3 Months. 3 Months is how long it took for me to find the first contestant.
It's not hard to find someone who's been dropped into a world without any kind of background. You can easily find them because they leave behind a trail; a trail of either destruction or building. Either destruction of a nearby gang where they're trying to solidify their power, or building because all of a sudden multiple gangs became united under one person.
The person I had backed into a corner was one of the latter. He'd brought together a bunch of gangs, no doubt planning on getting them prepared for the future apocalypse.
Sadly, for him, his overambitious nature was what let me find out about him.
"Sorry, Heavyweight Boxer-san, it's just your bad luck that I was 'spawned' so close to you," I said, a smile spreading across my face as I waved a knife about casually, "Though, I must say, you had the right idea to gather up the gangs. They're more combat ready than the civilians...Shame I killed most of them, huh?" I chuckled before walking closer to the green-haired man in front of me.
Something odd about this world would have to be people's hair and eye color. This guy in front of me had natural green hair and purple eyes. I guess it's because of HOTD being an anime, huh?
Looking the guy over, I knew he wasn't lying when he said he was a Heavyweight Boxer the first time we met. Why did he say that? Because he was an arrogant type of guy. But he wasn't lying. He was around 6'5" and looked upward of 200lbs, and that was just pure muscle. The tank-top he was wearing did little to hide the bulk he had, and I had to wonder how he trained to gain such mass within 3 months? It seems that the people who could survive the first death situation all have the best bodies for what they were talented in. That's the only answer I can come up with. Unless he had access to steroids which isn't too unlikely.
"You fucking prick...why didn't you listen to my first offer?" his purple eyes narrowed, looking at me venomously, "We could have worked together! We'd have a better chance at surviving the fucking Zombie Apocalypse coming our way!" he roared, waving his hands around hysterically in his anger.
I just shrugged, putting away my knife and smiling, "Because this is my job. Sorry," I paused for a second before raising up my fists and getting into a stance for fighting, "I'll give you a chance, so come on, let's fight already!"
The man seemed taken aback by my actions and my battle intent, but all he did was sadistically chuckle before raising his hands, "You've just killed yourself, idiot," as he finished speaking, he rushed at me, his speed pretty high for a man of his size.
He threw a right straight at me, but I dodged it, torquing my body upward and sending a knee straight into his liver.
He coughed aggressively and looked at me with indignation and confusion, but all I did was send a right hook at his face.
Idiot, did you think I'd only be using my fists? I'm a warrior, a killer, not a house trained boxing dog.
He stumbled backward a few steps before recovering as one would expect from a Heavyweight Boxer. He wiped at his jaw before smiling at me. I returned the smile. In that moment, we got a glimpse at the other's true self.
And then we were straight back into it. He sent a combination of jabs and I swerved in and out of them before sending a combo of my own into his chest, hitting at his liver and diaphragm, trying to loosen his guard up so I could have access to his face. But I also had another agenda and seeing his send a lunging right straight at me, I smiled knowing I could fulfill it.
I once again dodged him, my reaction speed being developed far beyond the speed of this guys punches, and as the fist went passed me, I grabbed his wrist and swung my body around the arm and locked my legs behind his neck and shoulder.
Using his momentum, I flipped him forward and onto the ground where I held him in an arm bar.
He viciously tried to get free, put I just gleefully pulled at his arm, feeling the muscles in my body getting warmed up and getting some exercise in. I also felt his elbow slowly giving way, so I put in even more effort before finally...
*Snap!*
"ARGHHH!" the guy screamed, his arm going limp when I let go of it. I flipped myself on top of the green-haired boxer and began to pummel my fists into him from above.
My blood was pumping as I punched and punched, slamming my knuckles into the slowly tenderizing face. From the way I thought and the expression of mania on my face...you wouldn't think I was an Assassin. You'd think I was some kind of mad dog berserker. Which...does suit me, honestly.
Some assassins like to take people out from afar with a snipe - the clever way - but I like the stupid way much more - getting close and taking them out with a knife, my own fists, or a close range gun.
Though if the situation does call for it, I will use a sniper or a more clever way of taking out a target.
But right now, I let myself relish in my bloodlust.
Slowly, I came to the realization that the person was already dead. Their eyeballs were popped, their jaw hanging on by a thread and their nose was pretty much non-existent. Most people, faced with such a sight, would throw up or be terrified at what they'd done. Me, on the other hand...I just felt satisfied.
Letting out a sigh of relief, I stood up and looked at the stars above in the night sky, "Ahh, this truly is a wonderful game~" I bent over and picked up the corpse and began the process of getting rid of it and any other evidence around the alley we were in.
. . .
Toweling myself off, I looked at myself in the mirror. White-Grey hair, with metallic silver eyes looking right back at me, I'd say I looked pretty unique, even among the anime hair and eye colors I'd seen so far. Along with noble, sharp features, and I looked quite handsome. Though even when I smiled, I gave off a pretty cold image. I wasn't trying to, it just kind of happens.
Eh, not that it matters too much.
My body had grown an inch since I'd begun training 3 months ago, and the average physique was now filled with muscle. Lean and compact, yes, but still a decent amount of mass that made my bulk noticeable. Under the strict diet and regimen I'd put myself through, I'd developed a body that had next to no fat, and was filled with muscle.
The screen, or whoever was behind it, wasn't telling a lie when they said this body had the perfect genetics suited perfectly to my sort of training and fighting. I made unreal progress every day, as if my body had given up all other ways to grow, just so it could get better at this specific thing.
That specific thing was to made the body of a killer.
And a killer, has to be stronger than his prey.
So, I pushed my strength, my speed, my reflexes, my stamina and endurance - all of it. I pushed it all to the maximum. My specific training regimen was brutal in it's intensity and most people's body's would collapse under the workload it put on the body, but this body...this body just kept adapting and growing.
It was good. Fun, even.
Looking over each perfectly sized muscle, I nodded my head with a pleased expression. But I also held a glint of excitement in my eyes since I knew this wasn't my limit just yet. I couldn't become superhuman and lift cars, but I was completely confident in my body's ability to pass the physical limit it had hit in my last life.
Exiting the bathroom, I dropped my towel into the washing basket before walking over to my room and lying down on the bed. I was at the very least glad that this apartment was mine from the start. I could sleep anywhere but nothing beats a comfortable bed and a nice and cooled room.
Shifting my body a little bit, I reached under my bed and pulled out a laptop I'd stolen during the first week in this world.
Opening it up, I typed in the password for today before I opened up an application I'd made.
Sadly, you can't just rely on combat skills to become a good assassin. You have to have some kind of technical prowess. My technical prowess was in planning and hacking.
Give me a week of time to plan out my way of attack and hack any information I needed about the target, and I'd 100% any mission you gave me. Though my ability to adapt on the fly was also excellent, so even if you didn't give me a week of prep time, I'm sure I could do any mission thrown at me.
But that might be arrogance or hubris speaking.
The application finally loaded up and showed me all the events I'd missed while out 'hunting'. "Rape..murder...murder...arson...some molestation on a train...more murder...Jeez, this worlds pretty messed up, huh?" I chuckled as I questioned no one in particular. The application? Well, it's an application that's hacked into the police database and gives me updates on what's happened, duh.
Well, more specifically, it's an application designed to gather information. I just have it set toward the police right now. That's how I got the leads on the newly united gangs, after all.
The other things it was gathering information on? Takashi Komuro, Rei Miyamoto, Hisashi Igou, Kohta Hirano, Saya Takagi, Shizuka Marikawa, and finally, Saeko Busujima. Those 7 are what I'm fathering information on. Why? So I can befriend them easier. I'm going to use these guys like a mouse trap and once a contestant gets too close, for whatever reason, I'll take them out.
Plus, does it hurt that most of the main characters are absolute hotties? I wouldn't pass up on a chance to meet and befriend them. Who knows, they might fall for my bad boy charm~?
...Though that depends on how they think of me after they see me go berserk on a bunch of Zombies.
Siphoning through the information, I felt surprised to see that Saya had caught on to someone monitoring her, "Clever girl..." I whispered before switching over to a messenger app and opening up a secure channel between the two of us.
[Would you believe me if I said that in 5 months, the world as we know it is gonna end?]
"Let's see how much of a genius you truly are, Saya Takagi...!" I felt an excited smile spread over my face as I wondered how she'd reply.
I'm glad I was sent to this world.
It's so much fun.