8 Chapter 07- Stat Increase

Rubbing the back of his head, Arthur opened the new objective that appeared and read it carefully. He already realized that whatever this was, it had something to do with the noise he heard coming from the end of the alley.

Arthur would be lying if he said that he wanted to get involved in this as it screamed trouble. But, at the same time, he was a greedy person. In other words, for the right rewards, he was ready to get involved in trouble.

'I'm a coward… But I'm a smart coward.' He thought to himself.

[Objective: Defeat the three delinquents and save Kaede.

-Delinquents defeated. (0/3)

Rewards: +5 ink points, +3 strength.]

"Wait, what? Kaede?" Arthur was confused for a moment before he realized what Kaede the MangaVerse was talking about and he immediately frowned.

Then, with slow, quiet steps he walked toward the other side of the alley. The more he got closer to its end the higher the laughs of the delinquents got. Eventually, Arthur reached the turn and took a peek.

There, he could see Kaede surrounded by three individuals as they tried to corner her, closing all possible escape routes.

'That idiot… Why did she take such a turn into such a dark alley?' He sighed inwardly.

"What do you want?" Kaede asked the trio warily as she retreated slowly.

"Hey, hey, don't be scared, lady! We won't bite you! Hahahaha!" One of them said with a weird, hoarse laugh. He was rather fat and short with messy hair, some ear piercings, and dirty clothes.

"Yeah, we don't bite! Let's go have some fun! What do you think? Boss here thinks you're very attractive." The second was rather skinny and slightly tall with an extremely ugly appearance that almost made Arthur throw up just from looking at him.

'Goddamn, dude, your face is gonna give me nightmares tonight.' He thought to himself as he finally looked at the third and possibly the leader of this group of goons.

In contrast to the other two, their leader was slightly muscular with a bald head and darker skin tone. 

"I have somewhere else to go so please let me go," Kaede replied as she turned to leave.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" The leader grinned as he tried to grab Kaede's hand.

"Please let me go!" Kaede pulled her hand away warily as she looked angrily at the leader.

"Hahaha, an angry kitten sure scratches! Am I wrong, boys?"

"You're damn right, boss! I like them playing hard to get!"

'Shit… Should I barge in now?' Arthur felt his muscles tense and his heart rate increasing. Even if he was swayed by the rewards, fighting three delinquents at the same time is absolutely impossible.

But, at the same time, Kaede was going to get harmed if he didn't move in now. 

'How am I supposed to do this? I can't fight the three of them head-to-he-... Wait…' Suddenly, Arthur had an idea. Who said he needed to fight them head-on? 

He had something up his sleeves he could use which was the element of surprise!

If he uses his chance right, beating them wouldn't be as hard.

"Ugh, to hell with this!" Swallowing down his fear, Arthur rushed out of his hiding spot toward the leader, surprising everyone.

Without waiting, Arthur swung the bag in his hand with all of his power. Inside of the bag were numerous metallic and heavy objects like cans and hard vegetables so a hit from it was bound to hurt… a lot.

*BANG*

Hitting him on the head, the leader of the group fell down to the ground with a loud thud as he grabbed his head.

'Whenever you hit, hit hard and hit the strongest first.' He thought to himself. That was one of the rules he learned after years of fighting bullies in school. It helped him defend himself better and have a more peaceful time.

"AGHH! What the fuck?!" Rolling around, the leader yelled angrily at the top of his lungs.

Arthur didn't wait for the other two to wake up from their shock as he swung the bag again, hitting the tall delinquent in the neck. The hit cranked his neck as it threw him off his feet.

'Good, two down!' Arthur rejoiced as he tried to rush toward the third and final target… The fat man.

However, sadly for him, the fat man woke up from his shock and was already on the move. Rushing toward Arthur, he pushed his hands forward, grabbing the swinging back before he pushed Arthur back.

'He's fast!' Cursing inwardly, Arthur tried to balance himself, only to fail miserably and fall down.

"You fucking bastard!" The fat man immediately jumped on him as he punched his face violently.

The hit was strong, almost knocking Arthur down. However, he gritted his teeth and immediately defended himself.

But, the rain of punches fell down on him, completely wrecking his arms and penetrating his defense with ease. Because of his weak build, Arthur had no way of fighting the fat delinquent. 

In a matter of seconds, Arthur got hit multiple times, his face already starting to swell and blood leaked out of his injured lip. Each hit made his vision turn hazy and his senses numb. The horrible pain from the punches almost threatened to knock him unconscious.

However, Arthur wasn't going to let that happen.

'Dammit! I ain't going to fucking lose bastard! The rewards are mine!' Cursing loudly, Arthur moved his hand down to the ground beneath him before he grabbed a handful of dirt and then threw it at the fat man's face.

'Second rule: Play dirty!'

"Ugh! My eyes!" The dirt entered the man's eyes, blinding him completely and giving Arthur a golden opportunity. Quickly, he stood up and grabbed the bag before he swung it down on the defenseless man, hitting him right in the face. Teeth and blood exploded out of the man's face as he fell to the ground, motionless.

"You… hah… bastard!!" Heaving up and down, he wiped the blood from his face and looked up.

The leader and the tall guy were already recovering from the hits but they weren't fully on their feet yet. So, Arthur quickly grabbed Kaede's hand and started running.

"We need to escape before they get to us!" He said to the still-flabbergasted Kaede simply ran along with him.

The two continued running for at least 2 minutes till they were far enough away from the delinquents.

"Hah… Hah… We're saved… That's good…" Arthur was completely exhausted from the fight and the sprint he made.

'My body wasn't made for all of this.' He thought to himself.

"Colbert-kun?"

"Hm?" Waking up from his thoughts, Arthur looked at Kaede confusedly before his eyes naturally went down. Their hands were still connected to each other very tightly. 

"Oh, sorry!" Releasing her hand, Arthur apologized.

"No, no, you don't have to apologize. Thank you for saving me there. I was intending to take a shortcut home. Haha…"

"Shortcuts aren't good at this time. People like them fill the back alleys so you have to be careful." 

"Yeah, I'm sorry. But, are you ok?" 

"What do you mean?"

"Your lip is bleeding."

"Oh… that." Arthur instinctively reached out for his face, only to squint from the sharp pain the moment he touched it. He could feel the swelling on his cheek and the injury on his lip that kept seeping out blood.

'Brilliant, now my messy face looks even messier. But, oh well, I at least succeeded.'

"Don't worry about it. Just take care of yourself going home. Now, good night." He said as he was about to leave, only to be grabbed by Kaede.

Surprisingly, her soft and gentle expression was now more serious than ever. It took Arthur aback.

"No! You're still bleeding! Please allow me to treat your injuries at least."

"Huh? No, it's really fine. I have some first aid kit at home so I can do it myself."

'I'm lying, I don't have such a thing but being in contact with this girl is not good for my sanity.' He thought secretly.

"No, please, I insist. My home isn't that far away from here. Let me repay you for your kindness!"

"..." Seeing the flaming determination in her eyes, Arthur was completely speechless for a good few seconds before he sighed and replied.

"I understand." 

"Yay! Thank you! Now let's go! Your bleeding isn't stopping!"

Seeing that look on her face made it almost impossible for him to refuse. If anything, being in such a situation, with an extremely beautiful girl like Kaede almost begging him to come with her. Arthur felt full of himself.

'Tsk, my pity excuse of an ego liked that! You liked that didn't you, you selfish bastard!' Crying inwardly at his weak resolve, Arthur looked up.

[Ding!]

[Objective achieved!]

[You have gained +5 Ink Points.]

[You have gained +3 strength.]

Seeing the notifications, He was about to rejoice, only to halt as he felt something weird rising up within his chest. Before he could even react to it, a burning sensation completely took over his insides.