"Please, stop!" the man lying on the ground shouted at Jaiden.
"Eh? Now that all your friends have been beaten, you want me to stop?" the young man replied angrily, landing another punch on the guy who was already on the floor.
Jaiden had stepped out to buy some snacks at the convenience store, but a group of delinquents had run into him along the way. And, unfortunately, they were people he already knew.
As a teenager, Jaiden had walked the path of violence, roaming the city and fighting the gangs of bullies that terrorized the streets.
He was a true demon when he fought. One night, he faced a group of twenty people all by himself, and under the full moon, he emerged victorious while his enemies lay scattered on the ground.
Broken teeth, crushed bones, and bloodied faces were what his opponents ended up with after the ambush.
Bathed in the pale blue light of the moon, his black hair whipping in the wind, Jaiden's light brown eyes looked as if they had taken on the red hue of blood.
On that night, Jaiden Stadfield earned the nickname Mad Dog, the black dog that attacks people at night.
He thought the nickname was ridiculous, but it stuck and helped spread his reputation. While some idiots still dared to test their luck against him, even though they were inevitably defeated, many more were terrified just by the sight of him at night.
"Thanks to my benefactor, I got out of this world of beating up good-for-nothings, but sometimes it still happens," Jaiden thought, staring at the leader of these idiots.
The two had once been classmates, which meant that when Jaiden chose the path of violence, he had been one of the first targets.
"And after half a decade, this brainless idiot still hasn't forgotten me. If it were a girl, I wouldn't care, but I'm not a fan of love confessions from a guy," he thought sarcastically as Jaiden landed another punch on the delinquent.
Jaiden was already sick of those idiots. He had stopped seeking out fights, but when someone came looking for trouble and left him no choice, he chose to fight back.
He wasn't stupid. He wouldn't just let people beat him up and walk away unscathed. If those delinquents were the trash of society, then letting them hit him without resistance would make him something below that trash.
Their fallen comrades were already starting to regain consciousness, too battered to stand up and fight again.
"But this one's an old grudge," Jaiden thought, glaring down at his opponent. "So he needs to learn his lesson once and for all, and serve as an example."
Jaiden grabbed the thug by his bleached-blond hair with one hand. The guy was still fully conscious, and the red-eyed man made sure he got a good look at his face, staring him down up close.
After a brief moment of silence, Jaiden slammed his face into the ground. Once. Twice… by the fourth time, he stopped. He knew exactly how much force he could use without killing him.
Jaiden might go overboard with violence, but he wasn't a murderer.
"Hey, hmm…" Jaiden paused and pondered, "what's your name again? I usually don't remember the names of background extras."
"D-Dennis."
"Dennis, of course!" Jaiden said loudly so everyone in that dark alley could hear. "If any of you show up again, I won't be as kind as I was with you. Understood, my old friend Dennis?"
He nodded frantically, as if his life depended on it. Jaiden let out a sigh, the tension of the alley fight finally fading.
"Glad we came to an understanding," he said, releasing the guy whose face was smeared with blood.
Jaiden started walking away from those losers, but was suddenly caught off guard by the sound of fast-approaching footsteps.
"Damn it…!"
Too late. It happened in an instant. In a narrow alley, at such close range, it was the worst possible moment for him to have dropped his guard.
A sharp pain tore through his body from behind. He turned his head, glaring in irritation at the man who had stabbed him.
It wasn't Dennis. It was another delinquent from the group. Jaiden had assumed he'd beaten them badly enough that none of them could even stand, let alone run like that. But that was a miscalculation, a big one.
His attacker was panting heavily, yet there was a grin plastered across his face. The sight of it first filled Jaiden with disgust, then with fury.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, you idiot?!" he roared, throwing the hardest punch he could muster straight into the guy's face.
The man was knocked back half a meter by the impact, the knife still lodged in Jaiden's back.
Rage was written all over the Mad Dog's face, striking fear into the hearts of the thugs and forcing them to gather what little strength they had left to run out of that alley, straight in the opposite direction of Jaiden.
His blood was soaking through his clothes, dripping onto the ground.
'Doesn't seem like it was just a cut.'
The situation was bad. Jaiden's breathing grew heavier. Fearing for his life, he started walking out of the alley, but it felt like his strength was fading with every step he took. His blood left small droplets behind him as he moved.
He leaned against the wall for support, but he could no longer stand. For a moment, he rested his back against it, trying to catch his breath, but when his strength finally gave out, his legs buckled—and where his wound brushed the wall, it left a dark trail of blood.
'Damn it. What a pathetic way to go,' Jaiden thought inwardly. 'After all that effort to change my life…'
At that moment, an image of a girl flashed through his mind—a girl with black hair and a radiant smile. She was the reason he'd tried to become a better man.
"Damn it… I can't die and leave her alone… Damn it!" he muttered with what little strength he had left. But his mind finally gave in. His eyes closed, and then…
[You acquired the Supreme Lord System.]