"Dre Parker… Dre… Dre Parker… Where do I know that name from?" Dash couldn't help but feel like there was a memory on the tip of his mind, but he couldn't pinpoint what it was familiar to. He remembered that before dying, he liked watching some movies about karate, boxing, or any kind of contact sport that required physical prowess and effort.
But he assumed that this familiarity was just a coincidence. Surely, the Dre he had just remembered was a guy from some martial arts movie, right? "Just to check something…" Dash started typing a message to Dre and asked, "Why China?"
Usually, Dash didn't talk much with people because he barely had the energy to survive, so he found it challenging to spend it on empty words. But now, he wanted to do all those things he had never done before.
Dre Parker: "My mother was transferred to a very good position supposedly, but it's in China. It's crazy... I don't speak Chinese, all my friends are here, so I don't really know how to process this bomb of anxiety and terror."
"Damn!" Dash shouted as he jumped off the bed and began pacing back and forth, as if he still couldn't believe what he was thinking. Come on, the idea of thinking that he had come back to life in the same body but with slight changes he could accept, but believing he was in some karate movie plot right now was blowing his mind.
"[Send me your address; I'll send you a farewell gift.]" Dash said just to further confirm his suspicions. "[Are you crazy? I'm going to China, how can you send me a gift without asking something more?]" Dash thought about it, and it was true, but he couldn't avoid a decision from a family agenda. Besides, if he's in a slightly different world, he would want to at least enjoy it more. There wasn't much difference from a normal world, but what made his blood boil was that he could belong to this world of martial arts and meet different people. They might kick his ass, but the important thing is that he would at least be trying something that until recently he considered just a movie.
"[Just send me your address; if life treats you badly in China, I'll definitely visit you...]" Dash said as he put his cellphone aside. This was definitely madness, but he liked the excitement he was feeling. "In other words, I might even participate in that tournament that will be held later in China... I have to try even if they kick my ass!"
When Dash came to this resolution, he descended from his room to the first floor and, after taking some water, started running around his house like a crazy maniac.
"Nowadays, everyone strives to become protagonists of a story full of roses where their desire is to get the most beautiful girlfriend or fulfill their most coveted fantasies. But I'm not like that. All I want is to show all those damn idiots how far the human body can go."
Dash smiled in a somewhat curious way. His smile, instead of something showing his happiness, was smiling in a sinister way, as if he wanted to kill someone. And just at that moment, he realized for the first time what it meant to be tired.
"Hoo... Hoo... Hoo... What's happening to my body? I can't believe I got tired just with this, it makes no sense." Dash, on the second lap, was half dead tired. His body started to sweat, and he felt a burning not only in his feet but also in his chest. The cold air entered his lungs and immediately rushed out hastily, so after realizing that he had run out of resistance, he began wheezing as if he had run more than ten kilometers without stopping.
"Come on, damn it!"
...
"Yes, I have to supervise the decisions our son makes... No, that bet you made with him is reckless because he might have a problem. Dash's friend's mother called me and asked about his condition; I only mentioned that they were checking on him right now, so imagine my surprise when you tell me he's not in a hospital."
A beautiful woman in her thirties was entering the Hale mansion, and the moment she was about to head to where Dash was, she was left speechless.
"Damn..." Elena Hale was petrified to see Dash running his tenth lap, and she could swear that if he did one more, he would faint.
"Mrs. Elena, young master, doesn't stop; we told him many times that he should stop since running so much could hurt him..." A worker approached Elena and quickly explained what Dash was doing.
"I'll take care of it..." Elena hung up the call without saying goodbye to Frederick and walked towards Dash who could barely bear his soul.
"The only hard day was yesterday, it's worth it to be a winner..." Dash, who had red eyes due to pain, was crying, not from the pain, not at all, but from the fact that he could run.
"Shit, I can run!"
"Dash Hale, stop this instant!" Elena shouted urgently as she saw her son acting crazy.
"One more turn..."
"Now!"
"Hey…"
…
In the living room, Dash looked nervously at his mother who looked much scarier than usual. Luckily she was the same as her in her past life, so there was nothing to worry about in terms of familiarity.
"Then why did you refuse to go to the doctor and instead run around the house like a madman?" Elena asked without any hint of emotions on her face.
She was very worried about her wonderful son, but she couldn't show it because if she did that Dash wouldn't take her seriously.
"That's just because he wanted to run..." Dash muttered a little overwhelmed, his mother, although she rarely visited him in the hospital, never showed him contempt.
"Do not lie to me!"
"Oh..." Of course, his mother, although she has a thin appearance, is a very scary woman that even his father Frederick respects. Many are carried away by her beautiful black hair, captivating blue eyes and enviable appearance, but she is a very strict woman.
With this in mind, Dash knew there wasn't much reason for an eleven year old to be running around the house like a madman. So he thought of a clever answer, he came up with a very accurate one in his opinion.
"Well, mother, you see... My online friend named Dre Parker is going to China. He had seen in the movies that all Chinese, even grandparents know martial arts... So I promised him that I would protect him if some idiot messes with him, but for that I need to be strong so I asked my father to give me the opportunity to train to be strong."
After saying that, Dash smiled cleverly knowing that there were no flaws in his logic. But ignoring the fact that his mother could see all the abnormality of his personality, she wouldn't stop at that.
"Then give me your cell phone!" Elena said as she extended her hand towards her son who had frozen.
"Mother, you are asking for the most private thing in my life..." Dash murmured, avoiding his mother's gaze, which made him more suspicious.
Elena smiled, then said: "Well, if you want me to believe you and agree to let you learn things that can hurt you, you must give me a good reason and a lie is unacceptable."
"Well, then here..." Dash gave the cell phone to his mother and waited on the side full of nervousness. He hoped that there wasn't any pornography in any of his chats like any curious teenager.
As Elena read the chat between her son and the boy named Dre, she nodded and said, "I'm going to ignore the fact that you asked your father to train martial arts after receiving the message from your friend who is leaving for China." , I will prepare a good gift for him and his mother..."
Dash felt a shiver run down his spine and nodded robotically, wanting to deceive his mother was something very complicated that even he didn't manage successfully. But at least he believed half of the story, that was enough.
"Well, I'm going to take a shower mom..." Dash said as he ran towards his room.
"Remember not to train until your father introduces you to the trainer, you could get hurt..." Elena said with a smile.
"Yes mom!" Dash responded, more excited than usual.
After going up the stairs, Elena's smile faded and she said: "I want you to investigate if my son is being bullied, if you find something, don't forget to tell me."
"Yes ma'am." Behind Elena a young woman quickly retreated while she made some calls.
Elena knew very well that her son went to a public school because Devon Lee was a good friend of his and her family subtly rejected the proposal to send her to a private school with her son, so because of that it had to be more careful that no idiot child wants to go overboard with the things he treasures.
"Just in case, the coach should be tougher... Pain is the fruit of growth, only if you crush those who are your enemies will you win in life." Elena after that called Frederick to clarify some things.