HISSS
The glass door slid opened again, stirring him from his brief nap.
It was already 3:00 am, so he thought that he could catch some well needed rest.
Nonetheless, he didn't complain and maintained a professional demeanor; after all, he was paid to serve customers.
"Hey, give me some smokes," a drunk man slurred, swaying unsteadily as he leaned heavily on the counter.
With him were two more rugged-looking guys and two women, their makeup a messy sight, as if it had already started to melt on their faces.
The men they were with, however, were too drunk to notice how their escorts now looked far less appealing, even somewhat ugly without the disco lights.
Not that they seemed to care, considering how they draped their hands over their shoulders, treating them like trophies—but not the kind to be proud of.
This group had come from a nearby bar, and the men were attempting to bring them over to their place.
It was not an uncommon sight for Asher, who observed the scene calmy.
Some people just liked to spend their money on worthless things and temporary pleasures. He might have understood them better if they had brought home an 8 or maybe a 7, but these girls looked more like a 3 or 5.
If he were in their shoes, he would be the one charging the girls, not the other way around.
On a second note , Asher couldn't help but notice the two women eyeing him.
Even in his convenience store uniform, he was still more appealing than the social climbers decked out in expensive clothing for mere clout.
But he knew that ignoring these ladies was the right move.
The men with them were a bunch of insecure fools, and he didn't want to give them any reason to cause trouble.
It wasn't that he was scared of them; he just preferred to avoid the trouble of calling the police and hospital again for going too far.
He remembered the time when he got scolded by the police because he ended up sending four students to hospital after they tried to rob this place with knives.
It was a good thing that this place had CCTV, so he wasn't charged for causing physical damage.
"What smoke do you want, sir?" Asher asked in a firm and respectful manner.
The drunken man squinted his eyes to choose what type of cigarette he wanted, then he turned to ask the others.
"Alright, we'll take three boxes each of StreetSmoke, ModernLeaf, and CoolFuff," he said, pointing to the rack behind the counter.
Asher quickly grabbed the Nine packs of cigarettes and scanned the barcodes.
BEEEP!
BEEEP!
BEEEP!
"That's 2400 credits, sir,"
"Alright, here's the payment," he chuckled, his movements clumsy as he dug through his pocket, clearly struggling to find the cash.
However it wasn't money that emerged, but a gleaming pocketknife.
The man's grin took a sinister turn.
"Be a good kid and hand over the pack of cigarettes. I'm sure the owner won't mind," he sneered, the blade glinted sharply in the store's light.
Asher only glanced at the pocket knife and sighed; another fool had arrived.
Normally, he would just ask them to leave, maybe even give them the cigarettes.
However, he was in need of money right now, and his boss always gave him a bonus when he prevented situations like this.
"What if I said , no?" Asher asked with a cold voice.
They were stunned, not expecting that he would actually talk back over a mere packs of cigarettes.
In reality, they had the money to pay him; they were just doing this for the thrill.
"Kid, don't waste your life. Just hand over the cigarettes," the thug sneered, leaning closer, his eyes narrowing with a mix of arrogance and malice.
Little did they know that a mere knife was not enough to even be a threat.
It wasn't because he was acting, but because he was confident in his fighting skills.
He remembered the last time things got out of hand when four thugs tried to rob the store with knives and ended up in the hospital. Thankfully, CCTV cleared him of any charges.
Then, where did he get his confidence from?
Simple. It was because of his insane reaction time.
The average reaction time for humans was around 0.25 seconds.
Fighters who have trained could achieve a reaction time of 0.15 seconds, even 0.10 for those who are extremely talented.
But for Asher, his reaction time was about 0.07 seconds, matching that of cats, which are known for having the fastest reaction time among land animals.
This was why he excelled in fights: he perceived everything in slow motion, while his body moved and reacted far quicker than others.
"If you're just going to stand there, then pay up," Asher warned, his voice steady as he met the thug's gaze without flinching.