror. Their bodies, acting on pure instinct, began to shuffle backward, a primal fear seizing them.
In the two seconds they had been frozen in a state of dazed disbelief, the ball of light had already swelled to the size of a full-grown person, humming with an unstable, terrifying energy.
"Titan mecha, smash him!" Funahiki Gyō finally roared, his mind snapping back to reality. He slammed the controls forward, directing the mecha's massive fist to crash down upon Rovel.
"Thunderbolt!"
With a final, sharp exhalation, Rovel thrust his hands forward. The spherical shockwave shot out, a cannonball of pure force, and collided violently with the descending metal fist.
BOOM!!!
A deafening explosion ripped through the night.
The bodyguards who were standing too close were caught in the epicenter of the blast. They didn't even have time to scream before the wave of energy engulfed them, their bodies dissolving into shimmering fragments of data before vanishing completely.
Funahiki Gyō, who had been standing farther back, was caught by the concussive force. He was thrown through the air like a ragdoll, tumbling several times across the hard ground. A crimson notification flashed in his vision; his health bar had plummeted by a staggering seventy percent.
"What... what in the hell is that?!" The disgusting smile was gone, wiped clean from his face. His jaw hung slack, his eyes wide with utter disbelief.
He saw it through the settling dust and smoke. His pride and joy, the prototype titan mecha he had poured so much into, was now nothing more than a heap of twisted, sparking scrap metal, utterly annihilated by that single, devastating strike.
Rovel stepped out from the swirling cloud of debris, his expression as calm as ever, and came to a stop directly in front of the sprawled-out Funahiki Gyō.
"How was it?" Rovel asked, his voice conversational. "Do you like my grand gift?"
Funahiki Gyō could only stare up at him, his mind reeling. He couldn't comprehend it. How could Rovel, in such a short time, have obtained strength so monstrous that not even a titan mecha could withstand a single blow?
"No answer? It seems you don't like it," Rovel noted with a sigh. "In that case, I'll have to give you another."
Before Funahiki Gyō could react, Rovel's fist shot out, connecting squarely with his jaw. There was a sickening crunch. The world swam in a haze of pain as his jaw was instantly dislocated, reducing his attempts to speak into muffled, agonized grunts.
[-3]
[Enemy has been inflicted with DEBUFF—Bone Fracture (Light)!]
"Still not satisfied? Then let's continue." Rovel's voice was devoid of emotion. He grabbed both of Funahiki Gyō's wrists and, with a sharp, brutal twist, snapped them.
[-2]
"Ah... AHHH!!!" A raw, guttural howl of pain tore from Funahiki Gyō's throat, though the sound was garbled and incoherent.
Next came the legs. One after the other, the sickening crack of bone echoed in the quiet night.
[Enemy has been inflicted with DEBUFF—Bone Break (Heavy)!]
"Aaah..." The agony intensified, a white-hot fire consuming his entire being. Funahiki Gyō shook his head frantically, his eyes wide with terror, silently begging Rovel to stop, to let him go.
"Is that enough? No?" Rovel tilted his head, looking almost regretful. "It seems we're not quite there yet."
The look of pity vanished as quickly as it came, replaced by a cold resolve.
'Since the customer isn't satisfied,'Rovel thought to himself,'I have an obligation to make him satisfied.'
Funahiki Gyō nodded frantically, trying to signal that it was more than enough, that he didn't want any more.
"You agree with what I said, right? Good. Then let's continue." Rovel misinterpreted his desperate pleas with chilling deliberation and proceeded with the inhuman torture.
Roughly five minutes later, another system prompt finally chimed in his ears.
[Enemy has been inflicted with DEBUFF—Bone Break (Full)!]
Funahiki Gyō's entire body was now a broken mess, slumped on the ground like a pile of boneless meat, completely unable to move.
Rovel wiped a thin sheen of sweat from his forehead. He hadn't expected it to be so difficult, controlling his strength so precisely for the first time. What was that old saying? To walk over an ant without crushing it requires the most difficult kind of control. He now understood that sentiment deeply.
As for Funahiki Gyō, he no longer even possessed the strength to scream.
Seeing his work was complete, Rovel casually stepped on his head, a final, dismissive act that depleted the last sliver of his health bar.
Tears of relief welled up in Funahiki Gyō's numb, pain-filled eyes. Finally... it's finally over...
But what did that faint smile at the corner of Rovel's mouth mean?
That was Funahiki Gyō's last thought before his consciousness was forcibly ejected from the game.
He practically crawled out of the gaming pod, his body trembling uncontrollably. With the pain perception locked at one hundred percent, the phantom sensation of nearly every bone in his body being systematically shattered lingered, a deep psychological trauma that reality couldn't immediately erase.
Even after he returned to his room and the physical pain vanished, his mind hadn't recovered.
After nearly half an hour of shivering on the floor, a primal howl of pure terror finally erupted from Funahiki Gyō.
"AHHH!!!"
Hearing that scream from outside the door, Funahiki Shin, who had been waiting patiently, felt a wave of pure, unadulterated satisfaction wash over him.
He pushed the door open and stepped inside.
"I hope you've been well, little brother."
Back in the game, Rovel stretched his slightly stiff muscles. The Cun Xin Fist Style had elevated his power to an unimaginable degree.
He found an empty combat gym to properly test the damage values of his new and improved skills.
The base skill, `Rock Break`, which dealt approximately 3.5 times his Strength attribute, had evolved into `Inch Force: Mountain Collapse`, which now dealt a staggering 7 times his Strength attribute in damage.
`Cloud Mist`, which dealt around 3 times his Strength, had become `Inch Force: Heaven Opening`, also dealing roughly 7 times his Strength.
`Chaotic Thunder`, which was roughly equal to his Strength attribute, had transformed into `Inch Force: Thunderbolt`, which possessed two distinct methods of release.
If he focused on penetration, the damage was about 4.5 times his Strength, but the resulting shockwave could pierce through enemies to hit multiple targets behind them.
If, however, he focused on pure burst power, the damage skyrocketed to an incredible 10 times his Strength attribute.
`Dissipating Force: Flying Willow` remained a utility skill, with its damage roughly equal to his Strength.
`Dissipating Force: Ink Chrysanthemum` was a multi-hit attack, with the total combined damage also reaching about 10 times his Strength attribute. Its power was somewhat dispersed across many rapid strikes, but since the game didn't seem to have a concept of armor yet, the damage dealt was exactly as advertised.
For instance, against a protective field like the one Bronya could generate, breaking through with the scattered blows of `Dissipating Force: Ink Chrysanthemum` would be difficult. In that scenario, using the focused power of `Inch Force: Heaven Opening` would be far more effective—concentrating all the force to break through a single point.
All these multipliers represented the total damage output; in practice, the damage was often divided into different parts of the attack. For example, the old `Cloud Mist` skill's total damage of 3x Strength was split between the initial rising uppercut and the subsequent downward smash.
And it was his newfound, exquisite control over that strength that had allowed him to keep the damage on Funahiki Gyō at such a low, precise level for so long.
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