As the curtain was pulled aside, my eyes landed on the two men who had been talking earlier, and I asked in a confused voice, "Where am I?"
The person in the white coat, most likely Peter, looked at me instead of answering.
Then, after a long, unsettling silence, he replied in his usual cold tone, "You are in the infirmary. Some students found you unconscious in the bathroom."
He continued, "You can go now. We have applied the bandages. It's a miracle you're still alive. Now you can go."
"But Peter, what about—"
Peter's eyes landed on Terek for a moment, and then he said, "I know you are worried for his health, being a teacher, but he is alright now."
Then he turned to me. "Your injuries will heal in a few days. Make sure not to overwork yourself."
"Yes, and make sure not to fall in the washroom again. Now off you go," Terek said.
I nodded, sat up from the bed, and left the room.
Back in the infirmary—
"You think this is a good idea, Peter? What if he heard us talking?"
"Enough. I know that too, but now he is not in a coma, and you know we can't proceed with it." Peter paused for a moment, then picked up the scalpel and looked at Terek. His smile widened. "And if he knows..." The scalpel in his hand melted and turned into a compressed ball.
I breathed a sigh of relief after leaving the infirmary. I knew this would work. According to this body's memories, it could be possible that they are organ traffickers.
In this world, the organs are only valuable if they are of a martial practitioner like this body.
But they can only be useful if the person's consciousness is in a deep sleep state like a coma. I didn't know the exact working, but it was because of the martial soul.
Despite this body being unranked, there is still a wisp of martial soul in him.
Every person, if they are more than 10 years old, has at least a wisp of martial soul in them.
'I need to sort out these memories,' I thought.
Thanks to these body memories, I navigated to the next classroom and opened the door. A few eyes turned to me. Ignoring them, my eyes went to the one responsible for my current state.
At the back of the classroom sat the group of people who had killed the body's original owner. Looking at them, they seemed relieved that he wasn't dead. A few of them even laughed.
Ignoring them, I made my way to the window seat and sat down.
Too much had happened to me, and I hadn't even had time to recollect my thoughts. I woke up in another body after dying and nearly died again.
My eyes drifted outside the window. The weather was dark, and the cold wind helped me calm down. I started going through the memories.
According to them, this world was a world of martial arts. The technological advancement compared to my old world was far behind. This world was vast and filled with martial artists.
Instead of nations, this world was divided into countries ranked by tiers. The higher the tier, the more resources, better living conditions, and opportunities they had.
There were people in this world who could take on entire countries single-handedly—people who could tear mountains apart with their bare hands.
And yet, despite all that power, humans only occupied 20 percent of the discoverable zone. Everything else was filled with powerful monsters and beasts.
Humans were not at the top here. There was always the danger of being wiped out.
The original owner of this body lived in the lowest-tier country, the New Republic, a tier-8 country. He wanted nothing more than to earn enough money to cure his mother and live comfortably with his mother and brother.
He was excellent in academics but terrible at physical activities. Despite that, he could have achieved his goal.
But sadly, he was beaten to death.
It was sad, yes, but all that didn't matter to me. He and I were different. We lived differently and experienced different things.
I don't know how or why I got here, but it doesn't matter to me. I just want to experience this world. It has everything I need. It feels like I was meant to be here.
I wasn't good at academics like the original owner. My talent lay elsewhere—in martial arts. I was so powerful that no one could touch me in my old world.
I created techniques that could rival the people of this world. I don't know to what extent, but I'll surely find out.
My eyes drifted to the classroom door, which opened, and a woman walked in. It was Michiro Hatsuki, our class teacher.
She walked in, put her files down at the table, stood in front of the board, and said, "Settle down, kids. Before starting the class, I'd like to inform you all about something."
All the students settled down and listened carefully.
She continued, "As you know, your final year of middle school is coming to an end. This year, the date of the exams has been announced. They will start in October."
The classroom got rowdy. Some were excited; others were nervous.
Well, I can understand them. It's a big deal. If they make it to a good high school, their lives are basically set.
"Now calm down," she said. Once the class settled, she continued, "The theory exams will be conducted first. After that, the combat exams will be held. This time, an examiner from the capital is coming."
What?
An examiner from the capital?
My time to shine has come.
Shut up, idiot! You don't even have enough stamina to satisfy your girlfriend!
You bastard!?
After the class quieted down, she added, "If you want more information, check the notice board. Now open to page 70 of your Beast Information Book."
Examiner from the capital, huh? The class continued, but my mind was elsewhere.
The class bell rang, signaling the end of the school day.
I stood up, left the classroom, and made my way to the school gates.
"Look, the cockroach survived," a voice said at the gate.
I looked in the direction of the voice and sighed.
"What do you want, Tony? Wasn't today's beating enough for me?" I was tired. I needed rest. I didn't have time to fight with kids.
Tony looked at the skinny kid he usually beat up. That kid had never looked him in the eyes or talked back.
"Oh? Looks like the cockroach has grown guts and is talking back?" he said with a smirk. He had felt a mental pressure when he thought I was dead. "Guess I need to relieve myself somehow."
"Ley, Sam, bring that cockroach to me. I'll teach him a lesson today," he said.
Ley and Sam, ranked 3rd and 4th in school—with Tony being 2nd—dominated the school and bullied most students.
Sigh.
"Man, I really want to go home and sleep, but I have to go to the ring too. Let's finish this quickly," I thought. "Fine, kids. Come, let's get this over with," I said in a lazy tone.
Hearing that, Ley ran toward me and threw a punch.
I side-stepped, grabbed his wrist, and brought my knee into his kidney.
He coughed up blood and collapsed.
I looked at the duo. "What are you waiting for?"
Tony couldn't believe it. The skinny kid who was usually bullied just defeated Ley.
But what shocked Sam even more was that he couldn't even see my movements. He could see Tony, but not me.
Shit, is he stronger than Tony!?
"What are you waiting for, idiot!? Get him!" Tony shouted.
Sam's body moved on instinct. He kicked toward my side, but I blocked and swept his leg, making him fall.
I got on top of him and started punching him. Even after he was unconscious, I kept punching until his face was a bloody mess.
I slowly stood up, hands covered in blood. I brushed my long hair back and smiled at Tony, who was now peeing himself in fear.
"Don't mess with me," I said coldly.
I left them in the alleyway and went to the roadside washroom. I washed my face under the tap, letting the cold water run down my head.
The memory of punching Sam flashed in my mind. I had dismissed them at first, but as I punched Sam, my frustration—possibly the original owner's—was released.
I could still feel Vaeril's emotions, especially after the fight. That wasn't good. From his memories, I knew he had a family.
I thought I wouldn't feel anything toward them and could just leave. But now I wasn't so sure.
I closed my eyes and felt the cold water trickling down my hair. Then I opened my eyes.
"Let's see if I still feel his emotions when I meet his family. If I do, I'll take care of them. If not, I'll leave."
After making up my mind, I made my way home.
The house wasn't in the slums, thankfully, but it wasn't any better. The gangs were rampant around the area, but they didn't have any interest in two little boys' belongings.
As I made my way to the house, I looked at that one alleyway where one person's life ends every day, and today was that day too.
It looked like some thugs were demanding money from a middle-aged man, but looking at the things, it was getting heated up. The thug pushed the middle-aged man down.
While the other two thugs stood on his two hands, the first thug pulled out a knife and shouted something and approached the earlobe of the middle-aged man.
But just as the knife was going to contact the skin, the man kicked the first man's knee and made him fall.
While the two thugs were in a state of shock, he just effortlessly pulled their legs up, which were on his hands, and grabbed their ankles and pulled them, making them fall too.
He stood up and leisurely picked the knife up and plunged it at the throat of the first thug, killing him, and did the same to the other thugs too.
It all happened in hardly 5 minutes. He took 5 minutes to get from being killed to killing others.
Looking at the scene, I knew from the memories that the area was dangerous, but experiencing it was totally different.
'I need to check this world's fighting ways,' I thought, and ignoring the scene, I returned home.
I unlocked the door and started navigating toward the room, but a voice resounded behind me, and my body tensed.
"Brother, are you going now?" It was a childish voice.
As if possessed, my body turned around, and a wide smile plastered on my face, and a comforting voice left my mouth.
"Yeah, Klen. Don't worry. I will buy you an ice cream on the way back home. Did you eat anything yet?"
Klen responded, "Yes, I did. As for the ice cream, don't buy it. I don't like it now."
A sadness welled up inside me, and my smile nearly faltered. I knew that he liked ice cream a lot, but because of the money and not to put the burden on me, he denies it.
"Fine, but behave, okay? And don't worry. We will work it out." This time, it was really me who spoke.
'No child deserves to be this mature at his age. These two boys have really experienced a lot for their age.'
I patted his head and said in a comforting voice, "Now I have something to do. Don't disturb me, okay?"
He nodded.
I made my way to my room and opened the door. The room was mostly empty with just a mat to sleep on and an old computer with a large cardboard box in which clothes were stored.
I placed my bag on the side and changed my clothes and washed up and sat on the old computer and started searching over the internet.
After 2 hours of searching and watching some videos, I did get a general grasp on this better than before.
I pinched my glabella. "There is a lot of things going on in this world."
I turned off the computer and stated aloud, "I guess I will take care of this body's mother and broth—no, now my mother and brother."