AUTHORS NOTE:
I will be in the Amazon Rainforest for about a week and a half, so there'll be a short pause on updates after this mass release. If I'm not back after then, I was either eaten by a jaguar, or died to a venomous snake's bite.
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The class flew by, a couple students having managed to barely lift Yeopo's body and take him to the infirmary at the teacher's behest. I heard their whispers and caught their sneaking glances. Word would spread about what happened here, just like I wanted it to.
When lunch started, a guy with a mean face and buzzcut hair walked up to me.
"I saw what you did to Yeopo. He has quite the reputation."
I looked at him for a brief moment before going back to reviewing Calculus. After a moment, I answered.
"It wouldn't have been worth smashing his face in, otherwise."
He nervously scratched the back of his head.
"Name's Hun-gil Lee. I overheard you talking about taking over Incheon during the fight, and I think you'll be able to do it. I'm willing to help you on your way to the top, if you'll have me."
After he said his sales pitch, he bowed toward me. I didn't look up from my notes.
"How much of the school's hierarchy do you know."
He raised his head, and I could see the smile form on his face without even looking at him.
"I know everything you need to know in all of Incheon, let alone this school boss!"
If what he's saying isn't bullshit, he'll actually be useful.
"Tell me everything you know about the leaders in each grade."
He enthusiastically grabbed the nearest desk, sliding it closer to mine and sitting on top of it.
"Incheon Middle School's always had a reputation for housing the toughest delinquents in the area, boss, from the first years all the way to the third years."
His eyes gleamed as he began spouting information.
"There's been whispers about this year's first years having a collection of monsters, even more dangerous than the previous years. One of them, you're already acquainted with — Yeopo, the Red Haired Giant. There was talk of how he destroyed a whole middle school all by himself, when he was only a 4th grader."
He chuckled.
"That just makes you even more a monster, if a freak like him can't even touch your clothes once."
I started tapping my fingers on my desk rhythmically. So he destroyed a middle school by himself.. that makes sense, considering his strength and resilience. That also explains his arrogance. The info guy that I already forgot the name of continued on with the same enthusiasm, as if talking about his favorite comic book characters.
"Then there's Park Heejun, this guy's no joke. Even the second and third years don't fuck with him, and I heard he fought a group of highschoolers all by himself. The weird thing is, he always hangs around this loser, and beats the crap out of anyone who fucks with him."
Interesting. It seems this school might be an even better harvest than I first thought.
"The last big fish of the first years is Ryu Baeksan, the White-Haired Devil. People say he's already being scouted out by pro boxing coaches after he knocked out a middle-weight champion of an amateur gym, without any training."
Red haired giant, now white haired devil. Whoever's coming up with these names must have some type of fetish.
I don't care the order of who I fight first, the only thing that I hope is that they don't disappoint me. If they're just another one of these useless fucks, I'll make sure to give them a thorough beating for acting like something they're not.
If they're anything like Yeopo, they'll be decent, but that's it. He was just a slightly more durable punching bag, not enough of a threat to accelerate my growth.
"Who's closer."
Info guy broke out of his enthusiastic stupor as he registered my words.
"Uh.. Ryu is the closest, in Class 1-3. But boss, you want to fight him on the first day? I haven't told you about the second or third years yet, and I don't know how they'll react if we do big moves out of the gate."
He spoke fast and worriedly as he tried to convince me to lay off for a day. Evidently he didn't want me to get too much traction and attention from the rest of the school by eating up the other first year bosses.
He didn't know what type of person I am.
I slowly stood up, towering over his sitting form.
"There seems to be a misunderstanding here."
His eyes darted to the side as I stared him down.
"When I said I'll be ruling Incheon, I mean that in a week, all the middle schools will be under my thumb. And in a month, all the high schools. You understand?"
His eyes opened wide as he registered what I was saying.
"Good. Now take me to this white haired kid, before I beat you instead."
He didn't make any more fuss after that.
The walk to class 1-3 was filled with curious observers the entire way. They whispered with disbelief as they saw me walk by, the word spreading already of what transpired this morning.
"That's the guy who took down Yeopo?"
"He looks European."
"We got another monster in the first years, he didn't hold back even on the first day!"
The door was already open when we got there. I walked in without hesitation, and I saw my target. A white, spiky haired kid with red eyes not unlike mine was talking arrogantly to a group of girls, the delinquents of his class surrounding him without making a fuss.
So he's already taken over his class, good. That'll make things easier for me.
"Hey kid, where do you think you're -"
SMACK
I crashed my palm in the jaw of the NPC who tried blocking my way with a smack, a loud thud reverborating in the room that silenced the class as his body slumped on the floor.
"White hair."
I grabbed his shoulder and he looked over at me, annoyed that someone interrupted him from whatever he was spouting.
"Haah? Who the fuck are you?!"
He tried standing up, but I shoved him back down in his seat with one hand still on his shoulder.
"My name is Romeo. Nice to meet you."
His face flushed red with embarrassment when I shoved him back in his seat, his eyes contorting with rage.
He tried smacking my hand away, but my grip was like iron pliers, unflinchingly grabbing his shoulder and not budging an inch.
"You think you're hot shit, fucker? I'll make sure you get a thorough fucking greeting to South Korea, you fucking foreign—"
He didn't get to finish his sentence as I pulled him out of his chair and threw him into the nearby desks, his body crashing into them and the girls nearby backing away with screams before they pulled out their phones and started recording.
The other delinquents in the class stood there, not daring to interfere. After seeing me make one of their guys go to sleep with one smack, they decided to let their top dog handle it instead.
What a fragile loyalty.
One of them was different, however.
"YOU FOREIGN FUCKER!!"
A tall, overweight kid roared and tried to tackle me from the side. He had the heart, but that was it. I thrusted my knee into his skull, and his fat body collapsed on the floor beneath me with a bang as blood smeared ontop of the shiny waxing.
Ryu got up slightly bruised, desks toppled around him.
"You got me by surprise, I admit it."
His red eyes glared at me.
"But that's the only time you'll land a hit on me, you little fuck. I'm gonna show you the difference between a low level mob, and a protagonist."
He rushed at me before throwing a punch at my side. I moved to dodge and his fist curved and sped up before nicking my jaw with an uppercut, my head barely moving out of the way at the last moment.
"You're a fast fucker, aren't you?"
His eyes gleamed, and a sadistic grin grew on his face.
He threw a speeding hook at my head and I raised my arm to block it. His fist curved yet again, moving like a snake around my blocking arm and slamming into the side of my face. He cackled with sadistic glee.
I rolled with the punch, mitigating the damage before spinning and slamming my foot in his face with a spinning roundhouse kick in retaliation. It was too fast for him to react and he crashed into the ground once more, blood splurting into the air before landing on the floor.
He was definitely skilled. He had some natural flexibility that allowed him to change the direction of his punches, without losing any momentum. But he wasn't as fast as Donald, and he wasn't as strong as Yeopo.
"You have ten seconds to get up. You want to be a boxing champion, don't you."
He slowly got to his feet, staggering. Blood poured from the top of his head, painting a portion of his white hair red, and dripped from his chin, the smile wiped from his face.
"Y-you.. FUCK!!"
He yelled out in anger, but I didn't care — my feet rushing to close the distance before my fist rocketed towards his face with the intention of blowing his head off. He barely dodged, his skin slicing from the speed of my punch before he threw one himself in retaliation that slammed into the arm that I used to block my liver.
My hand lashed out and grabbed onto the arm that he sent to punch me and pulled him towards me. I clenched my other hand into a fist, the muscles in my forearm bulging before I slammed my knuckles into his ribs with unrelenting force. I felt something crack and his face contorted in pain as all the air in his chest left him, his body floating slightly off the ground from the impact.
After a moment, his body finally fell onto the ground with a thud. He slumped over and groaned, cradling his side.
"From now on, this class belongs to me."
My voice traveled through the stunned class.
"When I say bark, you bark. When I say die, you die."
My eyes traveled around the room, looking for anyone who thought otherwise.
"Any objections."
No one let out a peep.
"Good."
Info guy stood, stunned like the rest of them, before he finally woke out of his stupor and followed me out of the class.
The many delinquents and other spectators that were peering through the class window and through the open door, some with their phones still recording, made way and silently stared — eyes still teeming with fear and disbelief.
I'll have this school under me by the end of the day.