I Am Not Really Related

"The winner of this month's Rock-Paper-Scissors tournament is..."

"Alright, cut the chatter."

Haru directly claimed the prize of this competition—the "Sword of Truth."

Then he began wandering around, looking for bounties that might interest him.

Soon enough, he saw a bounty poster—with his face on it. Surprisingly accurate!

But that name was a bit unsavory...

"The Despicable Thief"

Description: Though he looks presentable, his character is exceedingly vile. He always starts his attacks with theft-type cards; if anyone dares to resist, he doesn't hesitate to kill!

Known victims include Extras A, B, C, D... The ABCD girls from Love Town (We all got our hearts stolen~ Yaiba!)

Additional Bounty: 200,000 Jenny

Comment: Jerk, don't let me find you again, daring to steal my gem, you're dead!

...........

Haru stroked his clean-shaven chin, deep in thought.

Indeed, the one who added the last bounty was Biscuit, right?

Who else but her?

But who was the jerk who started putting bounties on him?

It was slightly annoying, but no matter.

After all, this was also advertising for him, bringing cards right to his doorstep that he couldn't just push away.

Then he thought about it and decided to fuel the fire on his bounty.

Additional Bounty: 200,000 Jenny

Comment: Hehe (#^.^#)

The mockery was at MAX!

I'm putting a bounty on myself!

Now, with a total of 500,000 Jenny as the bounty, anyone seeing it would be tempted.

Haru casually picked up a couple of high-value bounties and left.

But he hadn't even left Yorknew City when, unsurprisingly, he got surrounded.

Interestingly, these 7 or 8 people were together.

"That's right, it's him. Take out this pretty boy!"

Haru got angry right on the spot!

"Who are you calling pretty?!"

"..."

They don't know how to flatter!

Haru was angry, and the consequences were severe.

As soon as he activated "Gyo," it was clear these guys were no veterans—the cards they carried were trash, uninteresting to him.

So, he retracted his "Hunter Book" and pulled out two katanas from his pants.

"Long enough?"

"F**k! Kill him!"

Dark Step: Ten Kills!

It was as if someone had hit the pause button or, like these people, had all missed something crucial.

When their 'daze' ended, Haru had already appeared behind them, slowly sheathing his katanas.

Click...

Zi!

Like blood gushing from an opened gate, these people all fell to the ground.

Pathetic.

Haru shook his head, then watched as the bodies and all traces of them disappeared. He suddenly felt a bit regretful.

The number of "players" in this game was always low; no one might be left in a few days if he killed everyone he met.

A perfect 'MMORPG' completed as a single-player game that'd be too boring.

And besides, these were prime cuts of chive essence!

"Miscalculated, miscalculated."

Haru sighed and left, and it was a good while before anyone dared show up again, clearly quite frightened.

Such a terrifying monster wasn't something they could mess with casually.

"With so many men lost, now probably less than half of us are left alive. Can we complete the game?" someone uncertainly asked.

"Who cares? Let's hurry to Masadora and regroup with the others."

"Yeah, let's go together!"

Whoosh, these people turned into streaks of light and flew into the sky.

...........

When Haru returned to Masadora, the atmosphere there had changed significantly.

Many were visibly nervous, their expressions very wary.

Then, just as Haru replenished his cards, a BOOM sound caught his attention.

It was a man walking down the street who, for no apparent reason, exploded and died on the spot.

Whispers flickered among the dimly lit crowd.

And all Haru heard was, "The 'Bomber' is back in action!"

Before anyone bothered him, he wasn't looking to cause trouble, so he continued wandering.

But unexpectedly, he was stopped again.

Haru sighed. It was not that he didn't want to be a good guy, but it was just too hard to be one.

"Wait a minute, don't get it wrong. We're not here to cause trouble. We have a mission, and we'd like to invite you to join," said the leading man with glasses, quickly spreading his arms wide.

After hearing it, Haru had already half-drawn his machete, but he stuffed it back into his pants.

"What mission? Why choose me?"

"The card designated 002, 'One Ping of Coastline,' is rated SS difficulty! I have the necessary information, but activating this mission requires a certain number of people. I've been waiting here for a long time, but most people aren't friendly, making it hard to gather enough participants."

Though the man sounded sincere, Haru was sure he wasn't telling the truth.

But that wasn't a big deal—everyone has their secrets and schemes.

What mattered was the 'One Ping of Coastline' card, which he didn't have!

"How many people are needed, and how many are we short?" Haru asked.

While interested, he was keen on saving time.

He could just set a 'Track' and then rob them when they secured the card.

"Regarding the number of people, it's no problem to tell you—the mission activates with 15 people. If you join, then we only need one more."

Upon hearing this, Haru nodded, "Okay, count me in."

The man seemed very pleased and started trying to coax the last participant.

However, it was still being determined if anyone else interested had been convinced to come, as they had been waiting for an hour and had yet to make progress.

As the man with glasses had said earlier, in this game, gaining the trust of strangers is very difficult.

He said gathering 15 people was the condition to start the mission.

What if it was a trap?

What if they were lured to some remote place to have their cards stolen and be killed?

It wasn't beyond possibility.

Many people who agreed to stay were probably worried about this issue, remaining not because they were brave but because they were hoping for the best.

If it weren't for the fact that there were many of them, several fights would have almost broken out.

Waiting was boring, and it was getting dark.

Haru smacked his lips, opened his 'Hunter Book,' and used a 'Communication Card' targeting... Biscuit!

Yes, Biscuit, who would love to bite his head off!

Once the communication was connected, Biscuit's voice rang out from the 'Hunter Book,' "If you're calling to confess, it's too late now. Just say your last words."

"Oh, I'm at the Masadora fountain. If you're a brother, come and chop me."

Beep!

The communication was cut off...