04. Uncomfortable Cohabitation (9)

I entered an alleyway checking the bus route on my smartphone.

Because the next bus was 40 minutes away, it was faster to take another bus at a nearby stop.

Since the bus was passing through a large road across the street, the navigation system told us that it was the fastest way to cross the alley as a shortcut.

‘Is this right?’

Looks like the road is getting darker.

Perhaps it was a poorly maintained road, adult flyers were sloppily pasted on the walls, and even though it was still broad daylight, the light did not reach properly, giving off a gloomy atmosphere.

The rare streetlights looked like they were broken, so it was hard to tell how much darker it would be at night.

If the navigator hadn’t guided me, I wouldn’t have ventured down the road. Just when I was thinking about going back and finding another way, someone blocked my way.

“Hey.”

“Huh?”

He is tall, with broad shoulders, a thick neck and a stern look. He was a person who wanted to be a gangster at the moment.

“Long time no see?”

“… ?”

Who are you pretending to know?

I stared at the man’s face. It looks like a face I’ve seen somewhere.

I can’t. I do not remember.

Looking at my expression like that, the man’s face wrinkled as if he had chewed something.

“I am Dongchul Kim.”

“Kim Dong-cheol?”

I’m sorry, but I didn’t know the name at all. I think I’ve seen the face somewhere, but the name is really unfamiliar.

I still didn’t know the name, so the wrinkled face of the man who identified himself as Kim Dong-chul was stained red.

“Yai-san… ! Academy Year 1 Class 1! It’s Kim Dong-cheol, who went with Lee Hyun-woo!”

“Ah~ ah!”

After hearing that far, I barely remembered it.

Isn’t that the guy who tried to steal the golden egg on the way to school?

After the incident, I only heard that I was suspended and never saw my face, and after that, I was busy with things like the gate incident and the terrorism at the fair.

I had forgotten even the existence of Lee Hyeon-woo, but it was unreasonable to remember the followers under him.

“Looks like you’ve been doing well so far? I can’t even go to the academy because I’ve been suspended.”

Unusual tone and atmosphere.

I’m not used to things like this, but I thought I knew at least that this guy was arguing for nothing.

“If it’s suspension, don’t cause trouble and stay at home. Are you smoking in a place like this?”

“What man?”

When he opened his mouth, I frowned at the cigarette smoke stinging the tip of his nose.

As a student, smoking cigarettes in an alley like this, taking Yoon Seo-hee’s sword, and even bullying her, he didn’t even know how to reflect on the subject, and even started a fight like this.

Are you still confused about what happened last time?

“You know what? You were suspended for a violent incident, do you think you would be able to graduate properly even if you returned? Even if you graduate, joining a large guild is already over!”

“No, that is self-inflicted. So, who wants to listen to Lee Hyun-woo?”

In the hunter industry, where character is valued next to skill, if there is a record of bullying, it will definitely be difficult to graduate, and large companies such as Suseong or Haneulnuri will not be able to enter.

Teamwork is important at the top, but if your skills are similar, everyone will want to use someone with a good personality.

But in the end, it was the result of my own choice. He didn’t feel much sympathy.

“Shut up! Lee Hyeon-woo, who said he would look after you, is over… Only you… None of this would have happened without you!!”

“Ugh….”

I sighed, put the smartphone in my pocket, and untied my wrist.

I don’t like violence, but I don’t think I’m in the mood to let go, and besides, I’ve seen this guy’s battle pattern before.

You have to deal with it in moderation.

“You bastard… Do you think it will be the same as last time? Guys!”

Suddenly, friends on one shoulder rush out from behind Kim Dong-cheol.

I thought these guys had faces like I’d seen somewhere, but they were the combatants who were threatening Yoon Seo-hee with Lee Hyun-woo the other day.

‘Uh… Isn’t that a bit much?’

I’ll try to count one or two people, but even if I counted it roughly, the number exceeded five.

I felt a sense of crisis, so I secretly checked my retreat route, and I felt people flocking from behind me.

Five in front and five behind. Ten people in all.

Not even babbling, each and every one of them is an awakened person who has learned combat lessons.

“Huh… There are no cameras and no people in this alley. Even if you mess with it, no one will know.”

Kim Dong-chul patted his shoulder and approached me one step at a time. Battles and hordes slowly approached from the front and rear, closing the distance.

I hastily raised one hand.

“Wait a minute.”

“Why? Have you changed your mind now? What can I do? I have no intention of watching.”

“Still, the guy from the combat department is embarrassing to be in his teens against the support, so are we all going to fight together?”

“What are you doing?”

It was impossible to deal with this number at once.

One at a time, that’s for the best. I tried to somehow provoke Kim Dong-cheol into a one-on-one fight.

However, against my will, my mouth began to move on its own.

[“You idiot, you bastard. Just jump in together! Because you guys are so weak, I am enough by myself!”]

No, this bastard.

Kim Dong-cheol’s face crumples at my provocation, no, Kertatus’s.

“Ha! Kim Ijin… Do you really want to die? Ok, i’ll do whatever you want you followed… Hey, Joe!”

“Ahhhhh!”

“Die bastard!!”

I hurriedly raised my guard against the men who rushed at me with their fists raised. It’s the end if you get caught against the majority. I put my back against the wall of the narrow alley.

Boom! The trajectory of the swinging fist is confirmed by analysis. The target is the face. He raised his right arm and closed his fist.

Blocking one is not the end. Left flank, frontal abdomen, back face. With analysis, I checked which attack hit first and blocked, blocked, and dodged it in order.

But the number is ten, and I only have two arms. No matter how narrow the alleyway was, there was no other way than to be beaten while surrounded like this.

“Get out of the way! aaa!”

Kim Dong-cheol, who is one head taller than the others, twists his waist and puts the strength of his whole body into his fist and strikes it straight. Just as I was guarding against attacks from other guys, Kim Dong-chul’s fist pierced my empty face.

Fuck!! Jeong-tae, who entered properly without a guard, hit me in the face.

“Gp… !”

My head went blank for an instant at the blow that had a different sound than before.

“Ha! I said it would be different than before, you bastard!”

Kim Dong-cheol keeps swinging his fist as if he was very excited.

I set up my guard again and silently endured the continuous hits.

‘It’s strange. Why….’

Why can’t I hold on?

It was a well-placed blow. If it was me in the past, it wouldn’t be strange if I couldn’t stand the attack just now and fell to the floor by now.

Even so, my legs were still standing strong, and Kim Dong-cheol’s fists were pouring out now, and it didn’t hurt as much as I thought. Even in the cheek that had just been slapped, there was only a slight pain.

‘The toughness and resilience have improved dramatically.’

Is it because you became one with Kertatus? I’m not sure if I should like this or not. But with a body like this, it might be possible to hold out until they get tired.

The moment he made up his mind to continue to endure such an outpouring of attacks.

Suddenly, my head moved by itself and I avoided Kim Dong-chul’s fist with a single difference.

‘Huh?’

The field of view is twisted in an instant, and the arms and legs are stretched out.

A clenched fist struck the man’s chin as he charged from the left, and his outstretched leg landed a kick in the stomach of the man who charged from the right.

“Kuk!”

“Damn it!”

The man who was hit in the jaw threw his eyes out and fell to the floor.

Maximum blow with minimal movement. A fighting sense that knocks two people down at the same time. It wasn’t something I could do.

Suddenly, when the two fell and did not move, Kim Dong-cheol’s gang, who had been lynching them, hesitated and stopped the attack.

“What, what is that guy?”

“Suddenly like someone else….”

My mouth moved of its own accord and let out a ferocious laugh.

[“Heh, hehehe… I thought that if the kid gets beaten up, I’ll screw him up, so I just watched him… I hadn’t even thought of it. That you and I shared a sense.”]

Certatus was beaten again and again, spinning his sore arm.

“What are you mumbling to yourself! Fuck you!”

When there are many people, there is always one person who is impatient. One of the assembled gang impatiently stretched out his fist.

My body moved on its own, I only slightly twisted my head to avoid the fist, grabbed the opponent’s wrist, and at the same time struck the elbow joint with the blade of my hand.

Wooddeuk! The sound of bones breaking was heard and the man’s arm was bent 90 degrees in the direction it shouldn’t be.

“Quaaa!! Eight! My paaal!!”

[“I thought I’d watch it for a while, but even if it was right, it was too right.”]

Looking down at the man rolling on the floor clutching his arm, my expression muscles contorted themselves.

[“These fucking bastards… Do you dare to beat my body on a weak subject? You’re behind….”]

It was an angry expression.