Beep! Beep! Beep!
Once again, Hajoon found himself staring at the ceiling of the dojo after being slammed by Mary Choi.
'Wait, what am I doing here again? Wasn't I supposed to be dead?'
Now this was confusing. Did he happen to time-travel or did his mind play tricks on him?
And what was this screen doing in front of him? Did nobody see it?
>Host Detected<
>Beginning Synchronization<
>Synchronization Complete!<
• Player, Hajoon Stacy Has Been Registered To The System!
What the fuck? How does it know my name?
Before any thoughts could be registered, he caught Mary Choi looking down at him, the same cold stare still stuck in his mind.
"You're too stiff," she said coldly. "If you can't shift your weight, anyone, even a little child can throw you."
"Uh... Uhmmm sure," Hajoon stuttered.
These were the same words she said yesterday. Why was she saying it again? And wasn't he kicked out of the dojo?
What was he still doing here?
When he faced Park Seok-Jin's gang in that alleyway, it seemed like he was in his final moment and was about to die.
Was this a second chance at life?
Hajoon could only wonder as he stood to his, holding his side which he anticipated would hurt a lot as he had found himself in this loop.
Once again, he was forced to sit on the sidelines. After the dojo class was over, Hajoon once again, packed his things, his eyes darting towards the screen in front of him.
'I wonder what this is'
Hajoon stared and the more he looked, the more of his attention was on it. From the way it looked, it could be some game window, or rather—a system as Hajoon had seen in those light novels he read.
In those comics or novels, the hero was to level up and get stronger by doing quests. But from the way it looked, it seemed that no quest was available for him.
Then the system shifted, like white noise. Hajoon watched as a new set of texts was displayed.
[System Activated]
>Apex Fighter System initialized<
[Purpose: Train the host to become the perfect combatant.]
The system wants to train me? Train me to become... A perfect combatant.
Now this was a load of crap. How could some lousy game screen possibly make him as strong as that? He couldn't even do one push-up to save his life.
"Could this be fake, or is it for real?" Hajoon asked himself.
The system shifted again...
>>CHARACTER INFORMATION<<
NAME: Hajoon Stacy
LEVEL: 1
Strength: 0+
Agility: 0+
Endurance: 0+
Technique: 0+
Perception: 0+
Health: 50/50
Stamina: 25/25
'This is the stats I presume'
Just as expected, it looked like a game. His health was monitored and his abilities were leveled, though he lacked formidable abilities.
[QUEST]
• Unavailable for now!
'There's nothing here it seems. Unavailable for now. I guess that it will come when the time is right'
Just then, as Hajoon expected, Mr. Lee had approached him, a serious expression on his face, "Hajoon," he called out with a stern expression.
At this point Hajoon already knew what he was here for, "Oh, Mr. Lee," he said, "I've been kicked out of the dojo, right?"
Yes! This was definitely why he was here. To kick Hajoon out.
Mr. Lee was shocked by this, "H-how'd you know that? Are you some psychic?"
"W-wel, no... Not really. I don't think that's how psychics work." said Hajoon.
Now Mr. Lee's expression altered back to its serious form, "I'm really sorry about this kid. I know you worked hard to go to school and now you're getting kicked out on your second week of karate class."
Hajoon simply smiled, "It's fine," he said before waving at the man and stepping out to change and get to class.
Now his biggest concern wasn't the fact that he was kicked out of the gym. Even the pain of being defeated by Mary Choi didn't bother him the slightest.
As he walked through the halls, he stared at the system window.
'All this. Is it real? Am I dreaming or did I really time-travel?'
As he tried to think further, it didn't matter. This was indeed his reality.
Besides, with something like this maybe he could be given a second chance to finally be stronger.
Now he was closer to his class, but he stopped. Since he was repeating the same say all over again, it meant he knew what was going to happen.
Park Seok-Jin and his gang.
As the sudden realization came, it was already too late, once again, Seok-Jin had arrived from nowhere, slamming him against the wall, his hand gripping his collar.
"Hey there, Stacy," said Seok-Jin. "The dojo punching bag of Kang Ministry."
Fuck! How did I get in this situation all over again?!
"Were you seriously trying to run away from me?" Seok-Jin asked as his gang chuckled.
Now knowing what was going to happen, Hajoon smiled, "Yeah, I was," he said, "And I wasn't scared, I just couldn't stand that ugly mug of yours."
Now Seok-Jin was angered, "The fuck did you say to me?" he asked in a cold tone.
As the situation got dire, the principal had intervened just in time, prompting Seok-Jin to let go of his collar. Taking that time, he ran inside the class, escaping the trouble.
It was the same as before, Nathaniel was sitting, and Kim Da-Rin was about to enter, only to bump into Hajoon.
"Oh, excuse me," she said, keeping up that kind facade.
Hajoon glared at her with rage, his eyes glaring into her soul. He knew that behind all that kindness was just a selfish girl.
What a fucking bitch? He said to himself before fixing his glasses and walking to Nathaniel.
The whole session happened as Hajoon expected it to. The words that were said by Nathaniel were the same as before.
After school, both friends walked outside.
"So," Nathaniel asked as Hajoon expected, but of course, he was cut off.
"Nope!" said Hajoon, "I don't think I'll be going to the sports annual festival!"
Nathaniel was shocked by this, "Huh? How'd you know that was what I was gonna ask?" he asked, curious now.
"Just.... intuition, I guess," Hajoon replied, followed by a chuckle.
Nathaniel nodded his head, this time, a smile on his face—no disappointment like last time, "You are one of a kind, Hajoon," he said, "So, are we gonna hang out at the game cafe today?"
Now this was his chance. Hajoon was giving two choices this time.
To follow his friend or risk getting killed again.
Just then the system flashed another time. Hajoon glared at the text displayed on the screen, confusion etched on his face.
'What the actual fuck is this?'
>> QUEST: FRIENDLY INVITATION<<
• YOU WILL BE INVITED TO SOMETHING FUN.
[DO YOU ACCEPT THIS QUEST?]
Well! Looks like the best chance here is to choose the quest. Hajoon thought.
Though he could see what was before him, it seems others couldn't. And Nathaniel was beginning to be cautious about his behavior.
"Uhh, Hajoon?" he asked, "What are you thinking about?"
Hajoon noticed this as well, "Oh," he muttered, "Sorry. Was just thinking. Yeah! I would like to go!"
[QUEST ACCEPTED!]
——
The game cafe was as beautiful as Hajoon imagined, at least from his own imagination. He usually played games with his dad and since he died, the young man had simply put it on hold.
'Its so wide and spacious' he thought.
Before he knew it, he was already sitting in front of a computer, playing one of the best multiplayer games he could think of with Nathaniel.
"Ah! Fuck! Stop camping!"
"Seriously, Hajoon, you're really bad at this. And I'm not even camping!"
"Must be bad service!"
After a few hours of gaming, it began to rain outside. This was the time before he would've been ambushed.
Though he couldn't keep the tradition of his father's death anniversary, at least he could escape from his death. That was a good thing.
Right?
Suddenly, a hand was pressed on his shoulder, shaking the young man quite a bit.
Though it was Nathaniel.
"Hey! Bathroom break," he said pointing at the restroom, "I'll be right back."
"O-okay!"
As Nathaniel left, Hajoon was left all alone in the cafe, for a moment, he hadn't even noticed that the cafe was empty, not until he felt another hand on his shoulder.
Oh, must be Na-
No—it wasn't him, this time it was harder and he could feel his shoulder going down. Hajoon turned to face the person and to his surprise, the person whom he tried to avoid was right before him.
Park Seok-Jin. But this time he was alone, "Hey, dick head," he said with a deep rage in his eyes, "Did you really think you could escape me?"
As Hajoon tried to understand how Seok-Jin had found him. The system flashed again.
[Quest Completed!]
Reward: 50XP!
Then it shifted and Hajoon was not ready for what he saw.
[NEW BATTLE QUEST]
• DEFEAT THE THUG Park Seok-Jin!
• REWARDS: ???