CREAK

The glass door opened again, stirring Asher from his brief nap. It was already 3:00 am, so he thought that he could catch some well needed rest.

Nonetheless, he didn't complain and maintained a professional demeanor; after all, he was paid to serve customers.

"Hey, give me some smokes," slurred a clearly drunk and wasted man, stumbling as he leaned on the counter to talk.

With him were two more rugged-looking men and two women, their makeup a messy sight, as if it had already started to melt on their faces.

The men they were with, however, were too drunk to even register that their escorts now looked way less appealing.

Not that they cared anyway, judging from how they placed their hands on the women's shoulders.

Clearly, they had come from the bar, and the men were attempting to bring them over to their place. It was not an uncommon sight for Asher, who observed the scene calmy. Some people just like to spend their money on worthless shit, and temporary pleasure.

On a second note , Asher couldn't help but notice the two women eyeing him. It was a natural reaction, given his youth and good looks.

Even in his convenience store uniform, he was still more appealing than the social climbers decked out in expensive clothing for mere clout.

But he knew that ignoring these ladies was the right move.

The men with them were a bunch of insecure fools, and he didn't want to give them any reason to cause trouble.

It wasn't that he was afraid of them; he just didn't like the hassle of calling the police and the hospital again because he used too much force against this drunk group.

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He remembered the time when he got scolded by the police because he ended up sending four students to hospital after they tried to rob this place with knives. It was a good thing that this place had CCTV, so he wasn't charged for causing physical damage.

"What smoke do you want, sir?" Asher asked in a firm but respectful manner.

The drunken man squinted his eyes to choose what type of cigarette he wanted, then he turned to ask the others.

"Alright, we want three box each of StreetSmoke, ModernLeaf, and CoolFluff." He pointed to the cigarettes he wanted behind Asher.

Asher quickly grabbed the Nine packs of cigarettes and scanned the barcodes.

"That's 2400 credits, sir," he said straightforwardly.

"Alright, here's the payment," the drunken man chuckled, his movements sluggish as he fumbled in his pocket.

However it wasn't money that emerged, but a gleaming pocketknife.

The man's grin took a sinister turn.

"Be a good kid and hand over the pack of cigarettes. I'm sure the owner won't mind," he sneered, the sharp glint of the blade reflecting the light in the store.

Asher only glanced at the pocket knife and sighed; another fool had arrived.

Normally, he would just ask them to leave, maybe even give them the cigarettes.

However, he was in need of money right now, and his boss always gave him a bonus when he prevented situations like this.

At the same time, he saw the expensive watches they were wearing, considering it potential compensation for the emotional damage they were causing him.

"What if I said , no?" Asher taunted with a cold voice.

They were stunned, not expecting that Asher would actually talk back over a mere packs of cigarettes.

In reality, they had the money to pay him; they were just doing this for the thrill.

"Kid, don't waste your life. Just give us the cigarettes," the thug sneered in contempt, thinking that Asher was just putting on an act.

Little did they know that a mere knife was not enough to even threaten Asher.

It wasn't because he was acting, but because he was confident in his fighting skills.

Asher had never learned how to fight properly, nor did he rely on any specific technique. The most he could do was throw a few punches, learned from watching TV.

Then, where did he get his confidence from?

Simple. It was because of his insane reaction time.

The average reaction time for humans was around 0.25 seconds. Fighters who have trained could achieve a reaction time of 0.15 seconds, even 0.1 for those who are extremely talented.

But for Asher, his reaction time was around 0.07 seconds—the same as cats, considered to have the fastest reaction time among normal land-based animals.

"Just pay if you plan to just stand there," Asher warned them, his mind contemplating how much money these thugs has in their pockets.