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Over the Infinite Chapter 19 Part 3

 

「Even so, if it brought unity to the country by making me the scapegoat, I accepted that torture as my final task in life. 」

「You were thinking of the country until the end. 」

That’s an extreme level of self-sacrifice. It’s too noble to even comprehend.

「And during the torture, I finally realized something. 」

「What… did you realize? 」

「I became a masochist. 」

「Are you freaking kidding me!? How do you become a masochist from that!? 」

I don’t get it. What is this guy even talking about?

「When I think about it, I never really had much curiosity about women. But that last week, constantly being hurt and showered with abuse by the very people I tried to save, was a moment of indescribable bliss for me. 」

Looking to the side, Yuki had a far-off look in his eyes. I want to escape reality too. Up until the very end, it seemed like a somewhat nice story…

「The last torture method involving the wheel was particularly special. I truly ascended to heaven in a manner of speaking. 」

「Who asked you to put it so nicely?」

This guy’s the worst. Way beyond the level of being “hardcore.”

「So, when I engage in combat and take damage, I can’t help but feel good, revealing my peculiar fetish.

Usually, people end up turning me down because of that. 」

「Got it. So, you’re a total pervert. 」

「Thank you.」

I’m not praising you!! Why are you smiling so pleasantly?! What do we do with this guy?

 

-3-

After Sarges left, both of us were face-down on the table.

「He was quite the character, huh?」

「Way too much of a character. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything that extreme before. 」

However, apart from his fetish, he does meet our requirements. Unfortunately so. If anything, we’re the ones lacking.

But I don’t think we can handle someone of his level of perversion.

In fact, why the hell does such an extreme masochist consider me a comrade? Do I look like that to others?

「Yuki, I’m not a masochist, you know.」

「Yeah, yeah, I get it, don’t worry.」

「Good then.」

Despite putting in so much effort, being written off as a masochist would be too much to bear. Someone help me.

「But, it’s unlikely we’ll find anyone better suited for us, right?」

「…Yeah. 」

When you hear him out, he’s quite a capable individual.

His base level is 23, more than twice ours. Though he’s not specialized in defense to be a main tanker, he’s still a hard-to-kill, tough class.

Additionally, he has the terrifying talent of feeling good from pain. Not envious at all.

His main class is (Fighter), but he’s already stepped into his second class (Kicker).

He’s already halfway into the intermediate level. We’d be incredibly grateful if someone like him could help us out.

Could he be the top contender among the participants in the rookie match?

Masochist… No, calling him just that doesn’t feel right; let’s go with “extreme masochist” for now. But even this fetish of his is on a fine line.

After all, he doesn’t have any substantive downsides for us, other than making us feel uncomfortable. He’d probably be happy if we reacted with disgust.

This would be an outright no if he was directly damaging to us—like some sadistic with glasses or some Yuki-tan perv posting on forums.

Damn, he’s complicated. He attacks at the perfect angle to fill the gap in our fighting capabilities.

Lately, the mental damage has been severe. Isn’t there something that can be done?

「We don’t have a better option than him.」

「…Yeah, you’re right. Everyone has flaws. 」

Still, it’s questionable if we should be content with that.

On the positive side, he’s a strong and amazing shield that doesn’t care about pain.

「For now, let’s do a mock battle and tackle the next dungeon with him. We’ll judge based on that. 」

「Okay, understood. I’ll reply to the email. We can do the dungeon challenge as soon as possible. The mock battle will be before that. 」

I wish he’d turn out to be terrible at fighting, so I could send a prayer email.

Unfortunately, my instincts tell me otherwise. He’s definitely strong.

As I left the interview room, a familiar face was waiting.

It was the sister of our next opponent. She had a solemn look, so it must be about that matter. It wouldn’t be strange if her sister knew about it.

「Good morning… or should I say, Hello? You were gone for quite a while. Was it some kind of meeting? 」

「Yeah, it was an interview for a member for the Rookie Match.”

I’m looking for team members to fight your sister.

「Oh, I see… So, Sarges, huh? You’ve chosen someone quite interesting. Didn’t even cross my mind. 」

「Is he a famous person or something? 」

「He’s not that famous, but in the lower ranks, he’s pretty well-known, no doubt. Definitely strong. 」

His strength is undeniable.

But he’s probably more famous for his kinks. Wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a lot of talk about him on message boards. In his case, badmouthing would be counterproductive.

「So, what’s up? You were waiting, right? 」

「Yeah. It’s about the Rookie Match and the opponents. I was at home until a little while ago, and I heard it from the source. 」

「This situation really took an unexpected turn, didn’t it? 」

 

「Uh… It’s not like there’s some sort of jinx just because I mentioned it, right? 」

Is that even relevant?

「We shouldn’t talk about this here; let’s go downstairs. I want something to drink. 」

「Sure, Kuro would appreciate that too. 」

Kuro nods silently and follows us.

We buy drinks again and sit facing each other in the lobby. It’s like a gossip gathering, but that’s fine.

「I’m sorry it turned out like this. 」

「You’re not to blame. You didn’t instigate it. 」

「That’s not it. After that, when I went back home, I talked about meeting you, Tsuna, on the train. I mentioned it kind of jokingly, saying, ‘You wouldn’t do something that immature, right?’ And he laughed and said, ‘Of course not.’」

Such a casual conversation, huh. Well, she was already easy-going when we first met.

「But I don’t understand why this happened. I was told this morning that we’re fighting against Tsuna’s team in the Rookie Match. 」

「Maybe the Dungeon Master instigated it? 」

「The Dungeon Master? Why would someone like that— 」

I wouldn’t know.

「You see, both of us were Dungeon Masters in our past lives. And well, various things happened. 」

「So, are you hated or bullied? 」

「I don’t think we’re hated. I don’t sense any malice either. 」

Doubt he has lingering emotions like that.

「I don’t quite understand, but there’s some background, huh. Anyway, I’ll help too. I have many of her videos, including some that aren’t publicly available. 」

「You mean, like, behind-the-scenes— 」

「There are no such. 」

What a pity.

「They’re not public because we don’t want to share information with other clans. But I’ve also gotten her permission to show them to you. 」

So, she’s given her approval. It basically means, ‘Research all you want.’ But that probably won’t shake the power balance much.

Still, it’s much better than not having information.

「It saves us time, honestly. 」

「We can’t watch everything, so we’ll have to be selective. Do you have any preferences? 」

Well, videos of top rankers would be numerous.

Knowing the most about their capabilities would be best.

「I’d like to start with the trials and then move on to the Rookie Match and floor boss fights. Knowing the time period would be helpful. 」

「Good idea. Understanding how someone became strong over time would make it easier to compare. 」

「Alright, got it. So, it’s the Rookie Match, huh? I have it on my server, so we can watch it right away. Where should we watch it? Would it be better to borrow a larger monitor? 」

「If it’s now, I have a large monitor in my room. If it’s convenient to use that, let’s do it. 」

I guess the one I borrowed for the trial commentary broadcast would be just right for this.

「If you’ve got one borrowed, that should be fine. Can we do it later? I’ll go to my room and bring the data. And after that… maybe we could find a sparring partner? I’m sure any of our team members would be willing to help. It would be beneficial for us too, and if worse comes to worst, I could be the one to spar… 」

「That sounds good. Having a partner does make a difference. 」

She’s being extraordinarily cooperative. I wonder if she feels guilty about something unrelated to this? I’m the one who ends up feeling sorry.

But then, she’s also participating in the Rookie Match. We both see this as a good opportunity.

「Hold on a minute. 」

Suddenly, a voice interrupts from an entirely different direction. I turn around to find a familiar Lizardman standing there.

「You’re the old man, right? I can’t really tell them apart. 」

「Yes, I’m the one you guys call ‘old man.’ I’m Gwuar of (War Arms). 」

「You’re the person who appeared on the show, right? Or should I say Lizardman instead? 」

Honestly, it doesn’t really matter.