CH 157

“Kyak!”

“You little xxxxx. If you scream again, I’ll cut your tongue off!”

“W-what…”

Leaf’s cute jacket was taken away, so she started shivering from the cold. The neighborhood wasn’t known for being particularly dangerous, and the area was near an apartment complex…. For goodness’ sake, it was Korea, of all places. She never dreamed that something like this would happen to her. Furthermore, she was being ganged up on by boys at least one year older than her, meaning they were within the age group that comprised the majority of her fans.

“Whistle! You have a nice body.”

“Dang, look at her waistline. I bet I can hold nearly her entire waist in both hands. I wonder how her organs fit in there.”

“Her skin is so nice and clean, too. She’s like a doll.”

Leaf felt goosebumps as the boys laughed and touched her body. She started backing up, but she was soon blocked by a wall. At first, the boys were only touching her hair and face, but they were now wriggling into her blouse and up her skirt.

“Kyak… ugh!”

“I told you to shut it!”

When Leaf was about to scream with all her might, she was punched in the stomach. Though she had a fiery personality, Leaf was only 165 cm tall and weighed a measly 40 kilograms. After one punch, she started wobbling and had trouble breathing.

“S-stop. If you stop now, I won’t make any trouble for you guys, and just quietly leave- Kyak?!”

She stated that she wouldn’t file a police report, but her words had no effect. Of course, this was the best option for the boys, but if they possessed sound, logical minds, things wouldn’t have come this far.

‘I feel like I’ve gained the ability to see into the future.’

Yongno smiled sadly. It was likely- no, definite that these boys were going to sexually assault Leaf or, at worse, rape her. Of course, the boys knew that this was a crime. While many high schoolers looked upon the world with a fatalistic lens, they wouldn’t resort to killing and burying Leaf nor erasing any evidence of the crime. Hence, it was obvious that committing such a crime would result in an investigation. Leaf could still escape, and she wouldn’t press charges due to a lack of evidence or to prevent any nasty rumors about her. Yet, that seemed highly unlikely, as there were a few boys recording her being beaten and trembling on their phones.

It made no sense, but those boys would possibly distribute the recording to their friends or even upload it to the internet. Obviously, this would leave a black mark on Leaf’s celebrity career and become evidence that would prove the boys’ crime. With their faces clearly recognizable and plastered across the internet, their identities would be easily obtained, and within a heartbeat, their lives would be put on a dark path with little to no way out. Even if they only received a slap on the wrist as minors, their futures would be screwed.

“How can they be so shortsighted?”

After making an exasperated expression, Yongno pulled his hood up and covered half of his face before starting to stretch. He didn’t just shake his arms and legs; Yongno started utilizing the essence of martial arts and sport science to warm up his muscles and heighten his senses. Since he hadn’t moved in a while, Yongno heard cracks throughout his body.

“Oh, man! Look at this! I think she peed herself!”

“What? Let me see. Yuck, she did!”

“Dang it, I got pee on my hands… huh?”

The boys were shouting at each other with glee when they suddenly turned their attention to Yongno. This wasn’t because Yongno had made his presence known in any way. Though the boys were teenagers, they knew that what they were doing was a crime, so they reacted to the presence of a third-party bystander.

“What are you looking at, loser? If you don’t want to get beaten, don’t harass us while we’re having fun and get lost!”

“Is it fun?”

“What?”

Yongno made a fierce smile after hearing one of the boys give a confused response.

“It must be nice to feel enjoyment from such an act.”

Having closed the distance to the group, Yongno shot out with his palm and hit one of the boys directly under the chin. Compared to punching, a palm strike required a specific stance and closer proximity to the target, so it had considerable demerits. Yet, Yongno’s palm strike was so quick that the boy had no time to react; no, he didn’t even make a sound before he collapsed. The direct effect of the strike was something that even a veteran martial artist or boxer couldn’t easily replicate.

“Huh?”

“What just happened?”

The group stood dumbfounded as they observed the perplexing scene. When two additional boys crumpled to the ground, those remaining started shouting as they could not accept the reality of the situation.

“This guy thinks he can go up against all of us?! Did he go crazy after watching one too many action movies?”

“Get him!”

The two closest to Yongno swung their fists at him. Their movements complimented each other as if they’d fought together before, and while this combo wasn’t exactly deadly, it couldn’t be easily avoided.

Bam! Bam!

However, Yongno's hand deflected the boys’ swinging arms. Since they’d backed their punches with their weight, the two instantly lost their balance.

Bam!

Between the two boys, one of them was hit in the face by Yongno’s kneecap. Then, as they were surprised by the unfolding events, another boy entered the fray from beside Yongno. Yet, he soon met the other boy’s fate when his face met the edge of Yongno’s hand. The boy teetered before falling, and Yongno kicked his midsection as if it were a soccer ball.

‘They’re so slow!’

Yongno was experiencing time differently than his opponents. With his mind accelerated, everything looked like it was moving slowly.

Bam! Boom!

“Ugh!”

“You son of a- ack!”

In no time, six of the boys were down. Among them, one who was hit by Yongno’s open hand got up with a bloodied nose. Regardless, out of the ten boys, five were taken out. It was a scene right out of an action movie, just like what was mentioned previously.

“W-w-what is this? What’s going on?”

“You weaklings… how can you crumble after just one hit? Are you all extras in a movie?”

The remaining five boys ground their teeth and moved to surround Yongno. In a movie or drama, or perhaps in an unsafe country, the bad guys would have taken Leaf hostage, but this was Korea. These boys were bad apples, but they weren’t part of an organized gang or anything like that, so no knives or weapons appeared.

“Get him!”

With that shout, all five boys lunged at Yongno from all directions simultaneously. They weren’t particularly quick. Actually, for Yongno, they were slower than a snail. If he wanted, Yongno thought he could move tens of times faster than them.

“Hmph!”

However, this was just a passing thought. Although he felt that the boys were moving slowly, this was only because his mind’s processing speed had accelerated; in actuality, his movements weren’t much quicker, as he wasn’t controlling time. Magic didn’t exist in reality, so his accelerated mind allowed him to observe things in much finer detail, but that was it.

Bam!

Boom!

Yongno kicked the boy in front of him while a strike hit his rear. Though he could see and read all their movements, he only had one body and wasn’t much quicker than the boys, so he had to let some attacks hit him.

Bam!

After maneuvering to be punched in the side of his shoulder, Yongno turned to kick his opponent’s shin.

“Ack!”

The boy collapsed while screaming bloody murder, but Yongno’s expression wasn’t bright. He didn’t feel like he moved too much, but his breathing was already ragged. His frame and body were well-proportioned and optimal for physical exertion as if gifted by the heavens, but he hadn’t trained at all. Since he’d been operating at full strength, Yongno quickly reached his limit and grew tired.

“Got him!”

At that moment, one of the three remaining boys grabbed Yongno’s midsection. Yongno wanted to swing his leg backward and kick him off, but one of the boys squirming on the ground caught his legs and restricted his movement.

Bam!

“This stupid boomer….”

Bam!

Not missing this chance, the boy with a piercing punched Yongno’s face and was about to shout something before an elbow slammed into his chest. The strike was so vicious that the boy fell without even having the chance to scream in pain.

“Damn it, hold him properly!”

“Why is this guy wriggling so much!”

Only two boys should have remained, but two who had previously collapsed had rejoined the fight. It wasn’t easy to make someone immobile with a single strike. The initial two or three boys couldn’t get up quickly, but Yongno’s stamina didn’t allow him to attack with as much force in subsequent attacks, so everyone afterward wasn’t injured as much. Yongno felt as if he were being weighed down by an increasingly heavier weight, and his breathing started to grow ragged. Yongno still couldn’t get rid of the boy grabbing his midsection.

“Stay still! This guy!”

One of the boys picked up an iron bar, which was placed as a weight for a store sign, and swung it at Yongno with all his might. The rebar was heavy, so it wasn’t the ideal weapon to use, but the boy who wielded it was the biggest amongst the bunch, standing at 185 cm and weighing over 100 kilograms. As the physically largest, he could put some speed behind his swing. The boy was aiming for Yongno’s head.

‘That’s dangerous….’

As Yongno observed the slowly-approaching iron bar with his accelerated mind, he fell into thought. He knew that it was dangerous if he got hit. The weight of the iron bar and the speed of the swing were enough to crack his head wide open. Of course, he could move his head out of the way and sacrifice his shoulder instead. This would break his collarbone, but at least he’d survive….

‘Should I avoid it?’

For a moment, Yongno was seduced by an extreme temptation. Similar to how Thanatos yearned for his own death, Yongno momentarily sought his own end. It wasn’t because he was overcome with grief from Miho’s death; that was just the last straw amongst a haystack of reasons.

‘Life is painful.’

There were times when life wasn’t so painful. When he still had little knowledge of the world, everything seemed easy and straightforward. The world was an easy place, and he believed that he could do anything he set his mind to. Yet, in the end, he became frustrated because he knew that what he initially thought was just an illusion.

‘If it hits me head-on, I’ll die, right?’

A mere hit would not be life-threatening. Even though the iron bar was accelerating, it wasn’t imbued with internal energy, so it wouldn’t make his head explode. However, if the iron bar hit his vital point, it could cause a critical, life-threatening injury. If he moved his head a bit and stuck his neck out a little, he’d be a goner.

“No, don’t! Yongno! Get your hands off me! Yongno!”

“Ugh!”

Yongno let out a groan as he recalled a scene. A force within his mind started to suppress the rising memory, but it failed this time. The ‘Heaven’ mark on his forehead glowed, and his divine nature awakened.

“… I’m sorry.”

It was something that Yongno always wondered about. Why was it that every time he saw his family, he felt a strong sense of disappointment and hatred? Why did his father, mother, and older brother… always wear expressions of guilt whenever they saw him?

“I-I didn’t do anything wrong. You’re the weird one. I-I just….”

Slowly, his suppressed memories came back. The life he lived, the family that had abandoned him, and being kidnapped by unknown men. However, the first thing that appeared in his mind was the image of a girl crying.

“…”

Yongno’s eyes regained focus. The iron bar was still approaching him. Yongno slowly raised his right hand….

His right hand started emitting a golden shine.

Bang!

“Ack?!”

The iron bar in the boy’s hand shot out like an arrow, embedding itself 30 cm deep into a nearby wall. As this occurred, the large boy’s hands grew bloody from the friction.

“Huh?”

“What the… eh?!”

With a crunching sound, the two boys grabbing Yongno had their arms break like shattered hard candy. Now free of any restrictions, Yongno stepped forward and sent a low kick toward the boy who had swung the iron bar. This action possessed a tremendous amount of force behind it.

Bam! Crack!

Yongno sent out bullet-like punches and whip-like kicks at the boys. Though his previous attacks weren’t weak, these current moves were on another level. If they were hit, their bones would instantly shatter, and they’d immediately lose consciousness. Unlike before, the boys on the receiving end of these attacks couldn’t get back up.