[MF] Ch 27: The Worm Torture Collection

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Honestly, Touko Aozaki's worldview had just been completely shattered. After a long silence, all she could manage was one thought:

"Are all the ancient families this terrifying? This guy's bloodline has already gone extinct, and he's still that strong. Is his ancestor Zelretch or what?"

For the first time in a long while, Touko found herself genuinely shaken. She hadn't expected this kind of power gap between them.

Right now, she felt like she was still playing version 1.0 of a game… and had just run into a player from version 3.0—the kind of alien civilization that makes you question reality itself.

Not that she'd ever actually played games like that, but the feeling was spot on.

Also… was it just her imagination, or had Kaito gotten more handsome? Broader shoulders, sharper features… even his "modeling" looked subtly upgraded.

She frowned slightly. Another mystery. Another thing she wouldn't get an answer to.

After all, Touko wasn't the type to pry. She'd been properly trained in the etiquette of magi—every magus has their secrets, and asking about them is taboo. Even if someone offers to tell you, you have to stop and wonder what their real intention is, what kind of trouble it might bring.

And just like Kaito never asked about her personal research, she wasn't going to interrogate him either.

Besides, what he'd brought her was basically a small fortune. Sure, it would take some effort to liquidate everything, but no matter how it turned out, this was still the kind of big-spending client you want to keep happy.

He was paying her for puppet creation, despite her having already promised to make him two for free. On top of that, anything left over from selling the Matou loot would become her bonus.

That was… best client ever. The kind of person you go the extra mile for.

So she did.

Touko promised to make, as quickly as possible, a special containment device capable of completely restraining Zouken's true body. She didn't ask why Kaito didn't just do it himself—she just got to work.

Overnight. No sleep. No breaks.

...

By the next morning, a small, intricate box sat on her workbench—a magic tool designed to suppress Zouken's magical energy and vitality. So no matter what, he'd remain weak and unable to escape.

The box was self-sustaining, powered by three embedded magic jewels at the bottom. When one ran out, Kaito only had to swap them one at a time to keep it running indefinitely.

And once the lid was closed, a built-in hypnosis field would activate, forcing the "old worm" into a state of hibernation. Only when the box was opened again would he awaken.

Thanks to that forced hibernation feature, Kaito could still store the box in his system inventory.

And that's not all, under the lid was a fine mesh layer made from enchanted metal—a fail-safe in case the old worm tried any surprise moves. The mesh could open a small hatch, but it was locked and required a special key.

That hatch, of course, was one of Kaito's specific requests. Small enough that the worm couldn't squeeze through, but big enough for Kaito to "feed" him things.

After studying Zouken's physiology, Touko had even handed Kaito a set of custom potions and suppressing tools. Used properly, they'd keep Zouken permanently weakened. Even if taken out of the box, he'd be too feeble to resist for quite some time.

For example, if Kaito put him in a glass container and applied the right drug or seal, the old worm would be reduced to a twitching slug—too limp to break glass, too weak to crawl out.

From Zouken's perspective, all this was pure cruelty on a professional level—Touko Aozaki's craftsmanship was the symbol of evil.

...

Later that day

"My cute points generator How are ya?"

That was the first thing Zouken heard after waking up. He didn't understand the words, but the voice sounded kind — too kind — and for some reason, that warmth filled him with fear.

"Let's begin our little experiment, shall we~?"

And just like that, the poor old worm became Kaito's test subject.

"Experiment?"

That was the start of Zouken's crash course in the brilliant creativity of bug-torture streamers.

Kaito didn't hesitate to start "Ep 1." He sprinkled some weakening agent on Zouken, plucked him out with a pair of tweezers, and dropped him into a reinforced glass jar.

Then he poured in a bunch of red fire ants.

Anyone who knows about insects understands what that means—fire ants are aggressive little demons from South America. They'll attack anything that moves, they bite with venom, and they're considered an invasive disaster species in half the world.

So yeah, you can imagine the effect.

The moment the ants were in, they swarmed the old worm, crawling all over his body and biting like mad.

"Aagaaaaah!"

Zouken's shrill, distorted screams echoed through the room as his body thrashed and slammed against the glass.

The sight was… grotesquely fascinating.

"Zouken Matou vs. Fire Ant Colony"—a matchup that would've easily gone viral if there was an internet here.

Too bad this wasn't that kind of era. Kaito could only record the footage for later use—maybe one day, when he visited another world, he could upload it for laughs.

"It'll be interesting in the Marvel world. I can upload the Iron Man scene first — the one where he attacks for no reason — then Zouken's truth, and finally the worm torture collection. Yep, that's exactly how a capitalist defines fun."

Kaito had high hopes for the worm torture collection. After all, Zouken's form was one of a kind. Just the way he looked was guaranteed clickbait.

And sure enough, Kaito's system chimed with a new achievement:

[The Strongest Worm Vs. Swarm of Fire Ants?]

[Reward: 50 Fun Points.]

50? Just 50? This felt ridiculously stingy. It almost made him suspect the system was taking a cut.

But instead of complaining, Kaito's mind immediately started spinning with ideas.

If this counted as an achievement… what about other "worm versus worm" matchups? Bug battles were a classic niche in the future internet—there was so much potential content here.

He could try Zouken vs. Salt, Zouken vs. Chili Powder, Zouken vs. Super Glue, or even Zouken vs. bullet ants & crickets. Humanity's appetite for weird cruelty knew no bounds.

Back on Earth, Kaito had seen videos where people dumped leeches into salt or super glue—and those clips had millions of views.

Humans' curiosity was, frankly, terrifying. If those bugs were replaced with people, the creators of those videos would deserve to have Satan tattooed on their backs as punishment.

Of course, Kaito felt no such guilt when it came to Zouken. For him, this wasn't cruelty—it was pure fun.

And who knew? Maybe one day the old worm would go viral across worlds as the internet's most famous bug, while Kaito raked in achievements and Fun Points.

Win-win for everyone.

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