"So light and free."
Kevin Carpenberg lay on the hotel sofa, sighing with relief.
Ever since his escape last night, he didn't know why, but he felt a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. It was as if he had shed an entire burden.
Ahead of him, a bright future awaited!
"By the way, when is that teacher Jin Freecss mentioned supposed to arrive?"
Kevin muttered to himself, recalling the instructions given before their parting.
Jin told him he had found a teacher for him, but never explained how they would meet or provided any details.
He only said the teacher would come find him. But now that Kevin had completely abandoned his former identity, could they really still find him?
"Forget it. Why worry about that? They probably have their own ways."
Just as he was enjoying this rare moment of peace, a knock sounded at the door.
Kevin instantly sprang to his feet and darted to the door, frowning.
He carefully looked through the peephole.
The police?
But what he saw was even more terrifying.
Her?
Standing outside the door was that same blonde twin-tailed little girl from last night who had "fit his taste."
She was smiling at him, almost like she could see him through the peephole.
Why? Why is she here?
Kevin frowned, his mind racing.
Bang bang bang!
"Big brother, open up! I came to thank you!" she chirped.
Bullshit! There was no way she was here just to thank him.
If he opened the door, there could be a whole SWAT team waiting out there.
Without hesitation, Kevin slipped toward the balcony by the window. He had booked a second-floor room specifically for a quick escape—the balcony faced the back street.
Without thinking, he vaulted over the balcony.
As soon as he landed and stood up, he found a man in a white shirt standing in front of him. He wore glasses and had a gentle smile on his face.
But to Kevin, the man's aura was exploding.
"Hi!" The man even waved at him.
Without hesitation, Kevin focused his aura into his legs, stomped the ground, and sprinted toward the nearby wall.
"Yungu, if you let him get out of this yard today…"
The girl's voice drifted from above.
It was the same twin-tailed blonde girl who was supposedly knocking at the front door.
"Yes, Master!" Yungu responded seriously—and disappeared in an instant.
In the next moment, he was right behind Kevin.
So fast! Kevin's eyes widened.
In the tension of the moment, he twisted his body and leapt to the left.
Boom!
A loud crash rang out as a fist slammed into the stone pavement, leaving a crater.
"Are you trying to kill me?!"
Kevin shouted in shock. If that punch had hit him, he would've been crippled if not dead.
Without hesitation, he pulled a handgun from his waist.
"Don't move!"
Yungu stood in front of Kevin again, serious-faced, his shirt slightly lifted at the hem.
"Using something like that won't help your training."
"What a lunatic."
Was he serious? Now he was lecturing?
"Back off, or I'll shoot!"
"Then shoot. Aim for his head," the girl said nonchalantly from the balcony above.
"Don't think I won't! I will shoot!"
Kevin wasn't sure why, but he had a bad feeling—like he'd kicked a steel wall.
These two clearly weren't normal people.
What bad luck. He hadn't even done anything, but trouble found him anyway.
Maybe this was the price of his reincarnation.
He hadn't even started learning real supernatural abilities from his supposed teacher yet.
"Sigh, no other way." Kevin sighed internally, then silently pulled out a vial he'd prepared long ago.
It was a concoction made from his innate Nen abilities.
"One Moment's Dream."
He downed the vial in one gulp and simultaneously pulled the trigger.
Yungu dodged his head to the side.
"Hm? He wasn't aiming for my head?"
Kevin had aimed for his shoulder. He figured this guy was some kind of Nen-using cop, sent to capture criminals like him.
As the potion took effect, power surged through his body. He felt light and strong.
Still, he had no plans to fight head-on. He just wanted to escape.
But Yungu, clearly much stronger, wasn't about to let him.
Again, he appeared in front of Kevin with incomprehensible speed.
Kevin's mind reacted, but his body couldn't keep up.
A punch came crashing down. Kevin crossed his arms to block it, but the force sent him flying into a wall.
That hurt!
Since mastering Nen, it was the first time he'd felt such a brutal impact.
It was as if his aura defense didn't work. Even though he had concentrated his aura at the point of impact, the pain was overwhelming.
His opponent's aura-infused strike was stronger than his.
He felt the pressure of the next punch and quickly raised his arms to block again. This time, gritting through the pain, he retaliated with a right uppercut toward Yungu's stomach.
A knee strike intercepted it.
Yungu had to back off.
Defense, look for an opening; defense, look for an opening.
Kevin was forced into a tight corner, barely able to strike back.
But somehow, he managed to hold on. Though it looked like he was getting wrecked, he didn't seem badly injured, and the flow of his aura grew smoother.
The twin-tailed girl watched silently from the balcony, frowning at times, nodding at others.
Finally, another heavy punch sent Kevin flying into the wall again.
This time, Kevin was truly out of energy. He felt drained.
Sitting helplessly on the ground, gasping for breath, he looked up at Yungu approaching.
He instinctively reached for his gun—but gave up halfway.
What could he do now? The guy could dodge bullets.
And Kevin no longer had the strength to stand.
He quietly raised both hands together.
But the expected cold handcuffs didn't come.
Confused, Kevin looked up. "What, you gonna execute me or something?"
That would be unfair. He felt like he still had a chance.
Well, maybe not—considering all the crimes his past self had committed.
Still, whatever. If he ended up in prison, Jin would bail him out.
He knew exactly how valuable he was to Jin.
"What are you talking about?"
Yungu gave him a puzzled look, then turned to glance at the balcony.
"Teacher, is this enough?"
The twin-tailed girl leapt down and landed in front of Kevin.
Kevin finally understood.
The one they called "teacher," who looked like a child—was just like those youthful masters in movies.
Come to think of it, did he mess up their capture operation last night?
Kevin's mind wandered in a mess of speculation.
"You're Kevin Carpenberg? Jin Freecss asked me to train you."
"?"
A giant question mark appeared over Kevin's head.
What the hell?
That made no sense. If that were true, then why had she been in a human trafficker's van?
If all of this had been planned out by her, that was terrifying to think about.
Did she dig into his background that deeply?
Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that she was caught by traffickers, and those same traffickers just happened to flee to where he was?
Are all Nen users this monstrous?
Kevin's respect—and fear—for this world grew deeper once again.
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