Chapter 12: Leave Behind a Killing Intent Before Departing

While washing the ashtray, his phone rang just as he was drying his hands.

Jiang Xia picked up the phone, glanced at the caller ID, and saw it was the blond lackey calling.

Delinquents don't act like delinquents every single day.

On normal days, they also skip class like ordinary students, loaf around like ordinary people, and work part-time jobs like ordinary kids to earn pocket money...

The difference was that delinquents would periodically gather in a group to hang out, just to confirm that they were still themselves—those unique, rebellious youths.

In truth, Jiang Xia felt these gatherings were somewhat performative.

But the lackeys were decent people; more importantly, they were very easy to manipulate... *ahem*, very useful in critical moments.

So, necessary socializing had to be done.

For instance, today was the weekend.

According to custom, they would go to the arcade in the afternoon to break some records.

Afterward, they would grab a meal together.

Finally, once the night grew quiet, they would ride their motorcycles through deserted stretches of road, acting like wind-like speedsters.

...

For the past few days, Jiang Xia's energy had been focused on "how to make the Ghost Fetus give up random shipping" and "how to trick the Ghost Fetus into signing a contract voluntarily."

Combined with his daily truancy, he hadn't noticed what day of the week it was.

He had almost flaked on this weekly routine...

Jiang Xia answered the call from his lackey.

At this hour, the blond and the other lackeys were already settled in at the arcade.

Jiang Xia said he would be there shortly and headed out to meet his fair-weather friends.

...

Originally, he thought this would be just another ordinary day.

Unexpectedly, as he approached the arcade and was about to enter, the Ghost Infant suddenly poked him excitedly.

Jiang Xia froze and followed its pointing finger.

He saw a black Porsche parked quietly in the shade of the trees across the street.

Jiang Xia: "..." That car looked very familiar.

...Um, the pair of murderous eyes peering through the window gap looked even more familiar.

Jiang Xia accidentally locked eyes with his boss inside the car, and his steps toward the arcade came to an immediate halt.

With the Ghost Fetus, Jiang Xia actually wasn't intimidated by Gin anymore.

But regardless, Gin was still a boss who had intermittently paid him a salary for a year.

Going to an arcade to play video games right in front of a boss who was busy as a spinning top...

It felt a lot like the sensation of sitting cross-legged next to a teacher who was huffing and puffing while mopping the classroom floor.

...His career ambition felt a bit pained.

Jiang Xia hesitated and stopped.

But on second thought, since Gin hadn't actively sought him out, it meant it wasn't his business; it didn't seem right to approach him uninvited.

Thinking this, Jiang Xia took another step toward the arcade.

As he did, he looked back. He saw Gin exhale a puff of smoke and silently roll up the car window.

...He didn't know if Gin thought this "wasting time at an arcade" behavior was reprehensible and wanted to out of sight, out of mind.

Or if he was envious that Jiang Xia could play on the weekend.

Or if he simply wanted to pretend they didn't know each other...

...

Once the window closed, the view was cut off by the pitch-black window tint, and Gin was no longer visible. Jiang Xia immediately felt much more at ease.

He continued toward the arcade while secretly dropping the Ghost Infant onto the ground.

The Ghost Infant knew exactly what its master was thinking.

While still in mid-air, it flapped its arms, struggling to float toward Gin's direction. Once it landed, it even scurried on its tiny legs straight toward the Porsche.

...

The driver's seat of the Porsche was empty.

Jiang Xia guessed that Vodka was handling business nearby. Gin likely wouldn't leave before he returned.

As he thought about it, Jiang Xia couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation

Having not seen him for so many days, Gin must have produced some new, harvestable killing intent...

Since he had encountered it by chance, it would be improper not to take a little.

Although the effect would be negligible, it could be considered helping his hardworking boss relieve some stress.

Reasonable, very reasonable, and very conscientious.

...

While thinking this, Jiang Xia entered the arcade and sat down at a machine by the window.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the witty Ghost Infant run across the street, climb up the body of the Porsche via the tires, and then squeeze through the door with a *glug-glug* sound.

Jiang Xia idly moved the joystick, pretending to play the game while focusing intently on watching.

Just then, the sound of a "Game Over" echoed from the next seat.

...

—In the neighboring seat, the blond lackey sighed in great frustration at the "Game Over" filling his screen.

As he returned to the main menu, he glanced at Jiang Xia beside him.

Then, he was shocked to discover that his boss was actually wearing a faint smile while looking at the screen.

The blond froze, then became excited: "Did you break the record? What's the new score?"

Saying this, he couldn't wait to lean over and look.

He saw that on the screen of his all-rounder boss, there was also a matching "Game Over."

The difference was that in the top right corner, where the score should be, there was a conspicuous zero.

Blond: "...?"

He pondered for a moment and understood.

—If someone gets 0 points, it's definitely because they lack skill and crashed immediately.

But his boss was different.

...This must be a new way of entertainment discovered by the boss!

—To control the plane, avoid all scoring points to get 0 points, while simultaneously avoiding traps to reach the finish line.

It was equivalent to doubling the number of things one had to dodge.

This was an extremely challenging maneuver!

With this thought, the blond rolled up his sleeves, sat back in his seat, and with a spirit of experimentation, inserted another coin and pressed restart.

This time, he no longer controlled the plane to eat the scoring balls; instead, he dodged every single one while also avoiding bombs to prevent the game from ending prematurely.

Scoring balls and bombs flew across the interface, and the blond scrambled to keep up.

After only ten seconds, his plane accidentally bumped into a golden ball, and the 0 in the top right corner turned into a "1."

Blond: "!"

As... as expected, it was incredibly hard.

Truly worthy of a gameplay style invented by the boss!

...

Jiang Xia was still monitoring the car outside.

A minute or two later, he caught sight of the Ghost Infant, trailing a ribbon-like wisp of killing intent, running *da-da-da* through the car door toward the arcade.

When the Ghost Infant reached his feet, Jiang Xia bent down to scoop it up and tucked the killing intent away, feeling very gratified.

Then, he withdrew his attention from the outside, looked at the game machine, and pulled out two coins, preparing to restart.

Just as he was about to insert the coins, he suddenly felt something was off.

Jiang Xia turned around warily.

He saw that, without him knowing, a circle of lackeys had surrounded him, all looking at him with faces full of adoration. They had clearly, during his distraction, started imagining things on their own again.

Jiang Xia: "...?"

He thought for a moment and didn't insert the coins immediately.

Instead, he skillfully grabbed the lackey closest to him, stood up, and pressed the guy down into the seat.

Jiang Xia struck a coach-like pose, standing behind the lackey and patting his shoulder: "Did you learn it? You play a round, and I'll see how it goes."

He needed to observe first to see what these chuunibyou youths were actually thinking...