When Hajoon Stacy first arrived at Kang Ministry School, he wasn't too sure that he would make any friends, especially with how weak he was and the fact that his family was broken.
That was until he met Park Seok-Jin who happened to be in the same boat as him. But it was the other way around.
Park Seok-Jin's mother was the one dead and his father had lost all hope in him. With this shared trauma, Hajoon had finally found someone who understood him.
But this friendship didn't last for long and it happened when Seok-Jin's father returned and once again, Hajoon was reduced to nothing.
And now they were about to face off. Hajoon stared at the screen, shocked and confused.
[Opponent Analysis]
Threat Level: 2
Fighting Style: Street Fighting
Weakness: Nose
Recommendation: Use any weapon of your choice
[NEW BATTLE QUEST]
• DEFEAT THE THUG Park Seok-Jin!
• REWARDS: ???
'Are you for real? What the fuck is this quest?!'
"S-Seok-Jin? You're here," Hajoon muttered.
But of course, before any question could be asked, Hajoon felt himself leaving his seat and before he knew it, he was tumbling on the floor.
"Did you really think you could escape me, dick head?!" Seok-Jin shouted.
Hajoon struggled to his feet, his face bruised.
[Critical Hit Administered!]
[Health: 40/50]
What the hell was that? Hajoon stared at the screen that appeared before him.
"A... A health bar?" he muttered.
He never remembered seeing this, or maybe he did see it and chose to ignore it. Yes. That's exactly what he did.
Now he was forced to wonder, 'What happens if it reaches zero?'
Hajoon realized. That same fate he suffered back at the alleyway, there was a high chance that if his health deteriorated, he would face the same fate again.
Maybe declining this quest and running away was the right choice, "Yes!" he said, "That's what I should do!"
As he said this, the system flashed.
[IGNORING A QUEST CAN LEAD TO A PENALTY]
Are you fucking serious?!
As Hajoon read through with disbelief, Seok-Jin was already before him, his fist clenched, "Hey? What the fuck are you looking at?" he asked before raising his fist, "Can't you see that I'm right in front of you? Who are you to ignore me?!"
As Seok-Jin was ready to deliver a death sentence to Hajoon, the sound of flushing echoed and Nathaniel was before the two, a shocked look on his face.
Now Hajoon was truly scared.
"Nathaniel," he muttered, "Shit, you were supposed to hide in the bathroom!"
"Hajoon, what's going on?" Nathaniel asked.
Now Seok-Jin's attention was on Nathaniel, a grin on his face, "Huh? Who's this? Another twink?" he asked.
Hajoon screamed out, "Nathaniel!! Run! Get as far away as you can from here?-"
Before he knew it, another punch was delivered to his face.
[Health: 25/50]
As he lay there, Hajoon felt his gaze darkening and once again, he was close to certain death. This was the same way he felt in the alleyway.
As his bleeding nose choked him further, he watched as Seok-Jin held his best friend by the collar.
"HEY! Get off me!"
At that point, Hajoon knew that it was finally over. All his life, things didn't work out the way he wanted to.
A happy family failed.
A good relationship failed.
A girlfriend failed.
The system flashed like it was reading his mind. This time it glowed with a bright red hue.
[FAIL. FAIL. FAIL.]
[Fail-Safe Has Been Temporarily Activated]
[All Stats Have Been Maxed Out]
[Player Hajoon Stacy will be temporarily strengthened for thirty seconds]
HOST: Hajoon Stacy
LEVEL: 100
Strength: 100000+
Agility: 100000+
Endurance: 100000+
Technique: 1000000+
Perception: 100000+
Health: 1000/10000
Stamina: 1000000/10000
What is this? Is the system granting me a third chance?
There was no time to think, Hajoon had to defeat this bastard. He slowly stood to his feet, a cold look on his face as he picked up his glasses, his eyes glowing with a golden hue.
Seok-Jin was ready to deliver his own judgement to Nathaniel, but he stopped, slowly turning towards the cause.
A slight touch on his shoulder.
Hajoon was there, his head bowed, "Hey," he said, "Get your paws off my friend you bastard!"
Now Seok-Jin was enraged, "Huh?" he muttered, "Who the fuck are you talking to, twink?!"
Now his full attention was on the weakling before him but Hajoon didn't answer, his grip on Seok-Jin's shoulder tightened further.
Where the hell did all this strength come from? That was the only thought on his mind.
Either way, it didn't matter to him; now, he was ready to strike Hajoon.
[SKILL USED]
[FINAL PUNCH: 10000 STAMINA]
[Gathers all your stamina into one devastating punch]
Using all his strength, Hajoon delivered a devastating punch to Seok-Jin's face, blood splattering. The force was indeed devastating that it was enough to push him back, forcing him to land on his neck.
The sight was shocking, even Nathaniel was awestruck, "Just what..." he stuttered, " Just where did you learn that..."
Hajoon held his chest, the weight of his stamina reducing, finally getting to him, "Ugh!" he groaned, "M-my chest... It hurts.."
Nathaniel dashed away, "Hold on Hajoon," he said, panicking, "I'll go get an adult!"
This was indeed shocking not only to Nathaniel but to Hajoon as well. Why was he given this system? What was his use for it?
In that alleyway, he died. Now he was brought back to the day before that and now he used some skill that he was sure no human could accomplish.
Since Hajoon was little, he was always crazy about what Webnovel he could get his hands on, now he was living that dream.
Now with this, he could get stronger.
Hajoon couldn't help but laugh out loud, he was finally getting what he wanted. But, the system flashed again.
[TEMPORARY MAXED STATS HAVE ENDED]
'Hm? What is this? Temporary maxed stats?'
As Hajoon questioned, the system flashed again and he wasn't too happy to see what was shown to him.
[ALL STATS HAVE BEEN REDUCED TO (5)]
[HEALTH WILL BE REDUCED]
[NO ACTIVE SKILLS AVAILABLE]
[STAMINA WILL BE REDUCED BACK TO THE CURRENT STATE]
HOST: Hajoon Stacy
LEVEL: 1
Strength: 5+
Agility: 5+
Endurance: 5+
Technique: 5+
Perception: 5+
Health: 50/50
Stamina: 25/25
Hajoon couldn't believe what he was seeing, "Are you fucking kidding me?!" he shouted, "What kind of tom fuckery is this? First, you increase my stats now you reduce them?!"
Another tab appeared again.
[POP-UP QUEST: COMPLETED]
•REWARD: Locked Skill>> ???
Hajoon stared at the system window, a look of confusion written on his face, "A locked skill?" he repeated with a question.
As he stared, Hajoon's body finally gave up and before he knew it, he was on the ground again, passed out after a long battle.
Whatever this system was, it seemed to be very helpful, now he could finally achieve that long-forgotten dream of becoming strong.
As his vision faded, he could catch glimpses of Nathaniel and a few adults surrounding him. He could hear faint voices.
"Hajoon, are you okay? Don't worry, help is already here!"
"Young man what happened to his face?"
Everything went blank and once again, Hajoon opened his eyes to find himself lying down again, the sight of a ceiling giving him the idea that he was in a loop.
'Wh-what? I'm back again?'
"You've got to be kidding me," he said weakly.
But something began to feel different, the ceiling wasn't the typical wood like the one in the dojo. There was a fan and a light bulb.
This was his home and he wasn't lying on any mat of sorts. He was lying on his bed.
And outside, night had fallen.
'I'm back... Was that all a dream?'
Hajoon slowly raised his hands only to find a few bandages, "What?" he muttered, "T-this isn't a dream?"
Before anything could be said, the sound of beeping echoed from beside his bed, Hajoon turned to see the interior of his home, the wardrobe, drawers, and standing mirror, and the door that led to the living room.
His eyes darted to his cellphone which was on his bedside, though he was bandaged, the pain didn't bother him that much. He picked up his phone, making sure to see who the caller was.
Nathaniel.
"O-oh?..." he muttered before placing the speaker on his ear, "Nate... Hello?"
"H-hey Hajoon," said Nathaniel over the other side, "I hope you're doing okay?"
So it was indeed not a dream. Well, that was obvious seeing the bandages.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine," he replied.
Nathaniel's sigh of relief echoed over the phone, "Thank goodness. For a second, I thought I lost you there," he said, his voice sounding tense.
"Yeah...." he muttered.
Then it appeared.
"Sorry I couldn't be there with you, my mom needed me for-"
"Hey, Nathaniel," said Hajoon, "Thanks, I'll call you back."
With that, the call was cancelled as Hajoon had noticed something.
It was the system.
[Daily Combat Training]
• Throw 200 punches
• Perform 100 kicks
• Run 3 km
Reward:
+15 Strength
+10 Endurance
50 EXP