The man speaking at the front was Choi Taesung.
A well-known member of the small gang called the Black Serpents, rumoured to have support from a large gang. Well-dressed, in a black suit with tattoos down his arms and slicked back hair and a wolfish grin.
Julian narrowed his eyes, able to hear their conversation vaguely, speaking about stupid things. Taesung wanted to flirt with Maria. It wasn’t a mysterious fact that both Sena and Maria were popular women, with many men at college courting them.
He didn’t realise that the number of women who liked him also reached double digits. However, Sena’s underhanded actions and ’threats,’ they all vanished.
"Shall we go over?" He wondered if Sena would worry about Maria, but to his surprise she chuckled and pulled out her tongue.
"Hehe, I have something to buy, so can you take our things and help that idiot out?"
"Huh? Sure…"
The moment he answered, Sena pushed the bags into his arms and almost dashed away, skipping towards the escalator to the expensive shops.
’What is she going to buy?’
He honestly did not mind that Sena remained the same even after they started dating.
Occasionally, she would rush off and then come back having bought an ice cream or find a strange trinket at a stall when they used to walk together near college or the beach.
Julian loved Sena’s unique and free nature.
He swallowed a long breath before heading over to the gang that bothered Maria. Julian marvelled at her lack of a sense of danger and responded with a sharp and confident tone.
"Do you know who he is? Are you blind?" One man scoffed as Choi Taesung held out a cigarette towards her.
Maria looked up with disinterest in her eyes as she blew a bubble from some gum. "Sorry, I already have a boyfriend, and an insect-like Taesung makes my stomach cramp. Didn’t you know women are sensitive to bacteria?"
The silence was deafening as Maria blew another bubble from her chewing gum before popping it with her teeth.
Choi Taesung’s eye twitched, his pupils dilated in rage as he snarled.
’How can she be the same rich, spoilt girl like Sena?’ Julian’s lips twitched, curling into an amused smile.
Min Joon, who she just snapped at, was one of three goons who helped the Black Serpents, known as his three captains.
Donghae, Hyunwoo and Min Joon, who always hovered behind him laughing or scheming. They usually acted like his muscle, making others reluctant to fight back or argue.
Suddenly Taesung noticed Julian, and his eyes snapped between Maria and him.
"Well, well. If it isn’t Julian… didn’t expect to see you playing bodyguard today."
’Huh? Are you retarded?’
Julian’s eyes rolled before he sighed, and spoke with a slow, bored tone. "Didn’t expect to see you still breathing today. Guess we’re both disappointed."
In truth, Julian and Choi Taesung used to clash often in their past lives.
Because Sena’s fame increased explosively due to her class and guild, she became someone the gangs and other people seeking safety sought.
Thus, he would frequently beat the unevolved Julian and treat him like shit.
Min Joon flicked his small switch-blade and scowled at Julian. "Tch. You always had a smart mouth."
Choi Taesung curled his lips into a disgusting grin as he brushed his hair back. "And Maria, as sharp-tongued as ever. When are you going to stop playing hard to get? Is this loser with nothing but a face all you need? I bet he’s hung like a hamster, with that pathetically weak body."
Because Julian wore clothes that hid his figure unless training, the only people who knew he was ripped were Sena, Maria and those who regularly trained and worked out with him in the gym.
Julian’s eyes narrowed, but Maria reacted with more amusement.
Her hands started measuring something long, and then she winked at the women behind, and her dry, raspy voice echoed.
"Well, it’s about this big… at least last night it was, and maybe I’ll give you a chance when sewer rats evolve into proper humans. So… never?"
’Thank god that doesn’t happen even when the devils invade… haha.’
The gang burst into laughter, with several of the girls gazing at Julian’s crotch, his pants bulging a decent size as they nodded and licked their lips.
However, Choi Taesung’s face darkened as his lips turned white.
He then lifted his upper lip, snarling before he leaned forward and whispered into Maria’s ear, but Julian’s lips curled upwards in a smirk because he could hear.
"You’re too cold, babe. How about I warm you up?"
Maria didn’t even blink.
Her eyes narrowed as they became dull, her teeth ground together, before she flicked her gaze to Julian, the corner of her lips curling into a smirk.
Then she tilted her head and gave him a slow once-over. "I don’t date men whose IQ is lower than their shoe size."
"Haha!" Choi Taesung, considering it a joke, laughed it off, reaching out for her before she slapped it away and responded.
"Oh, was that too complicated? Let me simplify—scram, worm."
Suddenly, Taesung’s body shook, his lips twitching as his smile stiffened. The lackeys behind him started to shift around, gazing at each other awkwardly.
"Haha, so stupid." Julian suddenly covered his mouth, unable to hold in his amusement, before the furious thug turned his gaze to him.
"What are you laughing at? And who the hell are you, Maria’s new simp?" Choi Taesung’s face began turning pink, clearly embarrassed. He then pointed at Julian with a twisted and mocking smile before adding. "Or just another loser following Maria’s ass in hopes of seeing something."
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’Well… I’ve already seen everything.’ Julian thought to himself, while watching the foolish gangster with a cold gaze.
’I can’t be weak here anyway.’
Almost a revenge for his past self, or the bullying during college in the past.
"Choi Taesung right?
’You dirty little fuck, how dare you covet Sena!’
"What’s it like knowing that the only reason people listen to you is because of your daddy?" Julian’s lips twisted. He smiled fiercely as he stepped forward, a black and purple aura seeping from his body as he unconsciously filled his words with mana.
The experience of fighting monsters and suffering life and death added a weight to his words, but mana gave them blades to tear at the mind.
"Taesung, without your daddy’s money and goons, you’re nothing but a pitiful little boy playing gangster."
"Oh my god."
"Wow!" Maria covered her lips and gasped with an overly dramatic smile.
Choi Taesung’s body trembled, his face became pale as he staggered. His body jerked as if physically hit in the face with a heavy hit, causing his knees to buckle and stumble backwards, caught by his three lackeys who dragged Taesung away.
The group facing Julian couldn’t move. They gazed at him with terror, a subtle but not overwhelming scream by their instinct to run.
Taesung’s teeth shivered, clattering together while Min Joon and Donghae shuffled back.
Julian’s lips curled into a smirk before he sat beside Maria and wrapped an arm around her shoulder to drive the point home. "Are you still here? I thought you had places to be."
Taesung bit his tongue before gritting his teeth with a forced chuckle, backing away.
He glared at Julian, before rushing away with a muttered threat:
"You’ll regret this, Julian."
"Wow… I didn’t know you had it in you." Maria’s calm, nasal voice caused Julian to wake from his sudden anger as he moved away and sighed out loud. Thanks to the system allowing him to store the shopping, he didn’t carry most of the bags from shopping.
"Of course I did…"
He sat quietly, watching the gang stumbling away, shaken from his sudden magical aura, though they wouldn’t understand. Gangs would start entering the game after the first signs of money and change began.
’Should I stop them from threatening that guild?’
"Julian I’m back hehe!"
While lost in his thoughts, his angel reappeared with a bright face, while carrying two shopping bags and a strange fancy case around five inches long and four inches wide.
On the surface, the brand logo and name: Van Zenith Chronomaster
"Welcome back, beautiful."
"Ehehe~ I brought you a gift!" Sena then handed him the black case and popped it open.
However, when the black watch appeared, Julian’s pupils shrank. He muttered in a dry, raspy voice… his hand trembling as it held the watch.
"How?"