A Little Bug Trapped in Its Own Web

( 3rd POV )

Earlier this day...

In broad daylight in the metropolis known as New York, a young man with brown hair shuffled down a dimly lit alley, clutching a small bag containing salvaged computer components. His lanky frame hunched forward, and his backpack hung heavy on his shoulders. The pawnshop's flickering neon sign buzzed above him, casting an eerie glow on the cracked pavement.

As he approached the entrance, the young man hesitated. The pawnshop was a dingy place, its windows obscured by dusty curtains. But desperate times called for desperate measures. He didn't have enough pocket money like the other kids; sometimes, he even gave part of his part-time job earnings to his aunt to help cover their basic necessities.

The bell jingled as he stepped inside. The air smelled of old leather and mildew. Shelves lined with forgotten treasures surrounded him—antique watches, tarnished jewelry, and ancient electronics. The shopkeeper, Mr. Vargas, sat behind the counter, his rheumy eyes scanning a yellowed newspaper.

"Looking for something specific, kid?" Mr. Vargas asked, not bothering to look up.

The young man cleared his throat before responding. "Yeah, uh, computer parts. You know, chips, capacitors, anything salvageable," he said, glancing around the shelves.

Apparently, Mr. Vargas didn't expect that answer. He squinted at the young man. "You're a strange one, kid. Most folks come here for guitars or old cameras. Computer parts, huh? Follow me," he said, leaving his newspaper and counter behind.

They ventured deeper into the shop, past dusty shelves and forgotten relics. The young man's heart raced with excitement. He needed these components to fix his custom-built computer—the one he'd cobbled together from discarded tech. He had been building it for a while with the help of his nerdy friend, Ned.

They arrived at a shelf where Mr. Vargas pulled out a wooden drawer, revealing a jumble of wires and circuit boards. "Take your pick," he grumbled. "But don't expect any warranties."

The young man sifted through the mess, his fingers brushing against copper coils and silicon chips. After a minute, he spotted a slightly cracked processor—a diamond in the rough. "How much for this?" he asked, a hint of excitement in his voice.

Mr. Vargas raised an eyebrow. "Five bucks. And don't think you're getting a steal."

Hearing the price, the young man paused for a second before handing over the bills with a bitter expression. It was the last of his money for the week, but he knew he wouldn't find a better deal elsewhere, so he paid up.

After settling the payment, he left the pawnshop, clutching his newly acquired precious component in his bag.

The alley outside the pawnshop felt quieter than before. His footsteps echoed off the brick walls. He adjusted his backpack, the weight of the computer part digging into his spine. He just wanted to get home and quickly assemble his computer.

But unfortunately, his luck was no better than the classic E rank of the Lancer class... or maybe even worse.

"Hey, nerd!" a voice sneered from the shadows. "Looks like you've been buying something, huh? What's in the bag?"

The young man's heart sank as he saw who was coming out from the corner of the alley. The ones who always made his life difficult at school, the blonde bullies—Flash Thompson and his cronies—blocked his path. Flash, the star ovalball player in their school, towered over him with a contemptuous look. His crew, equally menacing, flanked him like hyenas circling prey.

(A/N: Yes, I call the american 'football' an ovalball. I just can't, my logic just wouldn't let me... Sorry NFL fans...)

"Just some junk," he mumbled, trying to sidestep them and get away quickly.

"Junk, huh? Let's see." Flash grinned and tried to grab the bag from his hand, but surprisingly, he tries to resist this time. 

Flash tried to yoink the bag harder, but he still couldn't take it. The young man desperately clutched his bag. Despite knowing he couldn't fight back much longer, he still tried to resist because, even if it was junk to them, it was incredibly precious to him.

"You've got some nerve, Parker. I've been very irritated by your behavior at school, especially when you tried to glance at my MJ with your disgusting eyes." Flash scowled at him, before grabbing his shoulder and punching him hard in the gut, making him cough up saliva and stumble before hitting the ground.

"It's time to teach you your place, Parker. Guys! Let's teach him the hard way!" he instructed his cronies while kicking the poor Parker on the ground.

The other guys immediately joined their leader, beating the poor kid. Each put more strength into their swings, injuring him further. But despite the odds, Parker clung desperately to his bag, determined to protect it.

"Take that, you nerd!"

"You poor bastard!"

"Give us your bag!"

"How dare you resist Flash's orders!"

The more he endured, the more his skinny weak body hurt. He felt a few of his bones broke a blood dripping from his forehead and multiple bruises appear on his body. He realizes now that his shyness and weakness held him captive, like a spider trapped in its own web. 

"P-please... s-stop... ughk!" With each passing second, his vision grew blurrier. The skinny figure tried to plead with them to stop.

His injuries worsened, and it looked like Flash and his friends didn't intend to stop anytime soon. But suddenly, the sound of handclaps echoed through the quiet alley. All of them stopped simultaneously and looked back.

The poor man tried to look ahead with his remaining strength and saw three people approaching. The only man in the group was applauding before he stopped a couple of meters away.

"Well, well, well, look at this: a group of horny teenagers beating up their schoolmate in a shady alley. I wonder what your parents or the police would think of this video, hehe."

Parker heard the man's voice and understood his intention to help immediately, but just as he tried to warn him about Flash, his body and mind gave in to the injuries he had received, and he lost consciousness. He could only hope that the people who intended to help him were fine and not risking themselves just to save him.

.....

( Ken POV )

Present time...

"I only intended to play at first, but you've chosen death... So death shall I deliver."

As soon as I finished my words, I immediately rushed to one of the bullies standing near me. I arrived in front of him like a blur and swung my fist in a piston-like jab to his throat, cutting off both his air and bravado.

He coughed and crumpled before I finished him off by kicking my right leg toward his legs. The sound of bones cracking echoed in the alley as he hit the ground, wailing like a baby.

All of this happened in an instant, catching them off guard. The group of bullies stood there with stunned looks on their faces. "One down, four to go..." I said, staring at them with my mystic eyes.

I had never felt so angry before; not even Lev and Goetia had managed to get me this angry. But this blonde guy... I'm not going to kill him, but I decided to take his most precious thing...

When I got emotional, my mystic eyes activated by themselves, and I could see the lines of death around me. I get a headache if I use them for more than an hour, so I've been trying to control and adapt to them. But since there was literally nothing to use as a test target in Chaldea, I never saw their real power.

'Now, with a test subject around me, it's time to do some experimenting... Ehehe...'

One of the bullies managed to get his bearings before he tried to lunge at me with a predictable right hook aimed at my head. With the grace of a seasoned martial artist, I deflected the punch with my left forearm while simultaneously delivering a precise elbow strike to his ribcage. Feeling the impact, the NPC no. 2 crumpled and writhing before following NPC no. 1 path. 

'It's too easy... I'm even holding back my power and trying not to slash their lines of death... Well, what did I expect from a bunch of horny teenagers...'

Now seeing that two of their comrades groveling at my feet, the other bullies felt hesitated, their bravado is waning. But their blonde hair leader rallied them with a snarl while stuttering on his words. "G-g-get h-him!" 

Without any other option the other two NPC also started lunged at me. NPC no.3 came at me with a wild haymaker. I saw it coming before I sidestepped, my right leg sweeping out to unbalance him, followed by a swift palm strike to the nose. With a sound of another bones cracking, I send NPC no.

3 staggering back and hitting the alleyways wall while blood is streaming down from his nose.

NPC No. 4 was slightly late to attack me, hesitating for a moment. I didn't miss this chance. I feinted to the left, then spun, my right leg sweeping out in a low arc and catching him behind the knees. As soon as he hit the ground, I immediately continued my attack, kicking him in the chin. The last bully crumpled, his cries lost as soon as he is unconscious. 

Seeing all his cronies unconscious, the blonde bastard, who looked like a certain NTR manga villain, trembled. Whether because of he is angry or scared, it's none of my fucking business. I walked toward him with my blank face that completely void from any of expression. 

"Y-you ruin everything! I'll fucking beat you up by myself then!" He shouted, trying to threaten me as he gathered his courage and rushed at me.

I was literally watching his young master antics with an unamused attitude. Keeping my silence, I readied myself as the blonde idiot charging at me. As soon as he is within my reach, with a flurry of motion, I unleashed a barrage of strikes—fist to the solar plexus, palm to the ear, foot to the knee, I was beating the shit out of him just like what Master Ip Man would do to his enemy with a magnificent speed and precision. 

The blonde bastard was overwhelmed by my barrage. His attempts to defend himself were futile against my relentless assault. His large body only added to his slowness in responding to my attacks.

For almost a full minute, I beat him up. His face was now swollen like a fucking pig, and both his arms were rendered useless as I crushed their bones. I must say that even in team A, I was one of the best fighters, only Daybit and Pepe could match me. 

Feeling that I had vented my wrath, I grabbed his shoulder and threw him against the alley wall. I yanked his blonde hair, forcing him to make eye contact with me.

I stared menacingly at him with my eerie mystic eyes before speaking. "Bullying a weaker person and barking like a fucking dog who can't even bite is a sign of weakness in my eyes. People like you disgust me..." I said with a lot of contempt in my tone. 

The blonde bastard could only grunt in pain, trying to maintain eye contact with his swollen blue eye. Noticing he was on the brink of unconsciousness; I focused my mystic eyes of death perception to see every single red line on his body representing the "lines of death." Ignoring all the red lines, I tried harder to see beyond them. 

A headache started to form as I focused on one specific spot. Thankfully, it didn't take long. I found what I was searching for—a red dot on his solar plexus, the Point of Death. This Point of Death was special because it wouldn't kill him but instead kill something inside him.

Normally it wouldn't even take time to see a lines of death, while a little effort for a point of dead. But this time, I wasn't trying to end his life; I was looking for something deeper, focusing on that point alone. I was trying to find one of humanity's sins, his LUST.

Now that I succeeded, I could experiment with what happens when a human loses one of the most important things in their life without even knowing it. This is how I would teach him to be a proper, polite young man. I hoped he could redeem himself when his lust no longer clouded his judgment.

I stabbed that particular red dot with my right hand. Immediately afterward, the red dot vanished from his body forever. Sensing he was still breathing, I let the idiot fall to the ground before kicking his Jr. and balls, leading him unconscious. 

"Can't let the gods do all the dirty work, huh," I murmured in a low voice, feeling refreshed and happy after the experiment ended successfully. I had managed to "end" a certain concept inside a living being without killing them. I even noticed a mission for mastering my mystic eyes was completed.

'What a great day...'

"U-uhm... Senpai, are you okay?" A voice of concern from my favorite eggplant could be heard a few meters away.

I turned back in her direction before replying, "I'm fine. They can't even touch me, and if you're wondering, they're not dead. I'm just teaching these scums a lesson their parents and schools failed at."

"You seem more relaxed now, Master," Ushiwakamaru said, grinning at me. I grinned back at her, knowing she understood my current feelings.

Mash sighed in relief after hearing me and started walking toward me with Ushiwakamaru, ignoring the trash on the ground. "How should we deal with all this? Director Olga will be mad if she knows we got into trouble," she said with a hint of worry.

"We don't, let just leave all of this trash here. No one will know." I said like it is a matter of fact. Let their parents worry about it, why should we clean up their mess. 

"But what about him?" she replied, pointing toward the lanky nerd guy who was the victim of the bullying.

'Hmm, what should we do...'

I left in silence as I ponder our next plan. After cleaning up his bullies, I feel bad just leaving the poor guy alone. He is clearly injured and quite serious at that, well whatever... I already helped him this far, why not helping him to the end. 

"Let's heal him up."

.....

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A/N: Please donate your power stones and leave more reviews for my story, I appreciate it and thank you for your support!