"Wh-What did you do!? What kind of trick was that!? The scenery suddenly changed...!"

One of the gang members looked around the different dimension, his voice filled with bewilderment. He mistakenly believed they were still in front of the convenience store and that only the scenery had abruptly changed.

"What the...? Did you beat up all our guys while they were distracted by this trick? Sure, it surprised us, but we're not scared of something like that! Are we!?"

"Of course not. I'll go first."

At the call of the group's leader, the messy-haired man with the goatee, the man with the two-block haircut responded confidently while glaring at Shoot. He cracked his knuckles and took a stance. He had placed high in the prefectural boxing tournament in high school. In bare-knuckle fights, he was one of the top two in the group. He had never lost a fight against an amateur, or even against a man with fighting experience.

(A guy like this, one punch to the face will finish him off. First, I'll hit him once to make him stagger, then we'll all lynch him and it's over...!)

However, all of his opponents had been within the realm of "ordinary" humans. If his opponent were an ordinary person, this man would have won today's bare-knuckle fight.

"Here I come, stagger!"

Whoosh (Skill "Rigid Body") Thud, Crunch

"Eeee...? Ga, Gahhhh!?"

The two-block haircut man's fist shattered as he punched Shoot's face, which had become as hard as steel. The man staggered back with a look of astonishment and agony.

"That move just now, were you a boxer? Then let me try a little too."

Muttering this, Shoot threw a jab in front of the two-block haircut man.

"—~—!?"

"So? Could you see my fist?"

Even if Shoot had asked, the two-block haircut man wouldn't have been able to answer. His eyes hadn't been able to capture Shoot's movements or fist at all.

"Just an amateur-level boxer after all. Then I'm done."

With a grin, Shoot aimed his fist at the two-block haircut man's face.

"W-wait— (Squish!) —Guh...!"

It was just a jab, but it still knocked the two-block haircut man to the ground. The other gang members were bewildered, some shouting, "What are you doing!?"

"This is karate, not boxing, but there's a karate technique I want to try – a low-rising punch to the face."

Shoot aimed his fist again at the face of the two-block haircut man, who was lying on his back, unable to move. Shoot's stance was that of a low-rising punch, the kind used to shatter tiles.

"I really want to try it out, what happens to a face when it takes a direct hit from a low-rising punch."

"H-Hi...! H-Hey... stop! This isn't funny..."

The two-block haircut man, with his fighting experience, knew, at least theoretically, that a low-rising punch from a top-level karateka was deadly. Sensing the same level of skill from Shoot, the two-block haircut man's face turned pale as he called out for him to stop, but his pleas were ignored.

"Here goes."

Whoosh Crack

A shout, followed by the sound of a fist swinging down. And then, the sound of flesh being gruesomely pierced.

The sound reached the ears of all the gang members, sending chills down their spines.

They knew what it sounded like when a blunt object hit a person's head. They knew what it sounded like when someone was bludgeoned to death.

The sound the gang members had just heard was almost identical to those familiar sounds.

"........."

At the tip of Shoot's fist, which he pulled back with a sickening squelch, was the two-block haircut man's face, caved in and deformed in the shape of a fist. His nose was crushed, his eyes were sunken and almost flattened, and blood of unknown origin began to pool on the ground. His body convulsed slightly.

((((((Dead...?!?!?!)))))

All the gang members, seeing the gruesome sight, thought of their comrade's death.

"Hmm? It turns out like this even without using skills? I guess I'm getting stronger. Uh... he's not dead yet, but if I hurt him any more, he'll probably die, so I guess I'm done with this guy."

Checking his current strength without skills, Shoot kicked the broken two-block haircut man towards the other gang members. Seeing his caved-in, deformed face, they finally realized that Shoot was no ordinary kid.

"Taku, who never lost a bare-knuckle fight... like this...?"

"What is this, this isn't humanly possible..."

"That brat, he's seriously dangerous!"

As the grown men who called themselves a gang panicked one after another, the messy-haired leader with the goatee shouted at them.

"Don't be so scared! Sure, he's dangerous with his bare hands, but if we use weapons, he'll be nothing! Surround him, stab him, and finish him off! There are no witnesses, so don't hold back, kill him!"

Relieved of their fear by their leader's words, the gang members all pulled out various knives and blades, arming themselves.

(Huh? Unlike those delinquent high school students before, these guys are seriously coming to kill me.)

Shoot felt a murderous intent similar to that of the bandits in the other world and was both surprised and impressed. Surprised and impressed that there were people in modern-day Japan who would so readily try to kill him.

"If that's the case, you're prepared to be killed too, right?"

Shoot activated the "Intimidation" skill. Immediately, the gang members felt as if they were being crushed by the pressure emanating from Shoot, and they flinched one after another.

(W-what is this brat...?!)

Even the leader was intimidated by Shoot's unfathomable presence, power, and madness.

"Weren't you saying you'd surround and stab me to death? Why are you all still huddled together in the same spot? Are you stupid?"

As Shoot approached and taunted them, the gang members, seemingly angered by his words, forced their bodies to move and tried to attack him.

Grab "Guh...!"

Shoot grabbed one of the gang members by the scruff of his neck from behind and lifted him up. The man struggled and squirmed in pain.

"Hey, hold on tight to that blade in your hand."

After saying this, Shoot threw the man with all his might at a nearby skinhead.

"Whoa—!"

"Hey, idiot!? Throw that away—"

Thud

The sound of the two colliding and the sharp sound of something piercing flesh echoed. The blade the thrown man was holding was deeply embedded in the skinhead's abdomen.

"A... agh...!"

"U-ahhhh!? I-I'm sorry!?"

The thrown man panicked as the skinhead collapsed, coughing up blood.

"Oops, that looks pretty deep, doesn't it? You're going to get arrested for stabbing your buddy to death."

"—~—!? Don't screw with me... it's your fault for throwing me!?"

The man shouted back, half-delirious. The other gang members, witnessing the friendly fire, hesitated to charge with their blades.

Having grasped the gang's strength and capabilities, Shoot grew tired of waiting and switched to a strategy of unilaterally crushing them.

"I'm bored now. From here on out, it's just my punishment for you guys. I won't kill you, but you came at me with the intention to kill, and more than anything, you'll pay for insulting me with all that verbal abuse—"

And so began the time for the entire gang to experience hell.

According to a karateka with over 10 years of experience—"I've been doing karate for over 10 years... but I've never seen anyone seriously deliver a low-rising punch to the face..."