"Sneak peek," I muttered under my breath.
A purple window appeared before me, displaying his stats.
[ Seok Kang ]
Strength: S+
Speed: S-
Potential: A
Intelligence: C
Endurance: SS
Damn… my stats are barely at S rank, and his are higher than mine. On top of that, I'm already a little exhausted while he's in peak condition. And he's a wrestler… while I'm a taekwondo fighter. That puts me at a natural disadvantage.
"What are you doing here, leader of South Gangbuk, Seok Kang?" I asked, a hint of surprise in my voice.
"I should be the one asking that," Seok Kang replied, his tone laced with sarcasm. "This club is under me, so you're the intruder. Oh, what was your name again? Maybe it's not important enough to remember."
I frowned. I didn't want to fight him yet.
I didn't attack this club because I knew it was under Jaeha Han. He's S-level—and a taekwondo fighter like me—so I came prepared to face him… not this rhino with SS endurance .
"But this is North Gangbuk territory. Are you declaring war on us?"
"Declaring war?" he scoffed. "Jaeha gave me this club—it's his territory. You're the one who declared war by beating up my men."
With a smirk, Seok Kang stood up.
"So now I have to take revenge for them… as their boss."
He cracked his neck and stretched his arms, preparing to move.
He stepped in without any hesitation, closing the distance in a straight line. There was no testing phase, no circling — just raw intent to crash into me and take control.
I shifted to the side and tried to intercept, but his shoulder still drove into me as his arms wrapped around my torso. The grip locked in hard, crushing my ribs inward as he pulled me in tight.
...his grip is tight.
He immediately tried to drag me down.
I dropped my weight and braced, planting my stance before he could complete it. My forearm pressed against his neck while my knee drove into his thigh. The impact created just enough disruption for me to twist out of his hold.
He didn't pause.
The moment space opened, he came again.
I stepped off-line and snapped a low kick into his leg. The strike landed clean, but he didn't react the way most would. He simply turned and charged again, stubborn and direct.
This time my side kick drove into his ribs, but he pushed through it and forced his arms around me again.
My phone rang in my pocket.
Only a few people had my number—and they'd only call if it was important.
I created some distance, pulled the phone out, and checked the caller.
'Seohee? It's been less than an hour since I left home… what could be so important?'
Thinking that, I picked up the call, put it on speaker mode, and dropped it onto the nearby sofa.
"Choyun! Where are you?" Seohee's voice burst from the speaker, panicked in a way I had never heard before. "Please come quickly! Some thugs broke into the house. Alfred and Seojun are fighting them, but there are too many! Come fast—we can't hold them for long!"
My heart dropped.
Mom was there. Seohee was there.
I didn't reply. I just turned toward the exit, already thinking of the quickest way home.
But Seok Kang wasn't going to let me leave.
The moment my focus shifted, he moved—his massive arms wrapping around my waist, trying to pin me down.
"That's enough. We can fight some other time—I need to go home. There's an emergency," I said, my voice sharp.
"What? You think this is a game? That I'll just stop because you said so? This is a fight, motherfucker."
As he said that, he moved in and grappled me.
I broke the hold with a sharp release from my core and stepped back before he could tighten his grip.
He rushed again.
I moved first.
A fast front kick struck his midsection, followed immediately by a turning kick into his side. He absorbed both and kept coming.
He caught me again.
His grip locked from the side.
I planted both palms against his body and released a short, focused strike.
FA JIN
The impact ran through him.
His hold broke instantly. He was sent flying a few meters, crashing into the wall before coughing up blood.
I stepped in before he could recover and drove a hook kick across his head. As his posture shifted, a spinning back kick followed into his torso, forcing him back.
He tried to grab again.
I didn't give him time.
A rising knee lifted his balance and an axe kick came down across his shoulder, driving him lower.
He still tried to close in.
" Darn are you human or a Cockroach"
I pivoted and slammed a roundhouse into his ribs, then stepped forward and struck again with both palms.
Another release.
FA JIN
His body shot forward like an arrow, crashing into the wall hard enough to crack it before sliding down. His eyes had already rolled back as blood streamed from his nose and mouth and this time he didn't rise again.
" Hah..Finally "
I activated Silver Tongue and told the ugly, fat man sitting in the corner, trembling, to sign the document.
A purple window appeared, showing that the quest was completed—but I didn't have time to check the rewards. I ran straight toward the exit.
When I stepped out of the club, I immediately saw them.
The street outside wasn't empty. It was surrounded.
South Gangbuk.
Their uniforms made it obvious enough.
My bike was parked right beside the exit, so I walked straight to it, got on, and started it without saying a word. The moment the engine came alive, I rode forward toward the road that led home without slowing down.
They saw I had no intention of stopping.
Some of them hesitated and moved aside, creating a narrow path instead of standing directly in front of me. But that didn't mean they were letting me go. As I pushed forward, people from the sides rushed in and started swinging wooden batons toward me.
I had no way to properly defend while riding, so I didn't slow down. I drove straight through them, running over the ones who tried to block my path.
Then someone shoved a baton into my front wheel.
The balance gave out immediately.
The bike tilted, and I jumped off before it could drag me down with it.
The moment my feet touched the ground, they closed in.
A baton came at me from the side. I shifted past it and drove a side kick into the attacker's ribs. Another rushed in from the front and I answered with a turning kick that sent him back before he could swing. Someone tried to close the distance from behind, but I turned into him and brought my heel down across his shoulder with an axe kick.
They weren't backing off.
So I kept moving.
A front kick forced one away. A low kick broke another's stance as he stepped in. Someone tried to grab me, but I drove a knee into his midsection and followed with a roundhouse that dropped him.
More of them stepped in.
A flash of red hair caught my eye as Ryu pushed forward with the crew and entered the fight. Behind him, the six A-rank recruits I had gathered were already clashing with the South's line. But it was the two at the front who stood out — Taehoon and Dowoon. Taehoon was cutting through them with his Taekwondo, his kicks knocking multiple opponents aside in quick succession, while Dowoon moved with steady, precise control, making sure no one slipped past his reach covering Taehoon's blind spots.
It matched what I had already prepared for.
Earlier that afternoon, on my way to the club, I had contacted the crew. An ambush was always a possibility, and I wasn't going to walk in blind. I also had Eunhyeong and Seonu pass the information to Sechan, letting the North know that the East could try using the South as a distraction to make a move on us.
Taehoon, Dowoon, Ryu, and the others rushed into the fight and engaged the elite members directly.
But even with them here, the difference in numbers was clear.
There were fifteen elites on their side.
Only nine of us.
As the fight spread across the street and the clashes intensified, a thought crossed my mind.
Would I even be able to reach home in time?