Caught in a Pincer

Retribution among youths always arrived with a directness and fervor that was utterly straightforward.

More often than not, it was bafflingly inexplicable.

At least, that was the case…

As Chen Ran, the unwitting “instigator” of this particular situation, lowered his gaze to his map app, intending to cut through an alley on his way to the subway station, he found himself inexplicably cornered by a group of seven or eight boys roughly his own age.

Chen Ran remained thoroughly perplexed by the sudden encounter.

The youths before him, clad in an assortment of school uniforms, encircled an arrogant boy with short golden hair, who sported an obviously expensive black-and-gold uniform. Despite his short stature, he defiantly tilted his head back, glaring at Chen Ran with a scowl.

“You punk, what’s your name?”

“…”

Chen Ran blinked, still unable to make sense of the situation.

Most of them gripped baseball bats, and a few even brandished wooden swords, an undeniable sign that their intention was to ambush him.

‘Hmm.’

‘But I don’t even know these guys,’ Chen Ran mused.

“Nishiki-ge (TL Note: ‘ge’ is a Chinese honorific for older brother), why bother talking so much to a guy like this? I’ve already started recording on my phone. We’ll just make him admit he cheated his way into Angel Academy, and then we can…”

The boy began loudly ‘conspiring’ in plain hearing.

Beside the short, golden-haired leader named Nishiki, a lanky boy, thin as a stick and his face riddled with acne, grinned obsequiously.

The next instant, Nishiki slapped him.

****

“Do you have any idea how strict the entrance exam for Holy Angel Academy is, especially the one exclusively for male students?! Cheating? You’re more likely to cheat with your mother than get in that way!!”

Nishiki, utterly lacking in decorum, launched into a furious tirade, mercilessly lambasting his subordinate.

‘Nonsense.’

He himself had taken the exam; he knew firsthand its difficulty and stringent requirements. How could he possibly accuse the boy before them of cheating now?

‘It was utterly impossible!’

‘What if the school actually launched a serious investigation?’

‘His subordinates were truly brainless, a pack of absolute idiots!’

“Besides, there’s clearly a better way!”

Nishiki grunted, casting a disdainful glance at Chen Ran.

“Come here, call me Nishiki-ge, and I’ll let you off this time. From now on, I’ll be your protector in Academy City; no one will dare bully you, understand?!”

“But you’ll have to hand over a hundred yuan in pocket money every day.”

“And whatever I tell you to do, you do it, got it?”

Nishiki believed his own idea was far superior.

‘Why go through all that hassle?’

‘He could simply take this pretty boy as his subordinate, making him obediently serve as his dog.’

‘Later, he could even have him slowly lure out the girls from the school.’

‘And if anything went wrong, he could just make him take the fall.’

‘How perfect!’

Nishiki considered his plan nothing short of brilliant.

“Kid, hurry up and get down on your knees! Sing ‘Conquer,’ and your big brother here will acknowledge you as my subordinate, got it?”

Yet, from beginning to end, Chen Ran remained utterly unfazed.

Such an aloof demeanor.

It thoroughly irritated Nishiki, who seethed, ‘What the hell are you playing at?’

However, just as Nishiki was about to signal his newly summoned subordinates to teach Chen Ran a lesson, an unexpected development occurred.

Suddenly.

At the other end of the narrow alley, several black sedans abruptly screeched to a halt.

“???”

Nishiki and his fellow high schoolers watched in stunned silence as over a dozen burly men emerged from the cars. These men, with their broad shoulders and thick physiques, were either bald or sported long, ‘visual kei’ (TL Note: A Japanese rock music subgenre known for its elaborate costumes, makeup, and hairstyles) hairstyles, their arms, necks, and chests adorned with tattoos of ferocious demons or menacing dragons.

Each man wore heavy gold chains or silver bracelets, and clutched specialized weapons: long, rod-like iron bars that resembled unsharpened longswords.

They advanced from the far end of the alley, forming a formidable procession.

Chen Ran now found himself caught in a pincer movement.

“Eh?!”

Nishiki distinctly recognized one of the burly men.

“Brother Wolf, what are you doing here?!”

His own superior, his ‘big brother,’ was now relegated to the very rear of this menacing group of toughs.

“Shh.”

Brother Wolf gestured for the brat to keep quiet.

The hulking man known as Brother Wolf looked at Chen Ran, his mood seemingly excellent.

‘Who would have thought?’

‘Today, by simply sending some of my subordinates’ subordinates to help my own subordinate, I actually found the guy Big Brother has been searching for all this time.’

He gazed at Chen Ran, who was now trapped squarely in the middle.

Brother Wolf, however, couldn’t quite fathom it.

‘This guy… he just looks like a regular high school student, doesn’t he?’

‘No, wait…’

‘He’s incredibly handsome! Absolutely not ordinary!’

At this realization, Brother Wolf couldn’t help but purse his lips, then turned his attention to the imposing figure leading the approaching group.

The large bald man, his face marred by a prominent scar, glared menacingly at Chen Ran.

“Remember me, kid?!”

“Uh…”

Chen Ran did remember the man. Ever since he had gained his new attributes, whether it was due to increased [Spirit] or [Intelligence], his memory had become remarkably sharp.

This bald man.

Wasn’t he the same fellow who had tried to set up some shady loan shark business near the old street where the Jiang family lived, only for Chen Ran to foil his plans and then administer a thorough beating?

“Saburo the Scarred?”

Truth be told, the man’s name was so utterly cringeworthy that Chen Ran had no desire to recall it, much less utter it aloud.

“That’s your old man right here!!”

Just a week prior, this very bald man had been sent flying by Chen Ran’s fists. Now, with over a dozen brothers at his back, his confidence had been fully restored.

“You damn brat, how dare you ruin my business?! Goddammit, even if you kneel and beg for mercy, calling me ‘Grandpa’ today, I’m still going to cripple your limbs!!!”

“…”

Chen Ran was left utterly speechless.

‘It’s my first day of school, and what kind of mess have I stumbled into?’ he thought.

‘Am I really going to get ‘cornered in the bathroom’ on my very first day?’

‘What’s next? Are they going to start stomping on my head?’

Chen Ran reached up and touched his own face.

The boy’s serene composure struck both Saburo and Nishiki as utterly unbelievable.

Nishiki, in particular, was astonished.

Seeing his own boss’s boss for the first time, the short, golden-haired youth thought, ‘So this guy is a real troublemaker after all, huh?!’

‘Looks like I won’t have to deal with him today.’

‘But the real problem is…’

‘Having offended Brother Saburo, whether he’ll even be able to attend school in the future will become a serious question.’

‘Tsk.’

‘I wonder if Holy Angel Academy will even bother recruiting male students again.’

‘How bothersome.’

Yet, there was nothing to be done. Who told him to provoke the “Six Wen Association” (TL Note: A fictional yakuza-like organization), a notorious criminal syndicate renowned throughout Xijing?

‘Serves him right!’

Nishiki even began to ponder how, once this affair was concluded, he could seize the opportunity to invite his boss’s boss to a meal, thereby strengthening their connections.

‘This might just be the only contribution this guy, Chen Ran, could ever make to me.’

‘Heh heh.’

Saburo, meanwhile, had no desire to waste further words on Chen Ran. With a heavy grunt, he simply gestured to his men, signaling them to deal with the boy.

Naturally, Nishiki also wanted his own subordinates to step forward and make an appearance, eager to prove their loyalty to his boss’s boss.

However.

Faced with this dual assault.

Chen Ran, with an unnerving calm, first set down his schoolbag—a gift from Jiang Zilin that he absolutely couldn’t allow to get dirty, lest he face a scolding upon his return.

Next, he removed the brand-new school uniform he had just put on that morning, reasoning that it would be troublesome for Jiang Zilin to wash if it got soiled.

As his clothes came off.

Beneath, the boy revealed a physique of remarkable solidity—not overly exaggerated, but exquisitely defined, like the perfectly sculpted muscles of a fighting anime protagonist, truly a work of art.

“One, two, three, four, five, six… I’ll have to fight ten… no, wait, it’s actually over twenty, isn’t it?”