Chapter 13: Hikigaya Sees the Other Side of the World
Hikigaya felt his heart tremble at the madness of the world, and he was genuinely afraid.
He could finally be certain of one thing: this world was definitely not normal!
Now didn't seem to be the time for such a calm statement.
Looking back, just five minutes ago, he had still been living in a normal person's world.
Five minutes later, the world collapsed, and the one who initiated it all was this handsome foreign young man standing in front of him.
Whether it was the punks or the martial arts dojo members, they all fell in a very short amount of time. Their martial arts were meaningless in front of this young man, and their bodies were as fragile as paper in his hands, easily torn apart. What almost drove Hikigaya to the brink of collapse was that, even though his body was paralyzed with terror, his eyes could still see everything clearly.
This is enough already. If this is a nightmare, please let me wake up quickly.
"You have a special pair of eyes. That's an important quality."
The foreign man with the handsome face stepped over the corpses one by one and walked up to Hikigaya.
"Well then, do you want to become my disciple and learn the real Pencak Silat from me?"
He could barely breathe—so terrifying—it simply wasn't human.
Even if someone was a transmigrator who could laugh off supernatural scenes, there was no way to see such slaughter and think it was normal. That was an entirely different matter.
This was definitely murder, right? And it was in broad daylight, yet how could he still have that expression? No—his expression didn't even seem related to the fact that he had killed people.
What the hell is this creature? Even so-called serial killers wouldn't completely disregard the act of killing itself. But this man before him absolutely did. It was an indescribable feeling—Hikigaya could truly feel that right now.
"Your mental strength is lacking. But that's okay. With a bit of intense training, it can be fixed." The young man looked at Hikigaya with a half-smile. "I originally just wanted to play around, but unexpectedly found a promising seedling. Kukuku, I guess I'll train you for a while."
Though there had been some distance between them, in an instant the man appeared right next to Hikigaya like a ghost and grabbed him in one swift motion.
After that, Hikigaya's consciousness fell into darkness.
When he opened his eyes again, he was in a luxuriously decorated room. Nothing on his body was missing—not even his bag, which was still slung properly across his shoulder.
"Awake?"
A cold voice sounded near his ear.
Following the voice, Hikigaya saw a young man with a darker skin tone, dressed in a similar style to that terrifying youth, and exuding an air of nobility, sitting on a nearby sofa watching him.
Yes—even though Hikigaya didn't really know what nobles were supposed to be like, this person gave off the kind of feeling that made one think, If there really are nobles, they must look like this.
Though being near him instantly made Hikigaya feel like a short, poor loser, now was not the time to care about such things.
"My master says you have a pair of excellent eyes. Then prove it quickly. Our master is not a patient person."
"..."
Hikigaya forced himself to calm down.
No matter what the situation was, staying calm came first.
Getting killed because the situation suddenly changed—that kind of transmigrator life would be too pitiful. But even an insect will struggle to survive.
After three deep breaths, and finally a somewhat steadier heartbeat, Hikigaya said:
"I don't know anything, and I pose no threat to people like you."
"You overestimate yourself. Someone like you could've just been killed on the spot. But Master saw value in letting you learn our martial arts—that's why you're still alive. And your earlier loss of composure can be forgiven—but only this once. Otherwise, my subordinates will deal with you. From now on, I ask and you answer—no unnecessary words."
The young man sneered, then said:
"When Master killed those rats who dared insult Pencak Silat, how much did you see? Reproduce those movements now."
This time, Hikigaya didn't say anything unnecessary. He stood up.
Some people just don't joke around. This guy was definitely one of them. That scene at the dojo had been enough to make Hikigaya realize what kind of people these were.
Terrorists? No—these people were probably even scarier than terrorists. That's what Hikigaya Hachiman's heart told him.
Carefully recalling that terrifying scene, Hikigaya did his best to imitate the moves he remembered.
He only hoped this young man's expectations weren't too high—there were a lot of moves he couldn't imitate at all.
"That's enough," the young man suddenly said.
Those three words instantly drained all of Hikigaya's strength, and he collapsed onto the ground. He had been too tense.
"Without a doubt, you have no martial arts foundation, yet you could see Master's moves. Though I hate to admit it, you have better eyes than me. You do qualify to study our martial art. Now then…"
The young man stood up.
"Now you may know: I am the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Tidart, Raden Tidat Jihan. A naturally chosen king. Though you are but a commoner, if you become Master's disciple, perhaps one day you could speak to me as an equal."
"Then... may I know who our master is?" Hikigaya gave a wry smile. This kind of development... wasn't too bad, maybe.
Although it wasn't some sloppy old man selling secret scrolls, but instead a super psycho who kills like breathing—at least his life seemed to be spared…
He was glad that he still didn't quite understand what was going on. That was a good thing—it meant he didn't understand a psycho's mind, so he wasn't a psycho himself.
"Heh, if you want to know, ask for yourself."
Leaving that line behind, the tall, rich, and handsome Raden Tidat Jihan snapped his fingers. The room's door immediately opened, and two burly men stepped in.
At this point, Hikigaya didn't care about their outfits or anything…
Speaking of which, what country was this Tidart Kingdom? He had never even heard of it.
"Take him to see Master," Raden Tidat Jihan ordered the two men.
"Yes, Your Highness."
The two men came forward and picked Hikigaya up like a chicken and walked out with him.
This position was super embarrassing, but Hikigaya had already gotten used to it. Recently, he had been carried like this several times.
Adaptability was undoubtedly humanity's greatest strength—you could get used to anything.
Right now, what he cared about most was: Who exactly was that terrifying young man who brought him here?
Why would someone as young as the Crown Prince refer to someone his age as "Master"?
The bag slung across him that held the ceramic jar still clattered noisily, echoing down the long corridor—that was the only thing breaking the silence.
This short trip felt extremely grueling for Hikigaya—not just because of the awkward position, but more so because of the strange silence of the two foreign men.
Thankfully, he finally made it to the end. The two foreign men stopped at the end of the hallway where a large door stood.
They pushed open the door—and before Hikigaya could even see what was inside, he was already tossed in like a sack.