章節 10: Growing Fame
Vincent and Ohta, left the venue with a mostly positive mood. By winning the match, Togo was forced to give a large chunk of money to the heavyset CEO, who planned to make use of it by investing in more top-of-the-line IT equipment. It's necessary for businesses that specialize in technology to always have the most expensive and more efficient equipment so they can stay ahead of the curve.
The CEO had at least that much business sense in him despite not rising to the top by his own means.
With Kenzo writing the man's speeches, he can deliver them to enrich the mood of his company. Learning how to work on new stuff can be slightly demoralizing and since technology is upgraded every year, it can weigh down on a person.
Ohta has no small amount of gratitude for the real boss of Under Mount Inc. Even though he said to his fighter to not drink him out of his wallet earlier, he still plans on splurging for himself. The doubts from the first match were blown away and the doubts in the second match were blown away. Ohta now has a solid amount of belief and trust in Vincent to win the fights he sets up as long as he isn't matched up against real titans. The Fang, the Wild Tiger, even the wrestler, Sekibayashi would be worrisome.
"Alright, let's get drunk." Vincent was delighted to drink some strong liquor, like shochu or whiskey. Since his boss has a designated driver, the two can get as smashed as they want to without worry.
Well, they can't get blackout drunk as that would be kinda bad.
The two hopped in the backseat of their car and Ohta signaled his driver to head to the nearest bar. The car drove off from the location of the match, leaving everyone else to their thoughts.
What those thoughts consisted of varied from person to person based on if they had a fighter participating in the Kengan Matches or if Vincent caused them to lose a bet. There was naturally both positive and negative emotions flowing from the area in equal amounts, malice lining the plans of Kengan Association members.
"So? Based on the data you received, do you think you can do some permanent damage?" One man was talking to his fighter, yet he didn't say anything like, 'can you beat him' because he felt it wasn't possible.
The fighter wasn't offended though. He merely formed a ring with his thumb and index finger. "Yeah, I got everything I need. I'll ruin this up-and-coming talent...hehehehe." If the laughter didn't prove the vile nature of the man it came from, then his next words did.
"I can't wait to see his face once he realizes he'll never be able to climb any higher than he had already."
"That was aikido," a man realized after contemplating for a while. It took so long to realize because aikido itself is a very soft style, which doesn't work well with what seemed like Vincent's main style—brawling.
"Could he be a dabbler then?" That would make sense. Even if he was unable to see what happened when Hong had his fingers broken, he did see that his palms were open right when the Chinese man pulled back. Vincent at least seems versed in hard and soft styles, making him out to be stronger than he initially seemed.
"I want to test this man. He seems slightly promising. Horio, search for some arrogant brat who wants to challenge Under Mount and convince him to purchase our services. We'll send Reiichi." The dried up, raspy voice commanded authority and attention from those around him.
"Understood."
"Huh, me? Well, alright."
This was the Kure clan. Needless to say, they were a clan of martial artists that have transcended common humanity. Their eyes give them away; the whites of their eyes black and their irises unanimously pale in color. The head of the clan had a savage grin on his face. The reason why he wants Reiichi to fight Vincent is to test him against a rather strong member who possesses a good mastery of the clan's martial arts.
Whether Vincent wins or loses, he gained the unfortunate attention of the Kure clan because of his good showing. After facing two strong veterans of the Kengan Matches and defeating them with no true injuries, the Kure blood was ignited with the idea of competition.
There was one more person who was gaining an interest in Vincent.
"He defeated a man who fought the Fang...that's not much to say because he was defeated relatively quickly, but he wasn't incapacitated." He cupped his chin in thought.
"Should I convince my boss to let me have a go at him?"
All it took was a single fighter of recognizable strength to cause a stir within the Kengan Association. His battles were just the beginning to the balanced scales tipping just a slight amount.
And the man who started this stir?
"Damn, are you serious? You really gotta introduce me to that genius you're talking about!" He was busy gallivanting with his buddy, performing the pinnacle of a bar crawl by jumping from place to place. Their stumbling would've made them a perfect target for a robbery if they didn't have minders bodyguarding them.
"Nah, I can't. He likes to...he likes to...you know, right?"
"Yeah yeah yeah, I gotcha, I gotcha." They didn't even know what they were talking about.
He was drunk as hell.
The two lasted further into the night before their minders decided that enough was enough. Forcibly, they had to bring them back to the mansion before they drunk themselves into a coma. It was to their fortune that Vincent's ability to fight was seemingly decimated by the alcohol as they dragged him into a car, ignoring his struggles.
Within five minutes, the two men in the back began snoring, their loud noises irritating the driver. He repeatedly tapped the steering wheel in an effort to calm himself down, but when the sound of snoring overwhelmed even that, a sigh of pure misery exhaled from his throat. He hopes this doesn't become a recurring thing.
A week has passed Vincent's last fight and he's been going stir-crazy while Ohta is behind his desk at work.
Said CEO is feeling slightly worried about his antsy fighter. There wasn't any personal concern for his emotions, but instead concern for what he might do. Kenzo gave him some information on some of his background and that only implanted a seed of doubt into his mind.
He stared at nothing for about a minute straight, a concentration exercise to ready himself before he called his true boss. He hit speed dial after picking up the phone and waited for approximately three seconds before he heard a click.
"...Yes?"
Ohta bent at the waist immediately. "Things have been going exceptionally well! The person you chose to fight for us really was excellent." His tone was the perfect example of ingratiating and servile. The CEO was sweating like he was a burger flipper talking to a fast food manager after being caught spitting in a customer's food.
"There's no need for any of that..." Kenzo didn't sigh, but he was a little bit tired of this. "Anyway, how is Vincent Walker acclimating to an environment where fights aren't as common as they were back in the Slaughter Coliseum?"
Going back to how Vincent was found when he was busy walking all over Japan and fighting random people, Yamashita Kenzo already knew of him because of the fame he generated back at his old choice of underground fighting. A place where death matches are commonplace and weapons are allowed, yet the man never suffered a permanent injury. He was known for being the person who had the highest rate of matches and fought like a man possessed, dominating the place.
Skill wasn't needed. He could just exhaust the person and beat the living shit out of them until they dropped. He wasn't properly used to the Kengan Matches yet because they were using skill.
He was just too rusty. Fortunately, he had some tough people to clean the rust off his mediocre skill, so he could put that meager thing to good use.
The reason Ohta's boss chose him as a fighter was because he doesn't really care about money all that much. He's the type of person who wants to fight because there's something he seeks in a fight itself, thus making him very easy to hire. Combined with his genuine strength and he was made a priority choice. He wasn't the only one, but he was the easiest one to get.
Ohta sighed when he took his boss's question in. "He's complaining so much and making it his job to annoy me until I schedule him for a match. He doesn't understand that I just want him healed fully!"
"Allow him to participate in one of the people challenging you currently."
"Eh?" Ohta was surprised, but he nodded. He had the mindset that Kenzo could never be wrong and he would follow all of his orders.
"Which one should I choose then?"
"Koyama Mart." There was a reason he chose them. It would make itself apparent in Vincent's match. Ohta put Kenzo on hold, not before asking him very affectionately, and then he called the CEO of Koyama Mart to let him know that his offer would be accepted.
The overweight man sighed as he realized just how many challenge offers he got now that his current fighter is known in the Kengan Matches as a tough cookie.
"It's done, sir."
"Good." The lanky young man paused before continuing. "I know you still have your reservations, but there's no need to worry. Trust in my decision." Kenzo hung up.
Ohta clenched his fist with admiration burning in his eyes.
'He naturally realized that even if I worship him, I would still question his moves. He saw through that and just asked me to trust him! Truly, I made no mistake in following him!'
At that moment, an idea came to Ohta's mind. One that would serve to motivate Vincent in his next match while killing his complaints while he waits for future matches. His boss just gives him a guideline to follow while he fills in that guideline with ideas that would supplement it positively.
Though Kenzo is the real boss, Ohta still possesses some ability of his own, even if it's not excellent enough to serve as a CEO of a large corporation.
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票