Dysfunctional - An Assassin's Guide to Reincarnating in Another World

Chapter 472 471 - The Devourer(Part 1)

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　　"Another one? That makes sixty in the last five years," I sighed wearily. 

　　"This rate is quite alarming...we have been able to keep them mostly in check thus far, but there have been a number of minor issues. A fair number of the new Reincarnators are self-centered and eager to show off their powers," Remarked Jhin with a stressed out look on his face. 

　　"At least we can detect them now," Pointed out Luell optimistically. 

　　Five years had passed since the serial killer incident in the Rustlands-...yes, I know they changed the official name of the nation, but it's too long...-and in the last five years, a ton of new Reincarnators had been popping up. 

　　They're all still toddlers, of course, but that's only physically speaking. On the inside, most of them are adults. We've approached some of them, once they're at least three years old, and informed them of the situation, that we're aware of their status and then warning them that any actions they take will have consequences. 

　　We can't exactly take away their freedom though, so we can't be proactive in shutting them down, we have no choice but to be reactive instead, meaning that we can't do anything to them until they do something, even if we're aware of a high possibility of one of them going out of control. All we can do is keep them under strict surveillance, but without compromising their freedom. 

　　What's most concerning, though, is that the rate at which the new Reincarnators are popping up is increasing...there aren't many of them who are over ten years old, but there's so many of them amongst the younger age group. 

　　In the last few years, they've been popping up all over the place. Fortunately, Luell was able to create a new barrier that detects the birth of new Reincarnators, and keeps track of them as well. 

　　Many of the older ones have joined our ranks and made for great additions, but some have been kinda problematic, causing problems by arrogantly showing off their powers irresponsibly and inadvertently resulting in accidents. 

　　It's all been pretty minor issues so far, there haven't been any cases that are even close to as severe as the Rustlands' serial killer five years ago, but there's no telling what these Reincarnators are really like on the inside, and what they did in their past lives. 

　　I had been tempted to use Chaos Magic to discern their intentions and personalities, but forcibly getting them to reveal things against their will is too drastic a move against potentially innocent people. 

　　That said, we are working on a volunteer system, where the Reincarnators can volunteer to be interrogated under the effects of Chaos Magic, with the benefit to them being that, if they're cleared of any suspicion, they'll no longer be under any scrutiny. 

　　Some of them have agreed to that and gone through it, but most have been apprehensive, which is understandable. Even if you haven't done anything wrong in your past life, there's still the possibility of something embarrassing coming to light through this method. 

　　We'd initially decided to handle the new Reincarnators on a case by case basis, but there's too many of them showing up lately, keeping track of all of them in detail is too difficult. 

　　And there's no signs of the rate of new Reincarnators being born slowing down any time soon. I guess this is what Samsara meant when he said that his absence from the reincarnation process would destabilize it.

　　There's no regulation, and it's resulting in an influx of new Reincarnators, all with much higher power levels than normal. We've shared the detection barrier with the other nations and trade centers too, and all of them have reported similarly increased rates of Reincarnators being born.

　　Both Idyll and Liberty have relatively sizeable human populations now, and while there haven't been any Reincarnators among the other races, there have been plenty among their human populations. 

　　Well, if nothing else, things have continued to remain peaceful, so besides the matter of the new Reincarnators, there haven't really been any other issues to worry over. 

　　The former wasteland to the south of the Rustlands was now a thriving center of agriculture and farming, with several small villages set up to manage the fields, and were funded by all four nations, in exchange for an even split of the yields. 

　　Belia and Kuro had detoxified the area a few months before they got sealed away, and it's made a huge difference. There's a ton more resources to go around than ever before, so on that front, we're thriving. 

　　I can only hope that this growth and development continues, and this peaceful era lasts for a long time to come, hopefully forever. But I'm afraid that might be being a bit too optimistic. I won't let myself become negligent, I'll make sure to stay vigilant, and prepare for any threat that comes my way... 

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　　Point-of-View: Damien Romer

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　　This world...it's ripe for the taking, I can barely hold myself back. But I need to wait...wait for the perfect opportunity. 

　　My name in this world is Damien Romer, and I was born in a small village, in the area that was apparently once a toxic, desolate wasteland, of all things. 

　　And in my old world, I was an elusive criminal mastermind, if I do say so myself. Also, a mass murderer. And my targets were exclusively important or famous people. 

　　I was a master of disguises, and would infiltrate and get close to my targets, before kidnapping them and having my way with them till I got bored, and then killed them and dumped the bodies in random ditches or alleyways. 

　　I kept that up for five years, on the run from various worldwide authorities, but I was never caught. Which makes the way I died all the more frustrating. 

　　A certain country had been embroiled in severe conflict, so I headed there to take advantage of the chaos and have myself some fun. 

　　I helped myself to reporters and journalists, government officials, and celebrities that had come to give speeches in an attempt to quell the conflicts. 

　　What I didn't bargain for though, was how out of control the situation would eventually get, resulting in all flights being halted to and from the country, and then the president of said country launching nukes at the leading first world countries. 

　　Which, of course, led to them retaliating and nuking that country right back. I got caught up in one of the nuclear explosions, and naturally, I died. What a shitty way to go. 

　　Anyway, the next thing I knew, I was in a floaty white place, with a list of selectable super powers in front of me. 

　　Some of the options were assigned at random, but I got a pretty good deal, before finding myself reincarnated in this strange world. 

　　That was sixteen years ago, and I've blended into this world quite seamlessly. Unfortunately, they already know that I've reincarnated, after putting up some kind of detection barrier around this village. Some people from the nations of Abyss and the Democratic Republic of Rustlands showed up to interrogate me. 

　　But I'm great at lying and deceiving, and played the part of a nervous, introverted kid who's uncomfortable around strangers. I told them that I'd been a shut-in in my old life and avoided people due to anxiety and stuff. 

　　I was a little bit alarmed when they said that they had this thing called Chaos Magic that can put people in hypnotic states and have them speak the truth, but fortunately, they wouldn't do so against my will. 

　　I then acted like I was willing to accept being put under the effects of their Chaos Magic, before suddenly breaking down and trembling while crying about not wanting to relive my past experiences. 

　　And it seemed to work, they were sympathetic and understanding, dropping the subject entirely. And since then, I've been working on steadily gaining the trust and affection of the other villagers, along with the delegates from the four nations who periodically came by to check the progress in the village. 

　　I was offered the chance to become what they call an Adventurer, since they scanned me with some colored glasses and said that I have an exceptionally high power level, but I declined, stating that I dislike violence...hah!

　　To avoid contradicting myself, I've made sure to never use my powers, doubling down on my claims that I dislike violence and emphasizing how the idea of hurting another person makes me sick. But I've secretly been working on mastering my powers, and working in the fields every day has helped me build up my physical strength quite nicely. 

　　I desperately want to get started with terrorizing this world, but I have to wait for the right opportunity to strike. I've been learning as much as I can about this world, and while several of its most powerful beings have either been killed or sealed away, there are still a handful of absurdly powerful people around. 

　　I can't afford to be careless, or I'll get myself killed. I need to get much stronger, as strong as I possibly can before I make a move. That said, I've already laid the groundwork for my first step. Speaking of which... 

　　"Oh, there you are, Damien. I've been looking for you," Came a girl's voice, as a familiar figure approached me. 

　　"O-oh, hey, babe," I responded with a slight stutter, in line with my current persona. 

　　I'm an easily startled, jumpy boy with low self-confidence and severe anxiety. It was pretty fun at first, but it's starting to get tedious and annoying. 

　　And this girl right here, is my girlfriend. She's a year younger than I am, and a fellow Reincarnator like me. And her powers are quite tantalizing, I fully intend to take them for myself.

　　And to avoid suspicion, I've been getting close to her, acting like I'm deeply in love with her, making sure that everyone else around has clearly noticed. 

　　Mmm...I just can't wait to kill her and devour her heart, stealing her abilities and adding them to my own... 

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