Chapter 56: Chapter 56- Conflict
"Hm?" Talon raised an eyebrow as he looked down before he nodded his head. "Yeah, I gained some more status points and also this jacket." He said.
"That's an item?" Hyun-Jae asked surprisedly.
"Yeah, it has some healing abilities too."
"Aaah, I guess that makes sense why you recovered quickly. On top of your health points." Hyun-Jae rubbed her chin as she thoughtfully looked at Talon. "It hasn't been two hours since I brought you here."
"Really? I thought I slept for a long time. I'm not feeling drowsy or anything like that." Talon murmured.
"An hour or two of sleep a day should be enough from now on," Acrypha commented from the side.
Talon's eyes moved to her for a moment as a myriad of complicated feelings filled his heart. The memory of what happened two hours ago didn't go anywhere. However, he didn't say anything and instead focused on Hyun-Jae again.
"I killed most of the monsters on the path to the cafeteria. If we bring the students there tomorrow, I think we can fully clear it out in a few hours and access the building fully." Talon said.
"You cleared it?"
"Yeah, I killed around 40 or so monsters. They weren't strong so it was easy enough."
'Ehem, except for two particular ones.' He added in his head with a wry smile.
"That's good news. I think we can pull that off." Hyun-Jae nodded her head. Accessing the cafeteria was a very optimal step. After that, they had two choices, either try to take control of other buildings like the pharmacy or simply head straight toward the research center.
'I doubt we can clear the research center quickly with the group of students we have.' Talon thought to himself.
The thousands of monsters there were simply too much to handle for a newbie group that barely knew how to kill monsters.
Just thinking about it, Talon realized how much work and time it would take to actually reach the research center and he could only sigh. If there was a way to simply clear that cluster of monsters in one swipe, he would go for it in a heartbeat.
"Talon?" Hyun-Jae snapped her fingers to catch his attention.
"Hm?"
"Are you ok?"
"Ah, yeah. I was just thinking."
As they were like that, the door to the room was suddenly barged open as a girl ran inside in a hurry, her face was pale.
"M-Miss Hyun-Jae!"
"Hei-Ran?" Hyun-Jae was alerted by the girl's sudden appearance and stood up. "What happened?"
The girl quickly pointed outside. "There is chaos outside!"
"Again, what happened? Did monsters enter the place?"
"N-No… S-Some students are trying to forcefully get more food than others and we can't stop them!"
"Forcefully?" Talon's face turned cold.
"Y-Yes, some of the students of the group that went outside yesterday are trying to take more food for themselves."
"Sigh, what are those idiots doing?" Facepalming, Hyun-Jae turned to Talon. "You can still rest if you want. I will deal with this matter."
"... It's fine, let me come with you. I won't do anything if I don't need to." He replied.
"Suit yourself."
So, the trio quickly left the room and headed toward the main area of the gymnasium. The place was more noisy than usual.
***
Students were standing in a circle surrounding a group of other students. One of them was Go Young-Soon who had a deep frown on his face. Beside him was his friend Mo Shin, lying on the ground unconscious. His right cheek had a deep red spot on it.
"I said no more food for you. There are others who need it." Young-Soon said as he hid the bag behind him.
"Come on, man. We're really hungry here. Look at my girls over here, they're barely standing." Ji-Seok said with a smile as he looked behind him. The girls that were around him the whole time had small smiles on their faces.
"Look, I worked hard today and I'm barely able to move. Give me some more food so that I can work better tomorrow." He added with a smirk.
"No! Miss Hyun-Jae's orders are clear. Everyone will get equal portions because everyone is going to work hard. You aren't anything special!" Young-Soon retorted as he grabbed the bag even tighter.
Hearing that, Ji-Seok's face darkened as his smile finally vanished. "Listen here, fat fuck! I'm the strongest one in here. I have the talent to do this. Getting equal portions with other weaklings is dumb! Now, hand over the fucking bag!" Stepping forward, he closed the distance between him and Young-Soon.
"No! I won't hand it over!"
Even though Young-Soon tried to keep his calm, Ji-Seok was still stronger than him so all he could do was grab into the bag.
The more Ji-Seok got closer, the more anxious he got. Until Young-Soon's composure finally snapped and he pulled his weapon out as he pointed it at Ji-Seok.
"Get one step closer and I won't hesitate." He said in a desperate tone. The moment everyone saw the weapon, the atmosphere grew even more tense. The students watched everything ensue with hesitant looks.
They knew that Ji-Seok was an asshole and he was trying to bully Young-Soon into giving him more food. But, since most of them were terrified, none dared to step forward and stop the fight.
"A shield? Pfft, hahahaha! Isn't that funny, friend?" Ji-Seok exploded into laughter when he saw the shield. "Is that toy supposed to be intimidating?"
"..." Young-Soon's face was tense as he tightened his grip on his weapon. He knew that if he backed away now, he was going to lose the bag that Hyun-Jae trusted him with.
'I won't let Miss Hyun-Jae down!' He thought to himself as he gulped down a mouthful of saliva.
"Fine! You asked for it! Go join your friend!" Ji-Seok said as he pulled out the weapon too that he had next to him. It was a rather big Warhammer that was dropped from one of the monsters he killed.
It wasn't as massive as an actual Warhammer but it was still heavy. The reason Ji-Seok could lift it was because he put all of his points into strength after leveling up which boosted that status to 20 points.
'More strength means more destructive power. I don't need the other stats when I can simply crush everyone with one single hit.' He thought to himself with a grin as he approached Young-Soon daringly.
"Take this!"
Yelling, Ji-Seok swung the hammer down with full force aiming at Young-Soon. The latter quickly used his shield to defend against the hit. But, he underestimated how strong Ji-Seok was.
The moment the hammer smashed against the shield, Go Young-Soon was pushed back, almost stumbling. The hit made his arms numb with how strong it was.
"Hahaha, that's it? You aren't doing a convincing job, friend." Ji-Seok added as he swung the hammer again.
Young-Soon's face paled when he saw the upcoming attack.
*BANG*
"Ugh!"
Falling to the ground with a loud thud, Young-Soon groaned as he grabbed his hand. The sheer pain he felt upon impact was brutal.
Students watched with pale faces at what was happening. Go Young-Soon was being assaulted right in front of them and yet they didn't dare to move forward and protect him simply because they didn't want a fight.
Ji-Seok took advantage of that fact fully and grinned at Young-Soon. "One last chance, give me the food."
"... Fuck you!" Amidst the pain he was feeling, Young-Soon cursed angrily at Ji-Seok with a strong glare.
The latter was taken aback for a moment before he frowned hard and grabbed the hammer with two arms.
"I guess you won't need both of your legs."
Without any hesitation, he swung the hammer down aiming for Young-Soon's legs. Everyone's hearts stopped at that moment. Some even closed their eyes and waited for the inevitable sound of bones cracking and wails of pain.
"No!!" Young-Soon yelled as his eyes closed shut too.
However, at the last moment, a silhouette appeared out of nowhere and stood in front of Young-Soon, facing the upcoming hammer. Before anyone could even react, the person extended their hand in the weapon's direction.
*BANG*
Eventually, the hammer landed on the hand as it made a loud sound. When everyone realized what happened, their expressions changed completely.
Even Ji-Seok didn't expect what he was about to see. The hammer was completely halted mid-air by the extended hand.
For a good few seconds, no one made a single sound. The sight was simply too unreal.
Talon looked at Young-Soon with a dark expression. "Don't you think that was a little bit too far of a joke?" He asked coldly as he watched the male student's face change from confidence to confusion and then to deep fear. A fear that completely paralyzed his body and shook his very soul.
(A//N: Thanks to everyone who supports the book with power stones and golden tickets, you guys are the best:) )
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