Fallen Lightbringers' Return

Chapter 12: Monster, He Was

"What just happened," his mother brushed his hand away, just to see the man laying on the floor.

Lee Dojin shrugged his shoulders, as if confused, and said, "He must have gotten tired."

However, unlike the clueless mother, the people around him had all seen the spectacle unfold. Kim Taewon and his girlfriend's eyes trembled like an earthquake. The hooligans around them stepped back and shouted.

"Jangwoon!"

"What the hell happened? Did anyone see what happened?"

"Jangwoon, Jangwoon. Stop joking around, stand up!"

Dong Kanwaek, A bushy-bearded man and wearing a black suit, stared at Lee Dojin dumbfoundedly. "What did you do," he asked, his tone low. His sight moved towards his friend Ih Jangwoon, whose neck had a dark-red bruise and turned swollen. He grimaced, thinking about the pain.

"It's simple, really." Lee Dojin shrugged, then licked his lips. "I put an overconfident idiot back into his place."

"You bastard!"

Dong Kanwaek stopped his shouting friend with a gesture. "Look, we don't really want to fight. It's just a scare tactic. How about you take a step back today and we forget about what happened. If the police get involved, you would not like that either, right? You are young and seem to have a bright future ahead." His words surprised the goons.

However, Lee Dojin's reply astonished them even more. "What if I don't want to?"

Dong Kanwaeks brows knitted. "Is it because of these two? Are they your friends? I don't really think so. If not, then why are you helping them?"

"A whim." Lee Dojin rubbed his head. "No, it maybe it serves a greater purpose? I don't know either. It's too philosophical, I ain't good with these things. But if I had to describe it... it's like a king who holds a festival to bless his subjects. After accomplishing everything, you just gotta see the world from below once more, you know?"

Dong Kanwaek slowly folded his sleeves up. "You'll find yourself in a lot of tragedy if you keep this way of living."

"It's fine." Lee Dojin chuckled and dismissed him with a wave. "You guys are weak after all."

"Son of a bitch!" One guy jumped forward, enraged by Lee Dojin's arrogant attitude. Dong Kanwaek tried stopping him, but he already ran forward. "You should respect your elders!" He swung his hand, at Lee Dojin.

"You know, I was just thinking the same thing." Lee Dojin caught his hand. His glance sent shivers down the uncle's spine, it was as if he stared into the maw of a beast. He tried to run away, but could not retract his hand, as if he had gotten stuck in a rock. "Based on experience and soul, I'm way older than you." Lee Dojin took a step back. He formed a fist, his arm bulged, and even his knuckles turned white. "Now clench your teeth."

His fist flew, almost letting out a whistle, and buried itself in the uncle's stomach, just below the chest. Pain, as great as a white nova, exploded up the man's body, and he felt his feet slightly lift off the ground. A feeling, burning like fire, came right after, creeping from below and out his mouth, and his spit flew everywhere. He tried moving back despite having a hard time breathing, but Lee Dojin's fist came flying down again, this time from above, knocking down on his head. He fell to the ground, face-up, into his own saliva, then bounced up, then fell down again, until he stopped moving.

"Kyah!" One onlooker screamed, but that was it. Thankfully, at this time, there weren't many people around.

Seeing another friend fall, a few more goons lost their reasoning and charged at the assailant. Lee Dojin, however, crushed them one by one. He did not bother dodging their attacks, only blocking then countering. Soon after, two more lay on the ground.

"Hmm, I remember now. Even in my previous life, even before the apocalypse, I used to get into a lot of fights. That's why, at the start, one of the three affinities I could have chosen was..." He held one person by the neck. His countenance turned frosty. "The Natural Disaster, with the affinity of tornadoes."

Dong Kanwaek observed the people who slowly gathered, wanting to see what the commotion was about. Even if it weren't many, it didn't mean there were zero. "Stop the cameras from filming!"

The onlookers were quickly shooed away. Lee Dojin watched the spectacle unfold. "How will you guys handle the aftermath?" He then glanced at the couple who was holding each other, terrified. "And how'd you guys get in such a large mess?"

"...Hyung, I think most of it is now your fault." Kim Taewon said, his voice shaking. He hadn't even realized it, but he had changed the form of address towards that young man.

Dong Kanwaek, unbuttoned the top part of his shirt. He replied, "Worry about yourself, will you?"

Lee Dojin moved forward. "And why should I?" He aimed a kick at Dong Kanwaeks face, but only hit thin air. Lee Dojin whistled in surprise. "Finally a guy with some backbone in here. I was getting worried about humanity for a second."

"Guessing by the proficiency, you must be somewhat skilled in martial arts, right? It's always cocky youngsters like you that fall the loudest. You have no idea what it means to fight a real, life-threatening battle." The guy grabbed Lee Dojin's ankle. He then took a pocket knife out of his jacket and slashed Lee Dojins's face. "Has your teacher not taught you that modern arts are just sports and cannot really be used in real fights?"

Lee tilted his head slightly to the left and barely avoided the blade. "Good thing I don't practice that." A feeling of bloodlust overwhelmed him as he grinned wholeheartedly.

Dong Kanwaek felt his skin break into goosebumps. He immediately faltered backward. A feeling of dread overcame himand he soon knew why. "Are you some kind of monster?" His voice trembled a little.

The boy, he was too calm, dealing with a weapon. There was no way that was possible. Even some of his older friends will feel threatened by a knife or gun. It's nothing to be embarrassed about, just instincts. Yet, the boy who was barely half his age, stood unfazed. Only someone crazy could feel this calm.

"That's awfully rude, don't you think." Lee Dojin chopped down at Dong Kanwaeks face.

Dong Kwantaek managed to block it by a hair's breadth. "Damn, he actually got faster!" And probably stronger too, as he felt the incoming weight crush him. Indeed, that guy was a monster. The attacks did not cease, instead, they grew faster and sharper, aiming for his weak spots. Even with a knife in his hand, he could somehow not keep up. Who was this boyso young, yet still so deadly? How was this possible? Badum, Badum, he could feel his heart racing fast.

Lee Dojin felt a different kind of surprise. There really was someone who could block him, even if for a short time. Interesting. He could not remember a guy like him in his previous world, was he a new resident, or had his potential been cut short in the alternate universe? It was impossible to tell, for now. "Well, I'm a little busy, so let's end this, shall we?" As he said so, the air seemed to have changed.

"What the fu" As Dong Kanwaek spat out his curses, Lee Dojin's long finger poked his Adam's apple. It was like a gentle touch, yet, he immediately felt his breath being constricted. At this moment, he realized, that boy- no, that man, was not some kind of martial artist or any honorable fighter. He was a man born from death, from war, and from murder. Dong Kwantaek tried to cough, but nothing came out. At this point, Lee Dojin's moves were hard to follow with one's eyes. It was natural, he had once reached the peak of unarmed combat, and even though he now used an untrained body as a vessel, he still lived, breathed, and bled the martial arts he practiced. It would be weird if that was not the case. He slammed his fist in Dong Kwantaeks chin, ribs, and leg, who then faltered, as his knees buckled down. In the end, Lee Dojin delivered a kick, clean and swift, right at his opponent's ear. It rattled. And that was the end.

"Fuu." Lee Dojin breathed out. He stared at Dong Kwantaek, laying on the ground immobilized. "That was rather interesting. For a mortal, he wasn't bad."

Dong Kwantaek wanted to react, but he did not know how. And he already had no power left. An incredible presence weighted upon him, stifling any rebellion, and pressed his shoulders down.

A scream interrupted his soliloquy: "Don't move any closer!" Lee Dojin turned around, only to see a younger man with a box-cut holding his mother hostage. He held her by the wrist, and in his hand, there was a small knife, the size of a finger. Dong Kwantaek stared at his friend and almost screamed out in utter shock, seeing him act like a fool. If he could, he would have loved to run away from that beast, but this guy was provoking him?

His mother looked at Lee Dojin and said, "Sorry, looks like I've been caught."

"Aren't you taking this too nonchalantly? What if you get hurt," he said with an almost exasperated voice.

"That will be the choice I've made then."

The young man screamed out loud, "Shut up!" He never felt this disrespected before. His grip tightened around the knife. His trembling slowly turned into confidence, feeling like he had the upper hand. "You, if you don't want your mother to get hurt, take your stuff and leave!"

Lee Dojin laughed dryly. "Who would have thought I would need to use a skill against someone who had none? Have I turned that pathetic?" He felt rather weak at this moment. What an incredible joke that was. Still, good or bad, it was a good chance to see what exactly the level up entailed. He was about to shout, but

"Noona, run away now!" Kim Taewon suddenly jumped the man and held his leg. The man, infuriated, stomped on him, hoping to get rid of this pest. But Kim Taewon stubbornly resisted, even when a knife was pointed at him.

"What a funny guy," Lee Dojin laughed (his eyes opened wide), for the first time since long, with full authenticity. It was like a heavy weight crumbled off his shoulders. In this world, there were still selfless and optimistic people around. He breathed in to calm his mind. "Cosmic steps," he whispered.

At that point, Dong Kwantaek, who remained on the ground, wound up seeing something he'd never dare dream and now would never forget in his lifetime. The man he fought disappeared as if swallowed by the air, and before he noticed, he stood in front of the woman he referred to as a mother and his friend holding a knife.

"So leveling up, for now, gives me more stars to access," Lee Dojin commented. He also found out something rather interesting; Just like him, his mother had a bright star glowing within her. Meanwhile, the other people around had no such thing. Why was that? He did not understand. Obviously, his mother was different. That went without saying, as the woman who owned this particular universe. But to level up his skill (and God forbid, earn a new one) he'd had to understand the mechanism behind it.

But for now, he settled with pummeling the man who held his mother hostage.

He was never good with these things that required thinking after all.