Chapter 2: No Turning Back

Wandering Gosu, now known as Leanne Albaos, commented on his new appearance. Despite his belief that he looked ugly, he was actually above-average in looks with plump lips, thick eyebrows, a decent nose shape, puffy cheeks, dark brown eyes, and thick black hair styled in a curtain cut.

He only considered himself ugly because his previous appearance was indescribably handsome, making him a sort of devil incarnate with the looks of Lucifer and the body of a God who had massacred countless men.

Leanne had a vivid memory and remembered that his name was Leanne Albaos. His father left when he was two years old, so he took on his mother's surname. His mother, Ann Albaos, worked abroad, and he lived alone in a dormitory near the University of The Visayas in Cebu City, Philippines, where he was currently a freshman studying IT.

He was known as the "loser" and "bread shuttle" of the campus because he was one of the few students who hadn't developed a well-built body. The students he had beaten up were his bullies and seniors, and he believed that his soul might have transferred to this person after their death, possibly due to the work of the Fated Talisman.

For now, he needed to learn more about this world. Having cleared his thoughts, Leanne left the restroom and returned to his classroom. As soon as he stepped foot in the door, all eyes were on him, with gazes that were a mix of disgust, pity, and shame. Although he didn't like that feeling, his body seemed used to it. He sat in an empty seat, but the student next to him quickly turned off his monitor and spoke to him.

"You really have the audacity to enter our class."

Leanne shifted his cold gaze to the student, giving him goosebumps and making him feel like a predator was looking at its prey. The student retaliated, but the professor hushed him and the student backed down, gesturing profanities at Leanne before turning his monitor back on.

Leanne was not paying attention in class, instead focusing on browsing the internet to gather information. After he finished, he was shocked at what he had learned. He discovered that he was in the year 2094, with many major advancements in humanity. He believed that it was the 1900s in his time, but the history of this world was similar with one difference: in his world, the imperial dynasty of China had not fallen and managed to conquer the world, spreading martial arts and its influence, creating murim factions. However, in this world, the imperial dynasty had fallen early and the western countries had become the major powers, with China still being a major power but with martial arts far weaker than in the past. In this era, firearms were used more in combat instead of swords, spears, and martial arts. People cared about their health, and fitness was highly valued, leading to body dysmorphia and fat-shaming being normalized.

'Although I'm glad that discrimination based on race has been eradicated in this era, it's disheartening to think that body shaming has become the new norm. Back in my world, one of the strongest martial artists was a fat old man, but he could still slice a mountain in half with just a swing of his sword. I can't believe that people with body dysmorphia are being treated so poorly in this world. No wonder this kid is getting bullied. But don't worry, I won't let your death be in vain. I'll make sure to take revenge on those who wronged you.'

The next class was starting soon, and before the students could leave the room, 20 burly and muscular students entered and blocked the only exit door, which led to the entrance.

"Oh my God, why is the Fighting Committee here?"

"Not only that, but Kyle Ecchari, the Vice President of the Committee, is with them!"

"I heard they're recruiting freshmen. Being a member of the Committee gives you a lot of benefits, like a monthly supply of D-rank Blue Water and access to the Green Lancers' martial facility."

"And I heard they're giving out martial books to promising juniors. If I could just get one of them, I'm sure I'll become a successful martial artist in the future, maybe even famous in the Martial World."

The students began to whisper among themselves, looking at the Fighting Committee in awe. The Vice President, Kyle Ecchari, was a 6'3" Phil-Am with broad shoulders, well-built, and handsome features. The callouses on his arms and legs indicated that he was a mixed martial artist.

"From the looks of it, he's probably a brawler or a grappler, or maybe even both. He doesn't seem to use any weapons."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," said Kyle with a smile.

"You probably already know who I am, but I'm not here to recruit new freshmen. That will happen in the next few weeks. For now, the Fighting Committee is here because a freshman disturbed the peace and order we've established on the school grounds."

Then, seven other students entered the room, bruised and battered, as if they had just fought a grizzly bear. The students were shocked to see their injuries, and couldn't imagine what kind of freshman could have beaten them up so badly.

"As you can see, they were on patrol on the school grounds when they caught a freshman loitering during class hours. They just wanted to discipline the young one, but the kid resorted to violence and beat up my juniors."

"What a bunch of bullsh*t," thought Leanne, who was seated at the back of the room. "I barely managed to do any damage to them. I just punched them in the groin. They're resorting to this just to act like victims. Do they really think they can fool these people?"

"Yeah! It was Leanne! He did this to us!" The injured students called out.

Everyone's gaze immediately fixated on Leanne, and they couldn't believe that he could do such a thing. But to Leanne's surprise, nobody dared to call him out.

"What a bunch of wusses," he thought.

Leanne was disappointed in his classmates. There was an obvious display of unfair play, but no one dared to stand up. He speculated that it was due to Leanne's bad reputation, while others were afraid of the Fighting Committee. The student sitting next to Leanne couldn't believe that Leanne would do such a thing to his fellow students, but the look on Leanne's face gave him some doubts. "He might really have done that," he thought to himself. The student felt wary of Leanne and decided to keep quiet for now.

Kyle Ecchari, a fellow student, approached Leanne and said politely, "So, you're Leanne, huh? Can you come here and apologize to your seniors? It would also be best if you compensate them for their injuries. Maybe give them some Blue Water." Leanne thought of Kyle as a hypocrite, and the other students around him could see it too. They knew that Leanne was broke, untalented, and had a poor body. It was absurd for someone to ask for such a huge compensation, especially when the person doing the asking was a rich, spoiled brat like Kyle who lived in his own small world and didn't understand that there are actually poor people in the world who struggle to survive.

Kyle was confused by the disgusted stares from the students, and only realized why they were reacting when Leanne stood up from his seat and walked towards him. "Shit, why didn't these assholes tell me who this student was? Now I look like a fucking asshole to these students," Kyle thought to himself, angry and embarrassed. He proceeded to talk to Leanne, who was unfazed and looked nonchalant, despite facing a group of muscular students.

"So, will you compensate them, youngin?" Kyle asked.

"And why should I?" Leanne retorted. He didn't want to be seen as a pushover and wanted to end this situation once and for all. He suspected that this was what the previous owner of his body had wanted, and he wanted to give that person some closure. He needed to put an end to the previous owner's suffering, and by wiping the supposed bruises off the brawny student's body, he was able to do just that.

"You bastard!" the brawny student yelled as he lunged at Leanne, but Leanne simply stepped to the side and wiped his finger across the student's supposed bruises.

"What's this? Make-up? You really just tried to make yourselves the victims by putting on makeup? Puhahaha! That's hilarious as f***! I'm amazed that you even managed to act injured! Bravo, truly!" Leanne clapped and chuckled to himself. It was clear to everyone who the real victim was, and Leanne just pointed it out.

The students who were acting it out were furious, knowing that the charade was pointless. They charged at Leanne with no remorse, like a pack of wolves. However, Leanne let them attack him, and he simply endured the blows.

"Since you attacked me first, the Fighting Committee should consider my next moves as self-defense, right?" Leanne asked, his words making sense as it was written in the school rules. However, Kyle Ecchari and the members of the Fighting Committee were confused. Leanne was able to put up a fight against well-built students who had fighting experience, which made no sense.

Before they could react, Leanne circulated his internal energy, adding offensive and defensive properties to his body for a short time. Although he could only hold it for a few seconds, it was enough. Leanne effortlessly countered the incoming attacks and pressed his fingers into their acupunctures, causing each student he touched to faint and fall to the ground like a doll with its strings cut.

The scene lasted only ten seconds, and everyone was in shock. Kyle, who was an actual martial artist, couldn't believe what he had just seen.

'Gentle Strikes? Does he know the martial arts of the monks? But that's a B-Class martial art! How could someone like him get hold of such a powerful martial book!' Kyle thought, unable to believe his theory. But knowing the situation, he couldn't make it worse by fighting Leanne, so he made a wise decision.

"Get them out of here," Kyle ordered.

"But boss, he just beat up our men!" one of the members protested.

"Get them out of here!" Kyle repeated. The members quickly grabbed the fainted students and carried them away, while Kyle continued to stare at Leanne with a look of murder in his eyes. Leanne then promptly left the classroom and went home.

As his memories slowly came back into focus, Leanne went back to his dorm and entered his room. As soon as he closed the door, he fainted.

"Sh*t..."

Thud!