Chapter 57: Chapter 57- Ruthless

Ji-Seok was never a particularly brilliant person in anything he did. He had a good physique which allowed him to play rugby and basketball his entire life but he was never the best at them. He learned how to fight but would still end up being defeated by stronger, more skilled people.

Seeing those people achieving great things while he always fell behind frustrated him greatly and made him feel inferior. He knew that he put a lot of effort into everything he tried and yet that didn't seem to be enough to make him the best at something.

So, when the Integration happened and he miraculously killed his first few Dimension Walkers, he saw the others around him being impressed by that achievement. For the first time in his life, he saw people's eyes on him.

He felt really special, but also, started craving that attention more than ever. Wherever he went, he wanted the others to talk about him and hail him as one of the greats.

'Fuck! How did he do that?! I used all of my strength in this attack.' Ji-Seok in his head as he clenched his teeth. Just a mere glance at Talon's eyes made him shudder.

However, he still had enough composure not to completely crumble.

"I just asked for a little more food for me and the girls. Is that against the rules?" Ji-Seok asked.

Talon didn't reply immediately as he instead grabbed the hammer with two hands and yanked it to his side. Ji-Seok couldn't start to resist before everything happened. Putting the hammer on his shoulder, Talon stared at Ji-Seok.

"What were you intending to do there?" He eventually opened his mouth and asked coldly.

"..." Ji-Seok was completely tongue-tied at that moment. Something about Talon's question sent a shiver down his spine. He was unable to even utter a single word.

"I asked a question, didn't I? Answer... Uh, what was your name again?" Talon casually spoke as he tapped the hammer's handle with his finger as if he were playing around.

"J-Ji-Seok..." The male student replied.

"Ah, Ji-Seok. Interesting name. So, Ji-Seok, what were you intending to do to Young-Soon." Talon asked.

"... I... I didn't..."

"Hm? I can't hear you clearly. Speak louder!" Talon tilted his head forward, making Ji-Seok retreat.

"I-I, I don't... I just wanted some... food!"

"To get extra food, you were ready to break his legs?" Talon raised an eyebrow.

"No... I..." Ji-Seok was turned into a nervous mess as he felt the immense pressure coming from Talon's glare.

"I see," Talon murmured as he stood up and looked at the students around him. "Let's make a small voting session, shall we?"

"Voting session?"

"What does he mean?"

Murmurs erupted between the students as they waited curiously for Talon to continue.

The crisp sound of bones cracking echoed in the entire gymnasium followed by a blood-curdling scream of pain that sent shivers down all the students' spines. Everyone was shocked speechless by what they saw.

The hammer landed directly on Ji-Seok's legs, crushing them completely. A single hit flattened them out entirely as Ji-Seok started shaking from pain like a mad animal. No one could comprehend the sheer agony he was feeling at that moment. Then, he frothed from his mouth before he lost consciousness.

Talon lifted the hammer and stared at the male student with a cold look on his face. For some reason, even though this was the first time Talon had done such a thing in his life, he didn't feel anything particularly weird or off.

If anything, doing this made him feel even more relaxed. Seeing an asshole get what was coming for him was akin to a breath of fresh air for him.

Even under everyone's terrified gazes, Talon turned around and said.

"I am not someone who likes violence. But, this world requires violence for us to survive. You lot aren't anything special than anyone else. We all follow the rules and the rules say not to assault your peers or try to abuse your powers. If anyone dares to do that, I will personally make sure they regret it, like this bastard over here. Understood?" He declared in a cold tone.

No one spoke a word as they looked at Talon with fear and respect in their eyes. Fear because of his ruthless methods and respect because he stood up for the weak even though he didn't have to.

Hyun-Jae watched all of that ensue with a calm, expressionless face. Hei-Ran stood next to her as she stared at her with a confused look.

"Mmm, Miss Hyun-Jae..."

"Hm?" Hyun-Jae's gaze which was fixed on Talon the whole time looked to the side. "What?"

"Did Sir Talon do such a thing before?" She asked.

"No, as far as I know." She replied.

"Then why..."

Hei-Ran didn't understand why Talon would go so much out of his way to help Go Young-Soon. He could've simply stopped Ji-Seok and tied him up. Yet, he didn't do that and instead executed the same punishment Ji-Seok intended to do on Go Young-Soon.

Hei-Ran, Hyun-Jae, and even Talon knew that this would make people fear him greatly which would definitely make him get secluded out of their groups.

However, Hyun-Jae saw it in a different light. Shaking her head, she replied. "He wasn't doing that for Go Young-Soon's sake alone. He was doing it for everyone's sake. If you warn a group of people not to do something with mere words, there are bound to be people who would break those rules.

However, if they see the punishment being applied to those who break those rules, they will think twice before they actually try to do the same."

"Oh..." Hei-Ran's eyes flashed with understanding. "So that's why Mr Talon..."

"Yeah, he established order here. Something that we need the most at the moment."

In a world of chaos, Talon wanted to establish order among survivors. Something that many would think is pointless when in reality, it was the main factor that determines their survival in this world.

(A//N: Thanks to everyone who supports the book with power stones and golden tickets, you guys are the best:) )

Ps: I will update 5 more chapters in two hours.