The Zone

Hao watched as the streets slowly filled with Southland gang members. He was getting tired, and he knew he wouldn't be able to beat them all.

After a few minutes, over a hundred Southland members crowded the streets and surrounded Hao.

"Did you think you could get away after landing a cheap shot like that, you bastard?"

Kevin said this to Hao with a smirk while spinning the knife. He looked at his friends who had arrived, then turned his attention back to Hao.

"This is what Southland is capable of. On our territory, we can have a hundred people come running with a single shout."

He spread his arms wide as if making a declaration while looking down at Hao, who was still kneeling on the ground. Kevin then pointed at Hao with his knife, and a sadistic grin could be seen on his face.

"Well, are you ready to cry yet? Do you want to start begging for your life?"

"...."

Kevin expected Hao to be afraid of the numbers that surrounded him, but what answered his question was silence. No; rather, when he looked at Hao, all he could see was Hao raising his middle finger.

"You talk too much; shut the hell up, and let's get this over with already."

Hao said as he stood up and wiped the blood running down his cheek with the back of his hand while glaring at Kevin.

Hearing what Hao said, the smile on Kevin's face disappeared and was replaced with anger, and he turned to the other gang members.

"Well, what are you waiting for?! Murder this motherfucker!"

He shouted at them, and they were all about to charge at Hao, who was in a fighting stance with his guard raised, but the sound of someone's voice caught everyone's attention.

"Whoa! What's going on here?"

Hearing the voice, everyone started to look around to find the origin of that unfamiliar voice.

'That voice, it can't be!'

The voice was unfamiliar to everyone there, except Hao. Hearing that familiar, irritating voice, he started to look around for the owner of said voice.

"Why is everyone crowding the street? I can't even walk in peace."

The voice resounded again, and everyone turned around to find that the owner of the voice was behind them.

When they turned to look, they saw a boy in a Bridview Academy uniform walking toward them with confident steps and with his hands in his pocket.

He had a smirk on his face as he took calculated steps as he slowly approached the crowd. The closer he got, the more people made way for him. The crowd slowly split until he reached the center, where Hao was located.

"There you are, Hao. Why do I always find you getting your ass beat? Are you some sort of masochist?"

"What are you doing here, you idiot?!"

"Hmm? What are you talking about? Of course, I'm here to save you from getting your ass beat."

Hearing his reply, Hao felt like he wanted to start vomiting blood, especially when he saw that cocky smirk on his face.

"Idiot, we're surrounded by over a hundred Southland High gang members! There's no way they'll let us out of here easily. Hey! Are you even listening to me? Jon!"

Hao shouted at him as he realized that the person wasn't paying attention to him. His amber-colored eyes were wandering all over the place as he looked at the Southland members.

His eyes then turned to Hao again, and he noticed a diagonal cut that was on his cheek. He then turned his attention to Kevin, and he noticed a knife in his hand.

"Over a hundred? It should at least be that much if they want to fight against me."

Jon said with a crazed smile as he stared at Kevin and the other Southland members. Hao looked at Jon with a dumbfounded expression after hearing what Jon had just said.

'This narcissistic idiot is going to get us both killed! Does he think this is some sort of game?'

***

Jon's POV

"Who's this idiot? Does he think he's a hero or something?" The guy with the knife said this as he pointed at me while laughing.

Thump thump!

I felt the beat of my heart slowly getting faster and faster. What's this feeling? I've never felt like this before.

Thump thump!

Thump thump!

There it is again; my heartbeat is getting faster and louder by the second. I felt a slight shock throughout my body, and I looked down at my hands and saw that they were trembling.

'Am I afraid?' 

Thump thump! Thump thump!

I thought to myself as I watched my hands tremble violently and heard the sound of my accelerated heartbeat echoing throughout my head.

"Hahaha! Check this loser out. After acting like a big shot, he finally realizes the situation that he's in. He's shaking in fear!" The guy who seems to be the leader of the Southland gang members here shouted.

All the others that were with him burst into laughter after hearing what he had said.

Bam!

It happened so quickly that it took a few seconds for everyone there to realize what happened. 

Klang!

The knife fell to the ground and slid before coming to a stop. The owner of said knife flew a few meters back before falling to the ground, unconscious with a swollen jaw.

What the others registered was me looking down at my trembling hands, and then all of a sudden I was standing directly in front of where their leader was with my fist stretched out.

That's when I realized what I was feeling. It wasn't fear or anger; I was excited. I was excited to test my strength against the hundred people in front of me.

'So this is what trembling in excitement feels like!'

I thought to myself with a crazed smile on my face as I observed the Southland gang members' facial expressions change. Their expression went through several different changes, from laughter to bewilderment, and from that to anger.

"Get him!"

Someone shouted, and they all started to rush toward me from all directions. I stood in place and watched them all run towards me.

Even though I was surrounded and severely outnumbered, I felt no danger. Even though they were all running towards me, they looked rather slow.

It was as if time had slowed, and I was watching them run in slow motion toward me. When they got close to me, I could see punches and kicks and all sorts of attacks approaching me.

I effortlessly avoided every attack they sent toward me, and just as effortlessly, I attacked anyone who dared to get too close to me.

I dodged an incoming punch, then threw a punch of my own at the person who attacked me directly to his temple, knocking him out, and watched him slowly fall to the ground, losing consciousness before moving on to another.

It all happened so quickly that I doubt he even knew what happened to him. It was like that for all the others that got too close to me or within range of my attacks.

They started to drop like flies all around me, and I wasn't even breaking a sweat. To me, they were all untrained amateurs who didn't even know the basics of fighting.

They were predictable. Their attacks were without proper form and extremely sloppy. For someone like me, who was trained in all types of martial arts from a young age, they weren't even a challenge.

But I knew that what I was doing right now was unnatural and that no form of martial arts could bridge the gap of overwhelming numbers.

The serum changed me on a fundamental level. At this very moment, all my instincts, my senses, and even my brain are operating at more than 120% of their usual capacity.

It's like I instinctively know where to dodge, I instinctively know where to attack, and I instinctively know how much power I should put into said attack.

And my body, without much effort, followed the decision my brain made without any loss of speed or power. It was like my body was on autopilot. 

'Ah, isn't there a term athletes refer to this feeling as?'

I thought to myself as I effortlessly caught a kick someone threw towards my stomach and then used my elbow to break his leg.

I watched as he screamed in pain and then delivered a swift kick to his face that sent him flying backwards.

I raised my hand behind my shoulders to catch a punch that was coming from behind me, then made a shoulder throw and slammed the person who attacked me on the ground.

'Ah, who cares? Who would have thought that fighting against overwhelming numbers would have been so much fun? This is exhilarating!'

***

Hao was dumbfounded by what he was witnessing. He was currently watching Jon fight over a hundred people by himself without breaking a sweat.

In fact, he seemed to be enjoying himself. Hao watched as Jon effortlessly took down everyone who approached him with one hit.

He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He knew Jon was strong from the first time they fought, but he didn't know he was this strong.

'He's a monster!'

Hao thought as he watched Jon break someone's leg with a crazed smile on his face. It was almost as if he were an adult fighting against toddlers; that's just how overwhelming the difference was between Jon and the members of the Southland High gang.

"There's no way he can fight all of us by himself; he has to be getting tired!"

One of the members shouted as he watched Jon's bloody fist cave in the face of one of his friends, leaving him unconscious on the floor with a broken nose and missing teeth.

"He's… he's a monster."

Another member of the gang muttered to himself as he slowly backed away. 

"Kevin is not waking up! And this monster doesn't seem like he's going to get tired any time soon."

"If we can't win, let's get out of here!"

Someone shouted as they watched Jon send another one of their members flying with a punch that shattered his jaw.

Hearing him shout, Jon looked towards him, and the crazed smile that he had on his face while he was beating up people vanished, and his look changed to one of anger and disgust.

"Oh? The mob mentality disappears when you realize that there's no longer safety in numbers. Weaklings like you disgust me the most. I'll make sure none of you leave here on your own two feet."

Jon said it with disdain in his voice, and the gang members started to feel bloodlust radiate from his body. The person who suggested running away fell to his knees as he felt Jon's gaze upon him, and he couldn't help but think to himself.

'He's a demon'