NOVEL WEB Chapter 17 part2
Welcome to Underground
"Stupid … it's too Soon," Boss Said
Part 2
Well, that's what Kaburagi-san thinks is happening, but in reality it just looks like Shouta-kun cooling things down with his cold air, and then those things becoming stronger as their temperature drops. An ice shield that practically at absolute zero is nearly indestructible. When we experimented with it in the secret base, it took a bullet from a handgun without a scratch, and even reduced the impact force on Shouta-kun. When you separate something from Shouta-kun's cold air, the temperature of the object that has been cooled down remains the same, but the strength returns to normal. If we make a bunch of absolute zero ice shields, we would have invincible armor! I know that it's technically impossible, but it's still pretty cool. Even if it is fairly unbelievable.
While puzzling over it and muttering, Kaburagi-san somehow became convinced that the kind of spinning angular momentum is based on Van der Waals forces1. I have no idea what she's talking about. Personally, I think that even if you try to rationalize it, it'll just end up being pseudoscience that can't be explained by physics. Superpowers are outside the realm of human knowledge.
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Shouta-kun returned to the front lines of the war against the world's darkness in February. He showed a vigorous work ethic and easily created ice weapons with his 'heart of fire'. His battles are calm and decisive. He's become incredibly flexible, and doesn't have a single opening.
A number of months passed between his first and second battle, so I decided to add an attack from a large world's darkness, to see if he had learned his lesson. Shouta-kun, completely unfazed by its giant size that's comparable to a large truck, first creates an indestructible white barrier by cooling his surroundings to absolute zero and forming a dome shape. It completely blocks the body blow from my tentacle attack. While blocking the hit, Shouta-kun forms long, narrow ice spear from water he has stored in a plastic water bottle. After that, he waits for the right timing, then cancels his ice barrier while simultaneously thrusting his spear forward. The result is a complete victory.
However, even after winning, he didn't forget to remain alert, and thus managed to avoid being assassinated by the second body that I had hung overhead for a surprise attack while he was basking in the glory of his victory. After using his cold air to freeze it, he then easily crushed it. From beginning to end, his movements were like those of a combat expert. Although he may not be as agile as some who has mastered martial arts, I would say that I have the impression that has mastered the "heart" quality of shingitai2. Shouta-kun only had to be defeated once to solve his problem.
Even as he continued on to his third, fourth, and fifth battles, Shouta-kun displayed the unwavering strength of a warrior. Sometimes he would defend, sometimes he would attack, but he never hesitated or ran away. During the sixth battle, which became a tag-team match, Shouta-kun apparently told Touka-chan, who was surprised by his calmness, that he had "become the fire". I have no idea what he's saying. I don't get it, but it sounds cool. It seems that, for some reason, the "awakened" Shouta-kun is really outrageous. If you think about it, trying to fight like a character in a manga ordinarily can't be done while in a panicked state. For example, during the defeat event, when he was swallowed by the enemy, he tried to freeze it from the inside out. Should that be considered a small glimpse into his potential?
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For this sort of Shouta-kun, battles have quickly turned into grinding games3. It takes about a second for a "awakened" Shouta-kun to kill a weak world's darkness. However, now, when Shouta-kun does struggle to take out a super-strong world's darkness, it causes trouble for Touka-chan. Touka-chan is still in the process of growing, and can only emit a flame that's around 1200°C (2192°F), no hotter than a household stove. In the first place, since the world's darkness is made of water, Touka-chan's flames aren't compatible with it; and the tactics of evaporating the water or burning it up become difficult as soon as the world's darkness becomes huge. If, for Shouta-kun, the battle against the world's darkness is tough, for Touka-chan, it may result in death.
Therefore, for the large-scale battle event, if either of them tries to handle it alone, they will lose. By combining their powers and having Kaburagi-san for support, with every member present, they can win. I'm creating a battle against such a formidable opponent in order to give them amazing memories of their time as middle-school students. Simultaneously, I'm also increasing the difficulty level of the war against the world's darkness for Shouta-kun, since it's become nothing more than a grinding game for him. Let's go all out before the depressing exam season, ok? They should enjoy the time they have left before they start their third year of middle school, since they'll be high school before they know it. They have less than a year to look forward to.
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Now. I still need to prepare various things before the event. The large-scale battle event, entitled "World Graduation Exam" (working title), will consist mainly of a boss battle. Serious injuries are expected. They won't be fatal, but since it is a boss battle, it would be unnatural to have only minor injuries. The solution to this is getting healed by Ig, but for that, Ig will have to grow accustomed to Touka-chan and Shouta-kun, and she has to become able to accompany them. It would take time and effort to transport someone who's seriously injured to Amanoiwato, and that transportation time may be fatal.
When Shouta-kun would head towards Amanoiwato, I would actively send Ig to him. I tried to get her used to his smell using a scarf he had left, and I also tried having Shouta-kun feed Ig her monkey food. Shouta-kun also seemed to get along well with Ig, and after three weeks, Ig got used to sitting on Shouta-kun's shoulder. In fact, Ig has gotten so used to Shouta-kun that she easily takes out the chocolate cigarettes he has in his chest pocket, pulls one out of the box, and tries to make off with it. We have to grab her by the tail to catch her; and then, because I passed the box to Touka-chan, it seems that Ig has started to get more comfortable with Touka-chan as well. Touka-chan is fond of our cute mascot, so she had been working hard to find and use fragrance-free and natural make-up. And now her effort had finally paid off.
In addition, because Kaburagi-san considers even her perfume to be part of what makes her beautiful, she quickly gave up on becoming friends with Ig, and has thus entered a cold war state with her. Also it seems that Kaburagi-san is still holding a grudge against me because I refused her invitation to spend Christmas with her in order to take care of Ig. She's probably extremely humiliated that she lost to a female monkey, huh… I messed up really badly there. But because I had just gotten Ig back then, I couldn't leave her alone. To have two women fighting over me at Christmas, I must've become pretty awesome, right?
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While I was continuing to train Ig, Kaburagi-san proceeded to update our equipment: dog-tags and battle suits.
The dog tags are proof of Amaterasu membership and have each members' position in the organization on them. Soldiers usually have dog-tags anyway; it's to identify their bodies the case of their corpse being unrecognizable. Amaterasu is a secret organization that's engaged in fierce fighting day and night against the fearsome world's darkness. Officially, it's possible that that sort of thing might happen, though there's no reason for it to… since, if you are preyed upon by the world's darkness, there'll be no corpse. Therefore, it's better to have dog-tags. Also, having one makes you look cool (this is 90% of the reason to have one).
Kaburagi-san didn't really get it, "This thing is for when you die a terrible death, right?", but both Touka-chan and Shouta-kun were delighted with them. Actually, it seems that Touka-chan was more surprised about my unusual behavior of talking to her while handing it over than the actual dog-tag itself. Shouta-kun was honestly insanely delighted by it though, so it's fine. Furthermore, the dog-tag has a sun, the symbol of Amaterasu, engraved on its surface. The reverse side has each person's name and I.D number, as well as their blood type and birth date clearly engraved on it. They're made from an alloy containing several rare metals, with platinum as a base. I designed it, and they were produced by Kaneyama Tech, the corporation we’ve partnered with for the underwater mining of rare earth elements and methane hydrates4.
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The battle suits, as the name suggests, are for battles. For instance, Touka-chan can't burn her body with her own flames, but she does end up burning ordinary clothes. She is training to extend the heat resistance range and give heat resistance to clothes, but it is likely to take a while. I'd be a stupid idiot pervert to let her clothes burn up while in battle! If they did, the enemy could take advantage of that moment of weakness, and Touka-chan could die. Even if she grits her teeth and continues the battle even though her clothes have burned and you can see "certain parts", she'll be in trouble afterwards. She'd have to figure out a way to cover herself up on the way home.
If they get attacked by the world's darkness while in their ordinary school uniforms, it'll leave traces; it's not enough to just change clothes. What will their parents think when their children often come home with their uniforms tattered? It is also possible to supply new uniforms each time with the financial strength of Kaburagi-san, but if the uniforms are often new, that's also suspicious. Therefore, the battle suits will be worn under their clothes, and when they need to switch over to "battle mode", they can just quickly undress and be ready for battle. They need that sort of battle suit. It's difficult to carry combat clothes with you, and it takes time and is difficult for people to change clothes in battle. It would be nice if the gimmick where you're concealed by light during a "transformation" scene also worked for changing clothes. But sadly, it doesn't exist.
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As long as you wear a battle suit under heavy clothes, everyday life is hard. Ideally, you want the battle suit to be thin and fit tightly, otherwise it'll be troublesome to keep it hidden, even if you wear extra clothes in front of your classmates. The black stab-proof suits that Kaburagi-san ordered are professionally designed and feel like shark skin. There's a lot of mesh and cut-outs, and it's cool in the summer and warm in the winter. There's a hood and a mask that covers up to the nose that can be used to hide your identity if necessary.
While there is some skin exposed, it depends on the individual suit. Compared to Shota-kun’s solidly-designed suit, Touka-chan’s suit is more showy and exposed. Kaburagi-san claimed that it was for the sake of heat dissipation, but it's probably just based on her preferences. Touka-chan was extremely embarrassed to be wearing a suit that showed off her body like that in front of Shouta-kun and was trying to hide from his gaze. But Shouta-kun's eyes were drawn to Kaburagi-san's chest, which was thoroughly emphasized by her battle suit.
Boy! What happened to your "heart of fire"?! At a time like this?!
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It's necessary to take off their custom-made, ¥600000 Yen ($5521 USD) battle suits before they have to change for P.E in order not to arouse suspicion. Ordinarily, you'd continue wearing it, since you never know when or where a battle will take place, but it's important to consider the reality of the situation. Spare suits are being stored in the underground base at Amanoiwato, and each individual has a spare suit at home as well. Finding a safe hiding place for it is each individual's own responsibility. Touka-chan hollowed out the Asura statue5 in her room and easily hid it there, while Shouta-kun chose to hide it in the same spot that he hides his erotic material. Well, I guess that fine. He would have had problems if he chose a spot that's difficult to find.
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Ig's training is finished.
The dog-tags have been distributed.
The battle suits are ready.
The scenario is finalized and ready. The setting is March, a peaceful day before spring break.
At last, the large scale battle event produced by Amaterasu, "World Graduation Exam", begins.
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Footnotes:
1: A weak electrical attraction force between molecules based on distance.
2: "Shingitai" (心技体 / しんぎたい) literally translates to "spirit, skill, body" and is the three qualities that a martial artists should have: heart, technique, and physique.
3: Original Japanese is "sagyou-ge-" (業ゲー), literally "work game" and is slang for grinding game. Grinding games are games where you have to perform simple tasks repeatedly in order to earn rewards.
4: See for a refresher.
5: Asuras are part of Buddhist mythology and are demigods/demons with three heads and four to six arms. Image ⇒ Asura Statue