63 63

The heavy thud of Daniel's fist colliding into Ken's jaw was quickly followed by another heavier thud of the drunk man collapsing on the ground, unconscious. Daniel froze in his stance, surprised at the outcome. He was also wincing from the ache in his knuckles. He never knew how much his hand would hurt from punching someone.

Hana screamed from the sudden violence, "Oppa! Careful!"

"HEY KEN! YOU SON OF A-!" Ken's friends rushed towards Daniel. They had been frustrated with Ken's behaviour. They were getting pissed and losing their patience too. They understood the fault was on Ken's side, having been the one to throw the first blow. But that didn't mean they would just stand by and watch their friend get beaten up without consequences.

Helping your friend even if he was in the wrong, that is part of the unspoken but underlying institution of the 'Bro Code'. In the aftermath of this incident, his friends would probably kick the shit out of Ken for putting them in this position, but for now at least, they needed to back him up.

Daniel wasn't sure if his friends were trying to separate the two of them or attack him, but he didn't want to take the chance believing in the former only to get jumped and ganged up on. In such a situation, where Hana was still standing behind him, likely defenceless if he tried moving away, he could only take the initiative.

'I can't move away, I can only fight them…' He was nervous. Three grown men was rushing at him, and Daniel had never been in a fight before until today. And he couldn't put the chicken head teacher's lessons to full use because he was protecting Hana behind him. He realized that no matter how realistic and practical the chicken head's instructions were, not even he could predict every scenario that could possibly happen.

Daniel took another step forward, putting his arms up in the standard boxing guard – left fist slightly further out from his face while his right fist was touching his right jaw. For an orthodox fighter like Daniel (right handed), this was the most basic but effective guards he could use against amateurs.

Before Ken's friends reached him, Daniel had already thrown a lightning quick jab that cracked like a whip against one of them. He wasn't trying to hold back this time, since Hana was behind him and he was already not confident fight against three people.

The jab, a simple strike to perform and also usually the fastest shot to land. It is generally used by professional martial artists to create, maintain or even close distance between their opponents; feint and gauge their reactions, or finding their range so that they can land a deadlier blow.

Daniel's jab was explosive. He fired his shoulder forward while twisting his hips and pivoting on his lead foot. His fist snapped forward and landed against the nose of the first person within his range. A punch that was usually meant to stun or feint, caused the man to fall to his knees, clutching his now broken and bleeding nose.

"Fuck!" The next one cursed while swinging at Daniel. This one was harder to deal with compared to the first, as remaining two were both throwing punches at him. But although it was harder, for Daniel it was still manageable.

'Slow…' Daniel observed while shifting his bodyweight and turning towards his assailants, 'Is it because they are drunk? …No, I have always been able to see through people's punches.'

Ever since he was in Elementary school, he had been beaten so many times that eventually… all the punches began to look slow even for his old body. With this new and improved body's dynamic vision and visual acuity, the punches coming from the grown men lunging at him, made him feel like he was Neo in Matrix.

'My old body was never able to avoid the punches, even when I could see through them. But now, in my new body… for the first time, my body is moving the way I want it to!'

Daniel's left fist snapped out, parrying the punch coming from the first attacker. The man was surprised to see his fist get slapped away, but he didn't have time to formulate a response because another fist that was not his own immediately crashed into his face.

A counter cross right hook. Deadly even from amateurs who didn't know how to throw a punch. But for Daniel, whose posture and technique was perfect, amplified by the incredible strength and speed of his new body… this right hook was like an axe being swung at full force by a lumberjack.

The sound of Daniel's right fist colliding into the man's face was like a mini explosion, a sickening sound of bone hitting bone padded only by skin and flesh.

The man who was struck by his right hook that crumpled his face and rearranged his sinuses was swept off his feet by the force of the blow. He was already unconscious before he hit the ground.

Daniel then had to react quickly to the last man whose fist had already reached him. It was aimed at his shoulder, a poor choice made by a person without any experience in fighting, which he quickly avoided simply by twisting his body.

With the momentum from his hip rotation, a left hook cracked against the last man's right jaw. The man's legs crumpled underneath him as he lost all bodily function when his brain went to sleep.

The human body was tougher than one would expect, but also fragile at certain spots. The most vulnerable of which was the human brain. Even a light impact could cause a concussion if the brain was affected directly.

A punch to the side of the jaw, especially when the recipient is moving into it, is a devastating strike that not only drive the jaw into the skull, it would twist the entire head. The delicate and frail brain would ricochet around the hard cranium, causing the brain to temporarily shut down bodily functions.

With this punch, Daniel had managed to knock down the last of the four assailants, just as people were starting to notice and shout.

"Woah, is there a fight!?"

"Daebak, that guy just knocked all four of them out!"

"Wait, I have to film this!"

Daniel remembered the eight lesson the chicken headed man gave on street fights: 'If the opportunity presents itself, run. Even if you can win the street fight, you don't want to be around if more of their friends show up or even stick around to be detained by the authorities. Who knows if one of those thrown ash trays actually cracks one of their skulls and now you are charged with excessive self-defence.'

It was even worse that people were starting to take out their mobile phones and film the aftermath of their quick but violent fight.

He immediately covered his face in the nook of his elbow to hide his identity while running away and pulling Hana with him, "Let's run!"

"E-eh? Oppa?" Hana was shocked at the sudden violence and let herself get pulled by Daniel. But as she turned back and glanced at the four downed bodies of their attackers, she couldn't help but replay the memory of Daniel swiftly and effectively dispatching the drunk adults that had attacked him.

'Oppa is… so fucking cool!!!'