The air in Class 1-E suddenly grew heavy. Without warning, Menma shot forward, his right fist cutting through the air, aimed straight at Chuta's jaw.
But Chuta didn't dodge. With a savage grin, he answered with an equally hard punch.
BUGH! BUGH!
The two traded blows. Menma felt the deafening sensation of bone against flesh. But the physical gap was too real.
With Strength 18, Chuta's punches felt like being hit with an iron hammer, while Menma only had 10 Strength—equivalent to a normal human.
With one hit, Menma was sent flying hard until he crashed into the classroom wall.
"Is that all you've got, kid?" Chuta growled.
He stood solid like a steel fortress with Endurance 21. To him, Menma's punches were no more than mosquito bites.
But something strange happened. Menma slowly got up, then smiled coldly.
The blood flowing down his face only fueled his spirit.
A feeling he had never experienced before. Wild adrenaline took over his body until he could no longer control himself.
At the doorway of Class 1-E, several students from other classes had gathered to watch, including a tall young man with neatly combed long black hair—Fushiguro Furuya, the ruler of Class 1-A.
He watched the scene with narrowed eyes. As Chuta's equal rival, Furuya knew how strong Chuta's Judo technique was, having won national-level matches.
"Oi, Chuta-san! Don't kill him too fast. I want to see how crazy this trash really is," shouted one student.
Menma just stood there grinning wide, his head tilted to the side with a horrifying blank stare.
"Heh… heh… hehehe… Is that all you've got, Chuta?"
DUAK!
Chuta didn't waste time. He charged forward and threw a devastating straight right.
Menma didn't dodge. He deliberately rammed his face into Chuta's fist.
His body staggered back several steps, fresh blood spurting from his nose, but Menma still stood tall, chuckling.
"Again! Not hard enough, Chuta!"
Chuta wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. His breathing grew heavy… but his eyes changed.
Chuta, now irritated, immediately closed into the clinch, using his expertise in Judo.
No more underestimating.
No more playing around.
"…Enough," he muttered quietly.
In one quick step, he moved in close before Menma could react.
GRAB!
His hands clamped onto Menma's gakuran collar hard, his fingers pressing like iron clamps. His other hand instantly locked Menma's arm from the outside.
"Don't think I can only punch, you crazy brat…"
Chuta's body rotated.
Instantly.
With a clean, heavy motion, he swept Menma's leg from the side.
OSOTO GARI!
BRAKK!!
Menma's body was slammed to the floor back-first. The impact was so hard it felt like the air was forced out of his lungs.
But Chuta didn't stop.
He followed the fall, pinning Menma's body before he could get up.
THUD!
His knee slammed into Menma's stomach to control movement.
His hands shifted.
One arm wrapped around the neck.
The other locked the wrist.
"This… is how you really break someone."
He pulled.
HADAKA JIME (rear naked choke)!
Chuta's arm locked around Menma's neck from behind, pressing both his throat and blood vessels at once.
The pressure was brutal, not just cutting off breath, but cutting off blood flow to the brain.
Menma's vision immediately trembled.
Darkness began creeping in from the edges.
But…
"Heh… hehehe…"
A quiet laugh escaped his mouth.
Chuta frowned.
"What's funny?!"
Menma bit down on Chuta's arm.
KRAK!
"TSK!"
The bite wasn't enough to break the hold, but it was enough to disrupt focus.
With his remaining strength, Menma slammed his head backward.
THUD!
The hard impact hit Chuta's face.
The grip loosened slightly—and that was more than enough.
Menma forcibly twisted his body, using all his weight to break free from the hold.
The two rolled on the floor.
But Chuta was faster.
He rose back to top position, his hands immediately locking Menma's shoulder.
"Not done yet!"
He twisted Menma's arm behind his back—KIMURA LOCK!
Menma's shoulder joint was forced to rotate unnaturally.
KRAK…!
Pain shot through his body like electricity. His fingers lost strength… as if they weren't his anymore.
Pain that should have destroyed his body suddenly changed—not disappeared… but devoured.
[DING! PASSIVE SKILL OBTAINED: PAIN EATER]
EFFECTS:
- A portion of pain is converted into recovery
- The higher the damage, the faster the regeneration
[WARNING: SKILL WILL GROW STRONGER WITH BODY DAMAGE]
Furuya at the doorway murmured quietly,
"It's over. No one gets back up after taking Chuta's attacks."
He watched how Menma took the hits—not defending, not dodging.
But… enjoying it.
The corner of Furuya's lips lifted slightly.
"…if this isn't stupidity…"
"…then he's something dangerous."
All of Class 1-E cheered, thinking this loser was finished.
"Good job Chuta-san! Beat him to a pulp!" The 1-E students shouted.
"Teach him a lesson, Chuta-san!" The Class 1-E students yelled.
But what happened next made their hair stand on end.
Menma slowly forced himself upright. He didn't grimace in pain. Instead, he smiled wide like a madman.
Normally, that would be enough to make anyone scream and give up.
But defying logic, Menma crawled up with broken, undead-like movements. His Spirit of 21 truly made it hard for him to go down and lose consciousness.
Menma laughed even louder.
"HAHAHAHA!! HARDER, CHUTA!!"
The appearance of this skill made Menma feel like he was being born a second time. He felt all the wounds on his body begin to heal rapidly, and unconsciously, his face twisted into a vicious grin.
"Hehe... nice technique. Now it's my turn to beat you!"
Menma charged with no neat technique. He used brutal street-fighting style—headbutting Chuta, then unleashing low kicks repeatedly at Chuta's thighs.
Chuta threw a punch capable of shattering a normal person's ribs.
DUAK!
Menma didn't dodge. He took the hit square to his chest. His body was knocked back into the chalkboard until it cracked.
Slowly, Menma stood up again.
"He... hehehe That's it? Come on, Chuta! Harder!" Menma laughed wildly, his voice filling the room that had gone dead silent.
Chuta growled, "You crazy bastard! You wanna die?!"
Menma only laughed harder. This madness was starting to break Chuta's mentality.
'Why won't he go down?! I've slammed him so many times!' Chuta thought, terrified.
As Chuta wavered from exhaustion, Menma leapt and delivered a flying kick that landed square on Chuta's chest, making Chuta step back but still stand firm.
With full spirit, Menma hammered a flurry of wild punches at the Steel Tank's face.
And Chuta, refusing to lose to Menma, threw punches back at Menma's body.
The students began to whisper.
"He's insane…"
"This isn't human level…"
The Steel Tank began to slow. In the final second, both launched finishing punches at the same time.
Menma deliberately ate the last hit, then laughed and answered with one full-resolve punch to Chuta's jaw.
DUAK!
Both collapsed to the floor. The class went dead silent, but with ragged breath and a trembling body, Menma forced himself up and stood.
He stood swaying, staring at Chuta's body, which could no longer lift his eyelids because he had run out of stamina.
The entire class fell silent after watching the fight between Menma and Chuta. They couldn't believe Menma the loser had beaten the king of Class 1-E.
"Impossible... This is really impossible, I must be dreaming right? Menma won against Chuta-san, I must be dreaming because I drank too much yesterday," muttered one Class 1-E student.
With his face wrecked and covered in blood, Menma gasped while smiling crazily and said, "Starting now... This class is... mine."
[DING! TARGET DEFEATED: CHISATO CHUTA]
[+100 EXP OBTAINED! LEVEL UP TO LEVEL 2: 30/200 EXP]
[YOU HAVE OBTAINED 5 FREE ATTRIBUTE POINTS!]
[NEW TITLE OBTAINED: MAD DOG (BUFF +10% ENDURANCE)]
Not long after, Menma felt his body had reached its limit. With exhaustion washing over him, he collapsed to the floor and passed out from severe injuries from his brutal fight with Chuta.
Before Menma lost consciousness completely, he immediately allocated his points to Strength +2 (12), Speed +2 (12), Endurance +1 (12).
Instantly, a warm feeling flowed through him, reinforcing his body that had just been wrecked.
Furuya stood silent watching the fight between Chuta and Menma, his hand clenched in his pocket.
"This is gonna be troublesome. All the plans I've laid out will fall apart," Furuya muttered.
He realized that the balance of Class 1 that had been maintained by himself, Chuta, Danzo, and Ryo had just been shattered by a loser underestimated by everyone.
--------------------------------------
Meanwhile, on the school's quiet rooftop, the wind blew softly across a chessboard.
"The wind feels strange today. Like something was born down there," Daizen said while contemplating something.
"Checkmate! Hahaha... you lose, Daizen!"
A bald giant 200 cm tall laughed loudly. He was Oozora Juugo, leader of Okato's strongest faction.
In front of him sat a skinny bespectacled young man 171 cm tall, Sakamoto Daizen.
Their physical contrast was like an elephant and an ant, but both their auras gave off equally terrifying pressure.
"That's ridiculous, Juugo. You should study more," Daizen said calmly while moving a knight to capture Juugo's queen that had delivered checkmate.
Juugo's eyes bulged in shock, staring at the chessboard in confusion. "Since when was there a knight there? I didn't see it! Let's do it again!"
"Stop pretending to be stupid, Juugo," Daizen replied coldly while adjusting his glasses.
The two rulers had yet to realize that on the floor below, a Mad Dog had just been born—ready to disrupt the power structure they had built.