Meet Acquaintance

"Ichi no kata: Hekireki Issen (First Form: Thunderclap and Flash)."

"Gyaaaaa!!!"

The figure of white lightning chased after the fleeing Demon among the trees, the next moment the Demon's head separated from its body.

There was a frightened expression on the Demon as if he had encountered a terrifying monster.

As soon as the Demon's head rolled to the ground, its body slowly turned to black ash and disappeared with a gust of wind.

"21..."

The figure of a white-haired teenager wearing a white Haori very conspicuous in the dark of the night appeared at the location where the demon died while inserting a sword into its scabbard.

Who else if not Rio?

"There are still 4 days before the final selection ends."

"Finding Demons is becoming more and more difficult." Rio said helplessly.

If the other participants tried to survive for 7 days and tried their best to avoid encountering a Demon, Rio did the opposite.

Every time he killed a Demon, it was he who would slaughter them without giving them a chance to escape.

When one of the Demons saw how strong Rio was, as soon as the other Demons saw him, they would flee away from him.

For example the Demon that Rio just chased before

"Oi Demon come out and face me!"

"Don't you guys want to eat human flesh? I stand waiting for you here for you to eat if you have the courage!"

"Aren't you guys? Is the thing hanging from your crotch just a decoration?"

"You sissy!"

Rio's provoking words echoed in the deserted forest, even his words were heard by the surrounding participants.

"Why is this person provoking a Demon? Does this person really want to die?"

"He crazy! If all the Demons gather to attack him, he will die!"

"This guy has guts."

Some of the participants thought what Rio was doing was stupid and immediately walked away from it, they were afraid that many Demons would come hearing the blatant provocation.

But there were also some participants who praised Rio's bravery and rushed towards his location, they wanted to see what kind of person would act boldly like that.

As for Rio as the main mastermind, he expressionlessly pulled the Nichirin Sword from its scabbard when <Danger Detection> gave him a warning.

Before long the Demon jumped from the bushes from his left and right with claws as sharp as a sword aimed at Rio.

Rio's eyes glanced at the two Demons quickly, slightly bending his knees, Rio jumped up 10 meters high.

As Rio was in midair, the two Demons hiding in the trees jumped from the front and back.

Now that Rio was surrounded by four Demons at once, both front, back, left, and right had been sealed off by Demons.

Faced with difficult situations like this, there is no fluctuation in Rio's heart, he is always calm and indifferent under any circumstances.

"San no kata: Shūbun Seirai (Third Form: Thunder Swarm)!"

Rio's slash was accompanied by a deafening sound of thunder, waves of curved white lightning assaulted the Demon from all directions.

"Argghhhh!!!"

The four demons were struck by white lightning causing their bodies to scorch and fall to the ground.

But despite being heavily injured, Demons have incredible regeneration. Even if their heads were severed, the heads could be connected to the body if they weren't beheaded with Nichirin's sword.

Rio also knew this well, while the four Demons were still stunned, with <Reduced Earth>, he moved like teleportation between the four Demons in less than 5 seconds and decapitated the Demons who were still trying to heal themselves.

"22..."

"23..."

"24..."

"25..."

"Huh..."

Rio let out a long breath, the moment the sword fully entered into the scabbard, the bodies of the four Demons had turned into black ashes.

*Clap Clap Clap*

Applause sounded from behind.

"Bravo! You are so great!"

When Rio turned back, he saw a man in black clapping for him.

"Who are you?" Rio asked not lowering his guard.

"Hahaha... There's no need to be so wary, I just happened to hear what you said earlier."

"I just want to see the kind of person who dares to challenge a demon, whether it's a fool or a person with ability."

"Like you the second..."

Not feeling any ill will from the man in black in front of him, Rio released his grip from the sword grip.

The man in black walked over to Rio, then stretched out his right hand.

"My name is Osas from the country of Zimbabwe, I really came just to watch, I hope you don't misunderstand."

Rio looked at Osas in surprise, to admit his country of origin was the same as admitting he was a Player.

But Rio immediately understood the reason why Osas didn't hide his identity as a Player.

(Black skin, short hair, height that exceeds the Japanese average. At one glance, it is clear that Osas is not a Japanese citizen, himself as a Player cannot be hidden)

(Me too if I didn't get struck by the lightning that changes the color of my hair and skin)

Rio knows he can only heal his Player identity only in this world, once he goes through the Quest in the next anime world, people who manage to survive in this world will immediately know he is also a Player.

"Hello! What's your name?"

Osas' voice woke Rio from his daze.

Since the other party was acting friendly, Rio also extended his right hand to shake Osas' hand.

"I'm Itsuka Shin."

"Only that?"

"So What?"

"You're a cold person."

Osas pulled back his hand, he judged the other party to be very indifferent.

"As I thought, this was indeed Shin's doing!"

From the left, a young woman's surprised voice was heard.

(Why are people coming one after another...) Rio complained in his mind, he already guessed who this voice belonged to.

Charlotte ran to Rio and Osas.

"Whistling~ What a beautiful girl..."

Seeing Charlotte's beauty, Osas whistled in admiration.

"Oh, it turns out Charlotte, why did you come here." Rio reacted flatly.

Charlotte didn't care about Rio's cold attitude, she looked him up and down and said with a smile.

"Of course I want to see Shin kill the demons that came, but it seems I'm a little late."

Observing the former battles in the surroundings, Charlotte spoke disappointedly.

"Hello beautiful lady, may I introduce you."

Osas straightened his clothes, he stretched out his right hand to shake hands.

Charlotte shook hands with Osas and introduced herself.

"Hello Osas, you can call me Charlotte. Like you, I am also a player, may we get along well in the future."

Just like Osas, Charlotte generously acknowledged herself as a Player.

"Oh… Me too…" Osas nodded his head like a chicken pecking rice.

Rio who was observing as a third party, his good impression on Charlotte slightly rose.

(Not bad, despite having beauty, Charlotte is not racist towards black people) Rio thought in his mind.

"Shin, how many demons came to attack because of your harsh words earlier?" Charlotte said curiously.

"Only 4 Demons..."

"So little? I think at least 10 Demons will come to you, your words just now were too sharp, even humans would be very angry if it was aimed at them, let alone a bloodthirsty Demon."

Osas scratched his head, he didn't understand why so few came.

"By the way when you eradicated the demons, you seemed to be counting, what were you counting, Shin?" asked Osas remembering the previous scene.

"I want to know too!" Charlotte raised her hand like a student asking a teacher a question.

"I counted the number of demons that died at my hands, that's all." Rio said lightly.

"Oh my god! Doesn't that mean you've killed 25 demons? Shin, you are amazing!"

"I just killed 7 Demons, that alone a few times almost got me killed!"

Osas now has a new understanding of the power that Rio has, no wonder this young man dares to provoke Demons without fear.

"If Charlotte, how many demons were exterminated?" Osas averted his gaze and looked at Charlotte.

Charlotte put her index finger to her lips, and said humbly:

"I'm not as good as Shin, I only managed to eradicate 15 demons."

"Wow..."

Once again Osas was astonished, he didn't expect Charlotte who seemed a meek girl who couldn't butcher a chicken to be able to kill more Demons than her.

Rio only glanced at Charlotte, noticing the gaze on him, Charlotte tilted her head like confusion.

"Since there's nothing else, I'll go first."

Rio left Osas and Charlotte, he walked into the forest.

"Hey Shin, you don't want to form a Demon Hunt together?" Osas shouted seeing Rio slowly walking away.

"No need, I will hunt myself."

Rio waved his right hand and his figure was nowhere to be seen.

"Hahhh… Shin really is a cold guy."

"That's right, I've never even seen Shin smile."

Charlotte agreed with Osas' statement.

"How about we hunt Demons together, Charlotte?"

"No problem."

Charlotte agrees to Osas' invitation, and the two of them leave the location.

After their departure, there were several participants who came to see the situation, but when they saw that there was no one, the participants who came could only leave empty-handed.