'D-Did I actually die?!' Ryu thought frantically as he tried to comprehend the situation. Just a moment ago, he was on the rooftop, and now suddenly, he was in a completely foreign surrounding. He anxiously examined his surroundings and realized that this was an arena.

The ground was made out of marble, and he noticed he was standing in the middle of a circular stadium. This place was almost identical to the Roman Colosseum.

Ryu stared at the blue sky blankly. The flash of gold coming from the sun almost blinded him. The cold air entered his lungs as he frantically inhaled.

'Where the hell am I?' He didn't know what was going on, but according to the surroundings, he might actually just be in the Roman Colosseum. However, there was no human in sight, and he couldn't hear anything.

Well, there was no human, but there was something else.

*Chik*

A sound of sand moving came from about 10 meters away from him. Ryu immediately darted his eyes toward the source of the sound, and he realized someone was there.

'This— This thing wasn't here before!'

Rather yellow skin— or perhaps fabric. Black dotted eyes, with a physique similar to that of a human. It had a head, limbs, fingers, and everything that a human should have. But despite all of that, it wasn't a human. Its eyes weren't actually eyes, but rather as if someone just painted black dots as if it was eyes. There were even stitches all over its body.

'What the hell is this thing?' Ryu rubbed his eyes in disbelief, and yet, when he opened them, the creature was still there.

'It… looks like a training dummy.'

Despite it being completely still, Ryu felt like the Dummy was looking straight at his eyes. Additionally, the dummy had its hands clenched, and up near its face. Its stance was similar to that of a boxer.

Although its appearance was not threatening, for some reason, Ryu felt a strange sense of fear looking at it. His human instincts were telling him that this thing was dangerous, despite how silly it looked.

Ryu instinctively tried to take a step back, but—

"…? W-What the…?" He wanted to take a step back, but his legs didn't budge. They were completely still, and they didn't answer his commands to move. He then realized that wasn't only the case for his legs, his entire body didn't budge, as if it was numb. The only thing he could do was observe his surroundings, that was it.

[Unable to move since the duel hasn't yet begun.]

The panel appeared once more, and Ryu's mind turned frantic. He had no idea what was happening, and he thought it was a dream, or perhaps he was in the afterworld.

'But, this feels too real. The air, the ground, this fear, and the heat from the sun. They all feel too real to be a dream. Then, maybe I really died?'

Ryu gulped and stared at the dummy. It was unmoving, just like Ryu. Ryu was lost in a daze for a few moments as he tried to remember all of the things this flying panel had told him.

Then, he felt goosebumps rise all over his body as he realized the situation he was in.

"Duel."

That was what the system said. If so, then…

"I'm supposed to fight this thing?!"

He knew that this place wasn't some happy-go-lucky place where you make friends— the fact that it was a Colosseum already proved that. Still, he didn't want to fight.

The dummy didn't look threatening at first, but its height had to be at least 2.1 meters, over a head taller than Ryu!

'No— No— let's stay logical. H-How strong could a training dummy be, anyways?' Ryu thought, and he focused on the thing. Despite what he said, he still felt a lingering sense of fear.

[Please get ready. The countdown will start now.]

Ryu felt his chest tighten at the message, but he quickly regained his focus.

[Three]

Ryu gulped, but his eyes didn't waver. No matter how much he wished this was a dream, he knew it wasn't. It felt too realistic. This was reality.

[Two]

Despite his previous attempt at suicide, and being just moments away from death— He felt like he could die here. He didn't want to die, despite his depression. Despite all of his thoughts, he knew deep down, he didn't want to die.

He still needed to see his mother. He wanted to see her again, and perhaps, just see her smile once more.

[One]

This being was a threat, this whole situation was dangerous. And yet, along with the fear deep in his heart, there was another emotion. An emotion contradictory to fear: excitement!

For some reason, he felt excited and thrilled. He always dreaded when Jin Ho-Eun beat him, yet here, the situation was different. Knowing that he had to fight back, this strange sense of excitement began to well up.

[BEGIN!]

As soon as the message appeared, the invisible constraint that tied Ryu, and presumably the Dummy, vanished. The duel had begun.

*Chik*

The Dummy immediately rushed toward Ryu the moment the duel began, as if it was waiting for this moment the entire time. Every time it moved, the sound of something similar to sand emanated from the inside of its body. Ryu wanted to move, but he couldn't. This dummy, despite its appearance, was running towards him at a frightening pace. Even though it was only a bit taller than Ryu, Ryu felt as if a mountain was rushing towards him.

Whenever Ryu read novels or watched TV shows, he always wondered why characters suddenly froze stiff even when a truck was charging toward them. He hated when that happened. Ironically, however, he was in the same situation. He couldn't move a muscle as the Dummy rushed towards him. It was simply instinct, a primal instinct that was engraved into humans whenever they see a predator.

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"Ugh… Huh?" Finally, Ryu managed to retrieve his senses. But by the time he regained them, the dummy had already narrowed the distance between them. With frightening speed, the Dummy threw a jab at Ryu.

Ryu's mind blanked, and through sheer instincts, he ducked.

The punch flew by, and if he had been just a millisecond late, it would've been the end for him.

'Shit— What the hell?! He's much faster than I thought!'

As the dummy threw another punch, Ryu's body, once more, instinctively took action. He immediately rolled the floor.

'Ugh, damn It hurts!' The moment his shoulder hit the hard ground, he confirmed that this nightmare was reality. All the hope and doubt he had that perhaps this was a dream has been utterly crushed. There was no doubt that this monster standing right in front of him was real.

After seeing that monster's speed, Ryu felt like crying after realizing it wasn't a dream. He initially had hope, since it was just a dummy, but this dummy clearly knew how to fight. Its stance, its jabs, its punches, all of them were those of a professional boxer.

Moreover, whenever it moved, there was a sound of sand. Whatever this thing was made of, it wasn't flesh. If his theory was correct, then this dummy probably didn't even have organs. How was he supposed to beat something that didn't even have organs or blood?

Ryu immediately rolled to the side to avoid the dummy's feet coming to crush his head. However, it almost seemed as if the dummy had predicted this, as the moment Ryu tried to stand up, it threw a punch towards Ryu's face.

Ryu immediately brought his arms around his face in self-defense. It was a matter of pure instinct, and this was the only time he was thankful for Ho-Eun's bullying. Without being constantly bullied and beaten by Ho-Eun, he wouldn't have done this.

However, Ryu underestimated the Dummy, because it even predicted this. He embraced the impact that was about to come, but his arms never ached. Instead, he felt a sudden, sharp pain in his stomach.

"Omff…?!" The Dummy knew Ryu would protect his face, which is why it threw the initial punch as a trick. Its real attack hit his stomach.

Ryu immediately defended his stomach, but that was a mistake. Before Ryu could even have a breather, the Dummy threw a fearsome jab at Ryu's face.

Ryu was pushed back by the impact, and his brain went blank from the hit. His stomach and his face were crying in pain. He immediately distanced himself from the dummy as much as he could.

But, something was strange.

Despite the pain, Ryu thought it would have hurt more.

'He's not as strong as I thought he would be…' With the fearsome skill of the dummy, and its speed, he'd thought he would fly off the ground from the impact, or perhaps his bones would shatter, or maybe he'd even end up unconscious from one hit. But the result was different from what he had expected. Aside from the rather stinging pain in his stomach and face, he was still fine. The injuries weren't that threatening.

'Perhaps… if all of the dummy's hits were just like this, then maybe… just maybe…'

'If I fight back…'

Ryu suddenly began to see a glimmer of hope. He might actually have a chance to live. Of course, fighting wouldn't guarantee that he would win and survive. In fact, the chances of him losing far outweighed the chances of him winning. After all, Ryu never fought in his life, not even once. He was always the sandbag for Jin Ho-Eun and other bullies to let their anger out. He was just a simple slave, that was it.

Not to mention, the Dummy was experienced and skilled. His punches were fast and precise, and he could even predict Ryu's actions. Furthermore, if his theory was correct, the Dummy's insides were made out of sand, and they likely wouldn't have organs. He didn't know if he could even do anything to it. It would be a one-sided massacre, and Ryu didn't think he'd have a chance of winning.

But that didn't matter. In this situation, regardless of whether he would lose, he had to fight. He had to give it his all, even if he lost.

'Screw it, let's do this. It's all or nothing.'

Ryu was filled with hope. This time, he didn't clumsily wrap his head with his arms. Instead, he clenched his fists and raised his arms just enough to protect his face without covering his vision. He never knew any stances, so his only source of information was none other than the dummy. Of course, it was a mere imitation, and he knew it wouldn't be perfect. But, it was better to do anything, even if it was a clumsy imitation.

As the dummy rushed towards Ryu, Ryu gazed at the Dummy's posture, his hands, his legs, everything.

'Wait— no, the dummy's hands aren't clenched as hard as mine. Even when he threw a punch towards me, his hands weren't clenched tightly like mine.'

If anyone could hear his thoughts, they would've thought he was only rambling. After all, who could notice something like that in the middle of the fight? Yet, Ryu noticed it.

He could feel a lot of information rushing into his head like something trapped in his unconscious mind had suddenly been unlocked. As if something had awoken in him.

'My legs are too far apart, it should be like this… Is this correct?' Ryu began to continuously change his posture as the Dummy narrowed the distance.

'My posture should be…'

'I shouldn't obscure…'

'I probably shouldn't be breathing like this…'

'My breathing should be in sync with my body…'

Tons of information flooded Ryu's mind, even stuff that he had never learned, stuff that even the dummy hadn't shown. All of this happened in a mere few seconds.

After the distance between him and the dummy lessened, Ryu finally finished completing his stance. And strangely, the dummy suddenly stopped.

'…? Why did it stop?'

Ryu didn't know that the Dummy actually had a sort of consciousness itself. Of course, it wasn't at the level of humans, but it still had the basics. It could form thoughts, although not as complex as humans.

And there was one thought in its mind;

'What. Is. This?'

Its thoughts were a mess, and it could barely form any. But, it was so confused by Ryu's stance that it immediately stopped rushing towards him.

'His. Arms. His. Legs. His. Posture. His. Hands. His. Gaze. He. Is. Me.' The Dummy didn't think he was looking at Ryu anymore, but rather, he thought he was looking at himself. Ryu's stance was such a perfect imitation that it exactly mirrored the Dummy.

Although it might look easy, copying a stance at the first attempt is almost impossible, and only geniuses could do it on the first try. Yet, this human, which the dummy was beating the hell out of just a moment ago, had suddenly managed to copy its style.

'No. It. Is. Just. Imitation.'

The dummy quickly shook those thoughts away, and immediately rushed towards Ryu. After all, in the end, it was only an imitation. Nothing could surpass the original.

With lightning speed, the Dummy threw a jab at Ryu's face. The Dummy predicts that Ryu only had four options here, and whatever he does, the Dummy would have already predicted it and would easily counter him.

But, the dummy didn't know what was going on. Somehow, some way, Ryu managed to dodge the punch with the slightest movement, and what's more, Ryu's gaze suddenly changed. Gone was the look of a fearful human. Instead, it turned into the eyes of a monster, a predator. The eyes were sharp, and he easily managed to dodge the Dummy's fist with them.

'What.'

Of all the moves he thought Ryu would do, the dummy didn't predict this. Ryu's movements were elegant, and precise, just like the Dummy's. Moreover, the way Ryu moved his body, it seemed that Ryu had predicted the Dummy's prediction, and none of its counterattacks would be useful here!

The dummy truly thought that the current Ryu, and the one he had fought just a few minutes ago were completely different people.

Contrary to the Dummy's inner thoughts, however, Ryu was in an equally freaked-out state.

'What the hell, I actually managed to dodge that?!' Ryu wasn't actually thinking of all the possible outcomes or something like that. He only looked at the Dummy's fist when it had arrived and thought that, 'His arm's length is unnecessarily long. Maybe If I slightly move my head to the side, I could possibly avoid it.'

Even he himself didn't know how he had thought of this. He had never fought in his life. Still, his instincts were what allowed him to dodge a few of this monster's attacks, so he decided to follow them.

And indeed, he managed to dodge it easily, just as he had predicted. After celebrating the victory in his mind for a split-second, he looked at the Dummy's "Eyes". He shouldn't just randomly punch, as he was sure the dummy would easily predict it and dodge. Instead, he thought of something else.

'When the dummy first attacked, he threw a jab…' The memory of the dummy throwing a jab suddenly appeared in his mind, and, with all of his efforts, he tried to replicate it. The memory was a bit blurry, as he didn't have the best memory, but it was more than enough. The trajectory of the dummy's arm, the movement of its legs, its posture, he could see everything clearly, as if it was all imprinted in his head.

'Arms like this, posture should be something similar to this…'

Ryu felt as if all of his muscles moved together just for this action to be in perfect sync, making him feel as if was an elastic being. He felt like a compressed spring, and thanks to it…

*BANG!*

As if a cannonball has been shot, the perfect jab smashed against the Dummy's face, to the point its head recoiled back.