When the boss came to, he found himself in a dark, damp chamber. The faint flicker of torch flames danced across the walls. Directly in front of him, Yagami sat on a chair, staring at him with an icy, piercing gaze.
The boss tried to stand, only to discover his wrists and ankles were shackled with heavy chains. He attempted to activate his skill, but felt nothing; no magic, no power, nothing at all inside him. With a scream full of fury, he roared:
"Who the hell are you?! Show your face, you bastard!"
Yagami answered with his usual calm:
"No need to rush… you'll see right now."
He slowly removed his hat. His face emerged in the dim light.
The boss's eyes widened in shock.
"You… you're that piece of trash I threw out of the hotel?! That lazy, good-for-nothing employee?! You filthy dog! How did you kill all my men so fast?!"
Yagami gave a bitter smile and looked deep into his eyes.
"Yeah… I'm the same employee you humiliated in front of everyone every single day…
The one you kicked out of the hotel…
Yes… I'm that man."
The boss bellowed:
"You filthy scum! What's your level?!"
Yagami laughed softly.
"My level…?"
He had kept one of the boss's men alive; the one with the Level Appraisal skill. The man's face was bruised and bleeding, his hair gripped tightly in Yagami's fist. With a grave voice, Yagami ordered:
"First, appraise your boss's level."
The man stammered, "W-why my level—"
Yagami cut him off: "You'll understand in a second."
The appraiser activated his skill on the Yakuza boss and said without emotion:
"You have no level. You have no magic."
The boss recoiled in disbelief. "How is that possible?! What kind of nonsense is this?! My level is A+!"
Yagami snarled: "Shut uuuup… Now appraise my level."
The man's trembling hands activated the skill. A second later, a blood-curdling scream filled the chamber. Blood gushed from his right eye like a fountain, and he collapsed. His eye had burst from the sheer pressure.
Yagami slowly crouched down, looked into the boss's stunned eyes, and whispered:
"Now do you understand what level I am?"
The boss, voice shaking with disbelief:
"How is this possible?! The system never gave any explanation for upgrading from E-rank… How did you advance so fast? What the hell was your level that made that guy's eye explode?!"
Yagami leaned in closer, eye to eye, and said:
"My level? SS+."
The boss, desperate and shattered:
"Where did you get this power?! How were you able to raise your level so quickly?!"
Yagami replied coldly:
"That's none of your business."
Then he brought in the boss's daughter.
The boss screamed: "What are you going to do… you bastard?! Do whatever you want to me, just let my daughter go!"
Yagami said calmly:
"Actually, you're the one who dragged your daughter into this torture."
The boss begged: "Please! I'll do anything you say, just let my daughter go!"
Yagami laughed. "Now watch your daughter suffer because of what you started."
The boss roared: "You filth! Let my daughter go!"
He kept pleading, but Yagami began ripping the girl's clothes and said menacingly:
"I'm going to take your daughter's virginity."
The boss sobbed: "I beg you! I'll do anything, just let her go!"
Yagami spoke softly:
"Fine. There's one thing you have to do for me."
The boss: "Anything! I'll do anything, but first let my daughter go!"
Yagami: "All right. I'll let her go."
He released the girl and turned to the terrified appraiser: "Take her back to your hideout and put her on her own bed."
The man, trembling: "Y-yes, sir."
Once the man had left with the daughter,
Yagami bent down and whispered into the boss's ear for several long moments.
When he finished,
The boss, eyes brimming with tears and his pride utterly crushed, whispered:
"Okay… I'll do it…"
The next day, the boss's daughter woke up with a pounding headache. She saw a one-eyed man covered in blood lying unconscious nearby. She was about to try to wake him when she heard noises outside her window.
She looked out and saw a naked man dancing and singing in the middle of a crowd. People laughed and mocked him. No one could believe that man was the Yakuza boss…
Utterly shocked, the daughter ran to her father and cried:
"What are you doing, Dad?! Why are you dancing naked in the middle of the city?!"
Not far away, Yagami stood watching the scene with emotionless eyes…
He murmured:
"Revenge… has only just begun."
He pulled a small notebook from his pocket, checked off the boss's name.
Beneath it, another name was already written, waiting…