The fat boy in the middle stared at Damien in annoyance. His puffy cheeks puffed even more as his brow twitched, and he took a step forward, his stomach jiggling slightly beneath his shirt.
"What's that stupid stance?" he sneered. "Do you think it'll give you a chance against me, loser?!"
Damien didn't flinch, and he simply scoffed.
"It's called boxing," he replied with a condescending smirk. "But I guess you people of this world don't know about it."
The four boys frowned, their smug confidence briefly breaking. They exchanged confused glances, clearly thrown off by Damien's words.
Their faces twisted with annoyance, brows furrowing as they tried to make sense of what he said.
"Boxing?" the short, scanty-haired boy from earlier muttered.
"This world?" another said.
Then, one of them suddenly burst out laughing, and the rest joined in.
"This world? Boxing?" one of them said between cackles. "Guess your dumb box brain finally went insane!"
He said it with a smug smirk on his lips, clearly proud of the line. His eyes flicked sideways to the two boys beside him, eager to see their reactions—hoping for chuckles, a pat on the back, anything.
But none of them reacted.
The laughter died down, and no one even responded to his comment.
The boy's smirk faltered.
His lips twitched, then pressed into a tight line as he bit the inside of his mouth in embarrassment, pretending like he hadn't even said anything at all.
Damien simply scoffed.
'Hehe,' he thought, his gaze cold as he stared them down. 'Except for top professionals, no one's my match when it comes to boxing.'
The fat boy in front suddenly lunged forward—his thick legs pounding the ground with surprising speed—and launched a heavy punch aimed right at Damien's abdomen.
Damien's eyes widened in shock.
'Too fast!'
He hadn't expected such speed from someone with that body type. He thought he'd have a second to react, maybe slip the punch or counter it with a jab.
But he didn't.
The punch landed cleanly, slamming straight into his gut with brutal force.
"Gahk—!"
Damien bent forward slightly, the air exploding from his lungs. His face twisted in pain as he clutched his stomach, staggering slightly.
The pain was sharp, hot—like his insides had just been punched by a truck.
His knees buckled a little, but he didn't fall.
He grunted again, forcing himself to stay upright as his vision swam for a moment.
The fat boy loomed above him, eyes glittering with triumph. A smug grin stretched across his face, and he slowly cracked his knuckles.
"That…" he said, his voice dripping with arrogance, "Should remind you never to cross my path, loser."
"Wow, Brad! You're so cool!" one of the other three boys suddenly exclaimed, eyes gleaming as he looked at the pudgy figure still looming above Damien.
"Yeah," another added quickly. "That Dash skill your father bought for you really is strong!"
With each word of praise, Brad's head swelled a little more. His smug smirk stretched even wider across his bloated face, pride gleaming in his squinted eyes as he cracked his knuckles again.
He turned back toward Damien with renewed confidence, lifting his chin.
"You see, you tra—"
Suddenly, a fist came flying from below, cutting off his words.
He instinctively leapt backward, but it was too late, and the punch grazed his fat jaw with just enough force to throw him off balance.
"Urgh—!" Brad grunted, crashing to the ground with a thud.
A red mark immediately appeared on his chin, the skin swollen and raw. He groaned, clutching his jaw as his eyes widened in disbelief.
"Brad!" the three others rushed to his side, kneeling beside him with panicked expressions. "Are you okay?!"
Damien didn't move.
His fists remained clenched at his sides, and his eyes narrowed slightly.
"So that's what it was," he muttered under his breath, chuckling faintly. "A skill."
The scanty-haired boy turned toward him with fury in his eyes.
"You trash!" he snapped, voice trembling. "How dare you punch him?!"
Damien scoffed in response.
"I was wondering why you were so fast," he said, rolling his shoulder slightly. "Turns out you were using a skill. Dash, is that a speed-boost skill? Just how much does it boosts your speed?"
He stepped forward half a pace, a wide grin spreading across his face as his heart thumped.
"So skills exist in this world, huh?" he muttered. "How interesting… I wonder if I have one."
The boy clicked his tongue, eyes flicking toward Brad, then back at Damien.
"We can't let this slide," he growled. "Let's teach him a lesson, Brad!"
Brad sat up with a pained grunt, his hand rubbing the sore red spot on his chin. He looked dazed, almost as if he couldn't believe what had just happened.
Then, he gnashed his teeth together and muttered:
"M-My father asked me to come home early today…"
He slowly got to his feet, wincing.
"As for this trash…" he glared at Damien, pure resentment burning behind his eyes. "We'll teach him a lesson later."
His fingers ran over his chin again, rubbing it as if the pain would vanish with enough pressure.
Though he said his father asked him to come early, he was only lying.
In reality, his mana was already exhausted from using the skill twice—first when he attacked Damien and second when he tried dodging the uppercut.
Besides, he felt terrified of Damien's sudden confidence and strength.
Back when he punched him, he wasn't just cracking his knuckles because he wanted to. He was doing so because it hurt!
His fists felt like he slammed them against a wall, and even now, they still throbbed with pain.
Nonetheless, he tried putting on a strong front, not willing to show weakness before his friends.
"I'll show you…" Brad said slowly. "Why you should have never crossed me."
With that, he turned around stiffly, his heavy feet stomping across the grass as he led the group away.
The other three hesitated for a moment, but soon followed after him, shooting Damien sharp, threatening glares as they walked off.
Damien said nothing.
He simply watched them leave with a slight smirk lingering on his lips.
The pain from the earlier punch had already long vanished, and his blood was pumping with something else entirely—excitement!
He really had entered a new world… one where he would get to finally have fresh experiences.
He took a step forward, and then, his head suddenly throbbed.
Pain shot through his skull like a bolt of lightning, and he clutched it tightly, eyes widening.
"Argh—!"
He dropped to his knees, breathing ragged.
It felt like his brain was being ripped apart.
Memories.
A flood of them.
They poured into his mind like a violent cascade, crashing down with impossible speed and weight.
Faces he didn't recognize. Names, places and even concepts he would have called crazy until now, they all rushed into his mind at once.
His hands gripped the sides of his head as he gasped for air, trembling.
So much knowledge—too much.
He barely managed to remain conscious as the weight of it all pressed down on him, almost bringing him flat to the ground.
He clenched his teeth, willing himself to stay awake.
After a few seconds, the feeling finally stopped, and the headache went away.
"Haa…" he exhaled, letting out a light chuckle. "So that's it."