Chapter 73 :

Episode 17 : A Child's Decision (1)

With each step, HwanGi got closer to the gang who were beating an unfortunate player.

Upon arriving and standing in front of the player to stop these bad people from kicking the player anymore, HwanGi asked them. "Why are you doing this to him?!"

A man tapped his finger onto HwanGi's chest aggressively while shouting. "And who do you think you are, running our fun time?!"

HwanGi gritted his teeth when he looked at the player who was laying on the floor with many bruises on his body.

Then HwanGi glared at the man in front of him.

The gang scoffed at how HwanGi was trying to be a hero and laughed. "Looks like we got someone trying to protect our punching bag. Hahah!"

"Leave this man alone! He has suffered enough from you people!" HwanGi said, pulling out a HP potion before giving it to the player.

While HwanGi was feeding the player the HP potion, the gang members didn't like this at all, as a result, they yelled. "What are you doing?! Don't you dare touch our punching bag!!"

A man rushed in and unleashed a punch toward HwanGi, directing his fist onto HwanGi's face.

As HwanGi was busy treating the player, he couldn't notice that a fist was going to kiss him in the face.

In an instance, he tried to evade it as quickly as he could, moving his head aside to let the fist hit the air instead.

It was a successful evasion but what about the other ones?

HwanGi noticed a shadow cast onto him, making him curious as to what was above him.

However, as HwanGi was looking upward, he discovered it was a man who was going to do an elbow drop on him.

HwanGi first thought of pushing the player away, causing him to not have enough time to block or counter the elbow drop, so he had to see the elbow striking down on him.

He didn't close his eyes as he placed his arms in front of his face to shield his face, knowing that at least the player was safe now.

...Strings ejected like a bullet, going so fast it reached the man who was trying to attack HwanGi.

Wrapping their entire bodies to immobilize them completely which forced the attackers to stay in one place without moving an inch, including the man in the air.

HwanGi witnessed the strings saving him, he didn't know what was happening but he did know that someone saved him.

In that moment, he watched as the guys wrapped in strings being utterly unaware of what was occurring to them and why they weren't able to move.

As fast as he could, he instantly followed the strings to find who saved him, finding out it was JoonChul who helped him.

JoonChul with his hands extended out, along with strings being spewed out through his fingers, he tilted his head as if to signalize HwanGi to leave the place.

But HwanGi thought to himself when he saw JoonChul's signal. ‘Is he telling me to leave after these people harmed an innocent person?’

HwanGi didn't like the fact that he had to leave without teaching these gang members a lesson.

And that was when JoonChul informed HwanGi. "If you don't leave that area, I won't involve myself in your problem."

HwanGi looked at the gang, cracking his fingers to get ready to fight which told JoonChul all he needed to know.

Immediately, JoonChul extracted the strings back into his fingers which released the people he captured in the process.

The guy who was elbow dropping on HwanGi earlier, was now falling down. Using this moment, HwanGi grabbed hold of that guy, tossing him toward his fellow gang who were attempting to stand up.

The man got thrown toward his fella, knocking them down in the process.

In actuality, HwanGi thought about it after calming down, he didn't wish to fight against these people, so when he was cracking his fingers, he only did so to make JoonChul let go of these bad guys.

HwanGi only wanted these people to leave his sight now that he had calmed down. Understanding full well that he couldn't use his offensive skills, instead he used the skill which he used most often while in a safe zone.

[You have activated the Hidden Skill, ‘Favorability’ Lv. 2.]

HwanGi walked up toward the guys after turning on his skill, telling them this. "Leave this place right this instance..!"

HwanGi thought that this would work, seeing as how the men started to get up slowly but surely.

"You moron. You really gonna have it!" The men glared daggers at HwanGi which startled him for a second.

HwanGi pondered how this was happening right now. ‘What the.. this never happened before!’

The men clenched their fists, readying themselves to brutally beat down HwanGi as one of them already sprinted toward HwanGi.

HwanGi stepped aside to avoid the man who was coming at him, perceiving another fist reaching his face.

HwanGi knocked that fist away, kicking another man who was trying to punch him.

From then on, it was getting out of control and somewhat difficult for HwanGi to keep track of 5 men attacking him at once.

HwanGi fought against the beasts in Stage #10 but those creatures weren't as hard as fighting 5 men who know how to fight properly and violently.

Keep in mind that HwanGi didn't want to use his full strength to fight these guys, making it much harder for him to fight.

As time passed, HwanGi caught a glimpse of JoonChul watching him struggle to defend against the gang.

Even though HwanGi was having trouble, JoonChul really kept his words when he said he wouldn't involve himself into HwanGi's problems.

And he also didn't want to call for JoonChul's help when HwanGi was the one who started this situation.

Without a warning, immense pain was felt when HwanGi received a strong kick to the gut.

He placed his hand on his stomach, groaning while dodging the incoming attack.

Little did he know that he was hearing a strange and smoothing melody being played in the background.

He didn't know why music began to play but he noticed the gang members were proceeding to faintly become drowsy and were yawning occasionally.

HwanGi knew that it was his chance to knock these men out cold, so when he blocked a weakened punch from one of the gang members, he launched a strike to the other's forehead.

Effectively knocking that guy unconscious, HwanGi felt relieved when he saw the end of the fight.

Despite how HwanGi was getting ready to punch again, he discovered the other men were already unconscious.

He also noticed the music suddenly stopped when the gang members were asleep.

"Are you okay, uncle?" A girl's voice emerged from the left side, causing HwanGi to switch his gaze to over there.

Straight away, HwanGi recognized that voice, along with the girl who was standing there with a worried expression.

"Yes, I'm fine." HwanGi smiled toward Mya, walking up to her.

Mya welcomed him, even allowing him to pat her head. "Thank goodness you're alright!"

"Was that relaxing music made by you, Mya?"

"Yes, I didn't want to see you get hurt.. so I made the baddies fall asleep. D-Did I do a great job..?" Mya became shy, worrying whether she was doing something wrong.

HwanGi crouched down in front of Mya, grinning toward her while telling her. "You did a good job. Thank you."

While he was observing the asleep men on the ground, he had realized that the player he saved was no longer to be seen.

"This is why you shouldn't have been a hero." HwanGi heard JoonChul talking behind him, so he turned to look in that direction.

"What do you mean?" HwanGi asked.

"The one you saved didn't thank you nor gave you a helping hand while you were fighting."

"I didn't ask for their help nor did I do it for a thank you."

JoonChul stared into HwanGi's eyes as HwanGi became aware of JoonChul's expression.

It was as though JoonChul felt nostalgic when he was glancing at HwanGi, even HwanGi couldn't figure out why JoonChul was making that expression.

JoonChul turned around and continued to walk toward where his comrades were. "Come on, we got an Alaine to look for."

Now that JoonChul mentioned it, HwanGi looked around to find where Alaine was the entire time, yet he couldn't spot where Alaine was.

HwanGi swiftly bent up as he told Mya. "You shouldn't be out here alone, go to your sisters or father."

When Mya heard what HwanGi said, she shook her head and told him. "But I want to follow you, is that okay..?"

HwanGi thought to himself while he was looking at Mya's puppy eyes. ‘I can't leave her here.. So I'll have to let her follow me.’

"Okay, Mya. But you need to hold my hand without letting go. Do you understand?" HwanGi said, extending his hand out to Mya's hand.

Without a second to waste, Mya grasped his hand cheerfully, nodding as a response to HwanGi.