“Morning, Joon-woo,” Old Lady Ko called out as Joon-woo approached her farmhouse. Her voice filled with warmth.

“Ready to help an old woman with some work?”

“Of course, Granny,” Joon-woo replied with a smile. Helping Granny Ko was one of the few things that he enjoyed.

Granny Go’s farm was pretty modest; she had a small garden, some chickens, and a cow that provided her with milk, which she would later sell at the nearby village for some coin. This lifestyle wasn’t profitable, but for a single elderly woman like her, it was enough.

The work was pretty straightforward and routine, something that Joon-woo liked. They started with the garden, pulling some weeds and checking for pests. The cold breeze was refreshing, tending the garden was something that began to calm Joon-woo. As he worked, he noticed the way Ko moved. She was steady and efficient, her years of experience made up for her old age.

“You’ve gotten better at this, Joon-woo,” Granny Ko said with a smile.

“You were all over the place when you first started helping me.”

Joon-woo smiled and laughed a little

“I guess I’ve had a good teacher”

Ko’s laughter echoed through the garden.

“You foolish child, it’s nice to see you are learning. But don’t think this is all, there’s still more work to be done.”

Since both of them were working together, the morning passed quickly. Tending to the chickens, mending a broken fence, and lastly feeding and milking the cow. By the time they were done, Joon-woo couldn’t help but feel a little sense of satisfaction that came from doing some honest work.

As they finished up, Grandma Ko handed Joon-woo a wooden bucket filled with fresh milk.

“Joon-woo, I need you to take this to the village, go to the market and sell it, you should get no less than 5 bronze coins.”

Joon-woo took the bucked

“Understood, I’ll come back in a bit”

As Joon-woo turned around and was beginning to leave, Ko’s expression turned serious

“Hey, Joon-woo, be careful. Lately a bunch of lowlifes has been strolling around that part, they are some members from a gang. I don’t want you getting involved with them, so even if they incite you, just lower your head and say nothing. Your life isn’t worth a mere bucket of milk.”

Joon-woo immediately went to his new improvements in power. He was a “cultivator" now, he didn’t really think those lowlifes would pose a real threat to him, but if there are more people like the man he met that night, he should be cautious. On top of that, he didn’t want to worry, or bring problems to Grandma Ko.

“Thanks, I’ll be careful,” Joon-woo assurer her with a quick smile, before setting of towards the village

The road to the village was peaceful, Grandma’s house wasn’t that far away from the center of the village. He quickly arrived at the destination, the honorary village that was near Ironwood City. It didn’t really have an official name, as they were still part of Ironwood City, but people called it Pinebrook.

The market was pretty lively. Villagers moved from stall to stall, the air was thick, with an aromatic scent, unlike the rotten stench of the slums, this was heaven. Scent of freshly baked bread, ripe fruit and vegetables, even the smell of smoke mixed with meat covered his nose.

For Joon-woo, this seemed like a lively place, but he could sense that something was off.

As he made his way through the market, with the bucket of milk in hand, Joon-woo couldn’t help but notice the unease from the air. The villagers spoke in hushed tones, all of their interaction seemed to be made in a hastily and tensioned manner. Joon-woos eyes were drawn to a group of rough-looking men loitering near a meat stall.

They were loud and crude. Looking at the way the villagers tried to avoid them, they were pretty unwelcome. Joon-woo felt a knot of tension form in his stomach as he observed them.

These were “lowlives” Granny Ko had warned him about. What’s more, they seemed to be part of the same gang as the ones he fought way back in the slums.

‘Sons of bitches…’

Even if he still had some feelings of anger directed towards them, Joon-woo tried to lay low, just sell the milk in peace and leave. But as he slowly approached the stall of a villager, something happened

System Notification

A new Quest has been created!

Quest Liberate the Village Objective

- Defeat the gang members and free the village from oppression

Reward: +150 EXP, +1 [ Skill Upgrade Token]

Joon-woo froze as he saw the glowing notification of the system in his face.

‘A Quest? Right now?’

He read the quest, feeling a strange mix of relief. It was like the system read his thoughts. But was he ready for this? The gang members could pose a threat to Grandma Ko later down the line, getting involved with them would only bring unwanted attention. But even so, he couldn’t ignore the opportunity to get a new reward, and to a certain degree, he even felt he had a sense of responsibility.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

‘What if Grandma Ko would be here instead of me, would they take her money?’

His thoughts were interrupted as one of the gang members, noticing Joon-woo just standing in the line, looking weirdly in the horizon, he shouted at him:

“What’s the matter you punk? Are you gonna do something? Can’t you see there’s a line behind you?”

Joon-woo slightly clenched his fist and clenched his jaw, trying to keep a calm voice

“I’m here just to sell some milk”

The thug, looking at Joon-woo, began to laugh.

“Then you are one stupid motherfucker, milk usually is sold over there, what the fuck are you doing at this stand?”

The thug turned his back to Joon-woo and began to speak with the man that was in charge of that stall.

“You know the rules, you dumbfuck. We get a cut of everything sold today, hand over two thirds of your earnings, and we might let you leave with your teeth still intact.”

The vendor, an old man, clearly intimidated averted his eyes and looked at the ground.

“Here, take it, I don’t want any trouble… but please, I can’t give you more than this, my family is going to starve”

The thugs just began laughing in the face of the old man, as they took his coin

Joon-woo’s blood boiled at the sight. The powerlessness he saw, to be at the mercy of lowlifes just because they are stronger than you. He experienced it.

“Leave him alone” Joon-woo said, or better said commanded, as he took a step forward, locking his eyes with the thug

In a second, the laughing of the thug stopped, as his expression turned dark

“What did you say?”

“I said go fuck yourself, you lump of trash. Leave the man alone and fuck off” Joon-woo repeated with a firm voice

The eyes of the thug instantly narrowed, he began walking towards Joon-woo.

“You’ve got a death wish, you fucking bastard”

Joon-woo instantly focused his Qi into his body, his senses sharpening.

“No, the only thing I wish, is to take the garbage like you out of this place” Joon-woo slightly muttered, with the bucket of milk in his hand

The man lunged at him, but Joon-woo was ready. He dodged with moves even more precise and faster than before, thanks to his new better Qi control, granted by his new [ River Flow Technique ]. With a quick motion, he threw all the milk at the thug’s face.

As the thug was trying to cleanse his eye, Joon-woo jumped and placed the bucket on top of his head, easily launching a palm strike to the man’s chest, sending him flying.

The other gang members were quick to realize that Joon-woo wasn’t an ordinary villager. Like hyenas, they surrounded him, their faces boiling with anger.

But Joon-woo wasn’t impressed. The Madrads were more of a challenge than these fuckers. He focused his attention on a tall and muscular man, with a scar across his cheek. This was more than likely the leader of that group, as he was the first one to step forward with confidence.

“You’ve got guts kid” The leader spoke, while slowly his face turning into a menacing grin

“But you know, flashy movement and mere guts will not be enough to save you”

John-woo's muscles tightened as the leader charged him. The movements of the thug leader were powerful, but boringly predictable. Joon-woo used his enhanced agility to easily dodge the attacks, landing a quick series of his own punches in the leader’s ribs. The impact of each punch reverberated through the leader's body.

The leader groaned in pain, surprised by Joon-woo's strength. But he wasn’t quick to back down. With a roar, he winded up a massive fist at Joon-woo, but he managed to avoid it. The air whistled with each strike of the leader. Joon-woo realized that this man wasn’t like the one before him.

He needed to end this quickly before the other gang members overwhelmed him. Drawing even more Qi, he focused strictly on the leader, who was preparing to launch another series of blows

As the leader lunged at him, Joon-woo quickly channeled a lot more of his Qi into his legs, moving with a speed that caught the leader off guard. He ducked under the first swing, delivering a powerful kick to the leader's knee in the process. As the leader was stunned, Joon-woo quickly filled up with a strike to the man’s jaw, sending him crashing into the ground.

Everyone was silent for a moment, as the gang leader laid motionless on the ground. Even the remaining thugs hesitated to move, as they just saw their leader fall.

But Joon-woo was not hesitating, he couldn’t let the others thugs regroup and attack

One of the thugs rushed at him with a knife, swinging it wildly, Joon-woo managed to dodge the attack. He grabbed the man's wrist and twisted it until the knife fell to the ground. He then delivered a quick punch to his gut, dropping the thug into the ground

The other thugs were now not moving, but one of them, even with fear flickering in his eyes, quickly steeled himself and charged at Joon-woo, swinging a club at his head. As the club came crashing down, Joon-woo managed to slip past the swing, countering with a kick that knocked the man’s legs out from under him, sweeping him to the ground.

The three remaining thugs glanced at each other, with fear in their eyes. Their leader was down, and two of their comrades were effortlessly beaten. They started to realize this is not a winnable fight, the kid in front of them was clearly a hidden master.

Each one of them took a fallen member off the ground and began to retreat.

“Leave and don’t ever come back, if you wish to not die, that is” Joon-woo’s command whistled into the air, his voice cold and authoritative.

As the thugs were retreating, Joon-woo looked at their back and began to think

‘ Nah, fuck this’

In a span of the moment, he quickly dashed to the gang members, taking them by surprise, and knocked out the remaining three with three fast kicks to the head.

Joon-woo stood over them as the adrenaline began to wear off. The small market square was quiet. The villagers just dumbfoundedly stared at him in shock and awe. The gang had been terrorizing them for some time, and now, in just a couple of minutes, this young stranger effortlessly defeated them.

System Notification

Congratulations!

You have finished the Quest!

Reward: +150 EXP, +1 [ Skill Upgrade Token]

The old vendor he previously defended approached him cautiously, his hands trembling as he offered Joon-woo the small pouch of coins he initially gave to the thug.

“Thank you, you’ve saved us”

Joon-woo looked at the elder, and then at the money. He wanted to refuse him, but his body didn’t. He quickly snatched the man’s pouch and turned his back, slowly starting to exit the village.

The vendor looked at him in shock, even though he was grateful that this young man dealt with the thugs, there was something else besides the feelings of gratitude. There was also a hint of fear.

“You’re.. You’re not like them, are you?”

Joon-woo hesitated to answer, he wasn’t sure what he exactly is now.

“Tie these guys up and do whatever you want with them, but do it fast, they will wake up soon”

The villagers slowly gathered into a circle, murmuring their thanks to Joon-woo, as he slowly left the village.

As he made his way back to the farm, Joon-woo thought of his reward. ‘Hmm… a [ Skill Upgrade Token ], I wonder what I can do with it’

Granny Ko was expecting him. Joon-woo quickly gave her the pouch of coin and took his farewell.

“Wait a little, what’s with this amount of coin? And more importantly, where’s the bucket?”

Joon-woo just smiled and continued to walk without saying anything.

“Are you deaf you foolish child, don’t you hear when grandma is talking to you?!”

With a calm tone, Joon-woo just gave a quick answer to Ko

“Granny, you should reward the cow with more food and salt, the villagers loved the milk”