The tournament grounds were already tense after his reveal. Not exactly what he had planned—more like shrieks and confused mutters—but X thought it was probably fine. And then… someone else appeared.
It was a white-clad figure, cracks running across his body like broken porcelain, eyes a void-blue, and a smile just a little too perfect.
It was… unsettling.
X tilted his head. He didn’t recognize the kid. Then he felt a nudge on his leg.
“H-Hey,” Ahu stammered, sweat dripping from his brow, hat twinkling, “Isn’t that… Nice? I thought he was dead?!”
Ah. That did it.
X’s mind clicked. Memories of the kid he’d saved—and his partner having killed his best friend—surfaced. He gave a bitter, polite smile.
X wasn’t capable of hating people. Not much, at least.
… Guess he resurrected?
X couldn’t tell, and honestly, didn’t care. The only thing he knew was that the crowd had stopped gawking at his reveal and was now staring at Nice.
X didn’t mind. He had already achieved his goal: exposing his identity despite the Association desperately wanting to hide it. He understood why they wanted to, but his dislike for their corruption was louder. He wouldn’t just let them get away with it after trying to kill him—and the dog—just hours before.
He observed the reactions of his “co-workers” with mild curiosity. How would they handle this
Lucky Cyan had a frozen smile plastered on her face. X felt a twinge of pity for the idol.
Big and Little Johnny were staring blankly. The “cat” growled after a moment, though.
Queen’s eyes twitched, a mix of rage and bewilderment.
E-Soul tilted his head, apparently unbothered.
Ghost Blade widened his eyes, pose frozen mid-action.
Loli cursed so fast it might have been a new language.
Dragon Boy, ever cocky, grinned, clearly itching for a chance to fight the “anomaly.” X's pocket where the medalium was hurt as he stared at him.
The Commoner… well, X couldn’t read him.
X sighed. This was going to be… more problematic than expected.
He turned to Ahu, who still stared at him as if needing divine confirmation.
“I have no idea,” X said gently, a small smile playing on his lips. He knew fear was involved, but nothing more. His knowledge only went so far.
Ahu covered his face with his paw. Cute.
Apparently, since Nice had achieved Tenth Rank—albeit courtesy of The Commoner—he had to fight the hero first before the tournament could officially start. They couldn’t have eleven fighters.
The announcement was met with groans, shrieks, and hesitant whistles from the crowd. But overall, it didn’t take long before the ruling was accepted.
The fight began.
The Commoner launched attack after attack, smashing the “undead” hero. Nice laughed, grinning, occasionally countering with small punches or dodges that made the arena collectively gasp.
Minutes passed like hours.
Finally, both fighters went all out. The Commoner concentrated all his strength into a single, clean strike to Nice’s face. Nice attempted the same, but the Commoner’s attack landed first.
The cracks on Nice’s face multiplied tenfold… and then—
Liquid began to pour.
A few droplets of purple, fear-infused substance hit the ground, nearly contaminating the arena, before his face rearranged itself like nothing had happened.
Silence. So complete that even the sound of a dropped can echoed.
The crowd erupted into chaos.
The heroes’ reactions were just as unhinged, paleness fitting most. Nice simply shrugged nonchalantly, smiling.
Many questions were shouted at Nice, but he refused to answer any. TREEMAN’s CEO reacted similarly, only raising an eyebrow.
In the end, the tournament was canceled amid the chaos surrounding the “zombie” hero. The title of X remained his.
Not that he felt happy about it. X couldn’t even share his snack with Ahu or be given an autograph by an awkward Cyan before the reporters swarmed. He had to teleport them away, with Queen and Little Johnny attempting to grab Cyan back.
X grimaced. Perhaps revealing himself so early had been… premature.
Ahu clearly agreed. Cyan just continued to vomit.
