Ah, what a painful lesson! That became, without a single exception, the thing I loathed the most back then.
Hearing those words all over again made my already faint desire to pursue romance fade away almost entirely. I spoke up on the spot, saying, "Forget it! I'll be around here anyway, so if there's a mission, just call me. I'm going out for a stroll." Privately, I added a silent postscript: Consider it all just a game—the notion of finding a girlfriend can be snuffed out for good!
Leaving that place, I began to wander around the vicinity. There were plenty of Giants here: some forming teams for missions, others setting up stalls to sell weapons—doing all sorts of things. It was hardly any different from a village market.
Following my departure, Hitler took note of my sudden shift in attitude. "What's wrong with this guy?" he remarked. "How come it feels like his enthusiasm for chasing big sis has plummeted? He's nothing like he was when he first arrived!"
Darram voiced his own doubts as well. "Yeah! That's a huge change. And big sis didn't even turn him down! What's gotten into him?"
Even Camearra was puzzled. "You're telling me! I didn't reject him! Why is he reacting like this?"
She had no idea that I was simply paying the collateral damage for the blind dates of my past life. My favorable impression of her had instantly hit rock bottom. Not flipping the table over and walking away on the spot, relying solely on my strength, was already me being immensely polite.
I wandered about aimlessly, wondering if I should follow the example of the Ultramans in later generations, protect humanity, and use that to elevate myself.
No sooner had the thought popped up than I smacked it away with my own hand, stinging my own head. Damn it, I hit too hard!
I found a quiet little hill, lay down, crossed my arms behind my head, propped one leg over the other, and stared up at the sky.
I had been a human in my past life, and I knew all too well what kind of creatures humans were. If you keep helping someone, after a long time, they will take it for granted. When you need help and come knocking on their door, they might not help you at all.
Good people barely make up one in ten—and that's an exaggeration; the reality is probably even scarcer than that. Everything on television is fake. Schools only teach you the bright side; nobody ever tells you how vicious society is.
If you don't experience the beatings of society, how can you claim to be fully grown and a real man? Without being baptized by the wind and rain of society, you remain an overgrown child forever.
While I was deep in contemplation, a Giants slowly approached. I didn't pay much attention; the aura was familiar, and I knew perfectly well who was coming. Even if a fight broke out, I still had time to react. If I managed to bungle even that, I deserved to go under.
Still, his appearance took me completely by surprise. It was Tiga. What was he doing here? Was he here to challenge me to a duel? Whatever, I'm not going to think about it.
Once he stood right in front of me, I'd find out naturally—why waste the brainpower? I went back to gazing at the sky and ignored him.
Before long, Tiga walked up to my side, clutching his lower back. "You're exceptionally strong," he said. "I've come to invite you to form a team. There are nineteen Monsters this time, and I need a powerhouse of a teammate. Can you come?"
I threw out a question. "Who else is on the roster? If our strength isn't enough, we won't finish the mission!"
"Right now it's just me. I want to invite Camearra, plus you, and then find one more person of decent strength, and that should about do it. Camearra expressed a willingness to join and told me to come find you."
"The reward is forty Dark Crystal condensed from dark energy. Just three of them can restore all our power. We'll split them based on the kill count. What do you say? Will you come?"
After a moment of thought, I replied, "Find the fourth person first, then come back and talk to me. If we can't even gather a full team, you're just wasting my time."
Tiga was overjoyed. "I'll go find the fourth person right now, and we can set out very soon. I look forward to you joining us!" With that, he happily bounded off to find people.
Those two really were destined for each other. One call and she was already inclined to go—truly meant to be!
I shook my head, a malicious thought rising in my mind. Whoever belongs with whom, breaking up a couple one by one is always the right choice! That's right, I'm just here for fun!
I got up, left, and headed toward the thatched hut I'd built earlier. Dilapidated as it was, I had built it with my own hands. I ended my gigantic form, stepped inside, and didn't mind the squalor at all; at the very least, it counted as a place to crash.
Tiga returned to the camp and relayed my answer. Then he left to search for more members at the gathering place.
Hitler said, "Relying on Tiga's mouth to relay this to him feels completely unreliable. I think you should go find him yourself and give him the heads-up. He's our teammate—what if he gets pissed off and refuses to play with us in the future? He hasn't even gotten his share of the reward from this mission yet. Don't let him think we pocketed it behind his back."
Darram offered his own advice as well. "That's right. He pulled the most weight on this mission; it shouldn't be handled this way. Didn't you want to get closer to him anyway? This is an opportunity—a chance for some one-on-one contact. Go for it, big sis! Opportunities like this are rare. He's outrageously powerful and handsome to boot. If you miss out, he'll really be gone for good."
Camearra was still a bit hesitant. "Is it really okay for me to be this proactive?"
Hitler argued, "Sis! We're Dark Warriors, how did you end up picking up the habits of the Shining Clan? If you want him, go talk to him, what's the big deal? There are plenty of pretty female warriors in our clan. Once he starts showing his face more often and everyone sees his strength, even if he were ugly, his power alone would make him wildly popular. If you're slow to make a move, he'll really be snatched up."
These days, nobody can withstand someone constantly whispering advice in their ear. The wavering Camearra finally broke. She gathered the reward, stepped outside, and set off to find me.
The perception range of Elite-tier strength is quite vast; without actively concealing it, covering an entire planet is no tall order. It didn't take long for her to lock onto my location.
In a place packed with Giants like this, there was no need to conceal one's aura either. Finding me was easy enough.
Before long, she arrived and zeroed in on the crude little house before her. She dismissed her gigantic form, walked up to the door, and knocked.
Hearing the knocks, I called out directly, "Door's not locked, come in!"
The sound of the door opening echoed as a striking woman walked inside. She had plenty of class and was quite pretty to boot. I frowned slightly and asked, "Who are you, and what do you want with me?"
She gave a playful smile. "Is your memory really that bad? Did you forget my aura so fast?"
"Aura?" I thought carefully for a moment, then looked up and asked, "You're Camearra? Why are you here? Is something the matter?"
She spoke casually. "Nothing major. I just came to bring you your reward for today's mission. Twenty-four Dark Crystals in total. You did the heavy lifting; the three of us take four, and you get twenty. Sound fair?"
I carefully inspected the pouch containing the crystals, pulled one out, held it in my palm, and tested it—good stuff.
I tossed the crystal back into the pouch and set it down casually on the table. Just as I started to stand up, I heard her ask:
"There's something I don't quite understand. May I ask you a question?"
I straightened up and sat back down. "I'll answer what I can answer. What I can't, I won't. Let's hear your question."
She hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Today you came looking for me, wanting to join my team. Given your strength, you could easily operate entirely on your own. Later on, I agreed to your terms, but why did you act as if you'd completely lost interest the moment you heard my response? Can you explain why?"
I chuckled. "Is that all?"
She nodded. As she looked at me in bewilderment, I pressed further: "Do you want the truth or a lie? Think it over before you answer."
She didn't hesitate at all. "The truth, of course."
I began to explain. "Back when I was still weak, friends of my family introduced quite a few girlfriends to me. The thing I heard most often was precisely what you said today: 'Let's get to know each other first, and I'll give you my answer later.'"
"Some of them came just because they couldn't brush off the pressure and face of their family and friends. Others simply looked down on my strength, but were too embarrassed to say it straight. Women have thin skin, which is understandable, but after a while, they all drifted away."
"It made life miserable for me, leaving me in the wrong no matter what I did. To me, words like those today are no different from a rejection, so naturally, I lost interest. There are plenty of women in the world; sooner or later, I'll run into the one I need. What's the rush? Strength dictates everything in this era. When you have strength, you never have to worry about lacking women."