A broken streetlight stood nearby, casting uneven shadows over the scene. A makeshift wooden sign hung from it, scrawled with bold letters which read:
"15 nuc per punch, 25 nuc per kick, 35 nuc per wooden bat hit."
"Tch. Move aside, horseshit. It's my turn." Koruko, the redhead teenager, shoved a companion aside, eager to take his turn.
The guy popped his fingers, readying up his fist to strike,
"Uh–uhmm. O-one sec, senior." Vonn spoke, his voice weak and trembly.
The crowd murmured, some annoyed at the interruption.
"Huh, what is it?" Koruko asked with an annoyed expression.
With a pained moan, Vonn struggled to rise from the floor, his movements slow and accompanied by groans of discomfort.
Vonn, one eye covered in a rough carelessly sewn eye patch, scratched his aching back as he turned towards the direction of an old beggar seated on the pavement a few steps behind, still amidst the crowd.
With a pale expression, Vonn gazed at the man for a while.
"Yah, don't worry kiddo. Geezer's been keeping your counts while you were out." Okkaru, the teenager who hit Vonn with the wooden baton earlier chimed in, fervently waving his hand, with a furtive smirk subtly visible on his face.
The crowd responded with a mix of chuckles and jeers.
Turning back to the young man in front of him, Vonn exhaled and continued,
"Senior brother, you read the sign?"
"Huh, what sign?" Kuroku replied, his irritated expression intensifying as he impatiently flexed his knuckles.
The spectators grew restless, some shifting their weight, others shouting for more action.
Vonn pointed towards the wooden sign,
"Fifteen shells per punch."
"Ah, that? Yeah, yeah, seen it already. Be still, tch. Not like I ain't got other things to do." Koruko replied impatiently.
"You got this!! One eyed soldier!!!" Immediately the scene was interrupted by the shouts of a little kid in a weary school uniform around the same age as Vonn's, standing amidst the crowd.
The kid cheered with both clenched fists raised into the sky.
Hearing this, Vonn exhaled as he felt some sort of strength surge up. He smiled slightly, but immediately, his lifeless face which had begun to soften out went back to normal as an individual in the crowd began to speak.
"Hahahaha. Boy mom's quick. To think he already got a new nickname." A middle-aged man's murmur was heard from the audience.
"I know right, just two days ago they called him 'The seed-less soldier'." Another replied.
"Each day, kid appears more sickly than the former. He suffering from some kind of illness?" The curious murmur of another spectator added.
"What, you mean you don't know?" A rat-faced lady said, she continued "Kid's momma sells his body parts off to make ends meet. Heard they owe a large sum to some big gang–was it Tujaja?"
"Yeah. I heard it's a sum they practically won't pay off in ten lifetimes."
"Poor child."Another middle-aged woman said, her voice tinged with sadness. "Even if this is the North, aren't they too cruel? Extorting money from people like them."
"Ha, ya ain't from 'round these parts are ya?" A short, large man added, "Hahahaha. Ya better go back to ya place befer we mess things up fer yer. 'round here, peeps like them are the norm. Ain't Noth'n special 'bout them." The man concluded with a loud laugh.
Hiruma, one of the teenagers surrounding Vonn, seemed bored, cleaning his ears with a pinky. "To think he can still stand after all that jumpin' earlier. Boy's strong." He uttered.
"Haha, know, right? Mean, he literally just recovered from his third set of syncope since we arrived here. How's he look so ready for more? Damn, I even held back during my turn earlier. Probably shouldn't have bothered." Okkaru shook his head, a hint of disappointment etched on his face.
He lazily lifted the baton in his hand, giving it a casual flick onto his shoulder, where he adjusted it with a smooth motion, settling it into a comfortable position.
"Pft. You ain't working as a punching bag without a catch, huh, little monkey? Probably into some kinda green, for sure. Not that I can't relate, though. A boy's gotta be into something like that to earn properly 'round here." Koruko uttered, suddenly glancing into the leather watch on his wrist which bore a cracked screen, he looked back to Vonn.
"But, boy, whatever it is you taking's got you some real durability. I'm getting real cooked up for this, man." He concluded with mocking smile.
He pulled his arm backwards slowly spinning his fist in a tight circle, preparing to unleash a blow,
"Keep something in mind, though. This will be different. Fifteen shells don't grow on trees, after all. Seriously, work hard, mann…"
SLAAM!
Kuroku's punch landed with a sickening thud on Vonn's stomach.
"Kheeuurrrkkh!!" Vonn dropped to the ground with a gut-wrenching gasp, his body folding in half.
His hands instinctively flew to his stomach. At this, a wave of excruciating pain coursed through Vonn, leaving him breathless. He trembled endlessly, a surge of spit pouring from his mouth.
Watching this, the crowd gasped, some cheering, others grimacing.
Koruko grinned, reveling in the reaction from the crowd "Haha. Almost as if I knew it'd end up like this. Don't go quitting on me with just one punch now, little monkey. One swing don't even count as a stress reliever. Wanna feel so excited, to the point I nut. Otherwise, they really won't count."
The crowd laughed at his taunts, though some onlookers were silent.
Watching Vonn's agonized cries and squirms continue for a while, Koruko's face lit up with a proud smile, unconsciously revealing his inner satisfaction.
"Interesting. You've got more rooms in your Kibbon class, Koruko? Would love a lesson or two from your teacher." Hiruma said, astonished by the scenario.
"Pfft. It's 'Kihon', dumbass. Doubt you can handle sensei's lessons. Could work out if you on crack, though. I'm just built differently, you know." Koruko replied, the boastful smile persisting on his face.
"Newbies, watch closely. Observe this next strike carefully, you might learn something."
"Yeah, about that… What's little dawg still doing down there? Didn't faint again, did he?" Okkaru stared at Vonn, his lips curving into a subtle frown.
Vonn, his cries ceased, lay motionless on the ground. They hadn't noticed because of the fuss earlier, but Vonn had actually been like that for a while now.
Unlike before, when he would always rise to his feet, Vonn remained on the ground quietly, his arms still clutched into his gut.
"…."
He still wasn't getting up.
"…."
"Ah, now, come on. Get up, let's continue," Koruko urged, his proud grin slowly fading.
The audience grew quieter. Some people were beginning to turn away to leave, their interests waning as the spectacle dragged on. Others who stood by were unsure of what to expect next.
The air grew heavier, and the noise of passing cars seemed louder in the uncomfortable silence.
Koruko's grin completely faltered as he noticed the bored expressions of the audience. Irritated by the dwindling attention, his tone grew sharper.
"Tsk. Shit's getting annoying, now. get up, man!"
But Vonn remained unmoved, his body wracked with pain.
"I... I give up," Vonn finally managed to choke out, his voice barely audible over the din.
"What!? What did you say?!"
"I-I'm sorry, Senior brother. Can't take any more. I quit." Vonn replied.
Koruko's face contorted in rage, his pride wounded by Vonn's surrender.
Without warning, he dived atop the young boy,
"Let me hear that one more time! Say it again, little cunt!"
" P-please Senior brother, didn't mean to–"
GBAAAM!
"Ackk!!"
Vonn's words were cut short by a powerful punch to his mouth. Koruko followed the strike up with more merciless blows, all to Vonn's face, his anger fuelling each strike.
"Ackkt!! I s-swear! I didn't–"
SLAAM!
"Uurrrkkk!"
"Please, have merc–"
GBOOOK!
"Kuarrkh!"
Vonn's every attempt to plead for mercy was interrupted by Koruko's powerful fists which stuffed his mouth each time he uttered a word.
"Bastard! Shut your fucking mouth and get hit! What? You can't take any more? Don't gimme that, you fucker!"
Vonn's spit and blood splattered at each strike.
While a few elderly women in the audience did show faint signs of distress, they were vastly outnumbered by the majority who watched the unfold with detached curiosity.
Their attention was fleeting, their gaze drifting away as Vonn's cries grew more pitiful.
The assault continued, each blow more gut-wrenching than the last, yet the spectators remained passive.
They showed no sympathy or concern for the child being brutalized before them. Instead, majority even cheered for Koruko.
Their reactions are no surprise as this was no unique sight in any part of Northern Lutannica.
In fact, in the north, this was quite a common way to earn some money, just like beggars, toe washers, or even hawkers. While it's rare to see ones as young as Vonn, they are indeed around.
That aside, Vonn, too was quite popular in the business for his unsual durability which was actually since he was seven, and majority standing here could be considered his usual customers, so they were accustomed to seeing him this way.
This is a region where survival is a daily struggle as each individual did whatever they could to survive, and one hardly cares genuinely for another.
Here, even the government only cared about stuffing their families, letting the civilians starve. And actually, they couldn't be blamed considering the rate of corruption and hardship that had taken over the region. Given the opportunity, any individual from the place was guaranteed to do the same.
Protests were useless, and the place had become nothing but a lawless ghetto, lacking not just refined individuals, but also civilised technology, when compared to the other four major nations in Earth.
The assault dragged on, Koruko's face a gruesome mask of sweat, blood, and spit. Still, he didn't relent, his strikes fueled by a merciless intensity.
At this point it was obvious he had lost his mind,
"K-Koruko, that's enough!"
"Y-you'll really kill him!"
"Damn. He's gone insane."
Hiruma and Okkaru couldn't help but feel a growing sense of sympathy for Vonn who was being beaten to death. However, their concerns were only expressed in words, since even them feared getting caught up in Koruko's sudden bloodlust.
Vonn's head was really getting bashed in, his consciousness creeping away at each strike.
'Am… I really going to die here?…' Vonn thought, his mind slowing down.
**
SMAACKK!
"Arrrghhhk–"
GBAAKK!
"Uurrrkkk! Argh! Please! I swear, It was an acci–"
BAAMM!!
"Urrghhkk!!" A naked man, skinny, laid on the wet ground, his body bloodied, folding in half as he screamed in pain, pleading for mercy from the naked men surrounding him as they ignored his pleas striking him in turns, contempt and anger etched on their faces.
"Urrgh." Another naked individual, a huge and muscular man sat by the side, atop his own blood groaning in pain, his back leaned against the rough wall. His face was contorted in an ugly, but sorrowful expression as snot and tears streamed down. Both of his hands were covered in blood, twitching and trembling as they held his masculine treasure in-between his legs.
"Hold him down!!" One of the men yelled stomping his barefoot on the skinny man's head with force, causing the head to slam into the ground, lightly cracking its surface.
**
GBOOKK!
"Arrghh!!" The aggressive gang beating on the skinny man continued as Vonn immediately snapped back to reality. The skinny man being brutalized by the other men was clearly him before his reincarnation and that was the incident that had claimed his life back then.
'...To think that even this life wasn't any different.' Vonn thought as Koruko's hits persisted.
They were actually inmates, and the huge naked man crying like a little kid on the ground covering his bleeding masculine gem was a senior inmate who's had his cock ripped off by Vonn, or Unko, being the name he went by at that time. The man had tried to rape him and Vonn had ripped the man's gem off in his defence, but this had angered the others.
'In the end, my reincarnation into this life is nothing but an extension of my suffering.' Vonn thought.
'god, if you can hear me, you proved your point. Reality and fiction are two different things. A boy's life won't necessarily get better just because he has reincarnated, like it does for characters in animes...'
'..I get it. So please man... please let this be the end... please let me rest in peace for real this time.'
Just when Vonn almost gave up his consciousness,
"Vonn!"
he heard someone call out to him. The sound was faint, but Vonn was sure it was directed at him.
The afterlife? No, that was the voice of someone he knew.
"Ah," Vonn caught a glimpse of her necklace's pendant–––silver-gray color.
An angel..
Just like a dying man who watched angels come to claim his soul, Vonn's heart felt relieved watching his best friend, Akari Nakamura, sixteen years old, force herself through the crowd, her eyes wide with urgency.
She had ordinary black hair and wore red sleeveless blouse with blue jean bump shorts, rushing to his aid.
Along with Janet Black, Vonn's mother who birthed him in this life, Vonn also considered Akari a family he could die for.
For him, no matter how hard his life was, he was satisfied with living as long as these two were in the picture.
They're all he lived for.
Indeed, not all angels appear only in the afterlife.
For Akari to appear in such a crucial moment, Vonn couldn't help but appreciate her even more. In this world where it seemed like his only option was to suffer, Janet and Akari were like his guardian angels.
Something he never experienced in his past life, as Unko Mori.
"You get off him right now!" Akari yelled, pushing Koruko away.
"Tch! Who–"
"You asshole!! Are you out of your mind? Were you really trying to kill him?!"
"So what, bitch? Don't push me like we're friends. Step aside, I'm not finished."
"Tsk tsk." Akari clicked her tongue, suddenly glancing around the area. Spotting something, she rushed and grabbed it. A long stick.
Pointing it towards Koruko,"Fuck off, shitload." she added.
"Woah, what's she doing?"
"I-isn't she that man's kiddo, that ACP?"
"Whaaat, the worthless cops are getting involved? Trust the daughter of that criminal to have some loose screws as well."
"I know right? Like pops, like daughter."
"Tch, seriously?" Hearing the murmurs of the spectators, Koruko scoffed in annoyance.
He turned to the two standing behind him, "Let's go." He uttered.
"Finally," Hiruma said. "Seriously, Koruko, I really would've left you two behind if you'd said that any later." He added.
"Come on, now. Don't pretend like you've got other things to do. Though I also didn't like the sight of a little kid getting abused like that. Wouldn't mind seeing Koruko's ass get smoked by a chick." Okkaru smirked, turning to Koruko. "What's this, man? It's really unlike you to accept humiliation like this. You letting it slide cos she's female? It ain't like you're one of those who think it'l shameful to hit ladies, though."
"Hell. Shut that mouth, Okkaru. We're leaving." Koruko said firmly, walking away.
"Where the hell do you think you're going, you shitload?"
"..?" Confused, Koruko paused for a moment. He added, "Ain't you just being too much, now? You just asked me to fuck off, though."
"No, I meant that. Fuck off, but do it after you pay up. You can't just leave without paying."
Ignoring her, Koruko turned and continued walking.
"Old man, here." He said, tossing a coin to the old beggar who sat further from them.
"Ah! Thanks a bunch, kid!" The beggar professionally caught the coin.
"Man, kids these days."
"Boy's seriously biting it without paying for the beatings? A real asshole, that one. Ahahaha!"
"Shit gets worse with each generation, I swear. No hope for the North, hahahaha." With the show coming to an end, the spectators slowly dispersed, each one voicing their opinions, laughing as they walked away.
"Oh, and..." Koruko said, suddenly stopping. He continues without turning around, "..I really don't give two fucks about what the little monkey is to you, but don't go around assuming every guy won't hit you just cause' you're a little cute. If there is ever a next time, I won't let things slide like this. Heard what he just said, I won't care if you haven't got a dick on you and stuff." Koruko moved on after speaking, expecting no reply.
Everyone had now left, remaining just Akari, Vonn and the beggar, who basically lives there. Akari squatted, staring at Vonn who was still unconscious with a sad frown.
'Where to get medicine...' She thought, frustration etched on her face as she glanced at Vonn with a sad frown. Letting out a soft sigh of relief, she reached her finger, gently smearing off a blood bead that stuck near his brow.
She knew she overdid things back there and that things could've gotten way more serious if the guy had actually retaliated to her forced aggression.