Chapter 179 Sugita Group ㉒
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Sugita hoisted his greatsword in a high guard and charged straight at me.
He was even slower than Hagimoto or Hidaka. Since he was swinging a weapon he clearly hadn’t mastered, he was nothing but a walking opening. I honestly doubted he even possessed a Greatsword Skill. I stepped into his guard and met him with a stinging left jab.
CRACK!
The sound was perfect. My jab landed clean on Sugita’s jaw, catching him right as he lunged-a textbook counter-blow. I didn’t stop there. I followed through with a lightning-fast triple jab and a hard right straight. Every single one connected beautifully.
”Gugh! Gak! Argh… n-nooo!”
Sugita let out a series of pathetic yelps as he went sprawling across the dirt. He looked absolutely miserable.
”Hey now,” I said, looking down at him. “Down already? I haven’t even started getting serious yet.”
”Shut your mouth!” Sugita barked, scrambling to his feet. “I just… I just let my guard down for a second!”
He looked ridiculous. And for the record, I was telling the truth-I wasn’t being serious. Those jabs and straights weren’t even proper punches; I was just slapping him around. That was why they made such a loud, stinging sound.
My equipment was different today, too. No Dragon Scale Armor. Instead, I wore the Cloak of Twilight¹, a custom piece I’d had Tatei craft for this very occasion. It didn’t offer much in the way of defense, but it was a masterpiece of evasion and stealth. With my fingerless gloves and this dark, flowing mantle, I looked like a classic chuunibyou assassin-the spitting image of a certain hawk-eyed dark knight from the stories. If I’d been wielding a dagger and wearing a mask, the look would be perfect.
Of course, Sugita was the one wearing the mask right now.
”Come on,” I taunted. “Surely you aren’t ready for a dirt nap already?”
”I’ll kill you! You piece of trash!”
”Like I said,” I replied, “that’s you.”
Sugita rushed me with another half-hearted swing. I caught him with another counter-jab, sending him back to the ground. Every word out of his mouth was just a boomerang of hypocrisy at this point.
Tiring of the charade, I decided it was time to shove reality down his throat. I looked down at Sugita, who was shivering in the dirt.
”Sugita, give it up. You don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell.”
”Don’t screw with me! There’s no way I’d lose to a bottom-tier loser like you!”
”Then let me show you the proof,” I said.
I opened my Status window and set it to public. Not the fake ‘Sieben’ profile, but my original identity: Sasaki Natsumi. Sugita stared at the floating window, his eyes nearly popping out of his skull.
”What… what is this?! Every Parameter is 9999? You’re at the level cap²?!”
”Now do you get it?”
Sugita went pale, utterly stunned. It was no surprise. I’d used ‘Eyes of Truth’ to see his stats earlier; his base values were only between 100 and 200. While high compared to a normal person in this world, he was actually on the lower end among us summoned heroes.
His Unique Skill, ‘Steal’³, was powerful in theory-the more he stole, the stronger he became. He could even hijack the hearts of others. But despite the skill’s potential, his own base stats were pathetic. He was the definition of an early-bloomer who’d hit his ceiling.
Technically, he still had one slim path to victory, but I doubted a guy like him would ever figure it out.
”It’s a lie,” he hissed. “You’re faking the numbers. That’s it. You have to be…”
”Use your brain, idiot,” I snapped. “I took down Hidaka and Hagimoto. You saw the broadcast.”
”Ah…”
The memory hit him. He’d probably convinced himself it was a fluke or a trick, but facing the raw data, his mind just shut down. Then, predictably, he snapped into a rage.
”Shut up! You used dirty tricks! You’re a coward!”
The irony was almost funny. Sugita, the king of dirty tricks and cowardice, was calling me out. I almost burst out laughing.
”Dammit… damn it all! Wait… that’s right! I should have just done this from the start! ‘Steal’!”
So, he’d finally noticed. Now, it was a gamble. Knowing his greed, I knew exactly what he’d go for.
”Hehe… those numbers are just because your Level is high, right? If I take all your XP, you’ll go back to being a worthless incompetent! I’ll be the one who levels up! You’re finished! Despair, you bastard! ‘Steal’!”
I felt my experience points being ripped away root and branch. I didn’t even need to check my Status. My Level had dropped all the way back to 1.
”Hahaha! Serves you right! That’s what you get for being c**ky!” Sugita crowed. “Now, I-“
”Nice try,” I said.
WHAM!
I slammed the sole of my boot into his face mid-sentence.
”Alright, Sugita-kun. Why don’t you take another look at my Status?”
”But you’re Level 1! You should be weak… wait, why didn’t your stats change?!”
I wasn’t going to waste my breath explaining it to him. No matter how much XP he stole, he only affected the bonuses gained from leveling. Since my base stats started at 10 for everything, I only gained 1 point per level. Even losing sixty levels only cost me about sixty points. More importantly, the stats I gained from ‘Predation’ had nothing to do with my level. Since I was already at the cap, the system just recalculated and kept me at 9999. Losing my level didn’t hurt me at all.
Even if he’d stolen a combat skill, it wouldn’t have mattered. My Unique Skills made me untouchable.
Sugita’s only real win condition was to steal my heart, but his ego wouldn’t allow it. He only used that on high-tier beauties. And since ‘Steal’ only worked once per target, he was officially out of moves.
Checkmate.
Now, time to turn him into a grease spot.
”W-wait!” Sugita screamed.
”What? If you’re begging for your life, I’m not interested,” I said.
”No! Let’s team up!”
…What?
Did this guy really just suggest we team up?
”You and me… if we work together, we can take whatever we want! My skills and your power… we’d be unstoppable! I’ll even give you back your women! It’s a win-win, right? Let’s just put the past behind us!”
The moment he realized he couldn’t win, he tried to play the ‘business partner’ card. He wanted me to do all the heavy lifting while he reaped the rewards. I let out a long, tired sigh at his sheer, thick-skinned audacity.
”I guess we could do whatever we wanted,” I mused.
”Right?! So-“
”But I refuse.”
I’d always wanted to say that.
”Why?! You just said we’d be unstoppable!”
”Listen,” I said, my voice turning cold. “I told Hagimoto the same thing. Why the hell would I team up with the man who made my life a living hell? And ‘putting the past behind us’? That’s not a line for the perpetrator to say to the victim.”
Sugita’s entire worldview was built on taking from others. It was time I took something from him. I grabbed him by the face, hoisting him up to my eye level, and activated ‘Snatch.’ I ripped ‘Steal’ right out of his soul.
”You… what did you do?!”
”I just took your favorite toy away,” I said.
Sugita let out a strangled cry. Without ‘Steal,’ he was nothing. However, ‘Snatch’ could only take the skill itself, not the things he’d already stolen. Marl and the others in the stands were still cheering for him. I needed to go deeper.
Suddenly, the skill I’d just snatched vanished. In its place, a new power awakened within my ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ set.
’Usurpation’⁴. The ultimate evolution of Greed.
Unlike ‘Steal’ or ‘Snatch,’ this power could take everything-skills, hearts, titles-and it had no limits.
I decided to give it a test run. The target, obviously, was Sugita.
”‘Usurpation.’ I’m taking everything you’ve ever stolen… and everything else you have left.”
”No! GAAARRGGHHH!” Sugita shrieked. “It’s draining… my power is draining away!”
I could feel it flowing into me. Sugita was being reduced to a hollow husk. His level plummeted to 7. I even took a little something extra from him-a secret for later.
The atmosphere in the arena shifted instantly. The cheers for Sugita died out, replaced by a heavy, intense focus directed entirely at me. Their hearts were now mine.
I didn’t want them. I reached into the void of the skill. ‘Usurpation,’ like ‘Snatch,’ allowed me to return what I had taken.
”Release. Return everything Sugita stole to its rightful owners.”
”No, stop! That’s mine-!” Sugita wailed.
It was too late. The stolen powers and emotions surged out of me, returning to the people in the crowd. The arena erupted.
”My skills… they’re back!” someone shouted.
”My level! I’m back to normal!”
One group was overjoyed.
”Wait… why did I ever like that guy?” a girl muttered, looking at Sugita in confusion.
Another group was simply baffled as their brainwashing wore off. But there was a third group.
”A-ah… oh god… NOOOOOO!”
These were the ones like Reese-people who had regained their senses only to realize the horrible things they’d done while under Sugita’s thumb.
In the stands, Marl collapsed, clutching her stomach. “What have I done…?”
”I… I said such horrible things…” another girl sobbed.
The stands were a chorus of vomiting and hysterical weeping. Marl eventually passed out from the shock. I saw Alisha rush to her side and decided to let her handle it. My business was with the man in front of me.
Sugita was still wearing my mask, still clutching my greatsword. I’d purposefully left those out of the ‘Usurpation’ so I could take them back myself.
”You… you bastard! You took my things!” Sugita screamed, his face contorted in a mask of pure rage.
”They were never yours,” I said.
”Shut up! That’s mine, it’s my thing! Give it back!”
”I already did,” I replied calmly. “To the people you stole them from.”
”Don’t screw with meeeeeee! Kill, kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill!”
Sugita charged at me, driven by a madness that mirrored the face I must have made when he and his goons murdered me in the first place.
It was time to end this.
”Sugita, you lost because you got lazy. You relied on your skill and forgot how to fight. And more importantly… you made me angry.”
I stepped forward, my body blurring with speed.
”Secret Technique: Sturm und Drang⁵!”
I unleashed a brutal six-hit sequence of ‘Wrath Impact,’ enhanced by ‘Infinite Hell.’
I started with a penetrating palm strike to his solar plexus, followed by a high axe kick that nearly split his skull. I grabbed his head, pulling him into a devastating flying knee, then sent him airborne with a rising uppercut that nearly took his head off. As he hit his peak, I drove my knee into his throat and slammed him back into the arena floor. During the impact, the mask flew from his face. I caught it out of the air and slid it over my own eyes.
Sugita lay in a heap, unconscious, his eyes rolled back in his head.
”Sugita, the name Sieben is too heavy for a coward like you. I’m taking it back.”
”WHAT A TURN OF EVENTS!” the announcer bellowed, his voice shaking the stadium. “PLAYER SEVEN IS THE REAL SIEBEN! THE MAN ON THE GROUND WAS NOTHING BUT A FRAUD!”
The crowd, finally free of their shackles, went wild.
I looked over at Lil. She’d been holding Reese in a Mexican Surfboard submission. I gave her a small nod, and she released the broken woman. Reese just sat there in the dirt, naked and shivering, her spirit completely shattered.
I pulled Lil close and raised my fist to the sky.
”THE WINNERS ARE THE SIEBEN AND LIL PAIR!”
The roar of the crowd was deafening.
—
Summary:
Sasaki Natsumi reveals his true power and identity during the arena battle against Sugita. He uses a new evolution of his skill, ‘Usurpation,’ to strip Sugita of his stolen powers and return them to their original owners. The chapter concludes with Sugita’s total defeat and the public restoration of Sasaki’s title as the true Sieben.
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Trivia:
- Sasaki’s base stats remain 9999 despite dropping to Level 1 because Level bonuses are separate from his ‘Predation’ gains.
- The ‘Cloak of Twilight’ was specifically crafted for this fight by Tatei to focus on evasion.
- Sugita’s ‘Steal’ skill only works once per person, which is why he couldn’t try to steal Sasaki’s heart after failing to take his XP.
- The crowd’s sudden shift in attitude is due to the release of Sugita’s heart-stealing influence, leading to mass psychological trauma for his former ‘fans.’
- The specific fighting moves in ‘Sturm und Drang’ are direct homages to ‘Hajime no Ippo’ and ‘Kinnikuman.
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Character Insight:
Sasaki shows a ruthless but justice-oriented side by refusing Sugita’s hollow peace offering and prioritizing the restoration of the victims’ sense of self. Sugita’s total breakdown reveals his utter reliance on external, stolen power and lack of personal character.
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Behind the Scenes:
The author notes that the fighting moves are inspired by specific iconic manga strikes (Ippo’s Jet Uppercut and Akuma Shogun’s Hell’s Guillotine). The closing parody lyrics refer to the ending of ‘Bokurano,’ known for its traumatic themes.
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TL Notes:
Notes:
• Sugita – Leader of the Sugita gang and main bully of Natsumi Sasaki. Comes from heavy police privilege—granddad’s the Superintendent General, dad’s a Superintendent—so every mess he makes gets swept clean. Lean build, sharp face, that cold “I know I can get away with it” stare. Wields the unique skill Steal (窃盗), which he used to mess with minds and control women. Even faked being the hero Sieben with a mask and a greatsword before getting knocked down to Level 7 after losing it all.
• Hagimoto – One of the members of the Sugita gang who actively bullied Natsumi. At first glance, he looks like a cool, smart guy with glasses, but he is actually vulgar and has a foul mouth. Wields a large scythe named Grimm Reaper and possesses the Unique Skill Sariel’s Protection.
• Hidaka – 182 cm, 79 kg muscular man—ex-Sugita gang member and Kendo club alum, now Hero-class wielding Holy Sword Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi and Unique Skill
• Tatei – Full name is Tatei Kozoo. Natsumi’s otaku buddy. Used to be tall and solid, now he’s 186 cm of skin and bones after anorexia wrecked him (52 kg, yeah, rough). Has the skill Materialization Alchemy and once crafted gear for the whole class. Ended up making the X‑shaped restraint stand used for Sugita’s execution—dark twist for a guy who just wanted to make cool equipment.
• Tate – Male Otaku friend of Reese. Gaunt and thin, wears glasses. Possesses Materialization Alchemy skill.
• Natsumi – The protagonist. Height 168 to 171 cm, weight 57 to 59 kg. He has a baby face, but he hides his eyes with his bangs. He was bullied by the Sugita gang just because his name sounded like a girl’s name.
• Sasaki – The protagonist, 168–171 cm and 57–59 kg, with a baby face hidden by black bangs. Once bullied and thought dead by the Sugita gang, he now fights as the gladiator Seven. Wielder of Snatch and Time Compression, he’s the hidden source of many curses and a shapeshifter. Dressed in green scale armor with a blood‑red muffler, he wields dual longswords.
• Sieben – Young man with black hair and a mask covering his eyes. He purchased Honoka and Ria.
• Marl – A younger‑sister‑type companion to Lil who likes watching the couple from afar. Not the real sister. She was a girl sitting in the spectator seats, temporarily controlled by Sugita’s Steal skill. After regaining her senses, she vomits from the shock and guilt of what she witnessed.
• Reese – Jessica’s sister. Described by Alice as a beautiful blonde lady. She was previously under the control of Sugita’s skill and left in a state of despair and exposure after the effect ended.
• Alisha – A Miko with fluffy pink hair and a prodigious, triple-digit bust measurement. The one who was kidnapped along with the merchant daughter and others.
• Lil – One of the heroines. Height 166 cm, B-W-H: 90-56-90. She is a top-tier beauty with long indigo hair down to her waist, a large scar on her abdomen and sharp golden eyes. She has wolf ears and a tail.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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