Went Too Hard

Noon had long passed, but the two on the ring had forgotten all about it, their minds and bodies completely immersed in the fierce combat.

Bang!

Fang Cheng was struck in the head by Takeda Masumi's fist, crashing to the ground with stars dancing in his vision, his limbs feeling as though they had lost all strength.

[Combat +1]

He had lost count of how many times he had been knocked down since morning—a hundred times, perhaps?

He had even become numb to the pain of the impacts, feeling as if his body no longer belonged to him.

Only a stubborn, unyielding spirit deep within his chest kept him going.

Time and time again, he climbed back up.

"Haa... haa..."

Takeda Masumi stood with her hands on her hips, panting incessantly.

She was drenched in sweat, as if she had just been fished out of water; her thin tank top was soaked through, clinging tightly to her frame.

After hurling insults for half the day, she had unconsciously stopped the verbal abuse, instead adopting a serious attitude as she knocked Fang Cheng down, over and over again.

To insult someone with such perseverance was to insult oneself.

Watching Fang Cheng lie motionless on the floor, Takeda Masumi let out a heavy breath.

It was finally over.

She couldn't help but reflect that Kanzaki Rin's judgment had been correct; this kid was worth training.

The days ahead would certainly be interesting.

Takeda Masumi turned to leave the ring, but a sudden sound brought her to a halt.

"Where are you going?"

Takeda Masumi turned slowly, looking at the man in the center of the ring with a complex expression.

Fang Cheng propped himself up with one hand and slowly climbed to his feet.

"It's not over yet. Are you trying to run away?"

"..."

Takeda Masumi didn't get angry; she looked at him and said in a low voice, "I admit you have resilience, but if we keep fighting, you really will die."

Fang Cheng grinned. "Whether I die or not is my business, but before I go, I'm definitely going to knock you down."

"You'll never manage that in this lifetime."

"Then why not try?"

"Since you don't value your own life..."

Takeda Masumi strode toward Fang Cheng, her long legs springing off the ground as if fitted with coils, flashing forward with the momentum.

This time, Fang Cheng didn't lose track of her; his gaze and body followed her movements.

Takeda Masumi was as fast as a ghost, shifting and flickering until she was on the other side of his vision, launching an uppercut toward his chin.

At the moment of impact, Fang Cheng twisted his head to dodge, stepped to the side, and slammed his shoulder into Takeda Masumi's chest.

Takeda Masumi expertly braced her back foot to steady herself, but a fist was already rapidly expanding in her field of vision.

She reacted with lightning speed, raising her hand to catch the punch with a snap.

Unexpectedly, a hook snaked up from below.

"Bang!"

Takeda Masumi was struck on the side of the face, staggering back several steps before coming to a stop.

She clutched her face, staring at Fang Cheng with a gaze mixed with shock and disbelief.

Fang Cheng didn't waste words, raising his hand to beckon her. "Come on! Don't stop!"

Takeda Masumi's expression darkened, her thoughts unreadable.

Finally, she took a long, deep breath, a fierce glint in her eyes, and lunged at Fang Cheng once more.

It wasn't until ten o'clock at night that Kanzaki Rin returned to Training Ground 05.

She took the elevator to the lowest level and arrived at the boxing ring, only to find Fang Cheng lying motionless in a sprawl, while Takeda Masumi was nowhere to be seen.

"Looks like he got taught a harsh lesson."

Though she didn't intend to intentionally embarrass Fang Cheng, Kanzaki Rin was always happy to see the foul-mouthed guy get taken down a peg if the opportunity arose.

She climbed onto the ring, walked over to Fang Cheng, and nudged him with her foot. "Get up, we're leaving."

Fang Cheng, who seemed to be asleep, suddenly grabbed Kanzaki Rin's calf with a tight grip, giving her quite a scare.

Gaunt and sallow, looking like a zombie, Fang Cheng began to crawl upward along her leg with his hands.

"Quick... quickly take me to get something to eat... I'm starving to death..."

"Let go of me... let go... stop pulling, ahhh!"

Kanzaki Rin struggled, kicking and punching, nearly having her pants pulled off by Fang Cheng.

Given the situation, there was no way to say goodbye to Takeda Masumi. Kanzaki Rin had no choice but to drag this starving ghost of a man back to the car and drive toward the nearest yakiniku restaurant.

"Eat up... don't be polite..."

Fang Cheng gestured to Kanzaki Rin, who was sitting across from him, while wolfing down his food.

A vein popped on Kanzaki Rin's forehead. I'm the one paying, why the hell would I be polite to you?

However, considering Fang Cheng had been beaten up all day, Kanzaki Rin decided not to hold it against him.

She picked up her chopsticks and reached for a plate of grilled meat.

Before her chopsticks could even touch it, the entire plate was snatched away by Fang Cheng, who dumped it straight into his mouth.

Kanzaki Rin reached for another plate, but before she could touch it, it was pulled away by Fang Cheng again.

She set her sights on a meat patty. The moment her hand moved, Fang Cheng skewered several patties together with a single chopstick and swallowed more than half of them in one abyssal gulp.

"Snap!"

The chopsticks in Kanzaki Rin's hand broke.

Fang Cheng swallowed the food in his mouth, looked at her, and asked in confusion, "Do you think I'm eating too much? I feel like this appetite is about the same as yours, and wasn't it agreed that you'd cover daily expenses?"

Kanzaki Rin gently set down her broken chopsticks and said expressionlessly, "I'm not angry. Keep eating."

"Then why aren't you eating?"

"No appetite."

"Oh, then don't eat. Give it all to me; we can't let it go to waste."

Fang Cheng reached out and moved all the meat in front of Kanzaki Rin over to his side.

Kanzaki Rin: (╯_╰)

She rested her forehead in her hand and cursed in her heart with the most vicious language imaginable—Choke to death, you bastard.

After a whirlwind of destruction, Fang Cheng, who had been on the verge of starvation, was finally fully revived.

Kanzaki Rin looked at the messy table and the stack of plates, secretly touching her wallet, her heart bleeding with pain.

The worst part was that she hadn't even eaten a single bite herself; thinking about that made it hurt even more.

If she had known, she should have just dumped this bastard at home and let him fend for himself.

Seeing that Fang Cheng was finished, Kanzaki Rin adjusted her mood and asked, "How did the training go today?"

Fang Cheng was picking his teeth, and the mere mention of it made him angry: "That female gorilla isn't even human. She's too ruthless; she was trying to beat me to death."

Hearing Fang Cheng's complaints, Kanzaki Rin felt a little better about her lost money, feeling quite pleased.

However, this pleasure only lasted until it was time to pay the bill. Kanzaki Rin took out her credit card and handed it to the cashier.

"Miss?"

The cashier grabbed the credit card, tugged on it a few times, but it wouldn't budge. She asked in confusion, "Is there a problem?"

Kanzaki Rin silently let go, feeling as though her soul had been emptied out along with the credit card.

After sending the "culprit" Fang Cheng home, Kanzaki Rin called Takeda Masumi.

"Masumi, how was the training today?"

"It was alright, so-so. That kid is a talent worth molding."

"If possible, don't go too hard on him for the next two days. Don't scare him off."

Takeda Masumi's surprised voice rang out: "Are you serious?"

Kanzaki Rin asked, confused: "What's wrong?"

"Haha, nothing. Since you said so, I'll see how it goes tomorrow."

"Thank you for your hard work."

"Hey, do we really need to say that to each other?"

After chatting for a few more minutes, Takeda Masumi tossed her phone aside.

At this moment, she was standing naked in the bathroom, looking in the mirror.

The muscle definition on the body in the mirror was clear; every muscle was perfectly sized, full of strength yet retaining a sense of beauty.

However, there were quite a few bruises and marks on this body.

Takeda Masumi was carefully applying medicine while looking in the mirror, letting out sharp hisses of pain.

"That brat, he's way too rough with women."