Choose to believe

Gwangmyeong Kim stood still for a moment after he pulled the trigger, watching the muzzle flash and hearing the deafening bang of the gunshot as the bullet tore through the air.

It had been weeks since he'd had to pull the damn thing out of his waistband… weeks since he'd fired it at anything other than a target at the range. 

He hadn't anticipated needing it today, especially not against a high schooler. But this kid was clearly something else, wasn't he?

Embarrassing.

The thought echoed in his mind, a twinge of discomfort. 

He'd trained for years, honed his body into a weapon of precise destruction. Sure he'd gone past his prime but train he had nonetheless, keeping in well above average shape for a gang leader and now he was here, holding a gun in a petty fight with a teenager.

It was beneath him. But then again, when things went sideways, you didn't have the luxury of holding onto your pride. If the kid was dead, then so be it.

He'd make sure to send a bouquet to the parents afterward... if he had any.

Gwangmyeong allowed himself a small chuckle at that. His finger was still on the trigger, his eyes locked on the spot where he had been standing.

The boy was done for. No way he could have avoided it. A bullet to the head. A bullet he wouldn't even see coming.

But...

The seconds stretched on longer than they should have. Gwangmyeong's eyes narrowed, his chest suddenly tight. He hadn't seen Dowan move… at least not in time to dodge.

Then, the impossible happened.

No blood.

He blinked, looking at the boy's head where the bullet should've ripped through. The lack of crimson made his stomach twist in confusion.

Impossible.

Gwangmyeong's breath caught in his throat as his mind scrambled to make sense of the scene. His eyes locked onto the boy's raised arm. His right arm, which had somehow... blocked the bullet. 

His forearm had been raised, almost as if it had been prepared for the impact. The trajectory was wrong. There was no way the kid could've done that without his own arm being crushed.

The bullet should've gone straight through. It should have gone through him.

But there it was… no blood, no gore, just the boy's strange expression as he looked at Gwangmyeong.

Gwangmyeong could see it in his eyes… the slightest flicker of confusion that he masked quickly. A brief second of realization before it was buried.

That moment of vulnerability, that split second of doubt, was something Gwangmyeong could relate to. 

Hell, he'd been there. 

His own prime had long since passed. He was older now, and though his mind was as sharp as it had ever been, his body had been ravaged by time, by the losses, by the downfall of his once-thriving empire.

He had lost everything. The original Cheonha Gang had been crushed, destroyed in a fight he couldn't even begin to win. And now… now he was fighting some kid. A kid who somehow had his arm raised to block a bullet.

What the hell?

The weight of his prosthetic hand hung awkwardly at his side, and the metal foot beneath his pants leg felt stiff as it pressed against the floor. He wasn't the man he used to be, the man who could single-handedly take down an entire gang without breaking a sweat.

Now, he was just trying to keep his balance.

The boy's eyes were locked on him, and Gwangmyeong's chest tightened. The boy didn't look scared, didn't look anything but focused. 

But Gwangmyeong had seen that focus before. In the days when he was young and unstoppable. The cold stare of someone who was trying to figure out their next move. The way his muscles were tense, but there was nothing reckless about him.

What kind of kid is this?

Gwangmyeong had lived through countless battles, countless injuries, but now… the thought of facing this kid down made his mouth dry.

He took another step back.

His feet shuffled a little, and for the first time in a long time, he felt that pit in his stomach… the gnawing, hesitant feeling of realizing that he might not be able to win this one.

He wasn't at his peak anymore. He couldn't count on his youth, his raw strength. His gang was a shell of what it had been, and the boy... the boy was a boy, but one who had already shown more resilience than most.

He couldn't let his guard down. Not now.

Gwangmyeong gritted his teeth and straightened his posture, the weight of his own failures pressing against his ribs. He wasn't going to back down completely... he'd never been that kind of man. Not yet.

But the way the boy took that step forward, the way he held himself... It made Gwangmyeong pause. 

The fight wasn't over, but for the first time, he wasn't sure if he was going to win.

He took another step forward. And Gwangmyeong... 

He took a step back.

***

I was still shivering despite my best attempt to stop it.

Guard Fist

Allows the user to block all attacks once

- Can only be used once per day

The rush of adrenaline was still surging through me, but underneath it, the coldness lingered. Guard Fist. The card had worked. I still couldn't fully process it. 

It had worked against a bullet. Something that everyone I knew had considered an unstoppable force. It should have killed me. It should have shattered my skull or pierced my brain, but it hadn't. 

Instead, I stood there, alive, breathing, and, in a way, more powerful than ever.

I had blocked it. And I felt like I was invincible for just a moment.

But beneath the exhilaration was something else… a sense of disbelief. 

The realization that I had just faced a gun with nothing more than a protective shield. A bullet didn't just bounce off. 

It should have killed me. 

Yet here I was, a mere teenager, defying logic. It made me wonder just how much I had underestimated the power of my own abilities. And then there was Gwangmyeong Kim.

A shaky grin split across my face as I stepped forward, relishing in the fact that he was stepping back.

That arrogant fucker, Gwangmyeong Kim, was finally stepping back.

One more step and he faltered, I could see it

That slight hitch from an unbalanced step, most possibly due to the prosthetic. Maybe even from nerves.

I lunged.

Maximum Capacity.

I felt the power surge through me as if every fiber of my being was compressed into a single point. 

My fist shot forward with the force of a wrecking ball. It was a blur of motion… muscles and weight behind it, no time for hesitation.

It landed.

Jab.

The satisfying crunch of bone. His head snapped to the side with a sickening force. His eyes widened, disoriented, as blood and saliva sprayed from his mouth. I could feel his body freeze for a split second, a desperate attempt to regain control, but it was already too late.

His face crunched to the left, his eyes widening as saliva and blood flew out. Good, he was disoriented.

To the Moon.

I launched myself into the air. I was weightless for a moment, spinning, my body a tight coil of raw force. 

I could see everything in slow motion… the way the room seemed to tilt and blur around me, the shock still settling in Gwangmyeong's eyes.

And then, with devastating force, I unleashed it.

Hook.

The impact was instant. 

The sound of his skull hitting the floor was like thunder. 

The floorboards splintered beneath him, the carpet tearing as his body crashed into it, every ounce of energy I had behind that strike. 

The room seemed to shake with the force of it.

His body was limp, crumpled, and the smugness in his eyes had completely disappeared. There was nothing left but the aftermath of the brutality I'd just unleashed.

I stood there for a moment, chest heaving, still shaking from the aftermath of the fight, but the adrenaline still coursing through my veins. 

The world around me seemed still, and in that silence, I realized what had just happened.

You have defeated Gwangmyeong Kim!

Quest Complete!

Defeating him wasn't the end.

This wasn't some random fight between High-schoolers. 

No. This wasn't about one victory, one fight, or even one person.

I hadn't come here for that. I came with a plan. A deep, uncomfortable plan that I wasn't sure I was strong enough to follow through with.

But somehow, after everything that had happened, I knew I had to take this leap.

I didn't know what would happen after today. I didn't know if I could keep up this momentum, if my body would keep moving, if I'd be able to stand tall when the next storm hit. But for the first time in my life, I realized I had to believe.

I had to choose to believe in myself.

After the gunshot… after the feeling of staring death in the face and somehow walking away, I understood something. 

The Quest Window wasn't just a tool, it wasn't just a power. 

It was part of me. 

All of it… my strength, my mind, my choices… they were all mine now. I didn't need to rely on anyone else to validate that. I didn't need to hope that something outside of me would carry me to the finish line.

No.

I was the one who had to walk that path.

I chose to believe in myself, in the version of me who stood here today, battered but unbroken. In the me that refused to back down. 

The version of me that had only just begun to understand the power I had at my fingertips.

Gwangmyeong's eyes snapped open.

Wide and full of desperation. They were begging, pleading, defeated in a way that made my chest tighten. I saw it in his eyes: the realization that he was no longer in control.

I held out my hand and my voice rang out.

"Chain of Indoctrination."

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Well he's chosen his path now, ain't no stopping what's about to come...

Anyways, I've uploaded the first 3 chapters of the Lookism fic to my Patreon, (for free, don't worry I'm not that greedy). I'll keep on posting them for the next few days but after 1 or 2 more chapters, they'll probably have to be paid for. Not sure yet.

But go on to my Patreon and check them out.

I'll post them onto webnovel in a few days after I've stocked up.

Adios amigos.

Patreon: Teddartic