Chapter 20:  Chapter 20 – Investigation

…

If Yamcha was honest with himself, he just stopped the bank robbery to see if he could handle bullets and maybe have fun. He doesn't exactly go around looking for a crime like some wanna-be vigilante or hero. 

 

His heroism extends about as far as he can see and stops when there are opponents he can't fight. Of course, that also extends to how sure he is on the chance that the scrawny-looking guy has a weapon. 

 

That might sound a lot, but he is essentially an average guy who won't fight the buff guy but will fight the scrawny-looking guy if he is doing something wrong. 

 

He didn't even have a problem killing people in this world because the afterlife existed. That is very un-heroic behavior. If they are good people, they will go to heaven. If not, then it's hell for them. He was sure some people in this world who don't know about the afterlife might see his actions as cold-hearted. 

 

Anyways, he wasn't a hero. So why the hell did he get a Quest like this?

 

Yamcha opened the panel with a thought. 

 

[Quest: Hero]

[Become a Hero]

[Reards: ???]

What kind of bullshit description was that? Become a Hero? Yamcha dismissed the notifications and ran off from the scene before any camera caught him. He didn't want to appear in the news. 

 

Puar flew down and landed on his shoulder when he was far enough. He had also learned how to fly by now. 

 

"So, are we going to swim again?" Puar asked with a heavy sigh, already knowing the answer. 

 

Yamcha nodded and jumped toward the sea. His jumping looked almost like flight, by how far he jumped. 

 

As soon as he touched the sea, he started swimming. Some motorboats were around him, but they were kind of slow compared to him. 

 

With the weights and water resistance, swimming is the best way for him to gain stats. 

 

By now, Yamcha had extensively tested his Gamer Interface's functions. He had even tried asking people and making them say something that could trigger a Quest. If he stole someone's bike and had that same person have him find it, that wouldn't start a Quest. 

 

'But right now, my joking words triggered one? Maybe it was the intent? No, that's very unlikely. This shitty game can't even read my mind to put the right info in the description.'

 

Many thoughts went through his mind as he swam through the ocean. “Is it a fish? Is it a boat?! No, it’s Aquaman!”

“You’re so weird,” Puar tried criticizing him, but the laughter that escaped through his lips didn’t make him come off as mean as he tried to be. 

***

 

Mercenary Tao relaxed, standing atop a pole and overseeing a small village. 

 

The greatest assassin in the world; that's what they called him nowadays. He had grown fond of the title and loved living up to the expectations. If there was one thing he didn’t like, he could just kill someone, and that would have the benefit of getting rid of a pesky person and also helping his career. 

 

Though the only demerit there could be to this was that he had a bounty on his head, a big one, so every now and then, some dumb bounty hunter would come and try their hand at him. This is what occurs when you kill a lot of wealthy and politically influential people. Though he also kind of liked this part of the job too. 

 

Recently he has had some problems from the Red Ribbon Army, not the kind where they came to ask for issues from him. He would slaughter their whole army if they dared to do so. 

 

They had come to request a job to help them find something called Dragon Balls?

 

Tao had previously heard of them, something to do with a wish-granting dragon. But he didn’t care about them too much, even if somehow the legend was true. What was he going to wish for? Power? He was already the best assassin in the world, essentially the strongest creature on earth. Longevity? He has already lived with his brother through a particular herb for hundreds of years. 

 

Also, he didn’t respect people who were just handed things over to them. What would someone truly happy wish for? If you have a passion for what you do, you should advance in life at your pace instead of hoping for a shortcut. 

 

“Maybe I should become a motivational speaker in an assassination school?” Tao contemplated. He was already rich and had a long time before he was anywhere near close to his age limit. “Maybe after solving this investigation.”

 

The Red Ribbon army had built a large dragon ball detector machine that could show the location of the Dragon Balls. However, the device was the size of a big room, and couldn’t drag it around. 

 

Tao had to admit that the Red Ribbon army had some intelligent scientists. 

 

Maybe he should get some cybernetic enhancements from one of those famous doctors. 

 

What was his name again? Zero? Gero? Something like that. He had built a lot of androids, cyborgs, and all kinds of other illegal machinery. 

 

While trying to remember the man’s name, Tao jumped down from the electricity pole and landed in the middle of the town. The ground under him cracked, and people looked at him wide-eyed. 

 

“A ball about the size of a fist, with stars in them. Has anyone seen it?”

 

He saw some recognition and fear on some of their faces. Being famous was always kind of nice.

 

“Ah, yes, there was a young boy who saved our village from the Demon Oolong,” said an old woman. She smiled like the kind grandma next door who always gives cookies.

 

“Description? Names?” Tao asked calmly. 

 

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“Little kid with wild hair and monkey’s tail, and the girl had greenish blue hair,” the old man explained with a smile on her face. “Why? Are you looking for them? Are you their friend?”

“Somewhat,” Tao said. “Thank you for the explanation, old woman. I don’t carry cash on me, but as payment, I will kill any one person that you want.”

 

Though he might be a cold-hearted killer, Tao wasn’t a monster and knew how to be fair in his deals. If someone helped him, he would repay them. 

 

“What?! God no, I don’t want anyone killed!” The old granny exclaimed in shock.

 

“So you’re refusing my generosity?” Tao frowned and, without hesitation, used his finger to poke the old woman in the forehead, piercing her brain, scrambling it around like a soup, and killing her. 

 

The people around him gasped in shock, but no one did anything, and he just walked it off. No one dared tell him anything either. 

 

He could tell the people in this village knew the meaning of fear quite well. 

 

‘Seems like I will have to follow the trail. Right now, I have Goku, Bulma, and likely a dead demon named Oolong.’

…

 

Tao continued his due investigation, which brought him to an abandoned home in the Diablo desert that probably belonged to some bandit. It had been almost a year since their journey around these parts, and sand wasn’t a good place to keep track of footprints or tires. 

 

The assassin almost reached the peak of despair. No one had ever escaped Tao before. Was he about to lose his perfect record? Something he had spent over a hundred years perfecting.

 

He had reached Firepan Mountain, but no one lived there either. Tao doubted anyone had ever lived here in the last couple of hundred years, as skeletons were all over the place. 

 

The only leads he had were a girl called Bulma, a little kid named Goku, and Yamcha. He didn't even know how the latter looked. 

 

But Tao was persistent, and wouldn't want to fail a mission, so he continued searching. You don't become the world's best killed by not being stubborn.

 

Yet, in the end, he came out short and instead decided to mull over a cup of ramen in a small town called Fungus Town, probably named so because of the tree-sized mushrooms around the place. Whole forests are filled with mushrooms of those sizes. 

 

 

"Little Milly is still headstrong into studying martial arts," said one of the customers. 

 

They had been here even before him. But Tao was still annoyed: a ramen stand wasn’t a place to drink. 

 

Tao noted he had a beer in his hand and smelled of alcohol. He likely had some strong alcohol before and tried to cover the smell with beer before he went home. 

 

“It’s almost been a year since that guy came and took care of the Carrot Gang.” Another man joined the drunkard and spoke loudly. 

'I will kill them just after I finish this ramen. If they get up before I do, it is their fate to live.' Tao thought. The last thing he wanted to hear was drunkards talk after failing a mission. 

 

"Yeah, that same guy also saved little Milly's mother. Her head cracked open when one of Carrot's men hit her. Since that guy saved them, Milly has been training hard to be like him. Last I heard, she was able to lift a rock half her body size," said a third guy. 

 

A fourth guy added. "No way, man, that's a joke. No kid can do that."

 

The drunk man smirked victoriously. "You have always been a skeptic, Rick, even when people talked about Carrot's ability to turn people into vegetables, literally.”

 

The man named Rick only shrugged. “I will believe fairy tales only when I see em.”

 

"A couple of days ago, that strong guy was in the news again. This time saving some people from a bank robbery, he caught bullets mid-air. You could hear Milly telling everyone she saw." 

 

"What was the guy's name again?"

 

"I don't know."

 

"The other green-haired girl called him out once. Yuka? Yumcha?"

 

"Oh yeah, the gas station owner heard it. I think his name was… Yamcha."

When he heard the name, Tao's brain halted, and everything slowed down around him. The world turned white, and nothing else existed for a second. 

 

"Ahahahahaahahaha!!" He got up and laughed out loudly, this was it! The lead he had been searching for so long. 

 

It seemed like even fate itself didn't want him to fail a mission! He was, after all, fated to become the world's best assassin! The laughs of joy rang even as people started looking at him weirdly. 

 

Tao didn’t remember the last time he had felt such despair. Maybe hundreds of years ago, during Demon King Piccolo's time. 

“AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

******

A/N: I liked writing this chapter. It felt like a brief look into the change Yamcha has left on the world. 

 

P.S: For those curious, it was around chapter 8, when Yamcha saved Milly's mother from the Carrot Gang. 

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