I blinked.
The light grey of the ceiling stared back at me as I blinked again. Did I fall asleep? I remembered leaning against the lockers and then…
[Main Quest: Get up!]
[Stand up - [ ] ]
[Rewards: Purpose]
I stared at the light shimmering screen floating in the air.
Well, looks like I didn't imagine that, and it wanted me to… stand up?
Shaking off the last specks of drowsiness, I clambered up onto my feet, holding onto the locker so that I didn't fall again. My eyebrows raised as the Quest screen altered.
[Stand up - [✔] ]
[Main Quest: Get up! Has been completed!]
[Reward: Purpose has been granted!!]
What the hell did it mean by Purpose…
My back arched as a sudden influx of thoughts took hold over my mind. My eyes rolled up and I began to see-
No ambition. No determination. No will. No money. In short, losers.
This world… is only about results.
You might be overwhelmed when you see them or you might lose the will to fight when you run into them, but who cares about any of that? Im stronger then all of them
Gun level? What's that? Listen up. Gun…
Is just One person.
And that person is me.
I breathed.
I was getting thrown around... by someone like Jaehyun? Someone who hadn't even fought to the death?
A grin broke out on my face and I laughed, riding on the high of whatever those thoughts had given me. What was it I'd thought? That I could take on 1 or 2 people but not the entire group?
Excuses.
I was scared of getting beaten up even more.
No ambition? No, I had one for now. Make it so that they'd never talk to me ever again. I checked my phone, it was only 2pm, they were probably smoking in that free classroom again. I clenched my fist hard enough that my knuckles turned white.
They were going to die.
I'm going to kill them.
***
"Only 2000 won? Seriously? How broke are you?"
Jihoon sniffed, looking almost too scared to breathe. He shuffled around nervously.
Jaehyun patted his cheek lightly. "Hey, why are you looking so scared? We're all friends here right?" He looked around, seeing his friend that was snickering at the sight. "Right Seungmin?"
Seungmin wrapped his arm around Jaehyun's shoulder. "Of course we are! What's a bit of money between friends?"
Jihoon looked down towards the ground, his glasses almost falling off and mumbled. "But… you've never returned even the smallest amou-" He was cut off with a deafening slap that forced him onto the floor, cradling his stinging cheek.
Jaehyun stood up, massaging his wrist. "Sorry, what was that? I don't think I heard you. Why don't you try-" He slapped Jihoon again. "Saying. That. Again."
The final slap rang out across the entire room.
He didn't move.
Seungmin frowned from the desk he was leaning on. "Hey man, wasn't that a bit much? What if he tells a teacher?"
Jaehyun scoffed, now rubbing his hand onto his sleeve. "This trash? He's a coward. He wouldn't dare. He's just like that Geon basta-."
Then the door opened.
They both turned to the noise and then Jaehyun started laughing again as Geon stepped through into the classroom.
"Speak of the devil! I guess you wanted another beating too, how much money do you have?" He laughed, moving towards him.
Geon stayed quiet.
Jaehyun frowned and then grabbed his collar. "Hey, I'm talking to you, dumbass. Fucking reply." Just as he was about to slap him, Geon took hold of his arm, looked up and then smiled.
Jaehyun hurriedly took a step back. "Dude fix your fa-"
He was interrupted by a fist meeting his face.
You see, no matter how strong a living organism is, its nose is bound to be a weak point. That goes the same for humans too. No matter how hard you train your body, there is no way to train a nose.
And as for Jaehyun, who hadn't trained a single day in his life, merely getting by with his natural confidence and strength?
"AAAAGHH!!!".
It hurt like hell.
Jaehyun staggered back, grasping his nose and trying to contain the gushing blood.
Geon inhaled sharply. "That was for this morning you piece of shit."
"You- you bastard I'm gonna… I'm gonna kill- rip-"
He was just a weakling! He'd literally beaten him up this morning, how did he have the audacity to fucking punch him!!
Jaehyun kept one hand on his nose and pointed. "Hey Seungmin, what the fuck are you doing? Beat him up!"
Seungmin blinked and then sighed. "Bro, you gotta be able to handle your own messes. Fine, just this once." He cracked his knuckles, making his way towards him.
Geon had also received zero training in his life. But he was running on one thing and one thing only. Revenge.
The idea of revenge and the fact that he'd just landed a punch on Jaehyun had given him an adrenaline rush which came with a physical boost, not much, but a boost nonetheless.
So, as Seungmin rushed forward, Geon did the only thing he knew how to do…
…he spat at his face.
Seungmin stumbled. "Blurgh! What the fuck man-"
He too, was interrupted by a fist to the face.
Jaehyun was too shocked to understand anything that was happening. He was just a pushover! Since when did he have the intent to actually throw a punch? What happened to Geon?
He walked over slowly whilst Jaehyun crawled back.
"Hey, hey, let's not do anything rash-"
Geon brought his foot down.
***
I panted as I stared down at the unconscious Jaehyun and the bleeding Seungmin in the corner.
Was it that easy?
A few punches and they just went down? They were that weak?
I laughed. No, I was the weak one for falling before them. But that wasn't going to happen again. Looking to the side, I saw the other guy leaning on the wall. I remembered him as one of the other shuttles Jaehyun used to use.
What was his name… Jihan? Jihon? Jihoon? Eh, something.
Walking over, I helped him up. "Did they take anything?"
He mumbled. "Just some change, I don't bring money anymore."
What a smart guy. That meant he could probably take care of himself right?
[Mob leader: Jaehyun, Mob: Seungmin have been taken down.]
[Achievement: Revenge, has been fulfilled. Martial art unlocked!]
Martial art? Did that mean I'd now know how to fight?
[Martial art style:???? Name unknown: Skill - Straight Punch ]
Just one move? Oh well, it's more than I had before anyways.
Hearing a noise I turned around, only to see that Seungmin had run out. Bastard. He was probably going to bring the rest of the people which was better for me. I'd come here to kill all 6 of them, not just these two.
I looked around, grabbing the teaching stick from the side of the desk, testing its strength against my palm.
My grip around it tightened, the coarse wood cooling my sweaty palms as I breathed heavily. Clearly, I was still riding the high of the fight. Adrenaline was pulsing through me like a drum, almost drowning out every thought that wasn't focused on this room, the bruised bodies and the door through which Seungmin had run.
The Quest screen flickered back into view, almost as if sensing my thoughts.
[New Quest: Eradicate the Mob] [Objective: Defeat all 6 members of Jaehyun's crew] [Progress: 2/6 defeated] [Reward: Level Up, ???]
My heart pounded in sync with the quest log's faint pulsing light. Level Up? A crooked grin twisted my lips as a surge of excitement prickled through my veins. Were these fights going to make me stronger? Because if they could give me more power, then I was more than willing to pay the price.
Jihoon's voice, barely more than a murmur, snapped me back. "Geon... are you really… going after all of them?" His face was pale, and his wide eyes darted toward the door as if expecting more tormentors to burst in at any second.
I glanced at him, feeling a surge of something close to pity, but then stomped it out. The boy who'd let himself get beaten down so easily, reminded me of how I was before today.
"If I don't, then who will?"
Before Jihoon could respond, footsteps sounded from down the hall. My knuckles tightened around the stick. The sound was heavy, regular. Multiple pairs of feet.
They were coming.
The door swung open.The last four of Jaehyun's friends entered the room, filling it with an air of mocking confidence. Seungmin was at the front, clutching his bleeding nose, glaring at me with a mixture of anger and disbelief.
"Look at him," Seungmin sneered. "The fucker thinks he's a fighter now."
One of the friends snorted, crossing his arms. I'd forgotten his name. "Did you finally snap, Geon? You think you can actually take us all on?"
I didn't respond. Instead, I took a step forward, tapping the stick against my palm. The metallic tang of blood lingered in the air, a reminder of Jaehyun's bleeding nose. The sight of it only seemed to fuel his determination.
"Fine," The friend spat. "You fucking asked for it."
He stepped forward, uncrossing his arms as I took a breath and planted my feet. My mind ran over the single technique I'd unlocked - Straight Punch. I didn't even know how I was supposed to use it. It wasn't much but I'd have to make it count.
He lunged at me, and I kicked straight into it, my body moving on instinct. It wasn't a strong kick by any means, but it knocked him off balance as I drove the stick straight into his gut. He staggered back, clutching his stomach and I lashed out, bludgeoning his face this time.
As he fell, I let out a bitter laugh.
Another guy moved in swiftly, grabbing onto my arm holding the stick and then wrung it out. I twisted and tried to use the momentum to slip free but he held onto me firmly as another grabbed me from behind.
Seungmin quickly grabbed the stick and brought it down.
A hot pain exploded along the side of my head as my ear rang. For a second, everything else just… dimmed. The room spun, my balance went sideways and my vision went with it.
But I didn't fall.
I felt the consecutive impacts, someone was punching me, maybe kicking me. I couldn't differentiate the pain anymore.
My head throbbed and I tried to open my eyes but everything was just a haze of colour. Everything felt far away.
And then I felt it, the trickle of something warm trailing down my face. Blood.
Suddenly I was wrenched back into reality.
Straight Punch.
Seungmin lurched back with a roar of pain, his gaze having shifted from cocky to terrified in an instant.
I blinked, feeling the pain rush back, raw and blinding. But now there was something else—anger. A surge of it, stronger than anything I'd ever felt before, cutting through the haze of pain.
My arm hurt more than anything else, it felt more like someone else had thrown my fist for me instead of me actually landing a punch.
It was strong enough that my arm had actually shaken off the bastard holding it.
I looked down at him.
Straight punch.
Straight punch.
He wasn't looking up at me anymore.
The others froze and I could see the fear flash through Sengmin's eyes as he stumbled, clutching his jaw.
"This isn't worth it." One of them muttered and he quickly backed out of the classroom.
Seungmin snapped his head around. "Hey, where the fuck are you going?!"
He spat. "You didn't tell me Geon had turned into a fighting maniac! I came for an easy beating not a fucking fight. Fuck you!"
The others mumbled agreements and nodded, much to the dismay of Seungmin's frantic movements.
"You.. it's just- " He looked at me, a look of despair, fear and anger and then breathed out. "Fuck this." Seungmin left the room, holding onto Jaehyun's shoulders as another friend helped them both out of the room.
I breathed hard, as I watched them all leave. When they'd come in, they'd been standing straight, heads up, as cocky as they'd been yesterday, but they'd left defeated, beaten.
A sense of satisfaction washed over me. I could feel it, a strength building up inside me. The Quest screen materialised again, shining brightly.
[Quest: [Eradicate the mob ] has failed.]
Oh. Never mind.
[Hidden quest: [Stand your ground] has been completed!]
Huh.
[Reward: New skill unlocked! - The Final Stand]
My breathing slowed as the Quest screen faded, replaced by an eerie calm. I'd done it. No more running, no more hiding. A new purpose burned within me, stronger and sharper than ever before.
I glanced to the side at Jihoon who had been watching everything in a stunned silence. He nodded slowly, hope flickering in his eyes.
I turned to leave, nothing had to be said. I'd stood my ground, and I had no intention of stopping here.