The peaceful and wonderful life almost made Jhin forget that he was still charged with the mission of correcting the problem child, Gabriel.
My name is Jhin. I'm currently 16 years old. I live next door to the fallen angel Gabriel and work for the Shuka High School Problem Child Countermeasures Club. I don't smoke or drink. I go to bed at 11 PM and make sure I get eight hours of sleep, no matter what. Before bed, I have to talk to my girlfriend on the phone for twenty minutes. Once I'm in bed, I fall asleep immediately. I sleep soundly until morning, never leaving any fatigue or stress for the next day. My friends all say I'm very normal.
Jhin, who longed to continue living his peaceful life, received a message from his superior in bright red font two days before his girlfriend's official performance.
"You feel the earth shaking. The unknown world is unable to merge smoothly."
Boss, I don't think seeing this kind of red text in my vision first thing in the morning is good for my heart...
The blood-red words in his vision squirmed in the air for a moment before changing into the words "Problem Child Countermeasures Club." Jhin understood that it was time to get to work.
"Hey, Jhin, where are you going?" Gabriel had just finished an all-night gaming session and was about to go to Jhin's place to freeload breakfast when she saw him about to leave.
"I'm heading to my part-time job. Just grab something to eat yourself."
"This guy is so rich, why does he still have a part-time job?" Gabriel couldn't figure it out. If she had a seven-figure sum in her account, she would have stopped working long ago and just spent her days eating and drinking.
Jhin hurried to the Problem Child Countermeasures Club. Sure enough, a new mission had been added to the request board. Compared to the very ordinary-looking ones from before, this one was probably meant to express urgency—not only were the words "Request" written in a color so red it was almost black, but the entire sheet of paper had turned purple.
Tearing the request off the board, the mission details were finally displayed before Jhin.
"Request: World Fusion Adjustment
Content: The five flowers on the tree are gradually dying, but the gardener responsible for them has yet to appear. My dear subordinate, please don't let them wither so easily before they can bear fruit.
Time Limit: None
Reward: Random
Penalty: If the world fusion fails, it will explode. You'll lose your life, and I'll lose my bonus."
A world-ending level request, just as I thought. Although I'd long expected to encounter such a request sooner or later, isn't this a bit too soon?
"Upon accepting the request, you will enter an anomalous world to make adjustments. Time in the main world will be frozen. Please prepare as soon as possible. You have one hour of free time."
"Phew~" Jhin let out a long breath and took out his phone to call Hitori Gotoh.
"Hello, Jhin, what's up?"
"Nothing, I just missed you a little, Bocchi-chan."
"Gh-!?"
"Haha, just kidding. You guys are probably still practicing hard, right?"
"Mhm, our stage outfits are ready. We're training in them right now." Even through the phone, Jhin could hear the joy in Hitori Gotoh's voice.
"U-Um..." Hitori Gotoh's voice suddenly became bashful. "That promise we made before... do you s-still remember it?"
"Of course, I do."
"After this performance is over, can we go on a d-d-d-d-d... a d-date?"
It was as if his girlfriend's adorable, blushing face was right in front of him. Jhin smiled and agreed, while also hearing the other members of Kessoku Band rushing over to join in on the fun. Then, she hastily hung up the phone.
Bocchi-chan had also mustered her courage and personally invited me. To answer her feelings, and to protect this world that gave me a second life, I absolutely cannot fail.
Shoving his phone back into his pocket, Jhin drew his long-unused equipment—the Star Deck—from the void. He waved a card between his fingers, and starlight condensed around his body, forming a black trench coat and a dagger hanging from his waist. Silvery electric currents danced unceasingly at his fingertips.
"Contractor." A mechanical whisper sounded out of thin air.
"A hero can't run from a fight!" Reciting his favorite line, Jhin chose to execute the mission immediately. His figure vanished from within the Problem Child Countermeasures Club.
Unlike the rough sensation of his first crossing into this world, Jhin only felt his vision go black before he appeared in an unfamiliar place.
He glanced around. He was currently in an elegantly decorated room. The oversized items around him were somewhat confusing.
Had he come to a land of giants?
After taking a couple of steps, Jhin realized it wasn't that the items were oversized, but that he had become smaller again. Walking to the window, the glass reflected the image of him as a child, about ten years old.
You've got to be kidding me, Boss! Are you messing with me? I was de-aged by seven years on the first crossing, and now I'm even smaller? If this happens again, am I going to have to do a request starting as a baby?
A noise from outside the room made Jhin collect his thoughts. Fortunately, although his appearance had changed to that of a child, his equipment and abilities had not disappeared.
"I'm telling you, why did the boss go through all that trouble to bring back such a little brat?"
"Huh? You don't know? It's said the boss is running some 'Strongest Soldier Project,' bringing in a bunch of orphans from all over the world. And it seems this little kid has caught the boss's eye."
"Tch, I think it would be better to spend more money on arming the brothers."
"Shh, you can't just say things like that. Someone disagreed with the project before, and then they just disappeared. I'd say there's an eighty percent chance the boss had someone take care of them."
"Hiss~ Then let's not talk about it. We should just stand guard obediently. We can't let this little brat escape, or it'll be our heads on the line."
"Yeah."
The two guards fell silent again. Jhin was internally grateful for the information they had provided, and then he used his ability to electrocute them directly through the metal doorframe.
A "Soldier Project" didn't sound like anything good from the get-go. It was most likely inhumane methods like human experimentation and drug trials, not to mention they were even kidnapping children for it.
Jhin felt no psychological burden from killing people who aided such evil. Moreover, he was currently under the influence of Hei, the famous "Black Reaper," which made him feel even less discomfort about killing enemies.
Jhin cautiously made his way through the absurdly large house. He assassinated the patrolling soldiers he encountered one by one with his increasingly proficient skills, destroying all the security cameras at the corners.
The people in the monitoring room finally realized something was wrong and sounded the alarm. The guards in the house were surprisingly well-trained, forming three-man squads to cover each other as they began searching for the unknown enemy within.
Using his young body, Jhin hid under a corpse and successfully ambushed an enemy who came forward to inspect it. His sharp dagger easily pierced the man's throat, and an electric current flowed through the metal blade into his internal organs, cooking him medium-well.
His two companions behind him saw him go up to check and then suddenly start convulsing right after crouching down. One of them joked, "Hey, you kid, don't tell me you got turned on by a corpse and finished early?"
The response he got was the dark muzzle of a gun appearing from under his companion's armpit.
"Bang bang bang..." After six gunshots, the two onlookers also collapsed into pools of blood. Two shots to the body, one to the head—a standard Mozambique Drill.
Jhin had never touched a gun before this. With the support of his talent and a mind that remained as calm as a placid well, he quickly learned how to use firearms. Relying on memories from movies he'd seen and a hand that didn't tremble at all, he figured out the most suitable shooting method for his current situation.
As long as I can disable you first, I can put a bullet in your head however I want afterward, right?
"Ho, I knew I wasn't wrong about this child. He might be the most suitable candidate for the project." The blond, middle-aged man watched the nimble, ghost-like figure on the monitor, a joyful smile of someone who had found a treasure spreading across his face.
"BOSS, should we capture this little bastard?" his subordinate asked, gritting his teeth as he stared at the screen where Jhin was continuously reaping the lives of his brothers.
"No. Interpol's special forces have broken in. It's a shame, but we'll have to say goodbye to Jhin." The blond man's face remained composed, showing not a hint of the regret he spoke of. He took his subordinate and left through a secret passage in the room.
When a blue-haired woman with a neat ponytail led her unit to storm the incredibly luxurious villa, what she saw was the young figure standing on a mountain of corpses with a smile. His cold, blue eyes held not a trace of emotion. "Yo? Police? You're always a step too late, aren't you?"
Then, Jhin fainted in front of everyone.
I shouldn't have picked this spot just to look cool. I'm not going to land on my face, am I? That was his last thought before he lost consciousness.
_____
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