The Gwangseong Quartet's headquarters lay in ruins, its foot soldiers strewn across the floor like broken chess pieces. Smoke, dust, and the stench of sweat and blood clung to the air. Only four remained standing: the infamous Lee brothers—Hyun-soo, Hyun-jin, Hyun-woo, and Hyun-tae.
And in the center of their shattered empire stood Daniel. Calm. Silent. His eyes were cold, his posture relaxed, as though the chaos around him was no more than a minor inconvenience.
Hyun-soo, the eldest, stepped forward, wiping blood from his lip. "Little brat," he growled, voice shaking with fury and disbelief. "You think because you beat a few lackeys, you can touch us? We're not like them. We're the Gwangseong Quartet."
Daniel's gaze was steady, almost bored. "Then prove it."
The air cracked with tension as the four brothers charged at once, their teamwork honed from years of fighting side by side.
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Hyun-soo came first, leading with a heavy hook meant to break Daniel's guard. Daniel slipped under the swing, his body flowing like water. He countered with a Wing Chun chain punch combo, rapid-fire strikes smashing into Hyun-soo's chest and jaw before finishing with a sharp elbow to the temple, sending the eldest staggering back.
Hyun-jin rushed next, fast and sharp, his movements sharper than his elder brother's. He attempted a Taekwondo spinning kick, aimed straight at Daniel's head. Daniel caught the kick mid-air, twisted his leg, and executed a Judo-style sweep, slamming Hyun-jin flat on his back with a thundering crash.
Hyun-woo and Hyun-tae, the twins, came together. One low, one high. Hyun-woo lunged with a double-leg takedown, while Hyun-tae unleashed a flurry of punches. Daniel leapt upward, twisting his body in midair. His knee connected with Hyun-tae's chin in a brutal flying knee strike, knocking him back, before landing perfectly to sprawl against Hyun-woo's takedown attempt. In a flash, he transitioned into a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu guillotine choke, wrenching Hyun-woo's neck until the boy gasped and clawed for air. Daniel released him only to hammerfist his face into the ground.
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The brothers regrouped, battered but unbroken. Their teamwork kicked in—rotating attacks, covering each other's openings, moving like a four-limbed beast.
Hyun-soo grabbed Daniel's arm in a clinch while Hyun-tae tried to land a devastating body shot. But Daniel twisted free, using Aikido redirection, sending Hyun-soo crashing into his younger brother. Before they could recover, Daniel drove a Kyokushin low kick into Hyun-tae's thigh, the impact so sharp it buckled his leg.
Hyun-jin came again, spinning for another kick. This time Daniel met him mid-spin with a boxing cross-counter, fist smashing into jaw with a crack that echoed through the room. Hyun-jin collapsed, teeth rattling against the concrete floor.
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"Dammit! He's just one kid!" Hyun-woo roared, desperation breaking through his bravado. "He's not human!"
Daniel's voice was cold, merciless. "I told you… you'll remember me."
The twins tried again, one behind, one in front. Hyun-woo lunged for Daniel's waist, Hyun-tae for his head. Daniel anticipated both. He hooked Hyun-woo into a wrestling suplex, slamming him onto his back with spine-shaking force, while pivoting into a capoeira spin kick that caught Hyun-tae across the temple. Both fell, writhing.
Only Hyun-soo remained upright, chest heaving, face swollen. The eldest brother roared and charged blindly, swinging with all his strength. Daniel stepped into the strike, absorbed it with a tight guard, and countered with a brutal combination: boxer's uppercut, Muay Thai elbow, then a crushing shoulder throw that drove Hyun-soo into the floor so hard the ground itself seemed to quake.
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Silence followed. The four brothers, the feared Gwangseong Quartet, lay beaten, their pride shattered.
Daniel stood over them, breathing evenly, eyes still cold. Not a single wasted movement, not a single drop of mercy.
"You thought age made you strong," he said, voice calm but heavy, echoing in the ruined hall. "But strength isn't years… it's will. It's control. And from this night forward, your empire is mine."
The brothers groaned, beaten but alive, their empire toppled in a single night by a boy they had dismissed as nothing more than a middle schooler.
And as Daniel turned away, the shadow he cast over them felt heavier than the fists that had just crushed their pride.
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