The Village Chief's angry roar resounded in the tense atmosphere.

  "You bastard! You're dead!"

  His upper body clothing exploded completely with his muscles bulging. He was already in combat mode, ready to pounce on the offender. Burn his village?! Not on his watch!

  Jack vs Village Chief…


  Such a fight would be even more of a joke than that one MeTuber going against Floyd Marchweather.

  Jack quickly went through his many alternatives:

  – Play dead?

  – Beg for forgiveness?

  – Run as fast as the wind?

  – Try to defuse the situation?

  – Let Moon Moon do puppy eyes.

  – Show him some dance moves as an apology.

  – All of the above?

  Actually, the crux was that he had to explain the explosion. Should he truthfully admit it was an accident? Would the man even believe him?

  Jack took a deep breath before hollering at the Village Chief:

  "Hey, chief! It's been a while. How are you doing? Did you come to supervise the construction?" Jack gave one bright smile.

  The surrounding players were at a loss for words. Did he take everyone for idiots?

  "Construction?! Bullshit! Do you think I'm blind?!" The NPC shouted.

  "Of course not, chief? I'm sure you can see all the workers that have assembled today. They're all here to help Igor create his new dream house! Right, guys?" Jack pointed at all the players around.

  The very dubious cultist-looking guys were the first to answer, soon followed by the members of D.L.:

  "Yes, Dem— Boss! We'll do a great job!"

  "You can count on us for the most magnificent villa!"

  "We'll pour all our heart into the building. You can be sure of it!"

  Jack gave a satisfied nod. "There you have it. They are all here to work hard and contribute to the village."

  "Tch— then how do you explain all the fire?!" The NPC glared at him resentfully.

  "Ah, this one is easy. I'm sure in your grand wisdom you have heard of the legendary phoenix, chief. From the ashes, it is born anew. We are doing the same here. It is a special brave construction technique."

  "What—"

  "Actually, chief, we had a bet. Some dumbasses insisted that you'd be confused, but I insisted that you'd know about this technique given your incredible knowledge. You know the construction technique called Hans Get the Flammenwerfer, right?"

  Would this bluff work? Only a dumbass would go along with such a farce, right?

  Luckily, the chief wasn't the only NPC in the village.

  "I've heard of it, but I doubt the ignorant chief here has." (Blacksmith)

  "What are you talking about?! He is a treasure trove of knowledge!" (Old Potion lady)

  "Flammenwerfer? Interesting!" (Florist)

  "Can one barbecue sausages on this?" (Butcher)

  "It's just construction! I'm so glad everything is fine." (Steven)

  "Of course, everything is fine. The village chief would have never let harm happen to the village. He was just showing his might earlier to remind us all that we're safe, right?" Jack said, buttering the man up.

  The NPC seemed to hesitate for a second, but then he saw all the braves and his colleagues seemingly on board with this. He then erupted laughing.

  "Hahaha, of course, I knew about it all! We did a little play to explain it to you all! Hahahaha!" He held his back, laughing as jovially as shamelessly, before turning to Jack.

  "How about you personally show me inside? I want to see if you've accomplished the Flammer technique correctly." He asked with a large smile, but his eyes were grim.

  Should Jack refuse? It would only delay the confrontation. Should he accept? The NPC would probably try to intimidate him. Ah, whatever, fuck it!

  "Of course, please follow me!" Jack graciously guided the way.

  On the side, both the blacksmith and Igor seemed about to interject, but Jack shook his head slightly, signaling them to stand down. He would deal with it.

  The two slowly entered the dark remains of the building, cutting themselves from the outside world. That's when the man's entire aura changed. The joyful-looking older man was nowhere to be seen.

  Instead, there was a ferocious beast that would rampage given the slightest chance. The chief instantly turned around, dashed forward with incredible speed, and grabbed him by the throat.

  Jack couldn't breathe, and his neck was so damn close to snapping. The man approached his head, whispering in his ear.

  "This is MY village. Do you understand?" He was emitting more aggression than a bull taunted by a matador.

  He was oozing power, an oppressive aura that would have definitely rendered anyone below level 20 helpless. Well, anyone but Jack. Compared to the heart he had faced earlier, this was nothing but a joke.

  Jack didn't have any issue enduring. Fighting right now was pointless.

  He knew the worth of biding one's time. He'd let the man vent his fury and then he'd network his way into putting the chief back in his place. He'd at least get him back for this.

  But that's when an orange flash went straight for the man's back.

  "Woo!" (Angry!)

  Moon Moon couldn't stand still as its master was attacked! So what if the enemy was impossibly strong? Irrelevant!

  It all happened in an instant. All the NPC did was a backward kick without even looking. Moon Moon was sent flying, colliding with a wall and becoming a bloody mess.

  It disappeared with a small whimper and incredible regret in its eyes. What was the point of its newfound power if it couldn't even protect its beloved master?!

  "Tch— dumb mutt." The chief grumbled, with complete disregard for its life.

  That fucker! Jack had been ready to act coy and take it, even to compromise on the short term. A bit of suffering didn't matter to accomplish his goals.

  But at this moment, all thoughts of reconciliation left his mind. Perhaps Moon Moon was only a bunch of data and an NPC, but it didn't fucking matter.

  It was his wolf! It was valiant, did its best, was so damn cute, lovable, and they were fucking partners! No, they were family.

  He suddenly felt the same pain from back then, back when he had lost the old man, back when he had lost his sister, back in his shitty previous life.

  Back then, many had disregarded them too. Heck, the insurance company had kept calling the old man a poor money-grubber. It was the disregard the man showed that brought it all back.

  It wasn't logical, but his body began to burn up, no one could look down on his people! No fucking one! But soon reason came back, a cold and calm fury.

  Screwing the village chief over would be easy. He'd have to drive the players against him…


  ━━━━━━ POV ━━━━━━━


  The man suddenly felt that something was wrong.

  Under his hand, the impertinent brave was dying, air slowly leaving his body— yet he was smiling. How?! He felt the impulse to end it all, to snap his chicken neck, but he had to know.

  — Bam! —


  He slammed the bastard into the wall, making him spit blood and teeth. But even then, he was still smiling, a vicious and confident smile.

  "Have you gone retarded?! Why in the gods' name are you grimacing so damn much?!" He barely released his grip, allowing his victim to utter a few weak words.

  "From now on, this isn't your village anymore. It's mine. You've pissed off the wrong guy f—"

  The chief began to rampage:

  "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" A slam accompanied every shout. "What the fuck are you talking about?! Everyone here obeys my orders and—"

  But the youngster was giving him a taunting smile. His meaning was obvious. Everyone? He seemed to be forgetting one large group.

  "Screw you!" He slammed him one last time, the man finally becoming lifeless.

  It was finally over. The annoying bastard was dead.

  This guy really was a pain. He had already lost so much business thanks to his people directing new braves toward the blacksmith.

  He slumped over, regaining his breath. He felt quite silly now. Actually, why was he so worked up over one brave? It was just that damn smile. It had been so obnoxious!

  Yes, the man was a brave. This meant that he would be back from the dead. This village didn't have an anti-brave cell either. He'd have to improvise. But this didn't mean that he was out of options either.

  "Hehe, so what if he's an immortal brave? Does he think he controls the other braves? He'll soon learn how harsh reality can be!" He chuckled to himself, slowly rising up.

  It was time to utterly crush this fucking brave's spirit….