Fighting a Punching Bag?

Itsuki shook his head, refocusing on his current situation. A smirk crept across his face as he gestured for the thugs to come at him.

"Come on, all of you!" he taunted. The arrogance in his voice made veins bulge in the thugs' foreheads, and they quickly rushed towards him.

"You're dead, kid!" shouted the gang leader, thrusting his knife toward Itsuki's stomach with a swift motion.

Slow... they are so slow. This must be the physical prowess of my counterpart. It's truly remarkable; his reflexes have reached superhuman levels.

That's what Itsuki thought as he watched the leader's movements appear in slow motion. He even felt so bored by the sluggish attack that he yawned.

I'm grateful to have inherited all his talents and abilities; otherwise, I might be done for in a situation like this.

Finally, out of sheer boredom, Itsuki decided to move first. He stepped forward, thrusting one leg to tackle the boss, knocking him off balance. Then, he kicked the boss hard, sending him crashing to the ground.

BANG!

Before anyone could react, they were shocked to see the boss lying unconscious with a large crack in the ground beneath him. Itsuki stood casually on the fallen boss.

""BOSS!!!"" the thugs screamed in surprise.

But without giving them time to react, Itsuki moved again. His figure vanished from their sight, only to reappear behind one thug, kicking him hard and sending him flying into another thug.

Several thugs fell quickly, causing the remaining ones to panic. However, drawing on their experience as thugs, they quickly regained their composure and rushed to surround Itsuki with knives.

Unfortunately for them, Itsuki's superhuman reflexes made their swift movements appear slow. Their attacks were so sloppy that they looked like children's play to him.

Itsuki dodged their attacks effortlessly, almost as if he were toying with them. This only made the thugs more scared and angry, feeling underestimated by him.

"Don't be so cocky, kid!" one thug shouted in frustration, launching a flurry of attacks with all his might. But the result was the same: Itsuki dodged easily, even yawning again.

"You guys are too boring. Can't you be more fierce and faster? If not, you're going to lose to me," Itsuki said, looking at them playfully, which only made the thugs more desperate.

Seeing no change or improvement from the thugs, Itsuki decided to end this 'game.'

With a powerful stomp, Itsuki leaped into the air, seemingly floating. The stunned and awe-struck thugs watched as he spun his body 720 degrees and delivered a kick.

The kick sent several thugs flying, their bodies twisting in the air. The force of the kick was so strong that it seemed at least some of them would be crippled for life.

"I'm not going to pay your hospital bills, okay? Whether you're crippled or not, I don't care. Remember, you're the bad guys, and I'm just defending myself against you who attacked and surrounded me with sharp weapons," Itsuki said, stepping on the boss again. His hands gripped the heads of two thugs, slamming them hard into the ground, knocking them out instantly.

"M-monster!" one of the terrified thugs shouted, trying to escape. But Itsuki didn't let him go. With a speed that seemed like teleportation, he appeared in front of the fleeing thug and knocked him out with an uppercut, the force of which knocked out several of the thug's teeth.

"Running away, huh? That's not fair~ If I were at a disadvantage, you wouldn't let me escape. You surrounded me so I couldn't run, right?" he chuckled, dodging a sneak attack and swiping the attacker's legs before punching the thug's face hard and breaking his nose.

BANG!

I thought fighting them would make me stronger, but it seems not. I need to find stronger and more dangerous opponents to make my adaptation abilities work.

He sighed, his eyes filled with a terrifying disappointment for the remaining thugs. Once again, he disappeared and reappeared, grabbing and slamming two thugs from behind.

BANG!

"Two down, five left!" he grinned, making the remaining thugs shudder.

Just as he was about to advance on the remaining thugs, his instincts screamed a warning. Quickly turning his head, he saw the boss, who had regained consciousness, aiming a gun at him before firing.

The loud gunshot echoed, and the bullet sped toward Itsuki. To most, it would seem instant, but to Itsuki, the bullet moved slowly.

So, without panicking, Itsuki let the bullet come close before catching it with two fingers, stopping its momentum.

In the disbelieving and despairing eyes of the thugs and their boss, they saw Itsuki unharmed, holding the bullet between his fingers.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You guys really want to kill me, huh? Even shooting a gun at me," he sighed and continued, "Unfortunately, this is something I've experienced many times, so it won't work on me." He grinned, which filled everyone with awe and fear.

How could it not? After all, Itsuki's words indicated that he had been attacked with firearms before, but they were all ineffective against him. This wasn't just the feat of a skilled martial artist; it was reaching the realm of superhumans in fiction!

"Y-you—" the boss started to say, but Itsuki interrupted him.

"Monster, right? I often hear that nickname from everyone I defeat," he grinned, slowly approaching the boss with growing momentum.

"Don't come near me!" the boss, intimidated by Itsuki, fired the gun repeatedly, still not believing that Itsuki was just an ordinary human.

The loud gunshots echoed, and the resulting commotion undoubtedly alerted everyone outside, prompting them to call the police.

"It's useless," Itsuki said, holding several bullets that the boss had just fired.

"H-HIH!!!" The boss, seeing his attacks were useless and his gun out of bullets, retreated in fear as Itsuki approached him with a blank expression.

"So, what should I do with you? Kill you? Nah, that would leave a bad taste in my mouth. Hmm... how about crippling you so you can only lie in bed for the rest of your life? Yes! That's a great idea!" Itsuki said with an evil smirk, making the boss feel desperate.

"P-please spare me! Don't cripple me! I-I promise I won't do anything bad again!!!" the boss begged, bowing his head to the ground, his trembling voice revealing his emotions.

"…" Unfortunately for him, there was no response from Itsuki, making the boss's heart race. He slowly turned his head up and shuddered when he saw Itsuki's emotionless gaze.

"You know, this isn't the first time I've faced a situation like this. Other thugs reacted just like you when I showed them my immense strength," Itsuki said slowly, crouching to the boss's level and softly patting his head.

"They begged me like you do, so I, as a good man and civilian, spared them, naively believing they would reform as they said," he continued, his hand changing from a pat to a tight grip on the boss's head.

"But hey…" he sighed and continued, "The next thing I knew, they harmed my family. My father ended up in the hospital, receiving emergency treatment because of them." His grip tightened, causing the boss to cry out in pain.

"H-help me!!!" the boss shouted, but his subordinates could only watch in fear, knowing it was dangerous to interfere with Itsuki now.

"So, what I can conclude when meeting someone like you is," Itsuki said, lifting the boss by his head before turning his body and slamming him to the ground, continuing, "crippling you permanently!" With a grin on his face, Itsuki pulled the boss's hands and also stomped hard on his back, causing his spine to bend and crack loudly.

"Arghhhhhhhhh!!!"

The man's scream of pain echoed loudly outside, filling the air with a sense of panic and dread. Everyone who heard it shuddered, especially the remaining thugs and the girl witnessing the scene. They broke into cold sweats, some even wetting their pants out of sheer terror.

They desperately wanted to flee from this place and never encounter Itsuki again, whom they now saw as a cruel demon who enjoyed crippling his enemies.

The remaining thugs were already sprawled on the ground, too weak to stand. Some had fainted, unable to bear the thought of what might happen to them.

After a while, the boss's screams subsided, leaving an eerie silence. His back was bent at an unnatural angle, signifying he would be paralyzed for life unless there was a breakthrough in medical treatment for spinal injuries.

After doing that, Itsuki stood still for a moment before kneeling and clutching his head. His expression was a mix of disgust and panic.

What have I done? How could I do such a cruel thing… With my personality, I couldn't possibly do this. Damn, it seems the side effects of my cheat are worse than I thought.

This was the only conclusion he could draw. The memories and personality of his counterpart were starting to influence him, and that was very bad. What if, in the future, he inherited the personality of someone with a dangerous mental illness or a psychopath? That would be a nightmare for him.

No, no, no, what I did was right. It was necessary! If not, these bad people won't repent! They will continue their evil deeds, Itsuki! And many more women might become their victims!

With that thought, he calmed down and reassured himself, making him feel better and less guilty about his actions.

He sighed in relief and finally stood up under the fearful gazes of the thugs and the girl. Turning his head to them with a smile, he said, "As for you guys, I think I'll break both your arms permanently so you can't hurt anyone else again. And for you, Ojou-chan! Don't be afraid, okay? I'm here to help you, not harm you. So relax, understand?" The girl nodded her head quickly, like a chicken pecking at grain, in response.

Seeing the girl nod, Itsuki felt satisfied. He then shifted his focus to the remaining thugs. Quickly, he broke their arms, eliciting screams of pain and the sickening sound of bones snapping, echoing through the deserted alley.

Once he was done, Itsuki dusted off his hands with satisfaction. By doing this, he believed he had prevented future crimes. Finally, he approached the girl, who swallowed nervously as he drew near.

"Ojou-chan, you're safe now. I'm going to leave, and you should call the police. Tell them what happene—" However, before Itsuki could finish speaking, a high-pitched and cute voice suddenly interrupted him.

"Villain! Prepare to face the justice of this lady!!!" The voice made Itsuki turn his head quickly in its direction, and his eyes widened in surprise as he saw a familiar figure standing there.

(A/N: I can only upload 4 chapters a week. I do this to avoid burnout, which happened before when I pushed myself to upload a chapter every day. The schedule is to upload a chapter every 2 days. So yeah, sorry if you're a bit disappointed.)