Lucas thought being chased by one group of homeless muggers was horrible enough, but he soon realized that things could get so much worse.
Since... well... they did get so much worse.
As he ran away from the gaunt man's group, by some purely unfortunate twist of fate, he ended up attracting the attention of every nearby thug in the area.
His pristine white and black uniform was practically screaming: 'Please mug me!'
And just like that… the six people initially chasing him quickly turned into ten… then fifteen… then twenty, and so on.
Now it felt like half the damn slum was hot on his heels.
Lucas wouldn't even be surprised if some of his pursuers were chasing him purely for the fun of it.
'Do none of these guys have anything better to do? Why are they all chasing me?!' he inwardly screamed.
What Lucas didn't realize, however, was that only the first group was after him to rob him.
As for the rest... They just wanted to beat his ass.
In his desperate attempt to escape, Lucas had unknowingly left a path of destruction and chaos in his wake.
He'd crashed into several people minding their own business, accidentally trampling on their hard-earned meals and even upright shattering their possessions—all without so much as an apology.
However, Lucas's mind was far too numb with fear to realize this simple detail.
That's why he ended up repeating the same mistakes over and over again… slowly growing the number of people pursuing him into a full-blown mob.
Eventually, Lucas found himself trapped.
The alley he had run into was a dead end, and before he could even curse his luck, the mob closed in behind him, blocking off every possible escape route.
A bald-headed man stepped forward, cracking his knuckles with a menacing sneer, his sunken eyes burning with rage.
"Where are you gonna run now, you little shit? That was the first real meal I'd had in a week, and you crushed it under your damn foot! You know what? I'm gonna crush your face the exact same way!"
The gaunt skeleton-like man from earlier tried to step forward; however, his body was quickly swallowed by the mass of furious people. He gritted his teeth in frustration. He'd been the first to target Lucas, and now it seemed like he wouldn't even get a single scrap once everyone else was finished.
Meanwhile, Lucas's mind was going into overdrive.
He needed to find a way out fast.
However, where could he go? There was nowhere left to run.
Just then, his fingers brushed against something smooth and cool glass-like substance.
His eyes darted to the reflective surface beside him... it was a window!
Soon, a desperate plan formed in the silver-haired youth's mind.
Without wasting another second, he smashed the backside of his fist into the glass mirror… only to feel a sharp spike of pain shoot up through his hand.
'Damnit! I'm too damn weak!'
Lucas inwardly hissed as he clutched his throbbing fingers.
The damn window didn't even have so much as a crack.
To think that despite being a Level One superhuman, he still couldn't break something as fragile as glass…
This was beyond humiliating.
Even some of the people chasing him gazed at the boy with looks of pity, but that was only a minority. Most of them were laughing at the boy mockingly instead.
"Holy shit, this guy's pathetic."
"Isn't he… you know… a little too weak? Even for a normal human?"
"I almost feel bad for him."
A thick scowl formed on Lucas's face.
Forced with no other choice, he took a few steps back, braced himself, and hurled his entire body at the window, mustering every ounce of force he could.
Luckily, this time… it managed to work.
(BANG)
A thunderous shatter erupted as glass exploded outward. Lucas tumbled through the windowsill, landing on the stone-like floor inside.
"…Where the fuck did I just land in?"
Lucas groaned, blinking rapidly to clear his dazed vision.
"Who the hell are you?"
As Lucas lifted his head in the voice's direction, his heart sank.
"Oh... Well, shit."
Standing before him was an intimidating, one-eyed man.
His towering frame cast a long shadow. Besides him was a red-haired girl, her face stricken with fear. Several other rough-looking people surrounded them.
Lucas had no idea what kind of situation he had just stumbled into, but his survival instincts kicked in immediately. He knew he had only one shot at making it out of this mess alive.
A wicked grin spread across Lucas's lips as he turned back toward the mob behind him.
Then, with the most convincing bravado he could muster, he pointed dramatically at the mob and shouted, "I brought them, so now it's your turn! Please take care of them for me!"
Before anyone could process what he had just said, Lucas bolted forward, slipping past the stunned one-eyed man and his crew like a slippery eel, sprinting as hard as he could without sparing as much as a glance behind him.
Seeing Lucas disappear, the mob behind him turned their attention to the one-eyed man's group.
The bald man glared at the one-eyed man and clenched his fists.
"So that little shit was working for you all along, huh? I'm gonna fuck you up first, then track him down later."
The one-eyed man's jaw twitched in irritation. "Are you seriously falling for that obvious lie? I have no idea who the hell that kid is!"
The bald man scoffed. "Yeah? Then why the hell did he lead us straight to you? It's obvious he ran to you for help, don't you think?"
"Listen to me, you dumbasses. You're all being played. That brat just used us to make his getaway!"
"Then we'll just beat the kid up twice as hard later as a way to make it up to you."
The one-eyed man's face darkened. He let out a long, slow exhale, his patience snapping like a frayed rope.
"…If you idiots have a death wish, so be it." His tone was deadly calm. "You have no idea just who you're messing with."
With a tilt of his head, he signalled to one of his subordinates, a black-haired woman covered in piercings and tattoos.
"Take the girl and leave. If you somehow find that silver-haired bastard, make sure he pays. As for the rest of you… prepare for battle."
Nodding in response to the one-eyed man's orders, the woman yanked a terrified Valerie by the arm and led her toward a side exit.
Just as the two groups of people were about to start their fighting, the doors closed behind Valerie, shielding her from the horrors of the battle.
However, the cacophony of explosions, crashes, and screams was more than enough to paint a vividly horrifying picture in the red-haired girl's mind.
Just as a cold shiver passed through her spine, Valerie felt the hand holding her arm drag her forward.
The black-haired woman glared at Valerie with annoyance.
"Keep moving."
Valarie barely had time to register her words before the black-haired woman suddenly stopped in her tracks, her eyes narrowing at something in the distance.
Not far from them, a familiar silver-haired youth was darting through the streets, running as if his life depended on it.
Remembering how Lucas was responsible for their whole mess, a murderous glint flashed across the black-haired woman's eyes.
Although Lucas may have escaped the mob, he wasn't out of the woods just yet.