The air in Class 1-E suddenly grew heavy. Without warning, Menma lunged forward, his right fist cutting through the air, aimed straight at Chuta's jaw.
However, Chuta didn't flinch.
With a savage grin, he countered with a punch just as powerful.
CRUNCH! THUD!
The two traded blows.
Menma felt the deafening sensation of bone meeting flesh.
But the physical disparity was too real.
With a Strength of 18, Chuta's punches felt like being hit by an iron sledgehammer, while Menma only possessed 10 Strength the level of an average human.
With a single heavy blow, Menma was sent flying, crashing hard against the classroom wall.
"Is this all you've got, brat?" Chuta growled.
He stood firm like a steel fortress with an Endurance of 21.
To him, Menma's punches were nothing more than mosquito bites.
But then, something strange happened. Menma rose slowly, a cold smile spreading across his face.
The blood trickling down his skin only served to fuel his spirit.
A sensation he had never felt before a wild adrenaline took control of his body until he could no longer restrain himself.
At the threshold of Class 1-E, several students from other classes gathered to watch, including a youth with long, neatly combed black hair Fushiguro Furuya, the ruler of Class 1-A.
He watched the scene with narrowed eyes.
As Chuta's equal rival, Furuya knew exactly how powerful Chuta's Judo techniques were, skills that had once won national-level competitions.
"Oi, Chuta-san! Don't kill him too fast! I want to see how crazy this trash really is!" one student shouted.
Menma simply stood there, grinning wide, his head tilted to the side with a terrifying, hollow gaze.
"Heh... heh... hehehe... Is that all you've got, Chuta?"
BAM!
Chuta wasted no time.
He charged forward and unleashed a heavy right straight.
Menma didn't dodge; instead, he intentionally slammed his face into Chuta's fist.
His body staggered back several steps, fresh blood spurting from his nose, but Menma remained upright, chuckling.
"Again! Not hard enough, Chuta!"
Chuta wiped a smear of blood from his lip.
His breathing was becoming heavy... but his eyes changed.
He was starting to get annoyed.
He lunged into the clinch zone, deciding to use his specialized Judo.
No more underestimating.
No more playing around.
"...Enough," he muttered softly.
In one swift motion, he closed the distance before Menma could react.
GRAB!
His hands gripped Menma's gakuran collar tightly, his fingers pressing in like iron pincers.
His other hand immediately locked Menma's arm from the outside.
"Don't think I only know how to punch, you crazy brat..."
Chuta's body pivoted.
Instantly.
With a clean, heavy motion, he swept Menma's leg from the side.
OSOTO GARI!
CRASH!!
Menma's body was slammed into the floor back-first.
The impact was so violent that the air in his lungs was forced out.
But Chuta didn't stop there.
He followed the fall immediately, pinning Menma down before he could rise.
THUMP!
His knee slammed into Menma's stomach to pin him.
His hands shifted. One arm wrapped around the neck.
The other locked the wrist.
"This... is how you truly break someone."
He pulled.
HADAKA JIME (REAR NAKED CHOKE)!
Chuta's arm locked Menma's neck from behind, compressing the throat and carotid arteries simultaneously.
The pressure was brutal, not just stopping his breath, but cutting off blood flow to the brain.
Menma's vision vibrated.
Darkness began to creep in from the edges.
However...
"Heh... hehehe..."
A low laugh escaped his mouth. Chuta's brow furrowed.
"What's so funny?!"
Menma bit into Chuta's arm.
CRUNCH!
"TSK!"
The bite wasn't enough to break the hold, but it was enough to shatter Chuta's focus.
With his remaining strength, Menma slammed his head backward.
THWACK!
The hard impact hit Chuta's face.
The grip loosened slightly, and that was more than enough.
Menma twisted his body forcefully, using his entire weight to break free from the lock.
The two rolled across the floor.
But Chuta was faster. He regained the top position, his hand immediately locking Menma's shoulder.
"It's not over!"
He twisted Menma's arm behind his back,
KIMURA LOCK! Menma's shoulder joint was forced into an unnatural angle.
CRACK...!
Pain surged like electricity through his entire body.
His fingers lost their strength... as if they no longer belonged to him.
But the pain that should have broken him suddenly transformed.
It didn't disappear... it was consumed.
[TING! PASSIVE SKILL ACQUIRED: PAIN EATER]
EFFECTS:
-Portions of pain are converted into recovery.
-The higher the damage, the faster the regeneration.
[WARNING: SKILL GROWS STRONGER AS BODY DAMAGE INCREASES]
Furuya, standing at the doorway, murmured softly, "It's over. No one gets up after taking a sequence like that from Chuta."
He noticed the way Menma received the blows, not defending, not dodging.
But... enjoying them. The corner of Furuya's lip curled slightly.
"...If this isn't stupidity..."
"...then he is something dangerous."
The entire Class 1-E cheered, thinking the loser was finished.
"Nice, Chuta-san! Break him apart!"
"Teach him a lesson, Chuta-san!"
However, what happened next made their skin crawl.
Menma slowly rose, straightening his body. He didn't wince in pain instead, he smiled wide like a madman.
Normally, that would be enough to make anyone scream and surrender.
But beyond all logic, Menma crawled back up with disjointed movements like an undead.
His Spirit of 21 made it incredibly difficult for him to stay down or lose consciousness.
Menma laughed even louder.
"HAHAHAHA!! HARDER, CHUTA!!"
The emergence of this skill felt like a second birth for Menma.
He felt all the wounds on his body beginning to heal rapidly.
Unconsciously, his face contorted into a vicious grin.
"Hehe... nice technique. Now, it's my turn to beat you!"
Menma charged without any refined technique.
He used a brutal street-fighting style,.headbutting Chuta, then launching a barrage of low kicks at Chuta's thighs.
Chuta swung a fist capable of crushing an average person's ribs.
THWACK!
Menma didn't dodge.
He took the punch squarely in the chest.
His body was pushed back, crashing into the chalkboard until it cracked.
Slowly, Menma stood up again.
"He... hehehe. Is that it? Come on, Chuta! Harder!" Menma's wild laughter filled the room, which had suddenly gone silent.
Chuta growled, "You crazy brat! Do you want to die?!"
Menma laughed louder. This madness was beginning to erode Chuta's mental state.
'Why won't he go down?! I've slammed him so many times!' Chuta thought, fear creeping in.
As Chuta wavered from exhaustion, Menma leaped and launched a flying kick that hit Chuta squarely in the chest, forcing the Steel Tank back a step, though he remained standing.
With pure fervor, Menma unleashed a flurry of wild punches at the giant's face.
Chuta, refusing to lose, threw counter-punches into Menma's body.
The students began to whisper.
"He's a monster..."
"This isn't human level..."
The Steel Tank began to slow down.
In the final second, both launched their finishing blows simultaneously.
Menma intentionally ate the last punch, laughed, and countered with one spirit-filled strike aimed directly at Chuta's jaw.
BAM!
Both collapsed to the floor.
The class fell into a deathly silence. But with ragged breaths and a trembling body, Menma forced himself to stand.
He stood teetering, looking down at Chuta's body, whose eyes could no longer open from sheer exhaustion.
The entire class was stunned.
After witnessing the battle, they couldn't believe that Menma The Loser had actually defeated the King of Class 1-E.
"Impossible... This is truly impossible. I must be dreaming, right? Menma actually won against Chuta-san? I must be dreaming because I drank too much yesterday," one student stammered.
With his face mangled and covered in blood, Menma panted while grinning maniacally. "From now on... this class... is mine."
[TING! TARGET DEFEATED: CHISATO CHUTA]
[+100 EXP OBTAINED! LEVEL UP TO LEVEL 2: 30/200 EXP]
[YOU HAVE RECEIVED 5 FREE ATTRIBUTE POINTS!]
[NEW TITLE ACQUIRED: MAD DOG (BUFF +10% ENDURANCE)]
Not long after, Menma felt his body reach its limit.
Exhaustion took over, and he fell to the floor, losing consciousness from the severe injuries sustained in the brutal fight.
Before fully passing out, he quickly allocated his points Strength +2 (12), Speed +2 (12), Endurance +1 (12).
Instantly, a wave of warmth flowed through him, reinforcing his battered physical structure.
Furuya remained silent as he watched, his hands clenched inside his pockets.
"This is going to be troublesome. All the plans I've laid out are going to be ruined," he muttered.
He realized that the balance of the first year maintained by himself, Chuta, Danzo, and Ryo had just been shattered by a loser everyone had underestimated.
---------------------------
Meanwhile, on the quiet school rooftop, a gentle breeze swept across a chessboard.
"The wind feels strange today. Like something was just born down there," Daizen remarked, contemplating the air.
"Checkmate! Hahaha... you lose, Daizen!"
A 200 cm bald giant laughed loudly.
He was Oozora Juugo, the leader of Okato's strongest faction.
Sitting across from him was a thin youth with glasses, 171 cm tall Sakamoto Daizen.
The physical contrast between them was like an elephant and an ant, yet both radiated an equally terrifying pressure.
"Ridiculous, Juugo. You really should learn more," Daizen said calmly, moving a knight to take Juugo's queen, which had supposedly delivered the checkmate.
Juugo's eyes widened in shock, staring at the board in confusion. "Since when was there a knight there?! I didn't see it! Let's go again!"
"Stop pretending to be stupid, Juugo," Daizen replied coldly, adjusting his glasses.
The two sovereigns were not yet aware that on the floors below, a Mad Dog had just been born, ready to throw the power structure they had built into absolute chaos.