Chapter 047: The Kendo Club

“It really is a wolf.”

A gasp of astonishment rose behind the sleazy man whose body had sprouted a wolf’s tail. The man, transformed into a beast, shuddered all over, his face twisted with ferocity as he turned, his eyes glowing blood-red. Only then did he realize that standing behind him was the student who had intervened at the school that morning. Oddly, whereas any ordinary person would have fled in terror at this half-human, half-beast form, this student not only stood his ground but observed him with keen interest.

“You brat, do you think you’re better than me?” The creature, now half-man and half-wolf, bared four savage fangs as he released Ms. Naoko and lunged at Su Cheng with a howl.

The instant the man lunged, thick gray fur erupted beneath his skin, and his once-smooth fingernails fell away, replaced by sharp, beastly claws.

The sight of the transformed man reminded Su Cheng of a legendary creature from the West: the werewolf.

According to Western folklore, werewolves are terrifying monsters, half-man, half-beast, who live as ordinary people but, under the full moon when wolfsbane blooms, transform into wolves. Addicted to the flesh and blood of both humans and animals, werewolves are notorious for preying on people, making them even more fearsome than vampires.

Su Cheng recalled a horror film about werewolves he’d seen before, which described two types: the primal werewolf, born to the breed—fierce, brutal, far stronger than ordinary humans, and able to resume human form at will; and the acquired werewolf, most of whom are cursed and transform into ravenous butchers by moonlight, slaughtering people for fresh meat.

By that reckoning, the werewolf at the school was likely an acquired one, still retaining some human habits and temperament, and thus much weaker than a primal werewolf.

The real question is, how did these acquired werewolves come about? With incidents of cannibalism on the rise throughout Tokyo, it was clear the werewolf problem extended far beyond this one.

Could someone be pulling the strings behind the scenes?

“Looks like I’ve gotten myself into some real trouble.”

With ease, Su Cheng dodged the werewolf’s attack, then struck from the side, driving a blade through the creature’s maw and, with a twist, sliced off both tongue and lower jaw.

This werewolf, it seemed, had only recently awakened—its combat ability was on par with a husky, no match for a true, savage werewolf, and thus not difficult to dispatch.

As blood poured from its ruined mouth, terror and dread filled the werewolf’s crimson eyes. It had eaten people, more than one; normally, at the sight of its monstrous form, humans would freeze in fear or flee. Even the bravest stood no chance. But this student was more dangerous than the monster itself.

Who, then, was the real monster?

A paralyzing fear flooded the werewolf’s heart. Instinct screamed that if he didn’t run, he would die at this student’s hand.

The sun had set, and darkness thickened around the grove. With blood streaming from its jaws, the werewolf gave a threatening growl from deep in its throat, then, seizing on Su Cheng’s distraction, spun and slipped off into the trees.

“Just like that, it ran away?”

Su Cheng raised his blade to give chase but suddenly remembered Ms. Naoko still lay on the bench. If he left her unattended, she’d catch a cold…

However, when he turned around, she had vanished without a trace.

Seeing Ms. Naoko suddenly disappear set Su Cheng’s heart pounding. Had she awakened and walked off on her own?

The werewolf incident was growing ever stranger. Just then, a chilling scream echoed from the direction the werewolf had fled.

Running towards the source of the cry, Su Cheng found three figures in biohazard suits and gas masks standing before him.

Su Cheng saw fresh bullet holes in the werewolf’s chest—the creature was already dead.

The trio had used silenced pistols, so no gunshots had been heard. Still, with students and teachers passing near the school, it seemed they wanted to avoid drawing attention as they prepared to load the werewolf’s corpse into a nearby van.

At that moment, the three in biohazard suits noticed Su Cheng as well. They appeared to mistake him for an ordinary student who had stumbled onto the scene by chance.

“Are you police? What is that thing, a husky?”

Su Cheng sheathed the “Shadow of the Gale” and feigned ignorance, playing the part of a curious onlooker.

His instincts told him these men were hiding something. They clearly wanted to keep certain truths under wraps.

The masked men exchanged glances. One of them approached Su Cheng and said, “We’re from the disaster response department. We received a report of a wild animal attacking people at the school. The situation is under control now.”

“Oh? Do you have identification?”

“Of course.”

The man stepped closer, pretending to reach into his pocket for credentials.

In the next instant, he whipped out a stun gun, aiming to knock Su Cheng unconscious.

But Su Cheng’s reflexes were far swifter. In a flash, he seized the man’s wrist, twisted it, and hurled him to the ground.

Since they were on school grounds and these men were just regular humans, Su Cheng held back. He wasn’t looking to kill—he only wanted to extract information about the werewolf from them.

“Get him!”

The werewolf hunters hesitated, sensing something amiss, then drew their pistols and opened fire without hesitation.

A long, black blade flashed through the night. Su Cheng deflected the bullets with a single sweep, his form blurring as he dodged the rest.

Seeing Su Cheng parry bullets with his sword, the men’s faces went pale behind their gas masks, their eyes wide with shock.

“This is bad. He’s an Ascendant. Let’s get out of here!”

They hastily holstered their weapons, hefted the werewolf’s body into the van, and sped off into the night.

“Ascendant?”

Su Cheng’s confusion only deepened. These men were clearly neither police nor players, but belonged to some organization or corporation.

Could they be connected to the proliferation of werewolves?

Back at his rented apartment, Su Cheng logged into the horror game and found a message from Night God Wei.

“That masked man on the forum—was that you?”

Forum?

Su Cheng logged into the official game forum and discovered that a video of his match with Kazama Haya King had been uploaded, sparking quite a stir.

The comments on the battle were varied, with the majority supporting Kazama Haya King. After all, this was a world where looks mattered, and Kazama Haya King was undeniably more handsome than the menacing masked man.

Yet, as Su Cheng flipped through the comments, he found a fan who supported the masked man—and, judging by the username, it seemed to be a girl.

I have a female fan now?

He checked her comment. She seemed to idolize the masked man, insisting that, even if Kazama Haya King had immense spiritual power, he would ultimately lose to Su Cheng. She’d been attacked by Kazama’s fangirls for her stance, but held firm.

A female fan at last—Su Cheng quietly noted her username: Kiryu Sentou.

The next day, Su Cheng ran into Ms. Naoko at the school gate.

Curiously, she seemed to remember nothing of the previous day’s events. She only recalled falling asleep in the office from exhaustion, waking to find it was already night.

Today was recruitment day for all the clubs. Student life at Todai was vibrant, boasting over 2,500 clubs, many of which welcomed international students. The true nature of some clubs, however, remained a mystery.

Su Cheng had little interest in joining any club. After a brief stroll through the bustling fair, he prepared to leave.

“Um, excuse me, would you be interested in joining our club?”

A timid voice sounded at his side. He turned to find a petite, soft-spoken girl shyly blocking his way.

“Sorry, I’m not planning to join a club at the moment.”

Su Cheng glanced at the girl and politely declined. He was not the kind to be swayed just because a girl was cute.

But the girl did not give up so easily. “Well, you could try out our club first. If you don’t like it, you can always leave.”

“Kaori, don’t be so forward.”

A girl in a martial arts uniform, her gaze sharp, stepped up.

“But Asakura-senpai, if we don’t recruit new members, our club will be disbanded this year,” Kaori protested, her babyish face full of distress.

“There’s nothing we can do,” Asakura Miyu sighed, gently ruffling Kaori’s hair.

Su Cheng looked at Miyu with interest. “May I ask, what does your club do?”

“Huh? Kaori didn’t tell you?” Miyu asked, surprised.

Kaori blinked, then said with a mournful expression, “Sorry, I forgot.”

“We’re the school kendo club. I’m the president, Asakura Miyu. Pleased to meet you.”

So, it was the kendo club.

Su Cheng pondered, then asked, “Do you have an application form for the kendo club?”

“What do you need that for?” Kaori asked, handing him a form, puzzled.

“To sign up, of course.”

Su Cheng had been looking for a place to practice his swordsmanship and raise his proficiency. He hadn’t expected to find a training ground so quickly.