Access 15+ early chapters and 3 chapters of my new fic: Weather Wizard SI on Pátreon.com/Herd99.
-
Kain rolled his shoulders as he stepped past the panicking crew. No rush. No flair. Just the same unbothered gait he used to walk to breakfast. His training shirt was still damp from sweat, sticking to his back, and his towel hung limply around his neck.
The Sea Kings had paused.
They weren't attacking yet—but they were watching. Giant, unblinking eyes tracking the small figure approaching the ship's edge.
The crew fell quiet, confused. One of the younger Marines leaned toward another and whispered, "Is he… going to try something?"
"I thought he was just the guy who naps a lot…"
"He's still just that guy."
Kain ignored them.
The ship creaked under his weight as he stepped up onto the railing. One good wave could've knocked him off. Didn't matter. He stood straight, looking down at the nearest Sea King—the biggest one. The one that looked like it could swallow their entire vessel and still have room for dessert.
It hissed, water spraying from its nostrils.
Kain didn't flinch.
He raised his right hand, just slightly. His posture was relaxed, his arm half-bent, fingers curled like he was about to throw a paper ball into a wastebasket.
He took a long breath and muttered under his breath, "Guess it's time to test this 'Limit Break' nonsense."
Then, lazily, he pulled his fist back.
It wasn't dramatic. There was no crackle of lightning. No glowing aura. Just a slow, almost bored motion—like a man stretching after waking up from a nap.
But the Shonen System noticed.
[Aura Farming Successful! Received 100 BSP.]
[Aura Farming Successful! Received 100 BSP.]
[Aura Farming Successful! Received 100 BSP.]
Kain didn't react. His eyes were on the Sea King. "Thanks for showing up," he said softly. "You're just big enough to make this look impressive."
Then he threw the punch.
It was… gentle.
No shockwave. No explosion. Just a smooth, sweeping arc—like he was swatting away a mosquito that annoyed him mid-yawn.
But the air reacted.
It howled.
A cone of force burst from his fist, splitting the clouds above like someone had carved a rift in the sky with a blade. The water below trembled. The Sea Kings froze.
Then—instinct took over.
All four creatures let out panicked shrieks, their massive forms thrashing backward in a frenzy of foam and scale. One dove so deep it vanished instantly. Another spun in a tight circle before bolting out of view, its tail whipping the water behind it like a fleeing hurricane.
The crew watched in stunned silence as the monsters retreated.
Gone.
Kain dropped his arm and blinked.
"…Huh. Still not perfect," he mumbled. "Too much effort."
He stepped off the railing, back onto the deck. Some of the crew were still staring, mouths half-open, like they couldn't believe what they'd seen.
Kain walked past them without a word.
Captain Brant finally managed to speak. "Wait… what was that? What the hell did you just do?"
Kain paused and looked over his shoulder. "Punch."
"Just… punch?"
Kain shrugged. "A lazy one."
Then he kept walking.
By the time he reached the stairwell leading below deck, the entire crew had burst into cheers behind him. But Kain didn't react. He was already thinking about whether he had earned enough nap passes to skip the afternoon leg workout.
And maybe… maybe a second banana.
The sun had started to dip by the time the last of the commotion died down.
What remained on deck was a crew caught between stunned silence and disbelief. Cannons still sat loaded, ropes hung loose, and buckets of seawater stood forgotten beside mops. No one moved. No one even tried to explain what they'd seen.
Captain Brant leaned heavily on the railing, a cigarette smoldering between his fingers, untouched. He stared out at the sea—the eerily calm sea—and then up at the sky.
The clouds hadn't quite gone back to normal.
A wedge-shaped tear still lingered, cutting through the sky like a scar, as if something—or someone—had split it open.
"Still think he's just some lazy slacker?" one of the sailors murmured.
Another rubbed his chin. "I don't know what he is. But that wasn't normal. That was... something else."
Brant didn't respond. He finally brought the cigarette to his lips, took one slow drag, and exhaled.
"Keep the cannons loaded anyway," he said after a long pause. "I don't think we'll be seeing more Sea Kings tonight... but I'd rather not rely on a single guy with a stupid punch name to save us every time."
The crew nodded, silently returning to their stations.
Below deck, Kain was already lying on his side, one arm folded under his head like a pillow. His damp shirt was peeled off and tossed over a chair. He'd downed some water, stretched a little, and dropped onto his bunk without even drying off.
The room was quiet, except for the soft hum of the ship and the occasional groan of wood shifting.
Then, predictably, the Shonen Systemchimed.
[System Notification: Mission Complete!]
-Reward: 1,000 BSP and a Free Nap Pass (10 uses).
-Nap Pass Total: 62
Kain cracked one eye open.
"Sixty-two," he muttered, rolling onto his back. "I could nap for a week straight and still have leftovers."
A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. He stared up at the ceiling for a while, fingers laced behind his head.
"Guess the Limit Break thing's working," he said to no one in particular. "Still feels like overkill for a glorified coast guard assignment."
Another pause.
"...Still. Could've died today."
He didn't sound scared, or shaken. More… mildly annoyed. As if death would've been a serious interruption to his current nap schedule.
But he remembered the Sea Kings' eyes. The panic. The retreat. That ripple in the air as his punch grazed reality and it flinched.
He sat up just long enough to pull a small notebook out of his drawer. It was old, pages dog-eared, corners bent. In it, he jotted down a short line: *Lazy Punch – needs fine-tuning. Too scary. Scale down.
Then, without further thought, he flopped back down, eyes already closing.
Up on deck, Brant still hadn't moved from his spot at the railing.
A breeze passed through—light, almost unnoticeable. The ship rocked slightly in the still waters, a ghost of normalcy returning. But Brant kept staring out at the sea, deep in thought.
He didn't say it out loud, but the question lingered in his mind like fog:
'Just who is that man?'
Meanwhile, in his bunk, Kain was already snoring.
Challenge survived.
Reputation rising.
Nap secured.
The Calm Belt had thrown one of its worst at them.
And Kain?
He punched it… and went back to bed.