Seunghyuk laid on the floor, tired and heavily wounded. He was beaten black and blue all over his body, the man had absolutely no mercy.
"Well, I guess hopelessly weak dogs like you only need to be taught a lesson before you stop biting," The man shuffled his feet as he walked across slowly, picking up the five stalks of Soul Flowers and looked down at Seunghyuk's lying figure," Well, be happy I'm doing you a favour...by ending your pathetic life..."
"...shortly and painlessly..."
Seunghyuk could only see the man raise his fist once more through his blurred vision, and his last thought was," Looks like life doesn't really flash before my eyes when I'm about to die..."
It all seemed like it was coming to an end. Ironically, things are coming to an end at the very beginning of a journey. Through his slow process of death, he pitied himself and mentally beat himself up over it.
"So you're just going to give up..." A voice rang in Seunghyuk's head, and Seunghyuk could not say anything to reply, but in his head he loudly thought out," System? Is that you? It sounds like you?"
"I guess you could say that. However, we don't have all this time to talk, you are about to perish," The voice sounded like System, but it's tone and register was much different, much bolder in a way," So you have lost your will to fight back? "
"I haven't. I just don't know what I can do as a newbie Conqueror," Seunghyuk thought out loud in his brain again, as it seemingly worked as communication with the System voice, "If only I had more power, I would have just fought back..."
"Do you know how funny it is hearing someone like you speaking about the lack of power?" The voice spoke again, this time mixing in hints of sarcasm as the voice calmed itself down and rephrased, "It's not that you don't have the power you seek, it's just that you've lost your will to fight. "
"..."
Seunghyuk took some time to appreciate the moment of silence as he contemplated, but as time went on, sharp pain started to kick in and the thought of the man stealing the Soul Flowers right out of his own hands irked him.
"I will never give in..." Seunghyuk thought aloud once again, this time his thought vibrated in his brain and received no reply from the mysterious voice, then he hollered out loud, "I still have the will to fight back!"
To the man, Seunghyuk's body seemed to wake up from death and shoot up immediately, and that shocked the man. Seunghyuk's eyes fixated on the man's body and dashed forward like a wild beast fighting for his life. The family ring on his hand glowed again, this time it was different from the blinding white light in the bathroom, it was a dark red glow that seemed to flow into Seunghyuk's body fluidly.
Conqueror's Level: 1
Strength: 5 (raised by 4)
Agility: 5 (raised by 4)
Defense: 5 (raised by 4)
MP: 5 (raised by 4)
Seunghyuk's statistics shot up to 5 from 1, making him much faster and stronger than he was before. Seunghyuk took a step forward and leapt forward like a hungry cheetah looking for its next prey.
"What the—" The man shouted in surprise, raising his legs up to counter the attack with a kick, but Seunghyuk was faster all of a sudden, throwing a heavy jab to the man's stomach.
"ARGHH! YOU LITTLE SHIT!" The man growled in pain and ran forward, aiming for Seunghyuk's head with his fists.
"No wonder you're so slow...You're like a tortoise on land," Seunghyuk threw a comment in the man's face and slid perfectly to the side, avoiding the man's slow fist, "Have you considered what would happen to you before you decided to confront me?
Seunghyuk's eyes scanned the man's body like he was an artificial intelligence working at its best, he then smiled for the first time during the whole intense battle. Without contemplating the reason why, Seunghyuk was happy enough to discover the fact that he was able to see the man's body statistics.
Conqueror's Name: Yeon Taekjoon
Conqueror's Level: 2
Strength: 4
Agility: 3
Defense: 4
MP: 2
Skills: Create Battlespace, Fear Instill
Followed after, was a ruthless, rapid slap to the man's face.
"You little—" The man was punched in the abdomen before he could finished his sentence, and he staggered backwards as Seunghyuk stepped forward and asked snarkily, "Firstly, don't you know any other words other than profanities?"
"You—" The man tried to speak again but was immediately shut up when Seunghyuk delivered a strong kick to his face, knocking him off balance, "Secondly, don't you know what basic respect is? Speaking before someone is finished isn't exactly respectful."
Seunghyuk stood straight, dusting his shoulders as he looked down at the man's lying body. The tables have turned completely, and Seunghyuk was definitely exhausted as well. Squatting down, he raised his right hand in the air and struck it down to the man's leg, breaking it.
"Mister, would you tell me your name?" Seunghyuk asked the man lying on the floor growling in pain, and when he didn't get any response, he simply searched his pockets and took his Identification Card out from his wallet, "You could've just told me anyways. Surprisingly though, your identification card is fake isn't it? In sure you're not Kim Jaejung, but Yeon Taekjoon, right?"
"How did you—" The man was shushed by a fist to his face, and Seunghyuk was satisfied knowing that he could actually analyse someone's body statistics and information, "You're pretty lucky, you know? Because I'm not a bloodthirsty vampire like you, I'm not going to take lives."
"You-You're just a coward, of course you wouldn't dare to kill me anyways. So sho-should I sa-say thanks to you? You little mother fucker?" The man spoke with great difficulty breathlessly and Seunghyuk reached forward and grabbed the five stalks of Soul Flowers laying on the floor, "Well since you asked for it, now that I think of it..."
"No you wouldn't dare...You..." The man's eyes widened with fear and instant regret, his mouth shivered and his breathing was uneven.
"Vulgar-mouthed scums like you shouldn't even be allowed to breathe the fresh air in this world anyway. You deserve to live...no, rot eternally in hell."
With that, Seunghyuk finished up by delivering three lethal punches to the man's throat, cutting off the man's airway, leading him to slowly suffer the feeling of desperately trying to breathe but nothing is entering his lungs. Not long after, the man gave up struggling and dropped lifelessly to the ground, hands drooped weakly to the side.
"I...I killed someone, yet, I don't feel nauseous or anything...System: Show status window," Seunghyuk requested, and as usual, System showed Seunghyuk his body statistics.
Conqueror's Name: Choi Seunghyuk
Conqueror's Level: 2 (Raised by 1)
Strength: 1
Agility: 1
Defense: 1
MP: 1
Skills: Short-Fused Explosion(NEW), Eye of Detection(NEW), Heart of Cold Steel(NEW)
"That's...really rewarding just after one intense fight with an adult..." Seunghyuk's eyes lit up with interest as he looked up to the sky as the thin barrier layer keeping him from escaping started to slowly break part, "So not only can I complete my mission, escape this BattleSpace, but I also levelled up and earned myself three new skills?"
Seunghyuk was smiling subtly to himself, watching the five Soul Flowers glowing magically on his palms as he called out, "System: Collect the Soul Flowers."
This time, the Soul Flowers shook slightly and rolled on Seunghyuk's palm, then the Soul Flowers slowly turned to pixels and floated up and into the System.
"5 Soul Flowers are collected. 5 Soul Flowers are used up to complete a mission."
"Mission I: First Steps Starts With Nature (COMPLETED)"
"You have received Beginner Statpack."
"Well, I have to say I'm pretty happy with myself today..." Seunghyuk smiled again to himself, stretched, and gladly walked back towards his apartment.
The moon gradually rotates as the night goes on, the world slowly goes to sleep as lights flickered off one by one.
Almost everyone is asleep, or at least not wandering outside, all except one.
"System: Contact Mr. Kim Seongwon," A feminine voiced spoke calmly in the still and quiet night and waited for the line to connect, "Mr. Kim, one of our new company members, Yeon Taekwoon, died to a newly awakened Conqueror. Should we take action?"
The voice was deep and stern on the other side of the line as he ordered, "Let him jump around a bit, we'll see how much of a threat he is. After all, Taekwoon-ssi is known as the crusher of newly-awakened Conquerors, if he was killed by another newly-awakened..."
"It's either that newly-awakened Conqueror join our company, or we get rid of him."