Chapter 230 - 224 : Versus

"You fucking retard! Die!!"

Hoji screamed as he dashed towards Sato while punching out. The second man, who was on standby, also made his move as the two tried to pincer Sato.

"Too weak." Sato commented coldly as he easily deflected Hoji's punch with his palm, sending it off towards his side.

Hoji was surprised but due to the remnant momentum from his charge, he got tossed a few metres away before recovering.

The bearded man delivered a kick with his left leg towards Sato and Sato responded by raising his right hand to perform a block.

*Pa*

The sound of skin hitting skin[1] resounded as Sato felt a slight pain on his forearm.

The man didn't stop at one kick as he hurriedly retreated his leg and delivered a punch with his right fist. Sato blocked again with his hand but the man kept on firing punch after punch, not giving Sato the opportunity to retaliate even once.

While the two were engaged in a tight battle, Hoji suddenly assaulted Sato from behind but Sato had sensed his presence even before he sneaked up on him.

With a slight turn of his head, Sato dodged the punch from behind and punched behind with his left hand at Hoji. The other man then noticed this as an opportunity and closed in on Sato, delivering an attack of his own at a difficult angle. This resulted in the scenario where Sato counter-attacked at Hoji but was also under assault. If he were to go on with the punch, there was no doubt that he would get hit in the process.

'Now what will you do…' The bearded man mused with a smile. 

The man didn't have a hefty figure but his body's frame was still a bit bigger than an a average person. As a result of this, his physical power, in kind, would also increase, making his attacks more deadlier than normal people.

Hoji, on the other hand, did in fact have a hefty figure which made him look older than he actually was. With 2 deadly attacks aimed at one person, the option of blocking one and dodging the other was still a risky bet. Yet, due to the fact that the bearded man had attacked at a very precise yet dangerous angle, dodging became a difficulty. 

Seeing the tight spot he got bind into, Sato didn't dawdle nor hesitate to make a decision in the fast-pace battle. Even as he was under attack, Sato didn't retreat because of one man but when on ahead with his attack. He used his left hand to punch behind and his right hand to block the man's punch.

The stranger was surprised but still didn't hesitate to send a kick whilst Sato was in an awkward stance. Sato however, blocked the kick with his leg but because he had underestimated the strength of the kick at such close range, he was forced back by 2 steps. At the same time, his left punch had already connected with Hoji's face, landing squarely one his nose and readjusting Hoji's facial appearance while sending him back by 2 metres.

"Argh!" Hoji yelled in pain as he noticed the new 'adjustments' on his face.

Sato ignored Hoji's scream with a frown as his attention was focused on the man before him. Despite forcing Sato back, the stranger hadn't let Sato go, still retaining the attacking hand of the battle.

With each move the two exchanged, Sato's frown deepened. This was because he had underestimated the strength of the stranger. The man's reflexes, skills and abilities were beyond what an average thug would have. He was more likely to be a martial arts practitioner than a thug. But realising this wasn't the problem, but the effects of the conclusion. If the man was really a martial arts practitioner, and not your beginner class type, then why was he with a thug? One should know that since the concept of VR enabled users to bring in their real life skills, gaming guilds were on the hunt for martial artists. In this era and age, it wasn't difficult for a martial artist to get a job either as a gamer or a teacher of the art.

Guessing that he was probably hired by Hoji or something, Sato decided to stop thinking about it and focused on the battle.

*Pa* *Pa* 

*Pa*

Sato's fist collided with the bearded man's kick with the two attacks negating each other. With a push using his hand, Sato separated himself from the man. This time around though, the man didn't chase after him but stared at him.

"Impressive skills." The bearded man said with a smile. "You almost make me want to take this seriously." 

Sato frowned at his words but still asked what was on his mind.

"Who are you?"

"Me? I'm a forgotten nobody." The man said while still smiling. "The only thing worth noting is that someone wants you dealt with."

Sato was surprised as he initially thought that they were just chasing after him simply because Hoji felt offended by his previous comments and actions but with this new reveal, it seemed that thing weren't as simple as he thought.

"Who sent you?" Sato asked though he did so with little faith. Logically, there was no way an assaulter would reveal the identity of his boss but Sato still wanted to ask.

"Hehe. Our employer? Well I don't really know who that is. All I know is the mission. Speaking of which, you're Sato, right?"

Sato was surprised at the fact that the man knew his name but he wasn't that bothered about being in serious danger. Murder was illegal after all so the best they could do was to leave him crippled or severely injured but there was no way Sato would stay still and let that happen.

"Yes."

"That's good otherwise we would have made a large mistake right now. After all, the mission's details were to take 'care' of Sato. I wouldn't want to be taking acre of someone else's child now would I?" The bearded man cackled.

Sato's heart tightened as he heard that. Apparently, he was being targeted by someone that knew him quite well. This could easily be seen from the fact that Hoji's crew had begun chasing after him from the Gamebox Guide. Only those close to him, knew that Sato got his gaming equipment from there. The Gamebox Guide wasn't a big high-end store neither was it the only one of it's kind. There were a lot others around and even another closer to Sato's home. He only chose it for certain special reasons. So unless the employer had been spying on him for more than a week already, there was no way they would have expected him to be there.

Despite realising this, Sato was still calm with his expression as still as an undisturbed lake's surface.

"You said you don't know who hired you?" Sato spoke calmly. At this point, he realized that the boss figure here wasn't Hoji but this bearded man.

"Yeah. I just got the offer and took the job. Who knows, maybe I do and I forgot or maybe I didn't." The bearded man replied. From the tone of his voice, it was as if he was stating a fact yet there was a hint of sarcasm.

"I see. Then I might as well beat it out of you. I hope you don't mind me doing that." 

Before the man could reply, Sato had already closed in on him. While it might seem unscrupulous, this was a battle and not a spar in a dojo or some training drill. Taking advantage of any given opportunity no matter how dirty it looked was the right thing to do.

"Hehe."

The bearded man wasn't your average figure as despite Sato's impressive speed, he was able to catch on to Sato's movements. 

The man tightened his palm into a fist and punched at Sato's approaching figure. Sato dodged the incoming punch and sent a similar response to the bearded man which the man blocked with his free hand.

Sato didn't stop at one punch as he sent another blow towards the man with his second hand, before delivering a follow-up kick after the punch was blocked. 

Having just blocked 2 of Sato's punches, the bearded man was a tad too slow to react to the kick and got hut in the face. While the damage wasn't much, it still enabled Sato to maintain his momentum and gain the upper hand in the fight, forcing the man on the defensive.

The two traded blows while changing postures and positions. If one didn't know any better, they would presume their fight to be a martial arts performance as kicks and punches in an elegant and organized fashion was the theme of the battle. This didn't mean that the two were playing around but instead the performance rate of their skills were at the peak or almost. It was like a fight between two martial arts masters. While it looked like a performance, it was a mesmerizing battle that would arose one's interest just from watching it play out. 

Hoji didn't participate in this the battle because he had realised that he wasn't of any use in this fight. In a martial arts battle, a street thug was totally useless sometimes even when he had a weapon. With the absence of Hoji and also the third injured gangster, Kirin, Sato was left to face the bearded man alone, without distractions. While anyone would rejoice at the prospective of this scenario, Sato wasn't happy. This was because the bearded man alone wasn't much of a warm-up for him, much less a threat. 

Sato had decided to entertain this 'play' once he noticed the 3 because he thought it would be interesting and simply wanted to stretch out his body. Since barely anyone could match up to him, thanks to his training from young due to his grandfather, Sato hadn't found a worthy opponent in reality apart from Wu Shiyi. In order to entertain himself and prevent his skill from getting rusty, Sato decided to face the 3 of them at once hoping that it would be fun or at the very least, a simple warm-up. The sneak attack on Kirin wasn't just to reduce their numbers but to test the skill levels of the assailants and Sato got a lot disappointed when he realised that apart from the bearded man, the other two were pretty much weaklings. Even the only exception was just a bigger ant in his eyes. 

Originally, with Hoji in the mix, the fight was a bit interesting but not anymore. Sato had now decided to end it rather than keep this farce going on.

Just when he was about to unleash his strength and end the fight quickly, Sato's sharp sense picked up on something. 

At the same time, due to that slow yet short hesitation, the bearded man was able to free himself from Sato's onslaught.

"Hehe." After getting to a safe distance, the bearded man chuckled as he glanced at Sato before shifting his attention towards the entrance to the alley.

"They are here."