Immortal In A Death Game-Chapter 173: The Cliche Show

"What’s wrong with me?! We got here first!"

The guild leader once again jabbed his finger in Adam’s direction, not backing away at all.

"You got here first?" Adam blinked, turning his head down. "Did you hear that, Chip?"

<They must have been hiding, Hoss. Do you want me to wake the two?>

"Do you have documentation proving ownership?" Adam asked calmly, turning his attention back to the bald man.

"We don’t need papers. First-come, first-served is nine-tenths of the law!" the bald man shouted, taking a step back as he gestured his men to surround Adam.

The guild members spread out, forming a wall around Adam.

"Uh..." Adam blinked. He truly doesn’t know what was wrong with these people at all. Were they... deliberately trying to provoke him?

"I suggest all of you step aside," Adam sighed. "How about this? You can have all the materials after I kill the Boss."

"Huh?" The guild leader snarled.

"Please, I don’t really get what being hostile accomplishes here." Adam raised both his palms. "People will only get hurt."

"You... hurt us?" The guild leader laughed. "Kid, I’m Robert the Bone Breaker. I’ve killed everyone who thought they were stronger than me!"

"...Okay?"

"You..." Robert’s face darkened. "Boys! Teach this government lapdog some manners!"

"Are you serious? Wha—"

The first guild member swung a mace at Adam’s head. Adam caught the weapon and twisted it, sending the man sprawling. A second attacker came from behind with a sword—Adam grabbed the blade with his bare hand, ignoring the cut, and gently pushed the wielder before throwing the sword into the water.

More guild members pressed forward. Adam moved among them without drawing the Shion, using only his fists and their own weapons against them.

"All of you... are just veterans?" Adam whispered as he caught a spear and broke it, using the stick to knock its owner cold. Adam felt his head violently sway forward. He looked back, only to see the barrel of a shotgun pointed at him.

He sighed, shaking his head before moving toward the man and punching him in the liver.

Within moments, half the guild lay groaning on the beach.

Robert charged with a roar, his massive fists swinging like sledgehammers. Adam ducked the first punch and drove his elbow into Robert’s ribs. The guild leader grunted but didn’t fall like the rest of his men.

"Y-you’re strong," Robert admitted, taking several steps back.

"Sir, please stop thi—"

"Die!" Robert still lunged, and this time, Adam just let his fist hit, thinking there was truly something wrong with these people.

He then grabbed and pinned both of Robert’s arms under his pits, and with another sigh, slammed his forehead right on the Bone Breaker’s face. And when Robert still seemed to want to attack, he did it again. And again... and again.

And soon, finally, Robert’s legs buckled, and he crashed butt-first into the sand.

"Get your men," Adam said quietly. "Come back when you have legal rights to this Leak."

Robert struggled to his feet, his face purple with bruise and rage. "This... this isn’t over."

"I’m sure..." Adam sighed, waving him off. Just when he thought Robert couldn’t get any more... weird. It almost felt like Adam was in a show of some sort.

"Damn right!" The guild leader helped his groaning members to their feet and led them away, casting glares over his shoulder. Adam watched until they disappeared beyond the dunes, then turned back to the Leak.

"Finally," he whispered as he stepped inside. The portal’s interior revealed a twisted forest of the same rainbow-leafed creatures, all creeping and crawling around.

"Well... alright, then."

Half an hour later, Adam emerged from the collapsing Leak, covered in rainbow sap and plant matter. The helicopter waited on the beach, its rotors starting to spin.

"Good work, Hoss." Chip said as Adam climbed aboard. "I hope you didn’t have much trouble."

"Thank you. What about you? Did those... men come back?" Adam sat back down in his seat, surprised that Beatrice and Harvey remained asleep, seemingly undisturbed by everything.

"No trouble on my side, Hoss."

"Alright," Adam nodded as he pulled out a tablet from the side of his seat. "Do you need to rest?"

"No, sir. I’m good for another few hours."

"Then let’s go for another one," Adam said, scrolling through the Leak database. Red dots marked active portals across the globe—thousands of them. According to Beatrice, only about five percent of the Leaks were actively being cleared or owned by guilds. The rest sat ignored because they weren’t profitable enough to justify the expense.

The government also didn’t prioritize clearing them because the monsters stayed within the Leak’s perimeter. As long as they didn’t threaten populated areas, they were considered Low-risk.

But for Adam... these abandoned Leaks might as well be troves of experience and status points.

"Let’s head to this one," Adam said, pointing to another blue dot on the map.

<No problem, we have enough fuel.> Chip nodded as the helicopter left the beach.

<Buckle up, Hoss.>

***

[10 Days left before the 244th Game.]

Adam sat in the RLRD living room, staring at the floating text only he could see.

[Free Status Points: 51]

"Huh..." Fifty-one points. His fingers drummed against the Shion’s scabbard as he fought the urge to allocate them immediately.

"Dude, you’re making me nervous," Evan said from across the room, his own fingers tapping on the coffee table. "I’m supposed to be the only one stimming here."

"Oh..." Adam muttered, finally noticing what he was doing.

"Well, I’m happy you joined the team," Evan continued. "Less work for everyone else."

"I have to agree with that." Selena looked up from filing her nails. "More time for proper grooming. I appreciate that."

Adam forced himself to stop fidgeting, but his eyes kept drifting to the status points. He... was starting to find it annoying that they were stagnant—he wanted to go out there so they could increase.

But alas, no work just yet. And so, he just focused on the others.

Ryan sat in the corner, carefully brushing Buster’s fur while the ratatusk... purred. Leona arranged ancient artifacts on a side table, occasionally murmuring to her mini golems. Caleb devoured what appeared to be a sandwich made entirely of raw meat.

"OH NO OH NO OH NO!" And then, Sabrina’s voice suddenly exploded through the room at supersonic speed. "Guys you need to see this right now it’s everywhere and people are saying terrible things and I can’t believe they’re lying like this but—"

"Girl!" Harvey called from the kitchen. "Breathe. What’s wrong?"

Sabrina flew to the table and grabbed the TV remote with shaking hands and cast her phone to the large screen. A news report filled the display, showing shaky footage of a beach confrontation.

"That’s..."

"Adam?"

It showed Adam fighting the Breakbones Guild members. But the footage had been edited—it showed him attacking first, with no context about the guild’s aggressive demands.

<—and here we have Robert Morrison, leader of the Breakbones Guild, who was allegedly assaulted by the government Hero known as Adam the Endless.>

Robert’s battered face appeared on screen, even wearing a cast on his neck, even though Adam doesn’t remember breaking his neck at all.

<We were just trying to do our job, you know? Clear a Leak, help people. But this guy shows up and starts attacking us without warning.>

"Wow. That’s complete bullshit," Harvey crossed his arms.

<We tried to defend ourselves, but he’s too strong. He even attacked my guild members, who are all just veterans. Government Heroes think they can do whatever they want.>

The reporter nodded sympathetically. <What would you like to see happen?>

<Justice. This Adam guy needs to be held accountable. We Heroes shouldn’t be above the law.>

"What the fuck is this guy even saying?!" Harvey grabbed the remote from Sabrina, turning to the comments.

He quickly removed it, however, as all the comments were negative about Adam.

"What the fuck..."

None of them knew, however, that that was just the beginning.

Very soon, more videos emerged. Other people calling him violent and abusive. People he hasn’t even met.

There and then, it became clear to Adam and the members of the RLRD—someone was in a campaign to destroy him.

So... that was why they acted like that, Adam. It really was a show.

...Ah, shit.