The next morning.Gabe woke up to the shouting of a certain man named Lorry. It was one of the guys he took 1000 dollars from. With six-year interest, it became 3000 dollars now.“You said you’d win the marathon and pay me everything at once,” Lorry howled. “So why didn’t you contact me after the marathon had finished? Oh, wait, it’s because you didn’t fucking win. Forget about the first place, you didn’t even get in the top ten.”“I finished the race, Lorry,” Gabe tried to calm him down. “I got a blender.”“What the fuck will I do with that 50-dollar blender, huh?” Lorry fumed. “The only reason I gave you money was because you babysit my kid for a year. Now, I don’t have my kid with me because my wife took him and I’m paying for him and her, and I need as much money as you can give me. So, please give me something.” He started pleading. “Give me something. Anything.”“I wish I could, but I don’t have a single dollar on me,”Gabe pitifully said.“What about the blender? At least give m
“You want me to pay the license and registration fees for publishing my designs, right?” Mia was talking with Kiera. “Alright, I’ll pay.”“If everything goes well, we’ll conduct a fashion show with your designs next week,” Kiera said excitedly. “You should prepare yourself to appear on television, and tell your family members to watch the show as well.”Mia’s heart started beating faster. “O-Okay.”The call ended.“I will appear on television?” Mia smiled with moderate happiness. “I wish Mom and Dad were alive to see this.”Meanwhile, Gabe was coming home, but he needed to buy an injection. He didn’t have the money for that, so he was wondering who he should borrow some money from.He went to Monroe’s grocery store and asked Monroe for ten dollars, but Monroe didn’t give him anything. He shook his head saying, “Sorry, I can’t. You should find yourself a solid job, Bro.”“Ah, yes. I will,” Gabe said and was leaving.Just then, a young man was passing by, and he suddenly turned toward t
The next morning.Nicole slowly opened her eyes and realized that she was sleeping with her chest facing the bed, which confused her for a second because she didn’t sleep in that position for years because it would put too much stress on her chest and heart. And yet, she found herself waking up in that position, with her cheek happily pressing into the pillow.Her body felt stiff, and she wasn’t able to properly open and close her fists. Her bones weren’t willing to listen to her command.It took her a few seconds of time, but she managed to turn around with effort and then eventually sat up. Her whole body was aching. Her spine especially felt sore. Her hands weren’t freely opening or closing.“There’s so much heat in my body, but…” she turned her body and put her feet on the floor. Shock was surfacing up into her face, as she was beginning to realize just how much her body had changed overnight. And she was able to get up from the bed and stand up on her feet all by herself, she cov
A week later. Gabe came to Skin Street, which was known for selling all kinds of skin-related products from facial creams and belts to leather mats and raw skin itself. The street was a lively place, and there were many fashion models roaming the street because the Fashion Street was next to this street. “Are you sure it’s in this place?” Gabe asked. [Trust my memories. I’ve come to this place with one of my previous hosts.] “Why do you call us hosts?” Gabe queried. “That sounds a bit creepy. Can’t you just call me master or owner or something?” [When you become a master alpha, I’ll call you that.] “Fair enough.” [We’re here. Take left.] “Left?” Gabe entered a skinning shop, where birds and deer were being skinned right before his eyes. “They have deer, too? Is this legal?” [Nope. Don’t talk too much, or they’ll pick a fight with you.] The men working in the shop were already giving weird looks to him, as if they were holding themselves back from attacking him. Gabe stopped
The Metal Scratcher came at Gabe like a wolf pouncing on a rabbit. But this rabbit was no ordinary rabbit. It had reflexes unlike any other rabbit and made it difficult for the wolf to just touch a tiny bit of its fur. The wolf lost its patience pretty fast and gave into rage and clawed madly, hoping one would connect and put the petty rabbit to rest. However, the rabbit was too good to lose to a mad wolf. It kept ducking and dodging until the wolf grew tired and slowed down to catch its breath. That was when the rabbit leaped and threw a kick in the face of a wolf and sent it flying to the edge of the ring. The wolf pathetically collapsed and moved no more. It was completely out of the game, outmatched by a rabbit that no one thought would win. Gabe was surprised by his own strength because he didn’t expect to win with just one good attack. The referee was most surprised of all because she expected the Metal Scratcher to utterly tear Gangsta’s skin away and make him realize jus
Mia was talking with Kiera on a video call.“The fashion show is postponed for three weeks?” Mia was shocked. “Why?”“There’s too much competition and pressure from popular designers,” Kiera explained politely.“Then what are we going to do? Wait for three more weeks?”“Simple waiting wouldn’t do,” Kiera explained. “Send me more money because the promotion shouldn’t be stopped.”“I already sent you 25,000, didn’t I?”“I’ve already promoted your designs for one week with that money. So, send 75,000 for the next three weeks.”“75,000!” Mia’s heart skipped a beat. “Isn’t that too much? Isn’t there a discount?”“I’m already stating the amount after deducting the discount,” Kiera said. “If you want to keep the hype building until the day of the fashion show, there’s no other way. If you stop promotion now, you will lose all the momentum you’ve built until now.”Kiera’s words made sense. “O-Okay. Is there anything else we need to do?”“Keep making more designs, I guess?” Kiera said.“Yeah.
Gabe came to Skin Street for the second time.The shop owner this time didn’t personally escort Gabe but sent one of the workers to take him to the underground facility.There was already an ongoing match between Metal Scratcher and Bone Basher.The Bone Basher was a much bigger guy compared to the Metal Scratcher, and he pounded the Metal Scratcher’s face with punches and then plucked both of his eyes out after the opponent had already given up.Gabe got chills from watching it, because losing eyes meant that Metal Scratcher’s career was basically gone. “He’s too ruthless. What rank is that guy?”[If you’re at the adept rank, I would have been able to hack their servers using the hacking system and bring out data, but now, we can only get the information from the referee.]“Referee… yeah, the bikini girl,” Gabe could see Rica, and she was wearing a tiny bikini this time, too. It was praiseworthy how she was able to move around in such clothes and not be afraid of the gazes men gave h
Bone Basher got his facial bones broken for sure given how many hits Gangsta had landed in quick succession.Gabe wouldn’t have gone this far, but after seeing how cruel Bone Basher was to Metal Scratcher, he thought it was better to put some ‘tangible and permanent’ fear into Bone Basher.So, he punched Bone Basher’s face dozens of times without any hesitation.The audience were silenced, and so was the referee.Rica took her time before raising Gangsta’s hand and announcing, “The skinner of this match is Gangsta!”The audience started roaring much louder than the last time he heard them. Moreover, some of them started calling his name, which made him feel happy and worth the effort.“What’s my rank now?” Gabe asked Rica.“Let me check. It’s 2,709,113.”“Oh, it’s now higher than Metal Scratcher, right?”“Yes, but it’s still slightly lower than Bone Basher. His rank is 2,703,073 after the defeat. He’s much stronger than what his rank suggests, so you should feel proud.”Gabe just smil
“Whoever manages to defeat that ‘worthless’ brat will get to keep the omega system.”The moment Gabriel Agnar uttered those last few words, all the nine standing members of the Jaguar squad rushed toward Gabe without a shred of hesitation.They were all elite warriors his grandfather had commanded, all intent on claiming the power that lay still dormant within Gabe."Stand down, brat," the third ranker Bennie called out, her voice layered with authority. "You cannot hope to win against us. Surrender, and you may yet find mercy."“You monsters who are ganging up on me, do you even know what mercy means?” Gabe retorted and countered Fang with a punch.Surprisingly, Gabe’s punch seemed simple but the weight it had was tremendous. Fang was pushed back.But at the same time Stark kicked Gabe’s face.Once again, Stark expected Gabe to be sent flying, but Gabe took the attack without even moving an inch.And it was Stark who frowned in response.Zephyr raised his hand, stopping others from
“It’s time to return,” Gabriel Agnar said, and these few words changed the body language of all the squad members.In that moment, they let their guard dawn, a small figure dashed in through their ranks and attacked their patriarch Gabriel.Gabriel saw through the first feint and responded accordingly, but the second attack also turned out to be a feint just to distract him so that they could pluck the severed hand out of Gabriel’s hand.And they managed to grab the hand, but no amount of pulling was enough to get the severed hand out of the old man’s grip.Everyone was startled after seeing the young kid who gave off an ethereal energy, which they could sense.This young kid was none other than Ulf.“What do you think you’re doing, kid?” Gabriel asked him.“Ha-ha, good afternoon,” Ulf replied awkwardly, “or is it evening now?” He grew triple in size and clenched his fists. “Omega Arts Secret Move…” He threw in a straight punch at Gabriel’s chest. “Final Fist!”Gabriel took the attack
At Russell’s estate.Zephyr, the head of the Jaguar Squad, struck Gabe’s chest with his palm. A shockwave burst through his chest and ripped the back of Gabe’s shirt in the shape of Zephyr's palm.Gabe coughed out a lot of blood, and his eyes nearly turned white. He was about to fall back.Zephyr caught Gabe’s throat and squeezed it. “If I kill you, then the Alpha System will be ours.”“Gabe!” Mia ran toward him. “No!”“Where do you think you’re running?” Pixie, the number five, blurted. Her green hair extended forth like tree vines and sought to capture Mia.Mia moved swiftly and dodged a few vines, but the hair grew branches like trees, and they were sharp enough to pierce through Mia’s body.Her torso and limbs were riddled with many thin holes.She bled from the nose and mouth and couldn’t move at all. She felt completely frozen.Pixie pulled the hair out and retracted them. Mia fell to her knees.Seeing all this, Gabe’s blood thrummed beneath his skin. His heart pounded with the c
In ancient times, serpents had wings and feet, and they were called by many names. One of those kinds were also called Dragons.So, dragons were indeed serpents with wings and legs. Even in the modern day, dragons were worshiped in some places. Some martial arts were derived from dragons, too.However, Alleria’s martial arts were not related to dragons but of a different serpent kind, whose existence had been erased from history..When Alleria was young, she spent her time in the woods, and the most difficult enemies she faced were the monstrous serpents that lived in that forest. This made her wonder just how much stronger would the serpents be if they had legs, too, as they did in the past.This led Alleria to search through her clan’s library and find the ancient serpent art books. And she picked one that she believed would be the most challenging.And thanks to her collective efforts, she managed to become the head of one of the Eight Enigma Squads, the Serpent Squad.The Ancient S
Alleria was sent flying through multiple walls, and she ended up crashing into the tables of the precious customers.“That hurts…” Alleria’s cheek bruised, and she bled from a corner of her mouth.“W-Who are you?” The customers were all shocked because this woman was wearing armor underneath her cloak, and there was even a short sword at her waist. “Are you a cosplayer?”“Who was that little girl?” Alleria got back up, looking quite irritated because her cloak was dirtied by the food, so she had to remove it. She looked sturdy despite her age, and she was nearly six feet tall. Many men in that hall hadn’t seen such a well-built woman with attractive looks like that before. “Call herself as my grandmother,” she cracked her neck, releasing the gas bubbles from the joints in her spine, “let’s see if you’ve really got what it takes to utter such words.”She rushed into the bathroom, but to her surprise, Systa and Nicole were gone.“What?” Alleria frowned. “I didn’t see them leave. Where di
Nicole was getting out of the taxi, but Systa held her hand and stopped her. “I’m not feeling the urgency anymore. Can we go somewhere else now?”Nicole couldn’t make sense of Systa’s words. The little girl was struggling until seconds ago, and she’s fine now? Something didn’t feel right. Whether Systa was playing games or not, Nicole didn’t want to take the risk. “I’m taking you to the toilet room once.”“Ugh,” Systa hissed at her. “Listen to me.”Nicole was startled. “Did you just hiss at me? And why are you gritting your teeth?”“Because you don’t understand the trouble that you’re in!” Systa blurted. “Driver, turn the car around and get going.”The driver, however, looked at her with a silly expression as if Systa was not the one who’s going to pay him for the ride.Systa didn’t like that the driver was treating her as a little girl. She wished she could show her powers to him, but because of Nicole, she had to hold herself back.“Can you wait here for half an hour for us?” Nicole
Nicole finished her work in the hotel and walked out with Systa who was in the form of a little girl now.“Why do you look like that?” Nicole asked her.“Look like what?” Systa asked her back.“Look like you’re weighing life's burdens on your shoulders?” Nicole said.“I was just thinking about something,” Systa replied.Nicole picked her up onto her waist.“W-What are you doing?” Systa quickly said, her cheeks flushing. “This is embarrassing. Put me down.”“Get used to it,” Nicole pinched Systa’s cheeks. “You know, I watched Gabe grow, but I missed watching a girl grow. I didn’t have a daughter, you see. So, I feel like keeping you with me for as long as possible.”“S-Stop pulling my cheeks!” Systa found it annoying because her skin was not perfectly authentic human-standard.“Stop acting like that,” Nicole stopped pulling the cheek and gently rubbed it. “You’re a girl, so you’re going to raise kids one day. You shouldn’t get angry easily. Your worth will be decided by how good you ca
In Sciocidad, also known as the phantom city which floated through the sky also known as the lower heaven.At the border, Russell and Jessica were talking with a mature lady whose name they didn’t even know. All he knew was that she was the librarian of the clan that lived in this city.“My goal is to stop another world war from happening,” Russell told her. “If a war breaks out again, then the world really is going to end.”“Silly young man,” the lady named Uzza smiled, “the third world you were worrying about has long started and is still ongoing.”“W-What?” Russell was startled.“Food, air, water, and even people’s very blood has been polluted for decades now and it’s still happening today,” Uzza said. “We see a lot of chemicals being sprayed in the air through special jets. There are nanoparticles, graphene, and even parasites in those chemicals, which will mix with water, food, and can even enter people’s bodies through their skin. Everything the media tells you is fake. The elect
“It’s one thing that James lost, but for Atarah to lose to this brat…” The number one ranker of the Jaguar Squad, Stark, spoke. “This is quite shameful.”“Indeed,” Fang, the second ranker, opined. “I feel a little embarrassed since I’ve trained James for over a month now. For him to lose without even taking an opponent’s limb is quite disappointing. I hope he’s not dead.”“James is the last ranker, the number 10 of the squad,” the zeroth ranker and the head of the Jaguar Squad, Zephyr, replied. He had a sharp mustache and was cleanly shaven. “He’s the weakest, but Atarah is the ranked fourth in the squad, and she let her younger comrade lose. So, she failed both as a teammate and as an individual fighter. She needs to be punished for her mistakes later. But for now…” He glanced at the number five ranker, who was a green-headed female, Pixie.Pixie stepped forth and treated Atarah’s injury with her vivre. It was as though she was conducting surgery with her vivre, using it as needles to