Terror Infinity - Side B

Chapter 7 - 2, Btooom

Shin: Wait!

Hikari: No! Let go!

After Hikari snuck away from the group after realizing that the Btooom Soldiers and Btooom Commander were after her as a result of being marked by them, Shin finally was able to catch up to her. Hikari had a large head start and was giving it her all in running away, but after Shin tracked her down with a radar scan and with his great physical enhancements, he soon caught up to her. Hikari still tried to resist Shin who just wanted to help her, yet she couldn't escape his grasp powered by close to 500 stat points in Muscle Density.

Hikari: Let me go, Shin! You must know that they are tracking me right?

Shin: That is why I came after you. Really, are you an idiot? Did you really expect that you could win alone. You are so weak that you couldn't even outrun or break free from me right now. Do you want to die!?

Hikari: Of course not, but... You heard what the others said, right?

Hikari raised her left hand for me to see. On the back of her hand where her blue IC Chip should be, had now been dyed a sinister colored purple chip.

The Btooom Commander or someone else in the enemy unit had marked Hikari's IC Chip, so it was no longer possible for her to escape the notice of the enemy. Hikari could run all the way to the other side of the island and hide, but the enemy would still be able to find her.

Hikari: With this... long as my now purple Chip is marked by the enemy escape is pointless and my existence will endanger those around. It will endanger you Shin, so before that...

Shin: And what? You were going to sacrifice yourself to save me? Screw you! Not after all the time I have spent helping you. I've invested four chips into you I could have kept for myself. Your life isn't your own. Your life belongs to me!

Hikari: You, you're the idiot! Also, couldn't you have said that better?

Shin: Sorry, but I am a gross otaku bastard. There, I said it for you. Shit! I, I don't need a middle school girl like you to look after me. It should be the other way around.

Shin let go of Hikari and paced a sort distance away.

Shin was angry.

Very angry.

He couldn't believe the nerve of Hikari and above all else he was ashamed of himself. His own weakness and fears that lead Hikari to believe that after everything they have been through, that he couldn't protect her even if it was the truth.

Just recalling all the moments of cowardness that he had shown Hikari ever since the Btooom Soldiers and their Commander had came to the island, he... he... couldn't forgive himself.

Shin: Fuck! Do I really look that unreliable!? That... I can't even save a single girl? How can I even pretend that I am the goddam Main character!

Shin became more and more angry. He kept striking his fist against a large tree and...

- *BANG*!

And then the large tree with the thickness of three fully grown men was cracked where an imprint of Shin's fist was. Shin and Hikari then looked on at the sight with their eyes wide open as the tree fell over as it was now unable to hold it's own weight thanks to the damage he inflicted

Hikari ran over, immediately forgetting her fears and anxieties. She touched the fallen tree and then Shin's hands. They weren't even scratched from his fist constantly banging against the tree till it fell over. Hikari was astonished about the event and said as much.

Hikari: When...When did you get so strong Shin?

Shin was surprised as well and so he didn't know how to resound. He then tried and punched at another tree with all his strength this time. This time the whole tree snapped in half and was knocked back to the ground. After the loud sound of a tree falling over, Shin looked at his fist in disbelief at what he had done.

Shin: How is this possible? I wasn't even using Ki just now. With this kind of strength I could kill a man and send him flying like Luffy. When, when did my power level increase so much!?

Hikari: Cut the nonsense Shin! Maybe... Perhaps you have beeen holding back, but you weren't conscious of it this whole time. In a very short period of time, with no training to reach your current level ( Not Dragon Ball )... You have been unconsciously held yourself back at your new found great strength. And just now after getting angry and the stress of it all, you stopped holding back.

Is that really the case? I had been fighting with my life on the line and have been even using Ki strengthened legs to jump away from explosions, yet was I really holding back all this time?

From a different perspective, the only time since I have been of this island and have feared for my life was the Btooom Soldiers and Command came to the island.

I was superior to my opponents in physical ability and had always held the advantage as the attacker sneaking up to an unsuspecting NPCs. Even with BIMs almost killing me... Have I ever really felt like I was about to die? Hell, I was shooting them down and jumping ways away to safety thanks to Ki strengthened legs. If I had to be honest... Not once was I in any real life and death battles.

Looking back now, in my many spars with Aqua I might have been holding back. I may of known in my head that Aqua was stronger than myself, but in my eyes she was still a girl. As a male in modern society, I was never into hurting women or others for that matter before coming to this world. Only in Btooom or towards the end of High School of the Dead have I ever allowed my morality to fall so low, if it isn't nonexistent already.

I might have been holding back without realizing it. Also, Aqua did mention that I wasn't using my strength properly. Holding back and not knowing how to wield my new found prowess, I have been operating at a level far below my full potential.

It was no hypothetical Genetic Constraint, but I could be doing better, right? I should be able to fight better. Also... I should hold the power to protect my own life and Hikari's life as well long as I am willing to take the risk.

Shin: Hey, Hikari. How powerful would I be if, without holding back, I added Ki to my attacks?

Hikari: How should I know. Wait, what are you getting at?

Shin: Maybe, just maybe... My fist could crack open the armors of the Btooom Soldiers and Btooom Commander. There is a good chance that since this world is BTOOOM their armor may be resistant to BIM explosions, but maybe not the fist of a human who could bust open trees, and when you add Ki energy into the mix...

Hikari: Are you insane!? Juat because you've found that you can knock over a tree you now have the confidence to take them on?

Shin: Yeah. What of it ( Well, I do realize how shallow minded I am )?

Hikari: What of it? You were definitely more scared of them then anyone else, so why?

Shin: ...Hikari. I am actually a very simple human being. I am still scared, but long as I have some form of confidence I can fool myself that I can win.

Hikari: Do you actually believe that you can win?

Shin: Why does that matter now? Even if we didn't have to defeat them for the sake of the mission, I have already decided to defeat them and protect you. There is nothing more to think about.

Hikari: ...

Shin: Hikari, I am definitely strong enough to protect you from the Btooom Soldiers and the Btooom Commander leading them without dying. This mission and anything else God can throw at us, I will overcome it all. Besides, they are not worthy enough opponents to me to even think it would be okay to be killed by. That's why... Please don't runaway from me again when I say that I can win... And I am saying that I can win.

Hikari: ...Fine, but please promise me that... That you will not die. Can you?

Shin: With or without the promise, I never had any intention of dying till I become an OP main character, but... If it make you feel better, I promise not to die today.

Hikari: Can't your promise last longrer then one day?

Shin: I'm not good at thinking ahead. I'll leave that to you or Saki. For now... Let me go kill five Btooom Soldiers and their Commander for now as that is all I can handle. For that goal, please listen exactly to what I am about to tell you. I have an idea... Or just a stupid way to die.

Hikari: Why not a smart plan?

Shin: I'm not smart. I am now a High School dropout, but I am still better you, the middle school dropout.

Hikari: That's right... We're going to die, huh?

Shin: At least not without a fight.

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Following behind Shin and Hikari who were currently running away through the jungle not too far to be attacked, but at a distance that they could attack them with the newly developed BIM support weapon, the BIM Launcher, were the five Btooom Soldiers and their leader the Btooom Commander.

They were a trained unit of soldiers personally picked by Tyrannos and those who sponsor them in the shadows, and they were confident of their victory.

Not only did they have the girl responsible for the hack into the security system that they were asked to specifically look for, marked with Radar Marking which will last for twelve hours, and if she decides to use the computer later they will also be able to track her with that as well.

Her fate was good as sealed and anyone who stayed with her would die as well.

It was then that they noticed that the computer has been turned on and that it is moving in a different direction then then the girl that they marked. This meant that they somehow realized that they were after the computer and were trying to divert their attention.

Now they had two choices to make.

Go after the girl or the laptop.

The laptop which has excess to the system should be the priority, but if the girl finds another means of borrowing into the system then going after just the equipment would be meaningless.

The Btooom Soldiers looked towards their unit leader, the Btooom Commander and he only took a single minute to come to a decision.

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Shin: Shit! Not all of them came after me and the laptop.

After a quick radar scan I was able to confirm as much. Of the six Btooom Soldiers and single Btooom Commander, he could only find that one of them were coming his way.

Shin: I know what Hikari must be thinking... This really was a stupid plan.

Shin went over his failed plan in his head.

It began when he was chasing Hikari after she left the group of Players.

Shin began to ask himself why Hikari?

Was it really random?

Out of the six of them; Hikari, Kampa, Saki, Zero, Shuai and Shin himself, why did the Brooom Commander just choose Hikari? There was nothing to be gained from thinking about it if it was random, but if it really wasn't random... So with that train of thought he began to think under the assumption that it wasn't.

For Hikari to become a target for the Btooom Soldiers and Btooom Commander it would mean that Tyrannos Japan themselves want Hikari dead. And if there were to be a reason as to why she was singled out... It would have to be because of what she did.

She hacked into the security system on the islamd so that she could know where the all NPCs and Players were on the island. It wasn't real time information and couldn't differentiate, but it definitely gave her an overwhelming advantage that no one else had by using Tyrannos Japan's technology against others.

Hikari was the target because in a way, she altered the story of Btooom by having such an overwhelming advantage that Tyrannos Japan took notice, and so she became God's or the manga Btoooms number 1 target to to get rid of.

Like what Shin did in H.O.T.D, Hikari created unknown ripple effects that came back to bite them in the ass. It was then after understanding the situation, Shin came up with an idea and after meeting up and convincing Hikari they began the plan. Shin would turn on the laptop that the Btooom Soldiers and Btooom Commander could be potentially tracking besides Hikari herself, and begin traveling in a different direction than her. This way they will be forced to just choose one target or split up.

Either would have been fine with Shin, but he actually would have preferred if they all chased after Hikari. If they did and could somehow trick them into believing that he was somewhere else, he would have been given the greatest opportunity for a sneak attack and kill them all, or at least the Btooom Commander who is possibly responsible for marking Hikari.

Shin: So nothing in life goes the way we want it. Then I guess there is no point in passively waiting here any longer.

Then Shin turned off the laptop and began to run in the direction of the single enemy who came after him.

Before Shin split up with Hikari in the jungle, he made Hikari promise to keep running while he diverts/take out the enemy that go after him. That was the plan, but now it was only one step from ruin. Not only were five enemy assassins gunning for Hikari, it was unlikely that she could keep running indefinitely like she was.

Among all the players that Shin knew of, she was only superior to the average college graduate exchange student Shuai. If it was anyone else sure, but if it is Hikari who has already been running for about a straight hour... She wouldn't last another.

Shin's only hope now would be to quickly dispatch the single enemy coming his way and surprise attack the rest as they are following Hikari. It could work. He had turned off the laptop, so unless they used a radar they wouldn't be able to find him, and even if they did try it Shin was prepared.

- *RADAR SPREADING OUT*!

Shin: There it is!

Shin activated his own radar at nearly the exact same time as the enemy.

Shin's radar and the enemy's collided with each other and on and canceled each other out.

It was the technique that the protagonist Ryota Sakamoto first showed in his battle against the serial killer kid. When two radar are used at the same time they cancel each other out. And the best part is that you can't even tell that it is happening without giving it any thought

Shin didn't have Ryuta skill at timing when to use a radar, yet he had a skill that Ryuta's doesn't. He instinctively feels the very existence of the Btooom Soldiers and the Btooom Commander.

To Shin, they were the embodiment of death and fear itself and did nothing to hide it, and their radar scans were extentions of themselves.

Like when Shin first felt that oppressive feeling when they first scanned for them, he could feel with his very skin when the enemies radar was approaching and when it did, he would respond with his own radar to cancel it out.

Shin continued doing this till he could feel that the enemy was close.

At least 100 meters away ahead of him within the jungle. Then, without hesitation he threw four of his Timer BIM set to detonate immediately towards to where the fear was at its strongest. There still some distance away, but with Shin's immense strength he could throw the BIM over long distances and with speeds comparable to top level MLB pitchers or maybe faster.

- *EXPLOSION*!!!!

The four BIM Shin threw all hit their intended target and exploded. The fiery explosion cleared out the area in front of him and he was able to finally see the enemy before him, the Btooom Soldier.

The Btooom Soldier was definitely fazed by the damage, yet the enemy's armor was barley scratched by the explosive power of the four BIM. Seeing this, Shin confidence that he could punch his way to victory had decreased by a lot.

Then after the Btooom Soldier had recovered from his initial recoil damage, he took out from his left arm attachment a Cracker BIM just like the online Btooom players could. Shin noticed that though he took a BIM from one of his eight slots, he still had eight BIM in the attachment.

Shin: Great. A Btooom Soldier with infinite BIM and myself with 10 Timer BIM left... This looks promising.

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Tyrannos Japan: Game Planner Gemu Shusaisha's Report 14.

Real World Btooom Game, Hard Mode - Day 2.

5:31 PM

Players Alive: 8/15.

NPCs Alive: 69/150.

Btooom Soldiers Active: 25/25.

Btooom Commanders Active: 5/5.

Ryota Sakamoto, Btooom Lord Inactive: 1/1.

Daily Minutes -

1. Nothing new to report.

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Authors Note:

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