For the Rewards (2)

"You assholes annoy me so much!"

Liam's shout echoed throughout the bathroom area.

The two students turned to him in disbelief.

The student who had a rather big physique unnatural for a student and was about to kick the student on the floor was clearly pissed by his sudden outcry.

At first, he took a second look at Liam, but after seeing his average physique, he got even more pissed.

"What the fuck did you just say to us, huh?"

'Jeez, I still don't know how to confront meatheads like this guy.'

Liam retracted his pointed finger and scratched the back of his head.

"...I said you guys annoy me so much?"

"Huh? Haha, which brave hunter do you idolize that they got you this courageous?" The bully scoffed at him.

'Oh, right. If there are monsters, there should also be hunters. Wow, this world is straight out of a novel. Wait, there's no time for this. I need to think of a comeback.'

Ehem.

"Which villain do you idolize that they got you this much of a bastard?"

That borderline cringe sentence he just said gave Liam goosebumps but he just had to do it.

"..."

"Ah, I apologize. My bad attitude seems to sip out of my mouth when I'm facing jerks like you– Oh, sorry! I meant douchebags."

"You..."

"Ah, you know what, I'll just call you guys bullies. You know, like elementary school bullies. Haha. They're a little bit scary back in the days."

Liam spoke with every intention to piss them off.

And he was successful.

"Bastard, I'll–"

The bully was about to jump at him when the other student beside stretched his arms to stop him.

It was the other bully who wore glasses and had a slightly-above-average face.

If you exclude the fact that he just kicked another student to the ground, he looked like a model student.

"...You're in the same class and year as us."

The student then spoke.

"What makes you so confident that you can just talk like that to both of us?"

He became suspicious of Liam's fearless actions and couldn't help but ask.

Liam, however, was a bit surprised by his behavior.

'Wha- Oh? Is he wary? Wow, he doesn't judge by appearance. This world is otherworldly.'

Well, he knew that the system and its stats and all was the main cause for his wariness.

"Aha, maybe I'm strong?"

"Oh, really? Show us your level then." The student smiled slyly.

'Why is he smiling so sly– oh wait, you can show your level to other people?'

Liam was interested in that fact and instinctively tried it out of curiosity.

And with his first guess...

"Show hunter level?"

It appeared.

A small window screen popped up in front of Liam. The two bullies were surprised, even scared for a moment that he actually did it, since, in their school, people only show their levels if they are very confident with them.

It was a sign of superiority.

However, when they read the contents in the small window—

[Hunter Level: 21]

"PFFT-! KUAHAHAHAHA-!"

The two laughed out loud as they saw this.

'Oh, right. I'm still level 21. I have no idea why the app increased my stats instead of my hunter level when the result is technically the same.'

Ding, ding!

'It always appears at the worst moments.'

Liam decided to pull his phone from his pocket while the students were laughing their asses off, curious to see what the app was going to say to him now.

The voice reached him when he opened the phone.

— The Heaven's App was surprised at the user's great idea of level contribution!

— Starting from now, the app will increase the user's hunter level instead of the stats.

— The Heaven's App rewarded the user 100 coins for his contribution.

"...uh."

Liam suddenly felt a chill in the back of his neck. He ignored the ridiculous part where the app rewarded him for such a trivial thing and instead, contemplated the fact that the app could read his thoughts.

As he was about to complain about why it was acting like this, he was cut by one of the bullies trying to speak to him.

"Ha, wow. I didn't think you were ballsy and dumb enough to actually show your level."

'Ah, so that's why he was smiling. He's not wrong about it though.'

Liam put his phone back in his pocket and looked back at the students.

"What's more, you have an even lower level than this dumbass on the floor. You wanna have your face kissing the floor too?"

The big body bully followed back intimidating Liam once more now that he knew his level.

"Of course, not. Ah, a bit off-topic but, I do kind of have to beat you up."

"You still fucking dare–!"

As the tension continued to rise between him and the bullies, Liam judged his situation.

'That Nathan guy said that the average level is 27. These guys never mentioned that we are in the same class so I'll have to assume that their average stats are at least 7 levels higher than mine.'

However, he just had a change.

His stats have increased by a total of 50 points and there was a good chance that he was just around their level.

'And although I still don't know how they work, I also had my skills' proficiency increased.'

"In conclusion, I'm not completely fucked."

'...so now, how do I activate a skill?'

He was about to try citing one of the skills' names for activation but one of the students started to move towards him.

"I don't even need to use a single skill for a weak bastard like you..."

It was the bully with the big body.

"You're done for!"

The bully ran towards him at great speed unbefitting his large physique.

'He's fast!'

The distance between them became short enough for the bully to stretch his arms.

Liam also moved when he saw the fist flying straight towards his face.

Whoosh–

He dodged it by a hair's breadth as he took one step sideways.

'My body feels incredibly light!'

He expected it to some extent but he was still surprised.

Interrupted by his thoughts, Liam did not notice that another fist was going to hit him.

"Guh–!"

The fist landed on his side.

However, the attack only affected him to a bearable extent so he quickly recovered from it.

"...Oh?"

Liam thought he was lucky that maybe his enemy didn't have high Strength stat. But that thought was quickly disregarded as he once again saw the body of the big bully.

'Is it the Constitution stat then?'

"Hup!"

He lowered his body but almost lost his balance due to being unaccustomed to his now lighter body.

'Damn, I need to get used to this.'

It had also been too long since the last time he had moved his body like now.

Tak, tak, tak–!

Liam changed from dodging the attacks to blocking them.

'There.'

A moment later, he found a chance to counterattack, aiming for the face.

Punch!

The bully had hua head pushed back and lost his balance for a moment.

'Oh! I did not expect such a good blow from me.'

This was once again due to the increased stats he just had.

The one who received the blow, however, wasn't very happy at this. Obviously.

"You, mother–!"

The bully was furious about being hit by a mere low level like him as he immediately dashed with his fist forward.

However, Liam simply blocked it once again.

He admired his body's great endurance.

Again and again, he blocked the punches coming from the bully.

Their fight went on for about a minute, and Liam realized some noticeable change in his body after observing.

He could move faster than normal and had some great reflexes. His strikes contained extensive power and he could feel his joints shifting to support his strikes. His muscle and skin became solid and had the toughness to endure most attacks. He had become better at deciding what he should do next. He could, at random times, predict his opponent's movements.

All of his assessment was made by him dodging and blocking attacks for a minute.

'This... This is the power of 50 stat points!'

Thinking that he already learned what he needed to know from his transformation, he decided to finish this.

"Hup!"

He dodged another attack and prepared his leg to strike.

What's a better way to finish a big guy than to kick his–

Crack–!

"That's gotta hurt right?"

"Ugh! Y-You hid your strength...!" The bully said as he clenched his teeth and held his groin.

The guy kneeled as he couldn't endure the agony.

Liam dealt one last punch in his opponent's face.

Thud!

"Ah, that was... satisfying?"

He stared at the fallen bully for a while.

Liam could feel himself grinning at the sight of a bastard who collapsed on the floor.

Indeed, it had been a long time.

"Tsk."

With the sound of someone clicking their tongue, Liam moved his gaze.

"I shouldn't have let him do it if he would only let his guard down..."

His eyes met with the remaining bully.

The model student-looking bully who wore glasses.

"But, you... You haven't even used a single skill, haven't you?"

'He noticed?'

"So how is it that you're only level 21 when your base stats are this strong?"

Liam widened his eyes in surprise.

'Wow, he's too smart to be a normal bully.'

"It makes me wonder if you did some dirty things behind the scenes."

"Uh... Huh?"

The student chuckled.

"Oh, you know, like illegally getting power cores, maybe?"

He looked at Liam with eyes as if he already knew what was behind this.

Liam, on the other hand, was...

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Dumbfounded.

He just came to this world. What was this guy trying to say to him?

"Haha, I see. So that's how you're gonna play this, huh."

'He's having a big misunderstanding, isn't he...'

"I've already faced people like you, some even tried to tempt me. Although they weren't successful and even got defeated by me."

As he spoke, he rolled up the sleeves of his uniform as if preparing for a fight.

'...Why is a damned bully acting like a main character?'

"Well, since you already beat my friend. I don't want to embarrass myself by running away from this fight, or worse, losing from you."

The student who seemingly had an 8th-grade syndrome made a stance and looked at Liam.

"So are you up for another round?"

"...I think so?"

"I'm warning you tho. I'll be using my skills, you should too. That is if you even have a chance to."

"..."

Liam then made a stance as well as his eyes locked with his opponent.

What the student said earlier was ridiculous but it seemed a fight between them was unavoidable.

'...and the atmosphere he's giving looks pretty serious now too.'

While Liam tried to match the atmosphere too, suddenly–

Blink–!

The student disappeared from his spot and Liam who was shocked by this felt something behind him.

'Shit!'

He turned around but it was already too late.

A fist with electricity circling around it along with crackling sounds was aiming for his face.

Boom–!

With a booming sound, Liam's body flew and hit the bathroom wall.

Thud–

'...It hurts.'

His vision turned dark as he fell on the floor, on the verge of fainting.

'I knew this was a mistake. Did I already forget that this is an entirely different world?'

Blood dripped from his broken nose and wounded lips as he leaned his back on the wall.

The pain was slowly starting to take his consciousness away.

Why did he do this in the first place?

'Ah, right.'

The quest.

It felt silly that he immediately accepted that quest as if it was normal.

It was ironic that he thought the bully was acting like a main character when he himself treated this world like a game the moment he started following that app.

'...Give up?'

It wouldn't be bad to give up now and live like a nobody.

Yes, that seemed like a good way to live especially in this dangerous world, but...

Liam bit his lips till it bled to stop himself from fainting.

'...Boy, do I hate feeling like this.'

He moved his legs and slowly pushed his body upwards.

"You..."

Seeing this, the student, or the bully was surprised.

He had a lot of fights where his opponents became to scared to stand back up or even knocked out completely after he attacked like earlier.

'But, this guy...'

"...You're still going to continue?"

Liam wiped the blood from his face as he glanced at the student who asked him.

"Yeah. Well..."

He smiled and took off his uniform.

"I haven't even got the chance to fight back. How could I not?"

"..."

Liam never saw or heard the bully speak before or when he attacked him.

'[Dart].'

Therefore, he learned that he could activate his skills through his mind and will.

"What are you even going to do?"

The bully focused on what was Liam planning until Liam threw his uniform towards him, blocking his view.

"...What?"

Woosh–

The bully turned to his side as he realized what was going on and move his hands in front of his face.

It was to block the fist that was coming to him.

But it seemed that he had underestimated his opponent's strength.

"Urk–!"

The fist easily pushed through his hand and dug into his face, breaking his glasses and pushing his head back as a result.

"You bastard!"

"On your right."

Liam struck the bully's side with a kick.

"Ack–!"

He tried to land a punch but he missed.

The bully saw this as a chance and smiled.

"Dumbass!"

He activated his skill and prepared his fist as it started crackling with electricity.

"I'll kill you!"

The bully stretched his arm and aimed for Liam's face like he did earlier.

However, as if expecting this already, Liam easily dodged his fist and smiled.

The bully realized it too late that this was his aim all along as he saw his a fist flying towards his stomach.

'[Hard Strike].'

"Ugh!"

The bully coughed hard as he struggled to breathe, but couldn't even take a breather as a knee hit his head.

"Kakh! Y-You...!"

Thwack!

After striking one last time, Liam was the last man standing.

He panted heavily as exhaustion caught up to him.

'Damned bully really made me contemplate my life with one hit.'

He was lucky.

The bully had strong skills but it seemed that instead of experience, only his ego grew by fighting people weaker than him.

He was consumed by his confusion and rage and Liam simply took advantage of that.

Sigh.

Liam stood silently as he stared at the sight of the two bullies lying on the ground, and...

Liam looked around.

"Right. He's already gone."

It looked like the bullied student went out of the bathroom while they were fighting.

He saved him for now, but Liam knew there was a high chance they will pick on him worse than today after what happened.

"I'm sorry...

Truth be told, he didn't defeat the bullies to have someone's gratitude nor did he do it of his own volition.

It still sounded ridiculous but....

"...I only did it for the rewards."

Liam heard murmurs coming from outside the bathroom.

It was time for him to get out of here.

Liam stealthily walked out from the men's bathroom to the school grounds, clearing his mind on the way, before he eventually grabbed the phone from his pocket.

He opened the app and at the same time, the voice appeared in his mind.

— The user completed the [Forced Quest] successfully!

— The rewards shall be given immediately.

— The user gained 150 coins, 1 Hunter Level, and a 5% proficiency increase for each skill.

He read the messages in satisfaction while wandering around on the school grounds.

"Good. Now..."

After reading all of it, he removed the texts and saw the store icon just beside the inventory.

"Should I proceed to go to the app's [Store] now?"