Chapter 2: I won't tell you anything. (Patreon)

"It's happening——!!!"

Yes!

The moment the panel appeared, Subaru Natsuki's eyes lit up. Of course — the classic isekai summoning. No beautiful girl in sight, but hey, at least he'd gotten a cheat power!

Come on, show me. Was his cheat the kind where he one-shots everything from the start and becomes the One-Shot King? Or would a blue-haired goddess pop out to grant him a wish? No, wait — now that he thought about it, something like the Shield Hero's cheat wouldn't be bad either. If he could get a class like that, life would be smooth sailing!

"Oi oi oi, is this kid losing it?"

The three thugs bared their teeth, annoyed. Subaru's shout had been way too loud, ear-splittingly loud, and they clapped their hands over their ears. "This little punk doesn't even see us standing here, does he? Damn it — let's teach him some manners."

The three exchanged a glance, no hesitation, and whipped out knives in unison. One of them even licked his blade with a slimy grin, and they closed in on Subaru, snickering.

"Heh heh heh~ Useless, useless. Go ahead and mourn the fact that you're not the protagonist. Come on, notebook — open up, let me see your limits!"

Barely two minutes had passed since the summoning, so Subaru could easily connect the dots — this cheat's true nature was that notebook he'd scribbled his wishes into. He could hardly wait, rubbing his hands together like an eager fly.

[Initial Event Triggered: The Dawn of a King]

[Host, please demonstrate your strength. Defeat the three shortsighted, self-destructive thugs of Ton, Chin, and Kan, who dare to look down on greatness and act tough despite being nothing more than sewer rats baring their fangs at a tiger. Achieve victory, subject them to violence until they're forced to repent, and turn them into your loyal subordinates — in return, gain 70kg of Kingly Strength in both fists!]

"Mm, mm, mm—— huh?!"

After all that flowery, over-the-top praise, Subaru had been standing there with his hands on his hips, nodding proudly. Ah, this was the life — he was basking in it.

Then his eyes caught the last line.

Uh... wait, hold on, could it be — does this mean the notebook wasn't going to help him at all, and was just going to send him in there like this?

No, no, that couldn't be right. If it were bare-handed, fine — he'd trained a bit. Sure, only one arm had that kind of power now, but 70kg of force should be more than enough to handle some random street punks.

But they had knives. Knives!

Notebook, are you even thinking straight?

"Y-yeah, maybe I should just... forget this..."

Watching the thugs close in with obvious ill intent, cold sweat poured down Subaru's back. If he died here, he'd never get the chance to see his mom and dad again. Yeah, at times like this, groveling on the ground was probably the smart move.

[Warning: Host detected acting against their own stated intentions, refusing to carry out the goals they themselves set. Return to your original resolve immediately, or a first-tier punishment will be enacted — electric shock!]

Ahaha, that had to be a joke. Just a scare tactic, right? He'd read plenty of isekai novels, and not once had he seen a cheat ability that punished its own user.

Right, this was definitely just a bluff. All he had to do was drop into a dogeza and apologize right now—

"AAAOOOWWWW!!!"

A jolt of electricity tingled through his entire body, and Subaru let out a howl, leaping into the air on the spot. The pain sent him into violent convulsions, writhing like seaweed, eyes bulging out of his skull — the whole spectacle was enough to send chills down anyone's spine.

From an outsider's perspective, the random howling and thrashing looked even more unhinged.

"Not good, we've got a lunatic here. Retreat, retreat!"

Chin's pupils shrank. This world might not have a formal concept of "mental illness," but that didn't mean crazy people didn't exist.

They'd just wanted to shake someone down for cash, not throw down with an actual maniac. They picked on the weak, not the reckless — and this kid was clearly reckless!

"Aaaowww — you think, think you can run? No, no, aaaowwwww!"

Subaru's whole body had been shaking uncontrollably from the shocks, but the second he saw them turning to flee, his face twisted into something feral, teeth grinding.

If it weren't for these three, would he even be getting shocked right now?

He was about to die from this, and now they wanted to run? Then all this suffering would've been for nothing! And if they got away, wouldn't he just keep getting shocked forever?

Damn it, don't run! Have some backbone and come at me!

"DIE!"

Getting shocked was terrifying, but getting shocked for the rest of his life was even more terrifying. Howling, Subaru bolted forward at the speed of a man with his pants on fire, slung an arm over one of the thugs' shoulders, and threw a punch.

"HONK-AAAAAHHHH!"

Ton's hair stood on end instantly. His whole body seized up, and he collapsed to the ground, twitching nonstop, honking away with his eyes rolled back in his head.

Hold on — dude, your build shouldn't just drop from one punch to the face, should it?

Subaru blinked, then it clicked. If he got shocked as punishment and touched someone else, did that mean the shock passed on to them too?

Whoa — nobody told him that!

Subaru grinned viciously. Getting shocked was scary, but with Ton, Chin, and Kan around, there was nothing to fear. Ton, Chin, and Kan was the best — there'd never be another buddy in the world as willing to share his pain and misfortune as Ton, Chin, and Kan.

"Come on, good buddy, let's sink together and enjoy the ride!"

"Don't come near me, HONK-AAAAAHHH!!!"

A chorus of honking rang out.

The three of them lay on the ground twitching — anyone who didn't know better might've thought they'd just been thoroughly beaten down in some other, much ruder sense.

Subaru stood proudly, hands on hips. We're the champions!

Wait... something's wrong. He'd already won, so why was he still getting shocked?

[Host, your punches aren't fast enough, and they're not vicious enough!]

The notebook had no real self-awareness or true intelligence — it just reacted to conditions. Gritting his teeth through another jolt, half-furious, Subaru looked more carefully at the quest requirements. It wanted him to not just win, but to make Ton, Chin, and Kan genuinely, viciously repent.

But hadn't he already beaten them enough?

"No way, I'm not doing that!"

Subaru clenched his jaw. Sure, these three were robbers, but they'd already been beaten senseless and knocked out by the shocks — wasn't that enough? If he kept going, wouldn't he end up making them bleed? That was way too much.

[Warning: Host's resistance to their own true intentions detected, increasing. Punishment intensity will be raised. Mid-tier electric shock commencing in three, two, one.]

ZZZAP——

"Ugh! I won't, I'll obey you, anything, aghhh!"

His eyes rolled back.

Subaru's whole body shook without stopping; he was on the verge of losing consciousness. The notebook's shocks might not cause any real physical damage, but the sheer intensity of the pain alone was enough to break anyone.

But even if he couldn't take it, he had to take it!

Subaru hissed through clenched teeth. No matter how you looked at it, he couldn't bring himself to torment someone that badly. He might not be much of a man, but he had his limits!

If he caved now, he wouldn't have the right to call himself a Natsuki man anymore!

The notebook seemed genuinely moved by Subaru's resolve.

[Kingly resolve detected in host. Cognitive discrepancy detected regarding host's understanding of this notebook and the Ton, Chin, and Kan trio. Shock punishment deactivated. Initiating cognitive correction protocol.]

[Pages ablaze — the Book of the Living, opening! Activate!]