One evening, Yamamura came to his office, feeling a little exhausted.
"Sir, you've been raiding dungeons since morning; you should take some rest," said Tanji while working on the computer.
"I just got this position; I can't neglect it," said Yamamura. "This disaster has given birth to many criminals, and players are not coming under player association. I myself saw 3 players killing someone."
Tanji's face turned down. "I hope someone good can influence players in the right direction. Sir, can you check this file?"
Yamamura approached the computer to see the file, but a notification popped up. "What's this?" Yamamura asked.
"It's just players registering under us, who want to keep their identity secret. We didn't have many requests like this as no one knows that yet."
Yamamura clicked and entered his password while Tanji turned around as he was not allowed to see. Yamamura saw Akira and Haruka's details. 'Teenage kids? They are from Shizuoka but registering at Tokyo under my branch?' He approved it.
Two hours later, Tanji got another notification. "Sir, someone under our branch just became a level 3 VIP. Not one, but two. Their information is hidden."
Yamamura opened it on his computer and saw Akira and Haruka. 'These kids.'
Later, he watched the video of Akira cutting a man's arm on the first day of the disaster. 'The way he used the sword, is it a skill? It seems he planned it and did it without mercy.'
At present, While looking out the window, Yamamura thought, 'Next, they gave an opportunity to capture a corrupted officer, and players started to trust the player association. This system is fair to all players, so how did they become so special?
I always had this thought that the system chose them as some special players, but no matter what, how can I allow them to do that monster solo?' Yamamura checked the global ranking.
**Global ranking list
1. White Rabbit Level 60
2. Karthik Veerabhadra Level 60 . . . **
"Is this a flex?" Yamamura asked on the phone with Akira on the other side. "You simply didn't level up until now. This doesn't convince me to lead you to death."
The officers started to gossip. "White Rabbit became number one out of nowhere."
"Now our country is number one."
"I bet Black Bear can also become number 1 or 2 if he levels up."
"Are you missing the logic, Mr. Yamamura? He became number 1," said Akira, "Don't you know about stats from titles and increased stats from the profession?
The rank 2 has an S rank profession and he also got extra stats from the first rank 1 title and white still became number 1. Doesn't this convince you?"
"No, it doesn't," said Yamamura, thinking, 'You became a big fish; if you fail, people will fall into more despair.'
"Then how about this, I will work for you 2 days a week if he fails to solo it."
Yamamura was still unconvinced, but he knew how protective Akira was towards Haruka, so to send her along to fight meant there must be some catch. Only Yamamura knew the identity of Black Bear and White Rabbit; if they were making a bet, they must be confident.
More importantly, to have Akira work for him, even for 2 days, was a huge deal; his concern for Haruka was his priority, and that offer pushed his doubts further away.
'Agree or not?' Yamamura pondered. 'He is too arrogant, but I feel like there is some reason behind it.'
"OK, I will arrange it for you. The day after tomorrow will be the big raid planned by the association, so I will arrange it for you tomorrow afternoon; be at the location."
"Also," Akira continued, "make sure no one enters the restricted zone one hour before his fight. Not even a single step is to be allowed. If anyone enters the restricted area at this time, we will not participate, and my offer will also not be valid."
"It will be tough, but I will make sure that will happen." Yamamura cut the call.
Yamamura sighed heavily. "How did he know I am such a trustworthy person?"
"You were a politician before, sir. He must have known you from some incident."
The battle time came not too long after.
"Interesting, I didn't expect to see them so soon. Not like this," said Hasegawa, the Claymore user.
"Does Hasegawa san meet them?" Fujiwara asked her.
"They are too arrogant; how can they duo that monster?" said Goda. "They will get themselves killed."
"Are you worried about them, Goda san?" Hasegawa teased him.
Goda got embarrassed. "What are you saying, Hasegawa san? Why would I be worried about them? By the way, I am Goda Hatsuo. I am the vice guild master of Golden Leaf Guild."
"Sorry, I don't like men who are already taken," said Hasegawa, looking at Fujiwara, which made Fujiwara uncomfortable.
Goda became happy, but at the same time, he didn't want Fujiwara to feel uncomfortable. "What are you saying, Miss? I am still single."
Haruka got ready and took a step out of the safe zone. "White, don't push yourself; it's fine if you..."
"No, it won't be fine," said Haruka firmly while walking towards the monster, "I will kill it and show to the world that I am the strongest."
Akira started to realize her obsession with becoming strong a few days back, but he didn't realize it fully until now. 'Ruka.'
Haruka walked alone towards the monster in the middle of thousands of spectators, who came to raid the boss monster. Everyone stood out of their seats in confusion because the only person in the white mask in the duo was going into the restricted area.
"Yamamura," the head association leader called him, even though he was right beside him. "What is the meaning of this?"
"Actually, that is what they asked for, a solo raid," said Yamamura. "Are you nuts? How can you send a powerful player to death like that?"
"It is their choice; that is the only condition they made when they agreed to join the raid team."
"What's the point of getting them if they are going to die?" The head association leader was frustrated with Yamamura.
As Haruka walked towards the monster, she contemplated her strength very seriously. 'What is the point of getting strong? Becoming the strongest?
These days, I want to become stronger, but isn't my life just about protecting Aki and our families? Is that enough for this driving force I am feeling? I feel like I want to do more than that.
Maybe... if I become the strongest, then my mind might allow me to know what I truly want. For that, I have to kill this monster.'
The monster noticed Haruka approaching. Its structure consisted of an upper body with two large arms and a head. Its body was perfectly shaped with armor-like designs with strong soil.
It clutched the ground, piercing its fingers into the soil, and lifted it along with a huge blade as long as the monster itself.
"It's so fast. How did it make something so big at such speed?" Before anyone could react, the monster had already thrown the blade at Haruka.
Spectators eagerly anticipated how she would dodge it. The blade moved swiftly and struck the ground before anyone could see it.
"Did he get hit?"
"Where is he?"
Haruka appeared next to the monster's head in the air.
"There he is! How did he do that?"
"The monster got caught off guard. I think he will deal a huge blow from the beginning."
Haruka slashed at the monster's head, but it didn't even scratch it. The monster swung its hand, but Haruka vanished again and appeared at the back of its neck.
This maneuver disappointed most of the people watching.
"He had the perfect opportunity. Why did he just swing his sword? He should have used his skill."
"Don't jump to conclusions. His skill might need some conditions to activate."
Haruka slashed again, but it didn't even leave a scratch.
This time, the monster used its power by lifting a tower of mud from the ground at its back and blasting the mud at high speed, melting it into the ground.
Haruka teleported to a distance, but she almost got hit by a mud ball, so she used her shield. The monster's body formed behind Haruka from the ground while she was defending against the blast.
As it formed, its hand emerged from the ground and hit Haruka, sending her further into the air.
"I knew it. How can one person solo the boss?"
"Is he dead? He's just flying through the air."
Yamamura became anxious and yelled at Akira, "This is not a child's game! Look at what happened. He will die if he falls now, and the monster is waiting to strike."
Despite all the commotion, Akira stood silently.