457 The Samurai

This was a silent world.

The sky was moonless and starless, but there was a blue shimmer that kept gaining a pinkish hue. Under this incomprehensible, but enchanting, shimmer, there was an ocean.

Yet, this ocean felt more like a frozen lake, for it was just too still.

Absolute stillness.

This world perhaps had no end. No matter where one looked, there were signs of shimmer in the sky and the stillness underneath. If an ocean without waves and surging tides could still be called an ocean, none knew. It was a question better left alone to the minds of philosophers.

Yet, the truth persisted.

This land knew no noise or signs of life, other than the island in its very middle.

The island wasn't large, either. With the size of a football field, it wasn't even a speck of dust in this world; this enormous dimension.

On this islet, there was a colossal Bristlecone Pine tree. The tree's trunk seemed to be coiling up toward the sky, reaching for the ever-elusive blue and pinkish shimmer. There was little to no wind in this world, but the lush leaves on the tree's crown were swaying gently as if they were alive.

And right at the foot of this tree, there was a hut. Not a hut, but The Hut.

The Samurai's Hut!

It was then a dark vortex appeared on the island, several meters far from the hut.

Shuuuu!!!

The energy contained within the vortex churned furiously, and a person walked out. His eyes were hazel, his hair short and white, and there was an abnormal charisma about him that even his bloody appearance failed to hide.

He was, of course, Kai Stormborn.

The moment the teleportation vortex spit him out, Kai fell, his knees thudding on the island's hard black and brown rocks.

"Cough!" Kai coughed out blood, his hands and legs trembling. "Cough-Cough!"

A week had passed since the events of the nocturnal hunt when he had decimated over 200 Troopers with one punch. A week had passed since then, when he had chased the remaining Troopers, killing them one by one.

And a week had passed since the times when he had been almost chased to death by Captain Frostreaper. Even the mighty Focus Punch couldn't shatter whatever the White Walker's body was made up of, it seemed.

Kai could have easily arrived at the Samurai's hut, then, for he had already obtained 100,000 Points; almost double that amount, perhaps. But he hadn't.

First, Smarty had told Kai that he would remain at the Samurai's Hut for only 24 hours if he didn't choose early by himself. Second, only at the Samurai's Hut could he use points to unlock his powers or buy the Life Halt Capsule.

And third, most important, the leftover points would be discarded, i.e. if Kai didn't use all his Points at the Samurai's Hut, he would return to Island X with 0 Points.

With these three reasons in his mind, Kai had wanted to come here after hoarding as many points as he could.

Alas! Things never remained too much in his favor since his coming to the Primordial Tower.

2000 Troopers were just a drop in the four Armies' strength. That night of brutal killing occurred because Kai was cunning and powerful enough to unleash slaughter after taking the soldiers by surprise.

No such thing could happen again. Not with the officers seated at the top of the hierarchy.

Waves after waves of wizards, magical creatures, and Pokemon toppled the sky and earth in search of him the very next day. Moreover, after knowing that the White Walker and the Wights had survived, the Eternal Snow Army sent a full Company of the Wights to assist the wizards.

So Kai had to hole himself up, hoping for things to calm down. Only after three days had he gotten the chance to go out and kill more.

But that came out to be a trap!

The Armies had sacrificed at least 150 Troopers to make Kai come out, and it was such a well-planned trap that not even Blood Demon had sensed it coming.

What happened next was a hideous series of chases and escapes, with thousands of Wights and several captain-level White Walkers surrounding Kai from all directions.

This lasted for 4 days. In the end, Kai had no choice but to teleport to the separate Dimension with whatever Points he had obtained.

The good thing was… the number of Points wasn't less. 280,000 Points, to be exact.

"Cough!" Kai coughed more, held his chest, and lay down on the ground. He drew a sharp breath, gazing at the stunning sky and its endless shimmers. Six daggers came to hover by his side, hairline cracks running across 2 of them. "This place is strange…"

"Is it?"

Booom!

Earth quaked as Kai threw himself so fast that his eyes blurred, his brain ramming into his skull left and right. Impossible! The word thundered in his heart. It's… Impossible! How can someone approach me so close without me knowing about it?!

Indeed. Even Kai, the Contestant with Observation Haki and Immeasurable Spiritual Class, had sensed no one nearing him. Anyone in his place would have been right to be shocked because of such an absurdity.

The six daggers churned furiously around Kai as he looked at the origin of that voice, his pupils narrowing into needles.

It was a middle-aged man, seemingly in his late twenties, with a long, but neatly combed black beard. He was fairly tall and lean, but well-built. He had tied his long, jet-black hair into a topknot over his head.

For garments, the man was wearing a standard white Karate uniform, with a white belt around his waist and wooden sandals.

His hands were locked behind him elegantly, and the man was observing him with a dead face and cold eyes. [Gif 1]

Kai… didn't recognize him.

One must not forget that though the Contestants below the 6th floor knew about the Graveyard of the Kings, they didn't know the exact details. They knew it comprised the World of Cartoons and also knew the existence of some of the most famous Random Worlds based on this concept.

But that was it.

There were infinite, distinct Random Worlds of Cartoons. Not to mention, each had its own endless variations.

Who would be stupid to spend endless time and resources to just know about these Cartoon-based Worlds, when not even 99.99% of the Contestants had the chance to ascend to the level of Kings?

Even Item-M, with her status as Priestess of Hastur at the height of powers, was only worthy enough to learn a few of the names.

Samurai Jack… wasn't among them.

Then there was the fact that Kai would never even think about coming to a World of Cartoons. Not at his level. The reason for it was the same for his not relating his Instincts to the Observation Haki, despite the most obvious proof.

It was outright impossible!

"You are the Samurai?" Kai wondered aloud.

Jack gently nodded. "Come," he said, turning around. "I've been waiting for you."

Kai frowned. The Samurai kept walking toward the hut, and Kai's eyes followed him. It was also then his gaze fell upon the colossal tree, his neck craning up to admire its coiling trunk and green crown.

Kai didn't know what kind of task this Samurai would give him. But he did know that all the killing and the four Armies were just a path, not the destination. This task was the ultimate test; the true 3rd stage. If he could clear it in one go, then he would win the Tournament as well.

So, steeling his heart and resolve, Kai followed the Samurai, his gait neither hurried nor slow.

As he walked toward the hut, Kai looked around at the ocean, his eyes going far into the vanishing blues. No matter what, he just couldn't shake off the feeling that something was sinisterly wrong with this place.

The hut's door opened into a spacious hall, with as few accessories as a man could need to just live.

In the middle of the hall, there was a table, and on the table, there was a tablet. Jack had already taken a seat on the floor behind the low table, his fingers playing and pausing a video.

The moment Kai realized what the Samurai was seeing, his eyes widened.

It was him! The tablet was playing the scene of him punching over 200 Troopers to death, the top of a small hill exploding behind them.

"You were watching me?!" Kai asked incredulously, wondering what else this Samurai knew; what else this Samurai had guessed about him?

Jack fast-forwarded the video and replayed the scenes of Kai getting chased by Wights' Company. "Your body is weak, Kai of House Stormborn," he said, making all cells in Kai's body tremble. "Have you not been training enough?"

Never. Never had Kai heard of Random Worlds' Characters addressing the Contestants by their true names. Unless, of course, if the Contestants hadn't told the Characters by themselves.

Giving out, or even whispering, one's own true name was the greatest taboo in the Primordial Tower.

Because there were powers, so absurd, that could kill from worlds apart just by learning the true name of a Contestant.

If that had been all, then Kai could have still coped with it.

Nonetheless, the Samurai's next words were destined to send Kai into shock. A shock like the one he had only experienced before the 2nd Stage when he had learned the identity and floor numbers of his 5 Sponsors.

"Not only your body," Jack said, his expression calm and emancipated, "but…

… you are the worst Contestant I have seen with a Glitch."