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
Nobody expected Gabe to win the way he did. The fans started screaming at him, saying that Little Lioness underestimated him too much, or he wouldn’t have won.“The skinner of the match is Gangsta!” Rica raised Gabe’s hand high this time. To do that, she had to stand on her toes because she was shorter than him. She glanced at him, smiling through her eyes, “Want to fight again?”“I already won three times in a row, so my winning percentage will be 25% from now on, right?” he asked.“Yes.”“Then I will start afresh tomorrow,” Gabe said. “My body needs some rest.”“Is that so?” Rica was a little disappointed. (I want to know what this guy is really capable of, but I guess I’ll have to wait until tomorrow, or maybe not…) He leaned closer and whispered her mobile number to him. “Call me later, so we can go out on a date tonight.”Gabe ended up nodding in response, but he wasn’t sure if he should go out on a date with Rica or not. First of all, she was much younger than him, and his heart
Gabe gave ten grand to his aunt and told her he began working at a company called UTS and showed her the company ID card, which UTS had given him so he could show the world where he was working. The address and everything were real because there was a shell company also called UTS, which was a conglomerate. No one would ever think such a big company would just be a shell of another company with huge underground operations.Nicole hugged Gabe and cried for a long time. She had prayed countless times while lying in bed that Gabe should get a good job and settle in life. Finally, her wishes were being heard, she thought.However, she gave the money back to him and said, “You should pay your debts first. Besides, if I really need money, then I’ll ask you.”“But, Aunt…” Gabe looked hurt because she hadn't taken the money.“Alright,” she took a hundred dollar note. “This is enough for me to buy groceries for us for this week.”“At least take a thousand,” Gabe insisted, but she shook her hea
Gabe bought a cot and placed it in the hall. However, after lying down on it, he felt uncomfortable. Sleeping on the floor seemed more comfortable to him.So, he folded the bed and put it on the side.“Why did you buy a bed if you're not going to use it?” Nicole asked. She looked different today because she had taken a bath, oiled and combed her own hair. She looked beautiful.“I will use it, but right now, I feel more comfortable sleeping on the ground. I don’t even need a pillow to sleep,” he proudly said, but that only made his aunt feel sad.Seeing her make a sad face, Gabe said, “Aunt, you look gorgeous today. Can I kiss you?”“G-Gorgeous? Me?” Nicole was surprised. She didn’t believe it. How could someone in her late fifties be beautiful, she thought, but then Gabe planted a long kiss on her cheek. It almost brought a tear to her eyes.“Gabe, if someone like me appears gorgeous to you, that means… you should really get a wife,” she teased him.“A-Aunt!” Gabe’s face blushed like