"Be strong... cough... be strong and face your weaknesses, grow over your own vulnerable self and enjoy life to the fullest. Be free Beansprout... cough free and strong." Nathan's last words together with the image of him lying in a pond of blood, half of his body missing, was still burned into Bao's memory.

"Strong and free..." Bao mumbled as he sat up, on the bed and passed his hand through his hair, the cable still hanging from his neck. "Strong and free huh, crazy man, calling me Beansprout even in his last moments. He could have at least used my real name." A long drawn out sigh left his mouth. "And how in the world was he even able to stay alive for so long after losing half of his body?" Bao asked himself.

In

The walls of his cabin suddenly seemed to approach him by coming closer, too close for his taste. He put his right hand on the wall, trying to stop its advance but didn't notice that he was drenched in cold sweat resulting in him slipping down.

Trembling all over the body at what happened he stormed out of his cabin right into the elevator. Right now all he wanted was a peaceful place to process everything that happened during this dive and as chance would have it, he knew a location that would meet those requirements.

In a hurry, he wrote to Ning that he wanted to meet him immediately. He needed someone to talk about.

Someone who could understand how he felt.

Why did he even care about the death of NPC, a person that didn't exist in real life?

"Aaaagh!" Bao shook his head as if he was trying to forcefully eliminate his thoughts.

When the doors of the elevator opened again he stood composed as nothing happened with his hands in his pockets where he noticed something that shouldn't be there, since they should be empty.

He walked out of the front doors while extracting a small piece of paper from the right pocket.

"Sigh... Really? Again?" Bao asked resigned when looking up.

The three thugs from before stood in front of him and surrounded him the moment he left the cafe.

"Do you want to follow us or shall we drag your unconscious body with us, C-R-E-E-P?" The presumed leader of the pack came closer with every letter of Bao's nickname.

"Don't." His expression turned into something never seen on Bao's face before. "I'm not in the right mood for this right now."

"Ooooh, did you hear that?!" The leader turned around, looking at the laughing faces of his two companions. "Yes," -his expression turned serious- "yes I think I want to this right now."

"Sigh... Alright, I'll follow you." Without a word, he accompanied them to a nearby alley, where no one could see them.

"This time your maid girlfriend won't be able to safe you." All three of them stood at the only way out of the ally, crackling their necks and fingers. "I hope you are ready for our little..."

Bao didn't let him finish the typical antagonist monologue, that he already rushed forward and punched the henchmen on the right. Caught by surprise he didn't make it in time to evade the punch directed on his nose, falling to the ground screaming.

"Strong... strong and free..." Bao muttered, while shifting his focus towards the leader of the small group, who landed a hit on Bao's left arm as he blocked the kick.

Bao immediately ducked under a jab that followed from the third henchman, before knocking him out with a hook to the chin.

"Have you trained after your graduation or what?" The leader stood there with a surprised look printed on his face, his eyes gazing over the two bodies lying left and right of his feet. "Well, I guess only the two of us remain..."

"Stronger... strong... free, free and strong." The light in Bao's eyes had vanished, it was like he had lost consciousness but still stood on both of his legs and continued fighting.

In the blink of an eye, Bao closed the distance between them just to jump back right afterwards and repeat it from another side. Again and again, both bound together in a dance of fists where neither of the two seemed to have the upper hand until the leader tripped and broke the rhythm of their dance, allowing Bao to knock him down on his knees

"Strong and free" With the last punch Bao knocked him out and left the alley while taking a look on his new stat board.

David Level 8 -> 11 HP 20/40 -> 60/70 MP 0/0 Strength 8 -> 14 Perception 2 Endurance 2 Charisma 6 Intelligence 3 Agility 2 Luck 2 Skills World Traveller Level 1 Scuffle Level 2 -> 3 Backstab Level 2 Gathering Level 1 Sneaking Level 1 Swordsmanship Level 1 Berserker Level 1 Titles Acquaintance Of The Holy Maiden Soulwalker Farmers Saviour Stampede Survivor