The Rematch (Part 1)
The school day continued as normal with the only weird thing being the uncomfortable amount of stares that Mako had been receiving.
Turns out almost all of the students and even some of the teachers had made bets against Mako because no one believed that Mako had even the slightest of chances to win; although, not all the stares directed at Mako were of greed as some were of confusion as well.
Mako had always been a frail boy, with weak bones, no muscles, and short height. But today it seemed that Mako had a bit of muscle on his bones and that he had increased in height as well.
It wasn't an obvious change but those who had observed Mako daily like his neighboring bench mates had noticed a change.
Since nobody was friends with Mako, they couldn't just walk up to him, and ask about the sudden change.
Mako himself also noticed the sudden growth spurt, but unlike others; he knew exactly the reason behind it. It wasn't only because he was working out and completing quests, he had noticed a change in his body from the moment he had received the system. It was clear to him that his rate of progression wasn't normal.
As time passed everyone was becoming more and more anxious about the upcoming combat class that would make everyone a profit.
The only people who didn't bet against Mako were the ones who didn't bet at all because they were either just like him or had too much of a high status to care.
During recess, Mako made his way over to the library to use one of the public computers.
Mako didn't own any technological devices as he had to sell almost everything to feed himself after his grandmother passed and before he found a stable job.
He used the school's public computer quite frequently as it was necessary to complete many projects, homework, assignments, etc.
This time, however; Mako wasn't using it for academic purposes, rather Mako used it to log in to the internet to see how was bid going for his match against Bill.
There was a whole list of predictions for the match that people had bet on such as how many seconds Mako would last, how many teeth would be broken, how many bones would be broken, etc.
Most of the bets were on Mako not surviving more than 30 seconds with many people betting on the fact that Bill would actually kill him during the fight while others were skeptical as the fight was being broadcast and it would be crazy for a student to outright kill another student and get away it no matter how strong of a backing he had.
There were of course repercussions for killing a person no matter who they were but given Bill's family status and connections, he wouldn't be surprised that the broadcast would be wiped clean from the internet in literal seconds with all the evidence destroyed and Bill going scott-free.
However, Mako wasn't fuming at the sight of so many people betting against him as he was actually happy. Mako was going to bid on himself and make a massive payday which would help him in the days to come and plans he might want to execute as he was confident that everyone was going to be surprised with his new skill set and strength.
Under multiple different anonymous names, Mako bid a total of 5,000 credits on all the different predictions that had been made with him placing a bet in his favor in every single one of them.
He used multiple names because he didn't want to look suspicious because if a person won every single prediction, everyone would complain that the match was rigged and demand their money back.
{Remaining Balance: 1054 Credits}
'That hurt a lot, but it will be worth it in the end.' Mako consoled himself over the wild purchases he had just made.
He didn't want to completely empty his credits because he was also a bit skeptical of whether Bill would actually kill him. In the worst-case scenario, he would get hurt enough to be sent to the hospital, so he kept enough credits for a trip to the hospital.
He already had enough credits to survive and was just saving for military school.
The prize pool continued to grow but before Mako could see how large it got, the school bell rang indicating that recess was over.
After logging out, Mako hoped that he had made the right decision.
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"Boys and Girls! I bring you today's main event of the combat fight between Mako Grey and Bill Johnson!" A boy with long black hair that went to his shoulders announced out loud causing the crowd to cheer.
All of the lights within the gym were closed except for one, where Mako was about to have his match with Bill. It genuinely gave off old-school boxing match vibes, but that was beside the point.
Several students in the crowd were holding cameras because the fight would be broadcast live on the internet.
'Bill did pull all the stops just to humiliate me, Huh?' Mako thought as he heard the boy with long hair make several announcements from the locker room.
Even though Bill threatened him with death and things like advising him to go and kill himself, in reality; Bill never did such a thing as it was just a way to humiliate him even more.
All other matches were canceled for today as all the students were in their casual attire as if they had come to witness a sporting event. It was just that this sporting event was marketed to the online audience as the match to death.
Not wanting to waste any more time, Bill nodded to the instructor who understood the signal, and started walking to the middle of the ring.
"Presenting to you on the left corner, the strongest student in Emerald High; Bill Johnson!" As a wave of cheers erupted from the crowd, the instructor announced as Bill made his way to the left corner of the ring.
He was only wearing some light trousers as his bare chest could be seen by all, Some boys glared with envy while the girls all of a sudden started to blush and feel hot & sweaty.
His physique was not that top tier at all, but for a high school student, it was more than enough to be called the strongest in the school.
"And presenting to you on the right corner, the biggest nerd of Emerald High; Mako Grey!" The instructor announced at this time there was only silence and felt like a scene from an old movie where as soon as the bad person arrives, there is utter silence and crickets are chirping in the background.
Mako made his way to the right corner while trying to remain calm under the thousands of eyes that were glaring at him like he was a cooked piece of meat.
He was also wearing the same light trousers and no shirt, but what caused Bill to have a slight expression of shock on his face was when he saw a decent-shaped body with muscle outlines on Mako's upper body.
Mako was a boy who always wore hoodies so no one could have noticed Mako's physique before plus Mako never fought back no matter how many times he was bullied, abused, and mistreated so everyone had a general idea, that Mako was an insignificant being they could play with and not face any consequences.
Although the students' thinking was correct, what they didn't consider was Mako receiving a family inheritance that magically improved his physique every day, just by Mako completing everyday tasks, however; it was not that Mako didn't put in any effort, he ground his body to the bone every day to complete the daily tasks which got harder and harder every day.
Now seeing Mako's physique, many students started having second thoughts about whether this would be a one-sided match. Even after Mako revealed his physique, the general audience and the online viewers saw this as prolonging a fight as in their mind Bill couldn't be defeated.
"I hope you're ready to meet your grandma 'cause I'll be sending you to her today!" Bill taunted as he took his stance.
"We'll just see about that!" Mako replied as he also took a stance he once saw an assassin take on one of those old vintage games that Gary had shown him.
It was a weird stance, to say the least, but at least it was a fighting stance that was better than the last time Mako faced Bill where he intended to just run out of the ring, but there will be no running this time.
'It's do or die now' Mako told himself as the instructor started the countdown.
"Fighter's ready? 3.... 2.... 1..... FIGHT!" The instructor yelled.
Bill immediately used the Earth ability to conjure a barrier of rock all around the boundary of the ring, so that Mako could not pull off the same stunt he pulled last time and just flee.
To Bill's surprise Mako didn't move from his place nor did he flinch from fear as he was determined to fight. Bill stared at Mako for a couple of seconds, hoping to get some kind of reaction from him but Mako stood strong and returned the glare.
"Getting cold feet?" this time it was Mako's turn to taunt.
The cheering audience became silent, everyone looked back and forth from Mako to Bill and back. They felt they needed to re-install new ears as they were hearing wrong.
"D-Did Mako Grey j-Ju-just taunt Bill Johnson!" the boy with long hair exclaimed in shock.
Bill stared at Mako with a dumbfounded look as the person in front of him was not the same person whom he had bullied for the past 4 years straight.
"So you REALLY have a death wish!" Bill yelled with anger, his veins pulsing on his face with the crowd cheering louder in the background.
He used the Earth ability to conjure an Earth club from the ground half the size of his body.
Dashing forward, Bill wasted no more time; hoping to take Mako down in one shot but not to kill him. In Bill's twisted head, Mako needs to suffer a lot more as he can't give him a quick death.
As he swung the club, aiming to knock Mako down by aiming at his back; Mako suddenly stood straight up and it looked like every muscle on his body was tensing up.
The club came down but hit nothing but air, causing immense shock to run through every observer.
[Phantom Shift has been activated!]
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