Yuki walked along the streets of the city while watching the stalls across the street, everything looked peaceful when he saw a small crowd gathered around what seemed to be an open stadium.
Walking closer he could see two men in a ring duking it out against each other, the crowd surrounding the ring watched them while cheering excitedly.
"Looks like Dave's going home with the money today" Yuki heard one of the bystanders say to his friend nearby.
"Pricey won the challenge three days in a row I already bet all my on him, I'm going to lose a lot today." Another one grumbled nearby.
Yuki walked up to one of the bystanders and asked "What's going on here? Why are they fighting?"
"You're new to the city?" The man asked with a confused look on his face.
"Yes I just arrived here a few days ago."
"Well, it's very simple, the organizers here set up a challenge, whoever can stay in the ring till the time is over will win 80,000 bucks."
"80,000?? That's way too much for it to be real right?" 80,000 bucks was way more than enough for him to feast to his hearts content for a month, earning it from a challenge in a day felt puzzling.
"It's real! Been going on for days now and we saw the winners actually claim the money" the man replied with an excited look on his face.
"Since then, challengers arrived from all over the city and this place gathered a lot of spectators. Even a gambling stand was erected over there." The man said while pointing over to a stand nearby where people gathered around.
"How do you join the challenge?" Yuki asked while looking towards the ring.
"Once a challenger is knocked out just jump in and join" the man replied then suddenly paused. "Wait, don't tell me you want to join the ring?"
"It doesn't look that hard." Yuki said with a small nod.
"Don't risk your life son, once you enter that ring there's no limit to what can be done to you, look over there" the man pointed towards the two fighting it out in the ring, one of them had his face smashed by the other who was clearly stronger than the other.
Rather than calling it a fight, it was more like a beating session from Dave to the other challenger, he was already bruised up badly but Dave kept his punches going without relenting.
"Those who joined the challenge are the mobs in the city lured over by the prize pool, they're not something you can deal with, just look at his stature and those rippling muscles of his, crushing you is no different from crushing an ant!" The man said while trying his best to pull Yuki back to his senses before he headed to his own doom.
"No need to worry, I'll be fine" he said then walked towards the ring.
"Looks like Dave will win the challenge today"
"It's very obvious he would win, the moment he beat Pricey I knew he would win the challenge, no one could challenge Pricey how are they supposed to defeat Dave?"
Yuki watched as Dave punched his challenger into a pulp till the poor fella fell unconscious then a few men walked into the ring and bundled him away.
"The poor fella shouldn't have challenged, he'll be bruised up for a few weeks."
"What were you expecting? He was setting an example, if he didn't do that they'll keep challenging him, no matter how strong he is he'll get worn out with time."
"That's true, setting such an example would prevent others from challenging because of the fear. No one would want to be in bed for weeks without gaining anything."
A man beside the ring walked up with a megaphone in his hand.
"Is there anyone interested in challenging for today or I will declare Dave as the winner!"
"The time is not over yet, he's going to declare the winner?"
"That's the best, there's no one else willing to challenge him, it's just a waste of time." One of the bystanders said.
"The strong challengers are making this boring."
"Since no one is willing to challenge, today's challenge will end in 5!"
"4!"
"3!"
"2!"
"1!'
"Today's challenge will end here, those interested in tomorrow's challenge should be here by 9:00am" the man said when he noticed the crowds attention had changed, they seemed to be looking at something in the ring, turning his head he saw a lean young teenager looking up at the huge Dave.
Dave looked down and could feel his face twitching while looking at Yuki who stood across him with a confident look on his face "You're here to challenge me or enjoy the scenery?"
"Sorry I wouldn't have interfered with your challenge but the money would help me a lot, I'm sorry." Yuki said with a low bow.
"What do you think you're doing? A cosplay actor?" Dave asked with a light smirk on his face.
The man holding the megaphone walked over and asked Yuki "Are you here to challenge him?"
"Will I win the 80,000 bucks if I win the challenge?" Yuki asked while staring at him.
"Yes of course, win the challenge and 80,000 bucks are all yours!"
"Then I challenge him." He said then turned his head looking straight into Dave's eyes with a cold chill in his eyes.
Dave could feel his hairs raising up while staring at Yuki's eyes like a predator was staring at him.
The crowd burst into a loud chatter when they heard Yuki's bold declaration.
"Is he really going to challenge Dave?!"
"Isn't this a straight ticket to the hospital?"
"Looks like he's really tired of life."
"Boring, this will end soon might as well stake all my money on Dave and rip them off."
"The challenge will begin in 3! 2! 1!!" The man called out then stepped down from the stage.
The moment the countdown ended Dave stepped forward raising his fists and throwing a straight jab at Yuki.
"It would be really disappointing if he couldn't take even a single hit from Dave before the fight ends."
Yuki, on the other hand just stood on the same spot while watching the fist come closer to him without a hint of fear on his face.
'Looks like he's frozen in shock, can't even dodge a hit.' Dave thought while watching Yuki who looked like he was in a trance.
The next moment, Yuki suddenly raised a hand and pulled on Dave's arm then flipped him over his shoulder. A loud bang resounded all through the area and the crowd were shocked speechless as they watched the stage collapse into the ground from the impact.
"What on Earth just happened??"