It was a sunny day.
While lying on the ground, feeling the cold wind sweep over my bloody forehead, I suddenly remembered everything. A memory from a lifelong past.
“I…”
However, as if interrupting my thoughts, a strong impact suddenly hit the side of my face. Unable to guard against it, I was once more sent flying and bounced a few times over the gravelly road.
“Hey, garbage! Don’t you dare kick the bucket yet; I’m not done with you!”
A loud and booming voice said as I was shaking off the dizziness. Turning my head with difficulty, I could see a large man about as tall as he was wide. After seeing his face full of sadistic impulses and plastered with a hedonistic smile, my body shivered uncontrollably.
‘Why am I scared of this fatty…?’ Contrarily, I thought in my head.
With the memory of this current life and the previous life combined, I finally realized that there’s nothing to fear about this guy. All he had was strong backing because he was the mayor’s son.
Forcing my hurting limbs to move, I quickly pushed myself up and stood unsteadily. As usual, just standing straight was more than hard enough for me. Objectively speaking, my body right now is nothing but skin and bones. It was way beyond the level of malnourishment.
“What? Wanna go at it? As if!!!”
The fatty shouted as he laughed maniacally. He dashed forward and sent a punch toward my face. It was a simple telephone punch that even a kid could throw.
Seeing the punch thrown, I immediately figured out the path it would take. It was aiming straight at my nose, and if I don’t evade, I may even get a concussion. In a split-second decision, I sidestepped, slightly leaned forward, and poised my right fist on the path where his face would pass through.
The fatty’s eyes widened as he realized that I managed to dodge his flimsy punch. However, before he could recover from his posture, he rammed his face straight into my raised fist.
*Bang!* *Thud*
As if he were a puppet with its strings cut, he fell forward with a loud thud. The white of his eyes was showing, meaning he was knocked out.
However, this can’t be declared a complete victory. I knelt, holding my right shoulder, with cold sweat falling down my bloody forehead. The impact of the punch, even though I leveraged my body as support, still dislocated my shoulder. With a pop, I realigned my shoulder while bearing down on the pain.
When I tried opening and closing my fist, I failed. The bones of my fist seemed to be damaged severely. The lack of meat to soften the impact ended up making my right hand temporarily useless. Although the increased damage probably went both ways, as the fatty’s nose was almost caved in.
“…”
Now that I can move, albeit difficultly, I started pondering my choices for this bully. Fatty Zen is a typical bully, with almost all those of the same age experiencing it at least once. It was to the point that if he suddenly kicked the bucket, almost the whole town would be celebrating.
“I can dump him on the lake while still unconscious; it will also remove my traces from his body…”
However, as much as I want to just strangle the living hell out of him, I can’t do so. The sound of rhythmic boots walking through gravel was rapidly approaching. It was probably the guards that protected fatty Zen. If I want to survive the days to follow, I should get going.
I ran the other way, swiftly leaving the scene. I ran, and ran, and ran until I went past the city’s gates. Since I raised a fist against fatty Zen, his father wouldn’t let me off. If I stay in this city, I’ll probably die before the sun rises tomorrow.
Luckily, I turned eighteen today. Together with that, I was awarded the taming system.
The taming system is, as its name suggests, a way for humans to tame beasts and monsters. Taming is something that all humans around the world are required to do to survive in this world.
As a minor species on the planet, humans need to gain the power of tamed monsters to be able to survive. And when I said to “gain” the power of tamed monsters, I meant it literally.
Taming allows the tamer to possess the same skills as the tamed beast or monster. For example, if you can tame a Power Bear, you would be able to use its skills “Power Up” and “Frenzy” among many others.
In this world, the number and quality of your tamed monsters define your position in the social caste. Those who can only tame a single weak monster were treated worse than garbage. Those who can tame dozens of legendary monsters are nothing short of gods.
Originally, as an orphan living in this harsh world all alone, I just wanted to gain power by taming powerful monsters and taking revenge on those who treated me badly. Now, however, after gaining the memories of my previous life, my aim has changed a little.
“I’ll make my own monster girl harem!”
I shouted at the top of my lungs as I ran as free as the wind.
—
Back at the alley, after the guards came.
“M-Master Zen?!”
“Oh no! Is he still alive?!” ．𝚌ｏｍ
The guards immediately panicked after seeing their supposed-to-protect target lying on the ground, out cold. They were not only fearing for the young master’s life but for their own.
Zen was immediately taken to a hospital and regained consciousness a day later.
“That bastard Cloud! He’ll pay for this!!!”
That was the first thing he shouted when he woke up.
Rather than the pain from his plastered nose or the complete change of personnel for his guards, the first thing he felt was burning rage. He immediately ordered his guards to find Cloud.
However, by then, Cloud had already reached the next town, far from his evil clutches.