Snapped
But he wanted fresh clothes and a shower without the threat of being jumped by the monsters. So for the moment, YuWon stuck around them.
"Um... everything looks fine here," Soo-Ah replied, as they checked the place for any monster hiding there.
"Great," YuWon said as he tore off his shirt. "I'll go first. You two can go outside and guard the entrance."
Min-Joon rolled his eyes upon hearing him. It was common sense to offer the girl to go first. But it seemed YuWon was too far gone to adhere to basic etiquette.
However, YuWon had his reasons for going first. First, he wanted to check the hobgoblin's cache for a better reward ASAP, and second, his reputation around girls wasn't all that good. He had already suffered a lot because of them and didn't want to add more troubles to his life.
Soo-Ah and Min-Joon agreed and left the room as YuWon stepped into the shower. Surprisingly, the water supply was still intact. But he had seen enough apocalypse movies to know things like water and food would soon become luxury.
If I want to survive, there's a lot more I need to do other than fight.
But before all that, he needed to figure out what was happening and how to complete the tutorial. Once that was done, he could think about exacting his revenge on others and eventually focus on survival.
It didn't take him long to finish up and planning for the future kept his mind sane. After drying himself, he grabbed a tracksuit that fit his new physique before walking out.
"You can shower now—" he said, not realizing Soo-Ah and Min-Joon weren't alone.
"That's who you've teamed up with?" the blonde guy with a bloodied baseball bat laughed, pointing toward YuWon. "I didn't know you were a weirdo like him, Min-Joon."
YuWon recognized the man. He was Jaehwan. They both used to be on the soccer team in middle school, but after the stunt Yeji pulled, he turned against YuWon like everyone else. Now, he was like Hoon's right-hand man.
Jaehwan was flanked by two others whom YuWon didn't recognize. They were probably some juniors who preached Hoon and wanted to get into his clique.
"Jaehwan, you shouldn't—" Soo-ah tried to say something but got cut off.
"You too should stay away from him," Jaehwan continued to bash YuWon. "You might not know, but that guy over there is a certified creep. Someone who got disowned by his biological mother."
YuWon clenched his fists and closed his eyes, trying to not lose his cool. He didn't think those words would hurt him now, but he was wrong. The taunts made him even angrier than ever before.
Meanwhile, Soo-Ah and Min-Joon exchanged uncomfortable glances but said nothing. They just stood there, watching while Jaehwan continued to humiliate YuWon, unsure of what to say.
Despite what happened between them, Min-Joon still believed YuWon did the things Yeji framed him for. Besides, since YuWon never spoke about the matter, none of them knew what to say in his defense.
However, YuWon mistook their silence for something else. For a moment, he had forgotten about the past, but now he realized nothing had changed. He was just as lonely as he had been before.
But that didn't mean he was the same guy he had been before and he wanted Hoon to know that.
YuWon smirked as a plan formed in his head. The screens had only warned him about not killing other awakeners; it didn't warn him against beating the absolute crap out of them.
I wonder how the system will react if I act in self-defense.
Soo-Ah glanced at YuWon and knew something was wrong. But before she could say anything, he stepped forward with a smile on his face.
"Are you done yet?" YuWon asked Jaehwan.
Since YuWon had only peeked out of the door before, Jaehwan didn't realize the change in YuWon's physique and thought of him as his usual pushover self. But when YuWon stood before him, his smile faltered for a moment.
"What? Are you gonna cry about it to Mommy now? Oh, wait! You can't even do that!"
YuWon kept smiling and shook his head. "Did you forget what happened in middle school? If you want, I can help you remember that."
Suddenly Jaehwan's eyes flared up with anger. He didn't need any help to recall the embarrassing scene of him pissing his pants after being hit by the soccer ball in the stomach... during a match with a live audience.
It was an incident Jaehwan had a lot of trouble getting over and now YuWon had reminded him of it. Jaehwan tightened his grip on the bat and took a step forward.
"What did you say, sister abuser?" he said, and the lackeys too jumped to fight YuWon.
Without warning, Jaehwan swung the bat at YuWon. YuWon moved quickly, ducking under the swing and landing a solid punch to Jaehwan's gut, causing him to stumble backward.
Min-Joon and Soo-Ah wanted to help YuWon, but he looked back and growled at them, "Stay out of this!"
The lackeys jumped in, but YuWon blocked one of them before elbowing the other in the face, breaking the guy's nose. Watching the other fall to the ground, the lackey hesitated, not wanting to fight anymore.
Unfortunately, YuWon had already decided to mess them up. He swept the lackey's legs out from under him, finishing with a swift kick to the ribs that made the guy puke blood.
"You fucker!"
Jaehwan recovered enough to charge at YuWon again, but YuWon was ready. He dodged another swing of the bat and countered with a punch to Jaehwan's jaw, followed by a knee to the chest.
That was enough to knock Jaehwan down to the ground, but YuWon wasn't done. He pinned Jaehwan down and continued to pummel him until fear replaced the smug grin of his.
Soo-Ah and Min-Joon watched in horror as YuWon kept punching Jaehwan's face until his fists were covered in his blood. But when Jaehwan stopped reacting to his attacks, YuWon stopped pummeling him, only to pick up Jaehwan's bat.
"Send my regards to that bastard Hoon," YuWon replied, lifting the bat before bringing it down on his leg, shattering the kneecap.
YuWon was finally done. But even after crippling Jaehwan, he felt no satisfaction, only anger.
As he turned around, he noticed Soo-Ah and Min-Joon watching him with fear in their eyes, and watching them like that made YuWon smile. It was then he realized something.
Fighting and killing monsters was fun, but watching someone cower in fear before him was even better. Min-Joon opened his mouth to say something, but YuWon walked past them.
"You two are no better than them," YuWon mumbled. "Thanks for reminding me that."
With that, YuWon grabbed his club and left without sparing another glance at any of them.