Chapter 288: One Punch, One Dead Whimper-Monster
[You have "died" within the Arena. Spend 20 Points to revive? Yes/No]
Ryū didn't hesitate over the 20 Points. Today's sign-in had netted him 80 Points—enough for four full lives in the Arena.
So without a second thought, he chose to revive. Every wound on his body knit shut instantly. But the giant beast's injuries healed just as fast.
Both sides back at their absolute peak, the inevitable war resumed once more across this stretch of cosmos.
The heavens caving in, the earth splitting open—that phrase would not have been an exaggeration for what followed. Massive chunks of flesh and blood flew in every direction.
Sometimes what went hurtling past looked like a boulder the size of Beijing's Bird's Nest Stadium—but it was really a slab of flesh, dripping with that deep-blue blood.
Ryū rarely used Ki to attack the creature directly. His goal wasn't to defeat it—it was to use the beast as a training partner, to keep building up the Ki inside him.
If he spent, say, 1 Ki per second maintaining a barrier to block the spraying blood, and his Ki cultivation was currently netting him +20 per second, then he was still coming out 19 ahead. Not a bad trade at all.
Well—okay, technically a small loss. A hundred-some Points, give or take. Burning through roughly four lives in the Arena filled his Ki reserves about halfway; burning through eight would top them off completely.
He'd already blown apart at least a dozen-plus tentacles from this planet-sized monster, but more kept coming in an endless stream, as if there were no end to them.
Ryū didn't buy that, though. There was no such thing as a perpetual motion machine in this world. Everything—living or not—had its limits.
This particular bout of fighting had already dragged on for over ten hours straight. The entire "ground" had been dyed deep blue with the creature's blood.
After more than ten hours of nonstop, full-power output, Ryū had beaten the giant beast down to critical condition—but he himself was in far worse shape, half-crippled, and the red "DEAD" character flared up in front of him once again.
He showed not a trace of discouragement. He spent another 20 Points to revive, and threw himself back into the fight against the colossal creature—and each time, the fight lasted longer than the one before.
From one hour to over ten hours. From over ten hours to a full day and night. From a day and night to three days and three nights.
Only once his 80 Points ran dry did Ryū stop spending to revive—because by then, he'd already gotten what he came for. The Ki inside him had built up to the point of nearly overflowing.
Still, this session alone had cost him a full five days inside the Arena. Five days, and he still hadn't managed to kill the thing. By his estimate, he'd probably need to die another ten times or so before he'd even have a shot at finishing it off.
The sheer scale of the creature was simply absurd—even a full-power strike from him couldn't punch clean through it. This thing had to be bigger than Earth itself.
He wondered whether the Naruto world's universe had anything like this out there too. No way to know for sure—that world hadn't even developed spaceflight yet.
If something like this existed in the Naruto world, it'd probably be able to string the entire Ōtsutsuki clan up and beat them like piñatas.
After all, just the tentacles alone could swat the Moon into pieces with a single strike.
One hit from those tentacles left Ryū badly wounded every time—no defensive technique made a difference. If even his monstrous constitution could be hurt this easily, it wasn't hard to imagine just how vast and terrifying the true power of this planet-sized horror really was.
After logging out of the Arena, Ryū rubbed his head, still not quite used to being back. The last time he'd died in there, the creature had crushed his skull flat with brute force.
Frankly, that sensation was not a pleasant one. If Ryū hadn't already grown numb to it after so many deaths, he might well have gone mad from the sheer repetition.
Back home, Ryū let out a small breath, gazing at the achingly familiar bed, desk, chair—all of it. He murmured to himself, "Guess I really am cut out to be a homebody. Coming back here always gives me this sense of peace."
It was a feeling hard to put into words—just a quiet sense of safe.
Now that his Ki reserves had been filled to true capacity, Ryū could feel that his combat strength had undergone a complete transformation.
Unfortunately, Master Roshi hadn't taken in little Goku as a disciple yet. Going by the Dragon Ball timeline, it'd probably still be a good long while before that scouter device showed up for him to test his own power level with.
Hmm... maybe I should get Wolffy to tinker with one in his spare time?
Wolffy could reverse-engineer the Sharingan, of all things—surely building a power-level scouter wouldn't be that much of a stretch for him.
For a scientist out of a kids' cartoon like Wolffy, whipping up something like a power scouter would take, at most, a bit of effort—or honestly, it might take him no effort whatsoever and just fall together effortlessly.
After all, you should never expect scientific logic to hold up in a show made for children.
His consciousness slipped into the Dimensional Chat Group, and Ryū found it exactly as lively as ever.
Genuinely, not a single hour out of three hundred sixty-six days went quiet in there.
There was no such thing as a "dead" group chat here.
Eternally Seventeen: Hah! Just three days, only three days, three days at most—and this humble self will awaken my Ki sense too! I refuse to keep trailing behind Admin-sama forever! Time to catch up and surge ahead!
Eternally Seventeen: Otherwise, being the group's #2 Permissions Hound while trailing so far behind the #1 Permissions Hound just won't do! Am I supposed to stay under someone's thumb my whole life?? I will rise up and become the master!!
Crazy Diamond: Yukari-senpai always runs her mouth wild whenever Admin-sama's away, and the second he shows up, she quietly changes the subject.
Kaguya-sama: Well, one of them's the #1 Permissions Hound and the other's #2.
Kaguya-sama: No matter how hard Yukari-nee tries, she'll always be a rung below lol, it's honestly delightful to watch.
Eternally Seventeen: Hmph...as if this humble self is doomed to stay beneath someone forever! Once I awaken my Ki sense, I'll cultivate in seclusion for a while, and my rise to the top will be only a matter of time!
Edward Newgate: Gurararara, is Yukari-senpai already close to awakening her Ki sense? Old Whitebeard here figures he's still got another half a month to go. Getting old, I tell you!
Master Roshi: Still faster than this old man by over two years. The envy's giving me an osmotic crisis.
Master Roshi: @I'm Rolling In It, speaking of which, Mr. Stark, did you manage to get your hands on those things you promised me the other day? Ahem—those, uh, curious little films?
I'm Rolling In It: Don't worry, I've got you covered—13,452 of them. Should keep you occupied for a good long while.
Master Roshi: Ohoho-ho-ho, excellent, excellent! Mr. Stark really does come through.
My True Form Is Cola: Ugh! What a filthy transaction, what a filthy man—Admin-sama's the only pure one here, never bringing up this kind of thing.
Eternally Seventeen: Little Umaru-chan, you're only seeing the surface. Admin-sama's actually the sneaky freaky type underneath—nobody in this group is filthier than him!
RawrSoFierce: ???
RawrSoFierce: Excuse me, you're calling ME the filthy one, when I'm the one actively contributing to the healthy mental and physical development of this group's minors?! You shameless old youkai sage, does your conscience even function anymore?! (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻
[...]
Ryū hadn't expected that the moment he logged into the Dimensional Chat Group, he'd walk straight into Yakumo Yukari, that so-called wise youkai elder, gleefully smearing his good name as Admin.
Everyone in the Dimensional Chat Group knew perfectly well who the filthiest member actually was—this shameless old madam of a youkai sage, and no one else.
And now this same shameless madam had the nerve to call him, the Admin, filthier than her. Thinking back over the past year, Ryū was fairly confident he'd made enormous contributions toward the healthy development of this group's minors!
Case in point: the moment Yukari started "driving" in the group chat, he never hesitated—straight to a 10-minute mute for the old youkai sage, no questions asked.
Eternally Seventeen: Ahem, ahem! Speaking of which, what's Admin-sama been up to these past few days? Five whole days without a peep out of you in the chat—don't tell me you found yourself a little girlfriend?
Admiral Kizaru: Ehh~? Admin's got a girlfriend now? Scary~... this old man's still single at nearly sixty, you know!
Senbei Is So Tasty: With how much you slack off every single day, of course you can't find a girlfriend! And speaking of slacking—did you skip out again? The day-before-yesterday's paperwork still isn't done today.
Admiral Kizaru: Eh? Oh my! What lovely weather we're having today~ Perfect day for getting some work done.
Senbei Is So Tasty: Don't you dare try to change the subject on this old man!
RawrSoFierce: I've been holed up in the Arena this whole five days. Wanted to test out my current strength, and honestly—pretty satisfied with the results.
Eternally Seventeen: Ugh, curses—Admin-sama awakened his Ki sense five days ago and he's already deep into real cultivation now. The gap's only getting bigger and bigger.
Edward Newgate: Gurararara, at this rate Admin-sama could probably blow up the whole Earth by now, couldn't he?
RawrSoFierce: Probably not in one hit—but a few more tries and maybe. Haven't actually tested it out, so I can't say for sure.
Little Sphere: Star-busting big shot, trembling in fear... eeeeh...
Kaguya-sama: SHOCKING! The truth behind why a certain planet keeps making that "eeeeh" sound, REVEALED!
My True Form Is Cola: One punch, one dead Whimper-Monster!
Terrible Tornado: Meh... guess I'm just never getting a Ki sense. I'll stick to focusing on my own superpowers.
Kaguya-sama: Yeah, same—I'm putting all my effort into the One Piece world's power system for now.
[...]
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