Morning sunlight slipped through the crack in Menma's bedroom window.
Menma opened his eyes, feeling a freshness he had never felt in his past life.
Thanks to the system, his previous wounds had healed perfectly.
He got up, put on a white shirt, and covered it with a stiff black gakuran. The uniform felt heavy, not because of the fabric, but because of the reputation it carried.
When he stepped into the dining room, his family's laughter went abruptly silent.
The sight was almost funny to Menma. They stared at him like he was a stain on a clean white tablecloth.
Without a single word, Menma grabbed a pack of bread from the kitchen cabinet and strolled out.
He didn't need validation from people who wouldn't have cared if he died yesterday.
On his way to school, the streets began to fill with a sea of black uniforms. This was the territory of delinquents.
Okato High, where he went to school, was one of the Three Strongest Schools in Okayami alongside Ryudai High and Matokai High.
Unlike his brother Masaki, who went to Tatsuko High, the elite school in the Western District.
Menma was stuck here at Okato, where delinquent students gathered.
Depression and bullying in the past had destroyed his grades, throwing him to the bottom of the educational pit.
A school where graffiti on the walls was valued more than lecture notes.
The morning sun stung Menma's skin as he stepped through the gates of Okato High.
The bread in his mouth was almost gone, while the system in his head had just given an info report.
[DING! PHYSICAL RECOVERY 100% COMBAT STATUS: READY!]
Menma's steps halted in the main courtyard. A massive crowd had formed, creating a circle arena in the middle.
There, two rulers were facing off.
Nishiyama Takeshi, the ruler of Class 2-B with 20 followers, stood breathing heavily.
Across from him, Shin Torao, the ruler of Class 2-E and leader of the Shintora Faction with 30 followers, stared at him boredly.
Menma watched from a distance and narrowed his eyes.
[SCANNING TARGET…]
[DATA SUCCESSFULLY OBTAINED]
His system screen flickered, giving him the strength stats of Nishiyama Takeshi and Shin Torao.
________________
Status Information: Nishiyama Takeshi
Strength: 18
Speed: 12
Endurance: 22
Spirit: 10
Intelligence: 10
_________________
Status Information: Shin Torao
Strength: 25
Speed: 25
Endurance: 20
Spirit: 14
Intelligence: 12
__________________
"Torao! I'll defeat you here and reach the top of Okato!" Takeshi shouted.
His ambition was clear—control the entire 2nd year so he could challenge Oozora Juugo at the top of Okato.
The power map of the 2nd year was indeed complicated. Besides Torao and Takeshi, there was Kiyomasa Hikari, the ruler of Class 2-A with 27 members, and Lemura Hideo, the ruler of 2-C with 23 members.
Only Class 2-D had no ruler, because its students had split into followers of the four major factions.
"The requirement to reach the top is to control the entire year," Torao said while arrogantly flicking his blood-red hair.
"But you won't ever be able to beat me, Takeshi!"
The fight instantly exploded.
BOOM!
Takeshi charged with his brutal Strength of 18.
He threw a right hook capable of breaking a normal person's jaw.
However, Torao with Speed 25 executed an extremely thin slip, letting Takeshi's fist cut through empty air.
Speed 25 fast enough to vanish from an ordinary person's sight in a single step.
"You're too slow, Takeshi," Torao said coldly.
Torao unleashed a lightning-fast counter. Three consecutive strikes hammered Takeshi's face.
Jab! Straight! High Kick!
SMACK! BUGH! DUAK!
Even though Takeshi had high Endurance, the difference in Torao's speed and strength began shattering his defense.
'So fast,' Menma thought, observing from afar.
Takeshi with Endurance 22 was indeed tough as stone, but he couldn't counterattack.
Torao rained down nonstop combinations, exploiting the speed gap between them. Takeshi only had Speed 12 while Torao had 25.
The fight ended when Torao landed a knee strike right on Takeshi's lower jaw, making the King of Class 2-B drop and pass out on the spot.
"Who's next?! Who dares to challenge me?! Come on, step up and face me!" Torao shouted at the crowd while spreading both arms, a sign that he was the true king.
With this victory, Torao de facto solidified his position and was one step away from becoming the ruler of the 2nd year.
Making him the third greatest power in Okato, threatening Oozora and Sakamoto at the top.
All that was left was to defeat the other two Factions and become the full leader of the 2nd year at Okato High.
Menma grinned wide seeing that sight. The adrenaline inside him flared instead.
'If that's the level of the 2nd years... then I'm not even in the real arena yet,' Menma thought.
He didn't feel small seeing the strength of the 2nd-year monsters. He felt hungry for a challenge instead.
"This world... is really interesting," Menma muttered with a small laugh.
He turned and walked past the crowd still cheering for Torao's victory, heading into the 1st Year corridor.
There, another monster was already waiting to be defeated: Chisato Chuta, the Ruler of Class 1-E.
Menma kicked the door of Class 1-E until it boomed.
BAM!!
The booming sound silenced the laughter and cigarette smoke in the classroom. The students of Class 1-E turned in unison.
"Hah? Isn't that Menma from the class next door? The trash who drank poison yesterday?" one student whispered while laughing mockingly. "Why's he here? Wants more poison?"
Menma ignored them. He stood in the doorway, his head tilted slightly with a thin grin that looked a bit insane.
His aura no longer looked like a coward. He looked more like someone who had just crawled out of hell.
"Who's named Chisato Chuta?" Menma shouted, his voice not trembling from nerves but full of provocation instead. "I'm here to take your throne!"
For a moment, a chilling silence blanketed the class, before laughter finally broke out in Class 1-E.
"Did I hear that wrong? This loser wants to challenge Chuta-san? Hahahah… that's hilarious," said one student in Class 1-E.
"Damn... This is the funniest joke I've ever heard, hahaha... A loser challenging the ruler of Class 1-E," said another student.
Laughter still echoed, then slowly, one by one, the voices stopped.
Because in the dark back corner, a giant shadow rose from his chair. His body weight made the wooden chair creak.
Chisato Chuta,a 180cm tall figure with shoulders wide as a wall stepped forward.
The vertical scar on his eye throbbed as he stared at Menma with the gaze of a predator annoyed at being woken from its nap.
"Hah?! You talking to me, you damn brat?" Chuta's voice was heavy, rumbling like an old engine. He stood right in front of Menma, making Menma have to look up.
For the first time since waking up in this world, his body gave him one signal he couldn't ignore... Danger!
The physical pressure from Chuta was palpable, as if there was a heavy weight pressing down on the shoulders of anyone near him. But instead of trembling, Menma laughed quietly.
[SCANNING TARGET…]
[DATA SUCCESSFULLY OBTAINED]
The system screen began providing information on Chisato Chuta's strength stats to Menma.
_________________
Status Information: Chisato Chuta
Strength: 18
Speed: 10
Endurance: 21
Spirit: 14
Intelligence: 10
__________________
[ANALYSIS: TARGET HAS HIGH ENDURANCE]
[RECOMMENDATION: ATTACK WEAK POINTS OR USE STAMINA STRATEGY]
His eyes opened wide, reflecting Chuta's image. The passion filling him gave Menma a strong desire to fight.
"My name is Amamiya Menma! The man who will become the strongest delinquent in this city!"
Menma leaned his face in, almost touching Chuta's nose. "Come on, Chuta. Let's fight!"
The entire class froze.
They just realized that the one standing before them was no longer Menma the loser, but a bloodthirsty Mad Dog.
The Class 1 succession war had officially begun.