Brace Yourself

The first thing that came to Ray Park's mind as he walked towards the group of wannabe gangsters was his experience with them before the awakening. He had feared that he was starting to lose his memories since he couldn't properly remember his first life, so he couldn't help but let out a satisfied hum as he was able to remember what these bastards used to do to him.

In fact, he remembered it all a bit too clearly.

'Well, I guess settling some loose ends might be the best way to start my fourth reincarnation journey…' Ray tried to calm himself down, but deep down, he couldn't help but feel excited. Perhaps it was the emotions of the Ray before the reincarnation that was making him feel this way?

These bastards used to treat Ray like a slave back in high school. They made him do their homework for them, took his money, ordered him around like a damn servant and even beat him up just for fun.

'If I remember correctly, the leader of the bullies was someone named Stephen Lee.' Ray scanned the faces of the bullies as he tried to recall the facial features of the man in charge, and his gaze landed on the youth who was standing to the right, laughing loudly and brushing his goatee before bringing the cigarette in his hand close to his mouth and breathing in the smoke.

'There he is.' Ray's eyes sparkled as he recognized the leader of his tormentors, and he lightly cracked his knuckles.

Ray knew from experience that most of these wannabe gangsters are only confident because of the support in numbers that they have. As the old saying goes; there is strength in numbers. But their biggest strength was also one of their weaknesses, as it meant that most of them weren't expecting a fight to break out from someone who's alone. Especially not a fight where the odds of them winning might be uncertain.

There might be six of them right now, but it didn't mean that there were six opponents, and that would make this whole process a lot easier for Ray.

"Fuck, what's taking you so long to walk over here, you little bitch?" The man with the goatee, Stephen Lee, yelled out at Ray, as his friends laughed loudly, as though they were watching a comedy special. "Can't you see that I'm anxiously waiting for you over here? Or do you just not respect your master anymore, huh?"

Ray didn't answer, and continued to walk towards the group.

'Their body language seems to imply that they were relaxed. Not fearful or cautious at all.' Ray noted in his mind. This situation was turning out to be more and more beneficial to Ray. An enemy who has let down his guard is the easiest to deal with, and he definitely wasn't about to miss this chance that has been handed to him.

"The fuck? Why the hell aren't you responding, bastard? I asked you a question!"

"Looks like he's not scared of you anymore, Stephen. Maybe he thinks that he's someone great now that he's out of highschool."

"Hahaha! I think you got a rogue servant, Stephen. Don't tell me that you haven't been training him properly?"

Ray continued walking towards the group as they laughed and sneered at him. From the past expe of his life, Ray had learned to control his emotions and utilize them to his advantage, so the obvious attempts of baiting by these dimwits did nothing to break his concentration.

Stephen Lee, who saw that Ray was getting closer, raised one of his eyebrows and snorted with disdain in his eyes. "Look at this bitch, staring at me. Don't tell me that you th...ugh!"

A scream suddenly filled the alley, as a right hook from Ray had caught Stephen by surprise, sending his nose to the other side of his face, crushing against his cheek, and his upper teeth pierced his upper lip. The punch was a work of art, and Stephen was sent flying sideways with a few of his teeth knocked out.

Silence.

The rest of the group stood there silently, without speaking a single word. Everything happened so quickly that nobody could figure out what actually happened.

A random circuit in the front part of Ray's brain said: They're still surprised. Step forward and take another hit.

So he stepped forward. He moved quickly and approached the youth standing to his left within a split second, swinging his fist in the air, aiming right for the young man's face.

"T, t, this bastard?!" The bully screamed loudly and tried to retaliate by punching back, but due to his panic-stricken mind, his aim was off, and the punch seemed slow and weak.

Swoosh!

Ray jerked his upper body sideways, at ninety degrees. A supreme gymnastic effort. Remarkable, for someone his age, and with it, he had escaped his opponent's attack. Ray continued with his motion and landed a short left into his opponent's abdomen causing him to instantly fall backwards onto the pavement, knocking down a few garbage bins during the process.

"What the- Ray Park, you son of a bitch! You dare to attack Stephen and Marcus?!" It seemed that the group of wannabe gangsters had finally realized the situation that they were in, and the upset youths started to scream as they charged toward Ray, who looked at them with a calm expression on his face.

Their formation was sloppy and their postures were amateur. They definitely weren't good at fighting seriously.

'They're only eighteen, after all.' A faint smile slowly began to appear on Ray's face as he slammed his foot on the lid of a garbage bin that was on the ground and flipped it in the air, grabbing it with his hand before throwing it in the direction of the guy at the very front.

"Gah!" The youth groaned in pain as the metal lid slammed against his face, breaking his nose in the process and sending him flying backwards, crashing right onto the other bully who was right behind him.

BAM!

"John! Harry!"

The other two who were in the middle of rushing towards Ray were so shocked that they stopped their run, their jaws on the floor as they stared at him.

"C- crazy. Fuck this! How is this possible? You didn't even know how to throw a punch before!"

Of course, the past Ray had no experience with fighting. But the current Ray was different. They were two entirely different people.

After the Neo-Washington dungeon disaster that would happen a few months later, the world of the hunters would quickly turn more cruel and harsh. The hunters had to adapt to the changes, and had to expand their arsenal if they wished to survive a high ranked dungeon.

"You bastard! Ugh!" The two youths who were knocked out with the metal lid groaned while lying on the ground, but didn't dare get up.

Ray glanced at the two on the ground for a second before shifting his gaze towards the remaining two youths who were still standing. "Do you really want to do this?" He asked, and the young men flinched. "Wh-What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you really want to fight me?" Ray pointed at the other bullies on the ground before continuing, "You saw what I did to them, didn't you? Do you think you two have what it takes to fight me?"

The young men looked at each other with uncertain gazes. "Why would you let us go without doing anything? After all that?" One of the youths with a bandana on his forehead asked Ray. "How can we be sure that you're not just lying to us?"

"Oh, I'm not letting you leave for free." Ray shook his head. "You'll have to pay me, of course."

"H- How much?" The other youth who had a mohawk asked.

"All of it." Ray responded in a dry tone. "Everything you have. That's the price for your freedom."

'It's what I wanted from you in the first place,' Ray said to himself in his mind.

The two youths looked at each other and nodded their heads in unison before taking out their wallets and stretching their hands out, pointing it towards Ray, who motioned to the ground. "Leave it on the ground. Turn around after placing it, and then walk away."

The two youths slowly knelt down and did what Ray ordered them to do. After placing the wallets on the ground, the young men got up, turned around, and began slowly walking away.

Ray watched the two youths walking for a few seconds before heading over to grab their wallets. He threw the wallets away after taking out all the money from them, and then turned his attention towards the bullies on the ground.

"Now, what do I do with you?" Ray murmured under his breath as he walked towards Stephen, their leader.

"Ugh.. you b- bastard…" Although he was on the ground and his face was bruised and bleeding, Stephen still had the energy to look up and glare at Ray, who simply nodded his head before stretching out his hand and grabbing Stephen's right arm, gripping it tightly.

"Wha- What're you… What're you doing-"

Crack!

The sound of bones getting dislocated could be heard, as Ray twisted Stephen's arm.

"U, ugh! AAH-"

WHAM!

Ray slammed Stephen's head onto the pavement before he could scream out loud. His hand was pressing against the back of Stephen's head, and his already broken nose was now pressing against the asphalt.

The groaning lackeys who were also lying on the ground looked anxious and scared after seeing what Ray just did to Stephen.

Ray, on the other hand, looked calm and collected.

'He may have had his ass kicked by me today, but in order to make sure that he never messes with me again, I have to make him fear me.'

And so, he knelt down, bringing his face close to Stephen's, and whispered into his ear. "That was only the beginning, 'friend'. Brace yourself, because shit's about to get a whole lot worse now."