"I feel so light."
Kevin lay on the hotel sofa, letting out a satisfied sigh.
Ever since he escaped last night, for some reason he'd felt incredibly light, as if a heavy weight had finally slipped off his shoulders.
A bright future awaited him.
"Speaking of which, when will the teacher Jin mentioned arrive?"
He muttered to himself, thinking back to their farewell. Jin had told him he'd found a teacher for him, but hadn't given any details about how they'd meet. Only that the teacher would come find him. Now that he had abandoned his old identity, could that really still work?
"Forget it. No point worrying. They must have their own channels."
Just as he was enjoying a rare moment of peace, a knock sounded at the door.
Kevin jolted upright, tense, and went to the door with a frown. He cautiously peered through the peephole.
The police?
But the sight he saw was far more terrifying.
Her?
Standing outside was the blonde twin-tailed girl from the night before. She was smiling, as if she could see him through the peephole.
Why? Why was she here?
Kevin's frown deepened as his thoughts spun.
Bang bang bang!
"Big brother, open the door! I came to thank you!"
Bullshit. There was no way she came to thank him.
If he opened the door, there might be a SWAT team waiting in ambush.
Without hesitation, Kevin slipped toward the balcony. To make escape easier, he had booked a second-floor room facing the back street.
He vaulted over the railing and dropped down.
The instant he landed and straightened, he froze. A gentle-looking man in a white shirt stood before him, glasses on, smiling warmly.
To Kevin, his ki was erupting.
"Hi!" the man even waved cheerfully.
Kevin didn't hesitate. He gathered ki in his legs, slammed a foot against the ground, and sprinted toward the wall.
"Mori, if you let him escape this yard today…"
The girl's voice drifted down from above.
It was the blonde twin-tailed girl—now on the balcony, not at the door.
"Yes, Master!" Mori answered sternly and vanished from sight.
A heartbeat later, he appeared behind Kevin.
So fast! Kevin's eyes widened.
His instincts kicked in, and he dived into a roll to the left.
Bang!
A fist smashed into the stone slab where he'd just been, blasting out a crater.
"Are you trying to kill me?!"
Kevin stared in shock. If that had hit him, he'd be crippled—or dead.
He yanked out the pistol at his waist without hesitation.
"Don't move!"
Mori was already in front of him again, expression cold, a corner of his shirt fluttering from the motion.
"Relying on such things will not help you cultivate."
"Psychopath," Kevin muttered.
Was this guy an idiot? Lecturing him now?
"Back off or I'll shoot!"
"Then shoot. Aim for his head," the girl said from the balcony, almost gleefully.
"Don't think I won't! I really will!"
Kevin didn't know why, but he felt like he'd run into a brick wall.
These two didn't look remotely normal.
What rotten luck—he had done nothing, yet was dragged into all this mess. Maybe this was the price of reincarnation.
He hadn't even had the chance to learn Nen properly from the teacher he was supposed to meet.
"…Sigh, no other choice." Kevin exhaled inwardly.
He pulled out the potion he had long prepared—the product of his innate Nen ability.
"A Moment of Dream."
He downed the potion in one go and pulled the trigger at the same moment.
Mori twisted his head aside instantly.
"Hm? He didn't aim for my head?"
Kevin had fired at his shoulder. He suspected the man was some sort of Nen-using officer, here to arrest criminals like him.
As the potion hit, power surged. His body felt impossibly light and strong.
He still had no intention of fighting head-on—he only wanted to escape.
However, Mori—far stronger than Kevin—clearly had no intention of giving him even the slightest chance to escape. With incomprehensible speed, he appeared in front of him once more.
Kevin's mind reacted, but his body couldn't keep up.
A punch came down. Kevin could only cross his arms to block, but the sheer force sent him flying, crashing hard against the wall.
So painful!
Ever since he'd learned to use Nen, this was the first time he had been hit this hard.
It felt as if his aura defense wasn't functioning at all. Even though he had deliberately gathered ki throughout his body—concentrating it in defensive areas—the pain still tore through him.
The opponent's aura vastly exceeded his own.
Sensing another incoming blow, Kevin quickly raised his hand to meet it. He managed to endure the impact this time, and his right fist swung up from below toward Mori's abdomen.
A knee strike intercepted him cleanly.
Mori pulled back his hand.
Defend, look for an opening.
Defend, look for an opening.
With almost no room to counterattack, Kevin was completely forced into a defensive battle.
But even under such pressure—looking miserable, yet strangely uninjured—his ki began to circulate more and more smoothly.
On the balcony, the twin-tailed girl watched quietly, occasionally frowning, occasionally nodding.
Finally, a heavy punch sent Kevin flying again, slamming him into the wall.
This time, Kevin truly had no strength left. His body felt hollow.
He slid down to the floor and sat limply, panting. Slowly, he looked up at Mori, who stepped toward him.
His hand instinctively moved toward his gun… then froze. He lowered it.
This guy could dodge bullets. What else could he do now?
Besides, he didn't even have the strength to stand.
So he simply raised his hands in surrender.
But the cold handcuffs he expected never came.
Kevin blinked up in confusion. "What are you doing? You're not going to secretly torture me to death, are you?"
That would be way too unfair. He still felt he had a chance.
Well… considering the crimes of the original owner, maybe it wasn't unfair?
But whatever. If he really ended up in prison, Jin would definitely get him out.
Kevin knew exactly how valuable he was to Jin.
"What are you talking about?"
Mori gave him a strange look, ignored the question, and turned his gaze toward the second-floor balcony.
"Teacher, is this enough?"
The twin-tailed girl leapt down lightly, landing in front of Kevin.
Kevin suddenly understood.
Called "teacher," yet she looked like a child—one of those childlike masters straight out of movies.
Thinking it through like this… had his interference last night actually messed up their arrest operation?
His thoughts spiraled wildly.
"Are you Kevin? Jin entrusted me to teach you."
"?"
A huge question mark filled Kevin's mind.
What the hell?
This didn't make sense. If that were true, then why had she appeared in the human trafficker's van?
If all of this had been arranged from the start, the implications were terrifying.
Did that mean they had investigated the original owner down to his underwear?
Otherwise, how could he "coincidentally" get caught by traffickers—who then "coincidentally" hid together with him during a search?
Are all Nen Users monsters?
Kevin's awe toward this world deepened once again.
P@treon Seasay for extra 10 plus chapters and Christmas spirit support.