33 So young, yet so evil.

Three students didn't stop their violent act, kicking another student on the ground. Each attack was more aggressive than the last, continuing despite the sight of blood.

"Fucking retard —!" one bully kicked the student again. His blood was boiling the more he assaulted the man, grinning evilly with his eyes turning in rage. The initial anger his eyes bore was slowly replaced with exhilaration, having fun at the violent act.

His action made the other two bullies stop, looking at him. The second they saw the excitement on their friend's face, a sense of dread crawled up their spine. They were here to teach this particular student a lesson for snitching at them and putting them in trouble. Killing him wasn't in their plan.

"Oy… we should stop now," said another bully with a slightly shaky voice, crooking his finger to signal the other to stop. "If you continue, he might actually die."

"Let's stop now." The other one added, but their attempt was to no avail.

"Heh…" the bully these other two were taking orders, let out a short, chilling chuckle. "Kill?"

The bully deliberately stopped, gazing at the two with wide eyes. The second he locked eyes with the two, the two couldn't help but gulp.

"What's his name again?" he asked, pointing at the student on the ground whilst keeping his eyes on his friends. "Register our duel."

"What?"

"We will be in trouble if he dies, right?" he tilted his head to the side, staring at his other friend. "Aren't you qualified to become a referee?"

"Oy… what are you saying?"

"I'm saying even if he dies in an official duel, we do not need to take responsibility, right?" the bully slowly grinned, suppressing his evil chuckle. "Unless you want to be sent to juvenile, let's leave this as it is. Though I'm afraid…"

His eyes slowly fell on the student on the ground, smirking. "... once that guy who saw us might report us. If they found this guy and took him to the hospital, he might talk." He set his eyes back on his friends.

"Do you know what will happen if this fucker starts talking? Getting an expulsion is the least of our concerns. Those in that nosy student organization will happily jump on this case; you know those nosy bastards," he added, persuading the two to follow his plan. "They act as an organization for the good, but they were nothing but gangster who thinks they know it all."

The two other bullied drew their lips into a thin line, lowering their eyes as they pondered about their "friend's" argument. Thinking about it made them gulp once again, hearing their gulps echo in their ears. The idea that they would force a duel against an already unconscious opponent and knowing their friend's intention was bone-chilling.

However, having the student organization get involved in this wasn't any better. If anything, it wasn't any better.

"Shit…" the other bully clenched his teeth in distress.

"Don't worry." The big bully grinned reassuringly, watching the other two cowards look back at him. "I am the one who will be dueling him. If this guy gets what he deserved, even if they conduct an investigation, there's only three of us here."

He pointed a finger at the two and then at himself. "All we need is for our story to match. They can't question a dead person, right?"

The two other bullies felt their hearts race. The more their friend speak, the more he made their hair raise in horror. How could this guy sound so confident in killing? They weren't good students or people; they bully other students, mug them, and do all sorts of things. However, murder wasn't in their plan.

"Are you serious?" one bully blurted out in disbelief. "Bro, this is crazy!"

"So are you saying we leave this guy in here and no one finds him until he dies?" the big bully raised his voice to intimidate the two. "I'm telling you, this guy snitched on us even when I was kind to him. Do you think he won't talk when he regained consciousness? The student council already warned us, and if they found out we beat this guy up… you know what they'll do."

The other bully cursed through his gritted teeth, ruffling his hair in distress. He then turned to their other friend who was too afraid to even think let alone argue.

"Oy, what the hell are you doing?" asked the bully to the one standing at arm's length, making the latter flinch. "You're qualified to become a referee, right? Register their duel now!"

"Huh?"

"Are you fucking deaf?? Weren't you listening?"

"Uh… ye — yes."

Seeing that his friends were finally in on his plan, the bully smirked deviously. Of course, all the things he said were the truth. They would get in trouble if this student ratted them out once again. However, there was a much-wicked reason behind his plan.

More wicked… as if this desire didn't come from rage or anything of the sort, but from personal pleasure.

There wasn't any worse than hoarding a crime in one's mind for no reason.

Little did the guys know, just at the end of the corner, two pairs of ears were listening to how this chilling plan unfolded.

Ike slowly turned his head to the side, arching a brow as soon as his gaze fell on Basty's side profile.

"So young yet so evil. The exchange is quite surprising, but not new," said Ike quietly. "With the existence of the battle points system, such crime is expected to exist."

"That's right." Basty rocked his head in understanding, looking back at Ike. "Many abused this system. After all, it gives everyone an idea of how to do a crime and get away with it."

"Now I'm intrigued." Intrigued shone in Ike's eyes, wondering how the student council would do. "Though I have a few things in mind… I wish they're not one of those."

"Because it means we are predictable."

"No." Ike shook his head. "That means you truly just wasted my time."

Basty ran his tongue across his inner cheek. "That'll be tricky. Who knows what's in your head?"

"What's in my head doesn't matter. What's important is what is your next plan?"

"That…" Basty leaned his upper body forward, looking over the corner to see what was happening to the scene. "… nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Mhm. Nothing." Basty sported a meaningful smile, making Ike raise his brows in interest. "My role here… doesn't need much screen time."