"Ai yah, why you so lazy, huh? Throw out the trash, can or not?"
The auntie at the chicken rice eatery complained, shooting her son a glare. Her son sighed and nodded.
"Okay, Mom. Wait, ah."
"Alamak, you want me to wait how long?"
"Let me finish washing this first lah."
The son scrubbed off the oil from the plate before dropping it onto a grated tray next to the sink. He rinsed his hands before drying them off on a towel next to him. Grumbling under his breath, he picked up the two black garbage bags and hefted them toward the exit.
Wandering to the back of the eatery, he tossed them into the garbage crate. He understood his mother's urgency. The garbage truck would be coming by to collect the trash tomorrow, and if he didn't take it out tonight, then they would have to wait a week before the garbage collectors came by again. Given the amount of garbage they accumulated in their eatery, that wasn't exactly a pleasant thought.
The son was about to return to the eatery when he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Turning around, he caught sight of blue and silver lightning crackling up high. He watched, his mouth agape, as a sphere formed in midair. There was a surge of energy that caused the son to retreat hastily and then the sphere vanished, only for something – somebody – to fall onto the ground.
"Wah kao…?"
The son continued to gape at the incredible sight, still not comprehending what had just happened. Lying in the alleyway was a naked young man, bruised and burned. Coughing, the young man staggered to his feet and looked around groggily. He then settled his eyes on the son.
The chicken rice seller's son suddenly had a bad feeling about this.
He hastily retreated back to the eatery, fear gripping his heart.
"Wait!" the naked man called out, scrambling to his feet. "Can you answer a few questions? Is this Earth?"
The son was taken aback by the question. He paused, his hand still on the door. "Uh, what talking you? You mean this planet, is it?"
"Yeah. This world."
"Wah lao, of course it's Earth lah." The son blinked and cowered behind the door, getting ready to shut it. That was one hell of a weird question. Who the hell asked something like that?
"Ah, good. Where am I? Which city? Country?"
"Cheng Shi City, Hua Xia." The son didn't know why he was answering the young man's questions, but he felt a little less fear now.
"What's the date?"
"Um, May 4th."
"What year?"
"202X." the son scratched his head, not comprehending why this strange young man was asking such weird questions. It was almost as if he was a time traveler or something. The son recalled having watched a sci-fi film with similar dialogue. Perhaps this guy wasn't dangerous.
"Ah boy, who you talking to?" his mother called from the eatery. "Don't anyhow talk to strangers, can or not?"
"Ai yah, don't be so paranoid lah." The son sighed. His mom strode over to the door, scowling.
"Hurry up and close the door…whoa!"
She jumped when she spotted the naked young man, her hands flying to her mouth. She hurriedly wiped her fingers on the apron and gestured for him to come inside.
"Alamak, what happened to you, huh? Poor thing. Ah boy, give him some of your clothes ah. I think you two roughly the same size."
"Okay."
"What happened? You kena robbed, is it?" the mother lent the young man an apron for now. "Ai yo, those robbers ah…so desperate until they also take your clothing. Wait ah, my son will lend you some clothes."
"Ah, thank you." the young man bowed his head. For now, he huddled behind the apron, using the small fabric to cover himself up. Thankfully, he didn't have to wait long. The son returned with a bunch of clothes and offered it to the young man.
A few minutes later, he was dressed up. The mother checked in on him.
"So how? You want to report to police? My husband can drive you to the nearest station."
���Oh, I don't want to impose further. I…have a friend in the city. I'll look for him now." The young man hurriedly raised his hands. "You already gave me some clothes to wear. I can't ask anything more from you."
"Ai yah, helping people is only natural. Don't worry lah, my husband won't mind one."
"Yeah, you should really report police," the son agreed. "Cannot let those robbers get away."
"Oh…yeah. Don't worry. I think I'll be able to find my way around." The young man scratched at his cheek. "Thanks for the clothes again. I should leave now, I think my friend is worried."
"You sure or not? My husband will come home soon. About an hour or two. You can wait if you want."
"It's okay." The young man bowed his head deeply. "This debt, I'll try to repay you in future."
Then he was gone. Mother and son exchanged confused glances, wondering what had just happened. They didn't see him move, and yet just like that he was gone, with nothing more than a breeze to indicate that he had ever existed.
*
"Hey, hey! Are you for real?"
"Yeah."
Even though I was currently being surrounded by about a dozen punks, all of them wielding baseball bats and metallic pipes, I refused to back down. Unfortunately, I doubted I was putting on a convincing display of courage. My legs were trembling and my face was as pale as a ghost. Inwardly, I wondered why I was stupid enough to stand up to these fellas.
However, I couldn't back down. Even if they beat me up or kill me, I couldn't afford to let them have their way. I had principles.
But damn, this was scary as hell. Nobody wanted to be beaten up to within an inch of their life. And I knew how painful it would be when they start whacking me with those weapons of theirs. I would be fortunate if I escaped this with little more than a few broken bones.
I had best prepare to be hospitalized for the next six months or so.
"Fucking idiot! Want to be a hero?"
"Heroes don't live long. Since he wants to die so badly, let's grant him his wish!"
"Ha ha ha ha! A nerdy four eyes like him wants to be a hero?! Look at the mirror, you pathetic loser!"
What was wrong with wearing glasses? Did these people have something against glasses? Well, they weren't wrong that I looked like a pathetic loser, though. I was slightly below average height, skinny and weak-looking as fuck. Honestly, I looked nothing like those handsome and dignified heroes so prevalent in cultivation novel illustrations.
"Cong Bro," Pang Zi said nervously behind me. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have dragged you into this. This is all my fault."
"No, it's not," I assured him. "I was the one who made the decision to intervene."
That was true. I had been minding my own business when I saw my friend, Pang Zi, escorted out of the classroom by Qi Fu Ren and his cronies. I immediately stood up and chased after them, aware of Qi Fu Ren's reputation. They loved to extort money from other people, and Pang Zi was a prime target because he came from a relatively rich family.
That wasn't why I was friends with him. We shared similar hobbies, from playing the same genre of games and reading comics and online novels, as well as watching anime. Even if we were super unpopular with girls, that was fine. We were bros.
And I wasn't going to let any bro of mine get beaten up.
"Go," I told Pang Zi. "I'll hold them off."
"You've got to be kidding!" Pang Zi exclaimed. "I can't just leave you here! No, if they're going to attack, then we'll face them together!"
See? Bros for life.
Unfortunately, in this scenario, I would prefer something else.
"While I appreciate the sentiment, I need you to do something else for me. Call in a teacher. Actually, call a few teachers. Ask them for help."
"But that's…" Pang Zi frowned, his brow furrowed. "Why didn't you do that earlier, when those bastards took me away?"
"Because if I did that, we wouldn't make it in time. Not to mention, if I hadn't followed you guys here, I would have no idea where these fuckers would have brought you to. We would have wasted precious time searching the whole school for your whereabouts."
"…are you seriously explaining your decisions right in front of us?" Qi Fu Ren asked in disbelief. "You think we're going to waste our time listening to you act out your touching display of friendship or brotherhood? Everyone, go! Beat them up!"
As one, the gang members rushed forward, howling in bloodlust. I shoved Pang Zi back and then charged forward.
"Cong Bro!" Pang Zi yelled.
"Just go! Get the teachers!" I shouted. "I'll hold them off as best as I can!"
"Don't you die!"
"Hah!" I grinned. "Don't worry. I, Shu Cong, won't die from something as stupid as this. I'm the main character. I have plot armor."
Pang Zi snorted in amusement, despite his concern.
"This isn't the time for your chuunibyou fantasies! Are you going to suddenly unseal your powers and unleash your dark flames on them?"
If I could, I would, but yeah…he was right. Pang Zi and I enjoyed our chuunibyou role playing, and we often had such games where we would play a tabletop game with our characters, casting magic spells and defeating monsters.
If only we could do that in real life too…
Whatever the case, there was no point replying because Pang Zi was no longer within earshot. He was sprinting toward the direction of the staff room. Or so I hoped, but I knew that Pang Zi wouldn't simply abandon me.
"After him!" one of the bullies yelled, swinging his baseball bat wildly. "Don't let him get away!"
I tackled him as he broke off from the group, knocking him to the floor. He growled and smacked me with his baseball bat. Red-hot agony exploded through my head and my glasses went askew, a line of blood trickling down my face, but I refused to let go.
Gritting my teeth, I kneed him in the groin. He howled in pain and dropped his baseball bat, rolling about a he clutched at his crotch. I rolled away as the others tried to whack me with their pipes and bats, narrowly avoiding the deadly weapons by a hair's breadth. Several did crack against my shoulder or back and I grunted in pain.
Desperately lashing out, I grabbed hold of the baseball bat that my first victim had dropped and swung it about. It caught one of my assailants in the knee and he dropped down to a kneeling position with a shriek.
Good. I rammed the bat across his face, breaking his nose and knocking his teeth loose.
Then something heavy smashed the back of my head, sending me sprawling forward. Someone stomped on my arm, almost breaking it and I yelled in agony.
"Fucking bastard. Since you want to martyr yourself so much, we'll oblige."
Qi Fu Ren tried to grab my hair, but because I had cut it short, he failed to do so. Cursing, he grasped my jaw and lifted my head up before punching my face with his other hand. I could feel my nose almost get caved in, but good thing it didn't break. However, blood spilled from my nostrils and dripped across my lips. I could taste the metallic tang on my tongue.
Glaring at him defiantly, I spat into his face, causing him to recoil. Wiping his cheek, Qi Fu Ren glowered at me before issuing an order.
"Break his limbs."
His cronies complied, gathering about and raising their bats and pipes. I shut my eyes and waited for the agony.
The blows never came.
"What are you doing?"
"The teachers! They're here!"
"Run! Get away!"
"Hey! Get back here!"
"Fuck!" Qi Fu Ren cursed. He glared at me. "This isn't over, Shu Cong. I'll make sure you die next time."
Then he disappeared along with his lackeys. I watched them leave, my vision still blurry because my glasses were gone. The disadvantages of being shortsighted.
"Shu Cong is hurt! Call an ambulance!"
"How horrible…how could they beat him like this?!"
"We'll have to report this to the principal…"
I vaguely registered the words of the approaching teachers, the sounds of their footsteps growing louder. Unfortunately, the pain was too much and I sank into blissful unconsciousness.