Harem Streamer System: Every Crime I Broadcast Wins Me a Superheroine - Chapter 248

Chapter 248: Bites from the Past

It was late at night in Metro City.

The streets were completely empty.

No sign of people anywhere.

This was probably a club night.

The only things breaking the silence were a flickering streetlight overhead and the low rumble of a subway train moving somewhere deep underground.

By the side of the road, an old man sat on a worn-out bench with his legs crossed, holding a steaming porcelain teacup carefully in one hand. His wrinkled face looked calm, almost like the quiet night belonged only to him. Standing right behind him were two huge men dressed in neat black suits, wearing dark shades even though it was midnight. Their arms stayed stiff at their sides, but their sharp eyes kept sweeping over every shadow like hunting dogs on alert.

The old man was Chairman Lymtos.

That was when it happened—

A masked figure emerged from a dark alleyway.

His visor glowed a deep blood-red.

The agents reacted instantly as pistols snapped out of their holsters with smooth, deadly action.

But Lymtos lifted a hand mid-sip.

“Easy, agents…”

His voice was soft, almost carefree, as he let the warm tea slide across his tongue.

The masked man stepped further into the street as his black coat brushed against the wind.

The glow of his visor made the agents tremble.

“It’s fine…”

A flat voice.

“I wouldn’t have had any problems with chopping off their arms.”

The agents staggered back and their knuckles paled as they sheepishly holstered their weapons again. Fear was written on their faces—even standing near this man felt like sticking your head into the jaws of a beast.

Because this wasn’t just anyone.

It was him.

The 6th ranked assassin of the international order list!

Grave.

One of the agents wanted to whisper to Lymtos, to beg him not to sit so casually in front of a monster like this. But the old man’s serenity froze the words in his throat.

Instead, he clenched his jaw and stood stiff, shaking.

“Grave… you’re here.”

Lymtos let the words roll out as he plucked a sugar cube, dropped it into his tea, and stirred gently.

Grave exhaled heavily.

“Just get to the point, old man. I’m not here to sip tea under the moonlight.”

His tone was sharp and impatient as he adjusted the two katanas slung across his back.

The agents bristled at his rudeness, but none of them dared speak. And strangely enough, the Chairman didn’t seem insulted. Instead, his lips curved into the faintest smile as he leaned back on the bench.

“I want to move everything up by a month.”

His voice was cold.

“I’ve thought about it for some time now… and if Rope Girl won’t permanently neutralize Nightwatch, then the only right alternative… is you.”

His eyes narrowed dangerously.

Grave’s silence was heavier than any reply.

The kind of silence that said this isn’t how we agreed things would go down.

Lymtos chuckled softly.

“Don’t worry about the money. I’ll make it worth your time. Sixty million dollars should sound excellent to a man like you.”

He took another sip.

Grave finally gave a curt nod and turned back toward the alley.

But then Lymtos spoke again.

“Oh, and Grave?”

There was some smugness in his tone.

Grave paused.

“I want you to destroy everything he loves and everything he stands for. Eliminate his family, his friends… even his pet. I don’t care about his identity. I just want him gone.”

The porcelain cup trembled in his old hand.

━ ━ ━ ━

The next day—

The morning sun was bright, but Marcus felt none of it.

He was seated at the very back of a school bus with his huge eyes glued to his laptop. His fingers flew across the keyboard as he adjusted lighting and filters on a photo.

“Ooo… Brigid and Big Bro are gonna love this edit!”

He muttered with a goofy grin.

One by one, students poured out as the bus rolled into the schoolyard.

Marcus finally packed up his things and hopped to his feet like a cartoon character.

But before he could step out, a gloved hand pressed down on his shoulder.

“Huh?” he blinked.

The last thing he saw was a blank, featureless mask before darkness swallowed him whole.

He collapsed into the aisle—unconscious.

･･･

Meanwhile…

Brigid trudged down the roadside with two heavy grocery bags dangling from her slender arms. Her eyes flicked up at the floating holographic list in front of her face.

“Hrmm… I can’t believe Ms. Emma made me run around for all this junk. Even when I was still with Mom, I don’t think I ever carried so much at once.”

Her lips tugged into a soft smile despite the complaint.

There was a trace of nostalgia in her eyes, as though she wanted to cry—but in a good way.

“It feels nice though…” she whispered.

But then—

Her eyes snagged on something ahead. A store sign.

She stopped dead in her tracks.

“W-, WAIT, WHAT—!? (・口・)”

The grocery bags slipped from her hands and thudded against the sidewalk. Her cheeks flushed as her hands slapped over them in shock.

Her big, puppy eyes sparkled with disbelief.

[FREE SCOTT MCQUEEN NUDES HERE!]

Her jaw dropped.

“Hmph!”

She puffed her cheeks and spun around dramatically as she folded her arms.

“As if I’d fall for something that stupid! Obviously just a dumb marketing scam! ( ◔ ₃◔)”

Her cheeks grew redder and redder as she definitely didn’t glance back again.

But her eyes were saying a different thing.

They cracked open and snuck another peek at the sign.

“I mean… I… I should probably just check… just in case!”

She nodded righteously. (￣^￣)

“Y-, Yeah! And if it really is Lord Scott’s nudes, then I’ll tell him so they don’t spread around!”

She clenched her little fists with determination.

“ALRIGHT! SIDE QUEST! (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧”

Her nostrils flared proudly as her smile turned into that of a mischievous angel.

･･･

At the same time—

Inside the mansion, Emma’s luxurious kitchen looked like a war zone.

Soggy vegetables, blackened stew, and charred pots littered the counters.

There was thick, black smoke in the air.

Emma groaned as she dragged a hand down her face.

“I should’ve just called Nadia… I swear, cooking this stew is a nightmare.”

But no—there was no way she’d ever ask her mom or even her sister, Maddie.

Mom would flirt with her boyfriend, and Maddie would launch into a homemaking lecture.

No thanks. (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻

Just as she reached for her phone to call Nadia…

She suddenly remembered.

“Oh… right.”

Her face dropped. They weren’t talking.

The silence almost dragged her into sulking—but then, her phone rang.

The caller ID lit up: Scott.

Her heart leapt.

“Okay—okay! Deep breath!”

She quickly straightened her hair, propped up her breasts, dusted her cheeks, even fluttered her eyelashes as if he were right in front of her.

BEEP!

“Hey, babe!”

Her voice melted into sweet, sugary tones.

On the other end, Scott was behind the wheel of his sleek black GT-R, one hand on the wheel, the other adjusting the call display.

“Hey, Em… I’m on my way back. Want me to pick up anything from the market?”

Emma panicked the instant she glanced at the disaster zone that was her kitchen.

“Uhh—you’re back from Met U already!?”

PFFSHHH──!

The charred pot suddenly burst back into flames to make her panic and throw a full bowl of water over it. The fire went down for a moment—but then it came roaring back, even bigger than before, almost twice the size.

Emma shrieked and slapped a hand over her mouth.

Scott raised a brow.

“Uhm… is everything okay over there? (๑•̌.•̑๑)”

A loud clatter of pots exploded in his ear.

“UHHH—I’M FINE, DON’T WORRY!”

Emma yelled frantically.

Scott tilted his head. “Uhm… you sure…?”

“Y-, Yeah! Super sure!”

He chuckled.

“Well, if you say so. Anyway, about Gwen. I went to her dorm—none of her friends have seen her in days. She hasn’t even shown up for exams.”

Emma’s tone softened.

“That’s… strange. Not the exams part, though. Maybe ask her lecturers? Gwen’s too much of a standout for them not to notice if she’s missing—”

Fwoooosh! The fire surged again.

Emma coughed and frantically blasted the extinguisher.

Scott squinted.

“Uhh, Em? I’ll just tell you more when I get home—”

“WAIT!” she shouted.

Scott paused as his finger hovered over the red button.

“Yeah?”

Emma sighed heavily.

Her cheeks were burning with stress.

“I… I was cooking. And… cooking like crap. I sorta… burned everything. It was supposed to be a surprise for you. Not the burned food… the dish… can you just pick up some Chinese food? Brigid’s out getting groceries—you might see her on the way.”

Scott chuckled warmly. “Sure thing, babe.”

The call ended.

A blinking red dot lit up on his navigation screen.

Brigid’s phone signal.

“Guess I’ll pick her up and have her do the drive-thru orders. She’s better at that anyway.”

He smirked and pressed the pedal.

VROOOOM!

The GT-R roared as it carved through the streets.

But then—suddenly—the red dot vanished.

Scott’s smile faded.

His foot slammed harder on the accelerator.

VRU—VRUUUUMM!!

The car streaked past traffic like a jet.

In minutes, he reached the location of the last signal.

What he found froze his blood.

Groceries scattered across the sidewalk. No Brigid.

Scott’s jaw clenched as he crouched down.

“Hmmm…”

His fingers brushed the abandoned items.

“These are definitely hers… but why are they here?”

Lifting his gaze, his eyes fell on the glowing signboard.

[FREE SCOTT MCQUEEN NUDES HERE!]

Scott pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a sigh.

A very long sigh.

“Oh come on, Brigid… (;一_一)”

Scott looked around with eyes sharper than a blade.

He scanned every corner.

Not a single camera in sight.

His stomach twisted.

『No way that’s a coincidence…』

His looked at the torn milk carton lying on the ground.

His jaw went tight, and in the next instant, he was already back in his GT-R.

“Pick up, Emma, pick up…”

His voice shook as he jabbed the call icon on the car panel screen. But instead of a voice, only static cut in before the call dropped. Again. And again.

“Pick the call, for fuck’s sake!”

He shouted, slamming the accelerator.

The car shot down the street like a bullet fired from a cannon as he blitzed past cars and trucks.

Within minutes, he was in the mansion yard, barely waiting for the car to stop before throwing the door open and sprinting like a madman.

His chest burned, but fear kept his legs pumping.

The yard was a mess.

Workers littered on the ground, some dazed, some groaning in pain.

Others weren’t moving at all.

“No… no, no, no!”

Scott’s heart raced.

He tore into the mansion.

Kitchen wrecked. Dining room trashed.

He barreled through every corridor, slamming doors open, checking rooms he’d never even stepped foot in before. Again and again, even repeating rooms like a lunatic, tearing curtains aside, scanning under tables, calling her name.

“Emma! Where the hell are you—!? EMMA!”

Nothing. Not a sound.

“This isn’t funny, EMMA!”

His voice was already trembling.

The emptiness pressed on him like he was drowning.

His mind spiraled—Gwen, Brigid, Aunt Tess.

No calls in weeks, no way to reach them.

His breath hitched as the realization truly hit him.

“Oh God… they were all—”

He stumbled back and held his ruffled hair.

“No… please, no…”

His voice cracked.

He stumbled down the spiral staircase.

His chest pounded painfully.

Sweat poured down his face, fingers trembling as he looked at his own hands like they didn’t belong to him.

“They can’t just be gone…”

His voice broke into a whisper.

“I—I don’t…”

He gripped his chest and forced a shaky breath.

ZIIIINNNGGG!!

A sudden flash—steel screamed through the air.

Scott’s instincts jerked him sideways just in time as the blade missed his neck by a hair.

The slash was so clean he felt the air itself split.

His eyes widened. Grave.

“What the—!?”

Before the thought even left his mind, Grave was already in his face. The kashira of the katana’s hilt slammed into Scott’s temple and a brutal crack rung in his skull.

His vision went white for a split second.

Then—cold steel again.

The katana spun and sliced for his neck.

Scott snarled as the blue technophage flared across his skin just in time to coat his throat.

CLANG!!

The blade shattered into glittering shards against the living armor.

But Grave didn’t flinch—he dashed in to grapple Scott with terrifying precision.

“You son of a—!”

Scott grunted, struggling to break free.

A glint.

Grave’s hand slipped to his pocket.

His tactical army knife flashed.

It stabbed for Scott’s kidneys.

BLAAAM!

Scott drove his knee upward to knock the blade loose, then powered his body with a violent surge of technophage. His veins glowed bright as he hurled Grave across the room like dead weight.

CRAASSHH!!

The assassin smashed through the glass center table.

But he rolled, flipped, and was back on his feet in one smooth motion—like nothing had touched him.

Scott planted his stance with fists tightened.

『This bastard… how does he know where I stay? Wait—how the hell does he even know I’m Nightwatch? No… no, he can’t. It doesn’t make any—Focus, Scott.』

He raised his guard, every nerve on edge.

Grave didn’t rush.

He just stared, eyes dissecting every detail—the stagger in Scott’s footing, the tremor in his breaths, the brief moments his gaze lost focus.

『It worked…』

Grave thought coldly.

『The human skull is built like a fortress, but even a fortress has weak spots. The weakest one? The pterion. It’s so fragile that even a kid with a rock and decent aim could break it. I didn’t just hit it—I shattered it. I didn’t strike to kill, not right away. The impact spreads through the thin bone, shaking the brain inside its watery cushion of cerebrospinal fluid. Right under the pterion runs the middle meningeal artery. Now it’s torn open.』

He gave a single nod.

『That means he’s bleeding inside his own skull. His sight is surely blurry, his sense of balance slipping away. The ground feels like it’s spinning for him. But for me? Everything is steady, sharp, and perfectly level.』

Grave’s hand hungrily gripped the hilt of his katana.

Scott’s teeth ground together.

“What did you do to the others?!”

But his voice wavered and his head throbbed.

He clutched his temple—too slow.

BANG!

Bullets sang out.

Scott dove, barely dodging as Grave’s boot slammed into his jaw and launched him across the floor.

“Urrrgh…”

Blood dripped from Scott’s mouth as Grave glanced at the red stain on his boot.

He sighed.

“Damn it. Just got these.”

Then he shrugged.

“Oh well. I’ll use the sixty million I get from killing you to buy new ones.”

He holstered his gun and spun his katana lazily as he closed the gap.

“Don’t worry too much. I haven’t killed them. Not because I care. I gave up on making you my prey the moment I found out what you really are—a little kid who got broken by child abuse and plays hero to hide it. Surrounding yourself with women like toys, cosplaying as a savior? You’re not a hero. You’re a pathetic little shit.”

“Bastard—!”

Grave lunged, katana stabbing downward.

Scott rolled and the steel carved into the tile instead.

Cough! Cough! Blood splattered as Scott wiped his mouth with his thumb while his eyes narrowed.

“Nice kick.”

His hand pressed a red switch under the sofa.

A compartment snapped open.

Twin retractable swords.

He snatched them up.

“Gwen, Brigid, Emma… you better pray they’re safe. Or I swear, you’ll regret ever stepping foot here.”

SHIING!

The retractable blades extended in swift swings.

Quickly, Scott slashed forward.

Two arcs of steel whistled for Grave’s chest.

CLANG! CLANG!

Grave deflected effortlessly, then snapped a thrust toward Scott’s sternum.

Scott crossed his swords into an X to catch the blade and twist it upward before charging in with his shoulder.

But suddenly—his head spun.

His vision split. His stance crumbled.

KRAAACK!!

Grave’s knee slammed into his face, brutally rupturing his skull again.

BLAAAAAMM!!

Scott’s body collapsed backward as blood streamed from his nose in thick rivers.

Grave chuckled darkly as he slid his katana back into its sheath.

“You’re finished, kid.”

The gun came out, barrel leveled.

Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger.

No monologues, no nothing…

But just before the bullet could reach—

FOOOM!!

A cloud of pitch darkness erupted around Scott to swallow him whole.

Grave’s eyes narrowed as the smoke curled around the empty space where his target had been.

That was Scott’s last memory.

━ ━ ━ ━

Scott slowly opened his eyes as his head still pounded like someone had taken a sledgehammer to it.

“Ugh… where the hell… am I…?”

He pushed himself up to sit, but the moment his hand touched the side of his head, he froze.

A thick bandage was wrapped there.

“What the—?”

Before he could think too much, a sharp jolt of pain shot through his skull, forcing him to drop back onto the floor with a hiss.

“Be careful… you’re still weak.”

The voice that spoke was deep, gravelly and low.

It almost sounded like a demon.

Scott blinked and slowly lifted his head.

Kneeling in front of him was a massive figure made entirely of swirling black shadows.

Its hulking body looked carved from darkness itself.

But that wasn’t even the strangest part.

The shadowy giant had tugged down his boxer shorts just enough to… inspect what was underneath.

“Quite big.”

The creature rumbled.

It was almost like it was analyzing a specimen.

Scott’s entire brain froze.

Words? What were those again?

But even in his daze, he recognized the monster in front of him and his eyes blew open like flashlights.

“It’s you… the Z-tier hero—Shadow Monger!”

Panicking, he yanked his boxers back up and scrambled to his aching feet.

“Holy crap, I actually have a limited-edition action figure of you back at home! Uh, it’s not mint condition anymore thanks to my girlfriend, but still!”

He scratched the back of his head nervously as he tried to fill the awkward silence.

Shadow Monger just stared at him.

Quiet. Heavy. Awkward.

He was a Z-tier hero, but somehow also one of the most terrifying figures in the entire hero business. His form was so monstrous, and his powers so immense, that people feared him more than they admired him. In fact, whenever he saved civilians, he wasn’t even allowed to show his face—because if he did, most of them would pass out from sheer shock.

So really, how do you even start a conversation with someone like that?

The most feared hero in all of Metro City.

So Scott, being Scott, gave the hulking shadow a friendly pat on the arm.

“You know, I’ve always thought you were the strongest male superhero around. Honestly, I don’t think Fortitude is all that impressive. My ex prefers him though.”

He frowned at the memory.

The shadow tilted its head at him, almost confused.

Then it spoke. “I’m not man… I’m woman.”

Scott blinked. “Eh?”

The voice repeated, slower this time. “I’m woman.”

Scott raised an eyebrow. “Wait, what…?”

And then the shadows peeled away like black ink dissolving in water.

Standing there instead was a petite woman with a sleek black ponytail, cherry lips, round glasses perched on her nose, and a beige trench coat draped over her shoulders.

Scott’s jaw dropped.

“WHAT—!? (´⊙ω⊙`)!”

Who would’ve thought Shadow Monger was this cute?!