Chapter 34 – Legitimate defense

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The clerk, unable to suppress his delirious emotions, lost his mind and, like a possessed demon, burst out from behind the counter. Sakura, in panic, screamed, but her cries were unheard, and no one came to help. The clerk didn't charge straight at her but swiftly passed by, sweat-soaked yet excitedly closing the roller door and sealing off the store.

As the sound of the door echoed, Sakura realized in terror that she was trapped. Her initial panic had cost her the chance to escape. Locked in with the shuttered door and the glass door now bolted by the crazed clerk, Sakura felt like prey caught in a hunter's trap, ensnared by unending fear.

The clerk opened his arms like a ruler in his confined world, exclaiming, "Shizuku! Come, no one can disturb us now!" Sakura, terrified and retreating, was too scared to even cry, asking, "Why... why are you doing this?"

His laughter filled with madness, the clerk proclaimed it was 'fate' to meet her, confessing his obsession began with her online selfies. He claimed that only her photos stopped the usual scorn he received from high school girls, declaring his life was dedicated to her since then. 

Sakura, backed against the wall, finally let tears fall, marking her face with trails of despair. Unexpectedly, before she could plead further, the door to the staff room burst open, and Yukio stepped out, remarking on the intriguing scene, "I didn't expect to see this. You're really lost in your obsession, aren't you?"

Frozen, the clerk couldn't comprehend who Yukio was or why he was in the staff room. Sakura, seeing a fellow student in uniform, instinctively cried out for help. 

Yukio casually dragged out a chair and sat down, amused, commenting, "I thought Manabe was exceptionally brave yesterday. But now I see, you really had it coming, didn't you?"

"Wha, what? Yesterday?!" The clerk was taken aback by the memories of the disdainful looks from the few high school girls the day before, and the insults from Manabu and others!

His brain felt like it was engulfed in flames, burning away all reason, turning the already frenzied clerk into a wild beast. The last shred of reason was completely severed: "Go away! Get out of here!"

"You and those girls, all of you! All of you! Go to hell! Don't think about disturbing my confession to Shizuku!" He roared as he charged at Yukio with all his might.

Yukio casually picked up a chair and swung it at the clerk's head, solidly striking it with a loud "clang," causing the clerk's vision to darken and his head to spin.

The force of the blow was so great that it left two deep red marks on the face of the clerk.

"Thank you first. There are surveillance cameras in the store. You attacking students like this gives me every right to defend myself." Yukio said nonchalantly, hands in his pockets, and once again swung a chair, striking the clerk down.

Yukio strolled closer, walking quite elegantly, but as he neared the end point, he lifted his foot and stomped down fiercely, crushing the clerk's palm. The tiny sound of the finger bones fracturing was drowned out by the clerk's piercing screams.

Sakura couldn't believe what she was seeing. Just like a wild animal, she cowered in the corner, filled with fear, her eyes wide with terror, too afraid to move or make a sound.

She... she recognized him! Her mind had been blank just a moment ago, with no thoughts at all, but now that she was a little safer, upon closer inspection, wasn't this Yukio, the student who extorted 200,000 points from Class D? 

But why was Yukio here? And why was he so ruthless in his actions? Compared to Yukio's current ferocity, yesterday's brawl between Suto and another unnamed student seemed like child's play.

Just the thought of being hit in the head by a flying chair made Sakura tremble with fear. She didn't want to experience that feeling at all!

The clerk, with his fingers linked to his heart, suffered such a serious injury to his finger bones. Cold sweat covered his forehead, and his face was as pale as paper. Even the veins on his neck stood out due to the intense pain.

His eyeballs bulged out, and even under the tormenting pain, he had no strength left to scream. All that came out was a dry, hoarse sound in his throat.

"Forget it." Yukio took a step back without changing his expression, looking disdainful. "Stepping on the hand of scum like you has dirtied my shoes."

"!" This remark clearly caused a huge amount of psychological damage to the clerk. His eyes were almost beginning to turn bloodshot, and his other hand, which was still intact, was raised reluctantly, as if he wanted to say something to Yukio.

As a result, Yukio grabbed the chair that had been knocked over and smashed it down, directly fracturing the hand that was attempting to be raised!

"Still want to point at me?"

Under the combined pain, the clerk couldn't hold on any longer and fainted, completely losing consciousness, resembling a dead fish.

The digital camera shop, now quiet, fell into silence. It was precisely this silence that made Sakura even more scared.

Instinctively hugging her own head, her voice trembling, she said, "I, I didn't see anything...! Really! I didn't see anything!"

After discovering that Airi Sakura was such a timid girl, Yukio felt a little more relaxed. Timid? Yukio thought it was good to be timid.

Being timid meant that the other party didn't dare to cause trouble. If they didn't dare to cause trouble, even if they saw the fight between Ishizaki and Sudo, they probably wouldn't have the courage to take photos. Or even if they were foolish enough to take photos, they wouldn't dare to spread them, right?

But just in case, Yukio first checked and found that the clerk shopkeeper had indeed fainted and wouldn't hear the conversation that followed.

Then he walked slowly, approaching Sakura. It seemed that he sensed the change in her footsteps and understood that Yukio was approaching her. Due to the overwhelming fear, her trembling became even more pronounced!

Just now, Yukio had walked up to the clerk and crushed his hand!

Now Yukio was slowly approaching her again, and Sakura's heart was almost about to jump out of her chest. Her voice was trembling, and she sounded extremely vulnerable: "No, no, don't come near... I won't tell anyone."

Yukio didn't care about beating up the shopkeeper. There were surveillance cameras, so regardless of whether Sakura spoke out or not, he wouldn't get into trouble.

The key was the fight between Ishizaki and Sudo: "First year, Class D, Sakura Airi, right?"

Yukio knew her information?! This made Sakura even more at a loss, standing still in a daze, feeling like crying but unable to shed tears. It felt like just escaping from the tiger's mouth and falling into the wolf's den. She continued to hold her head, making it impossible to see her expression clearly.

"Yesterday, near the No. 2 gymnasium, in a small grove, one of our students from our class was playing a game with Sudo from your class. I don't know if you saw it?"

"No, no! I didn't see anything yesterday!" Subconsciously, Sakura denied it. If she admitted it, she would get beaten, right? And if she explained everything, she wouldn't be able to hide her online identity. Sakura didn't want that.

If possible, she didn't want anyone in real life to discover her online secrets. The raging and frenzied clerk shopkeeper was the best warning!

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300 power stontes = 1 extra chapter

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