The Pursuers

Instead of being used by my skills, I chose to master them and entrust myself to them. By leaving the movement of my body to the skills, I became stronger.

My karate technique has advanced to the next level. However, that I’ve reached the threshold of a higher level, the real challenge begins.

Normally, you wouldn’t do this, but I can intentionally choose not to activate my skills.

Even without activating my skills, I continue to train. I engrave the same movements into my body so that I can perform them even without the aid of the skills.

There may be techniques that can seal skills, or traps in dungeons that prevent the use of skills.

I should prepare for the worst-case scenario.

Also, the optimal movement for my body can only be performed by karate techniques. Other forms of attack might improve physical abilities through breathing techniques, but they don’t support movement like karate does.

Through my karate skill, I’ve learned the best movements for my physique.

By applying this body control to other techniques, such as boxing, I noticed my movements have clearly improved.

I have the best teacher in karate, my skill. If I ever get confused, I just activate it. It will literally teach my body the optimal movements.

I love karate, and I take pride in it. However, unlike some people, I don’t blindly believe that karate is the strongest.

Every technique has its strengths and weaknesses. The best technique depends on the situation. Other skills I’ve learned, including those from Earth, are important to me as well.

The way I use my body and the techniques I apply are constantly evolving. While rapidly executing boxing combinations, I was completely caught up in the thrill of improving.

In the morning, I go out on a simple gathering quest. I then train in the forest and end the day practicing in the corner of the fields.

Since I’m constantly moving my body, my food intake has increased. Right now, I don’t have much income, so it’s becoming a bit of a burden.

A week has passed since then. It seems that Gonz and the others still don’t intend to work.

As adventurers, they have a mentality of “never holding onto money overnight,” so they probably won’t work until they’re broke.

As usual, I continue training in the field’s corner when I sense an unsettling presence from my evolving Detect Presence skill.

Gonz had brought a prostitute into the adventurer’s guild inn. This was nothing new, so I didn’t think much of it.

However, my upgraded Detect Presence skill had evolved to the point where I could now sense what kind of “play” Gonz was engaging in with the prostitute.

Because Gonz is large, it’s easy to tell it’s him. There’s no mistaking it.

I could sense the dynamic movements of his large body and his vigorous hip motions. I started to worry about the woman he was with.

Damn! I can’t concentrate on my training at all. Even though I tried to remind myself to keep going, my focus was lost.

I made an excuse to myself, saying I needed rest, and returned to my room. I narrowed the range of my Detect Presence to focus only on my immediate surroundings and fell asleep.

The next morning, I awoke with a slight tension after sensing my party members sparring at night. After some light stretching, I accepted a simple gathering quest as usual.

Activating my Presence Concealment, I made my way toward the forest. My Detect Presence skill continued to track three people from the adventurer’s guild following me.

Presence Concealment is a skill that blends my presence with the surroundings. It gives me the strange sensation of becoming part of the scenery.

I merge my presence into the environment, effectively hiding it. However, if I’m already being marked from the start, the skill won’t work.

Even though I tried to blend in with the surroundings, they were clearly focused on me, so the skill had no effect.

It’s possible that our destinations are the same. I altered my pace to test it, but they maintained a constant distance behind me.

I was being followed without a doubt.

Recently, I’ve been feeling too carefree and let my guard down. I reflected on that as I walked.

The small scout who always goes to the same place at the same time every day. The hanger-on from the party that recently made a lot of money.

They must see me as an easy target.

Adventurers avoid holding onto money overnight for a reason. They don’t want to become targets.

Gonz and his group spend their money extravagantly, but I don’t waste it on tavern drinking or hiring prostitutes.

Instead, I spend heavily on food, which may actually make my spending seem worse than theirs. To the outside world, it might look like I’m hoarding money.

Once I entered the forest, the trio closed the distance. I quickened my pace to maintain a certain distance.

I led them deeper into the forest, to the area where I had been gathering the Narl Grass.

By this point, the forest was completely untouched by humans. The trees were thick and the sunlight barely reached the ground.

The forest was dim, and the ground was uneven with tree roots and rocks, making it hard to walk.

This environment was familiar to me after spending so much time living in the forest, but it would be difficult for the three of them. Even as adventurers, they would struggle to perform well in this setting.

If I were to compare it to a game, I’d say that the environment gave me a bonus effect while giving a penalty to them.

It was clearly suspicious, so I felt I could attack them without hesitation.

However, despite being in another world, I was still a former Japanese person who had received proper moral education. It made me hesitate to attack them outright.

I hid behind a tree and waited for the trio to approach. Once they got close enough, I stepped out from behind the tree to face them.

“Do you need something from me?”

When I asked, the three of them gave me sleazy smirks and replied,

“We’ve noticed a leech of a scout getting a little too cocky, so we thought we’d teach you a lesson.”

“Also, we’ll be collecting tuition fees along the way.”

“You can refuse if you want, but I don’t think the weakest scout can beat the three of us.”

If they laid a hand on a member of Gonz’ party, the consequences could be serious.

So, I could easily guess they were planning to kill me here.

Once I’m dead, there will be no one to tell Gonz what happened. Dead men don’t speak.

There’s no bank. My belongings at the inn would be stolen. In a place with this kind of security, the only way to keep valuables safe is to wear them on your body and manage them yourself.

If they kill me and strip me of my belongings, they’ll probably think they can get the money I’ve been saving.

I didn’t like that. This town had bad security, so it was to be expected that thieves would appear. I might have been careless, but that’s not the issue now.

What bothered me was their faces. They had those dirty, smug grins without any resolve. I couldn’t stand them.

It’s sudden, but my favorite boxer is a devout Christian. Some might wonder, “How can he hit people if he’s a Christian?” But people live with contradictions.

I like how this top-tier boxer shows his human side. He said once:

“I pray to God before every match, asking that no misfortune befall me or my opponent. Then I step into the ring, ready to face whatever comes.”

In short, he’s prepared to kill and to be killed.

That mentality is admirable. Life-or-death battles must be fair. If someone is going to try and kill you, then it’s only right to accept that you might die in the process. You can make peace with that kind of opponent.

But these guys, they’re different. They have no resolve. They’re trying to take a life without any understanding or readiness for what that means.

If I died at their hands, I wouldn’t be able to accept it. I couldn’t die knowing they had no real intention behind it.

I steeled myself for what was to come.

These weren’t villagers or retired knights I was up against but active adventurers. They were probably all level 15, just like me. There were three of them, so I couldn’t afford to underestimate them.

But I couldn’t run either.

If I ran, the rumors would spread. They’d call me a coward who fled in disgrace. And then, other adventurers would start coming after me, seeing me as easy prey.

I couldn’t always be with Gonz’ group. Even Al had told me to handle things on my own when it came to anything outside of quests.

I had to take care of them here, in the forest. If I was going to make it as an adventurer, I couldn’t let myself be looked down on.