Chapter 186: Are you the Hacker?
*Bamf*
With a burst of fire, a young man appeared on stage with short straight black hair that made a short fringe, wearing black and dark red clothes, matching the uniform they had set for the team, in addition to a plain black mask that covered his mouth and nose, preventing recognition of who he was.
After a certain pandemic that happened in humanity a few centuries ago, the use of masks at any time became commonplace. Even among the audience there were people with masks, even though humanity had dealt with that virus quite some time ago, but as a hygienic custom many people still continue to follow this and wear a mask to protect themselves and protect others from possible diseases. Of course, others just wore them because they thought they were cool.
So seeing Lucifer on stage wearing a plain black mask that covered the lower half of his face was not that strange. Even with the mask, people could see that he was very young, much younger than the average person who was participating in the championship, which made their doubt about him using hacks get even more intense. After all, hardly anyone so young would have so much power and battle capacity like that.
In addition to Noah's age, another thing that was very clear to the audience was his beauty. Even though the lower half of his face was covered, it was still quite possible to realize that he was a very handsome young man. Even with that mask, a mysterious air came out of him which attracted many people with a little curiosity to try to find out what he truly looked like.
But it was just that, curiosity. If he were actually seen as a hacker, that curiosity would quickly become anger and contempt.
&123;Look who's here with us. I must admit, seeing this ability used in person is much more interesting than seeing it through a screen through Valorwatch. Space Blessings are truly interesting, especially one as beautiful and eye-catching as yours. Welcome, Lucifer.&125; The presenter said to Noah in a neutral tone, neither angry nor being very nice to him.
"Thanks. Did you finally find out about the hack?" Noah asked as he looked at Lance.
Hearing what Noah said only confirmed the suspicions of people who still didn't know what to think. Seeing him say it with his own mouth and practically admitting that he had used a hack, apparently even saying as if they had been slow to realize it, invoked the anger of many people who were watching.
"Damn, how arrogant this kid is! Just because he is young, handsome, and has a Space Blessing does he believe the world is his and can he do what he wants?" one person said angrily in the audience.
"Boooooo!"
"Booo!!!"
The audience quickly started to boo the stage, which made Noah even smile a little, since he knew that anyone who used illegal programs to win in a championship would obviously be hated, and to see "Lance" being booed that way was until a good thing for him.
&123;That was faster than I imagined... Do you then admit that there was a hacker at the match where you faced each other?&125; The presenter asked with a clear expression of surprise. In his mind he thought it would take a long time for him to admit it in the case he had really used hacks, which would probably make the number of championship viewers watching online even higher, but Lucifer just confirmed it right away, as if they were just asking him if he wanted ice and lemon with his coke.
Hearing the question of the presenter wanting to confirm something he had just said, Noah found it a little strange, but he just deduced it was the presenter wanting to roll it up as much as possible to gather the maximum audience online, something he knew was very common in this world, which didn't surprise him at all. "Yes, I'm sure there was a hacker in the game, and this is not the first game in which my team played that there was a hacker." Noah responded with conviction as he looked from the presenter to Lance.
"Holy shit, isn't he ashamed?! How can there be someone like him who would just admit to doing this kind of thing so naturally? Is he thinking that we're going to applaud him for something like that?!"
"Boooooooo!"
"Boooooooooooooo!!"
At that point the audience became even more frantic. People even started screaming for there to be a ban on this hacker, which Noah even nodded in agreement, making a lot of them realize they were even more angry, as if he was making fun of them, as if even doing something so serious, he still thought he was the righteous person in that place.
But at that moment, there was someone there who had realized that something was wrong. Lance had noticed Noah's look at him and realized that there was something else about that look, as if Noah had, instead of talking about himself, been referring to him.
Realizing how Noah had been talking since he came on stage, at no time did he say that he was a hacker himself, just saying that there really was a hacker during the match, but not necessarily that he was the hacker. It made Lance want to push the blame on Noah soon, so he said, "That's right, I recommend to the championship council to ban Lucifer from the championship, in addition to informing the game developers that he did something like that, so that he gets banned soon."
"Yes!!"
"That's right!"
"Banish him!!"
Hearing what Lance said, besides the strange reaction from the audience, Noah felt that there was something strange, as if he were the one who was wrong, as if he were the hacker that people were talking about. 'Were they saying this whole time that I was the hacker? … That's not possible.'
With an expression of surprise, Noah asked aloud, "Easy, are you guys thinking I'm the hacker?"
Hearing his question, many people there were confused.
'Wasn't it clear that we were talking about him? Why this surprise reaction?'
Moments later the screaming, booing, and cursing stopped. The audience was really confused, because by Lucifer's expression in front of them, he was also confused. It was like he didn't even know they were talking about him.
But Lance didn't want to give Noah a chance to change public opinion or consider telling them that he in fact was a hacker, so he soon pointed a finger at Noah and accused him. "Yes, the hacker here is you! How can you explain that you teleport so many times in a short time within the game? Is your energy unlimited by any chance? They say that Space Blessings expend a lot more energy than normal Blessings, and you use it like it's nothing. If it's not a hack, what is it?"
Hearing this, Noah's eyebrows went up and he finally understood what Lance was trying to do.
So instead of explaining himself with words, Noah wanted to explain himself with actions.
* Bamf, Bamf, Bamf, Bamf, Bamf *
Within seconds, Noah had teleported around Lance as if he were nothing. Lance, who was not really Blessed, was very scared, since it was one thing for him to see Noah do this in the game around him, where even if he died, he would have a second life, but witnessing this in person was far more intimidating than he had imagined. Feeling the fire so close to him, every moment began to make him sweat to the point that when Noah stopped, Lance was covered with sweat, both sweat from the heat, and cold sweat thinking he could have died there.
"This answer your question?" Noah replied after he last teleported to the presenter's side and left Lance panting, sweating like a pig.
At this point, the audience's doubts had become even more intense. Initially they were in doubt; after hearing what Noah said they were sure he was a hacker; then Noah proved that he was not a hacker in this regard. Anyone who didn't realize that there was something wrong with that would be an idiot.
"You... you're lying! It's not because you teleported so many times that you weren't using a hack. The pain I felt in the game was much higher than normal! I bet you were using some program to increase the pain of opponents," Lance said accusingly.
Hearing what he said, Noah truly started looking at him like an idiot.
Again, without saying anything, Noah just reached out and the [Fire Claws] appeared in his hand, just like in Valorwatch. His glowing hands were now in front of so many people, turning into the claws of some kind of monster completely made of fire, which combined with Noah's black and red outfit in addition to the hair of the black mask, made an impression that he was someone mysterious and evil.
"Do you think the pain you felt in the game was that high? Is it because you didn't feel that pain personally? I guarantee you that what you felt in the game was not even 30% of what the real pain of this skill is capable of producing. Now it will depend on you. Admit what you did and remove what you said, or how about you experience the pain that the skill can fully cause you to give your own answer. After all, if I was using Hack to increase the pain that people receive, I very much doubt that my flames cause very much pain on their own without any hack, no?"
Hearing those words, Lance's expression froze.
-----
Please read the author's notes down here! he he he :3 ↓↓↓
I don't have a single day without something happen in my life that cause some troubles to write. Sorry guys...
[1/13 Extra chapters this week.] [1/2 Daily Chapter.]